Articles
Excerpt of interview from blackmeninamerica.com
Complete interview can be viewed on blaekmeninameriea.com
BMIA What does the reality of your man going to prison do to your psyche?
Jaki. I learned a lot. I became apart of a world I never knew existed. It is similar to what a person feels like when a relationship ends. I went through shock and disbelief, deep sadness and confusion because i didn't know what t should do. I asked myself over and over where do I go from here?
BMiA'. do you see yourself as an advocate for prison wives and girlfriends?
Jaki; I have so much to say about this issue and the things I have experienced and the things I see when I visit the prisons. I have so much fire inside of me concerning this topic and what I want to tell black men and the women that visit the prisons regularly. I want to hug sisters who wait and tell them that I understand and to do what is right for you. I want to tell them to forget what the world thinks. But I also want to tell brothers that a change has to come. So guess I am.
BMIAWhat do you say to yourself and do to get you through the day-to-day existence of living with your man in prison?
Jaki. I'd like to think that my life concerns more than just him and the situation he's in. It's when you don't understand that, that it becomes a real problem. When you visit so much your own needs are lacking and your kids are not taken care of because you are always up there. That's a problem. There was a time when I put too much into this, not any more, not like I used to. Not tike when he first went to prison and! sat there in court while he was handcuffed and ! thought! would die. That is how I begin my book.
BMIA: Do you have any particular feelings toward the criminal justice system as it pertains to black men in America?
Jaki: Prison takes away power and control. It is a form of slavery that, unfortunately, black men are volunteering for in record numbers. The overseer is the judge, the slave masters are the correction officers. This is the real deal. When my husband stood before the White judge in his shackles, I mean handcuffs. I thought to myself, damn, this white man has so much power.
Prison is a business !n most states where there are orisons, the warden lives in the area, tne cook, the correction officers, the man that distributes the food and other supplies from his own business that he started when he realized there was a need because of the prisons, they all live there and they all profit off of the large numbers of inmates in their all white town where the inmates are usually mostly black.
5/24/2007
