Painful times
By Brandon Astor Jones
WITH 1 OF 4 AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES IN PRISON
When times are painful and surely at their worst
Many sisters and brothers outside, from us, hide underground
Behind fame especially when we most, for them, thirst
Alas only a caring few will let themselves be found
WITH 1 OF 4 AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES IN PRISON
I am watching a painful phenomenon working its way through the African-American community. The majority of so called "free" African-Americans do not interact with African-American men, women and children in US prisons. This fact even includes African-American celebrities.
We, as a people, seem quite willing to blow or throw one another away. That must change, and soon.
In the last two decades I have written to hundreds of African-Americans seeking nothing more than friendship. I would find their names and addresses in various publications. When, after years of writing to everyday people and getting no response, I began writing to the likes of Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Quincy Jones and Maya Angelou, to name but a few. All to no avail.
I wrote Ms Angelou no less than 10 letters over the course of 12 years, none of which she answered. However, unbeknownst to me, one of my United Kingdom correspondents recently wrote to Ms Angelou on my behalf. Ms Angelou responded, not to the friend but to me, briefly. Her note read, "... use this painful time to study, to grow and rebuild our community ...".
If I could speak face to face with Ms Angelou, I would quickly tell her, that is precisely what I have been trying to do. I would also ask her how we can begin to help in the rebuilding of our communities when, most of us in prison cannot find a friend therein?
Presently, I correspond with about 150 people all over the world, and I would have to tell her how "painful" it is that (aside from my biological family members) only two of them are African-Americans.
Capital punishment, prison and probation are three of the fastest growing industries in the USA. Perhaps there is hope as a handful of people from our communities begin to take notice of what racists are doing in the state capitol. One of the reasons so many of our people are caught up in the system of capital punishment, prison and probation is that, by and large, the "free" African-American community barely speaks above a whisper against them, or to us.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA. Brandon and his friends are trying to raise funds to pay for a lawyer for his appeal. If you can help, please make cheques payable to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account and post to 41 Neutral St, North Sydney NSW 2060, or any Commonwealth Bank, account No. 2127 1003 7638.]