Dante, 35

Dante, 35

Meet Dante…

With her passing, I feel like a part of me died with her. I wish she could see me now and the man I am becoming because of the morals she ingrained in me. Big Mama, as we all affectionately called her, left an everlasting impression on us all.

Incarcerated: 15 years 

Housed: Texas Dept of Criminal Justice, Rosharon

19 years ago, I went through the most traumatizing pain I’ve ever felt in my life. At 17, I lost my great grandmother, Ms. Louise to a major stroke. She was our family’s backbone. The pain was overwhelming for everyone. Especially me. She migrated from the deep south to where most of my family still resides, Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas. Being the first born, she spoiled me to death and  as I got older she gave me a lot of insight on where I come from, the value of family, responsibility and discipline. I actually believe if she hadn’t died, I wouldn’t be in this penitentiary. With her passing, I feel like a part of me died with her. I wish she could see me now and the man I am becoming because of the morals she ingrained in me. Big Mama, as we all affectionately called her, left an everlasting impression on us all. I give thanks for the wisdom she layed on me as a child and I appreciate the time I had with her. Today, I have a close relationship with my mom. No one has my back like my Mama does, especially in this penitentiary. Salute to the queens out there. Remember ‘The hour of calm is the hour of restoration.’

 

My-Linda, 54

Meet My-Linda…

Nowadays I just wanna chill, be free and enjoy life. I want to sit on the front porch, drinkin’ cold ice tea and watch the kids play in the yard, free, happy and content.

Incarcerated: 2 years 

Housed: Hilltop Women’s Unit, Gatesville, Texas

I’m here on an eight year sentence, God willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll be home next year. I have no children, but I do have some beautiful great nieces and nephews who I love and miss everyday. I can’t wait to be free and spoil them ridiculously 🙂 I’ve lived the life of a “Hard Head” and being here shows that completely. Nowadays I just wanna chill, be free and enjoy life. I want to sit on the front porch, drinkin’ cold ice tea and watch the kids play in the yard, free, happy and content.

Charles “Chuck”, 52

Charles “Chuck”, 52

Meet Chuck…

My department of corrections number doesn’t define me as a human being. My body is confined yet my mind is free. Unburdened by life’s chains. 

Incarcerated: 25 years
Housed: Plunsky Unit – Livingston, Texas

I view each day as a blessing, I hold onto my memories. I live life one day at a time. Never knowing what the next day has in store for me. I fret not over the past, my eyes firmly on the future goals, as I work towards a new life. A life I hope to get a second chance at some day. Reading brings my day some peace, a slight break from the constant reminder that I am sitting on death row. We have no TVs or tablets, yet. I am told we will receive tablets this August. I miss so many things about freedom – the outdoors, watersports, swimming, fishing, hunting, riding motorcycles, going on trips to suffice the traveler’s blood is in my veins. I paint, draw, blog and work to bring social awareness about the human rights violations in our world. I care about the environment, our planet, animal rights, the innocent, the weak, and those who have found themselves in life’s unfortunate circumstances I too reside in. My department of corrections number doesn’t define me as a human being. My body is confined yet my mind is free. Unburdened by life’s chains. 

 

William, ‘Peedie Weedie’, 35

Meet William, ‘Peedie Weedie’…

Truth be told, I’ve never been anything more than just a pothead.

Incarcerated: 20 years
Housed: Mark Stiles Unit – Beaumont, Texas

I’ve never been anything like a real big and bad serious gangster or anything like that. At 19 I got caught up dealing and messing around with a guy that meant me no good. I had lost my job, out of desperation for money, I let him talk me into hitting up a restaurant. Truth be told, I’ve never been anything more than just a pothead. Real deal – I haven’t been with a woman in over 15 years. I was a dad before I left. If a man was able to be intimate with his wife at least once a year, it just might lower the divorce rate or motivate a brother to stay out of trouble.

Aharon, 44

Aharon, 44

Meet Aharon…

I’ve had two strokes in the past year and I’m confined to a wheelchair. – in addition to having PTSD and Cardio Pulmonary Disease. Despite the odds, I struggle every day to make tomorrow better than today.

Incarcerated: 27 years
Housed: Mark Stiles Unit, Beaumont, Texas

Life is a dream which disappears each day I awake in my 6’x9’ steel and concrete cell. In a perfect world, prisoners are incarcerated for the ultimate purpose of receiving adequate and meaningful education and rehabilitation. If these laws were effectively used, the goal of incarceration would succeed. Yet, the Prison Industrial Complex disregards all policy programming and services, as discretionary. The sole discretion placed on the prison admin officials. We are forced to fend for ourselves. To sink or swim with the sharks. The system in place given to the public servants. We are dependent upon them for guidance and rehabilitation. The neglectful focus on sentencing oversight towards education and rehabilitation, mold us into more anti-social and self-reliant people who must trust the system. A system built upon free labor of Texas prisoners – blood, sweat, and tears for the most basic essentials for existence. While enduring brutal treatment, in a volatile and hostile environment. It is extremely hard to buck the system while using the laws and statutes established. We’re told to abide by the law or suffer its consequences. Yet, when we do use the courts to redress our issues we suffer even greater recriminations and oppression. Then they turn their backs and forget the purpose of our incarceration. If we are not given the rights we so desperately need, then, into the mouth of the lion we dive. The lion suffers. It’s hard to chew when I use the system against the system with procedures of wrongs committed upon state citizens. Save the Constitution. Still, I hold true to myself: a stalwart soldier of the Civil Rights Movement. An American patriot of Israeli-Jewish ancestry. An advocate and activist for positive and productive global advancement. Learning to see everyone succeed in life, rather than mere existence. A light sent by society into a place of darkness. Bringing light back into the world by correcting the wrongs.

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