A LIFE LESSION!

Why Is Reading Cool?

2009-03-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

First of all I feel that we the public should learn how to make reading cool especially for young men, because a lot of young men don't think that it's cool to read or to be seen reading, and definitely don't want to be known as a smart kid. I feel that reading is cool because it helps you learn new things, it helps educate you, it helps you grow as a person, it opens your eyes to new people and places, and through reading you can do many things. We the public should find new ways to encourage young men to read and we should teach them that it's cool to be smart and if we can do that we will help a lot of people. Another very important change we must move forward on is changing the negative stigma connected to being smart that our young people seem to continue to struggle with decade after decade. What do you think??

How Can You Support Someone That's Getting Out Of Prison ?

2008-12-15T06:17:00.000-08:00

When it comes to supporting someone who is or has come out of prison i thank that it is very important that you allow them to be as independent as they can be and you just support and encourage them as they move forward, As a Homecomer myself i feel that this is very important, but if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them.

Why Are School's So Important ?

2008-11-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

I feel that school's are very important because the children spend more time in a day in school then they do at home and they spend more time at school then they do with their parent and or parents. We need teachers who can teach and who want to be a teacher because a lot of these young people in the inner city are failing because of the lack of teaching, but i feel that the parents should do their part as well. It's very important that the environment in a school be safe so that the children can be comfortable and learn. I feel that the DC school system is failing because of the people and i just believe that we need teachers who want to teach and not just someone who want a job.The school is suppose to help our children build on their life and prepare them for the future. I wont blame everything on the school system or the teacher's because the parent and or parent's need to do their part to make sure that their child is successful in life.

What do you think ?

Can We (Home Comers) Be A Part Of The Solution ?

2008-11-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

I am a homecomer and I've been home for two years and three months now and in the past I feel that I was part of the problems that was in our community, but now I want to be a big part of the solution and try to bring about change in the community. I don't feel that a lot of people in the community/ society want us to be apart of the community or the solution, but please understand that we are just as much apart of the community/society as anyone else. We have a lot to give back to our communities if given the chance. When it comes to the homecomers they can teach, in many ways, how to help change/ help theses young people out who are in the streets and we (Home Comers) can learn how to become apart of the community again with the people who are in the community. Lets be apart of the SOLUTION together !!

Together We Can !

2008-11-10T06:01:00.000-08:00

I am one who believe that we can't do all things by ourselves so with that said , we need other people to help us along the way. When i was a kid my coach told me < Eddie i would rather have 5 good players then one super star because 5 people can get more done then one person can ever get done and symbolically we can apply that to everything we do in life. I believe that we as a community can make things a little better if we come together (team work), and we must use what we have and who ever we have to change things for the better. I do all that i can to help out the community because i now feel apart of it and i would like to try and take care of it by helping some of these young guys try to change the way they see life , community and themselves. Together We Can, so lets work together.

How do we try to make things better?

Are you willing to help ?

How did you feel when you first voted ??

2008-11-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Were you happy ?

Were you nervous ?

Did you feel like you were doing the right thing in your heart ?

Did you vote for the right person ?

Let me know ....

Do You Think That People Can Change??.

2008-10-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am one who believe that people can change and I'm not just saying this because i have changed my life around, but I'm saying this because things were made to change and with that said humans can change.For example the the butterfly starts as a larvae then it evolves into a caterpillar then it goes into the cocoon stage and then it evolves into the butterfly. I believe that what we go through in life is what makes us stronger people if we allow what we went through good or bad to be a lesson to our life. We all as human beings will make some bad choices in our life one way or another and we might be in a situation where we want to be forgiven for our actions, but we don't forgive others for their actions. is that wrong of you??MY past is not who i am, but it is a situation that took place in my life that i can't change and i am trying to continue to change myself /life around as much as i can. I went through the larvae stage in my life when i was a baby and then i moved on to that caterpillar stage of my life which i think is my teenage years the years were most people struggle and then my prison years were the cocoon stage in my life were i was allowed to grow and become a better and stronger person and now I'm in that butterfly stage enjoying my freedom/life and i have evolved over the years as a human being and will continue to evolve as long as i am here on earth. Whenever you think that people can't change please think again. We were born to change, We were born to grow and sometimes we hinder ourselves from doing both.

CAHNGE CAN BE GOOG!!

Why do i think that voting is important.

2008-10-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

I think that voting is important because its you as a person making a statement/letting your voiced heard.

We as black people should keep in mind that people lost their life just to give us our rights to vote and i think that we should thank those brave people by voting for who ever you want to vote for. I know that some of us may feel that voting don't matter or our vote don't count, but it does matter and you need to let your voice be heard. If you feel that things are going wrong in the US, in the white house etc. then go and vote to try and make some changes.We can't complain about something going wrong if we're not going to be willing to try and change it and voting can change a lot of things, so please go and vote. I believe that everyone should vote no matter your race.

VOTING IS POWER, SO DON'T GIVE YOUR POWER AWAY!

Please talk to your kids.

2008-09-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

I believe that alot of kids fall short because they're seeking something and want to be apart of something and I'm not a parent, but i know where i went wrong. What can we do as a community to keep our kids safe, from going to prison, from having kids early, dropping out of school etc... ?

How can we help the kids/teenagers who have already made bad choice's ?

How can we keep the others kids/teenagers from not making those bad choice's ?

The Reasons Why We Should Support Our Love Ones When They Return From Prison or Jail

2008-09-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

I truly believe that outside support can be part of what makes people successful on parole/probation. I know without a doubt that God allowed me to make it out of prison alive physically, mentally,emotionally and most of all spiritually, but I also know that the love and support from my family and friends gave me extra strength and hope to keep moving forward.

