Transcript
It Start Now! Written: Jan 7,2019 @ 10:37pm By: Howard "Amin" McCreary I sit in administrative segregation amongst the deadliest, most dangerous men that are housed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Or so they say... "They" being the people behind this growing, cancerous, detrimental caste system we recognize as "prison rehabilitation". "They", being the power seeking society that gain satisfaction by keeping men - and I'm sure women as well - locked down for twenty-three hours out the day albeit the fact that our behavior constitute that we should be in general population. This "they", my beloved reader, are the harden souls that rather stigmatize the population I live in with labels like "deadliest" and "dangerous" instead of calling us - generally speaking - by the labels we're reflecting at this moment. Which is deaf, dumb, and blind. Yes, you read it correctly. We, the people of this caste system, are deaf, dumb, and blind to the propaganda that "they" gives to the masses and to what they do to us in this poverty stricken state. Why do I say this? Simple. My assessment of the brothers I'm around and been around has displayed nothing but these traits. And Im not discrediting the brothers that are in these shallow walls grinding and striving to manifest their best them. I salute you all with the utmost respect! Its an obvious fact that we have people that can turned and will turned this downtrodden place into a campus with Hamilton College alikes. (Minus the beautiful ladies. ;)) Yes, this is a place that has produced some beautiful minds and reformed some tormented souls. However, it's a small population and our brothers that are emotionally deaf, mentally dumb, and spiritually blind are the vast majority. Now, I must be clear here so my words won't go down in vain or as if I'm on some emotional rant. I was once apart of the vast majority. On the outside and in the belly of a whale we call prison. My emotional state was darken; I concerned my thoughts with toxic thinking and my spiritual values... well, I didn't have any spiritual values. The life I lived before I turned my heart towards a new, righteous path was destructive, dangerous, and idiotic. It's important for people to remember the struggle. To understand the grounds of humility and don't lose sight of what's important. Furthermore, it's crucial that we, the people of mass incarceration, face the struggle head on, in order to help change the conditions that champion an industrial business thats crippling and targeted towards minority. Yet, when the conversation is brought up amongst the think tanks, and prison dialogue sessions, our vast majority seem to fine these discussion less intriguing. Some are dispirit by these conversations. Others think it is useless because people on the outside don't care. But when those, who are ignorant to the movement that is formulating out in the free society, get exposed to this truth they come up with another excuse not to become interested in the refinement. It's an ongoing cycle. A cycle we must break. A cycle that has us enslaved. I tell people all the time that we must stand up. Stand up! The system is not targeting middle class people; it's not design to cripple America mass majority. It's build to break the minority. The people of color. The people of the disenfranchise and disqualified. Black, brown, and white. We will never get anywhere if we're afraid to stand up and fight to change the narrative. Hundreds of millions of dollars will continue to be funded by our government to build prisons each year if we shy away from reality. And reality is: prison are built to house the minority people of our nation. And what are the minority that are being housed in these concentration camps doing? Nothing! Absolutely, positively nothing. And I'm able to speak from this tone. Oh yes, I have earned the right to call out and challenge the (majority) prison population that sit at a steel table for fourteen hours out the day and play "games". Im well equipped to shine light on the stupidity we do to ourselves by enduring in nonsense that take away from our essence. The eagerness we show to harm another person of our own ethnicity once they come into this penological institution. And for what? Because of the affiliation they identify with? Because of the support system they have on the outside? Or maybe its because we are hurting and suffering badly and don't know any other way to climb out of that trauma other than to pull someone down with us. Right? Wrong! Stand up! Break the chains! Its so easy to do the wrong things. Its so common to let the negative energy spread. I know... personally. However, after I started caring for self, I started to care about others. I had to be serious about freedom, and not just "physical freedom". No, thats only scraping the surface. Freedom comes from within first. One has to be free in spirit and mind. One has to allow the bells to ring inside, given them the comfort to smile in a place where that gesture is condemn. We, the prisoners of this mass-genocide, must gain knowledge and awareness to share and to better ourselves. And it starts now! What good does it do to be physically free but mentally and spiritually enslaved? How is that freedom? We have to stand up and we must stand up now. Stand up to ourselves and stand up for knowledge. Have an urge to seek knowledge. Tiger Woods says, "The only way to make a difference is to be informed. You have to be informed. You have to have knowledge". When the people of incarceration get serious about change, change will come. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of the whole universe is long but it bends toward justice". Applying the knowledge we learn is justice. Eradicating the criminal mind state is doing justice to the positive movement thats forming. Speaking our truth, living our truth, and showing through actions the truth that freedom bring by educating ourselves is not only bending toward justice but is the manifestation of Dr. King words. (May he rest in peace) It starts now! Hating the next man/woman because of their skin color or religious belief only gives the people in control of mass incarceration the leverage to keep the oppression going. We must stand up on the rock of adversity and build a strong platform. Black, brown, white... men, women, young or old. Christian, Muslim, Jew. It don't matter. All communities must work together to fix this problem. All of humanity who truly and sincerely care about the future of our nation. Lets challenge each other to be the best we are born to be, and not let the forces of pessimism, cynicism, or complacency get in our way to achieve the ultimate goal. What's the ultimate goal? Freedom. Justice. Equality. To all races, genders, and classes. Let the love start now and give peace the stamina it need to kill all the confusion. Peace Amin Als Howard McCreary
