You got to surrenda?

by Antoine Gentle

Prison-cell-with-Christmas-wreath, You got to surrenda?, Abolition Now! Assembly Bill 109
Was for prison re-alignment
But it should have been
To end solitary confinement
State paying on consignment
To house us in the SHU
Where the conditions are sick
So we expose the truth
We’re despised for advocating
To publications like the Bay View
Now my 602s
Are trashed and disregarded
I’m subjected to abuse
For finishing what they started
Because my family dearly departed
And I have no outside support
They think no one will miss me
If my life is cut short
Retaliations of all sorts
Get me right back in court
They wanna take my release date
It seems like the truth in this country
Don’t hold no weight
County Public Defender’s Office
Will not fight nor litigate
They will not debate the negated
Nor contend so it’s reinstated
They almost permanently took my freedom!
But my pro-Black Brotha
Just taught me how to beat ‘em
Just taught me how to cheat ‘em
And still push my agenda
So just because you in captivity
Don’t mean you got to surrenda!

This poem is dedicated to those individuals who are currently and previously have been victims of this nation’s torture chambers, otherwise known to the rest of society as solitary confinement (called the SHU in California) – also to the ones who’ve paid the ultimate sacrifice for change. Your decision to give your life for this noble cause has NOT been in vain. My heart and utmost respects go out to your friends and family. To the rest of us still standing for something, continue to fall for nothing.

Send our brother some love and light: Antoine Gentle, G-31022, CSP, High Desert State Prison, D1-130, P.O. Box 3030, Susanville, CA 96127.