I dedicate this work to an African slave boy named Tobias. I also generated my perceived image of Tobias to another California death row artist named Robert Dunson, and Robert brought the image to life, inspiring me to make Tobias's image the centerpiece of our LGBTQ spirituality group membership card.
Like most lil' black boys in America, we found Tobias while looking at something else. Yes, a story about the New Netherlands about 1647. Yes, I just said circa 1647.
Although the original story was "The Tale of Harmen Meynedertz van den Bogert in the era, of a territory we now know as New York, I kept noticing how Harmen was running away from being put in prison for committing sodomy with his African slave Tobias. At least twice, Harmen was put in prison and he escaped each time. Tobias was either waiting for him or escaping with Harmen. Not typical "slave behavior."
The story goes on to state that Harmen and Tobias escaped again for a third time, fleeing to the Mohawk Valley due to Harmen being the first white man allowed to cross into the Mohawk Valley. The tribe ironically allowed a special place within their culture for what we know now as "gay people," calling them "two spirits" in 1647.
The Dutch chased Harmen and Tobias in the Mohawk Valley of Big Nose Mountain and a battle took place. Some Mohawk storehouses were burned before Harmen "and Tobias" were taken into custody for the third escape. The Mohawks sued the Dutch after learning of the white man's laws and collected damages. Let it be known that one of Harmen's many professions was law, and wow.
I'm focusing on this third escape because, while fleeing across the icy surface of the Hudson near the present day I-90 bridge, Harmen fell through the ice and drowned. According to the story—good story, by the way—this Harmen cat predates the term multitasking.
However, nothing is written about what happened to Tobias. So I searched my own spirit for the best possible answer. I envision Tobias returning to the Mohawk Tribe that fought with him and Harmen against the Dutch. I can see Tobias living out the rest of his life among the "two spirits" only to be discovered as perhaps the first LGBTQ African slave on record in a land that would later become the United States. Another wow.
So to lil' black boys today from the innercity streets of America, in Tobias, we are able to find ourselves in history. Living a life of being hunted, incarcerated, fighting for freedom, being fostered, and cared for by those with the heart to embrace us as we are, and survivors yet unaccounted for in our own stories, forgotten by our own—until we stumble upon discovering ourselves, by ourselves, and each other.
Jack, my name is Bill King but I write books under the name "Bill Ectric." I go to Saint John's Cathedral and Dean Kate told me about your poetry, which I really like. I've self-published three books. Self-publishing has the advantage of satisfying my impatience on getting published, but it has its downside, because there is no big publishing company to promote and distribute the books, so I have to do it on my own. I haven't really sold that many books. I'm trying to think of an idea for a book that might be accepted by Church Publishing. The books I've written so far are not really related to being a Christian. Don't get me wrong, they are not anti-Christian. I am a Christian but my books tend to be about the life I lead a long time ago, before I decided to live for God. Anyway, I wanted to say hello and offer to send you one of my books, if I am allowed to do that. Talk to you later, Bill King
It's still August 8th and I know you like suggestions on what to write about. I've been perusing your blog posts (there are so many!!)
I don't know if you've touched on the subject of Prison Food - in detail. A fully accounted detail of what is served daily and your thoughts on that would be amazing.
(If already done, perhaps you could give me an approximate time you posted that, or the name of the post ??)
Do you feel you're being fed well? Enough calories? Variety? Obviously it lacks flavour as you mentioned in one post.
Food in a place like prison I would think to be really important! Calories, variety , and flavours would give you something to look forward to. I'd also hate to think prisoners weren't getting enough to give them the feeling of fullness.
You had also mentioned in a post, there were alternate trays. Can you explain this? As well, if a prisoner has dietary restrictions, such as a lactose intolerance, do they accommodate you for that?
A new day has begun, August in Canada and the weather is still warm. Let me tell you, winter is brutal so I’ll be brief here as the sun is shining and I must soak up as much Vitamin D as I can as my doctor is going to poison me with 50,000 units of Vitamin D weekly if it doesn’t come up a bit. I’ve found your first entry!! I’m guessing it was written after some time in prison and was about your first day there. You’ve quite the sense of humour and again I reiterate , “you could have been an author” , or , well you ARE an author and I quite enjoy reading your stories! I love love love the little details about just the everyday things! I still don’t know what you did, but I refuse to look. Although if you are in prison for life, it had to be bad. I’m sorry for whatever has happened to bring you to the point of being incarcerated for life, however you are making the best of it and while I understand your life must be mundane and lacks flavour, it’s all relative. Working 9-5 is mundane, cleaning the house is mundane, cooking the same food week after week, year after year is flavourless. So I do think I will take advantage of my situation and seek out at least one new recipe and cook it/make it and will say a little prayer for you Eric. (I am not a religious fanatic - can we even speak of religion here? I was raised Catholic and do believe that something better must await us all when we leave this place — as if (rolls my eyes) this place is a one very long, sometimes joyous, sometimes sorrowful ride we must endure to the best of our ability in order to get off at the end and say “WOW what a ride that was!! How did you do!?” We’ll all have a story to tell to our fellow angel friends.
