Prison Radio

Revolutionary greetings. Peace and blessings to everyone. My name is Bennu Hannibal Ra Sun, formally known as Melvin Ray. I’m currently incarcerated in the Alabama Department of Corrections, William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in solitary confinement, and I’ll be reading “Affirmation” by the revolutionary queen Assata Shakur.

I believe in living.

I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people.

I believe in sunshine.In windmills and waterfalls, tricycles and rocking chairs

And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts.

And sprouts grow into trees.

I believe in the magic of the hands

And in the wisdom of the eyes.

I believe in rain and tears.

And in the blood of infinity.

I believe in life.

And I have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth, sculpting mud bodies in its path.

I have seen the destruction of the daylight, and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted.

I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson.

I have walked on cut glass.

I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference.

I have been locked by the lawless.

Handcuffed by the haters.

Gagged by the greedy.

And, if i know any thing at all, it’s that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all.

It can be broken down.

I believe in living.

I believe in birth.

I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth.

And I believe that a lost ship, steered by tired, seasick sailors, can still be guided home to port.

“Affirmation” by Assata Shakur.