THE INVISIBLE WOMAN- Latasha Brown
My name is Latasha Brown, everything that is human is within me. Yet when I became a murderer at 15 years old, I became only a gruesome, unsightly castaway.........and then I became invisible. As I faded away from the world I became manifest to myself. I'm not making a play for sympathy the act set the consequences in motion. What I am trying to do is make you see me. I mean look into my eyes and see my humanity.
As a result of my unprocessed trauma and abuse I developed maladaptive coping behaviors , including promiscuity. I suffered impaired social,emotional, and academic functioning.Being sexually violated at such an early age I had internalized sex as my only value.However, loveless sex left me feeling empty and void. Alcohol became my close companion. Impaired judgement got me into some very painful and sometimes dangerous situations.
The rape itself wasn't foreign to me. What was was the disgust *Ray had for me afterwards. I had become accustomed to men taking my sex and then telling me they were "sorry" or I "made them do it" or I "wanted it". Then they would tell me not to tell, and some even told me they loved me.
I went to the hospital, not because of my battered outside or inside, I went because my cousin urged me to.
The positive pregnancy test was both shocking and exciting. I did not know if the abuse had resulted in pregnancy or my relationship with an older guy, but finally there would be someone to love me.I was 15. The next in a series of catastrophies was the sudden, unexpected and shocking loss of the pregnancy. I grieved inwardly but told no one. Meanwhile nature played a cruel trick with my body, which still produced signs of pregnancy. It was while I was going through these hormonal changes that I committed the unthinkable I murdered my love rival .
My crime against humanity has had devastating ramifications. This is a bitter reality that cannot be eradicated.I am not the hate that precipitated my actions. I am all that is human.I had barely lived any life when I ended life.Will I ever be redeemable?
My question is, you've heard me but do you see me? I am the invisible woman.
So, to answer your question, I represent that part of us that nobody wants to admit is there Every desire has a dimension of darkness. I desperately wanted to be loved and look what Icommitted to get it. I was too demoralized to realize there was help available, now nobody wants to see me.Because I am a constant reminder of what we'd rather not see.
I share this with hopes that you will share this. I am not hiding in the shadows buried beneath shame and guilt anymore. I share this to honor the life that I took and to do my part to uncover the soul (not just the crimes) of how we became societies throwaways.
Mychal
It is so hard to learn these skills to communicate and heal but get controlled, to get denied the ability to give hugs, to get denied the ability to create a safe environment to live in to practice those skills. I mean Maslow understood if base needs are not being met then people can not thrive and actually they regress. So how long am I gonna' endure my base need for safety be neglected before I resort to any means necessary to get it?
I can't even get them to use male pronouns when referring to me and it has been policy for a long time and now it is law with SB132. These are Trumpers that maintain this system and work in it. Policy can not change a person's belief system. Policies actually push them deeper into their beliefs.
I am hypervigilant by nurture but I am still never prepared. The loudness of this place triggers me frequently. And this loudness pursues me all day. Correctional officers yelling instead of talking because they can. Building alarms ringing because there is a fight or a medical emergency. More officers scream, one after the other, "Get down! Get down! Get down!" bulky sets of oversized keys clang like a grandfather clock in time with their gate when they slap on the officers thighs, boots pound on the pavement as they run bye, their faces scrunched tight in aggression, prepared for battle as they grab and shake thermos sized pepper spray canisters with high power nozzles. A fight they allowed to escalate to create an opportunity to use violence because "inmates don't understand nice". There is no de escalation here, only the forced stop caused by the collision of the officers. Like freight trains careening towards a car on the tracks.It takes work to breathe, ground myself and let it go. I am on this see saw of fight, flight or freeze reactions and practicing calming and grounding techniques. I uselessly struggle to consciously control autonomic functions. I get flung in the air by the sympathetic nervous system and crash down by the parasympathetic and then I meagerly stagger my way to homeostasis to do it all over. And yet Creator has me put one foot in front of the other. Empowering me to put on the student suit and learn so I can be of service to others. Because I know my peers are triggered too. I know they are staggering to find their homeostasis too. I know what it is to have to self medicate to deal with it day in and day out too, on top of the trauma that got all of us to this place to begin with. #Me Too
In my World called "Today",
I have something to say.
