Insights from Texas Death Row

2012-01-22T01:30:00.000+01:00

CYCLICALMINDTRIP I, II, and III by Rob Will

“And since art enables us to glimpse areality which lies outside the realm of that which we are normally aware, theemotions which it arouses are not of this world.” —C. E. M. Joad,“My hand is entirely theinstrument of a more distant sphere. Nor is it imy head that functions in mywork; it is something else…” —PaulKlee

As I picked up my pen to scribe out afew thoughts on these paintings, I was metwith a loss of words. As I painted these piecesI experienced a whirlwind of emotion and Iwas transported to other realms, new realms, which I had never previously experienced. I will, however,attempt to speak a bit about them and the experience…

In some of the Latin American Indianshamanic traditions a form of meditation is taught in which one focuses onbecoming a particular object, usually an animal or a part of Nature like a treeor a boulder. I’ve practiced and taught Yoga for years as well as engaged inmany other forms of eastern and western psychology, martial arts and just aboutevery damned thing. Most of my Art comes from visions I have when meditatingand this is the case with these pieces,although they are more of a manifestation of deep emotional experiences I hadwhen delving off into a certain type of meditation. I never plan Art and it’s absolutely impossiblefor me to draw something someone asks.

Ideas will come to me and they’lldance around my mind and the dance will not stop until the piece is finished.With these pieces flashes of ideas and/or emotions came to me during meditationand my consciousness focused on becomingthose ideas and emotions.

With the Cyclical Mindtrip I: Subterranean Fire-EtaCarina Nebula piece I found myself deep in the Earth feeling the heatof being at one with Nature and at other points my mind soared through thecosmos and I was split into ten million stars and spread out across infinitespace. While painting Cyclical Mindtrip II: Wine dark Depths – Pause:Neptunes Lament for Maria Sureña – Aurora Borealis I wasin the sea, the ocean and specifically the Gulf of Mexico where I spent muchtime as I was growing up. This was the time of the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Iheard horrible news stories of the destruction and this hit me particularlyhard because of my love of Nature and also because of my connection to theGulf. At one point I broke down in tears as I poured the spots of thick blackpaint on the canvas.

Many times—Art for me is also what might be calledan intellectual experience—I tend to delve deeply into the concepts, ideas, andsubject matter I’m vibing on. With CyclicalMindtrip I, I studied up on a bit of Astrophysics and particularly spent alot of time feeling some very awe-inspiring images of deep spaces andmeditating on them. I read many of the mythological stories concerning the seaand sea deities while experiencing MythicalMindtrip II.

Cyclical Mindtrip III: LGBTBrainworlds—Voyage on the Bifrost is aninteresting piece. While vibing with this piece I did a lot of studying on theLGBT struggle and the scientific “controversies”—Nature vs. Nurture,etc.—concerning homosexuality and bisexuality. I meditated on these things andat one point I was delving into some of the myths concerning androgynous or“hermaphrodite” god and goddess figures in world mythology and theimage-symbolism-feeling of the Bifrost bridge of Norse mythology swept acrossmy mind…

You should understand that when I delve off intosomething—study, Art, etc.,—I delve deeply. Picture this: I’m sweating, deep,fast strokes dance across the canvas; paint is flying everywhere. A bookcalls—I throw my brush to the side and furiously flip through pages to let aparticular passage find me. Marked. Another book: referencing,cross-referencing, arguing, debating, holding dialectic. Or, I might fall intoa very clam, serene, otherworldly state and find myself with a piece on thewall as I do Yoga under it. Chanting, breathing, flowing…two, three, five,seven, eight hours or more alternating between the states…

Just a few quick thoughts…One of my schizophrenicneighbors has been beating on the walls and my other insane neighbor has beenscreaming maniacally for hours so I’ve been having to absolutely fight to justscribe out these few words that I hope are somewhat coherent thoughts. Muchmore could be said about these pieces—thoughts on Color Theory, the largeinfluence of music on these pieces, but perhaps I’ll save this for later.

FromTexas Death Row,

WithStrength and Love:

Rob Will

DRIVE Movement
Find us on FACEBOOK
FREEROBWILL.ORG

NOTE: Volunteers for Robert Will type thesehandwritten updates that he sends from death row. Typos may occur and shouldnot be considered to be the work of the author.

TO MAKEA DIFFERENCE

You can help in waysbig and small, literally. Visit our webpage for Rob and read his story. Learnabout this remarkable young man who has been wrongfully sentenced to TexasDeath Row for a crime he did not commit.

To help in ourefforts to raise funds for his cause check out our web shop! There aresolidarity items like the PERSEVERANCE unisex t-shirts with a bold graphicdesign. These are high quality 100% cotton shirts designed by designed byDennis Schröder from Supportershirtand printed by DirAction from Hamburg. And they come is all sizes! Or chooseamong the other items offered in our webshop.

Our main goal is to bringattention to Rob’s case by raising awareness and raising the much neededfunding for his legal defense.

Lethal Injustice RobWill e.V. is also part of Rob Will Defense Committee. We are a non-profitorganization approved and registered in a local court in Leipzig, Germany. Wehave a tax number and are authorized to issue receipts for all donations. Allcontribution from donations and merchandise will be used exclusively for Rob’sdefense and for his campaign.

Please considermaking a generous donation in one of two ways:

Via paypal lethalinjustice@gmail.com ordirectly to

Lethal Injustice Rob Will e.V.
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
IBAN DE17860205000003507800
BIC BFSWDE33LPZ

Give the gift thatkeeps on giving. Be that person who spreads the word about Rob Will. SupportRob’s bid for freedom. Thank you all, in advance, for that perfect gift.

2012-01-20T14:37:00.001+01:00

A MESSAGE FROM EMILY O'Halloran: Band Support For Rob Will's Cause

…
I would like to introduce you to my friend Robert Will. A beautiful, soulful, funny, inspiring, genuine, thoughtful, insightful all round glorious human being. Most of all he is innocent… Rob is an artist, poet, activist and a man with deep integrity… He is also on Death Row in Texas… Please join me and a wonderful group of people in standing with Rob Will and saving his life… This world needs Rob in it… Your life will be all the richer for having met him… I promise you…

If you would like to begin a movement of rock ‘n roll charity with me and are a songwriter/ musician and would like contribute a song or efforts and be part of an album to raise money for Rob Will’s legal defense fund please contact me
http://emilyohalloran.com/death-row/

2012-01-20T11:52:00.001+01:00

ROB WILL: FREE!

HAMBURG: Kukuun

The work of the artist, Rob Will: “An insight into his life as an inmate onDeath Row,” will be on exhibition at Kukuun from January 27th throughFebruary 10th, 2012.

Rob Will was sentenced to death in Januaryof 2002 for murder. Rob has always maintained his innocence. He was 23-years-oldwhen he was put on Death Row in Livingston, Texas.

Seeking balance in his soul, Rob turned tofine art, developing his work through a self-taught process of experimentation.Thoughts, desires, fears and dreams are expressed with a versatility that veersbetween impulse and control. With the few materials available to him on DeathRow, Rob transcends the poor quality of a limited supply to create his powerfulimages. Often, he creates the colors, the ‘canvas’, and even the paintbrush byhis own limited means. For Rob, necessity is the mother of invention.

In one image, he’s drawn with a ballpointpen the life-like image of an eagle—the symbol of freedom—onto a map found onthe reverse side of a letter from a friend.

Rob’s magnum opus, “The Book Of The Damned”(cp. the image on the right side), captures his inventive spirit and astonishesthe viewer with its complexity. Prepared in a laborious manner, it is paintedon a paper bag that he methodically crumpled and smoothed for the desiredeffect. He primed his canvas by attaching it to the top of his metal cage andcoloring by hand its various layers. Coloring such a large field poses a realchallenge in a 5-meter-square cell where he only has access to a very smallwriting tablet. Pay particular attention to the red dots on this painting. Uponcloser inspection you discover bits of red plastic affixed to the surface.These represent the spent bullets of chemical warfare, collected by Rob in theaftermath of an assault by prison guards with grenades and semi-automaticrifles.

A certified master of Yoga, Rob is devotedto self-awareness and studies philosophy, psychology and social policy. He is ascholar of Nietzsche. He regularly writes updates from Death Row for the public,sharing his views of global and current events, and depicting the hellish conditionson Death Row. These poignant, hand written updates are included in theexhibition. Rob’s activism, his commitment to peaceful protest, hunger strikes andsit-ins protesting the living conditions on death row and the inevitableexecutions of fellow inmates, is regularly greeted with tear gas and harsh disciplinarymeasures that further worsen the repressive living conditions.

This exhibition premieres the recent workof this fine artist at Kukuun in Hamburg, Germany. Come for an insight into theinner life of Rob Will, an inmate on Death Row.

Vernissage: Friday, January 27th, 2012, 19:30

The exhibition will remain on display untilFebruary 10th, 2012

Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, from20:00

Place: Spielbudenplatz 22 – 1. OG St Pauli

www.kukuun.wordpress.com

www.freerobwill.org |www.robwilldeutschland.blogspot.com | www.drivemovement.org

contact: Susan Nowacki robwilldeutschland@gmail.com

2012-01-19T17:14:00.004+01:00

URGENT CASE UPDATE: Motion Denied for Rob Will. His case is now facing the 5th Circuit with NO lawyer.

It is with a very heavy heart and great sadness that I share with you the Judge issued a ruling in Rob Will's case last January 16, 2012 denying his motion and that leaves us headed to the Fifth Circuit. Robert Gene Will was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a Harris County Deputy in January 2002 and sentenced to death. Robert Will has proclaimed his innocence throughout and continues to do so from his cell on Death Row. Since his conviction a total of 5 new witnesses have come forward and provided sworn affidavits that state Robert Will is not the killer.

Robert's case has been plagued with problems as a result of the incompetent court-appointed attorneys, as well as the injustice of the Texas judicial system. His trial attorneys failed to investigate his case, went to trial unprepared and refused Robert the chance to actively participate in his own defense. His state habeas counsel was removed from the list of state approved appeals attorneys after he filed identical appeals for Robert Will and the "Railroad Serial Killer", Angel Maturino Resendiz. Neither appeal mentioned the defendants or their cases and both included incorrect conviction dates. Stephen Bright, president and senior councel of the Southern Center for Human Rights reffered to to Rob’s habeas counsel as "completely incompetent" and the subsequent acceptance of denial of the the Court of Criminal Appeals of Rob's appeal as an unjustified, unconcerned act. "But this poor quality of lawyering -Bright stated before the US House of Representatives- is so common in these courts that they just deny the appeals based on briefs that would not receive a passing grade in a first -year legal writing course." [September 22, 2009]

Rob's federal habeas attorney has also failed to present the available evidence of Robert's innocence. As the federal judge made it very clear in the denied motion Rob Will's case has errors of GRAVE PROPORTION in all its stages. To further add to the frustration, Rob's attorney filed a motion to withdraw as Rob's counsel which was granted by the court. That leaves us with NO attorney as Rob is facing the Fifth Circuit. Robert's case highlights the inadequacies and prejudices of the U.S justice system and in particular the injustice that the poorer members of American society receive.

The clock is ticking and Rob needs our help and support now more than ever. We'll be posting action in the following days, please take part in them! If you want to help, here are some things you can do for now:

SPREAD THE WORD about Rob, his website www.freerobwill.org, twitter @freerobwill1 and blog http://freerobwill.blogspot.com/ Let your friends and family know about Rob and what he is facing. Encourage them to read about his case and to befriend us on facebook www.facebook.com/freerobwill. You can also change your profile picture and use one of Rob's or of our campaign to create awareness.

Printable material like brochures and Rob's press kit in English, French and German ara available to download in Rob's website and here too You can also find them in our FB albums here

We have also a youtube channel Lethal Injustice. Feel free to share those videos in English, French and German to spread the word about Rob.

If you haven't yet, "like" our NGO in Facebook Lethal Injustice.

Drop a line to Rob Will and show him your solidarity. If you have never written to Rob Will but would like to take the opportunity to send him a message of support the quickest way (especially since the mail room is holding incoming and outgoing mail) is through JPay. These are emails that can be printed and delivered to him. It is 44 cents per page but it would mean the world to Rob to hear words of solidarity and encouragement. Their website is www.jpay.com

If you can, consider giving a donation to help us find him effective representation IMMEDIATELY and continue with Rob's campaign. To help in our efforts to raise funds for his cause check out our web shop! There are solidarity items like the PERSEVERANCE unisex t-shirts with a bold graphic design. These are high quality 100% cotton shirts designed by Dennis Schröder from Supportershirt and printed by DirAction from Hamburg. And they come is all sizes! Or choose among the other items offered there.

We are organizing the next steps to follow and we'll let you know as soon as possible what we can do together. This is by no means the end. The fight goes on!

Thank you for your unwavering solidarity and support!

Rob Will's Support Team

freerobwill@gmail.com

2012-01-18T17:46:00.002+01:00

URGENT CASE UPDATE: Motion Denied for Rob Will. His case is now facing the 5th Circuit.

It is with a very heavy heart and great sadness that we share with you the federal judge issued a ruling in Rob's case last January 16, 2012 denying his motion and that leaves us headed to the Fifth Circuit. To further add to the frustration, Rob's attorney has filed a motion to withdraw as Rob's counsel which has been granted by the court. That leaves us with no attorney as Rob is facing the Fifth Circuit.

The clock is ticking and Rob needs our help and support now more than ever. We'll be posting action in the following days, please take part in them! Now is the time for everyone to be fully engaged in calling, emailing, writing, and doing whatever we can to get the word out about this ruling. Drop a line to
Robert and let him know he is not alone!

If you can, consider giving a donation to help us find him effective representation IMMEDIATELY http://freerobwill.org/#/donations/4559359029

Thank you for your solidarity and support!

Find us at:
www.freerobwill.org
http://freerobwill.blogspot.com
@freerobwill1
www.facebook.com/freerobwill
freerobwill@gmail.com

2012-01-17T11:31:00.000+01:00

A Call to Media Outlets

My name is Emily O'Halloran. I am writing to you with a very important case. I am part of a broad coalition of active supporters fighting for justice for Robert Will, who is an innocent man on Death Row.

He is at a critical time in his appeals and whilst he has just received an evidentiary hearing, which the judge has not yet ruled on, we are trying to get greater media support so people can become aware of this gross injustice. Rob's case is very similar to Troy Davis's.

I am reaching out to you in the hope that Rob's case can get wider visibility through media avenues. If you or anyone you know is interested in a story like this I would be more than grateful, as would Rob.

We are a very organized group that has been successful on many levels:

· Robert has just been granted an evidentiary hearing by the courts

· Broad international organization

· Increase in number of supporters

· Organizing prison visits

· Up to date website and social media (also in French and German)

Robert’s achievements since being incarcerated:

· He was one of the founding members of D.R.I.V.E. the Death Row Inner-communalist Vanguard Engagement, a movement formed to improve the conditions for Death Row prisoners and work on broader prison reforms and social issues by working hand in hand with outside Human Rights and Civil Rights groups and by engaging in non-violent protest inside the prison walls

· Become a Certified Yoga Instructor whilst on Death Row and teaches fellow inmates the physical and psychological benefits of both Yoga and meditation.

