A Letter to All the 12 Year Olds Out There...Good comes from Good and Bad comes from Bad

I was asked by a friend of mine to write a letter to all the 12 year old boys out there. I really have no idea what to write. I didn't know how to start it and I didn't even think I had anything they would want to hear. And why should they? What do I have to tell them? Then I thought, I have much to tell them! After what I've done. Where I have been. What I've seen. I can tell them not to do what I did. Not to come here, so they don't have to see and experience everything I have over these 34 years.

Dear 12 year-old,

     I may be innocent of what they put me here, but I didn't follow the rules and I didn't follow directions. It created a path I never want another to follow. So first thing you should know-, enjoy being a kid! Enjoy the growth you are about to go through. You are in a place they call tween; between being a kid and teenager.You are in a special place. Still dreaming. Still in awe and still curious. Still realizing your importance. And you are important to this world! 

     Next thing you should know-good or bad, your decisions now will have an impact on your world, and the path you set will be your journey.Knowing right from wrong,how you treat people, being respectful, being a good person, following directions and the rules of society, will keep on the right path.Some of you will be fighters, and will fight to right wrongs of the world. I applaud you. Some of you will be doctors, lawyers, or teachers. A worthy pursuit. That's the fun part of it. Right now you can choose to become anything you want to be. And with the proper direction, you will. It will come. 

     You already know the difference between a good and bad direction. If I took you to a cliff and told you jump,you know that's not a direction you should go. Anything that will bring you harm is never a good direction to go.The same with following the rules.If your Mom tells you to make your bed, and that is one of her rules, you know she will be happy if you do it and unhappy if you don't. Good never comes from breaking the rules.You are learning all this now. Good comes from good and bad comes from bad.

     Please know that at 12 years old, you are making decisions that will follow you through your life. As important as that is, don't grow up too fast. When its time to make your impact on this world, you will...And it will be a grand impact. I don't want you to ever feel what you do now and throughout your life won't be important. Everything you do will be important. You are important. Don't ever allow anyone to tell you you can't do something. Don't ever allow anyone to distract you from what you want to be.Do not be afraid to take on what you want to take on.The world is your stage. Your life is your dance. And I hope you always dance...


Sincerely,

Someone who cares...Arthur

My Greatest Teachers

When you think of your teachers in life that taught you something you think of people.One teacher from my past that I will never forget was Ms.Maxwell. Back in the day for some reason our teacher carried over from first second to third grade I had Ms.Maxwell.She was an older lady with the kindest voice. I remember her because she taught me that no one was dumb and that you could do anything if you tried. All through school I did exactly that.I was never an A+ student, but my grades were good enough to get me into Cleveland State University. Even though I ended up quitting, throughout life I never felt dumb, whatever I faced in life.Ms.Maxwell I will never ever forget...

My Mom was one of my great teachers.She wasn't the hugging type, but she taught me about love.I believe that is one of my greatest assets--knowing how to love, how to allow myself to be loved. Everything important comes from the people who love me, who I love. The love my Mom taught me got me through the hardest parts of my life; losing her and my time on death row. If I didn't have the loving background I grew up in I would have disappeared into this darkness, never to be seen again. I learned to appreciate love because of my Mom.

My greatest teacher is not a person I can name. My greatest teacher is the last 34 years of my life sitting in prison for a murder I didn't commit. It has taught me a patience. I probably would have never otherwise learned this. It has also taught me humbleness and respect.Things I should have learned anyway, but didn't until this happened to me. 

People often come to realize things when they lose it or its taken away.You don't realize how beautiful a sunbeam really is watching it cross a wall. Or a breath of air that goes missing for years. Have you ever really sat and just watched the sun go down? Or felt the joy of the rain and not the misery?

Do you now stand in front of the microwave having a conversation with it because you just can't wait for that last 4 seconds to be done? Patience, Love Humbleness. If you give life the respect it deserves, no matter the outcome, it is truly your greatest teacher. And you can say you were taught well. Now I just want to put that wisdom out in the world. I want to share what my teachers taught me.

