Lonliness

I would never miss her call.
I'm too afraid she might leave.
She's left before,
But I know where to find her.
She's never far.
She asks for much
But I'm much obliged.
For she's taught me 
To hold this pride.
And so I kiss a chance at bliss,
As I go to lengths,
To maintain this relationship 
With loneliness.

If Black People

A response to: “If Black people stop committing so much crime then they wouldn’t get harassed or arrested soo much.”

The statement “well if they [Black people] stop committing so much crime then [they wouldn’t get harassed or arrested soo much]” is ridiculous and ignorant, although I believe most Americans share that uninformed opinion. I know different for the following reasons: 

1. There is a lack of correlation between crime and punishment. Although U.S. crime rates have been on par with other Western countries our rate of incarceration has skyrocketed (interesting since people were not committing more crime). For example, our crime rates in the 60’s were matching those of Germany and while our incarceration rate quadrupled in the 90’s, Germany’s remained stat quo. Our crime rates as of late are below the international norm; however, we have an incarceration rate 6-10 times greater than any other “developed” nation. What this means is that we have created and maintained a prison industrial complex. We have a system of laws, policies and enforcement created to disproportionately incarcerate a segment of the U.S. population (Black and latin@ people).

2. 40% of Black people incarcerated are there for non violent drug offenses. So is it that Black people sell and use wild crazy amounts of drugs, more so than White people? No. Though you may think so if you tune into any form of mainstream media, because they have been demonizing Black folks since slavery. All races use and sell drugs at similar rates. For example in 2000 the National Institute on Drug Abuse did a study that showed that white students where 8 times more likely to use crack than black students and 7 times more likely to use cocaine. So no drugs are not only a Black or brown problem.

3. Drug dealers aren’t just in the hood; they come in all shapes and sizes. Most White people buy from White dealers, yet there is a discrepancy in rates that Blacks and Whites are imprisoned.

In short it’s about who the police choose to stop and why; and what happens to that person once arrested and in the system. Are they told to plead guilty by their court appointed attorney, just because the odds are against them, innocence be damned. Black people especially poor and working class Black men are pushed into the prison industrial complex at disproportionate rates to their White counterparts who are committing the same kinds of crime at a greater rate! This is not only my academic conclusion but my personal experience having been stopped, questioned and stopped & frisked numerous times with no just or probable cause. Hope this was enlightening.

All the statistical information came from the research and citation of Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow.” Alexander is a civil rights advocate and litigator and has worked with the A.C.L.U..

Here are some other interesting points in her book, just the tip of the iceberg:

*In her book, “The New Jim Crow,” Michelle Alexander states that the U.S. has a racial caste system that “stigmatizes a racial group and locks them into an inferior position by law and custom.” “The term mass incarceration refers not only to the criminal justice system but also to the larger web of laws, rules, policies and customs that control those labeled criminals in and out of prison. Once released, former prisoners enter a hidden underworld of legalized discrimination and permanent social exclusion. They are members of America’s new undercaste.”  

**”The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its Black population than South Africa did at the height of Apartheid.”

If you’re really interested in this subject here is a link to the book!

http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595581030/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324259753&sr=1-1

La Herida

La herida

Mas dolorosa

Es la que

No mata

Y no la causa

La bala,

La espada,

O los puños

Es la traicion

Del Corazon

La que te

Déjà vivo

Sin esperanza

De un fin

The Masses are Lost

The Masses are lost.

They drift through water and time

And get stuck on sharp rocks.

They accumulate like trash

Gathering litter by litter

Until the river is clogged

And unsafe to drink from or swim in.

The masses are lost.

They wander the great American wasteland

Wasted and wanting things that leave them wanting.

They thirst for water but drink the sand.

No direction, no plan, no eyes, no hands.

They see mirages as revelation,

Walk in circles as revolution.

The masses are lost,

From the concourse to the catacombs

From Brook’s end to Brooklyn.

They walk the streets like unemployment lines

Waiting for someone to call their number.