· He has organized poetry reading and review sessions and taught illiterate inmates to read and write.

· More recently Robert has been studying for a university Degree via a Louisiana State University correspondence program. He is only the second person who has ever attempted to study for a degree whilst on Texas Death Row.

All Death Row prisoners at the Polunsky Unit are locked, alone, in their cells for 22 hours a day. Robert has achieved all the previously stated accomplishments through his locked cell door, which was no easy task and shows his determination and desire to help others and improve the lives of his fellow prisoners.

Details of Robert Will’s case of innocence

· Forensic Evidence- Found non conclusive with Rob Wills being the shooter

· Ballistic Evidence- Found non conclusive with Rob Wills being the shooter

· Rob Wills was handcuffed when the Police Officer was shot and radio logs confirm this fact.

· Witnesses were threatened, beaten and coerced to not testify on Roberts behalf.

· Chuck Rosenthal, the Harris County District Attorney who personally prosecuted Robert Will, was forced to resign on February 15th, 2008 following the discovery of racist, sexist, pornographic and political material and emails on his County office computer.

· Alan Michael Rosario who actually was the shooter of the police officer was never charged with capital murder. He received a lesser sentence, due to corruption and the fact that his Father was a police officer.

· Jury Impartiality- Several motions were made during Robert’s trial by defense attorneys and Robert expressed concerns, on several occasions, regarding the amount of uniformed police officers that was present at his trial on a daily basis.

· Ineffective & Incompetent Trial and Appeals Counsel-The state writs of habeas corpus filed by Roberts state habeas appeal counsel Leslie Ribnik on Robert's behalf did not include any additional information or claims of innocence. It centered mainly on just one single technical challenge to Texas law and made no direct mention of Robert. In fact Robert's writ was a word for word identical copy of the writ Ribnik had submitted for Angel Maturino Resendiz, the train hopping "Railroad Serial Killer". Both writs failed to mention Resendiz or Will by name or refer to their trials and listed incorrect conviction dates for both men, as well as sharing a capitalization error on page 17. Ribnik has since been removed from the state approved list of habeas attorneys because of what one legal scholar called Ribnik's “abdication of duty, worse than no representation at all” and he no longer represents Robert.

We as a nation cannot stand idly by while our men and women on Death Row are being systematically killed.

I ask you as a person who is in a position to shed light on Robert's plight to please go to his websites and read for yourself this incredible mans story.

Rob needs to be in this world. Rob's innocence must be recognized and his life must be spared.

Justice must be served.

Robert Will's website

D.R.I.V.E. Movement

Interview with Robert

I thank you for your time,

I hope together we can bring about change for the betterment of all human beings...

With Peace,

Emily O'Halloran

emilysomersetohalloran@gmail.com

Never Alone Night, Benefit Concert for Rob Will in Liège, Belgium!

2012-01-12T15:22:00.000+01:00

Never Alone Night, Benefit concert for Rob Will in Liège, Belgium!

Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 8 pm to 2 am in Ecole communale du Laveu , rue du Laveu

52, Liège, Belgium.

Come and listen to Chicken Killers, Tied, The swinging swigs and Ascension

We'll have merchandise like Perseverance tshirts and DRIVE bags

All collected money will be donated to Rob's defense fund.

Event page on facebook

Contact: robwillfrancophone@gmail.com

FREE! my fisrt art exposition in KUKUUN, Hamburg

2012-01-12T15:09:00.000+01:00

I will be having my fisrt art exposition in Kukuun Hamburg, Germany in a few weeks. Don't miss it!

ROB WILL: FREE!

KUKUUN Hamburg

Vernissage: Friday, January 27 2012 7:30 p.m.

Closing: Friday, February 10, 2012.

Adress: Spielbudenplatz 22 - 1. OG

St. Pauli, Hamburg

Germany.

Kukuun is open from Thursday to Saturday from 8:00 PM

Check out my art in my website

Christmas With Malcom X and Jesus by Rob Will

2012-01-12T13:55:00.000+01:00

12.25.11

“If you ask one of the crucial theological question—why was Jesus killed?—the answer isn't ‘because God wants us to love one another.’ Why in the hell would anyone kill Jesus for that? That’s stupid. It's not even interesting. Why did he get killed? Because he challenged the powers that be. The church is a political institution, calling people to be an alternative to the world. That’s what the cross is about.”

Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics, Divinity School of Duke University.

“…I’m not willing to sit and wait on God to come… I believe in religion, but a religion that includes political, economic and social action designated to eliminate some of these [oppressive] things, and make a paradise here on earth while we’re waiting for the other.”

Malcolm X, February 3, 1965 address to the Tuskegee Institute (Post Mecca)

Prayer without action is blasphemy—this is one of the many thoughts that have been twirling through my mind this nice Christmas Day. For the past few days I’ve been reading—and just finished—the new Manning Marable book, Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention and today, being that it’s Christmas, I’ve also been reading some Christian scripture. I just finished doing about 10 asanas’ (yoga poses) and some nice pranayama (yogic breathing) and Kirtan (chanting) and I thought, “Yes, prayer without action is blasphemy.”

Many theologians from various religious traditions—Hindu, Buddhist, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, etc.—have expressed this idea. Stanley Hauerwas (who I quoted above) is an interesting person. I’ve read some of his books. He writes and speaks much about the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who fought against the Nazis and was eventually executed by Hitler’s regime. Bonhoeffer—who I’ve read also spoke about how merely looking on in the face of injustice is not Christian behavior, the true Christian is called to sympathy and action. This is indeed what the Christian Bible teaches.

Martin Luther King Jr. recognized the importance of prayer but spoke of how the most important thing about prayer is that it should be followed by action—action that challenges the injustices within our world. When people say they are praying for something the question that immediately comes to mind is, “What are they actively doing to help make their prayers manifest into reality?” Jesus was a social justice activist; he was in the streets holding rallies, conducting teach-ins, challenging the corrupt authorities. There are many examples from the New Testament Christian Bible that illustrates this but one of my favorites is contained in the first part of Matthew.

Jesus is born. The Magi (high priests) from the east—probably Zoroastrian holy men—come and let it be known: This is the Messiah, coming straight from God, this is the “Christ” (anointed one). King Herod tried to run some weak duplicitous course on the Magi telling him that he love-love-loves (!) Jesus and really wants to worship him so pretty please tell me where he is, but in reality Herod is thinking, “Kill the Christ child!” The Magi are, after all, mystic sages so they don’t tell King Herod where he is because they know his real intentions.

An angel comes to Joseph in a dream and says, “The authorities are after the baby Jesus—go escape to Egypt!” Mary, Joseph and Jesus outwit the police and escape to the land of the pyramids, of the high god Osiris, the goddess Isis, lords Anubis and Toth. While in Egypt another angel appears to Joseph and says, “Evil King Herod has died, there’s been a change in government so go back to Israel.” So, they make it to Israel and find out Herod’s son has gained control of the government. Not good—so they leave for the district of Galilee and live in the town of Nazareth. Time goes by.

John the Baptist appears as a Holy Man baptizing people in the Jordan River. Jesus goes to meet him and goes through the rite of baptism and the heavens open up and the spirit of God appears and blesses Jesus. Lovely, right? Yes…but—then Jesus is in the desert for 40 days and it was bad enough that crooked government police were after him but now Satan himself appears! Satan tries to handle Jesus and tempt him with some really weak game, but Jesus bests him with his superior rhetorical power and the devil runs away and angels come.

He’s escaped the crooked police, and beat Satan so all is cool, right? Nope. The unrighteous authorities arrest John the Baptist and send him to prison. Time to organize! Jesus goes back to Galilee and begins organizing and building a solid social movement. His style is to be admired: Jesus walks up to the sea and meets the fishermen Simon Peter and his brother Andrew and says, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They pledge their solidarity and two other fishermen, John and James, do also. Organizing amongst the working class goes well and they hit the streets on a grassroots level.

Jesus shows what he is about with action—he’s healing the sick, casting out demons, alleviating pain and suffering. People all over the region are hearing about Jesus the Christ, from Syria, from all over Judea, to lands across the Jordan River. Great crowds form and Jesus goes up on a mountainside and in the style of the ancient Sages before him he sits down and begins to teach. Can you imagine? Jesus is healing the sick left and right, people are cheering, screaming with joy, dancing, tears of happiness are flowing. Great crowds are pulsing like a rock concert and suddenly—Jesus stops what he is doing and all is quiet…

The crowds part and he walks up on a mountaintop and sits down. A thousand, ten thousand, catch their breath and all eyes are on him. And the Messiah begins to teach:

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
—Matthew 5:6-10

To be merciful takes action. How can one be pure of Heart? Simply think pure thoughts? Hardly. To be pure of heart one must live a pure Life. All action is preceded by thought and pure thoughts will breed pure actions, but this must be actively cultivated. We live in a world filled with injustice. What is peace? Peace is harmony in all affairs—one can have personal peace within oneself and this is good and will cultivate more harmony with (and within) those you encounter. In a small way this creates peace, it makes peace but to be a true peacemaker one must actively work towards bringing more harmony to humanity, the earth, existence. It takes time, effort and dedication and you may be persecuted in very small or even large ways. (In today’s society I think most of the time we persecute ourselves more than anything.) But, this is what Jesus commands his followers to do: be socially engaged, do good works, be merciful, be a peacemaker. Pray, yes, but action must follow.

Malcolm X understood this and lived this near the end of his life. His autobiography (published in 1965) has sold 6 million copies worldwide and it’s an excellent book. It’s much more moving than Marable Manning’s book because in his autobiography Malcolm X’s voice comes through much clearer, but Marable’s Malcolm is the work of a historian and this has a different kind of value. (Marable, who died earlier this year, was a renowned historian, author and professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.)

It’s quite interesting how after his assassination Malcolm X became a perfectly acceptable social and historical figure though he was deeply hated by many when he was alive. Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X’s wife, was even invited to a Richard Nixon re-election fundraising gala. Many have said that Malcolm X’s full assimilation into popular and acceptable mainstream U.S. culture was marked when, in 1999, the U.S. government celebrated the release of the official Malcolm X postage stamp. One can only imagine what former F.B.I. director, J. Edgar Hoover—who irately ordered Malcolm’s destruction and his famous “Do something about Malcolm X” internal F.B.I. wire—would think of this.

What do I get from this book and the overall story of Malcolm X? Malcolm was a hustler, gangster, dope man, drug dealer. In the violent and vicious hell of prison he went through a powerful life-changing transformation. This started when he met another prisoner—a self-taught intellectual—who challenged Malcolm to learn, grow, and expand his mind and elevate his Consciousness. Most of this growth was done on his own and always without the help of—and many times in opposition to—prison authorities. Prison destroys most people by Malcolm only flourished and began what Marable rightly calls, “A Life Of Reinvention.”

Malcolm X got out of prison and immediately began engaging in social activism, albeit a form of deluded by black supremacist/separatist ideology. For 12 years he was with the Nation of Islam and then the most powerful and profound part of his history—perhaps next to his prison experience—occurred: Malcolm broke with the Nation of Islam and for the next year went through a beautiful revelatory experience, spurred on more than anything by his Haji pilgrimage to Mecca. He went from a kill-kill-kill the white devil mindset to well, let’s hear it from Malcolm in his own words:

• “Islam brings together in unity all colors and classes. Everyone shares what he has, those who have share with those who have not, those who know teach those who don’t know.”

• “I began to perceive that ‘white man’ as commonly used means complexion only secondarily; primarily it describes attitudes and actions; primarily it describes attitudes and actions…[I met whites] who were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been.”

• “I have eaten from the same plate, drank from the same glass, slept on the same bed or rug, while praying to the same God…with fellow Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes were the bluest of blue…[for] the first [time] in my life…I didn’t see them as ‘white men.’[T]his forced me to rearrange much of my own thought-pattern, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions.”

• “[S]ome of my dearest friends are Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Hindus, agnostics and even atheists—some are capitalists, socialists, conservatives, extremists…some are even Uncle Toms—some are black, brown, red, yellow and some are even white. It takes all these religions, political, economic, psychological and racial ingredients (characteristics) to make the Human Family and the Human Society complete.”

• “I believe in a society where people can live like human beings on the basis of equality.”

• “I believe in one God, and I believe that God had one religion…God taught all the prophets the same religion…Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, or some of the others…They all had one doctrine and that doctrine was designed to give clarification to humanity.”

• “There is no greater serenity of mind than when one can shut out the hectic noise and pace of the materialistic world and seek inner peace within oneself…The very essence of the Islam religion in teaching Oneness of God, gives the Believer genuine, voluntary obligations toward his fellow man (all of whom are One Human Family, brothers and sisters to each other)…the True Believer recognizes the Oneness of all Humanity.”

Seeking inner peace within oneself: meditation, prayer. Voluntary obligation toward one’s fellow man: social engagement, action. Speaking of which, I am about to go to my door and engage in some dialogue on all I’ve just written about after I do a bit of Shaolin Qi Gong. I’ll meditate and then conduct what is essentially a psychosociopolitical class—prayer followed by action. Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah Yule. In the spirit of Reinvention…

From the Polunsky Death Camp,

With Strength and Love:

Rob Will

DRIVE Movement

Facebook Profile

freerobwill.org

NOTE: Volunteers for Robert Will type these handwritten updates that he sends from death row. Typos may occur and should not be considered to be the work of the author.

TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

You can help in ways big and small, literally. Visit our webpage for Rob and read his story. Learn about this remarkable young man who has been wrongfully sentenced to Texas Death Row for a crime he did not commit.

To help in our efforts to raise funds for his cause check out our web shop! There are solidarity items like the PERSEVERANCE unisex t-shirts with a bold graphic design. These are high quality 100% cotton shirts designed by designed by Dennis Schröder from Supportershirt and printed by DirAction from Hamburg. And they come is all sizes! Or choose among the other items offered HERE

Our main goal is to bring attention to Rob’s case by raising awareness and raising the much needed funding for his legal defense.

Lethal Injustice Rob Will e.V. is also part of Rob Will Defense Committee. We are a non-profit organization approved and registered in a local court in Leipzig, Germany. We have a tax number and are authorized to issue receipts for all donations. All contribution from donations and merchandise will be used exclusively for Rob’s defense and for his campaign.

Please consider making a generous donation in one of two ways:

Sending money via www.paypal.com is very easy. Just click on the "send money" tab at the top of the paypal page. Insert our email address—lethalinjustice@gmail.com—for the recipient and follow instructions.

You can also make donations directly to our bank account:

Lethal Injustice Rob Will e.V.

Bank für Sozialwirtschaft

IBAN DE17860205000003507800

BIC BFSWDE33LPZ

Give the gift that keeps on giving. Be that person who spreads the word about Rob Will. Support Rob’s bid for freedom. Thank you all, in advance, for that perfect gift that will bring us all a generous return.

Great Despisers of Books

2010-01-26T21:46:00.001+01:00

Tonight I received a D.R.C. appeal ruling for 3 books the unit mailroom denied recently. Below is the text of the appeal I filed with the D.R.C. and the two sheets that are the ruling on the appeal. Just another example of TDCJ bureaucratic despotism. I wonder if they would have denied 3 copies of the new book by that most profound right-wing darling Sarah Palin…?

