Saturday, May 30, 2015
BULLY
Even though we have switched gears and other issues are currently at the forefront, there are still way too many stories in the media today about our epidemic of bullying going on both inside school as well as outside school. I have wanted to share my thoughts on this subject for months but never got around to it. What made me think about the issue was my son coming home from elementary school with a backpack full of documents, pamphlets, handouts, etc, explaining to these 1st graders what bullying was and how to stop it. Me being the parent I am, I asked my 7 year old what he got out of the presentations. It would seem that there was a school assembly where the children were given speeches by administrators as well as law enforcement about the dangers of bullying and what to do if you are a victim of bullying.
Not being one to challenge authority (cough, cou***bullshit***gh, cough), I take them at their word that they are simply trying to protect the children from a phenomenon that has gotten out of control. If you look at many school shootings, many of the perpetrators are children who have always been seen as outcasts or been bullied by the “cool kids.” So I get it, bullying bad, acceptance of others good. What distresses me is the definition of bullying and what school officials consider bullying. What used to be considered normal character building childhood events are not categorized as quasi-criminal events that are sometimes used to mark a child's future. I'm sure there is not one single one of us who at one time during their childhood was not “picked on” by someone else. In the chaotic world of conflicting loyalties that childhood is, you were “in” the group on Monday, only to be ostracized on Tuesday and re accepted on Wednesday. Therein lays the problem.
We as adults seek to interject our adult sensibilities into the normal world of children. We do this for many reasons, up to and including trying to right wrongs done to us when we were children. We remember how we felt when we were eight years old and the little girl in homeroom made everyone laugh at us because our shoes were old and dirty. We remember how everyone laughed at us during gym class when we struck out playing baseball, so now we push our children to endure sports at young ages whether they want to play or not. We as parents now demand that our children be considered as winners no matter whether they actually won the race or not. That leads to a generation of average children who cannot deal with adversity or rejection. As they age and enter puberty with all of its attached difficulties, this child now has to deal with the added burden of not being the “princess” or “king” that their parents always told them they were. This leads to built up anger and non-conformity and sometimes to violent expression.
When we were younger, we fought, played the dozens, entered into groups, fell out of favor with groups, argued and were still friends after all was said and done. Today, schools administrators and parents in their zeal to stamp out “bullying” in all its various forms rob children of the opportunity to deal with life's problems. Children today have no interpersonal mitigation skills because they haven't had to deal with it. Everything that schools today call bullying is not bullying but simply children being children, half formed adults who have no filter. These filtering techniques develop later in life when children mature. By adults mitigating each and every little perceived slight that a child may encounter keeps that kid in a protective bubble. This bubble is popped usually around middle school when there are no adults to settle disputes and the child has no defense mechanism to deal with mundane problems. We see the results of these wrong-headed policies when we see beautiful children committing suicide because ONE person told them they were ugly or the “cool kids” refused them entry in the group. We see them lash out at those perceived slights by shooting up schools because no one came to their aid like they did in elementary school.
To add insult to injury, many school systems with their zero tolerance for bullying tag so-called bullies with predator tags that follow them throughout their school career. This leads to being barred from good schools, extra harsh discipline for normal acts of defiance and in the most egregious cases criminal records. When we used to fight in school, it was usually a few punches thrown, a trip to the principal's office, notification to our parents, occasionally a suspension and shaking hands afterward. Now with the added influx of camera phones, school fights turn into entertainment for the world to see. Our timelines on FB are replete with KIDS going in hard over who sent a tweet to who. Worldstar Hip Hop has built a multimillion dollar business off the acts of children fighting in school or the streets over things that years ago would not have garnered a second thought. These videos are increasingly finding their way into the hands of law enforcement who are ready, willing and able to levy felony charges against 15 year olds fighting over who likes who or who said what to who on Twitter or Facebook. These multibillion dollar corporations bear the brunt of this problem in that they have no policy denying the posting of these types of videos. To them, the better the fight the more likes and views, the more views, the more ad-dollars generated.
We as parents need to push back at that. If you have a prohibition against nudity, its a short step to prohibit violence in any form. It would make for a much better, much safer environment for our children. We, especially UI members need to immediately flag a vid if it contains violence of any sort. What that does is force FB or Twitter to take down the offending video. Start using the rules against these culture vultures who seem to think its cute to watch children of any color fight and bloody each other for someone on the other side of the planet's enjoyment. We also need to begin to visit our children's schools en masse. Start community groups to patrol the hallways, sit in on classes, sit in the lunchrooms and through the power of vigilance and observation quell these conflicts before they start. Yes we have jobs, but many of us don't or either have the flexibility to spend a day or two in the school. The point is, it must be a community effort. Out of 100 parents there should be a way for at least five to ten individuals to divide up the week to the point that the school is always covered. If we can find the time and effort to “turn up” on the weekend, we owe it to our children to be there to protect them at school.
Drops mic and walks from stage drippin blackness
Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem
Time for a rant. Ever since Mike Brown was murdered in Ferguson, Missouri I have read post after post, blog after blog and comment after comment about what we should or shouldn't do in response. I have heard from those that suggest we march, that we pray, that we boycott businesses, that we riot, that we shoot police officers indiscriminately (WRONG ANSWER), that we call in Al or Jesse or the BPP. I have read and signed petitions for President Obama to establish a Federal agency/law designed to take the investigation of police on citizen shootings out of the hands of local police for obvious reasons.
Some of these ideas I agree with, some I think are at best useless and worse counterproductive. I do not, for example, advocate violence of any type directed towards law enforcement except in lawful self-defense or the defense of a loved one. I do not advocate asking a fool to fly into our communities on a private jet to be the “voice” or “face” of the demonstrations. I do not advocate that we gather around white police commanders to “voice” our concerns and listen to self-serving platitudes entreating us to “let the process work” or “be calm in the midst of turmoil.” You know the statements, we've all heard them before. I'm at that point where I'm almost tired of hearing the family members of those who have been wronged saying “we don't need violence, we need peace.” I just want for one time, just one time an aggrieved mother or a grief stricken father to say with conviction and force “tear this bitch up, they didn't give a fuck about my child, I don't give a fuck about they shit.” But that's my revolutionary wet dream. Plus, we are not ready for movements of that type or magnitude. We are too fragmented, although with the advent of social media we are moving in that direction.
What I am especially tired of, downright weary to the point of exasperation, is US, many of who “claim” to be conscious doing the job of the dominant culture. What you are seeing in the coverage of what I term “our issues” is the deflection tool of propaganda. For example, our issue is murder of unarmed black men by law enforcement. (Luckily we have a few on video, this also speaks to the THOUSANDS that have happened without video who we have never heard of because the officer's version of events are taken to be true without question) We must not let the conversation diverge into an argument about black on black crime. It is immaterial to discuss Ray Ray and Man Man when the question is what law enforcement is doing in our communities. See to the truly conscious, not the pretender, we know that crime across the board is DOWN in our communities. Take for example Chicago, it is undoubtedly, undeniably, absolutely true that violent crime and shootings are tragic and unnecessary. Even one brother killed by another brother is too many. What the powers that be WON'T tell you is that compared to this same month 10 years ago, 20 years ago, crime is half of what it was in some cases a third of what it once was. They will have you believe that it is due to their efforts, that because of “boots on the ground” we have stemmed the tide of violent crime. In fact, what has happened is, again largely due to social media, we have began to wake up. Its slow, but social change is NEVER overnight. We are beginning to value the very thing that outsiders will say that we don't value. There are groups that are out in the community every night talking to these brothers and sisters, assisting these brothers and sisters but you don't hear about them because its not sexy enough for mainstream media. Unfortunately we have brothers making YouTube rants assisting the dominant culture with their message that there is something wrong with you niggas. Why do you burn up your own shit? Simple answer, its not our shit. It belongs to Indians, Asians and white people. Why do you loot, because that's part of the demonstration, that comes with it. I think back to Katrina and how news organizations showed pictures of blacks taking things from stores, “look at the looting taking place.” Same storm, pictures of white people doing the same thing “look at the desperate attempts of the citizens to live through this harrowing time.” Wait, let me go look in the mirror, I'm back, I had to check and see if I really gave a fuck about what white people think of civil demonstration. What the lumpen proletariat has to figure out is the reason why ever single time we have brothers and sisters murdered the conversation MUST turn to black on black crime and why the decrease in crime is almost never covered by mainstream media. It gets down to economics. Can anyone tell me why the Ferguson and County Police Departments have Bearcats, military grade assault rifles, drones, combat helicopters and armored personnel carriers? Ferguson has a population of 21 grand give or take, 60 to 65% are US. How many murders this year? ZIP, ZILCH, ZERO. So what do you have a tank for? What are you preparing for? You know these items are needed, but the money is there due to the demonizing of black men. In comes the same companies that sell arms all over the world to sell Barney Fife hand grenades and .50 sniper rifles. This madness has gotten to the point that even veterans, WHITE VETERANS, are saying “damn, we didn't roll that heavy in Iraq.”
