WHITE FOLKS LOVE THEIR WEED

There is this new urban MYTH that legalizing marijuana is a good thing for Black Males in regards to their incarceration under the War on Drugs in the US. WAKE-UP PEOPLE ... all this does is move the product into Corporate hands with Government collecting taxes. Marijuana belongs to the STATE. Anyone not in those circles possessing, growing, exchanging, investing, gene splicing, marketing, advertising, scheming and hustling weed will still be incarcerated just like the selling of cigarettes and alcohol.

The Government just needed time to create an official business plan that can be applied State-by-State and enough people dependent upon the product to push it through. Marijuana can be grown in the home as simply as a common Chia Pet product. Like bottled-water .... its all just a Game. Arresting people for weed had become a plan that had exhausted its merit points. The argument that it is for medical reason was not only the keep reason for making marijuana legal but "is" the ultimate smoke screen and not the real reason. When pushed to answer the question, "Are there alternatives to marijuana?" the answer was always, "YES, but ...". Using recreational smokers to push the agenda, the medical industry used it to gain legal access to cornering the market for profit and will flip-the-script to either exclude recreational smokers or become the sole dealers of the product. Already recreational smokers are going to the marijuana centers and being turned away because they don't have a "prescription".

SKEWED LOGIC FLAWED DATA

I just read an article that is weighing heavy on my conscious. Heavy because there is this movement, so subtle and so insidious that if you aren't aware, or you choose to ignore it, you'd find yourself within a movement of people who are brainwashed into thinking that their skewed logic and flawed data is the TRUTH.

The article in question is from the Blog, "the Root". Specifically, "Black Men: Death Rate Lower in Prison than Outside it?" Normally I'd read it and debate it within myself, research it and or debate it among my friends but this particular article I needed to take a way-back stance and look at the Big Picture. What is going on that is not seen or spoken. Where is the information trying to take me or "us" what matters. Who was this article for? And ultimately why?

As a researcher and historian, I have found that noting the person, group, institute and the sponsors of a study is very important and should be presented before quoting its data. I do not believe these statistics are applicable to the whole of Black Men nor do I subscribe to the notion that the application and gathering of the data is non-bias. Granted that People of Color are disproportionately incarcerated than Whites, the elements of prison life; depending on the prison (minimum to maximum security), would determine the health and welfare of individuals. Also consider that within the Industrial Prison Complex, resources such as medicine, health care, physical conditioning may be available but the mental health of prisoners are always a matter of concern and debate.

Michele Bauchmann recently made a statement that Black Families were better off during slavery for having a stable two parent structure than during a time when there is a Black President. Looking at the statistics and numbers, that may be true but the data is flawed because you don't take into consideration that there were outside elements which adds to and or prevents families from staying together or taking in extended family members as it was during and post-slavery. During slavery you had direct families, extended families as well as adoptive families collectively together. Within the US, there are laws as well as economics that prevents this or make it difficult to do. To use this type of misrepresentation would be like stating that Black employment was better during slavery than under a Black President thus using him as the cause of Black unemployment. This being said, the data for this study is flawed because elements such as education, family, environment, social structures both within and outside, the diversity of Prisons studied and their resources and the core comparison of those whom are/did serve time in prison over an extended period of time and those that haven't was not presented in an actual academic setting.

Do I believe that there is "some" truth to the study? I believe in a small way yes but with all things being equal, with health care, physical conditioning, access to education, a healthy diet and the like, Black men on the outside would live longer due to better Mental Health. This article not only encourages but give credence to the existence of the Industrial Prison Complex as it relates to Black men and other Peoples of Color and frankly as a Black man I am offended especially since the articles doesn't address that once many of these Black men leave, they either return (mental illness), they suffer from addiction (sustained and or acquired in the prison), are or have become HIV positive, or in need of medications that were freely given to them but become unavailable once they leave the system. I could easily say that Black children do better in Summer Camp than those that stay home. Does that mean we should consider removing all Black children from their homes and have them live in perpetual summer camps? Some would say that's what our modern day MILITARY is for. Collect all the Black men in America for Summer Camps, Military duty, Colleges and Universities, the employed and Community Active and let's do a real comparison and contrast ... you'd have to show me all of the data and the people who signed the checks for this to have this study done. Then again we can allow the subliminal messages sink in and eventually live in the world of the researchers and Michele Bauchmann and have Black male unemployment at 0% as slaves and have a child and a wife in every shack under Massa's care. Life was so much better for Black people then.

