Freedom
drawing by Akil Jahi, reproduced here with his permission
Two days ago I had the honor of spending time with two men who have spent many many years in Unit Two, known in the parlance of the outside as Death Row, of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. I knew not to fear them by what I had been told by my daughter, who visits Akil Jahi regularly and enjoys his dear friend Abu's company whenever Abu has a visitor at the same time. But I was not prepared for what I felt when I was with them: elevated, open, honest and joyful.
We began our gathering as Akil and Abu always begin gatherings, with a poem about forgiveness, a moment of reflection, and Abu's beautiful voice singing Amazing Grace. What then followed was a remarkable conversation that I hoped to share with all of you here on Steem, so I asked their permission to write about them. They both readily agreed. What man who knows he has a valuable message would say no? And what Steemian would not give writing a blog post about them a shot?
But I found I was unable to write a thing that did justice to these fine men. No words of mine could capture the joy and love I felt in that cement block room, sharing a meal of vending machine selections on a makeshift table, six of us (two from the inside and four from the outside) discussing poetry, art, music, cooking, trauma, choices, family, justice, truth and love.
Akil Jahi and Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman are leaders among both prisoners and guards in Unit Two. I could see the respect and love in the smiles of all who exchanged a word or even a glance with them. But more than that, I could see the same in the other prisoners from the unit and their visitors, whether they were in shackles or handcuffs and meeting behind glass, or allowed the freedom of movement that Akil and Abu have earned in their decades at the prison. This surprised me at first, all the joy evident in the visiting room for the inmates on death row, which was very different from what I saw as we passed through the visiting room for the general population. But after three hours with Akil and Abu holding forth on finding strength, goodness, and joy in what could be one of the bleakest of places, I understood. This is a special place in large part because of the two of them, a place of honor, opportunity, worship and freedom.
I have decided to let Akil tell you himself of the rewards of his incarceration. Here are four of his many poems. The images are my photos of poems he has sent to my daughter.
There is some bittersweet news to tell of Abu, news that is cause for both celebration and sorrow. His death sentence was vacated a few days ago after many years of fighting the injustice of this sentence, and he will be leaving Unit Two, thankfully not to be executed, but to take up residence in Unit Six for the rest of his life.
I have no doubt Abu will be a force for positive change among the prisoners and guards of the general population as well, and that is truly wonderful for many many people. Akil will likewise continue the good work in Unit Two. But Akil and Abu, friends of a very special sort, may never see each other again. They will be able to send verbal messages through their visitors, they will be able to send each other letters, but they may not ever again be in each others presence. Akil too is trying to vacate his death sentence which would result in their being again housed in the same unit.
I leave you with a few powerful words of Abu's, and he too has many more of these:
Shed the past of unwanted suffering and become the healer, others await you.
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Oh this is so heartbreaking and beautiful. The poetry is lovely - simple, heartfelt, morsels of divine truth. I have been talking to my students about compassion and forgiveness this week, and how it is the anecdote to holding onto the hurts and pains of the past. Thanks for sharing this with us! @artemislives, one for the Freedom Tribe? xx
That seems to be the key for them, to move past the prior pains. They are both very wonderful men. I watched the report on Abu's death sentence being vacated, and there was no mention of how kind he is now, none. It was a terrible omission.
Oh for goodness sake I forgot to tag @freedomtribe. I thought I did though! erg. That's the kind of thing I have no head for.
I am so glad you called me over her @owasco. A very moving post and which again confirms my instinctive rejection of the death penalty. And humanity.
And I am glad you came to my call. These guys deserve the love! Love, not war. Peace!
What a really, truly, fascinating read. One generally visualises the inner workings of any prison system as a 24x7 rough and tumble affair. Without knowing anything about their crimes it's nice to know that they've been able to achieve a bit of inner peace. I would like to think that the victims have as well, because living with negativity just breeds further contempt and negativity.
The prison system is designed to be 'rehabilitation'. Very often that isn't the case, but it's nice when we can get at least part of the way there.
Thank you for your comment. I know that in Abu's case, the surviving victim has forgiven him and did so in court last week.