So yes, you feel better after your rant, but what you have become is the unwitting pawn in the status quo's battle for the hearts and minds of white America. Look these niggas are animals, we need to put down this insurrection before it spreads. We militarize our police to keep you safe from them who want your stuff without working for it. We all know the usual slurs and slanders that we have to endure, whether we gainfully working or not. Since you guys think your position with the social order is so safe, next time you with your white friends, bring up the subject of race or white supremacy. What the events in Ferguson do is keep this issue on the front pages, since the funeral of Eric Garner, what have you heard about what is happening in his case from the mainstream media? What about Trayvon Martin. What I will say is this, every night there is chaos on the streets of Ferguson, the media is there. What we need to do instead of telling people to stop what they are doing is do something concrete yourself. If you do not live in Ferguson or are related to the victims of any of these state sanctioned murders, you have no right to tell someone else how they are to express their rage, their grief or their exasperation. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
Drops mic, walks from stage drippin blackness!
Some of these ideas I agree with, some I think are at best useless and worse counterproductive. I do not, for example, advocate violence of any type directed towards law enforcement except in lawful self-defense or the defense of a loved one. I do not advocate asking a fool to fly into our communities on a private jet to be the “voice” or “face” of the demonstrations. I do not advocate that we gather around white police commanders to “voice” our concerns and listen to self-serving platitudes entreating us to “let the process work” or “be calm in the midst of turmoil.” You know the statements, we've all heard them before. I'm at that point where I'm almost tired of hearing the family members of those who have been wronged saying “we don't need violence, we need peace.” I just want for one time, just one time an aggrieved mother or a grief stricken father to say with conviction and force “tear this bitch up, they didn't give a fuck about my child, I don't give a fuck about they shit.” But that's my revolutionary wet dream. Plus, we are not ready for movements of that type or magnitude. We are too fragmented, although with the advent of social media we are moving in that direction.
What I am especially tired of, downright weary to the point of exasperation, is US, many of who “claim” to be conscious doing the job of the dominant culture. What you are seeing in the coverage of what I term “our issues” is the deflection tool of propaganda. For example, our issue is murder of unarmed black men by law enforcement. (Luckily we have a few on video, this also speaks to the THOUSANDS that have happened without video who we have never heard of because the officer's version of events are taken to be true without question) We must not let the conversation diverge into an argument about black on black crime. It is immaterial to discuss Ray Ray and Man Man when the question is what law enforcement is doing in our communities. See to the truly conscious, not the pretender, we know that crime across the board is DOWN in our communities. Take for example Chicago, it is undoubtedly, undeniably, absolutely true that violent crime and shootings are tragic and unnecessary. Even one brother killed by another brother is too many. What the powers that be WON'T tell you is that compared to this same month 10 years ago, 20 years ago, crime is half of what it was in some cases a third of what it once was. They will have you believe that it is due to their efforts, that because of “boots on the ground” we have stemmed the tide of violent crime. In fact, what has happened is, again largely due to social media, we have began to wake up. Its slow, but social change is NEVER overnight. We are beginning to value the very thing that outsiders will say that we don't value. There are groups that are out in the community every night talking to these brothers and sisters, assisting these brothers and sisters but you don't hear about them because its not sexy enough for mainstream media. Unfortunately we have brothers making YouTube rants assisting the dominant culture with their message that there is something wrong with you niggas. Why do you burn up your own shit? Simple answer, its not our shit. It belongs to Indians, Asians and white people. Why do you loot, because that's part of the demonstration, that comes with it. I think back to Katrina and how news organizations showed pictures of blacks taking things from stores, “look at the looting taking place.” Same storm, pictures of white people doing the same thing “look at the desperate attempts of the citizens to live through this harrowing time.” Wait, let me go look in the mirror, I'm back, I had to check and see if I really gave a fuck about what white people think of civil demonstration. What the lumpen proletariat has to figure out is the reason why ever single time we have brothers and sisters murdered the conversation MUST turn to black on black crime and why the decrease in crime is almost never covered by mainstream media. It gets down to economics. Can anyone tell me why the Ferguson and County Police Departments have Bearcats, military grade assault rifles, drones, combat helicopters and armored personnel carriers? Ferguson has a population of 21 grand give or take, 60 to 65% are US. How many murders this year? ZIP, ZILCH, ZERO. So what do you have a tank for? What are you preparing for? You know these items are needed, but the money is there due to the demonizing of black men. In comes the same companies that sell arms all over the world to sell Barney Fife hand grenades and .50 sniper rifles. This madness has gotten to the point that even veterans, WHITE VETERANS, are saying “damn, we didn't roll that heavy in Iraq.”
So yes, you feel better after your rant, but what you have become is the unwitting pawn in the status quo's battle for the hearts and minds of white America. Look these niggas are animals, we need to put down this insurrection before it spreads. We militarize our police to keep you safe from them who want your stuff without working for it. We all know the usual slurs and slanders that we have to endure, whether we gainfully working or not. Since you guys think your position with the social order is so safe, next time you with your white friends, bring up the subject of race or white supremacy. What the events in Ferguson do is keep this issue on the front pages, since the funeral of Eric Garner, what have you heard about what is happening in his case from the mainstream media? What about Trayvon Martin. What I will say is this, every night there is chaos on the streets of Ferguson, the media is there. What we need to do instead of telling people to stop what they are doing is do something concrete yourself. If you do not live in Ferguson or are related to the victims of any of these state sanctioned murders, you have no right to tell someone else how they are to express their rage, their grief or their exasperation. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
Drops mic, walks from stage drippin blackness!
Symptoms
I have a subject that needs breathing on. We here in Open Discussion come from a wide range of ages, socio-economic statuses, and educational as well as consciousness levels. So everyone has a particular perspective to advance and we respect them all. What makes our forum great is that here in U.I., we have the opportunity to have our ideas and points of view fact checked, evaluated and disassembled. What this practice does that other groups lack is we tend to emerge from discussion better thinkers and hopefully better actors.
With that being said, we have all been understandably upset and frustrated by the events in Ferguson as well as other places around the country. WE are finally beginning to take a stand and demand better treatment from the status quo. To keep this momentum going, we must divorce the unproductive from the productive. What I charge each of you to think about the rest of this day and comment on tomorrow, hopefully on the Urban Intellectuals page is what we can do to use these events to better our situation as a whole and not as individuals. How do we not just focus on a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself, that problem being white supremacy, economic inequality and the fact that mostly every single issue that plague black communities from coast to coast can be traced back to economics.
For me, the first thing I encourage all of to do, no matter who you are or what your particular ax to grind is, we MUST stop with this “kill the police” rhetoric. One, because most of you softies are not going to do it and if someone does you are not going to be there for the aftermath, not even in support. So that needs to stop. Just as each of us are individuals who deserve not to be lumped into a category, each police officer, white or black, are not “bad” or “rogue” cops to be executed because of the acts of another. How do you reconcile killing an officer in Philly for the acts of officers in Miami.
Secondly, we must not fall into the trap that has been set before us. We see it but we disregard it with all this talk about “the only good cop is a dead cop.” These are the people who are like hype men behind a rapper, he can't rap but he can coon around and excite the crowd. These are the people who talk that shit but are the first ones to call the police when something goes down involving themselves or their property. I'll agree, I have somewhat unconventional views when it comes to law enforcement. I actually believe that change won't come to law enforcement until the good cops start standing up to the bad cops and the powers behind them that control what they do. That's the part of the story that we miss in our anger, rage and emotionalism. Law Enforcement is a TOOL of the dominant society. They don't care how many of them are killed just as they don't care how many soldiers that they send off to fight meaningless wars come back in body bags. They are the shovels throwing black and brown, and increasingly poor white bodies, into the bottomless hole of the Prison Industrial Complex. Our problems are bigger than police/community relations.
Third, lets not be short-sighted. Instead let us be more discerning. Intellectually as well as instinctively we know that not all police officers are bad. If we take the “kill the police” stance, what about your Uncle Bobby whose been the police for 25 years. What about your cousin's husband or wife who is the police. What if someone kills them for the acts of another officer? Then again, what constitutes an officer, who exactly IS the police? Do we count the officers who work in the county jail who brutalize and kill brothers every day? What about child support enforcement officers who carry badges and have arrest powers? We also can't be hypocritical, if a black officer kills a unarmed white man, why do we not become enraged then? Why do we not march if a black officer kills an unarmed black kid?
The long and short of it is, let us use this issue to develop strategies that uplift us as a whole and not be distracted by what is, in the long run, a symptom of the problem not the problem itself.
Drops mic and walks from stage drippin blackness.
With that being said, we have all been understandably upset and frustrated by the events in Ferguson as well as other places around the country. WE are finally beginning to take a stand and demand better treatment from the status quo. To keep this momentum going, we must divorce the unproductive from the productive. What I charge each of you to think about the rest of this day and comment on tomorrow, hopefully on the Urban Intellectuals page is what we can do to use these events to better our situation as a whole and not as individuals. How do we not just focus on a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself, that problem being white supremacy, economic inequality and the fact that mostly every single issue that plague black communities from coast to coast can be traced back to economics.
