Years ago, I witnessed an argument between Eddie Ellis, a prison reform visionary and a former Black Panther who had spent 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit (his real crime, what he got locked up for, was being an extraordinarily effective community organizer), and a younger White man who eventually, being out-argued, yelled, “You’re not respecting me, Eddie! You’re not respecting me!” I was speechless, and if I could have recovered in time to say anything it would probably have been, “Do you have any idea what a bad name you’re giving to White male supremacy?” Eddie did not go there. Instead, in his famously gravelly voice, he said, “I am respecting you. I’m respecting you by telling you the truth.”
That’s how it works. If I have enough presence of mind when I’m hesitant to speak up, I ask myself, Is this my body telling my mouth to shut up, or is this a moment for some courage? The standard questions still apply: “Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said now? Does it need to be said by me?” If the answer is “Yes,” calmness ensues, and it’s suddenly surprisingly easy to say what I mean, mean what I say, and not say it mean. The truth spoken in a calm tone of voice doesn’t just have power, it is power.
Here’s something that could be fun: using our imagination to change our minds about what’s possible. The writer and activist V has said that when she asks the people in her audiences to imagine a world without violence, about half of them say that they can’t. That says to me that half can. Years ago, a vision of Israel-Palestine at peace, with all the people there living together in equality and harmony, awoke me to the realization that maybe, if we can just imagine it, we can open a door in our own minds, and then maybe, going forward, in the minds of others, until finally we can make that vision a reality. So how about imagining peace, safety, and harmony in our communities without police armed to the teeth? How about imagining the abolition of prisons and the creation of restorative-justice modalities? How about imagining the end of the War on Drugs and the beginning of treating drug addiction as a disease—which it is—with help and support available for everyone, and drugs administered in a safe setting where they are legal, so that the drug trade as we know it can just collapse, and with it, most of the carceral system? How about imagining universal health care, with a transformation of the school-to-prison pipeline into a school-to-healthcare-professions pipeline? How about imagining decent, affordable housing for everyone? We can have all those things, and more besides. They are, in fact, our birthright.
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