TWO 2013 essays :editorial "GUN Control" and "free"? editorial/

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The Cap Times

GUN CONTROL?

Ramiah Whiteside: I know firsthand that inmates need treatment

January 2013

Dear Editor: The 11X15 campaign to cut the prison population in half by 2015 serves a purpose; it saves dollars. so it makes sense. It is good that people are beginning to see the truth. There are alternatives to long-term incarceration, especially for nonviolent offenses.

I support the 11X15 campaign’s efforts because I know firsthand what the effects of long-term warehousing are. For over 15 years L have been incarcerated. There are no more programs for me. There is nothing left for me to do but sit around, or I can take part in the contest to see who can make a paper airplane in 60 seconds and then fly it the farthest. All or my treatment stems from what l.seek out for myself . This system is designed for punishment, and treatment is not a priority.

For many people who are sent to prison treatment is what they need. What good is it to be lost in the system for.years and released with the same issues that got you incarcerated in the first place? Does this make sense? Treatment addresses the root of the issues~ incarceration alone only exacerbates things. There needs to be a balance between punishment and treatment. An alcoholic is still an alcoholic after six months in jail or 10 years in prison. A drug addict is still a drug addict after a jail stint, unless they receive treatment. Mental health issues will still be there and usually much worse upon release iftbere is no treatment.

Upon my release, at least I will be able to make a paper airplane

Ramiah Whiteside

"FREE”

By: Ramiah Whiteside

After over 15 years of incarceration, people might think I would be bitter. The system has warehoused me, so I should be upset. My family Has all but abandoned me, so I should be depressed, The world has forgotten all about me, so I should feel hopeless. Dospite my surroundings and the people I am around, I wake up each day and thenk God I am alive.

When I was growing up, I lost count of how many times I heard someone say, "You'll be dead before you turn 18." Perhaps they would have been correct had I not been waived into adult court at 17 and sentenced to prison. Seeing the Inside of a prison and having to learn how to function and survive inside one just solidified hOW I was conditionsd growing up: Trust no one. Watch your own back.

For so many, many years, my first and only love was the streets. The "hustle," the "Game," whatever you want to call it, I was ten toes down for it. The wife and two kids dream with the dog, house and vacations, none of that was on my radar.While other people shared this "American Dream," I was just trying to survive. My reality was different. “Love" was a privilege or a liability and falling In-love, not an option. When you watch your best friend take his very last breath, something kind of goes numb on the inside.Love died the same day that he did.

No, I did not want to be bothered with "baby-mamma-drama" or a girlfriend or relationships. There was nothing anyone could tell me to wake it all feel any better. To say that I became an island would be an understatement. The waters around my island were infested with sharks and killer whales, who would brave such an unknown journey in such deadly waters to save me from my self-destruction? Was it GOD? Mot quite, but I am sure HE was involved.

Another Soul who had nothing to lose and saw in me what I never dared to admit was there, nor ever looked for, that Soul saved me. Somehow, a bridge was built that re-connected me to humanity. That was one blessing. Falling in-love, that was a miracle.

So, after a rough upbringing and life and after 18 years of incarceration, no, I am not bitter, or upset, or depressed and far from hopeless. Each day I wake up, I thank GOD for my Best Friend and my Rock.Evan during my darkest of dark days in prison, happiness is no longer a stranger or someone else's pipe-dream.

At times, it has not been easy to face the Man I see in the mirror, but I am the Man I am today because of my Wife, Kay. She has not only changed my life, but she haa made it worth living again.

To be loved.

to be supported.

To be listened to.

To be understood.

To be accepted.

To be allowed to be myself.

This is what it means to be

"FREE."