Several hundred protesters gathered outside the Mississippi Capitol building Friday morning, screaming and seething in anger over a state prison system that is failing to stop people from killing each other and themselves.

The rally was organized by Team Roc, a philanthropic arm of Yo Gotti and Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation. Lawyers for the artists filed a lawsuit on behalf of 29 Mississippi inmates on Jan. 14 and took out a full-page ad in the Clarion Ledger on Wednesday calling for reform.

Prison crisis:Jay-Z, Yo Gotti lawyers ask judge to visit Parchman, appoint third-party prison overseer

The rally was the largest public showing so far of fury over recent violence in Mississippi prisons — though speakers pledged more sustained action, including more protests at the Capitol on Monday.

Much of the ire was directed at state leaders who protesters say created a deadly mix of corrupt guards, lack of supervision, disgusting living conditions and dilapidated prisons through under-funding and neglect. Several speakers called out Gov. Tate Reeves by name.

Ten men have died in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections since Dec. 29, most of them killed in fights or riots.

Contraband phones: Good or bad?

People held up cellphones to livestream the rally, and some speakers directly addressed the inmates in prisons and knew that they were watching using contraband phones.

A woman who said her husband was currently at Parchman told the crowd that "Unit 29 is watching you," referencing a run-down section of the prison where much of the deadly violence has been concentrated.

She ended her speech by looking straight ahead at the cameras and cellphones and saying: "I love you, baby."

The fight over contraband phones — and public access to conditions inside the prisons — appears to be heating up.

A day before the rally, Reeves held a press conference where he pledged to bring transparency to the prison system and quickly release information following the deaths of any state inmate.

Prisons:Gov. Tate Reeves announces changes to 'stop the bleeding' in Mississippi prisons

Reeves also pledged to clamp down on contraband cell phone use, a move that protesters decried. They said the main reason people are aware of inhumane prison conditions is because inmates risked penalties to film and photograph prisons using contraband phones.

Cracking down on cellphones will simply allow state officials to hide the problem, speakers said.

"Thank God they had cellphones in the penitentiary," said Benny Ivey, a prison reform advocate. "We got evidence. We got proof. And we ain't gonna sit quiet."

Rukia Lumumba, executive director of the People's Advocacy Institute, said the incarcerated people using contraband cellphones are "the whistleblowers of the prison system."

What to do about Parchman?

Over and over again, the crowd broke into chants of "Shut it down," referring to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, which opened in 1901 and has long been one of the most notorious prisons in America.

Organizers passed out shirts and signs that read, "CLOSE PARCHMAN."

Of the 10 recent deaths, eight have taken place at Parchman.

"This is a war, ladies and gentlemen," state Rep. Robert Johnson III said. "It's a war, and it gets fought on every front. This is a front."

Johnson, of Natchez, the House Democratic leader, was one of handful of Democrat lawmakers at the rally.

"Mississippi hasn't done their job. The governor hasn't done his job. MDOC hasn't done its job. The Legislature hasn't done their job. We underfunded MDOC by $35 million. We don't pay people at MDOC at living wage," Johnson said.

According to Johnson, there are too many people in prison for non-violent offenses, and Reeves could take actions today that would address this.

'Leadership crisis': Mississippi searches nationwide for prison commissioner, names interim

"Tate Reeves talks about the inmates are 99 percent of the problem. I'll tell you how to eliminate that problem. You've got an executive order. There are people who shouldn't be there," Johnson said. "Send them home."

Who was at the rally?

Local officials, musicians, pastors, organizers, formerly incarcerated people and people with family currently in prison took turns at a microphone on a stage with the Capitol dome behind them.

Some talked about being "pissed off," called Parchman a plantation, and referred to violence there as "state-sanctioned murder."

Mississippi native Big K.R.I.T. said he felt he had a responsibility to use his platform as a rapper to shine a brighter light on the Mississippi's prisons.

"I feel like I had to be here today, because I knew a song wasn't going to change this," he said. "... I started to lose a lot of sleep... I knew that being from Mississippi, we were going to be ignored, anyway. It wasn't on mass media. People weren't talking about this. I got friends on the East Coast, West Coast and I'm asking them, 'Have you heard about this?' 'No, we haven't heard about this at all.'"

Amelia Johnson, 47, stood close to the stage, holding a poster that showed one of her sons. Johnson said she has two sons who are currently imprisoned at Parchman, one of whom was recently stabbed in the back.

She tried to visit her sons in late December, but Johnson said she was turned away by staff. She didn't realize at the time the extent of violence that was roiling the prison.

Johnson only learned about the subsequent stabbing from her son's girlfriend.

"I'm afraid," Johnson said. "... There are people (in prison) afraid to close their eyes. I never thought it was like this."

The people in prison are there for a reason, she said, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to drink toilet water or eat moldy, spoiled food.

"You don't deserve to be treated like dogs," Johnson said. "... I don't treat my dog like that. I even feed my dog better than that."

Standing next to Johnson was Linda Williams, 53, who said her son has been locked up in state prison for 20 years and only has a few more years of his sentence left — if he makes it.

"I can't sleep at night," Williams said. "... Nightmares."

Aric Shells, 46, said he has a friend in Parchman that he talks with regularly. Shells said his friend describes seeing open sewage, rats and cockroaches.

"It makes me feel bad because you know people make mistakes, but that's like a concentration camp," Shells said.

Update on lawsuit filed by Jay-Z, Yo Gotti

Lawyers for Team Roc sued prison officials on behalf of 29 inmates last week. The federal lawsuit alleges inmates are being kept in unconstitutional and inhumane conditions.

They filed an emergency motion filed in federal court Thursday, claiming state prison officials do not have the "resources, energy or inclination" to correct deteriorating conditions at Parchman and that a third party is needed. It also makes an unusual request for a judge to visit Parchman to speak with inmates and get a better sense of the scene inside.

Thursday's emergency motion underscores many of the worst problems attorneys and others have already recently described at Parchman, including units subject to flooding, black mold, rats, lack of running water, little food and severe understaffing. It states conditions — especially in Unit 29, where much of the violence has occurred — are "far more appalling and egregious" than what's been reported in the media.

Last week, Reeves appointed former Boyle mayor and former chair of the House Corrections Committee Tommy Taylor to serve as interim MDOC commissioner after the agency's top two officials stepped down. A search committee is looking for a new permanent leader for the state's prison system.

As the violence at Mississippi prisons continues, it is drawing increasing scrutiny across the country.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a prominent Democratic congresswoman from Massachusetts, said Parchman is emblematic of the systemic problems across the country.

"What is happening in Parchman and in jails across this country is cruel, inhumane and downright criminal," Pressley said in a statement. "Mass incarceration hasn’t made us any safer. We need to fight to dismantle and radically transform this country’s criminal injustice systems is fundamentally unjust."

Contact Giacomo "Jack" Bologna at 601-961-7282 or gbologna@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @gbolognaCL.