Stay blessed and Stay Prayed up,

Arthur

My Perfect Day...

My perfect day.The perfect day has never happened. And now it never will because it starts with me walking out of this prison into my mother's arms. But if there was a perfect day for me to have, it would be walking out of this prison into the happy hearts of all those who have supported my journey to freedom.

I should be the angriest man in the world and somehow I'm not. I think it is because of all those who cared enough to believe in me and support me. And if I named them all this would not be a blog, but a book.You know who you are and my perfect day would be spent out there with you.

The day would be a perfect end of summer turning to fall day. It would start as a never ending moment of happiness, love and laughter, with food and dancing. And it would never end.

My perfect day would be a perfect day for all you too, because seeing me finally released would be a perfect day in response to all the hard days and long nights. No,it hasn't happened yet, but it will. And that will be my perfect day...I can't wait!

I have been a little quiet lately and for that I'm sorry.I have been letting things take my energy...No more...Peace everybody.I won't leave you again...Arthur...

How to Live with Loss

Hello everyone! 

I really wanted to wait til we had something to celebrate for this blog. But we must wait awhile longer. Everything was filed last October so we should get a decision from the Parole Board soon. They have been working on Death Penalty clemencies the past couple of months, and probably will bring me up soon after...I’ll still have to be blessed by the governor, but everything is in place ---so we wait.

In the meantime, I thought this blog should be about loss and what to do when you lose something dear to you. We lose lots of things but tend to accept that loss as the norm. People die, things break, things that can never be replaced. But have you ever lost anything where in one instant you know its gone? Something so dear that you know nothing will ever be right again no matter what? What do you do with that--with something that nothing can ever make right? 

I lost my youth to time, nothing can ever fix that. All I can do is continue to move forward and make the best of what's left to me. I lost my Mom, a person we know nothing can replace or make right. Yet we move forward because we believe their spirit watches over us, so we are fine. I guess we are meant to lose yesterday without such an empty feeling. But what do you do when you lose today? When you lose tomorrow? And you know it? Hmmm...I wish I knew?

I lost something I know I can never have back, and that's got to be okay. But is it really 34 years I've been okay? God has truly blessed me...but am I really okay? We shall see.
Until then I will move forward chin up, spirits high, full of hope that my freedom comes soon. I will say it as my sister does when she prays to God,“I'm calling it done.” I lost something I never meant to lose, but then everything is loseable--yesterday,today, and, yes, tomorrow.
God bless you all, and thank you for hanging with me. Maybe the next blog will be that blog that finds me free. Maybe I will lose something bad for a change.

Arthur

Having an Impact & Keeping Hope Alive

GREETINGS TO ALL.I HAVE BEEN TOLD I WAS LATE ON SPEAKING TO YOU ALL. I JUST GOT LAZY IN MY FRUSTRATION. SORRY. BUT HERE I AM NOW. I HAVE BEEN LAZY IN WRITING BUT NOT IN DEEDS. I ENJOY ONE ASPECT OF THIS PLACE,AND THAT'S MY MENTORING. 

IF NOTHING ELSE THE LITTLE DUDES ARE STARTING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MR.T HAS SOMETHING TO GIVE. THEY STILL WANT TO GET OUT FOR THEIR DAILY WIGGLE, GET ON THE PHONE TO USE JPAY, JUST BE OUT OF THE CELL, BUT FOR THE MOST PART IN CLASS THEY ARE STARTING TO LISTEN. 

I GOT MY FIRST THANK YOU LETTER AND IT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES. WISH I COULD SHARE THE ENTIRE LETTER, BUT IT BASICALLY THANKED ME FOR ALL I HAVE GIVEN AND SHOWN HIM, AND THAT HE WISH HE HAD HAD SOMEONE OUT THERE WITH HIM LIKE ME AND MAYBE HE WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW. REALLY TOUCHED MY HEART BECAUSE I KNOW HE WAS FOR REAL AND IT CAME FROM HIS HEART. NOW HE IS OFF TO DO 11 YEARS, WITH AN IDEA HOW TO SURVIVE IT. HIS FIRST TIME IN PRISON. MADE ME FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO DO. 