For me, the first thing I encourage all of to do, no matter who you are or what your particular ax to grind is, we MUST stop with this “kill the police” rhetoric. One, because most of you softies are not going to do it and if someone does you are not going to be there for the aftermath, not even in support. So that needs to stop. Just as each of us are individuals who deserve not to be lumped into a category, each police officer, white or black, are not “bad” or “rogue” cops to be executed because of the acts of another. How do you reconcile killing an officer in Philly for the acts of officers in Miami.
Secondly, we must not fall into the trap that has been set before us. We see it but we disregard it with all this talk about “the only good cop is a dead cop.” These are the people who are like hype men behind a rapper, he can't rap but he can coon around and excite the crowd. These are the people who talk that shit but are the first ones to call the police when something goes down involving themselves or their property. I'll agree, I have somewhat unconventional views when it comes to law enforcement. I actually believe that change won't come to law enforcement until the good cops start standing up to the bad cops and the powers behind them that control what they do. That's the part of the story that we miss in our anger, rage and emotionalism. Law Enforcement is a TOOL of the dominant society. They don't care how many of them are killed just as they don't care how many soldiers that they send off to fight meaningless wars come back in body bags. They are the shovels throwing black and brown, and increasingly poor white bodies, into the bottomless hole of the Prison Industrial Complex. Our problems are bigger than police/community relations.
Third, lets not be short-sighted. Instead let us be more discerning. Intellectually as well as instinctively we know that not all police officers are bad. If we take the “kill the police” stance, what about your Uncle Bobby whose been the police for 25 years. What about your cousin's husband or wife who is the police. What if someone kills them for the acts of another officer? Then again, what constitutes an officer, who exactly IS the police? Do we count the officers who work in the county jail who brutalize and kill brothers every day? What about child support enforcement officers who carry badges and have arrest powers? We also can't be hypocritical, if a black officer kills a unarmed white man, why do we not become enraged then? Why do we not march if a black officer kills an unarmed black kid?
The long and short of it is, let us use this issue to develop strategies that uplift us as a whole and not be distracted by what is, in the long run, a symptom of the problem not the problem itself.
Drops mic and walks from stage drippin blackness.
POWER
Soooo, B-MO is tense. There have been non-stop reports of violence and looting. There have been objects thrown at the police, there has been destruction of private property. There have been those who say “fuck it, tear some shit up.” An even larger group has been quick to say “this is NOT the way.”
Now let me state at the outset. I don't do “protests,” not out of cowardice or lack of concern about the issues, just simply because I don't go places where I may get killed because of the actions of the person next to me. As the old folks always say, bullets don't have names.
I don't however have the same visceral reaction that many do when they see scenes of looting and destruction. I am of the mind that all movements for social change require two avenues. For those of you who didn't live through the latter parts of the civil rights era, many believe that MLK would not have been as successful if the threat of Malcolm X was there as a counterbalance. You either talk to us about it or we tear shit up. I know its a simplistic analysis but at its lowest common denominator, that's what it was. For those who will scream, “but they tearing they own shit up!” Let's look at that realistically. That's not “our” shit. We have all had that conversation where we complain about “outsiders” coming into our communities and taking our dollars back to their own. We accept businesses in our communities selling sub-standard, knock off, expired bullshit and are quick to say, “if the Koreans weren't here where would we get our goods? If the Pakistanis weren't here, where would we get our gas and snacks?” Well, I would respond with, where can you buy a fucking apple or fresh meat or fish? Where can you purchase healthy food to feed your family in the hood? We lament about the absence of black businesses in our communities. Why that phenomenon exists is the subject of countless articles and books. (Manning Marable, Walter Rodney, Dr. Claude Anderson to name a few) Then we do a curious thing, we call our own people animals for destroying (looting) those same businesses you complain about
We complain that it makes us look bad, we say that it gives the “man” a reason to treat us badly. What that line of reasoning neglects, however, is that the “man” never needed a reason to treat us badly. Everyone of those protesters could have been wearing white and holding a bible and they still would be treated badly. Major cities and institutions have policies and procedures set up to deal with peaceful dissent. The protesters are herded into designated areas and allowed to sing their songs, say their prayers and in some jurisdictions, you are allowed/required to file for a permit to protest. We go for that shit. They don't fear peaceful protest because they know as soon as it rains, or gets too hot or too cold, you're going home. They know that its Baltimore today, but something will jump in Jacksonville, or Kansas City or Minneapolis or any number of places in the US that we are being killed. We will then divert our protest attention to Justice for [insert name of the next person gunned down or mistreated by the police].
Some tend to compare our protests with other groups. They say “well white people don't act that way,” and to that I'll state that you are correct, white people HERE don't do that. In Europe, they TEAR SHIT UP. (See attached photos, better yet, Google Image search European protests) White folks in this country are COWARDS. They have nothing to protest for. They actually do but they just don't realize it yet. They are like the “good” Jews at the beginning of Hitler's reign, they thought they were safe. The people some are trying to compare us to are just happy its us that are getting our heads busted every time they interact with the police. In actuality, more whites are killed by police in America than us, but the media makes more money out of highlighting us. They don't care right now because its not scary enough for the majority of them. They won't protest because they still believe that Officer Friendly is there to protect him and they are right.
So we can't compare our methods to theirs and we need to stop asking others to do that. Some of us believe that in order to make them answer the door we must knock LOUDLY, to use an analogy. I don't presume to be a great orator or to have all the answers but I do think that Frederick Douglass was correct way back in 1857, back when we were still chattel slaves when he said:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”
We've tried words, it don't work.
Drops mic, walks from stage drippin blackness
Now let me state at the outset. I don't do “protests,” not out of cowardice or lack of concern about the issues, just simply because I don't go places where I may get killed because of the actions of the person next to me. As the old folks always say, bullets don't have names.
I don't however have the same visceral reaction that many do when they see scenes of looting and destruction. I am of the mind that all movements for social change require two avenues. For those of you who didn't live through the latter parts of the civil rights era, many believe that MLK would not have been as successful if the threat of Malcolm X was there as a counterbalance. You either talk to us about it or we tear shit up. I know its a simplistic analysis but at its lowest common denominator, that's what it was. For those who will scream, “but they tearing they own shit up!” Let's look at that realistically. That's not “our” shit. We have all had that conversation where we complain about “outsiders” coming into our communities and taking our dollars back to their own. We accept businesses in our communities selling sub-standard, knock off, expired bullshit and are quick to say, “if the Koreans weren't here where would we get our goods? If the Pakistanis weren't here, where would we get our gas and snacks?” Well, I would respond with, where can you buy a fucking apple or fresh meat or fish? Where can you purchase healthy food to feed your family in the hood? We lament about the absence of black businesses in our communities. Why that phenomenon exists is the subject of countless articles and books. (Manning Marable, Walter Rodney, Dr. Claude Anderson to name a few) Then we do a curious thing, we call our own people animals for destroying (looting) those same businesses you complain about
We complain that it makes us look bad, we say that it gives the “man” a reason to treat us badly. What that line of reasoning neglects, however, is that the “man” never needed a reason to treat us badly. Everyone of those protesters could have been wearing white and holding a bible and they still would be treated badly. Major cities and institutions have policies and procedures set up to deal with peaceful dissent. The protesters are herded into designated areas and allowed to sing their songs, say their prayers and in some jurisdictions, you are allowed/required to file for a permit to protest. We go for that shit. They don't fear peaceful protest because they know as soon as it rains, or gets too hot or too cold, you're going home. They know that its Baltimore today, but something will jump in Jacksonville, or Kansas City or Minneapolis or any number of places in the US that we are being killed. We will then divert our protest attention to Justice for [insert name of the next person gunned down or mistreated by the police].
Some tend to compare our protests with other groups. They say “well white people don't act that way,” and to that I'll state that you are correct, white people HERE don't do that. In Europe, they TEAR SHIT UP. (See attached photos, better yet, Google Image search European protests) White folks in this country are COWARDS. They have nothing to protest for. They actually do but they just don't realize it yet. They are like the “good” Jews at the beginning of Hitler's reign, they thought they were safe. The people some are trying to compare us to are just happy its us that are getting our heads busted every time they interact with the police. In actuality, more whites are killed by police in America than us, but the media makes more money out of highlighting us. They don't care right now because its not scary enough for the majority of them. They won't protest because they still believe that Officer Friendly is there to protect him and they are right.
So we can't compare our methods to theirs and we need to stop asking others to do that. Some of us believe that in order to make them answer the door we must knock LOUDLY, to use an analogy. I don't presume to be a great orator or to have all the answers but I do think that Frederick Douglass was correct way back in 1857, back when we were still chattel slaves when he said:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”
We've tried words, it don't work.
Drops mic, walks from stage drippin blackness
Emancipation: How Emerge & Thrive Despite A Felony on your Record
You are finally free from the belly of the beast. You have dreamed of this day for months and in some cases years. You have all of the expectations, desires and balled up emotions of any hostage that has been held in captivity. You have meticuously planned your first meal (usually something you can't get while in prison), who you will visit first (Moms if she's still living), and what woman you can't wait to see (usually your child's mother or whoever has stuck with you throughout the ordeal). Yep, you have it all planned. After that first day, however, what do you do to pick up the pieces of your life?
