Tyree Bailey

to keep the secret...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN......
 
 
They beat me up about a week ago, all because they couldn't prove that I was doing something that they thought I was, And I couldn't tell my wife because I knew that she would make a big fuss about it, and that may have caused a problem when she comes to visit.
 
That what goes on in the dark here, that is the story of thousands of men and women here. Sometimes you just bite the bullet and keep the secret because the secret is always better than putting your family at risk. How ? Well, the visits for one... the difficulties that your family might endure if they start to fuss. Then of course, you could get shipped miles and miles away from home, and visits would become next to impossible. And from where we sit, the risk is just too great, and the “secret” is your best course of action.
 
Prison isn't a place that one comes to be abused or should have to come to die. If you are guilty, you do your time and go home... If you are innocent, you fight to be heard. That is the image I have in mind, that is the way it should be.
 
I've read a million books about men and women with honor, people who stood up and handled things as they should have been handled. People who took pride in correction, not just of others, but themselves too. People who were willing to struggle, to suffer in order to achieve their goal. Was all that just stuff in books ? And if not, what happened to those people ?
 
It breaks your hart to know that people can just be snakes and not feel anything about the damage they cause, I know it breaks mine. I look them all in the eye, and I just wonder what happen, not just to them, but all of us.
 
Words mean nothing if you are not willing to die behind what you say, and you won't be willing to die behind the words you speak if you don't really believe them yourselves. Yep, words can cut us to our very core... but they can also be worthless.
 
I kept my secret because I love my wife more than I love myself, I fight for these men and women on D/R, b/c I believe in what I am doing... why do you all fight, why do you read my articles... why do you respond to the things I say ? Think about it and let me know.
 
By no means am I anything special, but I do believe that there should be honor in all that we do, no matter if it is going to school, going to prison, or doing your job. Respect is not easy to give, but it is worth the effort to try to earn. A human being can make mistakes, but they can also be big enough to own up to them and try to correct themselves.
 
I find it hard to look at my neighbor with pride if he has none within himself. How we carry ourselves is a piece of that pride and honor... how we fight for what we believe in shows that also. No ones owes me anything, no one has to fight for me, but you better be fighting for something or someone, b/c if you're not, then you're not living. Make it happen, let me read about you !
 
Love & Respect,
Tyree August 3, 2011
 
PS : and to the officers who beat me up... ha ha, it's gonna take more than that.