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT THERE AND WORK WITH THE KIDS BEFORE THEY GET TOSSED AWAY...THAT'S MY SOLE PURPOSE. TO DO AS MUCH AS I CAN TO STOP THIS CYCLE BEFORE THEY GET TO THE SYSTEM. SHOW THEM THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID TO LIVE LIFE, TO DO IT DIFFERENT THAN EXPECTED, TO GO SLOW.

SO WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO? I'VE STARTED A NEW CLASS STRUCTURED AROUND ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, RACE AND MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY. A FIFTEEN WEEK COURSE THAT WE ARE DOING WITH 17 STUDENTS FROM CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ABOUT THE IMPACT OF RACE IN DETERMINING WHO IS CAUGHT UP IN OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. THE IMPACT OF RACE,CLASS AND EDUCATION IS WHAT THE CLASS IS CALLED. THE STUDENTS CAME HERE THIS WEEKEND, BUT MAINLY IT WILL BE DONE BY TELECONFERENCE. PRETTY GOOD CLASS. I HAVE ALSO COMPLETED MY SUCCESS COACHING AND MENTORING COURSE. THE BIGGEST THING OF ALL THOUGH IS I HAVE COMPLETED MY PARALEGAL COURSE, AND AM NOW WAITING ON MY GRADE AND MY CERTIFICATE THAT WILL MAKE ME A CERTIFIED PARALEGAL. LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT AS MY PLAN IS TO LEND MY SERVICES TO THE GUYS I LEFT BACK ON DEATH ROW. 

BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST, STILL WAITING TO GET HOME. HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE IN FRONT OF THE PAROLE BOARD THIS MONTH. STILL UP TO OUR GOVERNOR TO GIVE ME MY FREEDOM, BUT WE ARE HOPEFUL, AND I TRUDGE ON. WOULD LOVE TO BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. SO YES I'M STAYING BUSY AND STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE.

ONE GOOD THING HAPPENED, I NOW HAVE MY CELL BY MYSELF. DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL LAST, BUT FOR NOW I'LL ENJOY IT...I TRUST ALL OF YOU ARE WELL, AND I WON'T TAKE SO LONG WITH MY NEXT TOUCH.

BLESSINGS TO EVERYONE,HUGS...ARTHUR...

Hello Friends! I'm Ready to Make My Case

It seems that I allowed myself to do what I tell others not to do, or, should I say, failed to do what I always tell others to do: I let myself get so busy that I forgot to stop and breathe and I didn't reach out to you this month.  

I've mainly been trying to stay out of the way. This place is still this place. It hasn't gotten any better, but it hasn't gotten any worse. The mentoring I’m doing is going as well as it can. Some of my little dudes actually listen, but everybody wants to be in Mr. Tyler’s class because they know I let them wiggle an extra phone call or jpay session. But the class is going good. I can finally relax as I am basically done with my paralegal course. I just need to put the finishing touches on the brief I must submit—and then I will be a certified paralegal. 

My plan (after I get out) is to try and work with the guys I left on death row and the elderly that are having so many problems legally and can't afford attorneys. 

I have also started a class to help me be a better mentor—Success Coaching and Mentoring. We have a really good teacher in Coach Marty, who played Pro Ball with the Atlanta Hawks back in the day. So I'm flowing. 

The good thing is today ends the RNC going on up in Cleveland--good because it marks the day the Attorneys will start to talk about filing the paper work to the Clemency Board. As we know the two years ended back in April, but we decided to wait and see what the governor would do in the race for President. And short of him announcing he is back in the race, we should be going forward with our plans now. 