The most common mistake prisoners make while incarcerated, especially "short-timers" (anything less than ten years to serve) is to not plan for the non personal part of their reemergence into society. We know we'll eat good food, we know that some will be happy to see us, we know that they'll be plenty of alcohol, plenty of weed and plenty of sex. That's all personal. The fact of the matter is that after about a week, the party has ended. Now what do you do? You have no job, you're a squatter in someone else's space and unless you hit the lottery upon your release, you don't have any money. In most states when you are released from prison they give you whatever funds you have on your prison trust fund account and whatever remittance that particular state gives you after your incarceration. In Indiana it was $35.00. Yes, you read that correctly. I was given $35.00 and a good luck and released into the world. I was lucky enough to have a support system in place to make it, I also planned for this day so I was ready. If you DON'T have that support system . . . well, maybe now you see why recidivism rates are so high. (Before you go there, don't even think about shelters and food pantries as a panacea for the recently released, there are millions of homeless and down on their luck people out there that you are competing with) You're like a 14 year old child in everything except mentality (hopefully) and physical age.
First and formost, you have to bet on you. You say you're a hustler, you say you have a plan. Be that person who you looked at for years in the mirror in prison. (all prisoners talk to themselves, occupational hazard). If you have the skills, if you have the presence, if you have the ambition, start your own business. Be a consultant. Do crisis management. Offer your services as a mentor in the Juvenile Center or Work Release or even Job Corps. Market yourself as a subject matter expert in all things crime and criminal justice related. As an independent contractor you insulate yourself from the whole resume/application/background check process. Depending on what your skillset happens to be, you are just as valuable to companies as an equal as you are an employee. Don't go out seeking to be an employee, go out seeking to be a business owner/entreprenuer. That being said, some don't have the resources or ambition to be their own boss. Some just are looking for employment.
So what can you do? For some forward thinking prisoners, the journey through incarceration is seen as attending an exclusive men only college campus, just one with no parties, no homecoming and no girls dorm to raid. You have nothing but time, so why not use that time to better yourself? The forward thinking prisoner graduates with some sort of degree, be it liberal arts, a vocational arts degree or in more rare cases, an advanced graduate degree. What most don't realize is that the reason most can't find gainful employment after prison even with degree is not WHERE you got the degree but the missing years in your resume. Your degree doesn't have a footnote that says "earned while locked up." Your degree will look exactly the same as any degree conferred to any student at that same time. There are two ways to handle this conundrum. One way is to not mention it. You basically don't tell anyone you were locked up while getting your degree and deal with the background check when it comes up. That is not ideal for a number of reasons, first when the background check comes back, you will look dishonest, like you were trying to hide your past. Secondly, it makes a prospective employer look even harder into your background to find out the particulars of your crime. You should never want employers making value judgments based upon a few words included in your criminal background. Its a very short leap to see Assault with a Deadly Weapon to imagining that assault happening in the workplace. Some employers won't even ask for fear of setting you off, so your application is trashed before you make it back to the parking lot. (Trust me, I believe its happened to me a few times) The best approach is to emphasize and highlight your accomplishment. If you made the Dean's List a few times, graduated with an exceptionally high grade point average or won a few awards, make that the topic of discussion not where you took classes.
Before your release you should also start to lay the groundwork for future employment. Write letters to businesses, organizations or corporations where you want to work. Send out hundreds of them, hey, what else do you have to do? Introduce yourself, include information about the company or organization, show the hiring manager that you have done the research into the company. Explain that despite your circumstances your employment would be a value add for that company. I always encourage brothers to pursue degrees in the Social Sciences. The reason for that is these professionals are usually more liberal and understanding then just going get a BBA or an MBA as your chances or rising very far in a profit driven professional are limited, one because you are black and two because you killed four or five people. (Normal people frown on that whole death and dismemberment thing, who knew?) In the social sciences field you have a built in advantage, if going to prison can be seen as advantageous by any stretch of the imagination. Other professionals can talk about being in the life based upon what they've read in textbooks. You can talk about it from experience. When you talk to at risk youth for example, your guidance and admonitions are more valuable than someone who can talk the talk but has never walked the walk. You can look at a room of youngsters and say "I know what is about to happen to you if you continue down this road, I've been there and THIS is what the likely outcome will be." That is invaluable to organizations that do this type of work.
Additionally, from an opportunity standpoint, there are simply more positions available to you as an ex-prisoner. If you earn your degree and you want middle management with a large firm, the numbers are against you. Its not ALL about racism or discrimination against you as a recently released felon, its simply numbers. If a given field employs say 3.1 million people nationwide, at any given time there will be at most a few thousand positions available due to churn, retirement, promotions and such. There are literally millions of individuals applying for those same jobs, your resume has to rise to the top of that pile, that is a heavy lift with your criminal background. Why hire you when this white guy over here with no record is available also. In social sciences however, those are not glamour jobs, those are positions filled with people who want to help. You won't get rich, there are no stock options to receive but you will be able to make a good living and help people along the way. Its at this point where your incarceration becomes somewhat of a selling point. If the organization deals with youth at a station on the school to prison rail line, you can be an asset at that station.
Lastly, the hidden gem out there that people overlook is GOVERNMENT WORK. Believe it or not, with a degree in Social Science you can work in most any state. EXACTLY 90 days after my release I was hired by the State of Indiana in the Family and Social Services Administration. Ten months later I was a Caseworker and after about a year I was an Eligibility Consultant. Most states hire felons in a variety of postions and divisions. So does the Federal Government. I don't know if its a matter of being more liberal in their devotion to non-discriminatory hiring or what. It just seems to be a better fit for those with degrees and felonies that are looking work. Try the Social Security Administration, as well as the Department of Veteran's Affairs. You'll be surprised. Again, you won't get rich but you won't starve either. The selling point for any government job is the benefits anyway.
Don't misunderstand, there will be bumps in the road. Your co-workers WILL find out that you have a felony and they WILL hate on you. I had one who wrote a letter to HR at the state capitol because she was mad I received a promotion to a position that she had been trying to get for years. You will somewhat isolated at first until they get to know you. You will be questioned by them to find out what you went down for. Don't lie because your case is a matter of public record. Tell them to look it up but mostly don't let anyone push your buttons because that hostility will be there until they are comfortable. Some will never look at you as equal but that's on them, don't feed into it.
Lastly, always remember you have been through an ordeal that many of them cannot imagine. I never went to a country club prison. I never went to a Correctional Facility (that's the new age name). I did time in PRISON behind a wall where everything is gray concrete and greenish blue streel bars, chickenwire and razorwire. I survived it and came out better for it. THAT is your advantage. Go with confidence because even though you will be denied more than you win, all you need is one job. One toe in the door and you're off and running. Look at those around you, even those looking down their nose at you and KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can't do what you did. Not going down, anyone can get caught up, but getting up after going down. THAT IS WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL, YOU GOT BACK UP, MANY DON'T.
old school joint
Drops mic and walks from stage drippin blackness.
The most common mistake prisoners make while incarcerated, especially "short-timers" (anything less than ten years to serve) is to not plan for the non personal part of their reemergence into society. We know we'll eat good food, we know that some will be happy to see us, we know that they'll be plenty of alcohol, plenty of weed and plenty of sex. That's all personal. The fact of the matter is that after about a week, the party has ended. Now what do you do? You have no job, you're a squatter in someone else's space and unless you hit the lottery upon your release, you don't have any money. In most states when you are released from prison they give you whatever funds you have on your prison trust fund account and whatever remittance that particular state gives you after your incarceration. In Indiana it was $35.00. Yes, you read that correctly. I was given $35.00 and a good luck and released into the world. I was lucky enough to have a support system in place to make it, I also planned for this day so I was ready. If you DON'T have that support system . . . well, maybe now you see why recidivism rates are so high. (Before you go there, don't even think about shelters and food pantries as a panacea for the recently released, there are millions of homeless and down on their luck people out there that you are competing with) You're like a 14 year old child in everything except mentality (hopefully) and physical age.
First and formost, you have to bet on you. You say you're a hustler, you say you have a plan. Be that person who you looked at for years in the mirror in prison. (all prisoners talk to themselves, occupational hazard). If you have the skills, if you have the presence, if you have the ambition, start your own business. Be a consultant. Do crisis management. Offer your services as a mentor in the Juvenile Center or Work Release or even Job Corps. Market yourself as a subject matter expert in all things crime and criminal justice related. As an independent contractor you insulate yourself from the whole resume/application/background check process. Depending on what your skillset happens to be, you are just as valuable to companies as an equal as you are an employee. Don't go out seeking to be an employee, go out seeking to be a business owner/entreprenuer. That being said, some don't have the resources or ambition to be their own boss. Some just are looking for employment.
