In honor of MLK day. I’d like to give my fathers case some hope. Out of all the racial issues in America my father has lived a life of true injustice. He was teenage black kid that was arrested and never given opportunity. The opportunity to be a father. The opportunity to learn and grow old. The opportunity to build his own outlook of life. He started out in the rough streets of Buffalo, New York influenced by his environment, making decisions based on lack of education. And soon became a convicted felon for a crime he did not commit.
My father still sits in prison after 27 years. And I’m at wits end. I’ve never been more perplexed. Before I had twins, I spent my teenage years promoting my fathers story. I went to schools and talked to kids about doing their best to stay positive like me. I wanted them to see that even though they may live in poverty or may not have both of their parents in their lives they have the ability to make their dreams come true.
At first I was shy, afraid to tell the other kids my father was in prison. But I held onto my pride and one day I started to talk , it was amazing how many kids could relate.
At the end of middle school, I started going door to door sharing his story thru his artwork. My father gave me greeting cards with his artwork on it to sell. I would walk around to barbershops and tell men and women my fathers story. I felt so empowered as they would give me a 1$ for the card and tell me that he would be home soon. I remember writing countless letters to Oprah, Anderson Cooper and other elite celebrities that interviewed families like ours. And no I never got answers but it was always the little strides that kept me motivated.
One day we got a hit after we wrote and emailed Max Alder from the golf digest. He was interested in using my dads golf art as an angle to share our story! It was amazing we had a full 15 mins on National TV! And a 2 page article in the golf digest magazine in 2012. I figured that this was it, my dad, an inmate has made it on national television! Now everyone can hear his story and he can come home!
6 Years have gone by, I’ve graduated college got my bachelors, taught 1st grade and now have 6 month old twins. And I’m still perplexed! Hurt! Disgusted! That after all these years, all the tweeting and articles my father still sits in prison.
After the criminal justice system has sentenced him 39 years to life for a crime he didn’t commit. After our fair and equal rights system incriminated a teenage boy without calling a single witness on his behalf. After injustice convicted him without having any evidence him committing the crime. And excluding key witnesses like the first officer on the scene.
But here’s why! We are just a black family from a small city, fighting for an one inmate out of thousands to come home. A poverty stricken black family, without money to give to lawyers. Or credible family to spread the word. We don’t even have the support we need from our community, to a lot of people he’s just another black man done wrong by the system.
Hey, I may just be my fathers daughter, but at this point I wish for this nightmare to end. That this story encourages our youth to stay away from the street life as it’s bound to end up bad anyway that they go. I hope that people will share this story the way that I have in light of giving hope to their personal situations. I hope that it shows other people that you have a reason to be on this earth! Even if it’s just sharing your story. Because just like Martin Luther King Jr.’s journey for equality your own personal journey can impact someone else’s heart and shed light to their situation.
Although you may not be able to control what’s wrong, you can control how you react, and that my friend is powerful! ✊🏿
My father still sits in prison after 27 years. And I’m at wits end. I’ve never been more perplexed. Before I had twins, I spent my teenage years promoting my fathers story. I went to schools and talked to kids about doing their best to stay positive like me. I wanted them to see that even though they may live in poverty or may not have both of their parents in their lives they have the ability to make their dreams come true.
At first I was shy, afraid to tell the other kids my father was in prison. But I held onto my pride and one day I started to talk , it was amazing how many kids could relate.
At the end of middle school, I started going door to door sharing his story thru his artwork. My father gave me greeting cards with his artwork on it to sell. I would walk around to barbershops and tell men and women my fathers story. I felt so empowered as they would give me a 1$ for the card and tell me that he would be home soon. I remember writing countless letters to Oprah, Anderson Cooper and other elite celebrities that interviewed families like ours. And no I never got answers but it was always the little strides that kept me motivated.
One day we got a hit after we wrote and emailed Max Alder from the golf digest. He was interested in using my dads golf art as an angle to share our story! It was amazing we had a full 15 mins on National TV! And a 2 page article in the golf digest magazine in 2012. I figured that this was it, my dad, an inmate has made it on national television! Now everyone can hear his story and he can come home!
6 Years have gone by, I’ve graduated college got my bachelors, taught 1st grade and now have 6 month old twins. And I’m still perplexed! Hurt! Disgusted! That after all these years, all the tweeting and articles my father still sits in prison.
After the criminal justice system has sentenced him 39 years to life for a crime he didn’t commit. After our fair and equal rights system incriminated a teenage boy without calling a single witness on his behalf. After injustice convicted him without having any evidence him committing the crime. And excluding key witnesses like the first officer on the scene.
But here’s why! We are just a black family from a small city, fighting for an one inmate out of thousands to come home. A poverty stricken black family, without money to give to lawyers. Or credible family to spread the word. We don’t even have the support we need from our community, to a lot of people he’s just another black man done wrong by the system.
Hey, I may just be my fathers daughter, but at this point I wish for this nightmare to end. That this story encourages our youth to stay away from the street life as it’s bound to end up bad anyway that they go. I hope that people will share this story the way that I have in light of giving hope to their personal situations. I hope that it shows other people that you have a reason to be on this earth! Even if it’s just sharing your story. Because just like Martin Luther King Jr.’s journey for equality your own personal journey can impact someone else’s heart and shed light to their situation.
Although you may not be able to control what’s wrong, you can control how you react, and that my friend is powerful! ✊🏿