Netroots Nation is holding a bloggers' conference, July 22 - 25 in Las Vegas. Writers of many flavors will attend, but will it be only the writers who can afford it? Read here why, I believe, Democracy for America gave me a scholarship for the conference. But more importantly, read more on what it will take for this formerly incarcerated activist to make it from the East Coast.
When Democracy for America offered to put me up in Vegas so I could attend the Netroots Nation blogging conference, I thought my writing was having a powerful impact and someone wants to amplify that. Then I thought, “VEGAS!!!” A three second montage flashed in front of my face of every crazy party movie that ever happened in Vegas. But before I put on my Dennis Rodman hat and hang out a limo window with Lady Gaga... I realize the DFA scholarship doesn’t include travel from the East Coast. This is why I need your help.
What makes me so special, you may ask? Simple: I have a view and knowledge of the world honed from inside the American Prison Industrial Complex. Oh yes, that $200 billion dollar behemoth our government has decided to develop in lieu of schools, mental health facilities, low income housing, substance abuse centers, and jobs programs. Not only do I blog about it, but I’m out there on the front lines, both in the legislative process and the electoral cycle. I’ve even received kudos just for my ability to ask thoughtful and tough questions of the candidates, but the bottom line is I want my hard-earned wisdom on issues such as racism and violence to be useful for my community.
A few months ago I wrote about a man who was put in prison for a traffic offensethat was dismissed. He was transferred to a mental health prison ward and facing a hearing to force psychotropic medicine upon him because he was non-cooperative in the courtroom. I called upon people to attend his hearing, and as an organizer I had lined up a few dozen supporters. The man was inexplicably released the day before his hearing. I have consistently gotten scoops from my connections inside the prison, one recently resulting in mainstream media and the re-opening of a case involving a dirty cop.
With the Providence police mired in a videotaped brutality case and a drug dealing cabal within the department, I have provided an on-the-ground analysis of the community coming together and getting their message out. I also bring a legal analysis to other issues, such as Goldman Sach’s “Shitty Deal,” Monsanto’s genetically modified food, the Attorney General’s scandalous relationship to a for-profit prison in RI, and the World Cup. And I’m not dry either. Who else could equate Monsanto to gangsta rappers? Who else wins their appeals in the state Traffic Tribunal? And who else has had their writing used as international spam years before they ever used the internet?
I honed my art and writing during years of prison, with no teachers, where most of my readers were also asymmetrically educated people in cages. My style is accessible, but not dumbed down, and I serve neither master nor editorial board. Upon getting out I was a core activist in restoring voting rights to convicted felons, including writing the final draft of the constitutional amendment and squaring off live with Tucker Carlson. I wrote and directed plays bringing awareness on criminal justice issues. Was part of a successful campaign to eliminate mandatory minimum drug sentences. Took action to kill a bill mirroring the Arizona SB1070, and last week scored another victory to bar probationers from serving time even after the new accusations have been dismissed- I proposed and wrote the original legislation in 2006 (with Progressive congressional candidate David Segal), and we overcame two vetoes to win. And thats just a snapshot. Now I’m analyzing drug policy, challenging liberal’s conceptions of Civil Rights, and even tackling the taboo issues.
Why help me network with other bloggers? Because I do more with a little than anyone you will ever know. Its a trademark of the ghetto. I’m not waiting around for a diploma or a grant to get in the game. I publish one of my books from my house and eventually will shoot my own screenplays if I have to. “If I have to,” is the key. Four years ago I was making minimum wage and had an electronic beacon on my ankle, and now I can edit film, write legislation, and have my blogging picked up by others working on similar issues. Having just presented a workshop on theatre and organizing at the Allied Media Conference, and another on “prison-based gerrymandering” at the US Social Forum I can tell you that a national network of activists, including a strong contingent who served time in Big House, are pushing back with independent media... and we are winning. Send me to Vegas.