I do not fight because I can fight, I fight because a woman name Virginia Clements literally died fighting for me. I could be like the rest and sit at home and enjoy my football games. I loved my mother and she was the best to me. She made no common sense to me at times, but one thing I had was a mother that fought for me even when her days were cloudy and blue. She had a funny way of describing people!, she rooted in me daily that life was not the best, but someone else was doing much worse then me. No! I surely did not believe her until I gain my freedom four years ago and what I started to see was homeless people on every block. I notice that African American People were now welcome in the downtown area pass mid-night. I never witness this with my own two eyes. I never realize that the DREAM and VISION of Dr. Martin Luther King still had yet to be materialized in this society many grew to call freedom!. I could not see the stars for the forest in the tree's that dim my ability to see clear. Had it not been for people like Bishop Mullins, Marlene Martin, Julian Ball, Bonita Barlow, Doris Jones, Northwestern Law School, my wonderful attorneys from Timothy Nelsen, Daniel Mayerfeld, Christal Lint, and Rachel Julis, Ted Person, and my blessed daughter Tameka I would still be in prison.
My mother helped me to gain my life back. She passed away with me by her side in 2011 and I was at peace then and is at peace now. Why? I got to be with my mother. This is a opportunity that Tyrone Hood did not get. He is innocent, forced to remain in prison despite having evidence that convince me and the so many others I speak to about his case, that he is indeed innocent. It is not a day that go by that I do not shed a tear for those brothers. They are not ONLY innocent who I fight for, but evidence shows they should not be in prison. James Harris who has been incarcerated for more then thirty years while innocent. He was placed on death row despite proving that he was not allowed a impartial trial as blacks were rejected by prosecutors based off of the fact they were black!. I see his face every day as I walk around with a fact sheet about his case just hoping that one day I will track down someone that has the evidence to free him. I have watched kids grow up in prison. One young man I remember most about is Daniel Henney. He looked as if he was fourteen years old behind the cage of a prison cell. How can this be in this society I would ask myself, "just how" can this be where that young kids can be viewed as throw aways. They are literally placed in adult prisons because legislators all across this country considered them to not be...able to gain redemption. That is a lie from the pit of hell, but what is so scary to me is that some of you believe it and you walk around repeating it...only to condemn yourselves as many of you find yourselves caught up in that same criminal justice system. Just a example how you the people have gotten it wrong so many times, you are the same one's that voted in many of the elected officials that have badly took advantage of you and your families. This is a society that have become so evil and wicked that it cost many single mothers two hours of work to just be able to afford a CTA bus pass. Young ladies have lost integrity!, young brothers have created war among themselves and government achieve repression upon all the people.
Today Illinois prisons are implementing policy to ONLY feed the inmates twice a day. I look for sincere out rage but I see NONE!. One day most people that are confined to those prisons will return back to society. If this is a country that believe in false dreams then it would continue to not hold elected officials and job markets accountable that refuse to hire ex-offenders. How can someone who has nothing return back to society and not be able to gain anything because they were once in prison.SOME in Society dim thinking is to give prisoners low paying jobs, don't provide them with a opportunity, and force them to survive off of 8.25 cent a hour. Now when the person re-offend people say why did he go back to prison. Could it be that he could not pay his rent. Could it be that some nights he could not eat. Could it be that society fail him and don't clearly see their errors. Jon Burge tortures in Chicago have cost tax payers over 100 million dollars when all government resources and settlement cost is added. Just think of all the millions of hard earn tax dollars that have been issued out involving Burge tortures and Dr. Steven Hayne from Mississippi that lied as a pathologist to aid state prosecutors to win convictions.
I fight because I have lived the inhumane from our police, courts, and prisons. A prison is a warehouse of your love one's and they are mistreated by other poor people that are paid by government to be cruel to them and to deprive them of their most precious rights. This system has never effectively worked other then to say that tax payers are used by government to cover up their dirty deeds. People its time to fight!. I thank God for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty that employs me. As the little people, we screamed and chased the death penalty away in Illinois, we were right there looking in Burge face as he was found guilty, we were the frontline for Troy Davis even when people told us to shut up...we just made more noise. I would never forget sleeping outside of the Georgia Pardon Board for Troy and that next morning another organization came screaming, Mark Clements what are you doing? I looked and said wow! people surely no that Mark would not fly to Georgia to sit down, shut up! and watch my brother be willie lynched by the decision of a black man without a hard fight. Please understand that without my mother I would not know how to fight.
People I cannot do anything without you and your support toward the work that I do. Now you can give government hundreds of dollars, but you cannot give to those that are fighting directly for you and your families. Please give to the Campaign to End the Death Penalty so that we can further grow. If you don't have the Campaign to End the Death Penalty then guess what? there is no Mark Clements. I don't want to hear people tell me that we cannot defeat the death penalty in Texas. We can defeat any thing if we put our hearts and muscle in unity. We are a small group that is fighting difficult complicated giant, but we have never ran from a fight. I want to be the frontline for Rodney Reed, I want to be on the frontline for Hank Skinner, for Kevin Cooper and so many others on death row. I am not a big hat, I am a little people...not person. I am asking you...of course you to stop running from your giant! fact that GIANT but it takes your support to build and fund us. We work day and night! trying to help you the people. NOT ALL WE CAN HELP!, but we try. Please consider providing to the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, P.O. Box 25730, Chicago, Illinois 60625. You can visit our website at:
www.nodeathpenalty.org
Thank you for supporting the work that we do and we do look forward to seeing your face in the place in Texas for our convention.
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