tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938318827340487842024-02-19T07:22:17.393-08:00Otisville & Vassar Bridging the Gap: The Reunion 2010marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-26494470346804381972011-07-24T15:47:00.000-07:002011-07-24T15:47:40.248-07:00Is this the end??I have word that DOCS wants to discontinue wants to end the dialogue programs at Otisville and GreenHaven because of an article I wrote in the Vassar publication "Tapping the Bars" in 2009. Is this the end? We cannot let this happen! Let's mobilize...mobilize...mobilize.marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-90909842264584880642010-04-26T13:34:00.001-07:002010-04-26T13:34:11.697-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHggJg-JH0Kl79T2eJ8U4FSP38GUv0tflH_aPotDY0M_CECszQh3zqGglQ_A2LRUUaMJgrQISqSdODXrx_yO-L6PSVXTWd0lZex3rtObkC7d1lCgxfa5RMw79ErJpoNJ6hBhsT4UeY-Y/s1600/Bridging+the+Gap+00031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHggJg-JH0Kl79T2eJ8U4FSP38GUv0tflH_aPotDY0M_CECszQh3zqGglQ_A2LRUUaMJgrQISqSdODXrx_yO-L6PSVXTWd0lZex3rtObkC7d1lCgxfa5RMw79ErJpoNJ6hBhsT4UeY-Y/s320/Bridging+the+Gap+00031.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-49216759745013627792010-04-26T13:14:00.001-07:002010-04-26T13:14:44.533-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_wbFU3b8v9-7VgH5y3AaONbGZ1QytibHdBjZUORwM96mUqpe-gn40j4fAo-j1XNucA-PXZmoveqsNoSvg9ceIsdMB7tQk9K7bKh-jTdQMPAi45w8z9eh5kx3vRJ872o5KdyWR2QKf4k/s1600/Bridging+the+Gap+00018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_wbFU3b8v9-7VgH5y3AaONbGZ1QytibHdBjZUORwM96mUqpe-gn40j4fAo-j1XNucA-PXZmoveqsNoSvg9ceIsdMB7tQk9K7bKh-jTdQMPAi45w8z9eh5kx3vRJ872o5KdyWR2QKf4k/s320/Bridging+the+Gap+00018.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-36178269200734159152010-03-29T21:33:00.001-07:002010-03-29T21:33:46.953-07:00Going to the Green Haven/Vassar/Otisville Reunion on Saturday and the Fancy Broccoli Show on Sunday. See you there...marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-65016741475844938142009-05-25T18:44:00.000-07:002009-05-25T18:45:10.275-07:00Floetry Friday Spring '09Wondering why you come from there to here<br />From here to there.<br />Why take that van ride?<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot 3 inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why spend your best years in places with men that should be feared? <br />Caused tears. Nothing sincere. <br />Yet you're here.<br />Why aren't you scared?<br />Why take that van ride?<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot 3 inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why come where I can't trust all smiles by my peers?<br />The stares, glares, jeers, A-1's, murderers, burglars<br />Doing years.<br />Even my fam and best friends don't come here.<br />Why take that van ride?<br />Why come here from there?<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in a cot maybe 3 inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why be where the blue coats indict you for no crime<br />And untrusting eyes suspect naivete in your thighs,<br />Objectified for your whispering eye<br />By conniving eyes of all kinds.<br />Why come here from there<br />And there from here?<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot about three inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why? Por que?<br />Why be where insincere thoughts invalidate your brains<br />for your perceived potential to give them.<br />Insincere smiles,<br />Grins and smirks in your faces<br />By those in quasi-safe spaces.<br />Why take that van ride?<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot probably three inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why be where hypocritical critics<br />Crack a smile in your face and <br />"Cracker" you behind it.<br />Why be where you're manipulated to contribute to my dehumanization by<br />NO HANDSHAKING.<br />Why fight to bridge gaps where planted engineers,<br />Ingenuine peers, and silent termites backbite.<br />Despite--<br />Despite--<br /><br />Despite that three hour van ride from here to there and there to here.<br />Thoughts in my head as I lay in a cot that I think is three inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why be where most don't care for fear of judgmental stares by fearful peers?<br />Why?<br />Why be where they do all they can to deter you from here by<br />BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE.<br />Never substantiated, but BEWARE-ILLUSIONS.<br />Probably internal vices and closeted BEWARES<br />of the days when they were your years.<br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot that is two or three inches too short for me.<br /><br />Why do you come from there to here.<br />From here to there.<br />Where whispering campaigns reign,<br />Distrust plagues, and<br />Criminality reinforced<br />By subliminal blames.<br />Why?