I’m still trying to find mazes as I’d love to print one off and do it! So I’ll close today Eric and hope your day is eventful in a good way. I’ll leave you with something to think about today and someday perhaps you may or may not respond. I’d be happy to hear from you though …..
A couple hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. "Never leave that till tomorrow," he said, "Which you can do today." This is the man who discovered electricity. You'd think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure. Fear of pain. Fear of rejection. [...] Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? [...] Whatever it is we're afraid of, one thing holds true: that by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we're carrying around a giant tumour.
I'm very new to this site so bear with me as I have no idea how to even begin. I've navigated around a little bit and fear I've only hit the tip of the iceberg. Let's start with a name "Deevoted" and I'm happy I stumbled upon you. I was instantly impressed with your meticulous printing, and your funny yet insightful writing! I am a Canadian woman and have worked in the healthcare field for 30+ years. (Labour and Delivery and Maternal Newborn Nurse) Yes my specialty is the 3 B's (Babies, Bums and Boobs) (hides under the desk and hopes that is allowed to be written here) -- I am married and have 2 grown daughters. I live in the free world and have a fascination with ... let us just say I am IN the free world, yet feel as though I am in a prison. But with meeting you, I feel as though you are like a free person who is living locked up. I have no idea what you did nor do I care to know. Like you said, 99.9% good and .1% bad. I believe this to be true of EVERYONE only not all get caught! Trust me, there is good and bad in all. But, I do have a fascination with TV shows and am currently watching a Netflix series called "I am a Killer" Season 1. I've watched all of the Lock Up Raw series but truly I seem to feel that they are sensationalized for TV. They show your version of the 70% + or - , and not the 10% or so that I think you would fit into. I’ve seen The series “Wentworth” about an australian female prison. The warden is a psychopath! Along with Orange is the New Black. (another female prison show on it’s 6th season) - I simply am very interested in the little things - the day to do you know? I've suffered with depression and anxiety for many many years. Medication doesn't cure all. My anxiety is literally my cage. I don't have many "true friends" but I don't have any enemies either. I live my life but lately as I grow older and certainly am feeling my age, I see I've probably given up the prime years of my life being anxious. So I applaud you on giving your insights on the "Passing of Time" and how it might sneak up on us at various stages in our lives rather differently.
I have to be honest and say that even though I may live in the free world, "LIFE is raw and hard for all of us" -- okay maybe not those rich and famous celebs who seem to have it all, but life is hard and raw! The normal everyday things that are so repetitive, mundane chores, the rules/standards/protocols of work, the ever changing guidelines we all have to follow as workers, and as humans .... whether you're free or not I suppose it affects us all. I think perhaps you have much more time to think about those things in an insightful way and portray your feelings so well. When I was reading your posts I thought "this guy should be writing books"
My mind is wandering , it's late so I'll copy and paste what I've written thus far onto a sticky note and carry on tomorrow .... Good night for now.
New projects are in the works for 2019 and 2020. New zines, new authors, new publishing opportunities, and an expanding social media platform. That means more written posts ("raw" posts, as we call it) that'll need to be transcribed.
It all hinges on our work here at BtB. Without you, our multimedia projects become nothing more than mere words written on paper.
If you're interested in learning more about our projects, transcription editing from both our BtB and Facebook pages, you can write me directly at the address below or post me your comment. Or you can start transcribing. :) Thanks for your time and consideration.
Don't forget: please subscribe to the notification feed on the blog if you'd like to know when a reply to your comment has been posted or when a post has been transcribed.
Byron Wilson P76622, CSP-SQSP San Quentin, CA 94974
New projects are in the works for 2019 and 2020. New zines, new authors, new publishing opportunities, and an expanding social media platform. That means more written posts ("raw" posts, as we call it) that'll need to be transcribed.
It all hinges on our work here at BtB. Without you, our multimedia projects become nothing more than mere words written on paper.