THE GOODEST BITCH IS BACK

So Inga Marchand is finally out of prison. It was almost 1 year ago she was ordered to go to Ryker’s Prison for probation violations. I mean all she had to do was stay under the radar and be like “normal people”. You figure at 28 years old (that was how old she was when she was sent to serve time) that one would have enough sense to enjoy freedom and a use enough Common Sense to behave. I mean as Thug Girls go, Inga Marchand’s claim to fame was beatin’ down little Asian Women at Nail Salons and throwing Blackberries and people. But she didn’t behave because somewhere in her mind, Inga Marchand thought she was Naomi Campbell. You see when too many people tell you that you ARE, “The Baddest Bitch”, when you’re NOT, you better have Naomi Campbell Money or at least Contacts.

In the end, The Judge said, “Naw, I’m the Baddest Bitch, now get your Monkey Ass in a jumpsuit and get locked up”. And that’s is just what happen. Inga Marchand was sentenced for 12 months at the Rose M. Singer facility at the New York prison since October of 2007.

So if you have no idea whom I am talking about by now, Inga Marchand is also known as the Notorious, Hardcore, Make No Mistake, Queen of the Mic, Battle Bitch Foxy Brown; the epitome of Rap Glamour and Hardcore Lyrics. Foxy Brown, just like lil’ Kim, were the future of Women in the Rap Game, what the media labeled as the "Gangsta Girl", what Real N_ ‘s wanted in a Woman. Well Ryker’s Prison wanted her more and decided to re-defined that image Big Time.

When Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand, entered lockdown in the tradition of all other Rappers as a “Rite of Street Cred”, Girl’s chest was pumped like Kong as she perp walked her ass into the clink. What Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand didn’t know was that the “REAL” Bad Bitches were waiting for her. Now I am not one to disrespect Women by calling them the B-Word but to make a point and or describe the World that Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand was working from and eventually into, we must call it the way the Players want it to be played. This is a story more about what IS real and what WAS fantasy.

Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand gets into Ryker’s Prison thinking that her Foxy Brown persona would give her the Street Cred needed to be Queen Bee behind bars. What she didn’t know was that she was NO MARTHA STEWARD. Real Street Cred is having WEALTH ENOUGH to say (or in this case have a Lawyer say ) I want to be Upstate New York with my own WING, some groupie, making pastel quilts, floral curtains and planting flowers. Instead Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand got the "First Year State Attorney Three Meals And A Cot" deal. Based upon her Bitching throughout her stay, it can be assumed that the Real Bad Bitches told her she had to skip the cot and “Grab Floor”.

Within days, Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand was in an “altercation” with a fellow inmate, which required her to be placed in SOLITARY. We don’t know what the circumstances were but in talking to my connections within the system, the Women up in Ryker's don’t usually react as the Men do. There is no period where they “TEST THE BOOTY” or “LOYALTIES”. The Women’s Prisons tends to connect and bond more so than challenge and control UNLESS you enter with attitude. Trust me, if you do not have a grip on Anger Management, there will be someone to give you a Crash Course. A crash upside your head. Thank Goodness for Solitary Confinement.

Then we hear The Baddest Bitch stepping to The Judge to ask if she can be released early to get her ear fixed because of some infection. In reality it was a request to have a broken ear piece repaired. WHAT? You mean Thug Girl got some Forrest Gump Up In Her? “OH HELL NAW”, the judge told Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand, “Get your HALF HEARING BLACK ASS BACK BEHIND BARS, I AIN’T PLAYIN WITH YOU!”

Well The Judge didn’t say it like that but you know what I meant.

Then every other story you heard was Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand pissing this one off, Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand pissing that one off but in the end, FOXY got her act together because the word was out that she was soft. Word back on the Street was she calmed down too because The Judge didn’t care that she needed to be in a recording studio either. The reality of knowing that on the outside, the legal system wasn’t going to cut her any slack and on the inside, they had her number, it was best to WOMAN UP and recognized that by doing the time “RIGHT” you can get the FUQ out in one piece … the Baddest Bitch learned to be the Nicest Woman. In essence Foxy Brown learned how to accept being just Inga Marchand and keep it real with herself. Lesson learned, she got out a few months early.

So now Inga Marchand has been released and the media is all up in her face. She comes out and is ALL SMILES. She is now an Official Thug Girl With Street Cred. Without a beat, Inga Marchand runs out and meets her Mother followed by her Publicist, her Hair and Makeup Artist, Manhattan Councilman Charles Barron (why he was there I HAVE NO CLUE), and was whisked away to the backseat of a chauffeured white Rolls-Royce Phantom chased by paparazzi. But here is the REAL COMEDY, in a quick interview; Foxy Brown was asked what was it like being in prison? Her response, “ It was horrible, I was sitting next to all kinds of people, I mean I was next to Drug Addicts and Murders and … oh I can’t even describe it.” Then she was asked, “What do you plan to do next?” Her response, “I plan to go to Church and drop to my knees and pray and then go home.”