R.

[Date written: 12/29/09]

Robert Will #999402
Polunsky Unit
3872 F.M. 350 South
Livingston, TX. 77351

December 14, 2009
Monday

Director’s Review Committee
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, TX. 77342

DRC:

On 12/4/09 I received two separate I-153 “Denial Forms” concerning 3 books that were denied from one order sent by Dover Publications. The justification for the denial was given as “multiple copies.”

I have thoroughly reviewed BP-3.91 and nowhere in the policy does it state that we are not allowed to receive multiple copies of the same book. Furthermore, on previous occasions I have received more than one copy of the same book. When I asked the delivering mail room clerk why the books were denied I was told, “Because you can traffic and trade with them.”

The books that were denied are “Lysistrata” by the classic Greek playwright Aristophanes and 2 copies of the great American political philosopher Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience and Other Essays.” I have never heard of books being used for “trafficking and trading” and books such as these are read by only perhaps 1% of the prison population or less.

I would like to respectfully request that the 3 denied books be returned to me. Thank you for your time in this matter.

Respectfully submitted
Rob Will
Turned in 12/15/09

In the Midst of Chaos

2010-01-26T20:28:00.000+01:00

Earlier one of my neighbors and I were listening to the news and commenting on all of the current socio-political issues being talked about—Iraq, Afghanistan, Health Care, etc.—when we were interrupted by someone yelling out that we’re on some type of temporary lockdown.

I ventured to the door to investigate and found out that some officers from the Death Row building had to rush out to general population to stop a gang fight, so they temporarily stopped all movement on the unit. Two officers were over by the control picket talking about how “the Mexican gangs are out there beatin’ the shit out of each other again.”

We went back to our discussion and then began a Poetry Reading. Being that we’re in the middle of Yule I dropped a poem by Samuel Coleridge that alludes to the essence of Yule. Then we started vibing on some poetry by Mario Benedetti and someone interrupted us again.

A guy just came back from visitation and as he was walking down the hall he saw Ms. Smith being taken to the Captain and Major’s office while raving about how she was “going to kick that fucking bitch’s ass!!” Apparently another female officer became fed up with property officer Smith’s maniacally sordid ways and said something in challenge to her reign of terror and Ms. Smith almost physically attacked her before other officers intervened.

Similar instances have happened in the past with Ms. Smith, one of which I have personally witnessed—she makes no distinction between inmates and officers when unleashing venomously malicious attacks. So, a gang riot is going is going on right now, a bunch of officers are in an uproar because of Ms. Smith’s antics, two guys downstairs are yelling at the top of their lungs cursing each other out behind an argument over Sports, and me and my neighbor are about to continue our Poetry Reading in the midst of chaos…

To be a creator, to live an Artistic Life; to leap from mountaintops with the wings of an eagle while battles rage in the valleys; to live Life fully, to love Life deeply, to reach out and grasp beauty in the midst of chaos; to be an explorer and allow your consciousness to soar to new heights; to constantly grow and challenge your Self; to uplift others and strive to allow Light to emanate from your Being like illuminating rays from a thousand-petaled Lotus; to conquer adversity with the unwavering force of a war-frenzied band of Titans, but to do so peacefully—that is a very profound thing indeed.

Love & Strength:
Rob

[Date Written: 12.30.09]

Ms. Smith’s Evil, continued

2010-01-25T08:34:00.000+01:00

Another pillar that holds up property officer Smith’s reign of terror has been revealed: Cheryl Lawson. I don’t know who she is, but her name is on the “signature authority” line of the step 2 grievance I filed concerning Ms. Smith on 10/12/09. I just received the grievance back tonight. Here’s the response:

Your step 1 narrative, investigation, and response have been reviewed. This investigation finds you were offered a settlement on 12/8/09 and refused. Therefore, no further action is warranted.

You can check out my updates The Most Perfidious Ms. Smith Strikes Again (aprox. 7/28) and Ms. Smith’s Apologist (9/29) to be informed of details of this whole ordeal, but here’s the gist:

On 7/14/09 Ms. Smith stole a stack of 3-ply carbon paper from me. I filed a grievance and almost 5 months later I finally received the above response back.

Let me explain what the “settlement offer” was. A grievance officer came to my door and said that she was instructed to offer me a bag of beans, a bag of rice, a chili pouch, and 20 envelopes as a settlement for my stolen property. That amounts to $3.00. First of all, Ms. Smith stole about $10.00 in carbon paper from me. Secondly, I wasn’t going to accept property that was obviously stolen from another inmate! TDCJ bureaucratic absurdity…

While I’m on the subject of the most treacherous, Ms. Smith I’ll mention an incident that illustrates the profound depth of her depravity:

When Crazy Mike was taken to be executed, Ms. Smith was out by the Death Van. Let me explain why this is so significant. A while back I was talking to my neighbor and he was expressing to me how he thought Ms. Smith was the most hateful person he had ever met.

During the conversation he said, “Man, she’s sick, her mind is disturbed—she’s the only officer who goes out to the Death Van on execution days who doesn’t have to be there!” I’ve previously thought that it was rather strange how Ms. Smith looks at the Death Van with a weird glare in her eyes, but I always figured she was out there because some ranking officer made her bring the property of guys who are about to go to the Death House out right before they’re about to be loaded into the Van. I figured she stayed because some policy prevents movement between secured areas around that time.

When Crazy Mike was taken he had no property to take with him to the Death House. I think there are about 400 staff members on this unit. About 15 officers go out to the Death Van when it comes for people; all of them are required to be there. Property Officer Smith was the only officer on this unit who went out to the Death Van on Crazy Mike’s execution date voluntarily. And, indeed, she had that weird depraved glare in her eyes. I feel so sad for that poor woman. It is surely terrible to have such deep hate inside your heart.

Peace,
Rob

[Date written 12.18.09]

I Need Help With Typing Badly

2010-01-07T23:45:00.000+01:00

I need help with typing. Badly. People see my website and I believe they think that I have some massive support base. Sure there are plenty of people who theoretically support me in a sort of detached non-active manner.

There are only a few people who actively work with me on things. One person runs my website, MySpace and Facebook. This same person does the typing for all of my updates. Yes, one person, does all of this by herself. It’s really just plain and simply wrong that she should have to do all this solely or her own.

I’ve always had a very hard time with asking people for help with things. Reg’s execution kind of shocked me into getting over this complex though. I’ve been working on negating my Ego and reaching out to more people on the outside and asking them to show me some active solidarity.

Well, so here’s what I need: Someone — or 2 or 3 people actually — since it would spread out the work — who can help me with typing up my writings. I need people who type well and have a good grasp of the English language. People who are stable and can show me some serious dedication and solidarity.

Here’s how it will work: I’ll send my writings out in an envelope to a specific person. They’ll scan and email them to you. You type the writings up and double-check for typos and e-mail them back and they’ll be posted.

Right now I’m feeling very discouraged about writing. A few days ago I got in a bunch of typed copies of my writings that took forever to be sent and have a bunch of typos in them, none of which are mine. As I said, I only have one person who does almost everything for me so she doesn’t have the time to double-check everything and quickly return copies of typed writings to me. She shouldn’t have to do all of this all by herself.

I need help. We need help. If you think what I write is important and you are fully capable and willing to help please get back with me as soon as possible. Your active support and solidarity will be greatly appreciated!

With Strength and Love:
Rob Will

[Date written: 12-26-09, Saturday]

Danielle Simpson’s Execution Date 11-18-09

2009-12-06T01:01:00.000+01:00

Another day of death, the second day of the 3-day triathlon of death scheduled for this week. Danielle Simpson (A.KA. “Dre”) is set to die today.

One who possesses a warrior spirit faces adversity head-on, with feet planted firmly on the ground. Every challenge — whether physical or mental — should be met with stoic resolve and determination to face the challenge and overcome it. Honorable sentiments surely … I wish that it were that simple …

Since Reg’s execution I’ve been fighting to remain motivated. It’s hard though. After seeing the initial process of Reg’s murder take place I told myself that for the sake of my sanity I shouldn’t watch anyone else taken to be executed. But, I know that I need to write about it — people on the outside need to know what goes on here. So, here I am once again: standing on top of my folded up mattress looking out of my little 3-inch window.

As I’ve said before, almost all of the cells on this building offer a view of some part of the process of executions. One cell might allow the occupant to see a person going to and from his last visits on the day he is scheduled to die. Another cell may allow a person to see the friends and family of a condemned man on their way to visit him for the last time. From my cell — which has a rather restricted overall view — I can see the death van come in, park and load people up to be carried off to execution.

Most guys here refuse to look out of their window on execution dates. Quite an attractive option, but one I cannot chose — my conscience compels me to do otherwise. People on the outside need to be informed about the nature of this environment and the system of capital punishment in general. So here I am, with my pen grasped tight in my hand — a battle-ax of Truth, issuing forceful blows to the dark shroud of ignorance and injustice that surround this system.

Its 11:35am and I’m looking out of my window, talking to my neighbor who I’ve convinced to partake in this venture with me … 11:46am. An officer just wheeled a wheelchair out to the visitation. This was done in case Dre decides to refuse to submit to the demands of his execution and refuse to participate in his own murder. The vast majority of people who say that they’re going to protest their own execution end up not doing so. I think Dre may be an exception. We’ll see soon enough …

11:53am. The death van is here. It just parked outside of the Death Row building and an officer opened its back doors — great hinged jaws waiting patiently to swallow up another victim …

I was just reminded of the fact that Dre is an execution “volunteer”: He voluntarily gave up his appeals. I read the court filings concerning this as well as something Dre wrote about why he decided to refuse his last appeals options. Dre did so because he felt that he no longer could endure the “cruel and unusual punishment” of this environment. I’m reminded of a remark Schopenhauer made in his short essay On Suicide: “It will be generally be found that where the terrors of Life come to outweigh the terrors of death a man will put an end to his Life.”

The conditions of this environment, like an undefeatable band of perfidious little ghostly goblins, can indeed terrorize a person’s psyche — growing away at his sanity with razor-sharp piranha-like teeth. One can imagine Dre’s consciousness lurking about in a state of limbo in a dank dark swamp of despair, being constantly attacked from all angles by ghoulish hordes. An outline of a door appears etched in warm light. A soothing voice is heard emanating from the glow of the door: “I am Death. I am release. Come to me and end your anguish” …

11:56am. The Emergency Response Team just went out to visitation. Another precautionary measure taken in case Dre resists. There are cute little birds hopping about on the deadly sharp razor wire on top of the fence in front of the death van. Beautiful little birds oblivious to the great Beast that sits in their midst with its treacherous jaws open wide.

Small little cute birds darting vigorously back and forth from wall to fence, from razor wire to roof-top. The type of swift-flying graceful little birds one might enjoy watching and hearing sing their harmonious songs during an outing on a nice day at the park, a day full of Life and filled with the beauty of nature. The foot thick concrete walls and inches thick double plexi-glass window, prevent me from hearing their song. And today certainly isn’t a day full of Life. It’s a day of Death, a day of state-sponsored murder.

12:14pm. The gate coming from visitation just opened. Ah-ha! They’re bringing Dre into the building in a wheelchair! Thus spoke the Soul of Rosa Parks: “Sometimes you have to sit down to stand up!” They just wheeled Dre back into the Death Row building so they can fully chain him down with extra shackles, belly-chain and security box before putting him in the van.

Reg was the first person to protest his own execution in like 2 years and now only 3 weeks later Dre is doing the same! 12:27pm. The gate leading to the death van just opened. Dre’s coming out of the building in a wheelchair fully chained up. They just put him in the death van. Good old Dre! — engaging in a righteous act of direct-action protest on the day he is scheduled to die.

The death van just pulled off with Dre inside. Although I’m not one who seeks to impose my morality upon others — and I certainly believe in the right of self-determination — I don’t wish to see anyone give up their appeals. But if they do so, I certainly think that they, like Dre, should protest their own execution. Everyone who is going to be executed should refuse to participate in the process!

From Texas Death Row,
With Strength and Love:
Rob Will

* Do you agree or disagree?
Why?

[Date written: 11-18-09, Wednesday]

Crazy Mike (Gerald Elderidge)

2009-12-01T23:47:00.000+01:00

There are few experiences more distressing to the human Spirit, more disturbing to the human psyche, than seeing someone you care for murdered. Since Reg’s execution I have indeed been rather disturbed and distressed.

Although I didn’t witness his actual execution take place I did see him being dragged off to be murdered; I saw the initial process of the murder take place. Looking out of my little window waiting to see Reg leave his last visit I fell into a catatonic state …

Then, I went through various emotional states. I attempted to write down what all went on but I would get to the point where I could barely write. I still have the notes I wrote that day but I still don’t think I’m ready to compile them together and write a piece on Reg’s execution. I just cringed while writing “Reg’s execution. ” I know I need to write though …

There have been many times in which I’ve written about things that would have been unknown if I hadn’t written about them. I was thinking about this a few minutes ago when I saw Gerald Eldridge, A.K.A “Crazy Mike,” being taken to his execution. In about 6 hours, at 6pm, he is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas.

He had no final visits. As far as I know he has never had any visits and never written anyone. Crazy Mike, as his nickname suggests, has severe psychological problems. I’ve been around Mike several times and he is definitely suffering from schizophrenia. His attorneys should be disbarred. I don’t know what kind of attorneys he has but he probably has some perfidious court-appointed lawyers.

Crazy Mike was recently brought back to this unit from the psychiatric unit, Jester 4. A person has to exhibit severe mental impairments before they’ll ship him off to the psych unit. One of the common symptoms of schizophrenia is delusion of persecution — when one feels that people are “out to get them.” Mike definitely suffers from this symptom.

Delusion of reference — when an individual interprets messages or events as if they were meant for them — is another symptom of schizophrenia which Mike displays. He probably doesn’t even know that he was just taken to be executed!

It is supposed to be illegal to execute someone who is schizophrenic but that hasn’t stopped the state of TX from doing just that in the past. From a moral perspective the general public should be outraged that a severely schizophrenic person is about to be put to death.

There are many varying theories about the causes of schizophrenia but the bottom line is that schizophrenia is a biological reality. Brain abnormalities are the cause of schizophrenia. In almost all cases of people with schizophrenia the onset of the disease came about gradually. I’ve talked to guys here who have known Crazy Mike since he arrived on Death Row and they’ve told me that he was always “out there” and “throwed off.” Meaning, even when he first arrived on Death Row he exhibited signs of psychological impairment.

His symptoms increasingly became worse and now Crazy Mike’s psyche has been completely consumed with schizophrenia. His Mind is fully engulfed in a dark abyss of delusion and hallucination. And the state of Texas is planning on executing him soon! This is terrible.