"Let's work out our Conflicts.
I know there's a Way.."
In the world I once knew,
There were things I was going through.
I didn't take care of me,
I didn't take care of you.
Looking through the Eyes of my Pain,
There was always Someone Else To Blame.
Today I know differently,
I take Responsibility.
In the World I Once Knew,
I was feeling so blue,
Though the world's still the same,
I've learned to call it by a Different Name.
juli spencer
completed 1/11/21
The World I Once Knew
The world that I'd known,
Is gone, cause I've grown.
I see through a new lense.
I've made many new friends.
The world I once knew,
It made me feel blue.
But values they change.
I've known quite a range.
In my world of "Yesterday."
I got excited on a freeway.
Trying to get "Away."
Searching for a Brighter Day.
But not Today, no not Today.
Today I have a Passion,
For Love & Compassion.
Although I still adore Fashion.
In the world I Once Knew,
I didn't care about you.
I didn't have a conviction...
I was very sad too.
The little girl in me just wants to know? Why the man left me, he is my dad
Why mom can't I be sad?
Please don't be mad
I just need my dad bad, I know you think I'm weak because your feelings are bleak but my heart is aching and my knees are weak with fear
Dad please pick me I'm right here Don't you see me in that rear view
I'm a mirror image of you.
Now I'm running far away chasing the love you took away. The days are gray the nights are cold I wish you were here to hold
the little girl in me just wants tho know why, after all these years
fear and abandonment live here.
My Heart is broke when I think of you, I choke not because I'm going to die but all these feelings I hold inside. Everyday I sit and wonder why? Wasn't I good enough for you to try?
All these years I laid awake and cried feeling dead inside. My heart is broke thinking of you, I wonder why I even miss you could it be I just needed love and acceptance? or was it a side effect of being rejected and emotionally neglected? Never feeling good enough
Just like you mom I detached I disconnected not thinking of who it affected
The cycle continued now my sons feel rejected abandoned by me
how could I be so cruel and defected
It all stemmed from that rejection, what I needed was your love and affection
instead I headed to the streets looking for what could make me feel complete never knowing this was my defeat so cruel and defected these beautiful boys I now rejected just like mom I kept pushing along being cold and disconnected.
Life in prison is what they gave me how could that be? Here I thought running the streets was my destiny. Coming to prison opened my eyes after all those years of living a lie feeling love and accepted by strangers nothing but a superficial high I felt I had reached my ultimate high, never dealing with the deep emotions inside. My whole existence was a lie. Life in prison is what they gave me, who would have known it is the very thing that saved me. Doing this time has helped me rebuild my shine.
-Cynthia Marquez
Truth - Latasha Brown
When it comes to crime and incarceration, it is impossible to ignore the racism elephant. I know that the conversation is uncomfortable, but if this truth is omitted any progress will be superficial and short lived. Mass Incarceration = Civilizational Suicide
I must warn you, this is not your typical, "all hail to the criminal justice system for reforming me", type of literature.
I have paid too a high a price for my authenticity to sacrifice it on the altar of self humility.What I do have to offer out is my determination to transcend my stigmatized identity and a stubborn refusal to accede to any system of harm.I will give you an honest view from the psychosocial perspective of a new African (formerly African American) woman in America whom also happens to be system impacted. I will state my intentions very clearly. I intend to penetrate moral numbness and apathetic headspace, because if you for one second fail to see the impact of mass incarceration, then sadly, you have fallen victim to the pluralistic ignorance plaguing this country, thus perpetuating civilizational suicide. Let me explain.
Mass incarceration is genocide. If you look past the smoke and mirrors you will see that crime is a symptom and not a cause.It is a symptom of a system rife with overt and covert racism. The great myth of racial supremacy was constructed to promote factionalism clever but fallicious.
This myth is a weapon of mass destruction. It precipitates hate and produces an apathetic mentality. This factionalism is orchestrated , and protects the interest of only one group of people the greedy.
