Narrated by Eunice Wong Text originally published May 12, 2023 With Sammy at the graduation ceremony for formerly incarcerated students at Rutgers University in Newark on Friday Newark, N.J. — We know the story. The absent father who leaves when his son is five-years-old and moves back to Puerto Rico. The single mother, rarely at home because she works long hours to keep her three children fed and pay the rent. The poverty. The crime. The instability. Later, the stepfather who drinks, uses drugs and beats his stepchildren. The child acting up. Dropping out of school. Joining a gang. The robberies. The one that went wrong and left a man dead. Prison.
As a primary teacher in my early sixties, I am constantly fighting a system that forces teachers to teach reading in a way that runs contrary to cognitive science. It is tragic to see so many children struggle to learn to read; those who never develop a passion for reading because it is such a cognitive chore. I am always curious to know how someone like Sammy, who was placed in a special ed class and abandoned by the system, learned how to read in the first place when so many others fail. He is clearly highly intelligent. Did he teach himself to read in prison? Was it a prison reading program? Or did the the public educational system actually work for this man? Literature allows us to walk in someone else' shoes - and can be a powerful venue for compassion.
There are too many people like Jess Sessions making enormous profits from the privatized prisons of this country. His efforts we’re fortunately thwarted. Others have made millions off the prisoners. Like Sammy said it’s a world of its own- more similar to his own on the outside. This was an exquisite article. I have known a few men unlawfully detained and railroaded into the “system”. Here in California we have the “three strike” system. At least the idea is people make mistakes, however, recently here there was a case where a cop was killed by a “fourth striker” that shouldn’t have ever happened- this cop-killer should have never been released. Like everything there are always a dichotomy of existence but unfortunately it’s weighed against humanity’s made mistakes like Sammy’s. Sad but true!!
Excellent article Chris. So many Americans are traumatized by the family unit by the age of two, they suffer from poverty, violence, drug abuse and insane parenting. Explaining this to a maga supporter, is useless, because most of them have not grown up surrounded by stress and anxiety constantly. Their goals to get rid of socialism will cause even more suffering and criminality in the future. It costs more money to imprison these abused children than for food stamps. This is how a lot of children are raised in the third world Nations. Only raising all the children together in a neutral non-grooming environment will end child abuse with multiple adults at all times being around the children and cameras and microphones..., racism, crime, childhood poverty, mental illness, religious hatred... The children need to be protected from the groomers till at least age 27, including the military and religious institutions. The family unit has "stopped the evolution of the human race" but, has supplied cheap labor and soldiers for the rich, for thousands of years! One can be raised as an animal and turn themselves into a human if they have not abandoned the truth, reality and good. They will have very many bad memories and regret their previous life as an animal. You are your own best friend or your own worst enemy, or both. The capitalists or rich greedy class only care about maximizing their wealth, not ending human suffering, chaos or anarchy. In my humble opinion, the aborted fetuses go back to God and don't have to suffer a living hell on this planet and thereafter. The born have to do more good than evil, to get to heaven. Brown nosing will not work. The aborted fetuses are the lucky ones, unless the human race evolves rather quickly, but currently looks like it is becoming more uncivilized.
Our prison system represents a failed civilization. One based upon the God Almighty Dollar, Greed , Corruption and Collusion. I live for the day when all of humanity judges itself based upon the health of human beings and mother earth as a whole, and not the GNP. Once humanity Unites and comes together in Oneness, as it will, it will set the priorities of future generations, priorities based upon love, compassion, caring and forgiveness, not a country where people are judges by the money and property they keep, at the expense of the rest of us who have the same birth right to every natural resource as the so-called Elite now possess. There are truths that will soon come out that will make people recoil in horror. Some involve Sex Slave Farms financed by well- known people. Others involve the true nature of our planet, its size and actual number of continents/islands. Finally we will be enlightened of other people who have been here on and in this planet all along, who we should not fear, but embrace. Humanity is ready for whatever the truth is. It is the Dark ones who cannot handle the TRUTH. Namaste and may God bless all. Edward William Case.
In the middle of our reigning ignorance it is refreshing that still exist altruistic heroes like Mr. Hedges who invest their knowledge and energy in educating the Americans who need it more. Unfortunately some of our leaders are trying to do exactly the opposite. Following is from yesterday news at democracynow.org
"Florida Bans Textbooks Dealing with Race, Social Justice; Allows Discrimination in Healthcare
MAY 15, 2023
Florida’s education officials blocked dozens of textbooks and forced publishers to edit dozens of others to remove information on racial and social justice issues. This comes as part of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s ongoing campaign criminalizing the teaching of critical race theory, LGBTQ topics and other issues he’s described as “woke indoctrination.” One middle school textbook no longer includes a section on the Black Lives Matter movement and the police murder of George Floyd."
