Prison and Spirituality

Prison and Spirituality

By Marvin X

Your mind is in prison.—Malcolm X

America is a prison house. We exist in the big yard where we are allowed a few liberties, otherwise known as zoozoos and whamwhams. We can walk and talk with friends, be with loved ones, go to the movies, attend a concert, but we are closely watched, our mail is read, phones tapped, and it has been like this for decades, ever since college when we were followed home each night. When we speak in public, agents are there. We see them, smell them, feel them, black devils with the vibe of hatred for Black. They take note of our comments, crowd reaction.

We are not terrorists, we only speak the truth. We have no weapons, no guns, no bombs, except the truth. When they want, we are taken from the big yard and put into the dungeon, handcuffed, feet chained. It was for some minor infraction, a traffic ticket or failing the tone test with an officer. One thing leads to another, a little thing becomes a big thing. There was a fight with an officer, a beat down. Thrown into a cell bleeding. There is court. There is no justice. The court is rigged. The judge said my crime was telling too much truth. I was taken away to prison. On the way into the prison I had smelled dead fish, but I would soon discover it was not dead fish I was smelling but dead nigguhs who were faking and playing games like they used to do in the big yard. They were dangerous. I had observed them in jail. They would snitch for a meal, extra food, the privilege of watching TV, especially dangerous were the dope fiends. They didn't want to hear any truth. They had me moved off the main line and put in a special section for truth tellers.

When I got into the prison, the warden sent for me. He said he just wanted to meet me, see if I had anything I needed. I said I needed to go home. He laughed. He said I need to stop telling the truth. It scares people. He had my report that people were afraid of me out in the big yard. They were afraid of losing their jobs if caught talking with me or reading my writings. He told me to let him know if I had any problem. I told him I would. I returned to my cell.

Some brothers asked me to meet with them on the prison yard. They held an election and said I was the minister of truth. Another brother was the secretary of truth and the third the captain of truth. We did not argue with the election results. We held our first meeting that Sunday in the chapel. A crowd of brothers came to hear what I had to say. They said it was the best truth they ever heard. But they knew I would not be there long. As soon as the truth meetings are organized, they transfer the minister of truth to another prison, so the brothers begged me to give up all the truth I had in the time I had. I did as they requested as I could see they were sincere and did not debate with me about what I knew.

My days were spent teaching truth. I studied also. Each dorm had a library near the entrance. Soon I had the best books in prison in my locker. The brothers said that any books on any subject could be found in my locker. I searched the prison main library also. All the books with good truth were marked contraband, but I did not care, I took them to my locker. But if found, I could get into trouble. I didn't care about trouble, I wanted truth.

When the truth meetings got too crowded, the warden called me in to tell me I was being transferred to another prison. He was sorry to see me go, but I had to go. I went back to my dorm and told the brothers goodbye. They were sad but they knew the game. Early that morning they came for me, chained my hands and feet and put me on the prison bus. The bus ride was just the beginning of a merry-go-round through the prison system so I could understand the price of truth and learn to shut up. Of course I would not shut up until death.

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Marvin X has given permission to Harvard University to publish his poem "For El Haji Rasul Taifa" from Love and War: Poems by Marvin X (1995). The poem will appear in The Encyclopedia of Islam in America Volume II, Greenwood Press, edited by Dr. Jocelyne Cesari of Harvard's Islam in the West Program. Mr. X is co-editor of the forthcoming anthology Muslim American

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posted 28 March 2008