That leads me to a question, is America truly a democracy? Or is it an oligarchy? Do not be disillusioned. The institutional racism bled into the soil of this country has a definite purpose keep black Americans confined to the lowest stratification system. It is also designed to limit the mobility of all poor persons regardless of ethnicity. This is where color laws and incarceration marry.They wed to produce capitol for wealthy investors.To this day, stock markets pay dividends to prison industrial complex shareholders. Incarceration serves as a means for racial control and labor exploration it's business y'all.
If you see but do not perceive, what does that make you? Hmmm.Daily our senses are saturated with propaganda that we consume until we are stuffed to indigestion. Mainstream media is an medium for agenda minded individuals to feed you exactly what they want you to consume. Then, after we have had our fill, we rush to pass tough on crime laws, or criminalize immigration( some disillusioned ones truly mean well). We are tricked into justifiable wars,and we become casualties in a war because of someone's greed.We become desensitized as innocent people are murdered while sleeping in their beds,taking a jog,sitting in their vehicles, or lynched in courtrooms. Your eyes do not deceive you LYNCHED! Take some statistics to help you digest that: 90% of black men accused of raping a white woman is executed. Many of whom are later exonerated by dna evidence.How many white men have been executed for the rape of a black woman? A big fat 0. Who makes up the largest portion of women in America's prisons? Black women. A black teen kills her newborn, she is imprisoned for feticide. A white teen does it? She is a victim and becomes America's sweetheart. A wealthy white teen commits murder, he is victim of get this" affluency." Now I could go further, but for the purpose of well...... my purpose, I will get back to why I am sharing this.We have 100 billion nerve cells in our brains carrying impulses they are powerful instruments. If we use them now to analyze this information, we might just begin to attain cognitive liberation. I encourage you to do your research. We've become so accustomed to allowing someone else to tell us what we should think, that we become mentally lethargic. I too have been taught what I am supposed to believe, but I've become accustomed to challenging the status quo being an outcast has some advantages.
Structural inequalities = a concentration of wealth, and a concentration of wealth = a concentration of political power,which translates into disparities that further exacerbate poverty and crime.Thus systemic racism is the cause behind the condition.
I am not trying to oversimplify the problem of crime, or absolve those of us that have committed crimes. What I am trying to do is think beyond the headache and find the cause.If we pinpoint the cause of the headache we can eliminate it. Now that we have discussed the cause of the headache, shall we look at possible solutions? How about we admit that our heads hurt because we are Ill with biases? Big deal, we've admitted it. Now, how about some candid conversation about how to reallocate some resources, demanding economic and political opportunities, and admit that we are not as separate as we'd like to think.See, the upper 1% of the wealthy are the only ones that truly benefit from factionalism. Mass incarceration is genocide aimed at annihilating poor people and persons of color, it is also civilizational suicide.
Solidarity or death!
Ode to Flight by Michelle Jones
Kiyoko Orita - “her name means ‘little bird’...
This little bird was introduced to trauma at a young age”
“Hiding within her own shadow, she witnessed the savage decapitation of her siblings from the hands of men with swords. She and her sister would be the only of 8 children to survive”
She spread her wings to fly across the sword staked land
Only to arrive to “the atomic”
Flying once more to the “land of dreams”
Only to find a sign: Japs Go Home!
Alone, with 2 chicks under her wing, no nest
An Absent lover
Kitty she went by, no more little bird
“but strong and fierce, mustering a new courage she placed her brokeness into fabrics with sewing. Her journey would lead her to Pennsylvania.”
Absent father, torn children, deportation
No more wings to fly beyond the border
Addiction to absence
It weighs the wings down like rocks tied to a chain
Hurt, scared, angry, and bitter
Rejection, abandonment, shame, fear
“These traumas became patterns which continued thru each generation”
Detached, numb
Absence of light
Choose to use your legs
And run from the darkness -
The light is at the end of the tunnel
“It wouldn't be long before Kitty felt she had gained a sense of love and belonging, when she did, she opened her own business and called it Kiyokos custom interiors. As she was known for her machine and hand crafted materials which beautified homes.
Enduring the treacheries of a long hard road, one would assume bitterness would wilt her heart, but on the contrary her and many others have Bloomed within Forgiveness.
