Interview With Anthony Graves – April 12, 2012

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Just now I came across an interview with Texas Death Row exoneree Anthony Graves. I say “interview”, but it’s actually a list of questions submitted to him via Facebook and Twitter along with his responses. Check it out, it’s interesting

Note: interview starts on page 9.: http://tcadp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/spring-2012.pdf

Anthony Graves: another reason to remember that consistent and unwavering perseverance pays off.

Peace and Strength:

Rob

What Should We Focus On? – February 25, 2012

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“Wonder and amazement are the beginning of serious thought and discovery; jadedness is their opposite malady.” —Fr. Thomas Dubay

“Life is beautiful.”—how can I say such a thing while trapped in this wretched Orwellian Hell, surrounded by death, destruction and oppression?

Keep Knocking and Never Ever Give Up! – February 6, 2012

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“Solidarity is a matter of holding firmly to what is planned…therefore when sages set things up, they use this means to get to know people beforehand and establish solidarity with them. Based on reason,virtue, humanity, justice, courtesy and culture, they figure out plans.” The Master Of Demon Valley (China circa 500 BCE)

Damien Echols was just on the Democracy Now!

Christmas With Malcom X And Jesus – December 25, 2011

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“If you ask one of the crucial theological question—why was Jesus killed?—the answer isn’t ‘because God wants us to love one another.’ Why in the hell would anyone kill Jesus for that? That’s stupid. It’s not even interesting. Why did he get killed? Because he challenged the powers that be. The church is a political institution, calling people to be an alternative to the world. That’s what the cross is about.” – Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics, Divinity School of Duke University.   

“…I’m not willing to sit and wait on God to come… I believe in religion, but a religion that includes political, economic and social action designated to eliminate some of these [oppressive] things, and make a paradise here on earth while we’re waiting for the other.”  – Malcolm X, February 3, 1965 address to the Tuskegee Institute (Post Mecca)

Prayer without action is blasphemy—this is one of the many thoughts that have been twirling through my mind this nice Christmas Day. For the past few days I’ve been reading—and just finished—the new Manning Marable book, Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention,

With Extreme Malice – December 8, 2011

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“May all beings look at me with a friendly eye. May I do likewise, and may we all look on each other with the eyes of a friend.” —Yajur Veda: 3.6.18

Approx 1:30 a.m.

Old crazy B finally stopped screaming. Well, he actually didn’t stop but he’s retreated to the back of his cell ranting about “…the-Italians-got-the-grievance-they-drop-in-the-stomach-got-the-beef-ham! They-holding-me-paralyzed-motherfuckers! D-A-N-A-I-A…”, so his schizophrenic screaming isn’t too oppressively overwhelming. For 19 solid hours this place has been an absolute insane madhouse. (More than usual that is.) Around 6 a.m. a guy was pushed to the point where he felt the only option to contest the dramatic rise of oppression around here was violence: he shot several darts at a mailroom clerk and one hit her in the neck. He, just as anyone here, could kill an officer if they wanted to—he was just trying to make the point that people are tired of having their mail attacked.

An Urgent Call For Solidarity: A Life And Death Situation – December 4, 2011

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“Protesting is an act of Love. It is born of a deeply held conviction that the world can be a better, kinder place. Saying ‘no’ to injustice is the ultimate declaration of hope. — Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of the independen award-winning news program Democracy Now!    

“Equal justice under the law is not merely a caption on the façade of the Supreme Court building, it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our own society…it is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr.    

Today marks the 11th year of my unjust incarceration. For 11 years I’ve been held captive in conditions that academics worldwide stated would drive Bradley Manning (of WikiLeaks infamy) insane within 11 months. I’ve been persecuted and tortured for 11 years for a crime I didn’t commit.

Riot Grenades, Tear Gas and Inedible Pancakes – November 18, 2011

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Rioting is going on in the building, so things are a bit insane right now. I woke up choking from tear gas earlier so I want to write this fast before someone else gets gassed and I’m forced to wrap a wet towel around my face and put my blanket and sheet over me (then I would be unable to write).

The ad-segregation general population guys housed here on 12 building, the “Death Row” building, are the main ones engaging in protest actions. The SWAT team/ Riot team has been deployed approximately 22 times in 4 days. Riot grenades have been going off, tear gas canisters fired, CS assault weapon rounds fired.