In the Spotlight
Page 21
A Parent ’ s Worst Nightmare ...
The irony OF life sometimes amazes me . It is ironic that I interview and feature Danita Rountree Green , author of Love Locked Down and Civic Activist champing for the incarcerated and their families and days before publishing June ’ s issue of WOCPSCN , I experience a love one being arrested ( talk about love locked down ).
No parent wants to get a call that their child ( young or old ) has been involved in anything that they cannot fix . The phone rings , you hear , ‘ Are you so and so parent , well so and so has been ( hurt , killed , or arrested )’ and your heart all but stops . My particular experience with the latter was a rude awaking to injustice of the justice system . I and my family became acutely aware of just how fast life can change ( an instant ). I and my love ones learned it only talk an accusation for an arrest to take place . In New York , we discovered an accusation with little to no proof can led to one being arrested , jailed , fingerprinted and arraigned — it is scary .
There is no contact during this phase , you may be able get a phone call or you may not . The conditions of the jailhouse is so I am told is deplorable and unimaginable . It is the presumption that you are a criminal and deserve nothing better . The smell of urine , feces , body odor are profuse and apparent more the norm-the thing to be expected since toilets do not operate . What amazes me is these conditions ( which are unsanitary ) are public health code violations that rise public outcry if a dogs were to found in similar conditions .
The trauma of being locked down for perhaps a 24-hour period is in a word horrifying . Your mind races , your body reacts and all control is lost . For the individual experiencing being arrested these feelings are magnified 1000 %. This especially worst for someone who has done nothing wrong-remember it is an accusation . The police are not investigating the accusation — they are responding with an arrest to an accusation . We hear these stories of the innocent being imprisoned for long extended periods of time because someone said they did something . I and my family learned this the hard way .
We went to the precinct and we could not see our loved one . The officer that arrested our loved one was nice but he had to do his job — arresting not investigating . The process for our loved was simply part of someone ’ s job but it was process that gives us all nightmares — Guilty until proven innocent . I could have sworn it was Innocent until proven guilty . The accuser of our loved one has a history of making false claims for the purpose of getting someone arrested to prove a point-power / control . It is abuse no matter how you slice it .
I am completely enraged . I am appalled but I have to all that to side to allow calm and collected action to handle this matter . The paradox of this experience is so out of the reasoning of my mind it is difficult to know where to begin . We unfortunately must figure out where we get started to make this wrong right . I share this with you in order that you become aware .
American ’ s Justice System 2013
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BUSINESS BY THE BIBLE The Words of my Mouth and ...
We create and frame our world with words of our mouth and mediations of heart . What are you thinking and speaking ? Take a long look around your immediate environment and take note of what you see . Does it align to the things God has thought and spoken about you ? Do you know what God has desired for you to produce ? Do you know that He has give you the power to produce wealth ?
There an urgent need for us to allow the words we speak and the thoughts of our heart to be pleasing in God ’ s sight because when a man ’ s ways please God he wins not even his enemies will be able to prevail over him . It is far better to have a little righteousness than to have a lot of gain by injustice .