So what can you do? For some forward thinking prisoners, the journey through incarceration is seen as attending an exclusive men only college campus, just one with no parties, no homecoming and no girls dorm to raid. You have nothing but time, so why not use that time to better yourself? The forward thinking prisoner graduates with some sort of degree, be it liberal arts, a vocational arts degree or in more rare cases, an advanced graduate degree. What most don't realize is that the reason most can't find gainful employment after prison even with degree is not WHERE you got the degree but the missing years in your resume. Your degree doesn't have a footnote that says "earned while locked up." Your degree will look exactly the same as any degree conferred to any student at that same time. There are two ways to handle this conundrum. One way is to not mention it. You basically don't tell anyone you were locked up while getting your degree and deal with the background check when it comes up. That is not ideal for a number of reasons, first when the background check comes back, you will look dishonest, like you were trying to hide your past. Secondly, it makes a prospective employer look even harder into your background to find out the particulars of your crime. You should never want employers making value judgments based upon a few words included in your criminal background. Its a very short leap to see Assault with a Deadly Weapon to imagining that assault happening in the workplace. Some employers won't even ask for fear of setting you off, so your application is trashed before you make it back to the parking lot. (Trust me, I believe its happened to me a few times) The best approach is to emphasize and highlight your accomplishment. If you made the Dean's List a few times, graduated with an exceptionally high grade point average or won a few awards, make that the topic of discussion not where you took classes.
Before your release you should also start to lay the groundwork for future employment. Write letters to businesses, organizations or corporations where you want to work. Send out hundreds of them, hey, what else do you have to do? Introduce yourself, include information about the company or organization, show the hiring manager that you have done the research into the company. Explain that despite your circumstances your employment would be a value add for that company. I always encourage brothers to pursue degrees in the Social Sciences. The reason for that is these professionals are usually more liberal and understanding then just going get a BBA or an MBA as your chances or rising very far in a profit driven professional are limited, one because you are black and two because you killed four or five people. (Normal people frown on that whole death and dismemberment thing, who knew?) In the social sciences field you have a built in advantage, if going to prison can be seen as advantageous by any stretch of the imagination. Other professionals can talk about being in the life based upon what they've read in textbooks. You can talk about it from experience. When you talk to at risk youth for example, your guidance and admonitions are more valuable than someone who can talk the talk but has never walked the walk. You can look at a room of youngsters and say "I know what is about to happen to you if you continue down this road, I've been there and THIS is what the likely outcome will be." That is invaluable to organizations that do this type of work.
Additionally, from an opportunity standpoint, there are simply more positions available to you as an ex-prisoner. If you earn your degree and you want middle management with a large firm, the numbers are against you. Its not ALL about racism or discrimination against you as a recently released felon, its simply numbers. If a given field employs say 3.1 million people nationwide, at any given time there will be at most a few thousand positions available due to churn, retirement, promotions and such. There are literally millions of individuals applying for those same jobs, your resume has to rise to the top of that pile, that is a heavy lift with your criminal background. Why hire you when this white guy over here with no record is available also. In social sciences however, those are not glamour jobs, those are positions filled with people who want to help. You won't get rich, there are no stock options to receive but you will be able to make a good living and help people along the way. Its at this point where your incarceration becomes somewhat of a selling point. If the organization deals with youth at a station on the school to prison rail line, you can be an asset at that station.
Lastly, the hidden gem out there that people overlook is GOVERNMENT WORK. Believe it or not, with a degree in Social Science you can work in most any state. EXACTLY 90 days after my release I was hired by the State of Indiana in the Family and Social Services Administration. Ten months later I was a Caseworker and after about a year I was an Eligibility Consultant. Most states hire felons in a variety of postions and divisions. So does the Federal Government. I don't know if its a matter of being more liberal in their devotion to non-discriminatory hiring or what. It just seems to be a better fit for those with degrees and felonies that are looking work. Try the Social Security Administration, as well as the Department of Veteran's Affairs. You'll be surprised. Again, you won't get rich but you won't starve either. The selling point for any government job is the benefits anyway.
Don't misunderstand, there will be bumps in the road. Your co-workers WILL find out that you have a felony and they WILL hate on you. I had one who wrote a letter to HR at the state capitol because she was mad I received a promotion to a position that she had been trying to get for years. You will somewhat isolated at first until they get to know you. You will be questioned by them to find out what you went down for. Don't lie because your case is a matter of public record. Tell them to look it up but mostly don't let anyone push your buttons because that hostility will be there until they are comfortable. Some will never look at you as equal but that's on them, don't feed into it.
Lastly, always remember you have been through an ordeal that many of them cannot imagine. I never went to a country club prison. I never went to a Correctional Facility (that's the new age name). I did time in PRISON behind a wall where everything is gray concrete and greenish blue streel bars, chickenwire and razorwire. I survived it and came out better for it. THAT is your advantage. Go with confidence because even though you will be denied more than you win, all you need is one job. One toe in the door and you're off and running. Look at those around you, even those looking down their nose at you and KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can't do what you did. Not going down, anyone can get caught up, but getting up after going down. THAT IS WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL, YOU GOT BACK UP, MANY DON'T.
old school joint
Drops mic and walks from stage drippin blackness.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Inside Stories
Finally I have time to sit down and put something on paper. I know that there are some who may disagree about some of the things I say or disbelieve my prose, however, when I talk about the “other” side, I'm talking from experience. When I wrote One Day Shy http://ghostndamachine.blogspot.com/2014/01/one-day-shy.html I gave notice that I had made ten years out of captivity and I would begin to share my experiences. I watched the young brother getting slammed by the police in Riker's Island and the bullshit “gang” fight that erupted later on. This video brings back vivid memories of my vacation. Many of us do not have the ability to describe that journey due to our lack of being able to use “white folks words.” Many of us have witnessed brutality behind bars that is almost beyond imagining. Hollywood has yet to provide a window into that world that's even CLOSE to being realistic. You have to go all the way back to the '70's to find good movies about prison (Penitentiary etc.) What you see on this video isn't even the tip of the iceberg, its a atom in the top 1% of the tip of the iceberg.
No one that has not been through these experiences can understand what its like being inside a space with other aggressive males where EVERYTHING is concrete and steel. Add to the mix the sadistic, high school drop out, borderline schizophrenic white boys who come to work there because they think they are tough. In my entire time inside I never met one who didn't have a desire to be the “real” police. They are gun nuts, militia members and in a lot of cases members of white supremacist organizations. But that's prison.
White media organizations call RI (Riker's Island) a prison, its not. Any brother from New York will tell you, RI is the equivalent of the County Jails that exist in little white towns in rings around all large cities with large populations of blacks and browns. That's why you see the odd brother in these videos, they are generally good brothers caught up in bad situations. That affects them, they don't come there to beat up prisoners but in their effort to fit in they do. Not all of them, a few. Generally they stay out of bullshit because to them its a job, a way to pay for little Keisha's braces and they know if they in it, they are like the first brother on tv shows, he ALWAYS gets killed, they will be the sacrifice. The white boys are there for the blood sport. The believe the bullshit put out by the media, that we are animals, that we are inherently prone to criminality. No, my friend we are more prone to poverty.
These county jails are essentially concrete and steel holding pens full of frustrated, afraid, confused brothers who have no idea of what's about to happen. They cling to the gang more out of familiarity than out of cowardice or allegiance. These holding pens are all sharp corners and blunt objects. You can get slammed on the table and be killed. You can take a awkward twist while WINNING a fight and kill yourself. Its a brutal existence. These are the unsung brothers, the brothers that didn't kill anyone, the brothers that caught with some weed. The brothers who stole a car. The brothers who, if they existed in a certain unmelaninated state, is going home with probation. These are brothers who can barely read trying to understand a process that is filled with dense, confusing terms. They will come out of these court proceedings with decades of time and they are mixed in with brothers that will get time served. Also of major importance is the fact that in some cases these brothers have been in JAIL for years. This brother had been there for 3 years for something he didn't do. It took you three YEARS to figure out that he didn't steal a damn backpack? There are tens of thousands of brother in this very same situation right now. Los Angeles County has 20,000 inmates, New York has 15,000, Houston has 11,000, Chicago 10,000, Phoenix 10,000 (for the browns), Philly 10,000. I could go on but the point is each of the largest jails in this country are in or around large populations of us and that's what locked up there, us. I'll deal with the finances of such a large population of captive humans in a future article. Suffice it to say, Philly makes 40,000 meals everyday, somebody getting paid to make those donuts.
Inside those jails are two types of prisoner. One is a gang affiliated youngsta, the other is what is called in some places a neutron. He's a brother that came to jail that wasn't in a gang. Because of his status, he is considered fair game for the lower ranking inmates to prove themselves on. Problem is, some of these youngstas can bump. They not in a gang because they can't be FORCED to join. At the outset I said that this video was bullshit. I say that because I've seen what gangs can do when they want to hurt you. This dude was jumped by at least seven people, he came out without a mark and was moving well. I saw a group of young guys jump on a white guy for snitching in the section. They threw a blanket over his head while he was in bed and beat him with socks with padlocks and bars of soap in them. That white boy looked like Frankenstein when he walked out to the bulletproof glass that separates the guards from the prisoners. He collapsed, they came got him and that was that. They weren't really trying to hurt him. When the gang rides in jail, most times you end up either dead or in the hospital.