This Art is dedicated to the hearts of All people...but a Special recognition towards my Asian community, who are need of much encouragement...this is my way of saying
‘I see you, your all in the likeness of Kiyoko, little birds whove only come to love, live , and fly within the dream....turbulence has again struck your wings, don't let it take away your song, for together we sing...together we fly.’”
“Turning 25” by Valerie Nessler
Turning 25 and now I'm facing 25 how strange that is...
I wonder who's idea this is...
Could it be that this was a destination for me...
Found guilty by a jury of my peers
First degree, what how can this be?
Sentenced to 26 to life
Time that I wasn't able to live
Now this is what I owe...
a life I never valued now the fight is on
If I wasn't poor would I have got this time?
Mass incarceration what is this?
A judicial system set up odd against us
Who is us?
Its the poor and under privileged thats who.
White vs Black who brought on this attack?
The rich politicians pass the laws in order to cause this human chaos
separated but equal
how does that make sense?
Let me try and convince
separate the normal from abnormal
you mean white and black
No I mean class rich and the poor the rich want more.
who will benefit from this?
In this case ignorance isn't bliss
Sight vs blind
like in Sophocles
I'm Oedipus.....
tragic flaw could it be?
Poverty has helped riddle me.
Knowledge will set us free.
Previously I wrote “I think it is important to give our collaborators power, when they are living in a space that tries to take it away. We will have to make some choices and get to discuss, but should not eliminate their creative power. Ultimately their input and ideas are the guiding force to their own story, which I think is what creates a meaningful experience.” In this point of our creative process, I would say that their input and ideas have been the guiding force to the piece. Mychal and Katherine made the call on the main themes of our videos and much of what they have written in their letters were used as jumping off points for our video. We tried to be as communicative as possible, although sometimes the length of our letters affected how quickly it reached them. Mychal gave more specific input on the different elements of the video, while Katherine gave a lot of strong thematic points with more freedom to us as to how to manifest it. I try to think about what they would think if they saw our videos.
At this point, Shikha and I are nearly finished with Mychal’s piece. For our process, we spent 4-5 exchanges connecting with each other and had discussions relating to the inequities of the system. As we were exchanging, some topics resurfaced multiple times, then Mychal suggested to explore a dichotomy of imprisonment and freedom. When he expanded on the topic, Shkiha and I named qualities, places, and pictures that came to mind and asked for his thoughts. Listening to his responses was helpful for me to come up with choreography and prompts. Shikha took portions of his writing, as well as some of her own writing, to include in the piece. After we filmed our parts, I did my best to describe what I made in the letters. However, I’m not sure if that one got to him.
We had a similar process for Katherine’s piece. She had a lot of amazing ideas for an in-person experience that I wish we could have done. She wanted to highlight a person-in-context, including their childhood trauma, and cultural codes to unravel the stigmas against incarcerated people. We named filming ideas we had and asked her what she thought. We haven’t heard from her in a few weeks due to the slow system, but we are hoping to get more of her input soon. We do have some film based off of what we talked about so far. Her piece will have a similar composition to Mychal’s --spoken word layered with movement.
I think to stay on track with our work we would (ideally) hear back from our collaborators and make adjustments to our video (and describe our final product). We also still need to write out/confirm introductions and closings to their pieces. Another thing is developing the resources. I know we have our GoFundMe dedicated to raising money for COVID supplies, however Mychal said he would prefer materials that would help him get out. I’m not sure what sort of letters or emails to send to whom in order to help with that. I think it would be a good thing to do but I am concerned that I don’t know how to plan it.
I am very excited to have friends and family of Mychal and Katherine watch our creative work. I’m very curious to what they will think of it. I am glad we had this opportunity to make an impact on the community and both our collaborators have said good things about this experience. I’m a little bit stressed about the amount of things we need to complete as a class (website, intros, bios, scripts...), but the class time to work on it helps. I think as we have our practice rounds things will get more comfortable. I am concerned that not all emails will be received for the invitations, but we will see if sending a shorter letter resolves that.
-Raychel
“True Crime…” by Valerie Nessler
Its based on the true events of the life of Valerie please be advised everything will be changed in order to sell this episode.
A series of bad choices helped create this show
Nothing that you see will be true
I should know its about me...
