Before I go any further I would like to tell you a little about myself and what has brought me here today. I grew up in a small city outside of Baltimore, MD named Frederick. I am 32 yrs. old, have been locked up since I was 20yrs. old, and still have like 9yrs. to go. I am in the federal penitentiary for basically being in the "Drug game", but to be honest, it was my mindset that really put myself in this position. For years after being locked-up my thinking was still stuck in this warped reality and I had to lose someone truly special to me and hit "the bottom" to realize who I was and where I was going was not what I wanted to be.
"I am stronger because I had to be,
I am smarter because of my mistakes,
I am happier because of the sadness I've known,
and now wiser because I have learned"
(Unknown)
For many years after becoming aware of the errors of my ways I continued to accept the "Status quo" of "The system" and the mentality of the streets. I looked the other way to a lot of stuff and told myself "if they don't care then why should I?!" Of course when the conversations came my way I spoke up but I tended to try to stay away from them. People only know what they know from their experiences and the things they are taught by influences. So I contented myself to allowing the "Status quo" to go on without my voice. Until I realized that my staying quiet was as much of the problem as those knee deep in the game! How can those who only know what they know learn if we don't speak up? Our voice matters, I realized most!
Which has brought me here today speaking to you. I have decided to start writing and speaking up. I have decided to get in this program called "Challenge" that has really helped me build on myself and reach out to others. The program is a modified therapeutic community that focus' on a lot of the issues that are affecting us. Such as drugs, rational thinking errors, thought processes, anti-social behavior, community building, and negative information sources that are bias, give limited-selective facts, and not based on objective reality.
This program has given me the opportunity to discuss many of these problems with others, taught me that things don't have to be the way they are, given me the confidence to speak up and reach out, and the knowledge that I hold the power in every situation by the choices I make.
We also have a newsletter here where guys can write about topics that interest them and are positive and motivational towards change, thinking, problem-solving, etc... I am an editor on the newsletter board and use this resource to reach out to others and try to get them to think and ponder our situations (articles will be posted on the blog). I will not lie and say everyone is positive and wants change, not all do. But there is some good guys in here and because of the others we get stereotyped into their category and with them, laws are passed by congress and enforced by the F.B.O.P. that affects everyone!
My next step in trying to reach out has been to create this blog with the hope of creating a dialogue with members of society (you), discussing your concerns with how things are, things you have heard, bring awareness, and find solutions to problems that we together can start working to fix one step at a time!
I am new to this social media stuff and not sure exactly how it works.lol..:) if you have any ideas to help make this better and reach people please contact me and give me your advice. Also, if you are willing to spread the word and help start creating conversations on anything of concern I would greatly appreciate it. thank you and take care.
UBUNTU is a south African
phrase that means...
"I am who I am because of who we all are." UBUNTU,
Steven Stone
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