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Words - Apr 12, 2004 - Printable Version
- Incarceration
by Lauren Zuniga
Incarceration bars that will part this nation
Incarceration
of the mind
the harsh realization that we are
blind
mute, dumb, deaf
children left without a dad
because he smoked a little hash
to take care of that cataract
A couple facts
the U.S. comprises 5% of the global population
yet we house 25% of those in prison
just reached two million
spent 35 billion on our inmates
and of those held in federal rather than state
60% are non-violent offenders
We divert millions of dollars from
schools and universities to pay for prisons
in fact, one in three black youths
is either on parole or in custody
because we choose incarceration
as the solution to every social problem
Pretty soon
we'll have a penitentiary or cemetery
on every corner
bury all the dead and lock up all the mourners
or how about just the minorities
because the more of those convicted of felonies
the less can vote on the ones sent to D.C.
To make the policies
casualties
of ignorance
and a gut full of negligence
I'm sitting here in County
banging my head against
the cold metal bench
staring at 15 other women
with their own offenses to society
good variety
of violating traffic
brutal attacks
or just driving while black
Some keep coming back
because it's better than home
some weep on the phone
Please, accept the charges
swearing they didn't do it this time
hair knotted and eyes scarred with tears
uncovered and hopeless
like their last crime
their biggest crime
being poor
while the rich get more
they scream about how
great the economy is
they say It's their own damn fault!
But they don't know what poverty is
It eats you up
like the roaches behind the refrigerator
penetrates the mind like the words
of the underpaid educator
telling you
You're not good enough
Kids say you don't have the right stuff
the Polo, the Tommy
the new car when you turn sixteen
all you hear on the radio
is some guy rappin‚ about
gettin‚ keys from over seas
or comin‚ 'round that corner like
bling bling
there it begins
incarceration
like a subtle abrasion
you don't really know how it
got there and it's not until you
finally see it that it starts to hurt
After all these years
we still believe that
the more we lock up
the more the system works
Criminals dispersed
and then disposed
but no one seems to notice
that the crime is not decreasing
It's just subtly easing it's way
into the minds of bored young kids
who think doing time is just another
bullet in the battle of us against them
Kids sport the orange color of conviction
as if County Jail is the hottest new brand
somewhere we failed to help them understand
that their worth lie not in what they have
or how well they conform
they were already good enough
the very day they were born
and the American dream
has nothing to do with the ice
on your wrist that goes bling-bling
it has nothing to do with selling
a million CDs or shooting a million hoops
so you can hear that ching-ching
it has something to do with getting your
mind right so you can hear freedom go
ring- ring
like Dr. King said,
We need a coalition of conscience
to bring forth a new society
because nonviolence is not a political
philosophy it's a philosophical truth
so maybe we should spend billions
of dollars to teach our youth
to chose better
to chose peace
instead of locking them up
only to release
them into a world where half the people
just don't get it
where our value is determined by our credit
if we could spend all that money
to put in every child's head that
they have a choice
the can lock up your body
but they can't lock up your voice
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