Here is what you they didn't tell because the truth just wouldn't sell
There he was I found him dead with a bullet in his head
That was the day hero went away
It broke my heart my life was torn apart
The grief was beyond my scope
I had no hope...
Being bounced around because my mom didn't want me around
I was the elephant in room trying to tackle this pain,
no one wanted to see or admit this shame
This death was the main source of my pain
Nothing or no one could ease this pain
Here comes my night and shining armor
The numb met the lonely
Ready to whisk me away funny thing he was 30 years older then me
I was broken hearted and trying to fill the voids
After my baby died I had no point to thrive I just wanted to die.
I didn't just "Snapp" I wasn't a Stranger in someone's home
I was a girl to young to know how or what to do with all this pain
Now I look look back and see this as shame in these shows
I'm no longer a grieving daughter and mother,I'm a Snapped killer
Human wreckage is what they call me
Prison is my junk yard throw her away
But, wait when does all this pain and greif go away?
Mabey if True crime was really True
Everyone one could find the clues hidden within the story plot
Of a life now worth living it will take a lot of forgiving
And lots of forgetting the impression left in there minds will forever define a girl a who made a lot of bad choices.
Kelly, thank you for coming to the Performing Arts and Community Exchange class
You are remembered.
As you shared your story I thought you set a great example of how we can make change, I felt touched, I imagined the perseverance and vulnerability you show in your everyday work.
You are knowledgeable.
You have inspired me to share my experiences truthfully.
Until next time, may you have love and rest.
As you shared your story I thought of ways that I could get involved, I felt disappointed at the way the state and country deals with people in the system, I imagined a different system. You are incredible. You have inspired me to do research into the prison system in CA. Until next time, may you have a safe and healthy life.
I thought about how far you have come, I felt moved, I imagined change in the future You are a force of power You have inspired me to listen before acting toward change
Until next time, may you have peace and rest to continue your endeavors
You are strong and insightful. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with such honesty and eloquence. I appreciate being able to hear about broken systems from those who survived them.
You’ve inspired me to seek out stories similar to yours and to continue to learn. I wish you safety and health in the future.
As you shared your story I thought how little I knew, I felt I need to do more, I imagined how broken everything is
You are so powerful.
You are are inspiration for putting thoughts and caring into real action.
As you shared your story I thought about being in community and how lucky I felt to hear your first hand experience. I felt honored by your honesty and I imagined what I can do to work to end this corrupt system
You are a blessing for us to have in class, and I can’t wait for the next time we can all engage in conversation.
You have inspired me to work harder to put my money where my mouth is and turn thought into action.
Until next time, may you stay safe in this crazy world and find some time to find peace and rest.
You are amazing
You are a gift
You have inspired me to commit myself more to our work with incarcerated individuals
Until next time, may you have easy dreams and deep rest
I thought about ways to help, I felt struck by the stories you told, I imagined future change for the prison industrial system in the future
You are candid and honest
You have inspired me to research and get more involved.
You are inspirational
As you shared your story I thought of others who could relate and with different stories, I felt extremely moved, I imagined your compassion and ambition
You have inspired me to bring forth that same compassion toward others
Until next time, may you have love and strength to keep doing all the amazing things you are doing.
As you shared your story I thought of how many things you have been able to accomplish and how one person has the power to change so much. I felt so grateful to have people like you that exist that are working to change the system. You are the revolution. You have inspired me to continue to commit myself even more to this work because of your determination despite the circumstances. Until next time, please take care of yourself and find moments of peace and gratitude for all that you have been able to accomplish.
-PACE students 2021
"True life" by Valerie Nessler
Life after Crime what did they think this would break me down?
I'm no one's puppet or clown.
I hide behind the tears of a clown, sure fill your mind with frivolous lies
Or let me show you a life after crime...
I'm no longer the broken girl who stole someone's life I can't bring him back but what I can do is prove that no one died in vain,
What a shame that I had to find my way though theses ashes
Blossoming within these walls is what I will do to prove I'm a life worth living. When you Snapp you break there is no comming back
Watch the true crime show it will tell you a tale of dread and sorrow
exploitation, is that the expectation?
