Prisoners' Lives Matter Too

July 22, 2016: 11:00am: Listening to: Don't stop Believin' By: Journey

Hi everyone. I wanted to write today & make some comments on these "movements". I've seen "Black Lives Matter" "All Lives Matter" "Gay Lives Matter" "LGBT Lives Matter" "Hispanic Lives Matter" "Blue Lives Matter", I have seen every race make up their own "_____ Lives Matter" T-shirts. In a society & age where racism is supposed to be a thing of the past, we see this as promoting it. It's a double standard. Let's say for the sake of argument, A TV station creates an all white TV channel. If you are not white, you cannot be on this station unless you act like the whites on the station. That is the only exception. Let's call this channel "White Only Television". Do you know how many people would complain about this & call it racism? Millions. & truth be told, that would be. When you restrict something based on color or race, you made it racist. So how is BET any different? Black Entertainment Television, blacks only unless you adhere to that style of music or lifestyle. B.E.T. channel promotes racism, segregation & separation. & for some this is fine. (This is a widely discussed topic in prison).

But let's move on to the "Lives Matter" movements. Okay, I get the fact that black Americans feel that their lives are not worth as much as a white person's because though they know we are equals, they are not treated equally. But when we see "Black Lives Matter" in a rally, it says to us, only black lives matter. This is something that is felt by millions of whites, Hispanics & Asians. There have been some really sick murders by police officers but that does not take away the fact that "All Lives Matter". Do I matter more than you because I am a white American & you are not? Of course not & I hope that my biracial family members are never made to feel that way, those kids matter more than I ever will. They are the future. I am brought into these arguments in prison at least once a week. And I tell it like it is & I always speak my mind, if the people who had their T-Shirts made put 3 extra letters on it, race would not be a factor. By saying black lives matter, the message to millions is, we matter more than you, but if you said black lives matter too, it says we are equal, we matter too. Racism is big in prison. I stay out of it because you could get murdered in here over it. A lot easier than in the world.

Let's move on. A friend of mine recently told me I should talk about the forgotten (thank you for reminding me Julie). Prisoners' lives matter too. Let us remember Stanley Tookie Williams. For those of you who do not know this name, Google it. He was murdered by the state of California on death row. He was a founder of the gang that spread across America, the Crips. After he was sent to death row, he changed. He was given awards, movies were made about him & my own family went to see this man in prison to meet him & see this change. He did everything he could to change what he created from inside prison. This man, after he changed, made sure dozens of murders did not happen. He had influence over his community, his former gang, his life mattered. Sure he committed brutal murders himself but his life still mattered. Prisoners' lives matter too. We are the forgotten, we are the abandoned. We are dehumanized, we are treated worse than a drunken homeless man on the streets. We work, we get paid pennies, certainly not enough to survive on in here. I make $14.00 a month in here working. Who can survive on that? If I go see the nurse & get 2 aspirin, that's $10. $5 for the visit & $5 for each medication. Who pays $5 for 2 aspirin? Only prisoners. We are forgotten in here, left to rot like w have no heart, no soul, no worth to anyone in this world.

What about the elderly? Hundreds die each summer from being too hot in their own home, they are left to pay their rent, bills, they have to decide what's more important, eating every day or being able to pay for my medications. My own mom has to decide what she needs more, paying for her cancer drugs or paying her bills. She struggled to afford what she needed so in the end she chose to stop her cancer treatments. A friend of mine, her 86-year-old mom has severe C.O.P.D., her government health care will not pay for oxygen. So she is an elderly woman who is stuck in her house. She cannot walk 5 steps without being out of breath. She never smoked in her entire life. Another older woman I know struggles to mow her own lawn, her roof leaks, she cannot pay for it to be fixed. What is she supposed to do? I don't have the answers & I wish to God that I did. If you have an elderly neighbor, look in on them, stop by just to chat, if you're qualified, see if they need any help fixing anything. You will make a friend for life by doing this. You will touch the life & the heart of someone in need. You can make a meaningful difference in someone's life with a few simple words. I have a life sentence in prison for murder. Does that mean that I am an evil killer who will never do right? Never show compassion, never do anything good? No. I have helped raise so many thousands of $$$ for charities when I was the president of the Jaycees. Also when I was the president of the Holy Name Society. A little girl was dying of a brain tumor. Her parents were on the local news saying their daughter's biggest wish/dream is to see other countries. They put a P.O. box on the TV for any donations. So I took all of the postcards & photos that I had (hundreds) of Italy, Netherlands, England, Spain, whatever I had & mailed them to her. I put a smile on the face of a dying child & I touched her. This meant the world to me. We are not worthless, we don't deserve to be forgotten.

All lives matter. Even the unborn that are aborted. I matter, you matter, we are all equal in life. We all bleed, we all hurt, we all cry, we all die. But it's what we do during those years that truly matters. Be kind to a neighbor, help an elderly person out, go to your local church and volunteer your home repair service for someone who needs it. Some people have too much pride to go ask for help. So volunteer. I'd like to help in any way that I can. Take care, stay safe, stay out of this brutal heat, and I'd love to hear what you think about what I said. God bless, ciao.

PS: Anyone interested in the Olympics, Google the name "Jenny Arthur". She is a beautiful 22-yr-old black woman who is an amazing weightlifter. She is from Georgia and she was just given a scholarship to DeVry University. Bring home the gold Jenny. (I like this story.)