I WAS ELATED TO BE APART OF THAT JOURNEY I TOOK LAST MONTH IN BOSTON “HEALING THE WOUNDS OF MURDER”, HOSTED BY BOSTON COLLEGE, MURDER VICTIMS FAMILIES FOR RECONCILIATION. AND I WAS EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE WORKSHOPS I ATTENDED. “HEALING”, THAT’S WHAT THEY CALLED IT. I MET SO MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE, AND SHARED STORIES, LISTENED, CRIED, AND HUGGED, EXCHANGED NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS AND PROMISES TO KEEP IN TOUCH...SOME HAVE, BUT ONLY AFTER I CONTINUED TO “RAG-EM”

THAT’S IT THAT’S ALL. I’M EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH ALL THE BROKEN PROMISES SINCE...I’M NOT QUITE SURE I UNDERSTAND THIS ACTIVIST THING. NOW THAT THE T.V. STATIONS, CREW, WITH ALL THERE LIGHTS AND CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT HAVE PACKED UP..THAT’S IT? THE MEDIA, NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALIST PUT AWAY THERE NOTEBOOKS, NOTEPADS, AND TAPE RECORDERS, MICROPHONES...THAT’S IT? AFTER YOU GO HOME AND HANG UP AND PUT AWAY YOUR ACTIVIST CLOTHING...THAT’S IT? YOU GO BACK TO YOUR 9-5:00, WHILE SOMEONE SOMEWHERE PLANS THE NEXT CONFERENCE... SO WHAT HAPPENS IN BETWEEN, WHAT DO I TELL MY BOYFRIEND, “BLUE” WHO RESIDES AT SAN QUENTIN, CALIFORNIA’S DEATH ROW AND THE MANY OTHERS I HAVE COME TO KNOW AND THE MANY MANY MORE MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHOM RESIDE ON THE DEATH ROWS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY...THAT’S IT FOR NOW...STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CONFERENCE...UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF THEM WILL HAVE MET THE SAME FATE MY BROTHER DID WHEN HE WAS PUT DOWN LIKE AN ANIMAL BY THE STATE OF MISSOURI 2 YEARS AGO. SURE I COULD HAVE EASILY SAID...THAT’S IT “HE’S GONE” AND I COULD QUIETLY HAVE RETURNED HOME AND WENT BACK TO MY SO-CALLED “NORMAL” DAY TO DAY LIFE, LIKE SO MANY OF YOU CHOSE TO DO, BUT I HEARD IT SO MANY TIMES DURING THIS CONFERENCE...ONCE YOU TAKE THIS JOURNEY YOUR LIVES CHANGE FOREVER...THIS IS MY SO-CALLED “NORMAL” DAY TO DAY LIFE. SO WHILE WE SUBLIMINALLY CAMPAIGN AROUND TO END THE DEATH PENALTY ANOTHER LIFE IS SNATCHED AWAY BY THE HANDS OF THE STATE ANOTHER JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE. THE MEN AND WOMEN, CHILDREN ARE STILL ON DEATH ROW FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING COMFORTABLY IN OUR WARM COZY BEDS...THEY WAKE UP WITH THE INJUSTICE AND GO TO BED WITH IT...IT NEVER GOES AWAY FOR THEM THEY DEPEND ON US “THE ACTIVIST” TO FIGHT, FIGHT TO END THE DEATH PENALTY. EVERY WEEKEND I VISIT MY BOYFRIEND, DELLANO AND I FEEL ASHAMED TO FACE HIM WITH THE COLD HARD TRUTHS THAT I HAVE NO POSITIVE NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE...OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE I MET ONLY A FEW HAVE CONTACTED ME, BUT NO ONE HAS TOUCHED ME AND MOVED ME THE WAY I WAS MOVED WHILE IN “BOSTON”, DID WE LEAVE OUR “COMPASSION” IN BOSTON? HEALING...SO MY JOURNEY JUST BEGINS, I PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER AND MARCH ONWARD! YOU’RE RIGHT THERE IS NO TURNING BACK...NOT AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO HOUSE HUMANS IN THESE DEATH CAMPS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. AND WITH ALL THE MISTAKES THE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS BEEN MAKING THAT HAS FINALLY BEEN BROUGHT TO LIGHT. MANY INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN HAVE BEEN MURDERED...AND AS I WRITE THIS ANOTHER LIFE SLIPS AWAY BEHIND THE WALLS OF INJUSTICE...LEGAL MURDER COMMITTED BY THE STATE...MAYBE YOUR STATE...SO MY JOURNEY IS JUST BEGINNING WITH THE ULTIMATE DEATH OF MY BROTHER, KELVIN. WITH HIS DEATH IT HAS OPENED THE DOORS THAT AT ONE TIME WERE SO TIGHTLY SHUT, PEOPLE WERE AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT, TO COME FORWARD...BUT THE DOORS ARE OPEN AND THE INJUSTICE'S ARE POURING OUT. AND I SHALL CONTINUE TO STAND BY THOSE “OPEN” DOORS AND GREET ANYONE WHO CHOOSES TO COME THROUGH. I CAN NOT FORGET THERE ARE TO MANY MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN SITTING ON THE MANY DEATH ROWS ACROSS AMERICA...WAITING UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING TO DECIDE WHAT STEPS WE MUST NOW TAKE...TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, UNFORTUNATELY, TIME IS WHAT MOST OF THEM DO NOT HAVE...SO MANY OF YOU BELONG TO SO MANY DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS...”WHY”? WHY, DON’T WE JUST ALL UNITE TOGETHER AND BECOME ONE...WE ARE ALL FIGHTING FOR THE SAME CAUSE AND THERE ARE ENOUGH OF US (I SEEN THAT IN BOSTON) THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO FIGHT TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY ENTIRELY. WE ARE BIG IN NUMBERS, THE DIFFERENT TIME ZONES WOULD PERMIT US TO WORK AROUND THE CLOCK. I FOR ONE WOULD WILLING TO DEDICATE MY LIFE TO MY LOVED ONES, SO THAT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING DOES NOT DIE BY THE HANDS OF THE STATE “JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE”. SO PEOPLE IF I OFFENDED YOU...AT LEAST I STIRRED UP SOME TYPE OF EMOTION. PLEASE CORRECT ME AND GIVE ME THE UNDERSTANDING THAT I OBVIOUSLY AM IN SEARCH OF. THIS JOURNEY HAS PUMPED THE BLOOD IN MY VEINS AND GIVEN ME THE COURAGE AND STRENGTH TO MOVE ON WITH MY STRUGGLE...”OUR STRUGGLE’....