Thanksgiving thoughts
My cousin Jody, who is doing amazing work on the human rights of those in jail, with the ACLU in Los Angeles, sent out an e-mail that I would like to share with all of you:"It's that time of year again when people start asking, "What are you thankful for?" When I sit with that question, strangely, I find myself thankful for the time I spend in jail. You're thinking, Jody's done lost her mind (again), aren't ya? Maybe...
Last week an inmate was brutally murdered by other inmates at Men's Cental Jail, the largest jail in the "free world." It was the first homicide in the jails in over a year. A group of about 30 inmates were put into an unsupervised holding area and fed their dinner (the one hot meal of the day), while they waited until their cells were searched to go back to their overcrowded, dank cells. It is jail culture to line up for meals by race. This is done in order to demand respect/power among the inmates of different races-- I believe they rotate the order regularly in order to maintain a balance of power. On this particular evening, it was the Latinos first, then the Blacks, then the Whites/"Others." One White inmate from out of town made a fatal decision to step in front of both the Blacks and Latinos in line for his dinner. Two or three other inmates spent 15-20 minutes stomping on that White inmate's head, until his skull was crushed, and as a deputy described to me, his head looked like a deflated football. They jumped off benches onto his head repeatedly, wearing thinly soled jail slippers, so they could feel his life ending under their feet.
So, why the hell am I thankful for my exposure to these people?
I am thankful for the constant reminder I get in jail of how broken we all are... some of us more desperately seeking love and respect than others. When I hear devastating stories such as the one about the murder last week I can't help but ask, "Why are any of us so desperate for respect that we would risk spending the rest of our lives in prison by killing another simply because he received a meal out of line, adding 30 seconds to the wait...?"
The implications are frightening. What kind of self worth does an individual have when he commits such an act? Who stripped that sense of self respect from him? Honestly, the conditions in the jails alone could dehumanize just about anyone, especially someone who is vulnerable, coming from an unstable home on the streets.
I am thankful for the opportunities I was given that helped me to gain respect from others-- my education, my athletic activities, the comfortable home to which I came at night... all things I took for granted growing up. I will spend my Thanksgiving this year with family and friends in a cozy home, reflecting on those people who do not have such luxuries... and even more, on those who are without self-respect. Those society has given up on. Those millions of people locked behind bars, crying out for love often in cruel ways they've adopted to cope with their brokenness. Until we recognize these vicious acts as human, and treat the "offenders" as such, the cycle of violence will only continue. I'm thankful that my job won't allow me to ignore that.
What are you thankful for?"
You can also sponsor Jody to run the AIDS Marathon in Honolulu on December 11, 2005. Donations go toward the AIDS Project of Los Angeles. See link below:
http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=LA-3144&EventCode=HN05
posted by Margot @ 12:35 AM
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