I could have wrote this piece about two years ago, but it was not the right time to put this out there. People out her in this world spend years of there lives juggling home, work, school, kids, extracurricular activities all while trying to pursue there degree. Whether it is a BA, BS, AAS, Masters, or a Doctorate they spend years of their lives putting in the work necessary to achieve a level and status in life that takes maybe 20 or plus more years. In the process of getting these valuable letters behind their names,a certain arrogance of arrival comes with it that is masked by a confidence called achievement. They may not know everything, but what they do know they will find out. As is the case of one of the Defendants in my civil suit against Columbus Technical College. Here is an individual with a Doctorate in Education, multiple years of experience as an educator, and a very good grasp of the community and the people who inhabit that community, but she did not know anything about due process of law dealing with a disciplinary. When one has those letters behind their name it says that they have not only put in the credit hours at school, but that they have maintained a not so easy lifestyle while juggling the problems of that lifestyle along with school. When one is about to receive their Masters or Doctorate they must write a thesis, and that thesis is graded with such scrutiny both before and after the receipt of the degree, that the individual can be stripped of that degree and dragged through a long drawn out legal process that starts in the administrative phase and ends up in the Supreme court of the United States. I have read countless cases where individuals had written their thesis, and years later was stripped of that very degree. The taken of the degree came after they had celebrated, bragged, and received much acknowledgement and respect for their accomplishment(s). To spend ten or twenty years of one's life only to be robbed of everything you have every worked for. 10 to 20 for what?
In April of 2006 I was locked in a one-man cell, in the lock-up, at St. Claire Correctional Facility. This was the night that Stanley "Tookie" Williams was finally executed for the crime that he committed. Here was a man that paved many paths for an individual like myself as well as many others. I never knew about Tookie until I read about him in a Source magazine in that same lock-up, but he was only a number in a system designed to destroy the very core of who we are. "Big Took" was a tiger to me, but to the guards at the Facility in CDC where he was at, he was inmate number, fill in the blank. This man was one of the founders of the "Crip" gang as well as, the gang lifestyle in Los Angeles, or the "Gangs of L.A.". From the Black Panthers to the explosion of what is now known as the present day "West Coast" lifestyle the streets for African-Americans is our greatest education. How to cut-up crack cocaine in nickles, dimes, and twenties. How many grams in an ounce, how many ounces in a bird, what is a bird, brick, or a cake. Math at its finest. I guess english came when I had to read those papers that the police had me sign when they arrested me or when the bondsman came to bond me out. I guess I became well versed in criminal law when I began my journey through the court system fighting drug, assault, and weapons charges. Finally when I arrived in the penitentiary, you only have time on your hands so when you are not fighting for yours, then you are engulfed in a book. The Holy Qur'an, The Parsifal Mosaic, a Federal or State reporter. Bo Lozoff said that we are all doing time, but it takes people in prison maybe six months to learn and obtain what some people in the world strive for in a lifetime. My Alabama Inmate Serial(AIS#) number is 185830. Even though it is not something to brag or boast about, believe me it is not, those numbers represent a degree that was obtained through being sentenced to hard labor and forced isolation in a penal system.
Who is better, the person with the numbers behind their name? or the person with the letters behind their name. Scenario! A 47-year old woman with 3 kids ranging from ages 3 to 9. Her husband is a full-time sub-contractor. She is in the process of writing her thesis, so that she may receive her Masters. What are the downside to this? What is the upside to this. Scenario! A 41 year old man has finished doing a total of 25 years on and off. 5 the first time, 8 the second, 10 the last time. He started going back and forth to prison when he was 16. He has been with the same girl every since. He has 4 kids by her. He was locked up for drugs and assaults. He is out for good this time, but he is selling drugs, lives in a very lavish house with several cars, loving family, a great reputation on the hood and with the community. Makes business investments in legitimate ventures. What is the down side to this? What is the upside to this? My answer to the first scenario is a question. Is the woman truly happy with the totality of her life? My answer to the second scenario is will this guy every get caught and go back to prison for drugs?
These are only scenarios and questions, but you decide Numbers v. Letters. Some fail at the expense of others success while others succeed at the expense of others failure. You decide which is better, which is the truth.
