Understanding peace within the context of overcoming poverty. Colloquium 2012:” Extreme poverty is Violence. Breaking the Silence. Searching for Peace” at UNESCO House 26th January 2012

I’m what we call an activist, a person giving true personal testimony of such violence… creating knowledge, then peace.

New Orleans is known to have corrupted police.

I got stopped and got charged with something like a robbery, which I didn’t know anything about – I was in another State at the time it happened. However I wound up staying in jail for several months.

At first I became so angry I became ill. Then I said to myself, ’I need to know the law to prove my innocence’. So I went to the law library in the jail, where I met the writ writers. They told me what books to read and I kept reading and reading and reading.

I found out how the judicial and court room procedures worked. I found out about people and organizations, and I wrote, asking for help.

During that time others came in with a copy of their indictment and charges, and I found out what they needed to do. I got many of them released. I filed motions for bond reduction, so that they could leave on bond, or we managed to get their charges dropped. However, it didn’t work for me. I had to complete my unjust sentence of 8 years, which meant I had to stay in prison for 5 years.

When I was in prison we protested because of improper and unsanitary living conditions. They gave us spoiled food, they didn’t give us proper clothing, soap, toothbrushes. We didn’t get recreational time, sunlight and fresh air. We refused to come out of our cells, it was like a riot. We did petitions. We filed a civil suit against the jail. This went on for two weeks. That was when they beat me up. I smuggled out a letter to the FBI and they came to investigate.

We won the suit. They started giving out work shoes, tooth brushes, better food, stuff like that. After we ended the protests I had to go and turn myself in to the jail officials. They sent me to a worse prison with people with a sentence of 50 years or more, even people on death row.

After I got out I took a law course, because I kept being stopped and harassed by the policemen, and getting charges that weren’t really true, so, I took it upon myself to go to school and took up a course in para-legal, so I would know the law and what rights that I have. And I helped those that go through the same challenges – things happen to them and they don’t know the law. I started doing voluntary work – going out and helping people, giving out free legal aid and assistance.

Having been charged and doing time for something I didn’t do, it’s the only way I can get the anger out and have peace. And just reach out and try and change the rules. Or whoever is responsible, have them recommended and punished… if I can get them off the police force, or just get them laid off for a little while, it’s good. And let the people see that these policemen are corrupt. You know, they shouldn’t be on the police force.

This way I create peace for me, others like me, and peace for the community by getting these policemen fired, laid off and exposed as being corrupt policemen.