Life Without Parole - Hopelessness and Despair

By: Kenny Zulu Whitmore

Quote from The Advocate, June 2009:

“State senator Butch Gautraux recently proposed a bill that would have made it easier for certain inmates to obtain parole, but although sheriffs complain all the time that their prisons are too full, the political will needed to appears even slightly soft on crime doesn’t exist in the legislature. Due to lack of support from top state officials and a less-than supportive public reaction, Gautreaux shelved his Senate bill 62”.

On September 10th 2009, at 44 years old, Henry Smith – a captive of the infamous plantation known as Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola – felt the weight of hopelessness and despair in his 28th years of serving a life sentence without parole. He ‘escaped’. To quote the warden: “he snapped”. I say: he snapped back to reality. Unfortunately he was found back several days later after his escape and is now residing in Angola’s little torture camp, the notorious, infamous Camp J.

Henry Smith is just one of a growing number of lifers without parole who have given up hope to ever legally gain their freedom back due to the many procedural bars that have taken away an inmate’s right to further appeal convictions in the federal Courts. The door has been slammed shut on every captive unless he/she can come up with newly discovered evidence: DNA. We – lifers- are up against Gov. Bobby Jindal’s pardon and parole board, whose members are judges and cops.

It hasn’t been made public that Henry Smith was a kid of only 16 when he was arrested and charged with murder in 1980. His LIFE SENTENCE will never change – while Henry Smith him self HAS changed. It’s obvious that the administration of Burl Cain saw enough change to make him a ‘class A trustee’ and housed him at Camp F, trustee camp. Later they saw enough change in him to allow him outside of the camp – unsupervised- to pick up roadside litter. Surely many would agree that it makes little sense and even less justice to keep such an individual incarcerated for the remainder of his life.

Like Henry Smith many, many men within Angola with a life sentence have changed and rehabilitated them selves. They deserve that second chance.

The whole legislature sees a problem with the growing number of incarcerations, but no one wants to address it. Henry Smith is 44 years old, he has done 28 years and being in good health he could easily do another 20 years. That is 48 years at an estimated annual amount of $ 35,000 at taxpayers’ expenses. The oldest man on the tier with me is 72 years old, now in his 51st year of his Life Without Parole sentence. Should he also “snap”?

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE ‘WHO SNAP’

In solidarity, K. Zulu Whitmore

Happy Birthday Zulu!

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The Legacy

Recently Billy X paid a visit to Zulu. Here he is showing off a cool Free Zulu Tshirt.

Here is "The Legacy", a song written by Michael Terrance, former Panther and member of the Lumpen Singing Group of the Black Panther Party. He also was background singer for the great Marvin Gaye.

You can listen to "The Legacy" on Billy X Jennings´ site "It's about time-BPP" and it is downloadable here:

http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Media/Aud io/The_Legacy_Track_2.wma