“Treat those who
are in prison as if you are in prison with them. Treat those being tortured as
if it is happening to your body.” –Letter to Hebrews, Chapter 13, attributed to
the apostle Paul.
“Your letter
brought me abundance of Joy and encouragement. The tug of my heart is felt
daily from something deep within, I brush against the fences of insecurity of
knowing my full potential. I collaborate my ideas, thoughts through an attempt
of empathy. One part is to guide others to understanding that no obstacle is
too big and how healing takes place in prison. Surely you tasted this in your
visits to the correctional department. I remain saddened by the large amount of
forgotten men. Men who never receive mail, money, visits and seem to slowly
deteriorate on a steel bed. This has sensitized me to take more responsibility
for myself and stand for the rights of other.”
About a year
ago, I sent a bunch of Christmas cards those forgotten inmates here in
California. One of them began writing me on a regular basis. He is 46 years old
and has been incarcerated for 17 years. He is facing a 25 year to life sentence
and expects to die in prison. His family and friends have long forgotten him,
and he is yearning to connect with someone on the outside who cares. He wants to make
some kind of difference in the world through his art, the art of making beads.
A woman in my wife’s church befriended him and offered to help sell his bead
work, but she died of cancer. He has reached out to me, sharing his dream of
turning his bead work art into a way to earn some money, and
to redeem his life from meaninglessness.
“Greetings,
along with best wishes sent your way. I just received your warm birthday
greetings you sent me. Thank you! It’s the only birthday card I received this
year…Enclosed are three [bead work]
items for you. Please donate what you feel is a worthy donation for whoever you
feel is deserving….As far as price goes, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just
happy that I’m in a position to make Art and bless somebody with a little
something and that I’m able to contribute something beautiful for our world
from a place that has no beauty.”
Ken [not his real name] makes bead
necklaces out of paper. They are exquisitely delicate—like butterfly wings, is
how someone described them. I asked him how he made these necklaces and here
was his response:
"Well, it’s a
very long process and very time consuming. First, I measure ½ inch strips of
paper and cut them into [strips] ½ inch wide by 6 inches long. I then use a
clear protractor as my guide and using a razor I cut little strips of paper
until have 1,000 strips of that color and 1,000 of that color and etc. Then I make
a clue concoction. I use floor wax and soap and then I make glue since they
don’t have glue or sell it here. I just make my own. I then use a paper clip as
my dowel and I roll the strip of paper on the paper clip. Then I smear the end
with glue and finish the roll and it stays together. It takes me one hour to
roll 70-75 beads. Once I get a couple thousand rolled up I then begin the
waxing process. Another time consuming process. I put 800 beads onto one long
piece of thread that hangs from my cell wall. I have three of these hanging
from my cell wall. They’re about 7 ½ feet long. I then use a brush that I made
from my hair since they don’t sell art paint brushes here so I made my own. The
first coat I apply, then wait 2 ½ hours and apply 2nd coat. Wait another
2 ½ hours and apply a 3rd coat. I then let them dry. Then I have to
break each bead apart. This takes one hour. I then to repeat the process 2 x
more. So with three strings it takes three hours to break beads. Then I sew the
beads together. Sewing takes a long time."
How long does it
take?
"That depends on
the project I’m doing. The necklaces take 9 hours, maybe a little longer to
make."
How did you come
to make them?
"A wise old sage
who introduced me to the Orthodox religion.... taught me how to roll beads and I also
learned to sew from him. I’ve come a long way and my beads are a lot smaller now. I needed to do something
constructive with my time. I needed an outlet to kill all these hours. Hours
that I used to spend making knives and politicizing on getting people hurt. I
had a need to use this energy in my day to create positive energy. I feel that
Jesus directed the wise sage to teach me because I was in need of something to
create.
"Through bible
studying and creating art I had no time to dwell on prison politics and my
surroundings. I learned patience through this. I began to change as a man slowly through our Lord’s grace and my
drive to create beauty from a place that has no beauty.
"It was funny now
that I look back on it. I remember Don [not his real name] showing me a wall
hanger when we were back in the S.H.U. [solitary confinement] and when we went
through the debriefing program together I practically begged him to teach me,
and he said he’d never taught anyone before. He taught me because I pestered
him constantly to teach me. So I promise to stop drinking and to this day I’ve
not drank. Through the Lord’s works and my art I stopped drinking. (Praise
Jesus)"
[It came as a
surprise to my wife that alcohol was available to inmates, but drugs and alcohol
are actually quite common. Drugs are usually smuggled in, but alcohol is often made in
the prison. Homemade prison alcohol goes
by a multitude of names, including juice, jump, raisin jack, brew, chalk, buck,
hooch, and pruno (a once popular ingredient was prunes, but the name now
applies to any fruit-based home brew). - See more at: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-prison-alcohol-called#sthash.RhwDt7m0.dpuf.]
How do you feel when you make
your projects?
"When I was first learning, it
didn’t feel so great. I would get upset and hit my wall and scream out of
frustration. I would get upset at other convicts and want to inflict physical
destructiveness on them. But instead I would go home and pick up my bead work
instead of a knife. And with beading you have to stay focused on what you’re
doing or you’ll make a lot of mistakes. Well, pretty soon, I would be all
messed up because I messed up my bead work because I wasn’t paying attention
and I would scream and punch the wall and after the 20th episode of
this it forced me to learn patience. I would read the bible every night to ease
my mind and heart, but it was the art work that kept me from hurting others
along with anger management and conflict resolution courses. Now I rarely get
upset.y I have I don’t even think about hurting another human being out of
anger. (Praise the Lord!)
"With Jesus’s
help I was able to forgive people who never even asked [me] to forgive them
just so I could heal from anger. Jesus helped me to want to love people again,
even my enemies. Today I feel I have no enemies in my heart. I learned to
listen and accept others for who they want to be and I no longer care about
prison politics."
Ken also
expressed appreciation that I fasted for those incarcerated around the world:
“I want to thank you for your personal sacrifice and self-discipline in your support for prisoners both political and domestic….”
“I want to thank you for your personal sacrifice and self-discipline in your support for prisoners both political and domestic….”
“I sit here and think about how you’re
rallying people to support hunger strikers. As my last word there are around
300 people still going strong. I’m worried about those convicts up at the Bay.
They’re very close to death
right now. They started the 8th and today is the 3rd (26
days. Word is they plan on going until their hearts stop beating. CDCR
officials could care less.”
Ken is
afraid that some of these hunger strikers will die. Many of those in solitary confinement are
people just like my friend Ken. They are not monsters; they are human beings "made in the image of God," and each has a story.
I thank God for
Laura Magnani and others like her who are speaking out on behalf of prison inmates. They need and deserve our support, if only a friendly word of encouragement, or a prayer. Writing a letter to the Governor would also be a big help.)
No comments:
Post a Comment