<br /><br />Thoughts in my head while laying in my cot three damn inches too short for me.<br />Why come here?<br />Why take that van ride?<br />Why...<br /><br />Answered in three simple words...<br /><br />... Because you care.<br /><br />TO: <br />Loyal Lucy, Hungry Hensleigh, Sassy Sara, Stupendous Shari, Dynamic Dorien, All-Star Alea, Energetic Eva, Yappy Yael, Ubulant Joanna, Laughing Lauren, Lively Liz, Stellar Stephanie. My BTG fam Spring '09 and beyond...<br /><br />Thanks for "coming here" :)marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-32820098834436409902008-11-07T08:41:00.000-08:002008-11-09T19:12:14.788-08:00More Floetry Friday poems"Cliff of the Unknown" - By Katya<br /><br />- Dedicated to my brothers at Otisville, who have inspired me and helped me on my journey as much as I have for them. From Katya, with peace, hope, and love...<br /><br />I stand at the Cliff of The Unknown,<br />Tired toes curling over the edge,<br />I'm trembling.<br />A black canvas awaits me.<br />So empty and stark, I shiver at the vastness of it all.<br />What am I to do with this?<br />Have I learned anything?<br /><br />Am I that same child,<br />Precise with her movements, but with her words wild?<br />Her mind filled chaos<br />Unable to focus, the unconscious takes over.<br /><br />Buddha once told me<br />That my own thoughts, unguarded,<br />would harm me more than my worst enemy.<br /><br />Can that be? I am my own prisoner?<br />A slave to my emotions, they tell me how to live,<br />they tell me how to be.<br /><br />My thoughts circle hastily, incessantly,<br />wrapping around and around, over and under<br />suffocating my brain, till I slip asunder.<br /><br />I'm slipping over the edge of the cliff now,<br />Slipping into that black hole of... what?<br />As I am falling, wind rushes past my ears<br />And I hear God whisper to me...<br /><br />You are all possibility.<br />The infinite number of atoms in motion,<br />Of raindrops that fall and become the ocean.<br /><br />You are<br />The infinite possiblity of lovers tenderly<br />entwined with dreams of the future as they fall asleep.<br /><br />Of how long the sun and moon will be<br />inclined to play their game of hude and seek.<br />You are already everything, don't ever quit.<br />Possibility is as wide as the space you create for it.<br /><br />Then I realize, God is me.<br />The weight I have borne at the center of my heart was the universe,<br />throbbing, calling to me to acknowledge my part.<br />All my pain and suffering because I just <br />couldn't see that I, myself, can set myself free.<br /><br />My eyes closed, arms outstretched<br />towards the world.<br />I am now weightlessness, wings carry me<br />upon the wind gently.<br /><br />I fly away<br />towards possibility.marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-27509487823255904222008-11-04T15:03:00.000-08:002008-11-07T08:41:53.308-08:00Poems from Floetry Friday Over the Years"I AM!" - By Monte Massey, Esq.<br /><br />First and foremost I am me<br />I am prosperity that engages adversity on<br />every battlefield and he who never leaves<br />the premises with nothing less than a victory.<br /><br />I am music!<br />A sweet melody that resonates<br />melodically within the eye of a hurricane-- <br />Don't worry, please let it rain.<br /><br />Because I am shelter!<br />He who can protect you from the<br />harshest weather because my skin is<br />tough leather, but yet soft like silk.<br /><br />I am a quilt!<br />Built precisely for you to rest your head<br />upon/when you for a brief moment are no<br />longer feeling strong and not because you are weak.<br />But!<br />Simply because you needed a rest.<br /><br />I am restitution!<br />Paying back a debt to society that<br />refuses to create preemptive solution<br />towards issues that are drastically<br />afflicting our children.<br /><br />I am the future, past, and present!<br />Symbolic to a petty peasant whose <br />thoughts were once reminiscent to the<br />foulest rubbish that could ever flow into<br />a gutter, but my brothers and sisters<br />have helped this pretty peasant to become<br />more effervescent so it's only destiny<br />that I now travel in a different direction.<br /><br />Because you see, I am a vision!<br />A poet painting lexiconic pictures and<br />leaving fixtures of prisms kinetically<br />placed upon your wisdom so therefore you<br />can see through all of the lies that they<br />create within the walls of these prisons.<br />Can ya' feel me?<br />Good!<br /><br />Because I am also love!<br />A manifestation of how each and every<br />one of you choose to define me.<br />But let me remind thee that loving me<br />temporarily is no longer satisfactory so<br />choose carefully when choosing to indulge<br />in me because...<br /><br />I am addictive!