Day 19 from end of April I woke up way before the sun and got dropped off indowntown Raleigh for my trip up north to participatein the H2A Hip Hop festival in the Bronx. H2A or HipHop Association is about facilitating, fostering andpreserving the hip hop culture. It's a non-profitorganization dedicated to serving educators and thosecommitted to reaching youth through hip hop culturewhich is what I do. I educate youth and adults aboutour criminal justice system, about the history ofprisons and about capital punishment. This three dayfestival was held at the Ralph Hernandez School ofperforming arts in the South Bronx about 7 or 8 blocksfrom my old neighborhood. Let me tell you it was anhonor for me to be invited to sit on a panel to sharewhat I have been doing world wide with hip hop as wellas what I am currently doing, the Walk 4 Life...
On a daily basis I find it amazing that I continuouslyfind myself talking to people that don't agree withcapital punishment. Now the media states that we aredivided by 60% pro and 40% against. I believe thesepolls are most likely taken in areas that consist ofthose people I never see...I believe if these pollswere taken where common folk live and in the ghettosacross America a different story would be told. Ibelieve just like in the days of the civil rightsmovement where they held voter registrations in poorareas, we need to hold death penalty opponent registrations.
I think that many people that may be against the deathpenalty remain silent out of fear... They just need tosee us out in numbers. Most importantly politiciansneed to see us out in numbers. Politicians areattracted to large organized groups of registeredvoters...Uniting out on the streets of America is theonly way we will counter the effects of the fear themedia instills in Americans...uniting in such way insolidarity would also cause a ripple effect that wouldalso see a drop in violent crimes. Young men and womenacross America that feel abandoned would surly beattracted by such a powerful unification of the people.
....at the Richmond station I noticed a large number ofprisoners waiting for buses on their home. How do Iknow they were prisoners? Because I was one of them atone time. As I watched them walk around confused Iwondered how many of them would make it in the freeworld knowing they were released with nothing. When Isay nothing I mean no money, no job and no educationor rehabilitation. I prayed for them.
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