Dear Maddy,

Hi I received your letter. Thank you for taking the time to contact me and for the efforts of you and your organization. Below you will find the answers to those five questions that were included in your correspondence. Take care and keep up the fight. 

In Solidarity,
Tony 

1. At the present time I am not working. I am devoting all my time and effort to winning my freedom. In the past, I have “worked” in the inmate commissary, on the inside grounds crew, and in the law library. At the time, I didn’t mind working because it provided me with certain opportunities. I especially took advantage of the opportunity to work in the law library because it put me in a position to help other inmate with their cases. One of the things I find totally distasteful about being given a job is the almost worshipful appreciation some expect you to show and never stop showing. I also hate the lack of loyalty supervisors show their workers, i.e, an unwillingness to stand up for them, even when the worker is in the right. 

2. I would want someone who hasn’t been incarcerated to know that prison slavery is real and that I have seen those who succumb to it begin to think and feel that it is a blessing. Such a mindset will hinder any and all efforts at freedom. 

3. Obviously, when I read the Abolition Amendment it is a constant reminder of how far we have yet to go, not just in prison, but society as well. It is indicative of this nation’s desire to hold onto the vestiges of a past where one class of people remain supreme to another based on skin color.   

4. Yes. I would be interested in becoming an active member of the campaign. I believe my talents lie in writing first and oratory (spokesperson) second. Please inform me as to what membership would entail.

5. No. We do not have a prison radio show that we can listen to.