As a primary teacher in my early sixties, I am constantly fighting a system that forces teachers to teach reading in a way that runs contrary to cognitive science. It is tragic to see so many children struggle to learn to read; those who never develop a passion for reading because it is such a cognitive chore. I am always curious to know how someone like Sammy, who was placed in a special ed class and abandoned by the system, learned how to read in the first place when so many others fail. He is clearly highly intelligent. Did he teach himself to read in prison? Was it a prison reading program? Or did the the public educational system actually work for this man? Literature allows us to walk in someone else' shoes - and can be a powerful venue for compassion.
Inspiring and this article made my day!
There are too many people like Jess Sessions making enormous profits from the privatized prisons of this country. His efforts we’re fortunately thwarted. Others have made millions off the prisoners. Like Sammy said it’s a world of its own- more similar to his own on the outside. This was an exquisite article. I have known a few men unlawfully detained and railroaded into the “system”. Here in California we have the “three strike” system. At least the idea is people make mistakes, however, recently here there was a case where a cop was killed by a “fourth striker” that shouldn’t have ever happened- this cop-killer should have never been released. Like everything there are always a dichotomy of existence but unfortunately it’s weighed against humanity’s made mistakes like Sammy’s. Sad but true!!
Excellent article Chris. So many Americans are traumatized by the family unit by the age of two, they suffer from poverty, violence, drug abuse and insane parenting. Explaining this to a maga supporter, is useless, because most of them have not grown up surrounded by stress and anxiety constantly. Their goals to get rid of socialism will cause even more suffering and criminality in the future. It costs more money to imprison these abused children than for food stamps. This is how a lot of children are raised in the third world Nations. Only raising all the children together in a neutral non-grooming environment will end child abuse with multiple adults at all times being around the children and cameras and microphones..., racism, crime, childhood poverty, mental illness, religious hatred... The children need to be protected from the groomers till at least age 27, including the military and religious institutions. The family unit has "stopped the evolution of the human race" but, has supplied cheap labor and soldiers for the rich, for thousands of years! One can be raised as an animal and turn themselves into a human if they have not abandoned the truth, reality and good. They will have very many bad memories and regret their previous life as an animal. You are your own best friend or your own worst enemy, or both. The capitalists or rich greedy class only care about maximizing their wealth, not ending human suffering, chaos or anarchy. In my humble opinion, the aborted fetuses go back to God and don't have to suffer a living hell on this planet and thereafter. The born have to do more good than evil, to get to heaven. Brown nosing will not work. The aborted fetuses are the lucky ones, unless the human race evolves rather quickly, but currently looks like it is becoming more uncivilized.
Lovely voice. Good on you Sammy.
Our prison system represents a failed civilization. One based upon the God Almighty Dollar, Greed , Corruption and Collusion. I live for the day when all of humanity judges itself based upon the health of human beings and mother earth as a whole, and not the GNP. Once humanity Unites and comes together in Oneness, as it will, it will set the priorities of future generations, priorities based upon love, compassion, caring and forgiveness, not a country where people are judges by the money and property they keep, at the expense of the rest of us who have the same birth right to every natural resource as the so-called Elite now possess. There are truths that will soon come out that will make people recoil in horror. Some involve Sex Slave Farms financed by well- known people. Others involve the true nature of our planet, its size and actual number of continents/islands. Finally we will be enlightened of other people who have been here on and in this planet all along, who we should not fear, but embrace. Humanity is ready for whatever the truth is. It is the Dark ones who cannot handle the TRUTH. Namaste and may God bless all. Edward William Case.
In the middle of our reigning ignorance it is refreshing that still exist altruistic heroes like Mr. Hedges who invest their knowledge and energy in educating the Americans who need it more. Unfortunately some of our leaders are trying to do exactly the opposite. Following is from yesterday news at democracynow.org
"Florida Bans Textbooks Dealing with Race, Social Justice; Allows Discrimination in Healthcare
MAY 15, 2023
Florida’s education officials blocked dozens of textbooks and forced publishers to edit dozens of others to remove information on racial and social justice issues. This comes as part of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s ongoing campaign criminalizing the teaching of critical race theory, LGBTQ topics and other issues he’s described as “woke indoctrination.” One middle school textbook no longer includes a section on the Black Lives Matter movement and the police murder of George Floyd."