Desperation is comfortable, hunger inevitable

Struggle unavoidable, progress unattainable,

Yet here they are mimicking the walk of the purposeful.

They confuse everything with anything.

And not all who wander are lost

But not all who are lost wonder enough to ever find direction.

The masses are lost,

And we are lost without the masses.

Caught in a cycle of tumbles,

I say “keep walking don’t mind the door”

But they’re always showing the rich and hiding the poor

Until we find something worth looking forward…

Something worth looking for.

Fighting Fires

There's a great fire in a high-rise building. Hundreds of people are trapped and will die as a result. The fire department shows up but begin to argue about what course of action to take. The firemen are split. They can choose to only evacuate residents on the floors that have not caught fire yet, lowering the chance of firemen injury/casualty; or they can attempt to rescue residents in slightly more precarious locations but raise the probability that firemen will get injured or die in the line of duty. Regardless of the option chosen, hundreds will die and those in the hardest to reach apartments will not be rescued.

During this time a handful of unauthorized people start making their way into the building. They are clearing debris and attempting to rescue any person they come into contact with.

On the sidelines are thousands of onlookers. Some are jeering the firemen for their inaction. Some are insulting the firemen for their proposals. Many of them are upset with the people who took it upon themselves to attempt a rescue without following proper procedure. The onlookers create a cacophony of complaints but none of them lift a finger to help.

The building on fire is our country and this country is in crises. The people we have leading this country have various plans, some ineffective, others downright harmful that exacerbate our crises. The people without authority (and sometimes proper instructions) who are making a rescue attempt are folks like OWS-those tired of complaining from the sidelines, who have taken it upon themselves to be harbingers of change.

Who I would like to focus on for a moment are the millions of onlookers. Those in our country that find the wrong in everything and everyone, yet take no action themselves. They complain about the democrats and republicans when it is election time and they destructively criticize OWS during occupations. I have a bone to pick with you. You are cowards. You hide behind your apathy and cynicism like bullet proof glass. You see the spark of change and you criticize it until it is snuffed out. And you know why? Because you are comfortable... and safe. You live in a country that will not persecute dissenting opinion, yet you don't cherish that. You revel in your apparent rebellion, that is not a revolution, just you and your band of haters walking in circles. Do the world a favor and grow a spine, take action, go out into the world and make mistakes worth talking about… Those mistakes are the growing pains of any movement. Stop sniveling behind a computer screen tearing down anyone who attempts to alter the status quo. You are part of the problem because you bring no solutions. Let your criticism be your action... or at the very least stop distracting those who are busy fighting the fire.

Sincerely,

Enmanuel Candelario

The First Stone

A boy stands like a bear 
On its hind legs protecting its den.

Fingers hugging hard earth, 
He is poised for a fight-bearing teeth and growling.
In reality, that boy is just a cub barking at men strapped with murder,
2 extra clips of death on their belt and displacement a radio call away.

This boy holds hard earth until it hurts.
He keeps it close to his heart because it holds the wound in place.
And he will only let go when he sees the white of their eyes.

“Let he who is without sin, throw the first stone.”
He doesn't know if he is sinless, he doesn't care.
Sin is a flag that the enemy wears.
Sin is an army of cowards without faces.
The boy has heard about drive-by shootings
But he lives fly-by bombings.

In Palestine there is no forgetting
There’s a 9/11 every week.
Except the world does not call this group of murderers terrorists.
They are called brave and honorable.

A grandmother holds the boy’s dead and crumbled face in a rubbled place.
A boy who once stood as fierce as a bear protecting his home
Now lays broken at the foot of the river
Stones scattered all about his body.
1 for every heart that the enemy ripped out.

Hearts are just hardened earth
And he who throws stones throws hardened, dying, embittered love
That explodes with the force of a people 
Dying to be free.

The Lesser of 2

Sometimes the distance between

The evil and its lesser is so great

That more harm would come

From a decision of omission.