I will need your help to get on my feet and get adjusted when I get home. Details will follow, but any thoughts you have about the support I will need with daily life, I would really appreciate it. I'm already thinking about how I want to spend my time.  

One of the things I will be looking forward to is submitting my proposal for helping our youth grow up in a better, healthier way. Would love to see that get off the ground. I am now watching our youth come into this prison bunches. Something has to take place to try and curb this. So once again I will be needing your prayers your thoughts and your support. My attorneys will be filing soon for the clemency hearing. And the governor will make the final determination if I am worthy to get back to a life cut short. 

I remain humbled as always... Love to all...Arthur... 

The Good and The Bad of Mentoring Young Inmates

Greetings everyone! I wanted to share that I have changed prisons again. Good and bad. Good because I am once again in a cell which I thought I hated. Bad because it was a step backward rather than forward. I am now at Lorain Correctional. It’s an intake prison. Most of the residents come here to await a bed at their parent prison, so they are only here for 30 to 90 days. I signed up to be a mentor in the mentor program so I am here to be a mentor. My new address is:

Lorain Correctional Institution 

2075 South Avon-Belden Road 

Grafton, Ohio 44044 

I know I need to be good even in my frustrations, but it is so hard. Even Death Row didn't suck the energy out of me like this place does. For the most part I am fine. I chose to mentor younger prisoners rather than come here and find it easy, The only real benefit for me is to my spirit--maybe getting to change or redirect one of these guys to a better path. And it is working well—somewhat. Some of these guys are so stuck in their need to be hard f—and all for show. They don't see any other way to be. But they are starting to listen now that they have got to hear my whole story. They are in awe  that I’ve been in prison 33 years more because of my demeanor than anything else. To them I should be the most angry man in the world, 

But they don’t see it. What they see in me makes them confused—and because they are confused that they don’t see what they think they should see, they open the door for me to tell them there is another way. 

Most listen but how far they go with the slow of life will be another story. And then the time I get to spend with them—the time we get to spend together is short. The prisoners I mentor come and go everyday. The are out in 60 to 90 days.  

So my class with them now is Money Matters. Its purpose is to show them how to fill out checks and such--a basic survival guide to money management. I teach them the difference between a saving account and a checking account and how to save. Do they care about that? No. 

I’m  dealing with kids who deal drugs, and murder other kids. So I try to put a twist on how they failed with all this so-called money they made dealing drugs, the things it lead to that brought them here. I’m working with guys who claim to have made $50 grand—yet they are around here begging for 22 cent soups so they don’t go hungry. But I hold their attention. And the word is out and now everybody wants to be in Mr. Tyler's class. 

Once they hear my story, they actually listen to me. I tell them how to save money, and I talk about the importance of doing something with their money such as getting a job rather than joining the ranks of other failed drug dealers, It makes sense to them. But what they will do with it, I don’t know. 

I get the feeling that we mentors aren't wanted here. The mentoring program was set up to make money for the prison. It was/is a good idea, but it’s not going as well as it could. I really wouldn't put it past them to shut it down. 

On the other hand, it’s a little hard here, But I didn't come here for me, I came here to give what I can—and this is the place that could give me that chance. This could be their last step on this journey. I would be happy to save one. But I am learning my depths here. I needed this place—as bad as it is—because now I see how bad it is: Our kids are becoming a steady stream into this prison system. 

I see now what my focus will be once I am home. And speaking on the subject of my coming home, I don't yet know when the lawyers will file for me to go before the parole board again. Probably they’ll file after it’s known if Trump will choose our governor as his running mate—so somewhere around the end of July, hopefully. They don't want to rush it, and neither do I. If I can see Christmas at home I will be happy with that...It’s time for this to end. 

So all in all I am fine, my record  is still clean. It’s just a little harder here but I can make the adjustment. And that's what the parole board wants. So I will be fine...Til next time I bid you goodbye...Peace... Arthur