by Bednango Harper
Not that it really matters, but I nd myself very, very, very disturbed by many of the things that I have witnessed during this time. I hope and I pray that this will be the last time that I will ever be incarcerated. I’ve grown to suspect that my incarceration was preordained by my higher power as a sacri cial expenditure for me to gain the costly knowledge of which is to measure the priceless value of my freedom by.
When I look around this room, and I draw upon all that I have come to know and all that I believe in. I envision the limited yet limitless potential of men who must endure the inescapable frustrations of prison life while they still at least try to maintain a reasonable level of sanity. That commands a great exercising of one’s will.
I’ve witnessed untapped and immense reserves of unmistakable talent in music, art, poetry and athletics, just to name a few, and sadly, many of these talents will remain untapped in the stagnating reserves of prisons, simply because there are no positive outlets they can be channeled into.
It’s a waste of human potential, a terrible waste, and it disturbs me greatly! I hope and pray that you brothers, red, yellow, black, white, or brown, will use this time wisely and constructively, and direct what you will learn from it to just person when you are released from here—just one—and instill in them the knowledge that this (prison) is not the way.
It won’t be easy to resist the temptations that could quite possibly lead you back here once you are released. Resisting temptation never has been and never will be easy. On that, all I have to say is that resisting temptation is much easier to do than time.