Well alright Inga, you did learn something about being human. Then her Manager puts out there that FOXY BROWN has lined up a Reality Show, a project through VIACOM and VH1, speaking engagements, promotional rounds in support of her delayed new album, Brooklyn's Don Diva, May 13 because we need to get BACK ON TOP OF HER CAREER.

The Baddest Bitch is Back.

THE THEORY OF A LOST GENERATION by Phillip Jackson

There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black Men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black Men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by The Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and of those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.

Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.

Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.

The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global Black community.

Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.

Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economies of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and relatively inexpensive, but they may not be easy, practical or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society.

Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

1. Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education
2. Provide positive role models for Black boys
3. Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers
4. Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base
5. Control the negative media influences on Black boys
6. Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women

Long term

1. Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men
2. Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future
3. Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations
4. Build a positive peer culture for Black boys
5. Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history
6. Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning

More Facts

- 3 7.7% of Black men in the United States are not working. 47.0% of Black men in Illinois are not working. (2006 Joint Economic Committee Study chaired by Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY))

- 5 8% of Black boys in the United States do not graduate from high school. 65% of Black boys in Chicago do not graduate from high school. (2006 Report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education)

- Almost 70% of Black children are born into female, single parent households (2000 Census Report)

- About 1 million Black men in the United States are in prison (U.S. Justice Department)

By: Phillip Jackson

Soulja Boy Pissin Off A Balcony

This is why it's important to practice an "Each One Teach One" philosophy in our communities, Soulja-Boy. The more I keep on top of what today's youth read or (or as teenagers and teenager wannabe's say) generation write and listen to (and that's almost laughable since kids are reading less and watching TV), we need to intervene with a sense of pro-active consciousness and responsibility. Now that TI is on a PATH TO PRISON, the new assault on youth behavior are in the actions of people like AKON, SEAN COMBS (ain't he almost 40?) and Soulja-Boy. Certain actions might look like fun and comedic but there lies actions that cross the line of inappropriateness and illegality.

Just the other day I was talking to an associate of mine whom I hadn't seen in a few years. We were discussing how the neighborhood had and is changing and why Whites, through gentrification and the politics behind it, were moving People of Color out especially since the kids on the street just don't care or respect enough to join in the fight their community. Within minutes, and I swear, as if on cue, I was in a Boondocks episode when a young Black kid no more than 16, walked down the street pissing straight out in front of himself, penis whipped out, just striding down the street talking on his cell phone as people and children approached in the opposite direction. There, just leaving a trail of urine as he sauntered to his destination. He had no care, no conscious, no modesty, no respect. JUST NASTY.

THAT'S NOT HIP-HOP NOR RAP OR EVEN BLACK

But, here I am working on a writing assignment when I get a piece of video from a writing buddy on Soulja-Boy and I am smacked in my Common Sense again. Yet another example of how not to represent ones power, influence or roll to model for our youth. Watch the Video first before continuing:

I DIVERT MY THOUGHTS FOR A SECOND

After watching a recent episode on The Boondocks (The Story of Thugnificent) where the show's premise was an infamous rapper "Thugnificent" moves to the neighborhood of Woodcrest, with his friend Macktastic and Flonominal, eventually leading to Granddad becoming annoyed with his new neighbours. Your basic older generation conflict of image control and respect vs the Niggaism of youth and just not giving a damn. After watching this episode, I took a second to examine if I was coming off too hard on Black youth because I am now moving into the point in my life where I am becoming my parents and envying my loss of youth. Then I later watched a program on PBS where teachers had gone into the slums of India and rescued children of prostitutes and sent them to school. All the while these children are learning, they are aspiring to become doctors, lawyers, engineers and business owners so they can come to America and become something greater than the children of the streets. There was common sense, a drive and a chance to capitalize on opportunity in each of them and that was when I said, FUCK NO !!! Regardless of their assistance, the help, the possible MOST FAVORITE IMMIGRANT STATUS, they would still have to put in the work to become what their goals are. With the amount of resources we have in the US; libraries, mentors, apprenticeships, community advocates, churches, libraries, sports and music programs (and I am not referring to Government Sponsored Programs), and even in the poorest academic settings, there are still outlets for additional resources if you actively seek them out, I can only say that our youth are just lazy, embarrassing ignorant and it's by choice.

Don't Call Me Uppity !!!