These two men have been more than rehabilitated, they have gained what many of us dream of, a freedom of their souls and unending love and compassion for their fellow men. Happiness. Remarkable.
there's no doubt that the poem is meaningful. It stated that how life might be cruel there are still goodness of it. It's up to you to have patience and just don't focus on bad thing in life.
Nice content, as if I'm reading a fiction story even though it's true to life story.
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I am staying as true to this story as I can, I'm just recounting what they tell me, what I know from the Tennessee news, and my feelings about it all.
yeah that's what I meant, when I said it's like a fiction but actually a true story. Sorry if I didn't state it well, I wasn't criticising but complementing. I just didn't say it understandable, sorry
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no no I understood, you said it beautifully! I was just agreeing. Thanks so much for you comments.
man, what a story! thanks for sharing; it breaks my heart knowing that people are locked up in such places... and then of course there are their brutal (but sometimes even innocent) crimes.. is this form of punishment the best way to deal with this problem? I have to think of the open prison in Norway on an island. Although I think they are kept there only if they haven't done major crimes
I think I have read about that prison. Sounds very rehabilitative. I have no doubt these two men, and several of the others I saw in that visiting room, would be excellent neighbors and friends. I oppose the death penalty in all cases now. Before this visit, I was not so certain, but men like these must be allowed to live and love. And yes, there are many in prison and even on death row who are innocent! If you are interested I just read a good book "The Sun Does Shine" by Anthony Ray Hinton who was an innocent man on death row for more than 20 years. He, like these two, had horrible representation, criminal representation if you ask me. Thanks for you comment.
What a profound, beautiful and glorious post, @owasco They are separated so that each of them can spread that light further, because there are so many who need. Thank you for sharing their poems, and for bring such humanity and joy for what others would imagine is a dark place.
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I thought of you as I wrote it. Thank you so much for your comment.
Yes, I agree. In some ways their wrongful sentences have done a tremendous amount of good both for them and those who come into contact with them. Akil proudly told me that when a female guard becomes pregnant, she is sent to their unit to work, because it is the safest and most loving unit in that prison. It's no longer hard for me to imagine that, I have seen it. Redemption in unlikely places. Or maybe it's the most likely place. xo
Wow. I stopped by to deliver your reward for the recommend your favorite Freewrite and I am so glad that I got to read your post.
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@freewritehouse/rewards-for-recommend-your-favorite-freewrite
Thanks for the reward and for reading!
Howdy owasco! Great post, you did a wonderful job of sharing your experience with these men, very powerful!
Thank you. They are worthy of so much more than I can give.
Well I understand what you mean but you did a great job with that post! And perhaps you can write more about them sometime. Like about their story because you said the one man especially was wrongfully convicted.
They were both wrongfully sentenced. Neither should have received the death penalty, both were black and poor and got terrible representation. I do hope to write more about them. I hope to visit them again too. I'll never have the pleasure of being with both of them at the same time again, a very special something. Thanks so much for your appreciation!
Howdy today owasco! Yes, the court appointed attorneys generall don't do a thing for people except fill out paperwork, very tragic indeed that they couldn't get a fair trial.
Looking forward to the next posting about their story though.
What a powerful post! Thank you for this!
Powerful people these two. I can't say it was easy to write about them though. It took my many hours to leave my own ego far enough behind to write about them. Thank you for reading!
Oh thank you for sharing so I could come absorb this post! I trained a fantastic lady for quite a number of years who visited death row in the jail here regularly. I was always fascinated, and often heartbroken, by her stories and those she shared from the men she visited. It wasn't all positive, as there were many very bad men she came across, along with her "buddies" as she called them. She and her husband helped get an innocent man released after way too many years in prison. Our prison system here is quite broken, but this is a true breath of fresh air to read about these men and the positive energy they continue to share.
Oh thank you for your comment! There are days I think they deserve so much better, and then I realize they DO have it better than I do in one critical way. I get annoyed by my smoke alarm going off, my landscapers making a racket, my chickens needing clean water everyday, finding a tick on my dog, my vacuum cleaner acting up, my gutters needing cleaning, my money not quite lasting the month. I am imprisoned by my things. They cherish and find freedom in what little they have, and they are far more wealthy than I am in love and spirit.