Or you want my truth okay I'll give it to you
The truth from which I cannot hide
I woke up the day I entered this place I couldn't just waste away
There has got to be a better way
I do want to live!
I kept hearing a little late now I mean how?
Look at the show you "Snapped"
No, let go go!
My chains of oppression will be broken
who has the Key?
Its me I do!
Get the tools and start to work
Find yourself among all this dirt little by little pick yourself up.
Take this leap of faith it will never erase but you can sow some seeds
Pull those weed and watch what grows within me
No more lies, shame, or grief this is the hand that was dealt to me,
Flip them myself is that what this is about?
Work hard I am worth it Yes, I'm a stranger in this house called prison
But, I never would have envisioned finding a life worth living in this place.
The prison was in my heart my true life had fallen apart
Until I let the light shine through now my chains are broken.
Watch me grow not that lie of show why don't you all sit down listen to me.
USFCA PACE CLASS POEM
Thursday January 28th, 2021
I speak to the Air. Deep, full breaths of all of life’s blessings fill my lungs and good health is what I ask for.
peace
support
abundance
confidence
strength...
calm strength - is what I ask for.
healing
relief
gentleness
(more) strength
and healing is what I ask for.
I ask the air for ease for my Mom... I ask the air to fill the holes in my body.
I take a drink from my glass and I ask the Water to
replenish and rejuvenate me
to give me health
to embrace me
cleanse my soul
ground me
purify me
move me
and replenish me, again.
I ask the water to heal me
clear my head
open my heart and
remind me, “I belong”
When I place my hands in the soil, I ask the Earth for connection.
to keep me grounded
to remember
to nurture/mother me
to remind me of my roots
to show me myself
connect with me
bring us happiness
groundedness
to support me to grow in the way that will support you… I ask the Earth “who was here? tell me their story”
I ask the Earth to please, forgive us.
I ask the Fire without and within me to
burn generously
brighten my path
give me courage and strength
to know when to burn and when to simmer
to burn away fear
and keep the light alive
to guide me
I ask the fire for clarity
to cleanse me and help me forgive
to enlighten me
provide strength
and burn away more of my fear.
As I see the world through my lived experiences, it hurts that racism exists.
That poverty
homelessness
fear
abuse
selfishness and
subconscious assimilation
exist.
It hurts that dying young
rape
and rape culture
bullying
hate
profound indifference
and loss of community exist.
Justice, to me, is
empathy
acceptance
reparations
understanding
sympathy
respect
reclaimed identity
living without fear
having an open mind and open arms
believing survivors
supporting one another open mindedly
Justice is a system that employs learning instead of discipline community over individualism
access to housing, health care, and support for addiction power to those who have experienced injustices
Justice, to me, is learning to understand and understanding to learn.
My offering to the world is
positivity
hope
love and humor
advocacy
empathy, kindness, listening ears, and love
humor
patience & understanding
light and more empathy
and more empathy.
organization
a listening ear
acceptance and love
more empathy, more love, more acceptance learning and amplifying.
having an open heart
to listen and communicate and express. My offering to the world is movement forward.
Leti
Today I lost a dear friend due to the negligence and carelessness of CDCr. Ms. Griggs was a beautiful woman who did not have to die, who did not want to die. When Dr.s told her a few years back she had to lose weight I watched her hit the track with her walker. Day after day she hit the track and lost over fifty pounds. She was an asset to this community and a beautiful soul who spent 25 yrs of her life paying for her crime. When she went to board three years ago she was denied because she hadn't taken a codependency group, as always an excuse not to parole someone. Ms. Ester Griggs approached me one day and she asked if I would like a hair cut. I politely declined because I had no way to pay for it...she cut my hair anyway. I felt good about myself and her kind of kindness is rare in here. May God rest her sweet soul.
Ms. Griggs has been murdered by cdcr and this is how...when we had a massive out break of covid 19 cdcr took exposed and positive inmates to 503, a building on A yard away from general population yards. And once they were so called cleared inmates where being placed in unit 512 all the while an entire unit was empty. Ms. Ester lived in 512 honor dorm where 70% of he population is over fifty. She was placed with a covid positive inmate coming out of 503. Why in the world would CDC pack 8 women to a cell but more why send exposed inmates to the honor dorm where half of the population has underlined issues and elderly? Why? There is no way for us to socially distance and while we wash our hands, do our best to give each other three feet, wear a mask and take all the precautionary measures cdcr shoves another body in the cell and says deal with it. An officer said to a friend recently after a short dispute about making us go back to work even though we weren't vaccinated and did not feel safe..."inmates don't die from covid." The officers disbelief in the virus, the blatant disregard for our well being, health and safety is exactly what killed my friend.
