PARALLEL WAR ZONE

 Reality Check

        This is a personal letter from an inmate of the Florida State Department of Correction (DOC). His name is changed to protect his safety. Please let’s remember our family friends and love ones who are incarcerated in a prison within a prison. This is a three-part series.

Part 2 of 3

There is just too much that can be said to enlighten and deter our youth that hasn’t been said. That, “stay in school and do the right thing,” is not enough. They must hear the voices like men who have mastered their language. I’m just so tired of seeing these 20, 21, 22-year-olds with 40, 50, 60 years, life, double life sentences, sucked in and swallowed up by the machine.

I can’t die feeling like I didn’t do enough.

Everybody was just continuing to play the game like everything was ok, but Kaepernick would not find peace. He had to take a knee; the world eventually caught up with his vision. That’s where I am man. I’m like Sampson begging God for one more round of strength to put my hands on the columns of their temple so I can die in the fulfillment of my purpose.

I’m not hungry for martyrdom, just hungry to make a difference by any means necessary. I think I recall a quote that says something like… ‘Close proximity to death often brings clarity’. Bro, I am not on some fatalistic stuff right now or some melancholy, it is chess, look, let’s say I escape this round of the Corona, they let us off lockdown… they give me another roommate and field up the 28+ empty beds in here, and my new roommate or one of the new 28 guys, comes up sick, then we all have to go through quarantine again and again and again. So, it’s like you got to keep dodging the same bullsh#! over and over, so you just gotta be an optimist and realist rolled into one.

I really believe it’s our destiny, you and me, put together to create a body of work no one else has, for our people. Man if it’s even possible this makes me more focused.

As a child, our home was filled with words of love. Our parents always told us they loved us and why we were always taught to admire people who displayed unique characteristics and have a love for serving people. So, whenever I tell you I love you, brother it’s rooted in my appreciation for the beautiful characteristics you possess man. It’s rooted in my appreciation for the drive behind your servant leadership. I will never forget January 2020 as the month we met. You cried at the end of our first conversation while we were praying and I walked away from that conversation thinking some people live life and dedicate time to the struggle as the events of their lives allow and some people, their life is the struggle, there is no separation- they and the struggle are one. I walked away knowing you eat sleep and breathe your people’s struggle.

Well I have an abundance of support from my family, your recognition of how diligent I have been in pursuit of growth in my life has made an impact beyond words on me. You are a man who could fit in sitting on a milk crate around homeless people on 10th Terrace in Sunland Park, then go chair a meeting of the city Council, then sit on the board of directors on Wall Street, the struggling man in the streets and the well-educated both are drawn to you. You can spot the ‘BullSH!#’ in both those guys too when they try to run it. So, your recognition of my authenticity has meant a lot. A friend of mine had a fight with your brother when they were at Martin. He called your brother out, they were friends but had a dispute. He said he and your brother fought three times that day and that your brother kept coming back each time. He said he’d underestimate how physically strong your brother was. My dude is a real tough dude. But he says every time they fought it broke even and your brother just kept coming. After a month they became good friends again. It made me think of your dad and him being underestimated by his enemies which led to the paper and so many other battles fought. Greater than millions of dollars is the legacy of activism, and the love your dad has. This is one reason your friendship is a real treasure to me man because you came from a bloodline of fighters who prayed in the spirit for their people. So, I’m praying God grant me with life and health so we can finish our mission. The stuff Dr. Chavis saw is just the tip of the iceberg. I pray he remains open minded so we can generate the enthusiasm that your confidence in me allows you to have without you having seen the best of the work. If you, my dad, your dad, Dr. Chavis were to leave the world now all of you have done so much for people, I don’t want to die without uprooting some of the enemy’s seeds.