He got slammed by the brother. Mannnn, I had a homeboy named P-Mo, he was one of those guys, he decided that he had a bigger fight with the system than he had with any other gang so he left the gang. Some didn't like that but P-Mo could fight. 150 pounds of fire in both hands. After knocking out some teeth and punkin heading a couple of guys, they left him alone. He then began a 5 year fight with the police. He was on Segregation where there are no cameras, where there are all white staff. He's in there beating them up sometimes once a week. After about five years of using him as a training aid for new officers on the unit they broke his neck in a “cell extraction.” Where would you be taking someone whose locked in a cell about half the size of the the average bathroom in the hood 23 hours of of the day? That happens everyday in the county. I would be willing to bet its happening as I write this and as you will read it.
If you are concerned with what is happening on the street, how we seem to be targeted by law enforcement, you have to be even MORE concerned about how we are treated behind bars. 97% of these brothers are coming home to you. They will suffer from PTPD (Post-Traumatic Incarceration Disorder). It is similar in nature to PTSD but it is caused by the singularly unique phenomenon of prison. There is conflict all around you. You live in a twilight world stuck between hope and reality. At least in war you can shoot back. In jail/prison your enemy doesn't have a heart to stab, it doesn't have a head to crack. You can't fight it, because we don't even know what “it” is.
Most of us have at least one fairly close family member or friend that is locked up. We haven't thought of them in a while because we have lives. Ask him, and increasingly her, what its like. Let them tell the story of what's behind the walls of those fortresses that you drive by everyday. Post those stories, let the world know that we make a big deal about how violent prisons are in other places yet our jails are no better. In many cases they are worse because they don't have to be that way.
This is JAIL folks, this is BEFORE you get a sentence. This is before the real show begins. This is the skirmish before the real war. This is the Hoosegow, next is the Pokey. .
Next up: Prison
No one that has not been through these experiences can understand what its like being inside a space with other aggressive males where EVERYTHING is concrete and steel. Add to the mix the sadistic, high school drop out, borderline schizophrenic white boys who come to work there because they think they are tough. In my entire time inside I never met one who didn't have a desire to be the “real” police. They are gun nuts, militia members and in a lot of cases members of white supremacist organizations. But that's prison.
White media organizations call RI (Riker's Island) a prison, its not. Any brother from New York will tell you, RI is the equivalent of the County Jails that exist in little white towns in rings around all large cities with large populations of blacks and browns. That's why you see the odd brother in these videos, they are generally good brothers caught up in bad situations. That affects them, they don't come there to beat up prisoners but in their effort to fit in they do. Not all of them, a few. Generally they stay out of bullshit because to them its a job, a way to pay for little Keisha's braces and they know if they in it, they are like the first brother on tv shows, he ALWAYS gets killed, they will be the sacrifice. The white boys are there for the blood sport. The believe the bullshit put out by the media, that we are animals, that we are inherently prone to criminality. No, my friend we are more prone to poverty.
These county jails are essentially concrete and steel holding pens full of frustrated, afraid, confused brothers who have no idea of what's about to happen. They cling to the gang more out of familiarity than out of cowardice or allegiance. These holding pens are all sharp corners and blunt objects. You can get slammed on the table and be killed. You can take a awkward twist while WINNING a fight and kill yourself. Its a brutal existence. These are the unsung brothers, the brothers that didn't kill anyone, the brothers that caught with some weed. The brothers who stole a car. The brothers who, if they existed in a certain unmelaninated state, is going home with probation. These are brothers who can barely read trying to understand a process that is filled with dense, confusing terms. They will come out of these court proceedings with decades of time and they are mixed in with brothers that will get time served. Also of major importance is the fact that in some cases these brothers have been in JAIL for years. This brother had been there for 3 years for something he didn't do. It took you three YEARS to figure out that he didn't steal a damn backpack? There are tens of thousands of brother in this very same situation right now. Los Angeles County has 20,000 inmates, New York has 15,000, Houston has 11,000, Chicago 10,000, Phoenix 10,000 (for the browns), Philly 10,000. I could go on but the point is each of the largest jails in this country are in or around large populations of us and that's what locked up there, us. I'll deal with the finances of such a large population of captive humans in a future article. Suffice it to say, Philly makes 40,000 meals everyday, somebody getting paid to make those donuts.
Inside those jails are two types of prisoner. One is a gang affiliated youngsta, the other is what is called in some places a neutron. He's a brother that came to jail that wasn't in a gang. Because of his status, he is considered fair game for the lower ranking inmates to prove themselves on. Problem is, some of these youngstas can bump. They not in a gang because they can't be FORCED to join. At the outset I said that this video was bullshit. I say that because I've seen what gangs can do when they want to hurt you. This dude was jumped by at least seven people, he came out without a mark and was moving well. I saw a group of young guys jump on a white guy for snitching in the section. They threw a blanket over his head while he was in bed and beat him with socks with padlocks and bars of soap in them. That white boy looked like Frankenstein when he walked out to the bulletproof glass that separates the guards from the prisoners. He collapsed, they came got him and that was that. They weren't really trying to hurt him. When the gang rides in jail, most times you end up either dead or in the hospital.
He got slammed by the brother. Mannnn, I had a homeboy named P-Mo, he was one of those guys, he decided that he had a bigger fight with the system than he had with any other gang so he left the gang. Some didn't like that but P-Mo could fight. 150 pounds of fire in both hands. After knocking out some teeth and punkin heading a couple of guys, they left him alone. He then began a 5 year fight with the police. He was on Segregation where there are no cameras, where there are all white staff. He's in there beating them up sometimes once a week. After about five years of using him as a training aid for new officers on the unit they broke his neck in a “cell extraction.” Where would you be taking someone whose locked in a cell about half the size of the the average bathroom in the hood 23 hours of of the day? That happens everyday in the county. I would be willing to bet its happening as I write this and as you will read it.
If you are concerned with what is happening on the street, how we seem to be targeted by law enforcement, you have to be even MORE concerned about how we are treated behind bars. 97% of these brothers are coming home to you. They will suffer from PTPD (Post-Traumatic Incarceration Disorder). It is similar in nature to PTSD but it is caused by the singularly unique phenomenon of prison. There is conflict all around you. You live in a twilight world stuck between hope and reality. At least in war you can shoot back. In jail/prison your enemy doesn't have a heart to stab, it doesn't have a head to crack. You can't fight it, because we don't even know what “it” is.
Most of us have at least one fairly close family member or friend that is locked up. We haven't thought of them in a while because we have lives. Ask him, and increasingly her, what its like. Let them tell the story of what's behind the walls of those fortresses that you drive by everyday. Post those stories, let the world know that we make a big deal about how violent prisons are in other places yet our jails are no better. In many cases they are worse because they don't have to be that way.
This is JAIL folks, this is BEFORE you get a sentence. This is before the real show begins. This is the skirmish before the real war. This is the Hoosegow, next is the Pokey. .
Next up: Prison
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
The Road Often Traveled
There is a petition on WH.gov that seeks signatures for the purpose of restoring basic rights to the literally millions of ex-convicts who lost those rights due to their convictions and prison terms. Most people can tell you about the bigger items of disenfranchisement that occur when you are convicted of a felony. Many know about forfeiting your right to vote in many jurisdictions, your right to right to own a firearm even for protection and depending on your conviction, your right to hold certain positions either in the workplace or public office.
What people don't know is how much deeper it is than just the two or three examples that some people can come up with. Being an ex-prisoner is like being a tourist in your own community. I use the term ex-prisoner because the term ex-convict is a misnomer. Its a term that doesn't actually mean what most think it does. In this country, you are NEVER an “ex” convict. You are a person that has been convicted of a crime that has either served your “debt” to society or did not get sentenced to jail time. Release from prison has absolutely nothing to do with that label “convict.” In very, very, exceedingly rare cases (if you are not white, rich or know too many secrets to be allowed to write a book) you can apply either to your governor (in state convictions) or the President (federal cases) for a pardon but pardons are subject to restrictions that vary from state to state such as only being applicable to arrests that do not lead to a subsequent conviction or smaller, less serious crimes such as forgery, voter fraud, embezzlement, see where I'm going, basically “white collar” crimes. It is designed that way to allow the lighter skinned crooks free reign to continue being crooks, just be better at it the next time. Pardons are also given rarely to those who have stayed out of prison for a lengthy time that varies from state to state with no more contact with the criminal justice system. Maybe one out of every 100,000 of these are granted. I'll have to look up the stats to find out the true numbers, but trust me, you have a better chance of being attacked by a brown bear and a polar bear on the same day you were attacked by a shark, on the beach. If you are black, and your crime is anything more serious than say you stole a bike at 16, you have a better chance of hitting the Powerball and MegaMillions on the same day. In other words, yeah its possible but HIGHLY unlikely.
