This has been a year where the golden rants from my soul
were not exclusive to my W2TM audience. Your support has been phenomenal, but
here is the other side of my expressions appearing on your screens:
On 12/18/14, Lynden Harris and her Hidden Voices team shared
an incredible holiday meal with us; string beans sautéed in a mouth-watering
sauce, sweet potato and egg plant pies, turkey, homemade chocolate chip
cookies, and dark chocolate that was so hard it had to be cut with a knife. Word is bond.
Lynden gave each of us gift-wrapped writing paper and ink
pens. Needless to say, these gifts
didn’t last long. I went through the
paper before spring was in the air, and I am writing this entry with a
state-issued BiC. Real talk.
It felt good to sit at a table eating with a fork and knife
while taking my time and engaging in some wholesome conversations with good
people.
We began the New Year with a project in which we created
individual life maps. My map resembles a
Monopoly board. I call it Concrete Exposure – a hard life. This exhibit – along with copies of our
Lethal Injection magazine – were featured at the Re-visioning Justice
Conference, at Vanderbilt University this past April. It was monumental!
Our exhibits were a hit, and caught the eye of a top tier
criminal defense attorney named Bryan Stevenson. In hindsight, I can clearly see it was
inevitable for he and I to share the same space. Feel me?
My Born Day (7/22/15) was simply incredible. I hailed victorious at our inaugural Story
Slam. I performed a piece called, Between the Lines. Telling a story about my teenage ambition to
win my first trophy caught the ears and eyes of accomplished writer/novelist,
Allan Gurganus, another golden moment where my soul was freed from
bondage. Ya heard?
On 8/17/15, I met Bryan Stevenson. I stood before him and performed one of the
most powerful pieces I have ever written.
The experience was surreal. I
stumbled over my words in the first stanza, but Reverend Ann Beck preached a
sermon the day before titled, “Redo.” And that is exactly what I did.
It felt like I fumbled the ball at my own first
yard line; recovered it; then ran the distance of 99 yards to “pay dirt.”
Everyone was screaming, touchdown!!
Afterwards, Bryan Stevenson autographed a copy of his book, Just Mercy, for me:
“To Leroy,
With respect,
appreciation and hope for justice. Keep
your eyes on the prize. Hold on!
Bryan Stevenson”
This holiday season is already something special for
me. The fall session began with six
students from Duke University being added to my creative writing Fam. We have been reading and discussing the
literary works of James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and M. Nourbese
Philip.
We are a circle of friends
defying the odds. Chris, Caleb, Megan,
David, Zack and Mike bring a presence to our class that is a gift wrapped in
words. Asante Sana my friends!
By the time this goes to press, six death row prisoners
(Team FFLOW) will share their lives in a play called, Serving Life. It is an incredible way to close out a
life-changing year. I’ll tell you all
about it in 2016. Happy Holidays!
One,
MannofStat
Copyright © 2015 by Leroy Elwood Mann
You haven't written too much on W2TM this year Leroy. But what you have passed on has been special. Enjoy the writing group.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy knowing that I got to share some part of your 2015 year with you and the other men. You all are such a gift in my life and I will be forever grateful:)
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm not ruining the surprise of your play, Leroy but I couldn't help sharing about it:
ReplyDeleteThis last December, I was lucky enough to witness something truly special. For weeks, maybe months, six of the men on death row (team FFLOW) had been writing, memorizing and rehearsing their own play called, “Serving Life,” and on that Tuesday, they performed the entire play as a dress rehearsal for other guys on death row, and I was part of the creative writing group that got to watch. Transforming one of the unused pods on death row into a theater, the men acted out the performance of their lives. The experience of watching these men perform the play was beyond anything I have ever seen before. Through the play, they wove their individual stories together from childhood, through to their sentencing, and days on death row. They confronted their own demons of drugs, guns, mental illness, violence and alcohol. They opened up about the abuse, oppression and racism they have been victimized by and the depravity of prison. And through it all, they shone out their humanity and the life that exists in those spaces where death is constantly trying to control them.
The “curtain” closed with the team FFLOW coming together arm over shoulder and presenting a final encouragement: “live every day in the present - the now.” Now this is a message I had heard before, but who is saying it, and to whom, dynamically changes the message. When hollywood actors and big-name celebrities preach this message to middle-class white folks like me, it lands on its audiences ears as a cliché of privilege. It is not hard to “live in the now” when you reside in a safe suburban neighborhood and have a well-paying job. But when men on death row are encouraging one another to “live in the now,” they are covertly opposing the powers that are telling them that they are going to “die soon.” It was a communal message of resistance.
I witnessed something in December that I have never witnessed so plainly before. I witnessed hope in the midst of darkness, freedom in the midst of oppression, joy in the midst of despair, life in the midst of death. Through their brilliantly written and performed play, “Serving Life,” their stories were tattooed on my heart and will live with me wherever I go.
I am so happy I got to be part of this year with you and pray there will be many more:)
ReplyDelete