<br />Similar to Tylenol/codeine/morphine shot<br />in the vein of your elite seal team in Iraqi land<br />Or better yet Afghanistan, I am frivolous<br />with my way of life so you can call me an <br />American<br />But please understand...<br /><br />That my I am is genuine<br />A true composition of the man I am<br />God like I am<br />Made in his exact image I am, so original <br />I am.<br />Came into the world in the form of I am.<br />A born again I am, spreading the word of <br />love amongst the people who are in<br />desperate need just like I am.<br />The blood of my blood I am.<br />The flesh of my flesh I am.<br />Three days from now you can resurrect<br />these words into your mind and even then<br />in subconscious form I will appear before <br />you I am.<br />So!<br />In the end I am everything that I say <br />that I am.<br />The epitome of I am.<br />Because I am the I am of all I am.<br />The who, what, no matter where i am,<br />No need to ask how I am.<br />When I am performing at the best of I am,<br />and if you have to ask why I am the way that I am?<br />Then (psst!) you, must not have been listening!<br /><br /><br />"A Reflection" - By Heide Bruckner<br /><br />Man, this is scary<br />Standing up in front<br />With all this anticipation.<br />Eyes big, wide open with grand<br />expectation of hearing an insight<br />Or some inner fight<br />That I have waged within my heart,<br />My mind, my body, my soul.<br /><br />What I CAN offer is a few words.<br />Reflections<br />Of how my conception of what is<br />Wrong, right, violent, immutable,<br />irrefutable, secret<br />Has changed.<br />Is changing.<br /><br />These big ideas rearranging<br />From one simplified puzzle of dualities<br />To the overlapping, overmapping, overarching<br />Themes of the human experience.<br /><br />How mainstream thinking of prison<br />Has become in itself an "ism" --<br />A way of isolating and categorizing<br />And pretending that security exists<br />Even when inequality persists.<br />Violence not of the individual fist<br />But of a system which largely fails itself.<br />Fails to educate or empower or <br />address the root of this<br />Messy, gnarly, knotted overgrown shrub<br /><br />Of personal, structural, community relations<br />That cannot be redressed<br />By pruning its "unsightly ends."<br />By thinking a sort of lock-up can<br />completely mend<br />The lack of water, poor soil, no sun<br />Which has caused the green from<br />these leaves to run<br />As far away as possible.<br /><br />Come back, green life-giving <br />nourishment<br />Not rhgouh green pants or green<br />camo or other establishments<br />That the very balance<br />Can only be restored when the talents<br />Of all are recognized and legitimized,<br />Not marginalized , ostracized, or<br />criminalized.<br /><br />By now I am less scared of reading<br />About the ways of reseeding<br />This shrub. It must grow tall and<br />Strong, interwoven, and supportive.<br /><br />I am less scared because I am here<br />with you who are here<br />Like everyone class in Fridays past.<br />Because I'm in a room full of all of us<br />as peers,<br />Because of this, I have lost my fear.marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-793831882734048784.post-34843849629892702312008-10-10T07:49:00.000-07:002008-10-11T12:27:53.522-07:00Otisville & Vassar: Bridging the GapOtisville Correctional Facility in Otisville, New York. Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. A 1 1/2 hour drive. Two very different institutions of higher education. One, a school of liberal arts. The other, a school of hard knocks and those knocked hard. One where the age range is 18-22. The other, 35-55. One where razor wire stifle in mostly Black and Latino men. The other where gothic buildings cradle mostly white men and women within its bubble. One where the lives of do or die Bedstuy's lives lie. The other where do or die Bedstuy was seen on MTV or heard in a Biggie rhyme.<br /><br />Cultural chasms.<br />Polar points<br />Society's regurgitated <br />Society's most hopeful<br />Otisville<br />Vassar<br /><br />"Let Me Take My Hoodie Off"- by Marlon Peterson<br />Let me take my hoodie off<br />Let me take my hoodie off<br /><br />Bridging gaps/<br />See you can't stop it.<br />See/<br />When you sit here every week<br />And they sit here every week<br />And we sit here every week<br />We become us<br />And, see, we can never be weak<br />can you dig it?<br /><br />Even when they portray us as son of a guns/<br />in here b/c of guns<br />intentions to leave and pick up guns<br />Assuming we can't wait to corrupt, cajole, connive<br />Pollute and program their young white ones<br />minds<br />Yeah, same ole' song<br /><br />Us- the crooks<br />Us- the criminals<br />Us- the con artists<br />Us- the drug dealers<br />Us- the murderers<br /><br />You- the rich<br />You- the innocent<br />You- the right<br />You- the white<br />Miconceptions<br />wrong or right<br />Gaps<br />Bump that, we bridged that<br />Even though you don't want that.