That being said, you are never going to be an ex-convict. Now that you have that scarlet C branded on your forehead, what are your options? Well to be honest, you don't have many. Lets talk about housing. You can't live just anywhere as your conviction bars you from any housing complex that accepts federal dollars (notice how I used a euphemism for the projects) Yes, you can't live in the worst places in most cities. A lot of people think it only applies to drug cases, that's not true, it also applies to “violent” crimes of which we all know the biggies, Murder, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, etc. But guess, what, the term “violent” means many things to many people, in some jurisdictions, its burglary, some its car theft, if you have a weapon with you. Its possession of a unregistered firearm. I don't know about you my readers, but I don't know many ex-prisoners that don't have one of the two types of convictions, especially black ex-prisoners. A common tactic used by prosecuting/district attorneys is to load black defendant's up with every crime that they can think of that could possibly stick. That's how a lone shooting, or burglary, or theft ends up carrying 100 years in prison. If the defendant is white, there is an effort to find the least serious crime that fits the fact, but that's an article for another time. Its not just what happens at sentencing that is unjust and outright racist, it begins the moment the police read you your rights. So most of your guys that you know just got out the joint are living with their baby momma, Mother, girlfriend, or family and are NOT on the lease. That's allowed as well as it creates the perfect trap for catching and developing snitches. Police pull up to her door, tell her they want information on this or that, if she refuses they tell her that she knows its a violation of her lease to have Bobby living here and they can evict her tomorrow (actually they can't but most people don't read their leases further than how much they have to pay).
We already know and have been exhaustively inundated with stories of employment discrimination by unscrupulous bosses. From forcing those on parole/probation to work longer hours for no pay knowing that a call to the ex-prisoner's PO will result in his going back to prison. If your check is short, who are you going to complain to? You can't just quit as part of your parole/probation agreement is you remain gainfully employed. But what if you can't find a job? FIND A JOB!!!!! Or go back to prison/jail. But Jalal I see/know plenty of ex-prisoners that don't have a job, did you ever ask them if they are in violation of their parole/probation? Many remain on the street because one, there's no place to house them, two, the authorities know its just a matter of time before they commit another crime or three, its not that important. The revolving door as always turning, its a never ending money pit for the powers that be. More ex-prisoners on the street, more money we can ask for in police presence especially if they are all in one place. The more enterprising of these brothers cannot even start their own businesses due to the fact that depending on the profession, many require licensing by the state they are in. For example, in Texas, you are disqualified from selling insurance, real estate, liquor, candy, among other things on a list so long it would be twice as long as this article. You also cannot be a fireman (why after a conviction you can't run in a building to save a life I'll never know), policeman, probation officer, counselor (in most places, some will allow you to be a therapist/assistant). You also are precluded from being licensed as a cosmetologist, social worker, PhD, MD, or J.D. (attorney). You can't be a member of the bar so being a “certified/licensed” paralegal is prohibited. Basically all the professions that would allow the ex-prisoner to raise his standard of living so that he does not have to commit crime just to eat every day are removed from possibility.
Lastly lets deal with the intangible effects of a criminal conviction. These are effects that are not codified in any law, rule or regulation. What happens when you are an ex-prisoner is that you immediately become index-able. You become visible in that electronic frontier called the world wide web. That has drastic effect upon not only your housing/employment opportunities but also to whether you are accepted in large swaths of this society. With the growth of businesses like Emily's List and InstantBackgroundCheck, or as I call it niggawitagun.com, now anyone can find out exactly who you are and what you were charged with. This has ramifications well beyond the noble and intended function of not wanting a sex-offender repairing your child's ceiling. It also means that if your name comes up at all, possible business opportunities simply move on. It also means that there are now maps that show not only where the rapist/child molesters live but also where the armed robbers live and burglars live. Hover over a name and up pops his criminal history with everything but the most important thing, THE DATE THE CRIME WAS COMMITTED. So now you live on the same block as Sammy the baby booty bandit who just got out last month and you haven't committed a crime in 30 years. You'll notice also that there is curious effect that I call convict redlining. All these individuals usually live in the same areas of town. They are pushed into these areas and people are surprised that the crime rates are decidedly higher in those areas. Also read into the fact that sex/violent offenders cannot live within a decidedly ambiguous and arbitrary number of feet of a school. What is a school, anything they say a school is, after school programs at the community center, school. Weekend bible study at church, school. If you own a home and the street is rezoned for a elementary school across the street in that vacant lot, guess what, YOU HAVE TO MOVE. So you sell your home and decide to move to the 'burbs. The first thing that the homeowner's association is going to do is run a background check on you and by law they don't have to accept you. Because more of us don't own our homes, we never think about how quietly these associations have grown in power to the point where even if you somehow make through the mortgage process, they are that last line of defense. It even trickles down to apartment complexes. High end complexes won't let you rent if your car has rust or a broken muffler, even if you somehow dodge the whole “felony conviction” thing.
To make this even more personal, let me tell you about an incident that happened to me. My son turned four and in Texas that means he could go to preschool. Now since we live in an upscale part of Dallas, down the street from Deon Sanders, around the corner from a few Mavericks, there is serious MONEY here. I'm just playing the sidelines trying to provide a better life for my kids, you know the usual Amerikkkan dream bullshit. The preschool he ended up at is surrounded by upscale homes, the students dropped off in Benzes, Beamers and the occasional Rolls. (Google Frisco, Texas you'll know what I mean) I could care less about any of that, I drove up in my Dodge and didn't bat an eye. To say my son was one of the few black kids is an understatement, maybe 15, 20 in the whole school. My kid is friendly, not too militant (yet) and made lots of little white friends. On one occasion, the school had a parade in the school for all the little kiddos to show off their artwork. My wife couldn't get off so I said “what the hell” I'll go, its my kid. Now this is one of those schools that looks normal from the outside but go through the bomb proof doors on the other side of the concrete car stoppers, its a virtual prison inside. You have to be buzzed into the office. No just walking down the hallway. Must provide your DL to see your own child. But this is where shit went left. When you provide that DL, they do an instant background check. Guess what mine showed, yep, you got it. Additionally let me explain the insidiousness of the process. Many states have combined Sex/Violent Offender databases, that means that the batterers are lumped into the same list as the molesters, the armed robbers with the rapists. So what you say, well when you go to the registry it is emblazoned across the top SEXUAL PREDATOR and violent offender registry. Most people don't dig into your profile to find out that you were just a shooter, they don't have to. The simple fact that they see predator is enough for them to move against you. I have a real good friend that was denied initial entry into a union due to a lowly paid functionary that only saw sexual on the top of the list and assumed that he was a rapist. He got it straightened out and now he's a journeyman electrician that makes over $50 an hour, but how many people don't get the benefit of the doubt? Back to the story, the principal pulled me into her office and told me that in order for me to stand in the hallway with 30 or 40 other parents to watch a five minute procession of 4 year olds, she would have to “escort” me. So here I am being “policed” by a 5 foot nothing inch, 100 pound, with a brick in her pocket, white woman whose there to make sure that I didn't “cause any issues,” as she put it. Like I would come to the school to commit a crime in front of my kid. I was bracing myself for her to ask to frisk me.
Its kind of amusing to me as I know the fear that even a nice guy like me can engender in the average white person. That is what it is like to have that weight around your neck. That's the kind of experience that is not written about in the media or in books about the struggle. Those are the “death of a thousand paper cuts” that brothers go thru every day just trying to stay out of prison. So would I sign a petition that called for the rights of ex-prisoners to be reinstated, hell to the yeah, I would. Removing that disability would mean that my family and I could live wherever we would like and it wouldn't depend on whether or not the “community” accepted them and not me. It would mean that if some fool enters my home at 3:00 am with malice aforethought I could meet him with hollow points and not have the first question by the police be “do you know you are not allowed to be around firearms?” It would mean that I would be able to enter school grounds without a “bodyguard” being present. It would mean that when my name is ran through a thousand databases around the U.S., the first thing that pops up won't be ex-prisoner. That would mean that my chances of getting a loan for a mortgage or a vehicle won't be dependent on my criminal history. (oh, you didn't know that loan companies run background checks, you betta recognize) That would mean that when the police pull me over for a broken tail light when they run my license it won't buzz telling them that I'm a dangerous ex-prisoner that needs to be approached cautiously (read: that means keep his hands in sight and your hand on your weapon cause this nigga crazy) That would mean that I could raise my voice without seeming even more threatening that most brothers and sister are already. What that would mean in the end is I would be discriminated against, hated, feared, and discounted because I was a black guy like everyone else, not a black guy with a felony.
Drops mic, walks from stage, drippin blackness.
What people don't know is how much deeper it is than just the two or three examples that some people can come up with. Being an ex-prisoner is like being a tourist in your own community. I use the term ex-prisoner because the term ex-convict is a misnomer. Its a term that doesn't actually mean what most think it does. In this country, you are NEVER an “ex” convict. You are a person that has been convicted of a crime that has either served your “debt” to society or did not get sentenced to jail time. Release from prison has absolutely nothing to do with that label “convict.” In very, very, exceedingly rare cases (if you are not white, rich or know too many secrets to be allowed to write a book) you can apply either to your governor (in state convictions) or the President (federal cases) for a pardon but pardons are subject to restrictions that vary from state to state such as only being applicable to arrests that do not lead to a subsequent conviction or smaller, less serious crimes such as forgery, voter fraud, embezzlement, see where I'm going, basically “white collar” crimes. It is designed that way to allow the lighter skinned crooks free reign to continue being crooks, just be better at it the next time. Pardons are also given rarely to those who have stayed out of prison for a lengthy time that varies from state to state with no more contact with the criminal justice system. Maybe one out of every 100,000 of these are granted. I'll have to look up the stats to find out the true numbers, but trust me, you have a better chance of being attacked by a brown bear and a polar bear on the same day you were attacked by a shark, on the beach. If you are black, and your crime is anything more serious than say you stole a bike at 16, you have a better chance of hitting the Powerball and MegaMillions on the same day. In other words, yeah its possible but HIGHLY unlikely.
