"my blood is a million stories..."

sitting here thinking and wanted to share...

my dad goes before the parole board december 2nd. thinking about my family and the families of other political prisoners and freedom fighters around the world. thinking about you especially, kamel. i am SO truly blessed to come from the family i do. the hearn clan. the shakur clan.

it's a different way of life in many ways, being children of revolutionaries. our parents fought, were imprisoned, were exiled, and died fighting for basic human equality; and all the while growing us in the discipline and knowledge, love and respect for not only our people, but for all people. we think differently; we see the world differently.

i was thinking about the last time i saw mutulu. it's a harsh reminder to me when i think about the fact that i've never known my dad in any other context outside of prison, even back to my first memory. his every entrance into my life since i can remember has always been the same...coming from behind those steel bars, he stops so the officer can take of the chains. i've never seen him for more than 4-5 hours at a time. you only get so many hours of visitation. i've never seen him standing in the sunlight, never seen him standing in grass; i've never seen him in anything other than a prison uniform.

we've never had a phone conversation that wasn't recorded, written letters that weren't read before it reached his hands, or given hugs that weren't closely watched. i've shared every intimate moment with him, with someone else. he's never been able to see all of his children together at once, and now that pac has passed away he'll never be able too.

now mutulu is in florence, colorado. the #1 maximum security prison in the united states. "also known as the ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies, ADX houses the prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control. it is the highest level security federal prison in the united states, and generally considered the most secure prison in the world. individuals are kept for at least 23 hours each day in solitary confinement." that means he gets 1 hour, by himself, outside his cell in a heavily guarded area. all of our visits are behind glass and he often handcuffed.

these things come to mind as his parole hearing draws near. they have and continue to do everything the possibly can to keep him in prison. his upcoming parole hearing is a fight for due process and his right to come before the parole board and fight for his freedom in 2011.

as "thanksgiving" draws near, i am humbled by those who, like mutulu, saw their difficult path before them and even still chose to stand and fight, rather than lay down and continue to be enslaved. freedom fighters ALL OVER THE WORLD. many of them will not be able to sit down and have dinner with their families, will not be able to tuck their children in at night, and will not be able to hold the ones they love as they fall asleep.

yet they are fighting for our right to do so.

this thanksgiving, i give thanks for the people who fought and are still fighting for freedom and equality.
i give honor to the indigenous people of this country who are still fighting for their basic rights on their own land.
i give remembrance to who i am and where i come from. a people who's blood runs deep in the earth of this country.

...and i pray, so very hard, that we continue to move forward as a GLOBAL community, in love.

my blood? is a million stories. FREE 'EM ALL.

peace.