Sunday, December 19, 2010

Letter to my Father in Prison


Hey Dad, I hope you are well. I am sorry I have not written you yet because I have been very busy. I will do my best by writing you a letter each month and tell you what is going on. I am moving to Oakland with some great friends but the commute will be very hard. I was just talking about you to my roommate about how you used to tell me how I would run into the pool when I was baby and you would have to come after me. I saw the family last Thanksgiving break and it was really nice. It was very weird without you and Poppy there. I am not used to that all so I cannot wait for you to get out because no one deserves to be in prison. I am reading this book by Angela Davis who is an anti-prison activist. It is called Are Prisons Obsolete? It talks about how prison is a racist institution. I will not go beyond that because I know they read your letters. I think that in order for people to really rehabilitate they should be nurtured not put in a cage. You deserve to be with your family especially since you have made so much progress in your life. Even though we have our issues, I do notice that you always try. When you are around me you try to watch your language and give me the best advice and I appreciate that. I have been worried about you and sometimes I cry because you need to be free. You deserve freedom and love. I hope you get to do some reading while you are there because it is very empowering. I try to read all the time especially about resistance against the system. If you have any friends there maybe you can read with them too if that is allowed. I do not even know how you are feeling and that bothers me. I am applying to graduate school for social work because I want to help kids find loving homes. I think that everyone deserves a loving family and luckily you have one. Even though you are in prison at least you have people here that love you. Many of the men that are in that prison do not even have that which is why I do want to help kids find families. I kept the poem you gave me my first year of college and I thought at this time you needed it more. I printed some more poems that I thought you would like by me and other poets. Keep staying strong and I will see you at my graduation.

Your Daughter, Jasmine Jewell Le Blanc