That being said, you are never going to be an ex-convict. Now that you have that scarlet C branded on your forehead, what are your options? Well to be honest, you don't have many. Lets talk about housing. You can't live just anywhere as your conviction bars you from any housing complex that accepts federal dollars (notice how I used a euphemism for the projects) Yes, you can't live in the worst places in most cities. A lot of people think it only applies to drug cases, that's not true, it also applies to “violent” crimes of which we all know the biggies, Murder, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, etc. But guess, what, the term “violent” means many things to many people, in some jurisdictions, its burglary, some its car theft, if you have a weapon with you. Its possession of a unregistered firearm. I don't know about you my readers, but I don't know many ex-prisoners that don't have one of the two types of convictions, especially black ex-prisoners. A common tactic used by prosecuting/district attorneys is to load black defendant's up with every crime that they can think of that could possibly stick. That's how a lone shooting, or burglary, or theft ends up carrying 100 years in prison. If the defendant is white, there is an effort to find the least serious crime that fits the fact, but that's an article for another time. Its not just what happens at sentencing that is unjust and outright racist, it begins the moment the police read you your rights. So most of your guys that you know just got out the joint are living with their baby momma, Mother, girlfriend, or family and are NOT on the lease. That's allowed as well as it creates the perfect trap for catching and developing snitches. Police pull up to her door, tell her they want information on this or that, if she refuses they tell her that she knows its a violation of her lease to have Bobby living here and they can evict her tomorrow (actually they can't but most people don't read their leases further than how much they have to pay).
We already know and have been exhaustively inundated with stories of employment discrimination by unscrupulous bosses. From forcing those on parole/probation to work longer hours for no pay knowing that a call to the ex-prisoner's PO will result in his going back to prison. If your check is short, who are you going to complain to? You can't just quit as part of your parole/probation agreement is you remain gainfully employed. But what if you can't find a job? FIND A JOB!!!!! Or go back to prison/jail. But Jalal I see/know plenty of ex-prisoners that don't have a job, did you ever ask them if they are in violation of their parole/probation? Many remain on the street because one, there's no place to house them, two, the authorities know its just a matter of time before they commit another crime or three, its not that important. The revolving door as always turning, its a never ending money pit for the powers that be. More ex-prisoners on the street, more money we can ask for in police presence especially if they are all in one place. The more enterprising of these brothers cannot even start their own businesses due to the fact that depending on the profession, many require licensing by the state they are in. For example, in Texas, you are disqualified from selling insurance, real estate, liquor, candy, among other things on a list so long it would be twice as long as this article. You also cannot be a fireman (why after a conviction you can't run in a building to save a life I'll never know), policeman, probation officer, counselor (in most places, some will allow you to be a therapist/assistant). You also are precluded from being licensed as a cosmetologist, social worker, PhD, MD, or J.D. (attorney). You can't be a member of the bar so being a “certified/licensed” paralegal is prohibited. Basically all the professions that would allow the ex-prisoner to raise his standard of living so that he does not have to commit crime just to eat every day are removed from possibility.
Lastly lets deal with the intangible effects of a criminal conviction. These are effects that are not codified in any law, rule or regulation. What happens when you are an ex-prisoner is that you immediately become index-able. You become visible in that electronic frontier called the world wide web. That has drastic effect upon not only your housing/employment opportunities but also to whether you are accepted in large swaths of this society. With the growth of businesses like Emily's List and InstantBackgroundCheck, or as I call it niggawitagun.com, now anyone can find out exactly who you are and what you were charged with. This has ramifications well beyond the noble and intended function of not wanting a sex-offender repairing your child's ceiling. It also means that if your name comes up at all, possible business opportunities simply move on. It also means that there are now maps that show not only where the rapist/child molesters live but also where the armed robbers live and burglars live. Hover over a name and up pops his criminal history with everything but the most important thing, THE DATE THE CRIME WAS COMMITTED. So now you live on the same block as Sammy the baby booty bandit who just got out last month and you haven't committed a crime in 30 years. You'll notice also that there is curious effect that I call convict redlining. All these individuals usually live in the same areas of town. They are pushed into these areas and people are surprised that the crime rates are decidedly higher in those areas. Also read into the fact that sex/violent offenders cannot live within a decidedly ambiguous and arbitrary number of feet of a school. What is a school, anything they say a school is, after school programs at the community center, school. Weekend bible study at church, school. If you own a home and the street is rezoned for a elementary school across the street in that vacant lot, guess what, YOU HAVE TO MOVE. So you sell your home and decide to move to the 'burbs. The first thing that the homeowner's association is going to do is run a background check on you and by law they don't have to accept you. Because more of us don't own our homes, we never think about how quietly these associations have grown in power to the point where even if you somehow make through the mortgage process, they are that last line of defense. It even trickles down to apartment complexes. High end complexes won't let you rent if your car has rust or a broken muffler, even if you somehow dodge the whole “felony conviction” thing.
To make this even more personal, let me tell you about an incident that happened to me. My son turned four and in Texas that means he could go to preschool. Now since we live in an upscale part of Dallas, down the street from Deon Sanders, around the corner from a few Mavericks, there is serious MONEY here. I'm just playing the sidelines trying to provide a better life for my kids, you know the usual Amerikkkan dream bullshit. The preschool he ended up at is surrounded by upscale homes, the students dropped off in Benzes, Beamers and the occasional Rolls. (Google Frisco, Texas you'll know what I mean) I could care less about any of that, I drove up in my Dodge and didn't bat an eye. To say my son was one of the few black kids is an understatement, maybe 15, 20 in the whole school. My kid is friendly, not too militant (yet) and made lots of little white friends. On one occasion, the school had a parade in the school for all the little kiddos to show off their artwork. My wife couldn't get off so I said “what the hell” I'll go, its my kid. Now this is one of those schools that looks normal from the outside but go through the bomb proof doors on the other side of the concrete car stoppers, its a virtual prison inside. You have to be buzzed into the office. No just walking down the hallway. Must provide your DL to see your own child. But this is where shit went left. When you provide that DL, they do an instant background check. Guess what mine showed, yep, you got it. Additionally let me explain the insidiousness of the process. Many states have combined Sex/Violent Offender databases, that means that the batterers are lumped into the same list as the molesters, the armed robbers with the rapists. So what you say, well when you go to the registry it is emblazoned across the top SEXUAL PREDATOR and violent offender registry. Most people don't dig into your profile to find out that you were just a shooter, they don't have to. The simple fact that they see predator is enough for them to move against you. I have a real good friend that was denied initial entry into a union due to a lowly paid functionary that only saw sexual on the top of the list and assumed that he was a rapist. He got it straightened out and now he's a journeyman electrician that makes over $50 an hour, but how many people don't get the benefit of the doubt? Back to the story, the principal pulled me into her office and told me that in order for me to stand in the hallway with 30 or 40 other parents to watch a five minute procession of 4 year olds, she would have to “escort” me. So here I am being “policed” by a 5 foot nothing inch, 100 pound, with a brick in her pocket, white woman whose there to make sure that I didn't “cause any issues,” as she put it. Like I would come to the school to commit a crime in front of my kid. I was bracing myself for her to ask to frisk me.
Its kind of amusing to me as I know the fear that even a nice guy like me can engender in the average white person. That is what it is like to have that weight around your neck. That's the kind of experience that is not written about in the media or in books about the struggle. Those are the “death of a thousand paper cuts” that brothers go thru every day just trying to stay out of prison. So would I sign a petition that called for the rights of ex-prisoners to be reinstated, hell to the yeah, I would. Removing that disability would mean that my family and I could live wherever we would like and it wouldn't depend on whether or not the “community” accepted them and not me. It would mean that if some fool enters my home at 3:00 am with malice aforethought I could meet him with hollow points and not have the first question by the police be “do you know you are not allowed to be around firearms?” It would mean that I would be able to enter school grounds without a “bodyguard” being present. It would mean that when my name is ran through a thousand databases around the U.S., the first thing that pops up won't be ex-prisoner. That would mean that my chances of getting a loan for a mortgage or a vehicle won't be dependent on my criminal history. (oh, you didn't know that loan companies run background checks, you betta recognize) That would mean that when the police pull me over for a broken tail light when they run my license it won't buzz telling them that I'm a dangerous ex-prisoner that needs to be approached cautiously (read: that means keep his hands in sight and your hand on your weapon cause this nigga crazy) That would mean that I could raise my voice without seeming even more threatening that most brothers and sister are already. What that would mean in the end is I would be discriminated against, hated, feared, and discounted because I was a black guy like everyone else, not a black guy with a felony.
Drops mic, walks from stage, drippin blackness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)