Remembering the Beauty: Day II

Writing Prompt:

Read and Respond:

justified madness 10.23.08

1/5 African American and 1/8 Latino males will end up going to prison by the time they're 18 years of age. I advise you to note that it is not that African American, and Latino's are more likely to commit crimes. In fact, African American and Latinos are more likely to get pulled over than a white male while the white male is most likely to have drugs or weapons in his vehicle. Juvenile delinquency drops 41%, yet media coverage rises by 200%. Some argue that our youth is out of control. $74,000/yr is spent per juvenile at juvenile detention centers, and $6,400/yr on education. The issue is not that Black and Brown youth is born this way, it is that they are born in a system designed exclusively for their failure. Most come from neglected communities that teach them that the sum of their being is equiveleant to zero. Here, failure is not a personal choice.

Corporate greed is at it's finest, privatizing LIFE, and the US Constitution contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I've come to realize that there is no such thing as rights. If they were " rights" they wouldn't be taken away. Freedom is not Freedom it has to be given to you. I'm taking the time to write this because this shit keeps me up at night. I remind you that YOUR LIFE HAS VALUE TO ME, and as corny as it sounds I LOVE EVEN THE SIMPLEST COMPOSITION OF YOU, and it is time that you begin to believe the same.

It is completely mind boggling to me that we can sit comfortably in our designer couches for hours watching our high definition idiot boxes, concerned about who the fuck Paris Hilton's new best friend is, and easily bypass critical social issues affecting our present, and eventually our future. How far must they push us? Where do you draw the line between enough and enough? Black and Brown youth is constantly being targeted, as we feed from the hand of the oppressors. It is easier to talk about how fucked up things are, and do nothing to challenge them.

Lets organize ourselves, lets educate ourselves, lets respect our future, lets raise our voices even if our voices shake as we speak, lets change the things we don't like, lets reform our system into one that benefits you and I, lets turn prisons into rehabilitation centers, lets support our youth, lets remember that nothing is of least existence and importance under the sun, lets love life for the sake of life itself.

Let's begin by getting mad as hell…