If you're interested in learning more about our projects, transcription editing from both our BtB and Facebook pages, you can write me directly at the address below or post me your comment. Or you can start transcribing. :) Thanks for your time and consideration.
Don't forget: please subscribe to the notification feed on the blog if you'd like to know when a reply to your comment has been posted or when a post has been transcribed.
Byron Wilson P76622, CSP-SQSP San Quentin, CA 94974
RSS
I dedicate this work to an African slave boy named Tobias. I also generated my perceived image of Tobias to another California death row artist named Robert Dunson, and Robert brought the image to life, inspiring me to make Tobias's image the centerpiece of our LGBTQ spirituality group membership card.
Like most lil' black boys in America, we found Tobias while looking at something else. Yes, a story about the New Netherlands about 1647. Yes, I just said circa 1647.
Although the original story was "The Tale of Harmen Meynedertz van den Bogert in the era, of a territory we now know as New York, I kept noticing how Harmen was running away from being put in prison for committing sodomy with his African slave Tobias. At least twice, Harmen was put in prison and he escaped each time. Tobias was either waiting for him or escaping with Harmen. Not typical "slave behavior."
The story goes on to state that Harmen and Tobias escaped again for a third time, fleeing to the Mohawk Valley due to Harmen being the first white man allowed to cross into the Mohawk Valley. The tribe ironically allowed a special place within their culture for what we know now as "gay people," calling them "two spirits" in 1647.
The Dutch chased Harmen and Tobias in the Mohawk Valley of Big Nose Mountain and a battle took place. Some Mohawk storehouses were burned before Harmen "and Tobias" were taken into custody for the third escape. The Mohawks sued the Dutch after learning of the white man's laws and collected damages. Let it be known that one of Harmen's many professions was law, and wow.
I'm focusing on this third escape because, while fleeing across the icy surface of the Hudson near the present day I-90 bridge, Harmen fell through the ice and drowned. According to the story—good story, by the way—this Harmen cat predates the term multitasking.
However, nothing is written about what happened to Tobias. So I searched my own spirit for the best possible answer. I envision Tobias returning to the Mohawk Tribe that fought with him and Harmen against the Dutch. I can see Tobias living out the rest of his life among the "two spirits" only to be discovered as perhaps the first LGBTQ African slave on record in a land that would later become the United States. Another wow.
So to lil' black boys today from the innercity streets of America, in Tobias, we are able to find ourselves in history. Living a life of being hunted, incarcerated, fighting for freedom, being fostered, and cared for by those with the heart to embrace us as we are, and survivors yet unaccounted for in our own stories, forgotten by our own—until we stumble upon discovering ourselves, by ourselves, and each other.
Bill King
It's still August 8th and I know you like suggestions on what to write about. I've been perusing your blog posts (there are so many!!)
I don't know if you've touched on the subject of Prison Food - in detail. A fully accounted detail of what is served daily and your thoughts on that would be amazing.
(If already done, perhaps you could give me an approximate time you posted that, or the name of the post ??)
Do you feel you're being fed well? Enough calories? Variety? Obviously it lacks flavour as you mentioned in one post.
Food in a place like prison I would think to be really important! Calories, variety , and flavours would give you something to look forward to. I'd also hate to think prisoners weren't getting enough to give them the feeling of fullness.
You had also mentioned in a post, there were alternate trays. Can you explain this? As well, if a prisoner has dietary restrictions, such as a lactose intolerance, do they accommodate you for that?
Kindest Regards, Dee
A new day has begun, August in Canada and the weather is still warm. Let me tell you, winter is brutal so I’ll be brief here as the sun is shining and I must soak up as much Vitamin D as I can as my doctor is going to poison me with 50,000 units of Vitamin D weekly if it doesn’t come up a bit.
I’ve found your first entry!! I’m guessing it was written after some time in prison and was about your first day there. You’ve quite the sense of humour and again I reiterate , “you could have been an author” , or , well you ARE an author and I quite enjoy reading your stories! I love love love the little details about just the everyday things!
I still don’t know what you did, but I refuse to look. Although if you are in prison for life, it had to be bad. I’m sorry for whatever has happened to bring you to the point of being incarcerated for life, however you are making the best of it and while I understand your life must be mundane and lacks flavour, it’s all relative.
