Journey For Justice- The Law Made You a Criminal-

Reflections on the first stop- by Nora Callahan

posted at DrugWar.com October 17, 2002

We were moved quickly here and there in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas,
to great events and media interviews, but accompanied by a variety of
organizers and able to spend quality 'commuter time' with some; long
urban walks with others.

Shared meals, parking lot discussions, and event preparation periods
gave us time to get to know local organizers beyond email or phone
exchanges of the past. Chuck's and my deepest appreciation is extended to
those organizers in both directions of this Journey path-for all the
work you have done to prepare for our arrival.

At the vigil near Milan, an African American man slowed down and in
response to our banner message: There is no justice in the war on drugs,
he shouted out to us, "I hope you didn't just figure that out!"

Chuck drummed up contacts for informal "camp meetings" by asking the
kids in the hotel pool if they were visiting their daddies at the
prison. "We are here to talk with people about ending drug war
injustice."

One boy jumped out of the pool and said, "What do we gotta do? We're
here with our auntie." We met with her late in the evening; elderly with
a bad cold, she brought children of the family from Chicago to visit her
son, "Doing 20 years for 2 grams of crack. Had we known you were going
to be here, we'd have been outside at that vigil with you," she
promised.

At breakfast next morning, the cashier asked where we were from. We told
her, and added why we'd come to Milan, Michigan. Chuck went to the men's
room and the cashier whispered, "I was a junkie and they sent me to
prison. I got this job, and a few of us gals that work here have done
time on drugs. I'm a criminal, I know, but...."

"You have a treatable medical condition - the law made you a criminal,"
I told her.

She grabbed my hand for a moment, and said, "Thanks for telling me that
- I'll tell the others. Do you have any information you could give us?"

We do! We left it with her to share with others; and I take with me the
look in her eyes when I explained to her that sometimes laws are more
culprit than those who break it. There was a look of relief in her eyes
that will stay with me.

The Journey for Justice is in great part due to our extreme need for
relief from the injustice of the drug war. Our learning, by meeting the
war's victims, reveals the ubiquity of it. The war's casualties are all
around us.

I urged those at the UU event in Detroit to look inside the prisons that
are hidden in the cornfields. After meeting the recovering addict
cashier, I would add - look inside the souls of this war's victims. They
need relief!

We have online instructions for the vigil at the Federal Medical
Facility in Devens
(http://www.journeyforjustice.org/events.html#anchor2404092) - just
Northwest of Boston about 35-40 miles. This prison facility houses many
sick prisoners; many with HIV/AIDS, who are nonviolent, no threat,
under-treated; and should be released under present 'compassionate
release' that our laws provide for, but our prison officials won't press
for. To understand the nature of this terrible agony on prisoners and
their loved ones, please visit the story of Isidro Aviles, on the Wall
portion of our web site:
http://www.november.org/thewall/cases/aviles-i/aviles-i.html

Aerial photos of the prison, and graphics and other photos were provided
by the Massachusetts State Patrol that are working with us to make the
vigil 'successful and safe'. There are a lot of truckers that use the
highway through that area we were told.

Ray Brook Federal Correctional facility is our next event - a vigil and
'camp meeting'. This time we know how to find the relatives - visit
motel pools and cafes. November Coalition member Shirley Kessel told us
while meeting at Milan that we needed to go to the cheaper strip motels
to find our members.

Our strategy at Ray Brook will be to visit every area hotel/motel and
ask to place our brochure and meeting place and time on their counters.
We meet tomorrow with families to vigil and hold a 'camp meeting'. Ray
Brook prison is the only federal prison in the country that has not one
November Coalition member. The associate warden wants to meet with us
before the vigil with his questions - we have some questions to ask as
well.

One message we are driving home to our members is this: Sending annual
dues to have "Nora 'n Chuck" end the drug war isn't the way to think -
not now or ever. Hell will freeze over before that would happen. More
and more of us working together, building a movement of active people,
will result in reform. Dues help us do the work of leadership, but
thinking you are paying us to do the work - .... nope, get that out of
your heads. Take one or more projects, or organizing ideas we put out to
you, and work with us. We are in this - together. Network with others in
your community, become an active member in the movement to end the war
on drugs.

Visit http://www.JourneyForJustice.org - photos of Michigan events are
being posted and labeled now (see link below). Upcoming event details
for the northeastern portion of the journey can be found there.

We hope to find you on the Journey!
In Struggle,

Nora Callahan
nora@november.org
Executive Director, November Coalition