Addressing the New Jim Crow and the Laws that Upheld it!

[Queenbey]

This article struck a nerve all the way down to my soul. I had to cleanse myself by first asking of all the people that stated that they would stand up for our people once they took their vows to be lawyers and to uphold the law of the Constitution. In light of the current policies running back and forth over the Congressional Rolls this one I believe should be the first to be dismantled. The Criminal Justice System has been for decades a tool to keep the poor,the oppressed and mainly people of a different race with a foot on their necks. The multi-tiered effects that is present will need so much unpeeling of its layers that I imagine will take just as long to take it apart as it was to build it. I am one of those felons whose lives has been shattered but not to the extent that it was purposed to be,No I fought back, I got educated I became united with other prisoners that knew our voices wouldn't or couldn't be heard but collectively we would be felt and heard. I began my life in Washington DC during the 50's a time when segregation was still doing it's rising to the occasion but all the same colored and whites only signs were seen all over the lines from the Mason Dixon imaginary borders.My first foray (arrest) came in 1974 when DC Jail had a DCDC number and that told them what year you were arrested in. I clearly remember that number it's like a Holocaust number that the Jews had attached in Auschwitz. All the same it was one with you, until this day it is still attached to your folder as a part of your arrest record. I got my first college degree in the penal system in Goochland Virginia for Grand Theft. I stayed in that system for approximately 4 years, no rehabilitation in sight but many thousands of dollars were doled out for my benefit. I was also relegated as a drug abuser of sorts although then it was only prescription drugs or OTC as it is called now. This era was a while before Ms. Betty Ford Clinic was up and running mind you she put the respect in being a drug user in effect. The layers that began taking it's toll started quite a ways before all of my story began the footwork the vision was there though I can honestly say. The War on Drugs came along after my trip to Lorton came, yes! there was a time in Dc's History that women were housed in Lorton along with the male populations but very short lived.My appeal comes on baited breathe the fact that after all has been said and done I have gone on to get two Associate degrees in Business management & Business Administration now am currently doing well on my Bachelor's degree nowhere was it askd on my application was I ever incarcerated and that was mind boggling because almost every where else has asked that so-called pertinent question. The soft drug controversy~ I recently was bamboozled on a possession of marijuana charge and have been threatened within an inch of my life for a piece of white boy found in my truck ( a thin piece of Tops cigarette paper). I accepted the charge because there was no way that I could escape it once the MPD found out that I had a SMART number( computer program) that Dept. of Corrections utilize to keep track of their denizens* it's a darn shame I am accountable for mine make no mistake about this! My cleansing is in no way a cry for clemency I did it! I own it and that is my story and I am sticking to it. What I don't understand is just how long does a person pay for a crime that has been committed you have done your potential time or paid the debt now you, your family your livelihood,your ancestors it seems that everyone continues to pay in some form or another. The fact that every sister that I have passed along the way hasn't always 'Failed' to succeed because she has charges or shall I say has not gone to meet her full potential because that always flares up in red letters somewhere in your record or cheat sheets:) seems almost surreal to me when I know for fact there are criminals of a different persuasion all around that apparently made it to their destination no problemo! But the Blacks,Latinos, People of Color are scrutinized so much under a microscope that once you are let loose in our societies and are trying to become socialized and employable, no one wants what you have to offer because the price seems almost too much to pay! Who would want that much controversy following their job title or position? I took an exam for  position in DC government,passed it matter of fact for a Grade 8 position at the **** anyway the post was for my career specialty and was told as usual because I have gotten good at accepting No's as my answer it seems or should I? I haven't gone as far as I might have simply because of my prior records and or charges that i have had! In essence they prevent me from going to another tier in this society because I am now titled as someone who is not trustworthy and perhaps a risk to the so-called confidential information that government is in charge of?   In an unsettling world where everyone else can chase their dreams I cannot because of who they say I am! This Society! They tell me I can vote! They tell me I can fight their wars,That I can pay their taxes. They tell me all these things except the fact that I can't work their government jobs, No let me get this straight I can work them but just not the ones that I think that I am qualified to work for. I have to work the wage adjusted ones not the high security clearances that the other persuasions can get being that they have no felonies to be traced or that they had an expungement done something to me that's akin to Plastic Surgery* lots and lots of money that I don't have because I am trying so hard to get in place and be a public servant! Know something people after all these years if the jobs not obtainable then I guess it's not meant for me do you think? I am always keen on feeling left out of the loop because of that claim that I am not qualified for certain positions but the man or woman from Guinea can access that position because they don't have priors or do they? Maybe just not here~ It puzzles me and bothers me when I am sure that authorities have not taken the time to justify their findings about the people that challenge my citizenship and get the plum positions on just a technicality. Just wondering what would be the actual outcome if the same energy was put into something that would get all the black men and women out of the jail cells and Criminal justice Systems that our people(Black Lawyers) have so subtly assisted the "Powers That Be" to incarcerate us unjustly and throw away most of the keys. DNA has opened a lot of this doors that have been shut but if not for the Justice Project and other organizations that are slowly pulling the wool off of eyes can they get assistance? Nope! Know why because everyone is comfortable with injustices being done! Do you want to know why they are comfortable? Because it's not being done to their People! The cries of "Black Folks" is louder than most, we ask why do our children run the risk of being locked up more than a white child? and the answer would probably be cause he is from the 'Ghetto' or that it's his upbringing! I would answer it is the crimes against us that have people where they currently are the fact that we have inferior education going on, the social services are not doing what they are supposed to do. Generational social service programs is ruining folks because they are not being educated on issues that affect them. The multi-layered tiers go round and round deeper and deeper as each rung is revealed to the public the powers that be know these things and pray that the 'People don't ever get the real information~ Lyndon Larouche  and many other players tried to reveal the dope on the 'War on Crime but were hushed when the key players felt the heat from the infomation was closing in! The programs that Congress won't pass because they will  benefit "US' as in the UNITED STATES, that belief is the biggest mistake to think that we are a people under the US Constitution, to believe that would make you delusional as well as misguided. In addressing the New Jim Crow wanted to take you down memory lane a place that I stopped by to get a few lessons about growing up in this country called USA and the many stripes that one must get before they are laid down to rest. i would like to think that before I closed my eyes that I stood up for something other than myself and for my people in a sincere fashion and that I was not just a title that sounded good after all Lawyer ESQ. that sure sounds good but what power does it have? and can it orchestrate the change that we need? it surely orchestrated the one to get a lot of brothers and sisters to where they currently are en masse! Now the tricky part is can we rewind the magic ball to give them some justice on their behalf? Those that have taken that oath should feel ashamed to have turend their backs on their 'Blackness as well as betrayal of their ancestry all because of the 'Almighty Dollar" its a moral choice that is at the head of the table now. Your conscientious turn of events at least should sway you to do the right thing. The thought that you put out about you knowing the knowledge could have changed history..Your absolutely right could have but what will you people(Lawyers) do now that the edge of the history books are yet revealed will you continue to dig to unearth the rest of the stories or will you pray that the dirt and undertow take away the rest of the 'TRUTHS' that lie there just below the surface? What are your responsibilities to yourself and your people what are your responsibilities to those who paved the way? Tell me people ~ How do you sleep so perfectly still at night??

[Tessa Byrd]

Thank-you for sharing.....

[Queenbey]

thank you for reading this discussion!

Tessa Byrd said:

Thank-you for sharing.....