Katherine
Criminalization does not discriminate by itself. It takes on a life form from those who can't see or don't want to see when a child is in trouble.We must ask ourselves did I miss the MARK in a child's life? This is where I believe dehumanization shows it's ugly head.We become numb to the problems of life and the person in the core issues.Question: Have we stop using our humanity for change? The person in the situation most likely start dehumanizing themselves and others Losing their humanity as well as not being able to connect to emotions or feelings.They stop feeling the world and the people in it.The people in the world continues grooming people toward Institutional exposure. Jails,prisons,mental hospitals. This is systemic racism that causes the government to dehumanize the weak and poor which are mainly our black and brown people.
Now even where I am at in this institution whites that are in prison with me for the same crime or worse.They still consider the white race to be above even in this population.Therefore to the whomever the power to be is on this cog wheel of trying to use incarceration as a breaking point to keep us oppressed from reaching the mountaintop of education.Prison is a money making breakthrough because they failed in the political world of wall street and to build prison and warehouse our people at 106.00 dollars a day.It's funny how they tried to use us as pork bellies per say.
Theme:
Encouraging Restoration within one self to change the dysfunction of global racism.
Story: We as a nation are in the struggle for racial justice. I want to share with you all what we as black and brown people want. We want to end racial oppression. We want to live in our full humanity extending our arms to pull one another up and open our hand to lend each other hope,caring ,compassion and the golden rule which is love.Bringing about healthy relationships with all people of all races.I have to say that the white race makes this very difficult for the black and brown race to live in our full humanity in this world. When todays whites ride on the backs of their ancestors it's a thing that the black and brown people see as unearned privileges of white skinned people that you try and hold on to that comes at the expense of black and brown people.So it is in the interest of black and brown to find a different way of being black and brown and showing equality to white people in the world.
From the historical earlier observation from slavery, whiteness and white supremacy pervade our cultures, institutions, and our personal relationships to this very day. We are socialized by white institutions such as prisons and we internalize white superiority by speaking today.One of the difficult challenges we black and brown people face is to identify a positive way of communicating to whites Non-Violence abuse. what we should say to the white person "is what are your real needs"we must communicate to them that it is not us it is them who creates divisions and express that they have always created racism and violence.While recognizing we live in a culture based on white supremacy.
* Recognition: White People can use their white privilege in away that is beneficial to all people.(See below)
Issues: Don't take it personal or use discomfort as an excuse to disengage.
(Feeling of guilt,defensiveness are common responses such as jokes etc.Rather than centering on their own feelings of discomfort). White people should center on the feelings of people of color focusing on evaluating what to do with the information.
Issue: White people need to learn when to listen,when to amplify and when to speak up.
( When people of color speak to their experiences of oppression, it's important for white people not to dominate the conversation or question these experiences. Educate fellow white people about race. Your privilege can be a tool to reach people that will listen to you or relate to your experience in understanding your relationship to race and white privilege.
Issue: Educate yourself
(Don't always expect people of color to take the lead on speaking out against racism, you shouldn't expect black and brown people to educate you on racism.
Issue: Educate fellow white people.
(Share what you've learned.Push through discomfort and demand courageous conversations in your circles.Do not let peers get away with problematic remarks without making a serious effort to engage them.
Issue: Risk your unearned benefits to benefit others.
(Intervene if she someone treating someone differently because of their racial identity.It can mean advocating,for people of color,to receive equal pay,being an active witness when you see people of color confronted by law enforcement or harassed by bigots and letting them know you are there to support right over wrong despite of skin color.It most certainly can mean engaging directly in anti-bias work,such as instilling more inclusive practices at schools,business or working with people committed to ally ship and anti.racist activism.
Performing Arts & Community Exchange