mother

my mother was a beautiful lady.
she loved to cook and she loved children.
mother provided child care out of her home.
she really injoyed the children under her care.
she would school them, take them on field trips, and let them help make their snacks and lunches.
every waking moment mother would be active around the house.
she always kept our house clean and taught her children the importance of clean living and hygene.
we had to make our beds every morning.
she would have our laundry done and every day after school no matter what we had a hot meal waiting for us.
mother was a strict disiplinary.
her decisions were final and we followed and never backed talk.
she ruled with love, wise words, and she didnt spare the rod.
if u cursed at an adult or continued to under achieve in class u just might get a spanking.
these spankings never really hurt physically but were more of a tool to get your attention.
a tool that mother used to show us that "when she says do better, she meant that".
mother was very religious and attended church every sunday.
mother sung in the choir and my sisters and i sung in the youth choir.
i didnt care for church, as a youth it was scary to me.
i never understood what the preacher was talking about, there would sometimes be someone crying.
and i had a bad experince at church.
one sunday my sisters and i went to church with our grandmother.
we went to the church that grandmother attends.
i was about 8-9yrs old.
i have an uncle one yr older and an uncle one yr younger then me.
the preacher made a cross on their forehead with what i learned later was olive oil, then tapped their forehead and they both started dancing and "speaking in tounge".
well i wanted to speak in tounge and dance too.
one my aunt said "they are filled with the holy ghost".
the preacher performed the same thing on me but i didnt feel the holy ghost.
he tried again and i still didnt feel it.
my grandmother says " dont worry about him he is filled with the devil".
i was so scared hearing her say that.
years later as grown men i asked my uncle about that day and he said that they would act like they were "filled with the holy spirit so that they would be allowed to go outside and play after church.
but going to mothers church was a whole different experience.
mother made everything fun and a learning experience.
i was a mothers boy and i was always picked on by cousins and other family for always being "up under yo moma".
but i was facinated by everything about my mother.
even as a grown man i would call her everyday just to talk or ask for a recipe.
evey time mother bought new living furniture she call me to see if i wanted the old furniture.
my sisters were really mad about that and would ask me why i get such beautiful furniture.
when mother went to heaven it was the worst day of my life.
i told my sisters that i cant go to the funeral.
they understood and called me when it was over.
i didnt want that memory of my mother in death.
now i only can visualize mother talking, cooking, and playing.
later my sisters called me to have mothers furniture saying that "we all know that mother would have wanted me to have it".
it was one of the kindest acts of love ever.
two weeks after her death mother visited me in my sleep and said " son im doing fine, im with Morton and im fine".
that put me at ease.
but i still have days when i think about her and have to find a place were i can be alone and cry, cry, cry.
in the dictionary under "MOtHER" is her photo.

August 4, 2010

Paul,

Here is an article I found.....

Obama signs Fair Sentencing Act
By Scott Wilson
The Washington Post

President Obama signed into law Tuesday the Fair Sentencing Act, which narrows the huge disparity in punishment given to those convicted of possessing crack cocaine versus those found with the drug in powder form.

The gap has been of particular concern to the African-American community. Crack users tend to be poorer than those who use powder - and disproportionately African-American.

Under the old law, someone convicted of possessing five grams of crack cocaine received a mandatory five years in prison. Those convicted of possessing powder cocaine had to be holding 100 times that amount to get the same mandatory sentence.

The new law, passed through rare bipartisan compromise, narrows that 100 to 1 ratio to 18 to 1. Obama campaigned on a platform that included closing the sentencing gap, but some legal activists are calling for it to be narrowed even further.

Obama signed the bill in the Oval Office with a bipartisan selection of lawmakers on hand, as well as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.. He did not make any remarks.

But White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters later that "the signing of today's bill into law represents the hard work of Democrats and Republicans."

"This is a good example of coming together and making progress on something that people had identified as a glaring blight on the law," Gibbs said.

"If you look at the people that were there at that signing, they are not of the political persuasions that either always or even part of the time agree," he continued. "I think that demonstrates the glaring nature of what these penalties had done to people and how unfair they were. And I think the president was proud to sign that into law."

By Scott Wilson | August 3, 2010; 3:43 PM ET


I am glad you are doing well. I look forward to the letter about your mom.

Much Love and Friendship,

.....


thank u for that info. now the concern of many of us is that the law is not retroactive. but it may soon be. inmate law professionals say it may be retro in as few as 90 days. i need the years back. i was indicted for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more. with every five grams= 5 yrs. and the federal prosecutor made it clear that his offer of 151months was a real deal, that was half of the 25yrs divided by 5grams that i could have recieved. now you see why the law is called "the fair sentencing act", there is nothing fair about the way they are locking up american citizens. obama has said that he wants the ratio 1 to 1. so thank you very much. and hope that they will get really fair and make this retroactive so that it benefits those that have already been sentenced under the old un-fair act.



still working on "mother" will send soon.

much love and friendship

paul

August 3, 2010

im doing just fine. the same thing happened last year at about the same time. two rival mexican gangs got in to it. what makes it so bad is that this facility is a level-low. the next step from here is to a camp or to a half-way house, freedom. by the time the government sends an inmate to a level-low he or she should be concentrating on programs that get you prepared for release, parenting classes, substance abuse classes, money smart class, and a host of other classes that get you ready for release. but we have these mexican gang members that are in the country illegal, they know they face deportation upon release so they never think about changing there life, they are born in itthe gang life its all they know. what started the fights was that one gang leader told his gang that "they needed to send a message to their rivals. so thurs they had several attacks at the same time.

but yes im fine. i avoid the gang members. and they know who their enimies are.



i share a room built for one with two other men. we played dominoes and we did calistinics to pass the time.



also on thursday the government passed the FAIR SENTENCING ACT 2010. the bill waits for the president to sign it to be a law. with this bill they basically admit that they have been sentencing african american men who deal crack cocaine to ten times more time then people who deal powder cocaine when its the same drug. the racial was 100 grams of powder = 1 gram crack = manditory 5 years. they changed it to 18 to 1. so now 280 grams of crack is manditory 5 years. google the fair sentencing act 2010 and see what u can see. only thing is that for me its not retroactive. i sure could use 4-5-6 yrs back.



im writing about my relationship with my mother, will send it soon



paul

August 3, 2010

Paul,

Wow. I hope you are doing okay. I couldn't imagine being in one room for that many days. What caused the fight, do you know?

Do you have a room to yourself or do you have to share one?

I hope to hear from you soon!

.....