Setting Prisoners Free

the eviction of Uptown Tent City (2017) Walking down Wilson, my street I call home Walking through Uptown, my ‘hood I call home My home, where change is tearing apart it’s very fabric My home, sadly displacing an already displaced people Buildings rising up before my eyes The streets becoming more silent Building up and casting out The streets becoming less diverse oh...the ongoing curse of  gentrification     Beauty is in the eye of the beholder The marginalized are sacrificed to appease vanity Deceiving words promote a brighter future The poor languish in the name of progress  Oh...the bitter deafening cries of “holier-than-thou” Exclusive block clubs use their power to exclude Segregating officials use their criminalizing prowess to further segregate Predatory developers use their wealth to pounce on their prey Discriminatory committees use the system to discriminate Why do tent cities live rent-free in the minds of the wealthy? Why ...

People think gentrification is all about making things prettier and more beautiful, but it ain’t! People think it’s just about building up and creating revenue, but it ain’t! Such views are superficial and a great use of propaganda, because they make us believe no one gets hurt or suffers because of it!  Gentrification is about intentionally casting out those who don’t “look right”. Those who don’t fit the mold are systematically and strategically forced out of the neighborhood. It’s about making people conform. It’s about closing “problematic” buildings and replacing them  with “righteous” ones. It’s about jacking up the rent to unaffordable rates. It causes trauma, evictions, homelessness, and relocations.  Unfortunately, all this is done in the name of progress and diversity. It’s often done by so-called richer Democrats or liberals, and backed by Republicans - they ironically find common ground in their quest to exclude those already marginalized. To fit in, p...

In Uptown, some people are deemed unworthy and unsightly at the expense of those considered worthy and highly favored! They are judged because of how they look! They are condemned because of their pasts! They are criminalized because of who they are, not what they’ve done! They are marginalized and not given a voice! When someone faces such judgments and actions, it is traumatic and heart-wrenching, making what shouldn’t be political, political. Repeatedly, throughout the years, I've seen how decisions are made to favor those with money, power, and property! Not only that, decisions are intentionally made to make life harder and more traumatic for those already struggling. Decisions are made to appease and gratify those with wealth while ignoring and silencing the voices of those who feel they’ll never be heard at all. This is the never-ending struggle of a gentrifying neighborhood like Uptown. It is the eternal battle of rich and poor coexisting, where the elite win favor and ...

BACK THEN: My Own Hopelessness As a teenager, I fell into a dark place. A very dark place! I felt no hope; there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Hopelessness and despair had consumed me, and so much so, I was convinced that death was the only way out!  Obviously, I never made that fatal step and never made a suicidal attempt. What I did do daily is this; I would play with razor blades on my wrists and beg to God that I’d slip or that He would just end it all for me.  Every Sunday evening, I went to church at the time. I went because my parents forced me too, not because I wanted too. In my own passive-aggressive resistance, I arrived late and left early, justifying myself to be consumed with all the depressing, judgmental and angry thoughts that circled throughout my whole being!  Hope could not be found, so I returned home and  played 2 Metallica song s “ One"  and  "To live is to die"  over and over and over again at fu...

I write this lamenting over a friend of mine. We'll call him Malachi.   I write this lamenting over the prejudices and inequality of the "war on drugs" I write this lamenting over the cruel and racist policies of mass incarceration.   I write this lamenting over those experiencing homelessness and their struggles to escape its vicious grip.   I write this as another illustration of what I detailed in my recent post:  It's Political: The Punishments Do Not Fit the Crimes! Malachi was homeless, actively seeking an apartment. He's around 60 years old, has congestive heart failure and a few other ailments. I've known him for over 15 years now and most people view him as this happy gentle giant who is always friendly and kind. Last week I got a call from someone I network with; he was looking for Malachi because his name had finally "come up" on the housing database which means he's eligible for subsidized housing, immediatel...

Sometimes it's hard to choose which word is most appropriate: It's ironic! It's hypocritical! It's mean! It's unequal! It's unfair! It's blatant discrimination! It's classic bullying of the poor and disenfranchised! It's traumatizing an already traumatized people! It's how the power of money and gentrification takes pleasure in blatantly squashing those without money or assets! It's demoralizing! It's mass incarceration in action! It's kicking someone in the face who's already been knocked down repeatedly! What is this photo and what am I writing about?  This brief illustration and the photo sums up what I was trying to articulate in my last post:   "The Punishments Do Not Fit The Crimes!"   In that post, I attempted to illustrate how those experiencing homelessness are criminalized! I attempted to show, through my observations, how unfair and unjust it can be! I attempted to illustrate how ...