And what’s worse is that there are two more executions scheduled for the next two days. Yes, three executions on three consecutive days. Gerald Eldridge, today, November 17th. Danielle Simpson, tomorrow, November 18th and Robert Thompson, the next day, November 19th. Although I don’t know the statistics so I can’t say for sure, but if I was a betting man I’d willing to bet, that nothing like this has been done in the past 100 years in any other state. Three people executed in three days. This is insanity …

Rob

[Date written: Tuesday, 11-17-09]

11-17-19, last-night

Crazy Mike received a stay of execution less than 2 hours before he was scheduled to be killed. Good!

Reg Was Executed Yesterday

2009-11-04T22:00:00.000+01:00

My mind is in a very, very disturbed state. Reg was executed yesterday. I’m so upset that I can barely write.

I’m making myself though because everyone needs to know that Reg refused to participate in his own execution. I don’t know all of the details of what happened but I do know that Reg conducted a direct action demonstration that resulted in the riot team carrying him to the death.

Reg engaged in the righteous act of protesting his own execution. I do believe Justin Fuller was the last person to protest on his execution day. That was over 2 years ago. How many people have been executed since then? 70? 100?

I’m not sure of the exact number, but I hope everyone truly understands and feels the significance of Reg’s honorable and life affirming actions yesterday. As I said, I’m quite upset right now, but I’ll write more soon …

With Strength and Love,
Rob

Date written: 10-28-09 Wednesday

Ms. Smith’s Apologist

2009-10-31T02:26:00.000+01:00

Last night I received a response back on the Step 1 Grievance I filed on 7-28 concerning property officer Smith. Here is the response I received, signed by Warden Lester:

There is insufficient evidence to substantiate your allegation that Unit Staff was responsible for your property loss. No. FURTHER ACTION WARRANTED.

A typical non-sensical response. Below is a copy of the text of the Step 2 Grievance concerning this issue that I’m going to send in within the next two weeks. We’ll see what type of response I get back on the Step 2.

Rob

Step 2
Offender Grievance Form

Offender Name: Robert G. Will

TDJC: 999402

Unit: Polunsky

Unit where incident occurred: Polunsky

Give reason for appeal (Be specific): I am dissatisfied with the response at Step 1 because… I do not feel that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim that an investigation was conducted concerning my Step 1 Grievance #2009200391. There is plenty of irrefutable empirical evidence to back up my “allegation.” Many other officers — including C.O’s Ancira, Landrum and Captain Bryant — witnessed the situation. Therefore, one can only assume that no investigation was conducted. Furthermore, arbitrary confiscation and theft of inmate property by Ms. Smith is a common occurrence. I guarantee that in the approximate 9 years Death Row has been housed on the Polunsky Unit no other officer has had more verbal and written complaints filed against him or her than Ms. Smith. It is hard to understand how she is able to continuously, knowingly, willingly and intentionally violate TDCJ CID policy, ACA standards, state and federal law in a completely unrestrained and unfettered manner, acting with absolute impunity. I once again respectfully request that my step I Grievance #2009200391 be properly investigated and addressed. Thank you for your time in this matter.

[Sent out: 10-12-09]

Date Written: 9-29-09, Tuesday

Black Homophobia

2009-10-31T02:21:00.000+01:00

Earlier today on the Tom Joyner morning show — the most highly syndicated “black radio” morning show in the U.S. — they had a black homosexual male clergyman on as a guest.

He briefly talked about biblical teaching regarding homosexuality. I was surprised Tom Joyner has a guest on to talk about such a controversial issue. More surprising was the immediate backlash his show received. Thousands of hateful messages poured in, causing Tom Joyner to exclaim that he had “never seen so many angry texts.”

I have heard black political commentators state that homophobia is more prevalent in the black community than in any other community in the U.S. I don’t like to make generalizations but there does seem to be truth to that statement. After hearing the above mentioned segment on the Tom Joyner show, I began to think about how many rap songs have homophobic lyrics.

Never have I heard a country or rock song with homophobic lyrics. Extreme prejudice toward GLBT folks exists in every ethnic group, but after hearing the incident on the Tom Joyner show earlier, I can’t help but think that perhaps GLBT RIGHTS organizers might want to work on more outreach in the black community…

R.

Date written: 9-25-09

Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground

2009-10-25T20:52:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I finished reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes From The Underground. It’s quite a good little book.

In the first part of the book, the first 28 pages, the nameless author of the “Notes” rambles on in an almost stream of consciousness style; basically, about why he is writing with little interspersed social commentaries full of paradoxical self-analysis.

The last 63 pages of Notes consist of the nameless Underground Man telling some stories from his Life. He does so in the same self-analytical style that he used in the first part, a style one might consider bordering on Solipsism.

I think perhaps Dostoyevsky presents his Underground Man in this light as a reflection of the self-absorbed and ego-centric nature of our society. Perhaps, this is why he left the author of the Notes nameless. Or, maybe he did so to emphasize the profound feelings of alienation the author experiences — causing one to think of the alienation of Mankind …

Do we truly know each other? Do we as a society care about each community, each person in every community? Do you have someone — or multiple people — who you can truly talk to and share your Self with? I can’t help but think of the great charge of the Mystics and Sages: Know Thy Self — with Dostoyevsky adding “Know Thy Neighbor Too.” And indeed one can imagine Mr. Fyodor also adding “Love Thy Neighbor As Well.”

As is the case with many characters in his other works, Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man is full of contradictory ideas and emotions. In presenting his characters as such, Dostoyevsky compels the reader to contemplate the cause and effect relationship behind every emotion they experience and every action partake in. It seems that he almost demands that society take a more psychoanalytical — or perhaps I should say psycho-social — approach to investigating the collective problems facing Humanity.

Concerning writing style, Dostoyevsky’s form is brilliant. He has the ability to pull one deep into his characters mindset, allowing the reader to see as they see, feel as they feel. Dostoyevsky writes with a beautiful artistic flair that draws you in and pulls you close to the story. Before you even realize it you’re face-to-face with the character, staring into each other’s eyes and suddenly the depths of his psyche become visible.

No, more than visible — you have the profound feeling of being at one with him. His fears, pain, happiness, anxiety and love is yours. The penetrating psychological insight Dostoyevsky offers in Notes is quite amazing — especially considering that the book was written in 1864, before the field of psychology even existed!

Years ago I read Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and his Crime and Punishment. I wasn’t as impressed with them as I thought I would be. I’m rather sure that this was because I read the two books not long after reading Herman Hesse’s Demian, which is a masterpiece of metaphor, allegory and symbolism. So, I was on a deeply symbolic vibe when I read the Dostoyevsky and Mr. Fyodor presents his themes in a more straight-forward manner.

Nevertheless, reading Notes From The Underground has given me a new appreciation of Dostoyevsky. I think I’ll be reading — and perhaps re-reading — more of his works in the future.

R.

Date written: 9-22-09

Solidarity Call for Reg

2009-10-22T21:58:00.000+02:00

Only 12 days until my comrade and friend Reg Blanton is scheduled to be executed.

I know that I should remain in the present moment. I know that I should cultivate Positive Energy, but it’s hard, very hard. If Reg is executed it will affect me much more than any previous execution or any possible future execution that could take place …

There is something I’d like everyone to do for me. Right after you read this take the time to go to Reg’s MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/freereggieb) and go to the DRIVE site (www.drivemovement.org) and read Reg’s writings. Feel his vibe and then write a letter or note of Solidarity and send it to him.

Do this right away because mail arrives here slowly. Better yet, you can send him an e-mail through the new J-Pay service (https://www.jpay.com/inmateElectronicMail.aspx) which is guaranteed to arrive within 2 days. I’d like everyone to do this.

You don’t have to send him a long letter, it can just be a short note or card. I especially want all of the activist folks out there to do this. Reg has remained vigilant in the Struggle for many years. He’s fought hard and remained unwavering in the face of extreme adversity.

Everyone out there who engages in social justice organizing knows that it’s an art. Reg is a master at this art. Organizing out in the free-world can be challenging but imagine doing so in this environment, an environment designed to break the Mind, Body and Spirit.

Send Reg a note letting him know that his actions in standing up for Truth and fighting against oppression are appreciated. Show him a little Love and Solidarity. He definitely needs as much as possible right now!

Peace:
Rob

Date written: 10-15-09, Thursday

A Clergyman’s Transgression and a Prisoner’s Treachery

2009-10-20T21:30:00.000+02:00

We’ve been on lockdown since 9-16, ten days ago. The shakedown team arrived on the pod early this morning, around 6:30a.m. Being that we’re already 10 days into lockdown and they’re barely arriving on the Death Row building, it’s obvious that they’ve been taking their time.

This could mean that they’ve simply been loafing around or it could mean that they’ve been engaged in an excessive amount of oppressive activity. We shall see soon enough… I already have my radio — which contains a clock — packed up in preparation for the shakedown so I won’t be able to mark down times, but I’m going to give an account of today’s events…

I just woke up a little while ago so I’m about to do my morning yoga routine… About 20 Asanas, some nice Pranayama and some nice, deep meditation later — now I’m ready to face whatever the day may bring! One never really knows how a shakedown will go. Sometimes, a shakedown can be a very tedious, routine process; a dull, slightly frustrating event that is really not much more than an annoying, inconvenience. Other times a shakedown can be like unholy Armageddon — with officers marauding about in a sadistic frenzy, recklessly determined to engage in innumerable forms of oppression.

This shakedown may indeed fall into the latter category. Why do I say this? Because of the reason why we’re on lockdown. First of all, before I get to that, let me say that I’ve never spoken negatively of anyone else here on Death Row. I just don’t get down like that. If I don’t have something positive to say about a person well then I simply don’t say anything about them.

For the first time in all the years I’ve been here I’m going to make an exception. I’m making this exception because the situation needs to be talked about and I can’t properly talk about it without mentioning a particular person’s name. It really doesn’t matter anyway since the situation has been reported on by major mainstream news sources over the past 10 days. (He’ll probably attempt to unleash some treachery against me, but oh well.)

Here’s why we’re on lockdown: Richard Tabler manipulated Chaplain Anderson into mailing outs some letters for him. Then, he snitched on the chaplain. Tabler also had some comments threatening Texas Senator John Whitmire posted on the net. (The comments were posted but it’s not known exactly who posted them for Tabler or how he had them posted).

Whitmire found out about the chaplain situation and net comments and raised hell, just like he did after the Tabler cell-phone scandal originally jumped off like 8 or 9 months ago. Senator Whitmire has been going off in media reports deriding TDCJ officials. In response, TDCJ administrators ordered this major-shakedown lockdown.

It really amazes me that no-one has informed Senator Whitmire that Tabler has been using him this entire time. He’s played the Senator like a puppet on strings from the very beginning. All of the staff members here know this and all inmates here know this. Tabler brags about it all the time.

To get into all of the details would take far too much time, but here’s a brief synopsis: Before Tabler ever got caught with the cell-phone, he was ostracized by other inmates and labeled as a known snitch. He’s one of those people who sit around all day and try to start problems between inmates and just engage in all sorts of nefarious, devious and perfidious activity. Tabler has been like that since the very first day he got here. I know, I was his neighbor when he first arrived on Death Row.

In addition to trying to start all types of problems between inmates, he also plays these types of games with officers. I could give an in-depth psychoanalytical work-up on the dude, but I’ll just say that he’s one of those, abjectly cowardly people who relish being the cause of others’ suffering because it gives them a sense of power.

Right before Tabler got caught with the cell phone he was boasting to officers and inmates that he was “going to get all of ya’ll real good!!” and how when he was through everyone was going to bow down to him, etc., etc. Then, after threatening Senator Whitmire he purposefully got caught with the phone and engaged in the next part of his strategic plan: a pandemic snitch-fest.

He had a prepared list of names of officers and inmates who he wanted to “get.” Tabler told elaborate tales of supposed illegal activity committed by staff members and prisoners. A maelstrom ensued. Events unparalleled in Texas Death Row history — in TDCJ history! —occurred: Over 200 officers stormed the building, tearing through everything. Officers’ vehicles were searched, some were pulled into admin offices and heavily interrogated. The Governor ordered a state-wide lockdown and I could go on and on. It was insanity.

All of Tabler’s stories turned out to be false. The entire time he was laughing at everyone, cheerfully boasting about his great victory. One can only imagine how sickly powerful he felt (and still feels). Now he’s done it again. On the news they said around 20 or 30 units are on lockdown. No doubt, he’s loving it…

I just went to my door to see what’s going on. There are probably 20 officers shaking down. Good, maybe they’ll be fast. Anxiety is thick in the air. A bunch of guys are at their doors talking and trying to see what’s going on: “Who’s all on the shakedown team?” “Do they look like they’re tearing stuff up?” Someone hallering over to the next section: “Say, _________, did I just see Burleson going over there? Yes? Shit! That woman’s crazy. I don’t know why they even let her on the shakedown team!” Another voice: “Man, I didn’t get but about two hours of sleep last night, knowing they were probably gonna shake down today”…

Perhaps I should say a few words about Chaplain Anderson. He seems like a good Christian dude. Many of the preachers who have been back here seem to have a single goal and objective: gathering “saved souls” in order to pave their own personal road to heaven. Chaplain Anderson struck me as an individual who believed that even the outcasts of society need to hear the gospel message and that compelled him to be here.

Tabler’s mother was banned from corresponding with him so he exploited Mr. Anderson’s good nature and manipulated him into mailing “unauthorized” letters to her. Then he snitched on Chaplain Anderson. Sad. Very, sad…

They’re on C or D section now. I wish they’d hurry up and come on with it! This is something I don’t think anyone on the outside knows about yet — check this out: They just put 2 more video cameras on Tabler. They had one in his cell and now they’ve placed 2 more facing his cell. This is absolutely unprecedented. In the history of TDCJ, they’ve never done anything like this.

Tabler’s loving it. I’m sure he’s feeling like the Overlord of TDCJ: “I have the power to lock down 25 prison units! I have the power to get 50,000 inmates shook down! I got a bunch of officers in trouble! Everyone is bowing down to ME!!”

And, really, it’s almost hilarious — especially being that Tabler’s threats to Senator Whitmire are absolutely meaningless. He doesn’t have any street connections, he couldn’t act on his threats even if he wanted to. Tabler’s a sad little man and I can’t help but feel sorry for him even though he’s’ such a despicable character. I sure don’t like talking about this kind of thing, but people on the outside do need to know what’s really going on…

Someone on the next section just yelled, “They’re being real, real thorough but they ain’t really trippin’ or tearing shit up.” A good sign. Let me kick back and do some reading…

OK, I’m back I was gone for some hours. I’m quite the bibliomaniac. I devour books with a passion. I’ll usually read two books at a time, one fiction and one non-fiction. During reading one book, I’ll also usually cross-reference other books. Right now, I was just reading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

It’s a re-telling of the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the women involved, with a focus on the Druidic and Divine Feminine Celtic religions. Being that I’m a Goddess-loving Feminist, I’m enjoying the book. I’ve also been referencing some volumes I have on Symbolism while reading it.

Shakedown team is on the section! Let me get ready. Hopefully everything will be alright… I’m back in my cell now. The shakedown is over with. Wheh! It took a pretty long time for them to shake down this section — they were extra thorough but didn’t rampage. It took me like 10 minutes to find this piece of paper because my cell is in disarray (but not torn up!). Everyone else on the section is alright as well. Cool. Now it’s time for me to breathe a sigh of relief and start putting my property back in suitable order…

Peace,
Rob

Date written: 9-26-09, early a.m.