When a person knows that he or she has support it makes things much easier for them, when they have love in their life (family/friends) its easy to deal with, when they have a place to live it's easy to deal with, when they have people to come home to, and a support group it's easy to deal with life. I HAD SUPPORT AND IT HELPED ME A LOT SO PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOVE ONES.

If you truly want to help your love ones support them.

One by 1 we can collectively empty the many Prisons and Jails that house our love ones.

Does Image Play a Good or Bad Role When it Comes to Eex-offenders?

2008-09-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

I truly believe that image plays a very big role in how ex-offenders are being treated when they are released from prison. The people in the community fear ex-offenders most of the times because of what they hear and see and all those negative tags don't allow people to move past what they see and hear. A lot of us who are doing right and a lot of us who want to do right in the community and its not talked about like it should be. What can we do to try and mend the wounds as best as we can between the community and the people who are returning home? I understand that things won't be perfect, but we need to help change the way that some people in the community see all ex-offenders, because we are all not alike despite of what people may think.

how important are resource's to people who are returning from prison?

2008-09-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

I know personally how important resources can be for someone who is coming out of prison and that's why I put my resource handbooks together to help these men and women get their life back on track. I believe that knowing is half the battle and if most of these men and women knew this information ahead of time it can be very helpful, but it can also be helpful while they're in a halfway house/transitional house etc. I need to know from you ,do you think that resources are important for these men and women who are returning to the community?? please remember that your opinion's are important because it shows people that you care.

Will you support me in trying to make our community better??

2008-08-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

I am now free after 15 long years in prison (2 years) and I'm not taking away from my community any more, instead I'm now giving back to it and it feels so good . I speak at several area high schools, universities and job corps. I also do trainings, mentoring, and I've created and self published two pre-release handbooks for the men and women returning to the DC area and a few more things that I can't think of right now, but its not about me its about trying to make the communities safe, help change lives and help put people on the right track, but I need help trying to do this because I can't do this on my own. I want to answer questions from family members who have love ones who are on parole or incarcerated, I want to talk about ways to make the community safe, ways to help these kids, ways to help the community see that some ex-offenders do change. We the community can't give up on the ones that's trying to do the right things. If you want to help (no matter how far or close ) please send me your questions, remarks or just tell me how you want to help.

Please keep in mind that no one is perfect and we all make bad choices and some of do want to change and become better people and some don't.

Next week's post subject:
How Important do you think resource handbooks are to ex-offenders, their families, and those who are trying to help them transition back into their communities?

LIFE IS NOT A GAME.

2007-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

FROM THE TENDER AGE OF 16 UNTIL THE MATURE AGE OF 31 I WAS INCARCERATED (15 LONG HARD YEAR'S) IN STATE, PRIVATE AND FEDERAL PRISON'S ALL OVER THE U.S AND I'VE BEEN HOME OVER A YEAR AND AHALF NOW AND THE CHANGE THAT I'VE MADE WITH MY LIFE HAS SHOWN ME A NEW WAY OF LIVING AND THINKING AND IM STILL GETTING USED TO IT, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT I TRUELY LIKE.WHEN IT COMES TO WORKING IT'S BEEN HARD ON ME BECAUSE OF MY PAST AND I EXPECTED THAT, BUT I'VE BEEN VOLUNTEERING MY TIME BY MENTORING A FEW PEOPLE, SPEAKING AT A FEW FOURM'S, I PUT TOGETHER A HANDBOOK, IM TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A DOCUMETRY AND A FEW OTHER POSTIVE THINGS. I WANTED TO MAKE UP A BLOG BECAUSE I FEEL THAT MY STORY CAN HELP ALOT OF PEOPLE AND IF SOMEONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING I CAN DO MY BEST TO ANSWER THEM. I WANT TO USE MY EXPERIENCE TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE IN LIFE AND TO ME THATS GIVEN BACK TO COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY. I BELIEVE THAT IT'S ALOT OF THINGS THATS ON T.V THAT CONFUSE ALOT OF KID'S, TEEN'S AND YOUNG ADULT'S AND I WANT TO TRY AND DO MY PART AND GET THEM THE TRUTH.THE PRISON'S THAT I WAS IN OVER THE YEAR'S;D.C JAIL,LORTON(YC-1-YC-2,THE MAX AKA THE WALL), CCA PRIVATE PRISON IN OHIO,A COUNTY JAIL IN OHIO,RED ONION STATE PRISON (MAX)IN V.A, THE ADX- SUPER MAX IN FLORENCE COLORADO AND LEWISBURG FED. PEN. IN P.A... THE PERSON THATS DOING THE TIME MUST WANT TO CHANGE THEIR LIFE BEFORE ANY CHANGE CAN START. IT TOOK ME YEARS TO CHANGE MY LIFE AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO START MY CHANGE SOONER, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE AND THAT MAY SOUND CRAZY TO MOST PEOPLE BUT IN REALITY WE WOULDN'T NEED A SRINK IF WE ALL KNEW HOW TO CHANGE. I HAD TO FIRST FIND OUT WHAT A MAN WAS AND THEN TRY TO LEARN HOW TO CHANGE MY WAYS AND AFTER SOME ROAD BLOCKS I FOUND MY WAY AND IM DOING GOOD IF I MAY SAY SO. THE NEXT TIME I WILL TELL YOU'LL WHY I WENT TO PRISON.! PEOPLE TRY TO LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLES EXPERIENCE'S BECAUSE IF IT'S BAD YOU DON'T NEED TO GO THROUGH IT.