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Column: On writing with death row inmates - by Christine Hasan
A
few days ago I received a very poignant poem from a friend of mine. It
gave me pause and set me thinking about what I have been doing for the
past few years! It is something that raises a few eyebrows and yet
brings so much pleasure and enrichment into my life. The poem very
succinctly expressed what a difference small gestures like mine, can
make in the lives of others. So what is it I do and why am I writing
about it? Well,
I write to around a dozen prisoners on Death Row in the I
say around a dozen as the number changes from time to time. One was
executed recently and another was eventually set free, when DNA evidence
proved that it wasn't him! Far
from all the horror stories that appear in magazines, the letters I
receive from my friends are full of life, powerful insights- sometimes
terrible news, but always humanity and friendship in equal parts. A
little prison humour creeps in along the way, like the time that one of
the prisoners wrote that I should tell my daughter (as a joke) "That
if she needs a husband from a famous family, I'm the one. My name is
famous as well. The day I was arrested the police, the FBI and the local
news all knew me and had my name and face all over television." Strangely,
writing to prisoners helps me with celebrating my own life. Just writing
everything down and explaining life here in When
people ask me how I can bring myself to write to a murderer, I often
point out that not everyone I write to has (due to the realities of the
American Justice system) committed a murder. I never discuss their cases
with them or go into details of what happened to get them where they
are. The individual I write to is the person he or she has become since
those terrible events and I am offering friendship to another human
being, not judgment. I
have been firmly against the Death Penalty for more than 40 years now
but that isn't a necessary position to hold if you want to write to a
prisoner. They will be more than happy to write and tell you why you
have got the punishment concept all wrong!!! It
takes courage and a commitment that much I can tell you. It is a
friendship for life- yours or the prisoners. They never know from one
day to the next when they are going to receive their execution notice.
Having to say "goodbye" to a friend and knowing the exact
moment when they will die is devastating. My greatest grief lay in
finding out too late that one of my friends had been executed as he had
kept it secret from me. As another prisoner put it "They have
recently been doing their job here at the prison, 3 people have died in
the past three months so life on Death Row isn't looking too good!" It
is really cruel to strike up a friendship and not continue it so it is
really important to think hard about what you are getting into. Your
letter will be read and re-read a hundred times. Snippets will be passed
down the cell block by word of mouth, giving others a glimpse of the
world outside. Of course they are read by the censors as well before the
prisoner even gets them, so you have a wide captive audience! Prison
life isn't all doom and glooms either. One of my pen pals in There
are lots of sites you can go to on the Internet that will put you in
touch with prisoners. The one that I
recommend for people truly wanting to make a difference in a
prisoner's life is the one you are accessing right now- www.
deathrowspeaks.info/ I
have never once received a letter from any of the prisoners named on the
site, or prisoners I have come into contact with via the site, which was
in any way a little strange or went beyond the bounds of true friendship. Writing
to these men and women has enriched my life and taught me not to be so
judgmental; and without ever forgetting the horrors that their actions
have wreaked on other's lives, to see prisoners as real people living in
unreal conditions. I know that I get more out of the mix than I have
ever put in. It is very life affirming to know that such a small gesture
as a weekly or monthly letter can make such a huge difference in
someone's life. I
started out writing to just two prisoners and my constantly growing
circle of prison friends has expanded from there. We
have so much to be grateful for in our lives and extending the hand of
compassion and friendship to someone whose life, for whatever reason,
didn't go the way ours did, seems to be a genuine way of saying "Thank
you" for all our blessings. I
hope I have motivated some of you to write to a prisoner. Even if you
think I have got it all wrong and they are not worthy of your compassion,
please do at least visit all parts of the Death Row Speaks web site,
before you convict me alongside the prisoners! Christine
Hasan Muharraq.
Please read Christine's letter to The Daily Mail!
Note from the webmaster: If there are more writers who would like to share their vision, story or ideas with the rest of us. Please contact Death Row Speaks by e-mail.
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