Christopher Coleman Executed

2009-10-18T21:23:00.000+02:00

The State of Texas killed another person yesterday, just 6 days after Steve was executed. I didn’t know Christopher Coleman all that well. Still, after seeing Steve taken away to be murdered last week, I couldn’t bring myself to get back up in the window and watch another man leave on his way to die. Yesterday, Texas committed another pointless state-sanctioned murder that will solve nothing.

R.

Date written: 9-23-09

Steve Moody poem

2009-10-18T21:13:00.000+02:00

Steve Moody
Old School Convict
If I had to pick
some theme music for Steve
I’d pick some of that
bad old Southern Blues
Or maybe some ZZ Top
Not the radio singles
but the deep album cuts

Northside Steve Moody
Once told me about
a dude here
who he did time with
back in the late 70’s
Told me about how
he let the dude
borrow
his brand new
shined up Stacy Adams
to go on furlough

See, back then the chicks digged
the Stacy Adams. Man, I don’t know
what the hell he did but he
sure as hell wasn’t picking up
any chicks. My shoes came back
with dirt all over ‘em and unshined!

Thirty years later
Steve was still
mad at the dude
behind those Stacy’s

H-Town Steve Moody
Old School Gangster
And when I say Gangster
I don’t mean Gangsta’
I’m talkin’ John Dillinger
Clyde Barrow
Smooth style
Smoke-filled pool hall
Southern Comfort Whiskey

Square glass
Straight
No ice
Pullin’ on a cigarette
real cool like
Stacy’s shined up

Steve Moody
Heart of a warrior
Raised up
by prison riots
Dodging Knife thrusts
and state-issued
shotgun blasts
Fully sleeved out
with decades old
faded prison tatts

Old school Steve Moody
52 years old
Hit the dayroom
and work out harder
than dudes half
his age
Fade the riot team
head on
Face to face
Give ‘em hell
before they cuffed him

Northside Steve Moody
Once got gassed so much
he was blind
for four days
went on a hunger strike
for three
long weeks
Putting his body
on the line
for change

Steve sent me a picture
of himself before he died
On the back it read:

Well man, this is it until we
meet again. Hang tough and
I hope things turn out
for you just the way
you want them to, whatever
way that may be. Journey
well and stay strong good
Friend. Lace Ace.
Love and Respect,
Steve M.

Old School Steve Moody
Always solid
Always read
One hundred percent
Stand up dude

One of the last
of a dying breed

executed September 16, 2009

Steve Moody’s Murder

2009-10-15T21:20:00.000+02:00

8:46am. Steve will be executed today. I just got up a little while ago and decided that I’m going to write some periodic notes throughout the day. I almost don’t want to do this. A part of me wants to block what I know will occur today out of my mind, but I think writing about it will be good for people on the outside …

The officers haven’t put anyone out to rec and haven’t ran any showers. I don’t know what’s going on. Perhaps, they have us on lockdown for Steve’s execution date. I’m going to do some reading and work on other writing and I’ll come back to this … 9:05am. I just overheard two officers talking about how this is a major shakedown lockdown because of another I-hate-every-officer-and-every-inmate- and-wish-to-destroy-the world move that most pitiful wretch Tabler pulled a few days ago. *Sigh* …

10:37am. Steve is out at his last visit. Today is the last day he’ll ever see his friends and family. In less than two hours Steve will be taken from them and loaded into the death-van and will be shipped off to be murdered by the State of Texas.

A bunch of rank just came on the pod. Sergeants, Lieutenants and oh, wow, a whole gang of people in free-world clothes, a bunch in suits. There are the wardens. It looks like they’re doing some type of major inspection, walking around looking at everything … Now they’re gone.

11:37am. I just folded my mattress in half and stood on the top of it so I can look out of my little three-inch high window. The death-van is here. A bunch of officers are standing around it laughing and joking. A small number of staff members really enjoy executions. They like to be out by the death-van relishing in sadistic glee, back-slapping and hee-hawing.

Most, however, laugh and joke and bullshit around as a way of coping with being so close to — and essentially taking part in — a murder. Humor is a very common defense mechanism.

11:56am. The walkway gate just opened. There’s Steve coming back from his last visit, surrounded by rank. He just walked into this building so they can chain him up for the ride over to the Walls Unit in Huntsville … I’m still looking out of my window. More laughing and tittering about.

12:03pm. Steve’s still not out yet. The death-van is just sitting there with its back doors opened, waiting for Steve. Waiting to take him to be executed. This is horrible. I thought I was beyond having psycho-somatic reactions but I guess I’m not — I can feel my palms sweating.

There’s something just so terribly unnatural about the process I’m witnessing right now. Everything is so deliberate. A slow, methodical, carefully calculated form of murder. I’ve had many, many conversations with people who have committed murder, almost 9 years worth of conversations. One thing I’ve learned is that there is a great difference between people who committed planned-out pre-meditated murder and those who killed at the spur of the moment.

Steve is here because he killed a drug dealer during a robbery. Me and Steve talked about his case before and he told me what happened: Steve and another guy went to a known drug dealers house to rob him. They went in and Steve held the guy at gun-point, while his partner searched for the drugs and money. The drug dealer was on the ground and he kept trying to move. At one point Steve said the drug dealer appeared to be lunging for a gun and Steve panicked and shot him.

The drug dealer’s girlfriend was there and Steve didn’t harm her in any way. After he shot the drug dealer they left. There’s no doubt, the murder Steve committed was tragic and sad. But, it wasn’t pre-planned … This, what I’m watching right now, is different, this is methodical, pre-meditated. It’s orderly, systematic State-sponsored murder.

This is murder paid for by tax-dollars. Homocide by the State.

12:09pm. There’s Steve. He’s shackled down in chains, coming out from the building surrounded by officers. He just walked into the van and the doors closed. Another round of backslaps and hand-shakes. The van is pulling off. Steve’s gone, gone to the death chamber in Huntsville where he’ll be murdered in 6 hours.

He’ll be strapped down to a gurney and have poison pumped into his veins until he dies. Another senseless and pointless murder … I just saw a friend of mine shipped off on his way to die. I want to write some more about Steve but right now I think I just need to kick back and chill …

R.

Date written: Wednesday, 9-16-09

Steve Moody Will Be Murdered In Three Days

2009-10-14T04:43:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine, Steve Moody, is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas in three days. There’s no doubt, Steve will definitely be murdered because he chose to not pursue any more appeals after he received an execution date.

I’ve known Steve for many years — he’s a solid, stand up dude. Me and Steve have been on the disciplinary pod together many times, struggling together, protesting together. Steve’s not a real political dude but he’s a person who won’t simply stand by when injustice occurs. He’s been riot-gassed many times and he’s participated in two hunger strikes.

Can you even begin to imagine knowing that you will be murdered in three days? What would you be thinking? Would you be able to sleep? Would you feel death stalking you? I can’t even imagine what Steve’s going through right now …

R.

Date written: Sunday, 9-13-09

You Lie

2009-10-12T04:16:00.000+02:00

Can someone please explain to me why Republicans find it perfectly acceptable to engage in spewing forth extremely disrespectful rhetoric when criticizing Democrats — even the president — yet when Democrats criticize Republicans they do so in a very neat, cordial and agreeable manner?

Yesterday, president Obama gave his much anticipated speech before congress on health care. When Obama began talking about the fact that illegal immigrants will not get free health insurance coverage under his plan, Republican congressman Joe Wilson (from South Carolina) interrupted the president by shouting “you lie!”

Unprecedented, of course. Shocking, yes. The main question I have concerning this: Why hasn’t Wilson been condemned by other Republicans and forced out of office?

Let’s venture back in time to the reign of George the Second. Such a horrible time period I know, but I call it to mind to illustrate a point — I wholeheartedly apologize for possibly stirring any memories of Bushite neo-Con fanaticism.

So, imagine George Bush giving a speech on the need to wage war in Iraq. Bush is going along, explaining why the U.S. needs to invade Iraq. Every other point he makes is an outright bold face lie: Sadaam has weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is funding Osama bin Laden —

And right then, a Democrat, say Dennis Kucinich shouts “you lie!” What would have happened? I’ll tell you what would of most likely happened: Kucinich would have been immediately escorted out of the building and he would be lucky if he wasn’t tazed and tackled.

Then he would of been condemned as “un-patriotic” and “un-American,” not necessarily because of disagreeing with Bush but because he interrupted The President during his speech. Then Kucinich would of been completely ostracized by both parties and forced to resign. Why are there such double-standards between Democrats and Republicans?

R.

Date written: Thursday, 9-10-09

Obama Searching For Commie Allies Amongst Americas Youth?

2009-10-10T04:11:00.000+02:00

President Obama is scheduled to make a speech to school children which will be broadcast to schools nationwide. The right-wing pundits have been going off today, ranting about how they don’t want Obama speaking to school children.

One group has even called for all “Christian students” to stage a mass school walk-out and go pray at the flag-pole.

One can only suppose that the U.S. flag and prayer will protect the children from whatever evil vibes will emanate from Obama during his speech.

These right-wing conservative folks are really starting to be scary. They’re manufacturing in the minds of many working class people hatred and fear of Obama, his supporters and anyone in general who doesn’t think like them. And they’re doing this using duplicity and outright lies.

I’ve been listening to people call in to the conservative talk shows today and comment on this issue of Obama’s school speech. They really believe that Obama is going to do something to their children. The right-wing pundits have created this almost hysterical air of fear and hatred amongst these folks. Where will this lead? Scary …

R.

Written 9-8-09 Tuesday

Milwaukee Serial Killer Caught

2009-10-10T04:09:00.000+02:00

National Public Radio (N.P.R) news reported today that a serial killer who has periodically murdered people in the city of Milwaukee over the last 33 years has finally been caught.

A police spokesman stated that the killer’s capture was a “result of good police work.” Hearing this made me literally burst out in scoffing laughter. Was there only bad police work going on from 1986 to 2009 while the guy was running around murdering people?

R.

Written: 9-8-09, Tuesday

Labor Day

2009-10-10T03:32:00.000+02:00

Happy Labor Day! Today I’ve been thinking about the history of labor struggles in this country.

When I first started studying labor history, I was amazed by how hard people in the past had to fight to gain workers’ rights that are taken for granted today. History taught in schools mostly centers around heroification — focusing on well-known figures and presenting them as gallantly flawless while fully crediting them with any progressive changes made in society during their time of active social participation. Actual labor movement history is rarely discussed; neither is the history of “radical” social justice movements for that matter.

Thinking about this reminded me of something I read, in of all things, a psychology textbook. The book, Introduction to Psychology, is by James Kalat, who is a well-known college textbook author and professor of psychology. Mr. Kalat is by no means a liberal or radical. In reading this book it seems if anything he’s “center-right” on social issues. Though in general, he seems to write in an unbiased manner.

Kalat’s Intro to Psychology is a huge, 650-page college textbook. In it he only mentions a “radical” leftist political movement once. Kalat does so in the chapter on Social Psychology, in a section on minority group influence.

As an example of the powerful influence a minority group can have, he cites the platform of the United States Socialist Party in 1900 and lists the eventual fate of their proposals. Here’s a copy of the table he presents:

The Political Platform of the U.S. Socialist Party, 1900

Proposal: Women’s right to vote
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Established by 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; ratified in 1920

Proposal: Old-age pensions
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Included in the Social Security Act of 1935

Proposal: Unemployment insurance
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Included in the Social Security Act of 1935 and in the Medicare Act of 1965

Proposal: Increased wages, including minimum wage
Eventual Fate of Proposal: First minimum-wage law passed in 1938, periodically updated since then

Proposal: Reduction of work hours
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Maximum 40-hour workweek (with exceptions) established by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Proposal: Public ownership of electric, gas and other utilities and of the means of transportation and communication
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Utilities not owned by government but heavily regulated by Federal and State government since the 1930s

Proposal: Initiative, referendum and recall (mechanisms for private citizens to push for changes in legislation and for removal of elected officials)
Eventual Fate of Proposal: Adopted by most State governments

Professor Kalat mentions that the Socialist Party of the U.S. ran candidates for elected office from 1900 through the 1950s. No Socialist candidate was ever elected Governor or Senator and only a few were elected to the House of Representatives.

He states that the party eventually dwindled and they stopped electing candidates not because they had failed, but because they had “already accomplished most of their goals.” This assertion as to why the party diminished is highly debatable and the abovementioned “goals” that were achieved were fought for by a countless number of other groups, but nevertheless, the overall point that minority groups have had — and can have — powerful social influence is very valid.

Today, Labor Day, is a good day to remember that and to call to mind the fact that grassroots organizing has brought about every major positive, progressive social change, including workers’ rights. Yes, certain Senators, Governors and others in positions of government office have helped bring about change, but history shows that long before they put forth progressive legislation, everyday people were fighting for that change.

With that thought in mind, I’ll sign off by sending all of my people out there involved in the Social Justice Movement an embrace of Strength and Perseverance and warm vibes of Love and Solidarity!

!Venceremos!

Rob

Written: Monday, 9/7/09

The Dark Lord Cheney: Destroyer of The Blues

2009-10-08T21:30:00.000+02:00

Sunday. Day named in honor of the Sun. A cool laid-back day, a day for relaxation.

I got up early this morning and after my wake-up routine — yoga and washing up — I begin cleaning and washing clothes. I put my headphones on and to my absolute delight the antenna was working well, KPFT was coming in good.

From 6am to 4pm on Sunday’s KPFT has on shows that play nothing but Blues music. I LOVE all types of music and I definitely love Blues. So, I’m jammin’ while washing clothes and cleaning up my cell. Cool. Chillin’ …

Taj Mahal, that most eclectic guitar guru, is bending strings. Albert Collins has me toe-tapping and head nodding singing along with him. Stevie Ray comes on, making Love to the guitar, singing a song that moves the spirit. Man, I love this music …

The reception started messing up. (A thousand curses upon the wretched diabolical antenna!) Like a ravenous beast out of Revelations, one of the right-wing neo-conservative fundamentalist Christian stations crept over the most-noble KPFT devouring it completely. And of all things what do I hear? A news report on Dick Cheney. Yesterday he was on Fox News essentially defending illegal torture techniques.

It’s almost 4 o’clock now and for hours I’ve been trying to listen to Blues on KPFT. The reception has been fading in and out, in and out. When KPFT goes out I’ve been switching to another station. All day long various stations have been talking about Dick Cheney and playing news clips from him.

All of the sudden Cheney is Mr. Congeniality, giving pleasant talkative media interviews. What the hell? When he was vice president half of the time no one knew where the hell he was. Cheney consistency shunned the media, going about his vice presidential duties in an extremely reclusive manner. Out of sight, out of mind.

