what if i did something reckless
@2 weeks ago with 1 note#would you care?
I used to fear the small things
like forgetting to take my vitamins,
sitting in the bath for so long I would shrivel up
and disappear or losing a tooth down the drain.
I still plug the sink when I’m brushing my teeth
but now the world is much larger
and forces words onto your tongue you do not understand
like bills and insurance, sickness and death.
I’ve learned there are much bigger things to fear
than wrinkles on your fingers.
I’ve been told that love is the biggest thing to fear,
but I’ve never been afraid of falling. What I am afraid of
is that one day my heart is going to stand up and walk away
without a note taped to kitchen counter saying,
‘I’ll be home soon, don’t wait up.’
Bet this is a combination you thought you’d never see…last lab and gear return
errbody look at this trooper.
“Don’t you know that slavery was outlawed?”
“No,” the guard said, “you’re wrong. Slavery was outlawed with the exception of prisons. Slavery is legal in prisons.”
I looked it up and sure enough, she was right. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution says:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Well, that explained a lot of things. That explained why jails and prisons all over the country are filled to the brim with Black and Third World people, why so many Black people can’t find a job on the streets and are forced to survive the best way they know how. Once you’re in prison, there are plenty of jobs, and, if you don’t want to work, they beat you up and throw you in a hole. If every state had to pay workers to do the jobs prisoners are forced to do, the salaries would amount to billions… Prisons are a profitable business. They are a way of legally perpetuating slavery. In every state more and more prisons are being built and even more are on the drawing board. Who are they for? They certainly aren’t planning to put white people in them. Prisons are part of this government’s genocidal war against Black and Third World people.
"Assata (via michellehuxtable)
I tell my students this every single semester.
(via notesofanativesister)
Slightly ironic that I am watching To Kill a Mockingbird right now.
(via keep-calm-stay-healthy)
(via keep-calm-stay-healthy)