I love Islam and cream soda

I’ve always believed you don’t owe explanations to anyone. The people who walk with you don’t need them. And the people who don’t were never going to believe you anyway. That belief has guided me for most of my life—especially in moments when silence would’ve been more convenient, but truth was more necessary. Survival Is Not a Secret In 2020, I was shot multiple times with .40 caliber bullets by my ex-wife’s boyfriend, at her direction. I’ve never hidden that fact. Not because I enjoy reliving it, and not because I’m trying to shock anyone—but because survival is part of my story, and witnesses don’t erase chapters to make other people comfortable. I didn’t treat that moment as the end of my life. I treated it as another chapter in a long story of resilience, refusal, and survival. That honesty made some people uncomfortable. I didn’t—and don’t—care. Silence has never been my role. Witnessing is. When Chaos Escalates After the shooting, the harassment continued the way it ...

For several reasons might voting in this year's midterm elections. I was proud to have voted in a state with the second highest percentage of voter turnout. Colorado trailed only Minnesota, who I was happy to see voted another Muslim into Congress. On the candidate front, two races were of interest to me: governor and Atty. general. I voted for the victorious Jared Polis mostly because walker Stapleton was an offshoot of his races grandfather (I did not know Polis was gay, and that is the point, is it not?) Stapleton touted a policy of stripping funding from schools to use torch prisons - a policy of doubled-dipped racism. The woeful state of education in our country is a consequence of white rage over school desegregation, and the cancerous growth of incarceration is a product of similar origin, aimed to steer blacks and other minorities out of mainstream society. I voted against George Brauchler running for the Atty. General in response to his malicious over prosecut...

While locked down fighting (and beating) a frame-up, I read books and did pull-ups... Here's what I polished off in 10 months (Feb-Dec '18) *disclaimer, I absolutely did indeed read every title listed. Aries Decision (Ludlum/Mills) White Rage (Carol Anderson)  must read! Black Pain (T. Williams) Rules of Betrayal Naughtier Than Nice Anthology of American Poetry (Rita Dove) Aces High

When an inmate gets out of prison, it is a rebirth - and there are questions they confront in order to start a new life.  One of the most important ones is, "Where am I going to live?"  As a society, we have no idea of the reality that the majority of inmates get out of prison and that they will become our neighbors. I know this - because I was that inmate, and I am now "that neighbor".