Working 9-5 is mundane, cleaning the house is mundane, cooking the same food week after week, year after year is flavourless. So I do think I will take advantage of my situation and seek out at least one new recipe and cook it/make it and will say a little prayer for you Eric. (I am not a religious fanatic - can we even speak of religion here? I was raised Catholic and do believe that something better must await us all when we leave this place — as if (rolls my eyes) this place is a one very long, sometimes joyous, sometimes sorrowful ride we must endure to the best of our ability in order to get off at the end and say “WOW what a ride that was!! How did you do!?”
We’ll all have a story to tell to our fellow angel friends.
I’m still trying to find mazes as I’d love to print one off and do it! So I’ll close today Eric and hope your day is eventful in a good way. I’ll leave you with something to think about today and someday perhaps you may or may not respond. I’d be happy to hear from you though …..
A couple hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. "Never leave that till tomorrow," he said, "Which you can do today." This is the man who discovered electricity. You'd think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure. Fear of pain. Fear of rejection. [...] Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? [...] Whatever it is we're afraid of, one thing holds true: that by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we're carrying around a giant tumour.
Your Canadian Friend Dee
Let's start with a name "Deevoted" and I'm happy I stumbled upon you. I was instantly impressed with your meticulous printing, and your funny yet insightful writing!
I am a Canadian woman and have worked in the healthcare field for 30+ years. (Labour and Delivery and Maternal Newborn Nurse) Yes my specialty is the 3 B's (Babies, Bums and Boobs) (hides under the desk and hopes that is allowed to be written here) -- I am married and have 2 grown daughters.
I live in the free world and have a fascination with ... let us just say I am IN the free world, yet feel as though I am in a prison. But with meeting you, I feel as though you are like a free person who is living locked up. I have no idea what you did nor do I care to know. Like you said, 99.9% good and .1% bad. I believe this to be true of EVERYONE only not all get caught! Trust me, there is good and bad in all. But, I do have a fascination with TV shows and am currently watching a Netflix series called "I am a Killer" Season 1. I've watched all of the Lock Up Raw series but truly I seem to feel that they are sensationalized for TV. They show your version of the 70% + or - , and not the 10% or so that I think you would fit into. I’ve seen The series “Wentworth” about an australian female prison. The warden is a psychopath! Along with Orange is the New Black. (another female prison show on it’s 6th season) - I simply am very interested in the little things - the day to do you know?
I've suffered with depression and anxiety for many many years. Medication doesn't cure all. My anxiety is literally my cage. I don't have many "true friends" but I don't have any enemies either. I live my life but lately as I grow older and certainly am feeling my age, I see I've probably given up the prime years of my life being anxious. So I applaud you on giving your insights on the "Passing of Time" and how it might sneak up on us at various stages in our lives rather differently.
I have to be honest and say that even though I may live in the free world, "LIFE is raw and hard for all of us" -- okay maybe not those rich and famous celebs who seem to have it all, but life is hard and raw! The normal everyday things that are so repetitive, mundane chores, the rules/standards/protocols of work, the ever changing guidelines we all have to follow as workers, and as humans .... whether you're free or not I suppose it affects us all. I think perhaps you have much more time to think about those things in an insightful way and portray your feelings so well. When I was reading your posts I thought "this guy should be writing books"
My mind is wandering , it's late so I'll copy and paste what I've written thus far onto a sticky note and carry on tomorrow .... Good night for now.
It all hinges on our work here at BtB. Without you, our multimedia projects become nothing more than mere words written on paper.
If you're interested in learning more about our projects, transcription editing from both our BtB and Facebook pages, you can write me directly at the address below or post me your comment. Or you can start transcribing. :) Thanks for your time and consideration.
Don't forget: please subscribe to the notification feed on the blog if you'd like to know when a reply to your comment has been posted or when a post has been transcribed.
Byron Wilson
P76622, CSP-SQSP
San Quentin, CA 94974
Facebook.com/writeordie2020
Transcription — edit, revisions
TRANSCRIPTION EDITORS NEEDED
New projects are in the works for 2019 and 2020. New zines, new authors, new publishing opportunities, and an expanding social media platform. That means more written posts ("raw" posts, as we call it) that'll need to be transcribed.
It all hinges on our work here at BtB. Without you, our multimedia projects become nothing more than mere words written on paper.
If you're interested in learning more about our projects, transcription editing from both our BtB and Facebook pages, you can write me directly at the address below or post me your comment. Or you can start transcribing. :) Thanks for your time and consideration.
Don't forget: please subscribe to the notification feed on the blog if you'd like to know when a reply to your comment has been posted or when a post has been transcribed.
Byron Wilson
P76622, CSP-SQSP
San Quentin, CA 94974
Facebook.com/writeordie2020