When Cheney was thought of, one couldn’t help but imagine him in some secret underground bunker, clothed in a pitch-black hooded clock, sitting hunched over at a desk surrounded by various bubbling vials and steaming beakers. A single ball hanging overhead casting dim light on the well-worn, heavily highlighted and personally anointed leather bound copy of Machiavelli’s Prince in his hands …

For 8 years as vice president, Dick Cheney lurked in the shadows of the government ever-scheming but rarely seen. Unjust wars. Torture. Deplorable domestic policy. No-bid Halliburton Contracts. Outing C.I.A operatives. Etc! Etc! — All while shrouded in a mist of secrecy. Now he’s the new Paris and Britney I suppose. And we can add another perfidious title next to his name: Dark Lord Cheney, Destroyer of the Blues.

R.

Date written: 8-30-09

Medusa’s Omen

2009-10-07T20:27:00.000+02:00

Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy is an interesting and thought-provoking book, although probably my least favorite of all Nietzsche’s works. I’m in the middle of reading it right now because I recently finished Herman Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund and I think Hesse may have worked with some of the ideas Nietzsche presented in The Birth of Tragedy, in his Narcissus and Goldmund.

About six years ago I read The Birth of Tragedy and back then I don’t think I was really ready for it. Or, perhaps I should say that I can understand it better and get much more out of it now.

So, earlier I was reading The Birth of Tragedy, delving into the realm of the dichotomy Nietzsche draws between the Dionysian and Apollonian art impulses — then contemplating the merging of the former and the latter, a synthesis which Nietzsche describes as the pinnacle of aesthetic greatness.

This led me to thinking about the symbolism of Dionysian and Apollonian themes — or the fusion thereafter — in post-Hellenic art. Time for a trip to the art museum! Sometimes when I’ll feel inclined to do so, I’ll take a little journey over to the Rob Will Museum of Art. Earlier, I visited the Visual Art branch, which means I kicked back and flipped through various books I have with pictures of Art in them and looked at net printouts of Art that I have.

I was strolling through the collection, passing at engaging pieces and offering art criticism and symbolic interpretations. Having little dialectical debates with myself, pretending to smoke a very long, very thin cigarette while wearing a French beret. (I am joking about the beret and cigarette!)

Mail-call comes around. I get a “Notice of Extension” on the grievance I filled on 7-24 concerning property officer Smith. I wonder if they’re actually going to address this complaint in a decent manner since the grievance office sent me an extension form stating they need more time to answer the grievance?

Really, I can’t believe that woman is still working here. She’s absolutely sociopathic. Mean, cruel vindictive. Such a sad, sad person. Ms. Smith sure does need some Love in her Life. Let me get back to this Jung…

Right before the officer knocked on my door for mail-call I was going through Man And His Symbols by Carl Jung et al — which is a brilliant book by the way — and looking at some of the Art contained within and reading passages discussing the symbolism of the works. After I read the grievance extension form I pulled the Jung back up.

Since I’m on this Nietzsche — Birth of Tragedy — Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund — Dionysian- Apollonian-Aesthetic vibe, let me see if I can find something on that level in this book. Surely I can. I mean this is Jung and his diviners after all! Flip. Flip.

Ahhhhhhhh! Eeeeeeeek! — I flipped to page 218 to find a picture of Michelangelo da Caravaggio’s 17th century painting of… Medusa. And Caravaggio’s Medusa looks just like Ms. Smith! Straight up! I know a lot of officers that work up here read what I write. Look at the painting! (I’m assuming my most resourceful collaborator who will post this can easily find a copy of the painting to post here).

The eyebrows framing the menacing eyes. The nose and flaring jowels. All property officer Smith! Even the look of Medusa’s mouth reminds one of the Ms. Smith in the midst of the throes of one of her tantrums. The resemblance between Ms. Smith and Caravaggio’s Medusa is very eerily uncanny.

Property officer Smith has been off of work for several weeks, supposedly because she had some type of surgery. I’m quite the empiricist and I’m very skeptical of any metaphysical assertions. However, having Caravaggio’s Medusa leap out at me after I got the grievance extension form made me cringe and think, “Could this be an omen?” Has Ms. Smith’s evil essence manifested this as a sign that she will be back?”…

Rob

Date written: 9-3-09

Cognitive Capability and The Death Penalty

2009-10-06T21:17:00.000+02:00

Many times pro-death penalty advocates will promote the idea that since a person made the choice to murder someone then they should pay for that “choice” with their Life. I’ve heard it said that even though an adult who commits murder may qualify as mentally retarded or be severely mentally ill, they still should be executed because they were “smart enough” to engage in the act of murder.

The absurdity of these arguments really do not need to be addressed in depth, at least not at this time. I was thinking about these pro-death penalty arguments after I had a particular conversation with a guy here however, and I wanted to briefly discuss some thoughts on the conversation.

The guy is obviously mentally retarded. Luckily, he has an excellent appeals attorney — a rarity indeed! — so I’m fairly sure he’ll eventually get a Life sentence. Before I describe this conversation I should say a few words about the development of thinking and reasoning as an individual grows up.

Many theorists have put forth varying and even contradictory ideas concerning cognitive development during childhood. Most would readily agree, however, that at certain points — not necessarily specific ages — during childhood, kids develop the ability to think in more complex ways.

Jean Piaget theorized that there are four distinct stages of intellectual development during childhood. The formal operations stage is the one currently most relevant to the discussion at hand, so it’s the only one I’ll briefly discuss. Piaget used the term formal operations to describe the cognitive processes used in dealing with abstract situations and hypothetical questions. To engage in this type of thought process one has to use methodical planning and logical deductive reasoning.

Piaget said that children reach the formal operations stage — which is his fourth and final stage of cognitive development — around age 11. Modern psychology has shown us, however, that formal operations thinking can be reached sooner or in some cases not at all, as in the case of a mentally retarded adult …

Now, to the conversation: I was at rec. talking to the guy who I’ll call “Matt.” We were on the “outside” rec. yard and it was midday, the temperature around one hundred degrees and the sun was blazing fiercely. The officers were busy dealing with other things so we ended up staying on the yard for about 3 hours.

After about 2 hours I moved close to the wall so I would be in the shade. I mentioned to Matt that he should probably get out of the sun also so he didn’t get sunburned. He told me that he wouldn’t get too red because the Texan sun isn’t as hot as the Minnesota sun.

I asked Matt why he believes that. He told me a story about how him and his family went on vacation to Minnesota when he was younger and stayed out at a lake all day which led to him getting extremely sunburned.

Being the good Southern man that I am I don’t know much about the lands above the Mason-Dixon Line, but Minnesota borders Canada so I assume it doesn’t get as hot as Texas there. I’m not much for the hard sciences but just because of general atmospheric conditions within the two states I would think that during the summer the sun does actually shine brighter and hotter in Texas.

Nevertheless, all of this I mentioned to Matt and he agreed that yes it does get hotter in Texas than in Minnesota but the sun shines hotter and brighter in Minnesota. Why? Again, because he got sunburned really badly in Minnesota — a sunburn worse than any he had ever experienced in Texas.

To make a long story short Matt and I talked about this for about 30 minutes. I gave him different scenarios such as: If you stayed in the sun for 5 hours in Texas, in July when it’s 100 degrees and there’s no clouds in the sky, do you think you’d get sunburned badly? Yes.

O-K, now if you stayed in the sun for 5 hours in Minnesota, in July when it’s 100 degrees and there’s no clouds in the sky, do you think you’d get sunburned badly? Yes, really badly! Worse than the sunburn you’d get in Texas? Yes, way worse! Why? Because the sun is way hotter in Minnesota.

I asked Matt if it was possible that perhaps he just stayed out in the sun for an extremely long time, that day in Minnesota — much longer than he’d ever stayed in the sun in Texas — and that’s why he got sunburned worse than at any other time in his life. He didn’t understand my question and no matter how many different ways I tried to explain the idea he never got it.

So, then I asked Matt various fairly basic hypothetical questions regarding his vacation and various other things. He couldn’t grasp any questions that required abstract thought and logical strategic reasoning. Matt, a man in his 30s has not reached the stage of formal operations that children usually reach around 11 years old.

He has the mind of a young child. He thinks like a kid under the age of 11. Matt comprehends the world and all questions in Life from the perspective of a child of about 8 or 9 years of age.

How can anyone say that it should be morally permissible to execute someone like Matt? He has the mind of a child! Pro-death penalty arguments stating that people who make the choice to murder should pay for their choice with their lives fail to differentiate between choices made by a person with a psychologically healthy adult mind and an adult whose cognitive capabilities mirror that of a young child.

If a 9-year-old child got into a schoolhouse fight over say a cell-phone and pushed a kid down the stairs and he died, then the child took the cell-phone and ran, should the child be executed? I’m sure even the vast majority of pro-death penalty advocates would say no because of the age of the killer. But these same people will shout to the high heavens calling for their vindictive depraved form of justice to be dished out to execute someone like Matt.

They’ll say something like “He’s an adult so he should pay for his crime.” What about the fact that he is mentally retarded? “Well, he was smart enough to commit the murder so he should be executed.” Terrible.

I suppose I’ll go ahead and stop this incessant rambling. I really just wanted to write about this because it upsets me that Matt is here on Death Row when he is obviously mentally retarded and has the reasoning capacity of an 8 or 9-year-old child. It’s sad and upsetting. Things like this shouldn’t happen in our society. Our judicial system should be structured in a manner that would absolutely prevent such a thing from happening …

R.

Date written: 8-28-09

Reg’s Execution Date Only Two Months Away

2009-10-05T07:39:00.000+02:00

Reg Blanton is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas in only two months, only 60 days.

If Reg is executed it will be a absolute travesty — more upsetting than any previous execution or possible future execution. I say this not simply because he is my comrade and friend, but from the perspective of Reg’s value to any environment he could be in, whether that be here, in general population with a Life sentence, or out in the free-world.

Reg is a person who constantly strives to uplift those around him and his environment as a whole. Not only does he strive to do so but he has the ability to do so. This is indeed a rare thing, especially in prison.

His actions are the result of a lifestyle, a lifestyle of social activism. All socially conscious individuals need to get involved in the fight to save his Life. One thing I’d like everyone to do is go to Reg’s MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/freereggieb) and see how you can help. Also, contact media sources and suggest they do a story on Reg’s situation.

Silence and inaction are very simply unacceptable. Acquiescence is acceptance. Acceptance is consent. Injustices have to be actively fought against and Reg’s scheduled execution is a high form of injustice. Get involved in any way that you can and help advance the fight to save a very valuable and worthy human being.

Strength and Solidarity,
Rob

Date written: 8-25-09

The Troy Davis Supreme Court Ruling

2009-10-05T07:36:00.000+02:00

On August 17, 2009 the Supreme Court issued a decision in the Troy Davis case. The court ordered the case back to the lower federal district court for a hearing on his innocence claim. In 1989 Davis was convicted of the murder of a Savannah Georgia police officer and subsequently sentenced to death. Since then seven of the main witnesses in his case have recanted their testimony.

The court made the right decision. Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were the only two justices that dissented, which isn’t a surprise being that they’ve always been known to take the most ultra-right wing position available. The overall tone of the dissenting opinion is rather disturbing however.

As an August 19 New York Times editorial noted: “In a shocking dissent Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dismissed the idea that the courts have a duty to ensure that they are not putting an innocent man to death.” Scalia wrote the opinion and Thomas concurred.

Antonin Scalia is a master of the art of Sophistry. A core element of his swagger, his overall style, is the ability to conjure up great rhetorical clouds of seemingly impenetrable labyrinthine reasoning that arbitrarily justifies his logically untenable positions.

To give an in-dept analysis of the dissent would be far too time consuming — and indeed mind-numbing — but I do want to address one issue. Scalia states as absolute fact that Troy Davis received a fair trial “untainted by constitutional defect.” The United States Constitution specifically and expressly guarantees a person the right to a fair trial and prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

Seven of the main trial witnesses in the Davis case have recanted. Several of them have admitted to being intimidated into testifying. The Davis trial was plagued by other injustices but those two abovementioned facts alone prove unequivocally that the trial was indeed very tainted by constitutional defect.

Receiving an unfair trial is constitutionally objectionable. Being sentenced to death by a flawed trail proceeding is severely anti-ethical to the principles laid out in the constitution. And would it not be cruel and unusual punishment to execute an innocent person?

R.

Date written: 8-22-09

Department of Justice Condemns Harris County Jail

2009-10-05T07:34:00.000+02:00

A few minutes ago I finished reading an article by James Pinkerton entitled “Family Sues Over Mother’s Death in Harris County Jail” in the 8-7-09 edition of the Houston Chronicle.

Margarita Saavedra, a 44 year old mother was allowed to die of an untreated blood infection she caught while in Harris County jail in January 2008. Jail staff-members ignored pleas from Ms. Saavedra, her family, her attorney and other prisoners.

In this article Mr. Pinkerton notes that U.S. Department of Justice officials who did an inspection at the jail in March 08 “found that a lack of adequate medical and mental health care and protection from physical violence and safety hazards violated inmate’s constitutional rights.”

The Department of Justice said this. George W. Bush’s Department of Justice Jail staff watched Margarita Saavedra die what was surely a slow and painful death. They sat by and did nothing. Jose Saavedra, Ms. Saavedra’s son added a very sad statement to this story when he said “Its hard to know there are people out there like that.” Indeed, it is.

R.

Date written: 8-19-09

What is the Matter With Texas DAs?

2009-10-05T07:28:00.000+02:00

The Houston Chronicle is a conservative newspaper. It always has been. Over the years, however, I’ve noticed that they’ve become a bit less biased in their reporting on criminal justice issues.

I don’t receive any of the major newspapers or news magazines but every so often someone around here will send me some. A guy passed me the August 7th ’09 edition of the Houston Chronicle and a particular article caught my eye, “What’s the Matter With Texas DAs,” by Rick Casey.

In this article Mr. Casey talks about a man named Timothy Cole who was wrongly accused of rape, subsequently convicted and sent to prison. (The article doesn’t say but I believe Cole was sentenced to Life.) He died in prison in 1999.

Four years before Cole’s death, a man named Larry Johnson wrote to the DA of the city (Lubbock) where the crime occurred, admitting to the rape. The letter was thrown away. Johnson wrote other officials without getting any results.

Two years ago, Cole’s family learned of Johnson’s efforts and contacted the Innocence Project. In February an Austin district court hearing proved that Johnson committed the rape and Timothy Cole died in prison an innocent man.

The main evidence against Cole was a positive witness identification. In the article Rick Casey describes how the police manipulated the rape victim into making the I.D. When the Austin American Statesman asked the current Lubbock DA, Mathew Powell, who was to blame for the wrongful conviction of Timothy Cole, shockingly enough he said, “Where it went wrong is you had a victim who picked him out of a lineup.” Powell blames the victim.

When DA Powell was asked if he reviewed the case to discern if any lessons could be learned from such an injustice, he replied, “I didn’t think it was necessary. This is the greatest system in the world, but it’s a system built on people and people make mistakes.” Wow. Such Orwellian double-think boggles the mind.

It always amazed me how every time some horrible injustice within the criminal “justice” system comes to light, the police and DAs come up with non-sensical ad hoc justifications for the idea that the system is just fine. One almost has to wonder if DA Powell was in the throes of a schizophrenic episode when he declared our system “the greatest in the world.”

As Rick Casey states in the article, perhaps worst of all is that “Powell is very much in the mainstream of Texas DAs.”

