Hi. This is Raymond Jenkins from Corcoran State Prison. Today is August the 1st, 2024.
Today topic is called Coming From Out of the Shadow. And the reason I picked this topic is because a lot of people are still in the shadow and living in the shadow and what that mean in the prison system we have a lot of young men and women that still in the shadow, and believe that they have been locked up, that they had did things that brought them into this, in the shadow. When you in the shadow, that mean that you are locked up. The shadow mean you [not] out.
When you out of the shadow, you mean you free. A lot of us is not free because we chose to do things in the shadow. We influenced by other people in the shadow. We are in they shadow, but not our own shadow. In the prison system, young men that try to find they self, find a way out, to get out of other people’s shadow, out from under other people that believe in they still in they shadow. Out there in society, from prison, you have a lot of people that into shadow and under other people’s shadow, and like to live under other people.
But when you in the prison system, a lot of that doesn’t change. It’s just a bit different. You are in somebody else’s shadow too. Just like being under a microscope, and you’re trying to break out. So it’s like coming out of the closet we would say, coming out of the shadow of being free.
When you start being free your mind, and you start knowing that, wow, I didn’t know I was in this person’s shadow. I didn’t know I was in the criminal shadow. You’ll break out the criminal shadow and into the real shadow, and the positive shadow instead of the negative shadow. So you have a choice.
What shadow do you feel that you are in? Sometimes you can sit down and think, “What shadows I’m in?” If I’m still in the negative shadow, if I’m still in, if I’m upgrading to the positive shadow.
It’s like getting A’s and B’s. If you study, you get A’s. If you halfway study, you get B’s. If you don’t study, you get C’s and D’s. So your progress is same thing as being in a shadow.
If you bust out of the shadow that you were keeping you down into the shadow, the influence by other people that you can’t take control of your own life. And that’s the whole detail.
So with that is, believe. Believe in yourself, be your own shadow. Come out of your shadow as a positive, not a negative. And always be truthful to other people and don’t be afraid to speak your mind and speak what you feel that need to be spoken. Speaking up to get people to understand that we all make mistakes. Nobody perfect, and if they think they perfect, they are telling a fib to they self. So be 100% to you and your family and your friends, and always love each other.
And with that, this is Mr. Jenkins from Corcoran State Prison. You can hear me at prisonradio.org on all my topics. And you can reach me at Mr. Jenkins at BM4522; 4B-3R-C-58; P.O. Box 3481; Corcoran, California, 93212.
And like to, glad that you are listening and hope that you do feedback. And next week will be “No Doors Are Shut Too Tight” next Thursday. So thank you and bless you and have a nice day.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.