Ujamaa Ujamaa. This is Dontie S. Mitchell, better known as Mfalme Sikivu, reporting to you from Great Meadow Correctional Facility, in Comstock, New York. I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt sympathies to the families of a young man named Marcello, and a man named Javon. Marcello was 21 years old when he tragically took his own life. He was a very smart young man who was very frustrated by the world. Javon was 40 years old when he tragically died from a heart attack. He had just come home after a long stretch in prison, and was determined to do the right thing.
I didn’t know either of these guys, but their stories hitting me close to home. I work with many young men in prison who I love as brothers. It saddens me when their lives are wasted, languishing in prison or tragically lost due to suicide or homicide. I remember one young brother named Abdullah I met in Auburn Correctional Facility in Auburn, New York, in 2011. He was so full of life and extremely smart but was doing a lot of time. He took his own life. I remember Antonio Brian, aka Tone Bones, who I met in Elmira Correctional Facility in Elmira, New York, in 2006. I became close with him, another one of my little brothers from another mother. I used to argue with him about his plans for when he got released because he was talking a bunch of nonsense. But he was hard headed. He went home and was shot in the head and killed by police for firing a gun at them while high on PCP.
Aside from the death of my father in 2005 I never cried in prison until I heard Tone Bones had died. Javon’s story hits especially close to home, because I’m 39 years old, having served more than half my life in prison. What will happen to me when I’m released? I don’t even know how to use a smartphone. I don’t have family or a girlfriend to help me like Javon did. I suffer from chronic bouts with vertigo and pressure headaches. My father died of an aneurysm, so that worries me. Life is so precious, and I have so much I want to do for Marcello, Javon and those many others whose lives were extinguished too early. I hope to honor you by making a difference to help those like you with my own life. Rest in peace. Tune in next time. Follow me on Facebook at Free Dontie Mitchell, share your questions and comments. If any of you are interested in volunteering to assist me in my work, please holler at me. Thank you for listening and God bless.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
