Same story different book
By Demond A. Jackson
” I wanted somebody to blame for the situation; somebody besides the laborers themselves, and I became an acceptable writer for the agnostic press.
I believed that certain social and political reforms were all that were necessary to enable men and women to rise in the scale of being, to much higher positions of thought and action than they had yet attained. And so I worked for the accomplishment of this end. that is, I did my little best for it. I was not widely known as a writer, and my influence was small; but I was in earnest and put my whole soul into the work, believing in it with great fervency.
But at every step I was disappointed. The people themselves, for whom I was laboring, were the greatest disappointment of all. They were dead to any sense of power within themselves, and were only alive to what they considered their wrongs. No thoughts of a higher intellectual growth stimulated them in their efforts to obtain greater financial independence. Their idea of liberty, if gratified, would lead in the direction of unbridled license. They knew nothing of freedom in the true sense of the word. They had no idea that their fetters were their own making no less than of their masters’, and were all to be resolved into short sentence–complete ignorance of their own undeveloped possibilities. They would not institute into themselves the search for what they needed in order to secure liberty. They did not know, and seemingly did not wish to know, that each man holds his own heaven in his personality, and that careful unfolding of that personality will yield him all that he can ever desire. they preferred the clashing of opinions that were not based upon the foundation where individuals growth begins; but instead, were the mixed outcome of life’s mistaken beliefs.” “These diamonds are forever..”
Excerpt from – The Conquest of Poverty-by Helen Wilmans (1899)
Helen Wilmans, was a little women from a small city who overcame some extreme adversities and achieve prosperity during a time when women were being oppressed by their male counterparts. This excerpt is a jewel that teaches us that “We” are oppressed by circumstances because of our own identity i.e. our “Personalities.” Like Helen I’m currently fighting and advocating for men and women who at times makes me feel like “They are dead to the sense of power within themselves.”
Ex-felons across America face injustices and deal with an array of issue’s in which this country and it’s leaders are simply ignoring or sweeping under the rug. Helen wrote and advocated for the laborers of her time, the same way I do for the Ex-felon of this nation. Many days, I look at those amongst me who complain about what they deem is wrong, yet refuse to “institute amongst themselves” in order to create the change they want to see. The writers of Convict Soap Box are like Helen, our influence is small and we also put our soul into every word we write. Because we refuse to continue to make the mistakes of our ancestors the laborer who refuse to educate themselves and stand on the foundation of truth i.e. “each man holds his own heaven in his personality.” We the people hold the key to our destiny, be it good bad or indifferent.
I'm the son of an African American queen, born and raised in Los Angeles California, where I was groomed in its infectious gang culture. For the past decade and half, the federal Bureau of Prison has been a institution of self-education, self-evaluation and the reason I now possess knowledge of self. That being so, I now strive to expose the solution to the problems that our plaguing our communities, America's youth and this country as a whole. There's a saying: "There's nothing new up under the sun." Simply put, if there's one thing in this universe existence, that has seen all thing that mankind has done or not done, it is the sun. That means the moral dissension that taking place currently is nothing new. Historian have written about times where the moral fabric of a nation was so tattered where the only solution for change was war a destruction. This country was built and establish to be the nation it is today. By the disenfranchised, those who were being oppressed by the Queen and her fellow Aristocrats. Therefore if this country is to change once again for the better. It will begin and must begin with the actions and the voice of the disenfranchised i.e, America's minorities, poor and it's third class citizen the American Ex-felon. That being said I'm committed to "WRITING MY WRONGS..." and sewing seed of knowledge and truth that will blossom into peace, prosperity and positive change
Writing Contact:
DEMOND JACKSON #05934-088
FCI Victorville Medium II
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
PO BOX 3850
ADELANTO, CA 92301