How I was raised worked out well for me. Now I know to some that might sound 'Uppity' but hear me out on this. I did not come from a fatherless family with a prostitute mother, my upbringing was not an easy story to read nor one traveled. My parents were not wealthy or anywhere close to wealthy. I wore all the stereotypical ghetto attribute labels but the one thing that divided me from my friends and family was that I did not want my conditions to define me. I made opportunities happen and I took advantage of all things that came my way. Not like a hustle but as distinct decisions that build upon the next as steps toward success. A sacrifice of what was "fun" verses what was "work". The payoff in the end was my goal(s). I made my progress on my own and not something community based. Because in the end, your successes and or your failures are your own. yes there are people who can and will help but you need to know where and when to ask for it or avoid those things that will pull you away from your growth. Do I have mansions and millions? No. But I do know where I came from and its a lot better than where I was. My choice.

When I look at my friends from my youth, we all had the same opportunities/possibilities and I can honestly say that in my desire to move toward my personal success, their choices were their own. Their decisions where based upon "fun" as oppose to "work" and now that we are all adults, when we speak, their thoughts often go back to the point in their lives where they step away from that path and walked in a different direction.

Who's Fault?

For these kids from India, the bastard children of prostitutes, it will work out well for them and they will be in America. The actions of that boy relieving himself in public like that, I'm not so sure. He was ignorant and nasty considering the fact that we live in a civilized nation with plumbing, running water and bathrooms. You can't tell me that no one ever taught this boy that what he was doing was wrong. He clearly just didn't give a damn. No excuses. Worst case, the boy could have crossed the street and walked into the park -- AH YEAH, THERE WAS A PARK ACROSS THE STREET. He could have relieved himself there. Then there were a number of shops with bathrooms along his walk. Hell, the shop that I stood in front of talking to my friend had a public restroom. How do you begin to address the "disconnect" when no one want to listen or even try?

The Soulja-Boy video, (outside of the fact that you have a 17 year old in a room unsupervised), the kid was in a hotel room. Last I checked, hotel rooms have bathrooms. WHY ARE YOU DROPPING URINE ON THE HEADS OF PEOPLE? Not to mention the balconies of the people below. THEN YOU VIDEO TAPE YOUR STUPIDITY??? Even more so, you are more concerned about having your tiny penis being filmed or having the stigma of being "gay" than being arrested and thrown out of the hotel? GO FIGURE?

I have been told that I sound like Bill Cosby ranting about the poor. I really don't know how to take that. I mean I do believe in a lot of what he has to say yet I am also part of the community he is talking about as well. In being that, and having an open mind, much of what he preaches is true and behind closed doors, inner city parents, clergy, educators, small business owners, and others agree whole heatedly. It just seems that those whom scream the loudest opposing Bill are those who capitalize on the disenfranchisement and perpetuation of Niggaism in the poor as it relates to People of Color.

Bill Cosby has a book out entitled, "BLACK PEOPLE, COME ON", which should be the focus of Black People for the next ten years. Say what you want about the man, he has a serious point to make and we are missing it because all we only see is Bill Cosby as a comedian when he is a man who wants to re-connect the disconnect in all of us by keeping our youth from pissing on the path which lies before them.

Where are the ANGERY BLACK PEOPLE ??

You know I truly think at some point in the past eight years I had fallen asleep, and when I awoke, I was in the 1950's and 60's. Between all the hanging of nooses and Black men being corralled and or imprisoned in high numbers with those that are able to escape those statistics are then placed with those that rank Black men in a category of high unemployment and or underemployment. I fancy myself a historian often searching text, video, lectures and now the modern Internet for those insightful details on the past and yet, the more I find from the past, the more I witness that only the dates have changed, all the events and actions seem to be exactly the same. Even more disturbing is that some of the major and minor bit players then, in their youth, are still around calling the shots in their twilight of their years.

I had turned on my television for my early morning shot of CNN to see as the Hot Topic: 8 Acquitted of Manslaughter in Bootcamp Case. If you are not familiar with this case, let me update you.

8 Acquitted of Manslaughter in Bootcamp Case

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Eight former boot camp workers were acquitted of manslaughter Friday in the death of a 14-year-old boy who was videotaped being punched and kicked. The scene sparked outrage and changes in the juvenile system, but it jurors took just 90 minutes to decide it was not a crime.

Anger over the verdict was obvious outside the courtroom, where bystanders screamed "murderer" at former guard Henry Dickens as he described his relief at the verdict.

Martin Lee Anderson died a day after being hit and kicked by Dickens and six other guards as a nurse watched, a 30-minute confrontation that drew protests in the state capital and spelled the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps.