R.

Date written: 8-17-09

Relative Definition of Torture

2009-10-05T07:09:00.000+02:00

I’ve been hearing about the case of Raymond Azar, a civilian contractor in Iraq who was arrested by the F.B.I. for a bribery charge. He was arrested in Iraq and flown back to the U.S. to face charges.

A few days ago I listened to Mr. Azar’s lawyer on the most excellent Democracy Now! talk about how he was stripped naked and handcuffed and shackled, as if this was an outrageously rare and unusual act of torture. When I hear things like this I’m reminded of just how uniformed the general public is about what goes on in jails and prisons on a daily basis.

Not to downgrade Mr. Azar’s situation — and really I don’t know much about it besides the snippets of news reports I’ve heard — but being stripped naked and manacled is a regular part of being arrested and jailed. In Harris County you’re considered lucky if you’re not slammed around or beaten.

I’m reminded of when the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisoner abuse scandals broke out. It seemed that every day some new form of abuse and torture was revealed: vicious barking dogs used to intimidate prisoners, beatings, hoods put over heads, sexual humiliation, etc., etc. People rose up in protest. Lawyers sued. Events and marches were held. Everyone was shocked. I wasn’t.

Much love to everyone who fought against these abuses — and who continue to do so — but worse abuses happen on a daily basis in U.S. prisons and jails. This is why I wasn’t surprised when hearing about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Take the cases of sexual abuse and humiliation for example. In Abu Ghraib detainees were made to strip off all of their clothes. They were forced to lay on top of each other naked. Some were forced to masturbate. Unconscionable actions. Terrible actions.

A while back I read an article that talked about how Texas prisons have the highest rate of sexual assaults out of all prisons in the U.S. A terribly high percentage of rapes of prisoners were committed by officers. Keep in mind that these are official government statistics of reported sexual assaults. A guarantee that probably 85% of rapes in prison go unreported.

The mainstream media rarely ever talks about officers raping inmates in jails and prisons, or assaults and murders of inmates either. If a person does some online research they can surely read about it fairly in-dept. Generally, however, these type of abuses are reported solely in prison-specific news sources or perhaps in a small article in the back of a local newspaper.

The images of dogs barking ferociously at Iraqi detainees just came to mind. Vicious dogs used to intimidate prisoners? Nothing new. This tactic has been used in U.S. jails and prisons for decades. (Interesting note: Nazi officers used dogs as a tool of intimidation in concentration camps.)

Dogs have been used during shakedowns here on TX Death Row. When I was in Harris County jail, a tank I was in was one time stormed by a gang of about 30 SWAT team officers accompanied by growling menacing dogs. K-9 unit dogs. Swat dogs. Dogs trained to kill.

We were all stripped naked and pushed up against a single wall. About 10 officers manned the dogs just a few feet in front of us. With necks straining against the fully stretched-tight leashes, forelegs lifted in the air from the force, the K-9s growled and barked viciously at us while the other officers tore up our property.

Believe me, that was a scary experience. There is something very terrifying about facing menacing and dangerous animals when you’re helpless and unable to defend yourself. Perhaps some primordial human instinct of fear is triggered. Fear of the beast. Fear of unconquerable Nature.

What if the leash breaks? What if the officer lets go? There is no reasoning with animal instincts. Flesh will be ripped. Your throat torn out. I’d rather go toe-to-toe with, say, four raging SWAT officers than face four K-9 attack dogs.

Well, I could go on and on about this endlessly. I really just wanted to drop a few lines on this topic because I was thinking about how torture is defined in such a relative manner. Shouldn’t socially conscious people be just as upset about torture in U.S. jails and prisons as they are about torture in U.S. military detention facilities?

R.

Date written: 8-15-09

Another DNA Exoneration

2009-09-24T01:16:00.000+02:00

There’s been another DNA exoneration in Harris County. It seems like every other day I hear about a new exoneration.

I just finished reading an August 7, 2009 front page Houston Chronicle article entitled “Inmate Expected to be Freed While DNA Reviewed,” by Brian Rogers. The article is about a guy named Ernest Sonnier who was sentenced to Life in prison for a 1985 aggravated kidnapping and rape. Recent DNA testing proved that two other individuals with profiles in the DNA felon database committed the crime.

Mr. Sonnier hasn’t officially been exonerated but the D.A’s office hasn’t opposed his release — a cue that he will certainly be officially exonerated soon. Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, made an interesting point in this article when he said Houston is “ground zero” of the epidemic of flawed forensic science, and concerning the Sonnier case added: “This case is the latest in a well documented and disturbing pattern of analysts making misleading interpretations to support the prosecutors case and explain away evidence that defendants may be innocent.”

Guess who the lead prosecutor on the Sonnier case was? The most treacherous and now dethroned Chuck Rosenthal. Yes, the same Chuck Rosenthal who prosecuted my case and helped send me to Death Row. At my trial Rosenthal and his team of prosecutors and “experts” unleashed a barrage of misleading interpretations, double-speak and outright lies in order to secure my conviction and sentence.

Rosenthal prosecuted the Ernest Sonnier case in 1986. He prosecuted my case in 2001-2002. Rosenthal was forced out of office last year (2008) because of his criminal activity. How many other innocent people did Chuck Rosenthal help send to prison or Death Row between 1986-2008? How many more exonerations will it take before people really start to realize that the criminal “justice” system in Harris County is severely flawed and has been severely flawed for decades?

If Ernest Sonnier would of had a rape-murder case and been sent to Death Row, he almost surely would have been executed by now. How can anyone continue to support the Death Penalty when the system that sentences people to death has proven time and time again to be so severely faulty and abundantly rift with error?

R.

Date written: 8-14-09

Sonia Sotomayor Continued

2009-09-24T01:12:00.000+02:00

When I write these blogs/writings/updates I only make one draft and a carbon copy in case it gets “disappeared.” I’ll write a short piece, go over it once quickly and send it out.

Well, yesterday I wrote a bit about the new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and I forgot to mention something very important. In her nomination acceptance speech — which I listened to on the radio — she spoke of how she was a prosecutor with the New York district attorneys office. I can’t remember the exact verbatin quote but Ms. Sotomayor talked about how she “prosecuted violent crimes that destroy our communities.”

Her statement reminded me of the rhetoric — typical but not limited to — right-wing conservatives, rhetoric that stems from the short-sighted belief that the causes of all crime rest solely with the criminals activity. This type of perspective is a result of a broader belief in the Free Will, that most terrifyingly illogical concept which, like an invincible sickly weed, has infected the psyche of so many, choking off any hope of rational critical-thought analysis of any issue or situation.

Judge Sotomayor may have simply been attempting to sound “tough on crime” in order to present herself as a good moderate and calm the fears of those on the right who absurdly believe that she’s some type of radical liberal. (The republican politicians certainly don’t really believe this but it seems they’ve successfully indoctrinated their support base with this belief.)

One can engage in endless conjecture concerning Justice Sonia Sotomayor but I guess we’ll really just have to wait and see …

R.

Date written: 8-12-09

Sonia Sotomayor

2009-09-24T01:01:00.000+02:00

Sonia Sotomayor has officially been sworn in as the new U.S. Supreme Court Justice. I’ve been paying close attention to the media coverage of Sotomayor and it seems the press — including to my great disappointment the leftist independent media — have failed to address some of the vital issues concerning the new Justice.

So many on the left seem to be interested in solely applauding the fact that Ms. Sotomayor is the first female Latina appointed to the court. In some detached, abstract manner I suppose that is indeed a good thing.

But what of her previous judicial actions and her overall judicial philosophy? The sad fact is that concerning the former and the latter; Sonia Sotomayor is arguably farther to the right than Justice David H. Souter who she is replacing. Indeed, Sotomayor makes Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg look like a red-flag waving radical. At best Sotomayor could be considered a center-right moderate.

The Washington Post reporter E.J. Dionne made a good observation when Sotomayor was first nominated:
“Republicans would be foolish to fight the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court because she is the most conservative choice that President Obama could have made. And even though they should support her confirmation, liberals would be foolish to embrace Sotomayor as one of their own because her record is clearly that of a moderate. It is highly unlikely that she will push the court to the left. Indeed, on many issues of concern to business, she is likely to make the Chamber of Commerce perfectly happy.”

So why have the Republicans and right-wing pundits been tenaciously lambasting Sotomayor, acting as if she is the embodiment of leftist “judicial activist” villainy? Political posturing, plain and simple. If Obama would of nominated The Great Law Giver Moses, to the Supreme Court, they’d be doing the same thing.

Being that I’m in good ole Texas my radio picks up a seemingly endless pandemic stream of right-wing talk shows. At this point, I suppose that I must admit to engaging in persistent, voyeuristic debauchery — I listen to such shows quite often.

On the day that Sotomayor was nominated, I was glued to my radio, flipping through the dial catching all news concerning her. The right-wing pundits seemed perfectly happy with Sotomayor’s nomination, calling her “the most conservative judge Obama could have picked.” Only after the official Republican party line was drawn, denoting Sotomayor as a ‘radical leftist judicial activist’ — did the conservative Republican punditocracy pick up the “down with Sotomayor!” banner.

This campaign really has nothing to do with Sotomayor. It’s all about opposing Obama in every manner imaginable, on every possible issue. And why did Obama choose Sotomayor? One can only assume that he did so in “the spirit of bipartisanship.” Although, I’m starting to think that Obama’s modus operandi is centered around making theatrically appealing gestures that have no relation to bringing forth tangible, positive, social change.

Being that I’ve already admitted to the degradative activity of listening to the right-wing talk-shows, I suppose that the most persuasive Sophia, Lady of Truth and Wisdom, demands that I admit to another act of shame: blind Obama worship.

Yes, I was one of those hopeful souls who cheered “Go Obama, Go!” when he secured the Democratic presidential nomination. I was one of the twinkling-eyed masses who jumped up and down with overwhelming glee, filled with a sense of glorious triumph, when Obama won the Presidential election.

I had read much about his Life and I truly felt that he was engaged in a — and I hope I will be forgiven for using this term — Barakavellian, masterful, political strategy: Obama was playing the non-threatening bipartisan good guy so he could get into a position of major world political power, the position of President of the most powerful country in the world… And then… And then! Muuuhahahaaaa! — Barack Obama would valiantly fight to end all forms of oppression! He would remain unwavering and uncompromising in working to bring about True social change!

And one of the most important contributions he will make will be appointing at least one very liberal Justice to the Supreme Court! A Judge appointed for a Life-long term! Sí se puede! Yes we can! … Blame it on my Yoga-inspired overly positive outlook on Life and call me a foolish, starry-eyed liberal if you must but this is what I thought.

In the spirit of all fairness — or perhaps I should say in the spirit of infinite possibilities — we do not positively know what type of Justice Sonia Sotomayor will be. One can only hope that now that Sotomayor has been appointed to the highest court in the land, a position not subject to any form of recall, she will cast aside her moderate vein and reveal herself to be more liberal and push the court to the left.

R.

Date written: 8/11/09

Never Taught to Read

2009-09-24T00:53:00.000+02:00

Shameful. It is absolutely shameful that the so-called “justice” system of Texas would sentence someone to death who cannot read or write.

There’s a guy over here by me who was never taught to read or write when he was out in the free world. This is a sad commentary on the educational system in our society. I think most people would readily agree that our government has a duty to ensure that our children are educated well. Good public education should be available to all children—tax-payer funded programs should ensure this.

How is it that a child can grow to adulthood without ever learning to read or write? How can this happen in the United States of America? I think people on the outside would be shocked if they knew how very many people in prison cannot read or write, or can barely do so. There are also many people who learned to read or write while in prison.

Guys who arrive in prison unable to read and write usually have a similar story: They grew up in poor neighborhoods and were raised in a broken family. Father dead or in prison. Mother mentally unstable, perhaps, addicted to drugs. Without family support, they were essentially raised by the streets. All of the aforementioned factors led to them getting in trouble in school.

Instead of evaluating the factors that led to a child acting out in school — and attempting to correct these factors — the school officials react with punishment, punishment and more punishment. Kids get labeled “problemed children” and get pushed into “special” classes or schools and many are sent to juvenile prison.

And what happens when kids are sent to juvenile? As the Texas Juvenile Detention Facility scandal has shown us, children in juvenile custody are routinely raped and used as sex slaves, beaten viciously and mentally tortured in various ways. When juvenile officials are engaged in such sick and depraved activity, I’m quite sure teaching children to read and write is the furthest thing from their minds.

Back to the guy who is over here by me: he’s not mentally retarded. He plain and simply was never taught to read. The general scenario I described above applies to him. In talking to the guy it’s obvious that no one ever really tried to teach him to read and write.

How can a person get a job if they can’t even fill out a job application? One can imagine how such a person can easily end up involved in criminal activity. Indeed, the guy over here by me who cannot read or write was sentenced to death for a robbery gone bad that ended in a murder. I don’t know all of the details of his case but I believe that he wasn’t even the actual shooter in the crime.

Was there not a single teacher who could have taken the time to help this guy learn to read and write? Shouldn’t there be community programs that ensure that every child becomes literate?

In order to understand a current situation it’s necessary to reflect on the past and discern the cause and effect relationship that led up to the situation in question. Done. If the situation at hand is problematic then it’s necessary to engage in actions that will change the situation.

Quick interjection: Another shameful thing—the neighbor of the guy who is illiterate tried to charge him for help with writing letters to his family and friends and help learning to read and write. An absolute, pitiful shame!

The whole of my Being exists in such calm “Prana” state that I very rarely get upset. The only time I do get upset is when I become aware of acts of extreme oppression. When I heard about this particular act of attempted exploitation I did get a bit perturbed. And to make matters worse the individual who tried to charge the other guy couldn’t read or write when he came to prison! Other guys in prison helped to teach him.

Well, I really shouldn’t be surprised, this type of thing is just another manifestation of the “getting down for myself” creed that most prisoners live by. A blade to the throat of such deplorable ideology! A call to purge such rampantly ego-centric beliefs from the mass collective psyche of the prison population! — That will indeed take much work.

In regards to the situation with the guy over here, this is what I’m going to do: I’m going to help him learn to read and write. When I was younger, I had a girlfriend who had a young daughter. My girlfriend and I helped teach her daughter how to read and write.

She had a good teacher who would send her home with what I guess could be called “family reading plans.” These “plans” were worksheets that me and my girlfriend would sign after we completed certain reading and writing exercises with her daughter.

At the time, I was going to college with the goal in mind of obtaining a degree in child psychology. Helping my girlfriend’s daughter learn to read and write was a wonderful experience. I was thinking of all this as I contemplated how I can go about helping the guy over here become literate. I don’t even really remember how me and my girlfriend went about helping her daughter learn to read and write…

Do I start with the alphabet? A-B-Cs? Do I point out pictures in magazines and explain how to write the words that correspond to the images? I don’t even know. But, I do know a few people on the outside who are social justice activist as well as teachers. I don’t know them personally but I do know of them and they know who I am. I’m going to drop them a letter to see if they can teach me how to help teach this guy to read.

R.

