FamilyEducation Blogs

November 9, 2009

A letter from my attorney

May 19, 1995

Dear Talia,

I was happy to receive your letter and hope that everything is going well for you. I’m sorry that it took a little while to write back to you, but my schedule has been as busy as ever. You seem to be adjusting OK and to be trying to make good use of your time at South Bay. [more]

September 10, 2009

Without fashion.

I remember when they took me to jail. They handcuffed me and put me in a patty wagon with other inmates. I ignored them; I was thinking about my daughter. When we reached the county jail, I was told that I had to take out my braids (with extensions) before they could send me to population. I sat in a cell and took out the braids. When I was finally done, my hair was short and padded. I was completely humiliated. It looked and felt like wool. [more]

September 9, 2009

Remembering.

The judge gave me a stay of execution to make living arrangements for my nine-month-old daughter, Porshai. Then I had to report back to the courthouse to be transported to the Suffolk County House of Corrections.

Before I left the courthouse I used a pay phone to call a Latina friend. "Gina, can you call Danny’s grandmother on the three-way for me?" I needed her to translate for me because Danny’s grandmother only spoke Spanish.

"Tell her I need a place to hide from the police. Ask her if I can stay with her."

"Hold on," Gina said. [more]

April 8, 2009

Him Reincarnated

As I waited for the bail magistrate in the police station’s lobby, I read the walls. A plaque honoring a fallen officer read, “Dear Lord, be good to me the sea is so wide and my boat is so small.” (An Irish fisherman’s prayer.)