"I am truly, truly sorry this happened. Myself, I love kids," said Dickens, 60. He added that Anderson "wasn't beaten. Those techniques were taught to us and used for a purpose."

The defendants testified that they followed the rules at a get-tough facility where young offenders often feigned illness to avoid exercise. Their attorneys said that Anderson died not from rough treatment, but from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.

An initial autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for Bay County, found Anderson died of natural causes from sickle cell trait. A second autopsy was ordered and another doctor concluded that the guards suffocated Anderson through their repeated use of ammonia capsules and by covering his mouth.

The boy's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom. "I cannot see my son no more. Everybody see their family members. It's wrong," she screamed.

"You kill a dog, you go to jail," said her lawyer, Benjamin Crump. "You kill a little black boy and nothing happens." He spoke outside court, which is across the street from the now-closed Bay County boot camp.

Anderson's family repeatedly sat through the painful video as it played during testimony. They had long sought a trial, claiming local officials tried to cover up the case. The conservative Florida Panhandle county is surrounded by military bases and residents are known for their respect for law and order.

The guards, who are white, black and Asian, stood quietly as the judge read the verdicts. The all-white jury was escorted away from the courthouse and did not comment.

Special prosecutor Mark Ober said in a statement he was "extremely disappointed," but added, "In spite of these verdicts, Martin Lee Anderson did not die in vain. This case brought needed attention and reform to our juvenile justice system."

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush had been a strong supporter of the juvenile boot camps, but after Anderson's death he backed the Legislature's move to shut down the system and put more money into a less militaristic program.

Bush appointed Mark Ober, state attorney for Hillsborough County, as special prosecutor in the case. Bush also scolded Tunnell for exchanging e-mails with current Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, in which he criticized those who questioned the effectiveness of the boot camp concept. He also made light of the protesters in the state capital.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press 10/13/07

Watch the video of the beating and think about it. Not in terms of what happened but substitute your son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father and allow yourself to let all the people involved off with no responsibility.

--------

If you notice, I highlighted specific words in this article. The key is to read between the lines. I did not add or edit, I just brought to the front what the people involved actually think and feel. I especially like what the attorney had to say on the subject of a seven (7) one (1) woman beating and eventual death of a 14 year old boy; the murdered Martin Lee Anderson, "You kill a dog, you go to jail. You kill a little black boy and nothing happens."

Surprise! Surprise! That was the rule when slavery was the norm in America, it was the norm after slavery and the rise of the Klan, it was the norm during the civil rights movement where dogs and fire hoses were turned on peace Black Protesters of racism, and in 2007 where men can be draged to death, nooses can be hanged in public and government places and Black Children can be beat to death. With statements, sentiments and reality as it is, we might want to re-examine Michael Vick's dog-fighting charges. Seems like he should have gotten a slap on the wrist if dog lives hold a higher value than a black boys.

When Rodney King was beaten by the Los Angles Police department, the results were massive riots, violent and looting in the streets. With this verdict the parents just get money and an agreement to not push the matter beyondthe final decision.

I guess Black people are more civilized and settled in their continued oppression?

Body Searched

shot and stabbed in the back
execution style
strapped and handcuffed
rolled and locked within a house of illusion
i was told I had violated the limits of evolution.
for that I am punished.
born Black and Jewish,
female and gay
i contradicted and contrasted
the American Dream
when I decided to stay awake and act in my world
as it moved by.
like fruit and vegetables in the eyes of a hungry crowd
i was prepared for a succulent feast
in my night gown without a back
and told to bend over for tenderizing.
and at my juiciest
i was told to take off my clothes
to be photographed for future cook books
and quick recipes.

touched and pulled
my privates exposed,
violated,
contaminated,
and interjected by deep voices
pushing for answers
behind two-way mirrors and tinted glass doors,
bobbed wired fences and stone cold walls
i shed not one tear.
a virgin from the start
i spat on the spots on my body
to hide the shame
of imprisonment.
the charge,
evolving too fast
in a slow world
flat like yesterday
nowhere near circular.
they told me this
over and over
until it rang like church bells
on the day of the saints.

rotting from the inside out
i spoke sweet words to calm the stench
that stuck to my body like semen from unwanted sex.
the pain building in waves
at every turn
contorting my face with lines
that intersected with three distant points.
a point of freedom to hope to despair.
heart filled
joy lost within me,
i clutch my breasts
to slow the pumping of my blood
as it overflowed wine glasses toasted to a victory well met
and honored,
because all in all,
the day was not a waste
but a job well done.
for in the end
i now sleep
complacently and passively
waiting for the Sandman to come
to bring me that American Dream.

Body Searched by Shazza Nakim
Copyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim