Looking out: Change the world

May 24, 1995
Issue 

Looking out: Change the world

By Brandon Astor Jones

"We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the pain would be so great that we would stop all suffering. If we could feel that one person every six seconds dies of starvation ... we would stop it ... When we feel, we will feel [the human] emergency, we will act: When we act we will change the world." — Julian Beck.

The cynicism in the first sentence of the quote above is disturbing. We can all be thankful that it is not entirely true. It would be more accurate to say that there are more than a few people in seats of power whose actions demonstrate a lack of mercy and compassion.

Conversely, the vast majority of humankind is sympathetic to the basic human needs of others. In defence of that majority, it is a natural human characteristic to be easily overwhelmed by one's own powerlessness. Consequently, being poor can produce varying degrees of self-absorption in the mind and spirit of even the most compassionate.

Fortunately, as often as not, time tends to heal such states of mind and spirit. As long as you live, no matter what your station or circumstances, you can be a positive force in the lives of others — if you really want to be.

For example, even though we are cut off from a free society, a number of us here have tried to be helpful to many people on the outside who are in need. We operated on the assumption that a hungry stomach couldn't care less who supplies the food to fill it. In fact, many of us were homeless when we were arrested, so we know the plight of the homeless first hand.

In 1990-92, we took this prison's craft and crochet program to new heights. We designed and distributed small stuffed animals. The teddy bears became very popular. That was how the Teddy Bear Project (TBP) got started. The teddy bears were skilfully crocheted in colours that reflected the USA's multicultural diversity. A friend, who has since died of cancer, delivered them to a number of California's preschools in exchange for donations. They were used as teaching aids to help those children understand and appreciate the differences in the human family.

Eventually, the TBP proved a strange mix of success and failure. Its success was rooted in the fact that the donations helped us feed a lot of hungry people. The failure came about as soon as certain people (many of whom are very political) found out that the TBP was operated by death row prisoners; shortly thereafter, the donations for the teddy bears and other stuffed animals decreased by 95%. I had no choice but to close it down because the crochet supplies were very expensive.

Nevertheless, I am not dismayed. I would like to send thousands of dollars — instead of hundreds — to needy individuals, churches and other civic organisations that see to the needs of children, women and men who are hungry and/or homeless. Will you help us?

My fellow prisoners spend days and nights making beautiful afghans. Each is a work of art that is very labour intensive. As prisoners we are not allowed to sell anything, but we could accept gifts in much the same way we did for the teddy bears. A donation of A$155 or more would pay for the yarns, labour, postage to Australia and insurance, and leave about US$35 over (per afghan) to send to the needy.

Your donation would give you an heirloom-quality product to keep and cherish always, and you would have the added comfort of knowing that your donation is directly responsible for putting wholesome food into several empty stomachs.

If you are able and willing to help us in this endeavour, I urge you to send your name and address along with the suggested donation to: Mr. Del Cassidy, 142 Wilmer St, Glassboro NJ 08028, USA.

Perhaps this time it will not matter who or where we are. Let us hope that what is really important is that together, if we act we will change the world.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He is happy to receive letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, GD&CC, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]

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