Date written: 8/8/09

Noise Pollution

2009-09-24T00:42:00.000+02:00

Imagine living in an environment where there is constant teeth clattering bone-shaking noise. Quiet is a thing of fantasy, a much sought after but very rarely-achieved wish.

During the day there is non-stop noise around here. Other guys scream-talking, officers yelling and slamming gates and doors— noise, noise, noise. From 6am to 10pm the absolute longest period of quiet may last 2 or 3 minutes. The night hours, from 10pm to 6am are a bit better, 45 minutes to an hour — an entire precious hour! — may go by without any major noise.

Earlier, I was standing at my door attempting to speak with an officer and I couldn’t because it was so loud. I thought “I should write about this. I bet people on the outside have never experienced anything even remotely similar to this.”

The officer was standing right in front of my cell door. I was at my desk when he began talking and I couldn’t hear him so I walked up to the door-screen. We were literally 6-8 inches from each other face-to-face damned near yelling at each other and we couldn’t hear what one another was saying.

He pointed at the recreation sheet and then I understood he was asking me if I was going to rec next round. I nodded “yes.” He nodded “O-K” and left. I remained motionless at my door, listening to the sources of the noise so I could relay them.

Two guys at the opposite end of the run 5 and 6 cells away, arguing, scream-talking. A guy in the dayroom scream-talking to someone downstairs on one-row. People yelling and talking loud, laughing so they won’t cry.

Most people reading this right now are probably at their computer. Imagine if someone was sitting next to you, shoulder-to-shoulder and ya’ll are looking into each others eyes. Ya’lls faces are 8 inches from one another and ya’ll are talking loud, damned near screaming at the top of ya’lls lungs. But ya’ll can’t hear each other because of surrounding noise.

Wouldn’t that be insane? Think about that type of noise pollution existing in your environment consistently, all day, every day. Wouldn’t that be utter and complete torture? …

R.

Date written: 8-6-09

A Lifestyle of Action

2009-09-23T01:00:00.000+02:00

For me recognizing oneself as a socially conscious individual is meaningless unless one acts on that self-realization …

When you truly feel the need for change in society this feeling becomes a part of who you are. Once you acknowledge the need to help advance the process of the healing of Humanity, the desire to do so becomes deeply internalized within you. Activism becomes a part of who you are, it becomes a Lifestyle.

All of your day-to-day actions are compelled by a living Love of Humanity. Your daily thoughts and activities are centered around a recognition of the interconnectedness of Mankind and the desire to see this interconnectedness blossom into peaceful coexistence for all.

This becomes the core of your personality, a essential part of your Being. Your interactions with others in your community produce harmonious vibes — vibes that promote mutual aid and understanding. This is how you live, not necessarily something you consciously think about …

The idea of me writing about what I do around here on a daily basis has always seemed a bit absurd and abhorrent. I guess doing so would make me feel like I was waving a sign that read “Yipee, look at me! Look at me! I did something ‘good’! Yayeee!” Plus, I suppose I’m a rather reserved person and I have no interest in accolades or praise.

Someone on the outside whose opinion I greatly respect keeps telling me that I need to write more about the positive things that I do around here though. So, I’ll try to do more of that and hopefully I won’t turn into a flower or anything. What is that you say Milton?

A shape within the watery gleam appeared,
Bending to look on me. I started back;
It started back; but pleased I soon returned,
Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks
Of sympathy and love. There had I fixed
Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warned me: “What thou seest,
What there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself”

From John Milton’s Paradise Lost Book IV

Ha! Well, what have I been up to for the last week or so? I constantly stay in grind mode so I’m always busy. I just finished writing out a 3 pg. kite for a guy over here who has some serious medical problems that aren’t being addressed properly.

The kite/letter is actually for one of his supporters in the free-world. In it, I explained how they can go about getting him proper medical treatment. TDCJ and UTMB —University of TX Medical Branch — the entity that provides medical “care” for TX prisoners — make it very hard for people to get decent medical treatment. They play all types of little bureaucratic games.

For example, if say, the sister of a guy here on D-R calls up to the unit to address her brothers medical problems, they may tell her that by law they can’t give out info on (or talk about) inmates personal medical issues. Then the sister and brother may feel defeated and give up and that’s exactly what they want them to do.

Is it true that prison medical staff are forbidden by law from giving out inmates medical info? Yes, but also by law they have to give out prisoners medical information if the inmate officially designates a specific individual (or individuals) to receive this info. The inmate has to send an official I-60 form to the Polunsky medical records director requesting an HSA-27 Texas Department of Criminal Justice Health Services Division: Authorizations for the Disclosure of Protected Health Information form.

Once they receive the form they have to fill it out and send it back to the medical records director. When it’s approved the inmate then has to tell their supporter on the outside to call the unit and specifically request to speak to the Health Services Patient Liaison. Then, the Liaison has to address their questions and concerns.

Most guys here and their supporters know nothing about any of this. I explained all this in my kite and included other helpful information.

I’ve also been working on doing some interviews with some guys around here. I’m doing them in a very different style and, well, they’ll be posted in the near future. Since Reg received an execution date I’ve been working on helping with organizing to hopefully get him a stay of execution.

When I finish writing this I’m going to work on a letter about a guy here who is obviously mentally retarded. I’m going to ask someone on the outside to check into what his attorney’s are doing on his case. Many, if not most, court-appointed attorneys do nothing more than work towards ensuring that their “client” on Death Row is executed. I think a lot of people on the outside don’t understand this but that is with certainty what goes on.

There are other things that I’ve been working on and I think I’ll go ahead and close this off so I can indeed get to work on them. The process of social change doesn’t occur on it’s own. We have to actively pursue change and as Gandhi said, “we have to be the change we wish to see in the world.”

Steady Grindin’
Rob

Date written: 8-3-09

Professor Henry Louis Gates

2009-09-23T00:41:00.000+02:00

Talk about a media firestorm! Every day I’ve been listening to media reports about the situation concerning the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. The full spectrum — left, center and right — of the media have been all over this story.

Here are the basics of the situation: Mr. Gates came back to his house from vacation and he forgot his keys. So, him and the person with him pried open his door in order to get inside the house. A neighbor saw this happening and called the police. In the 911 call she stated that she wasn’t sure if it was a burglary or if the people lived in the house and perhaps forgot their keys.

The police arrived. Professor Gates, who is a black man showed his identification to the white police sergeant who was the first on the scene. Gates explained to him that he was a Harvard professor and indeed it was his house as the address on his license proved. Stop.

Okay, now at this point the officer should of left and if he was a decent individual perhaps even apologize to Mr. Gates for the inconvenience. This, of course, didn’t happen. The Sgt. questioned Gates further and at one point professor Gates said “this is what happens to black men in America” and he was arrested for “disorderly conduct.”

Let me pause for a minute to say this: I most certainly am not a bleeding heart starry-eyed liberal who blindly worships the archetype of the faultless, noble habitually oppressed black man. Nor do I have the white guilt self-hate complex thing going on. I am a realist. With that being said: Did race play a part in the arrest of Henry Gates? Yes, it very probably did.

I don’t know the officer who arrested Gates personally so I can’t comment with certainty on the nature of his psyche, or what went on in his mind during the situation. But, I do know how a white police officer who harbors racial prejudices would have been thinking…

He arrives on the scene, ready to make an arrest. Gates sees the police car and opens his door to meet the officer.

Gates: Yes officer?
Officer: We have a report of a possible burglary in progress
Gates: I just came back from vacation and lost my keys so I pried my door open.
Officer: Uh-huh, well I need to see some I.D. (I haven’t ever seen any blacks in this nice neighborhood before unless they were up to no good.)
Gates: Fine. Here, here’s my Harvard professors ID and my drivers license with my home address, this address, on it.
Officer: (Yep, he’s a professor alright and sure enough this is his address, but I don’t like the tone of this boy's voice. Probably went to college on that affirmative action, probably one of Obama’s Communist allies.) Well, how long have you lived here?
Gates: (Why is he asking me more questions?) Officer, this is exactly what happens to black men in America —
Officer: Place your hands behind your back!! Submit to hand restraints and don’t resist or force will be used!! (We got us an uppity nigger right here!! And by God, I’m gonna put him in his place!!)
Gates: What? What am I under arrest for?!
Officer: For! For! … (Shit it probably won’t fly if I plant drugs on him since he’s a professor. A fake assault case might look fishy. Shit!) For! For, causing a disturbance and disorderly conduct! (That’ll work! Everyone knows all niggers can get loud and unruly!)

Anyone who believes a lot of white police officers do not think like this is just naive. They may not be card-carrying members of the Klan but they have deeply ingrained racial prejudices. Really, if Gates would of been a black dude in a working class neighborhood he very well may have been savagely beaten or worse.

Ah, yes, and Obama’s comments on the situation: “The police acted stupidly” and “there is a history in this country of racial profiling by police.” I was actually rather shocked that he was so straightforward and not engaging in his pandering to the Right that he seems to be so fond of.

But, of course, all of the Right wing pundits went crazy accusing Obama of being a race-baiting, police hating radical Communist hell-bent on destroying America. Then came the catering to the Right by Obama — apologizing for making a truthful and relevant statement. I’m wondering if Obama is ever going to stand up and say “racism exists in our society and we need to have an open and honest dialogue about it.”

Peace,
Rob

Date Written: 7-30-09

The Most Perfidious Ms. Smith Strikes Again

2009-09-23T00:28:00.000+02:00

During the recent major shakedown property officer Smith was in her finest and most terrible form, rampaging around committing her customary treachery. (See my previous piece “Medusa Lives” for more info on the terror that is Ms. Smith.)

Ms. Smith did a lot of people bad but the vast majority of guys won’t file grievances out of fear of further retribution. She committed what one might consider a not-too-extremely-oppressive act against me, but I still filed a grievance and I wanted to post it. (The text of the grievance is below.)

Peace:
Rob

- - - - - -
Step 1
Offender Grievance Form

Offender Name: Robert G. Will

TDJC: 999402

Unit: Polunsky

Unit where incident occurred: Polunsky

Who did you talk to (name, title): Ms. Smith; Cpt. Bryant; C.O Ancira, C.O Landrum

What was their response: A malicious smirk from Ms. Smith; Cpt. Bryant said he would
check into it.

What action was taken: Ms. Smith engaged in theft.

When: 7-14-19

State your grievance in the space provided. Please state who, what, when, where and disciplinary case number where appropriate.

On 7-14-09, at approximately 2:30pm I was “shook down” in accordance with major shakedown procedure. (This was a “major shakedown lockdown.”) C.O Landrum and C.O. Ancira removed me from my cell and begin searching my property in the dayroom. (There are 2 “Ancira’s” here, the Ancira relevant to this situation is the one without visible tattoos on his forearms; the older one I believe.) Being that this was a major shakedown C.O’s Ancira and Landrum went through every piece of my property very thoroughly. C.O Ancira picked up a large envelope full of 3-ply carbon paper and begin flipping through the pages. Property Officer Smith ran to the other side of the dayroom where Ancira was and forcefully jerked the papers out of his hands, saying “He can’t have this.” C.O Smith folded the large stack of papers, and then went back to the other side of the dayroom, after placing the papers in her pocket. While being brought back to my cell I asked C.O’s Landrum and Ancira why Ms. Smith took the carbon paper that I am allowed to have and they said they didn’t know. 4 other officers were on the section and they all said they didn’t know either and all of them said they thought I could possess the papers in question. I asked Mr. Ancira and Ms. Landrum for my confiscation slip and they said they’ll tell Ms. Smith. I saw them talk to Ms. Smith so I assume they did. Captain Bryant walked by a few minutes later and I informed him that Ms. Smith took some papers I’m allowed to have and didn’t write me a confiscation form. He said he’d remind her and he told me to hold onto the form and send him an I-60 explaining the problem because he was in the middle of a major shakedown and couldn’t fully investigate every problem right then. Cpt. Bryant walked right over to Ms. Smith after this and she cast a menacing look in my direction so I assume Mr. Bryant told Ms. Smith to give me a confiscation form. She never did. About an hour later when all of the officers were leaving the section I respectfully asked Ms. Smith for my confiscation form and I was answered with a malicious smirk. Property Officer Smith outright stole property from me. She has stolen and/or arbitrarily confiscated thousands of dollars worth of inmates’ property. Her actions are unwarranted, outrageous and in violation of state & federal law, ACA Standards and TDCJ-CID policy.

Action Requested to resolve your Complaint:
3-Ply carbon paper is very expensive. I had approximately 100 sheets which costs between 10-15 dollars. I would like it returned to me or I request to be reimbursed. Additionally, I request Ms. Smith be removed from her position as property officer and an OIG investigation launched into her illegal activities.

Date: 7-24-29 (sent out 7-27-09)

Reginald Blanton Received An Execution Date

2009-09-23T00:23:00.000+02:00

I recently found out that my comrade and friend Reg Blanton received an execution date for October 27th 2009. He’s scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas in 3 months.

This is an absolute travesty. I need to hold council with some people to see what all needs to be done. One thing is for sure though — everyone needs to get ready to do some serious organizing.

R.

Date written: 7-24-09

Smaller Than An Animal's Cage

2009-09-23T00:16:00.000+02:00

Most bird-cages allow the bird to spread its wings comfortably, perhaps even hop around a bit. Zoo cages allow the animals room to walk, run, jump and frolic about. All of this passed through my mind as I stood in the center of my cell and spread my arms out wide while doing yoga.

“My cell is smaller than an animal's cage,” I thought. To give you an idea of how very small my cell is I’m going to take you along on a little measurement experiment… O.K, I just stood up. Now I’m standing in the middle of my cell with this pad of paper in hand. I’m looking forward facing my cell door.

Leaving my left foot stationary I just leaned forward and tapped my cell door with my right foot. Still leaving my left foot in the same spot I leaned back and pressed my right foot to the back wall. Now I’m about to spread my arms wide. I can almost touch the left and right wall with my fingertips; if I lean about two inches to each side I can touch both walls. Half step forward I’m at my toilet. Half step back I’m at my bunk. My desk is a foot to the right. I reach up and I can touch the ceiling.

So, while standing in the very center of my cell I can touch everything in my cage by leaning one way or another. From a central position, with my feet or hands, I can touch my cell door, toilet, desk, bunk, ceiling, and all four walls. Gerbils have larger cages. Hamsters have more spacious living quarters. How can anyone rationally say that it’s humane to keep human beings confined to such horrendously small cells?

R.

Date written: 7-23-09

A New Blogging Endeavor

2009-09-23T00:04:00.000+02:00

Blogging has become a worldwide phenomenon. It seems everyone from famous musicians to lonely housewives have blogs. When I first became aware of the blogger explosion I thought it was just another mundane manifestation of our ego-centric and narcissistic culture.

However, coming into contact with posts from very interesting and notable blogs has made me realize how important and engaging a good blog can be. Such a blog can teach and inform. It can allow the reader a window of insight into another person's existence, a glimpse into another realm of reality.

This is what I hope to achieve with the blog I’m starting today with this first post. I’ve published writings on my website before, but I hope to make this blogging endeavor a more personal and steady experience.

From Texas Death Row
With Strength and Love:
Rob Will

Date written: 7-22-09