This is Kenjuan Congo, Jr. from the belly of the beast. My inmate number is ND7568.
In issue number 46 of the Movement, I published an article about death by incarceration. This started a lot of dialogue. Let’s keep the conversation going by addressing a few key points.
People are sent to life without the possibility of parole, death by incarceration. This forces us to ask is the human soul redeemable? Humans are fallible. We make errors and mistakes. A lot of us are even damaged. As a result, we harm others. We all did. None of us are perfect. No one wants to be judged solely by their worst. Still, we recognize egregious acts. Think about the spirit of that person. How much atrocity does it take for us to say their soul cannot be cleansed? How much does it take for us to say their essence cannot be restored? How much before you say their core cannot be purified? When it comes to death by incarceration, we have no choice but to ask is the human soul redeemable.
Next we have the ask who is making that decision. How do they determine whose spirit can be restored? How can you decide which soul can be saved? They are judging the essence of a human who are making these choices to be looked at. We have to ask who is making this decision.
This leads us to another question: who gave them that right? Some say an election. Can an election decide if my soul is restored? If I say my spirit has been cleansed and they say it has not, who gave them the right over the essence of my existence? One human being determining the content of another person’s soul; is this a natural right or a political right? What’s the difference? And is it just?
With death by incarceration, we have to ask three key questions. Can the human soul be redeemed? Who is making that decision? Who gave them that right to fight against death by incarceration. There’s an organization called CADBI. It stands for a Coalition to Abolish Death by Incarceration.
Their email is cadbiphilly@gmail.com. My email was kjcongo@yahoo.com. Follow me on Instagram @kjcongo3.
This is Kenjuan Congo, Jr. from the belly of the beast. All power to the people.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