<br /><br />Now, <br />We ain't all right.<br />Some I won't trust in the still of the night,<br />Without a lamp, a flashlight, or God's might<br />I ain't painting pictures that ain't right<br />Deceiving the masses about<br />"It ain't fair"<br />"the system put me here"<br />"I don't deserve to be here"<br />blaming everyone else for everything else<br />ignoring that that the answers and the blame<br />the questions and the shame<br />lied within self.<br /><br />Gaps bridged!<br /><br />See,<br />I ain't here to complain,<br />Just make it plain<br />Like the NOI proclaim<br />"That's right, brother minister"<br /><br />See, I ain't here to preach<br />Just bridge<br />I ain't here to sneak<br />Just bridge<br />I ain't here to freak <br />Just bridge<br />I ain't here to do what you expect me to-<br />Which is fail<br />I bridge <br />Just bridge<br /><br />When they claim that all we do is play?<br />See, that can't be true.<br />I've seen brother Roc cry- parole after his 5th try<br />Determined "D" hug a guy<br />Young Anna recite & cry<br />Nice Nini sigh<br />Outstanding Oscar raise his ever radical fist to the sky<br />Victorious ask for advice<br />Serious Black morph into Rigorous Rob<br />Super Steph mature b4 my eyes<br />Jazzy J inspire me to write<br />Diversified open up my eyes<br />Courageous Chris show why she's wise<br />And saw Sara smile 1...2...3...<br />All the time<br /><br />Seen hip hop on trial b4 Oprah tried<br />Immigration<br />PTA meetings<br />Parole mockeries<br />Discussions on HIV<br />FUN AND GAMES!<br /><br />That's all you see?!<br />That's all you see?!<br />Nah, that's what you want to see<br /><br />Like Bush huntin' WMDs<br />El Sun trying to convince me that Macy Gray is sexy<br />Or Dreaming that girl Beyonce will be visiting me<br />after she dumps Jay-Z<br />Hey, that could happen<br /><br />The point is:<br />See,<br />What you see are perversions within thee<br />Exaggerated to the highest degree<br />Fantasies of your inequity<br />Mixed with apprehension of frivolty<br /><br />Based on what?<br /><br />Our impeccable record of integrity?<br />Our dedicated dignity?<br />Our desire to empower others green<br />Enlightening those still young & green<br />While bringing them together with those that do quarterlies<br />All for $13 or $14 every two weeks<br />Worth the gray hairs--hardly<br />But we do it--<br />Daily--weekly--monthly<br />Don't compliment me<br />Just respect me<br /><br />See,<br />When you sit here every week<br />And they sit here every week<br />And we sit here every week<br />We become us despite all the dust<br />Despite all the fuss<br />The accusations & the distrust<br />Denials and disapprovals<br />A common unity is built<br />Bridges are built so strong--<br />Foundations so strong<br />I'm talking titanium strong<br />Benching 310 lbs strong<br />Real love strong<br />Can you dig it?<br /><br />Let me put my hoodie back on<br />Let me put my hoodie back on<br /><br />Inspired by the Vassar/Green Haven at Green Haven Correctional Facility started by Lawrence H. Mamiya, Ph.D. over 30 years ago, the Bridging the Gap program has created its own legacy. Started in 2005, this program has impacted my life enormously. It has empowered many, invigorated, inspired, excited, & incited social justice active-ism.<br /><br />It has allowed me to see the world from behind a cage. More importantly it has allowed the world to see the PEOPLE within.<br /><br />How?<br /><br />The range of creativity & subject matter we use minimizes the socioeconomic differences between the two communities-- Otisville and Vassar. When we are able to acknowledge our differences and realize how minimal they are to our many similarities, we gain a sense of community-- a common unity.<br /><br />'bridge' - (noun) a transitional passage connecting two subjects or movements<br /><br />Everyone is in constant transition, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually. This program has linked individuals who probably wouldn't otherwise have a conversation with one another because of differences in locale, age, and yes, race. Because of this unique opportunity, minds once closed have been bridged, and we know that bridges expand land-- in this case we have expanded social bridges.<br /><br />The BTG community offers you the opportunity to read-- to get a glimpse of what social engineers can do amid prison walls. <br /><br />BIG SHOUT OUT TO MONTE "DIVERSIFIED DIVINE" MASSEY. WITHOUT YOUR CREATIVITY, PASSION, 7 VOLATILITY THERE WOULD BE NO BTG. WHERE YOU ARE REMEMBER:<br />"Therefore we do not give up, but even if the man we are outside is wasting away, certainly the man we are inside is being renewed from day to day". 2 Cor. 4:16 (You've been blessed with a burden).marlon pens.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11789883398129171096noreply@blogger.com0