Hero?
(an open letter to Michael Phelps)Dear Michael,
First, I must tell you how surprised I am to be writing this letter. Olympic class swimming is an elite sport requiring facilities and resources well beyond the reach of the children of my community and frankly, Michael, I have never counted myself a friend of the elite.
Secondly, you must know that nothing that has transpired in recent days can in any way diminish what you accomplished in Beijing. You are, in water, a modern wonder and I can only imagine the degree of discipline and dedication that has allowed you to achieve so much.
But I am writing this, not as a fan of you, competitive swimming or even the Olympics, but as a teacher and a father. Michael, you are at 23, the same age as many of my students and about the same age as my daughters. I admire and respect my students and I adore my daughters, and the pain I feel is the same pain I would feel had what has befallen you been foisted upon any of them.
The entire world now knows that you went to a party and did a bong hit. I cannot understand how such a simple fact could be inflated into such an outrageous scandal. Drinking beer and smoking pot, for better or worse, is what people do when they go to parties. If you exercised any poor judgment at all, it was in trusting the people you were partying with. At least one of them was unworthy of such trust and I do hope that the 30 bits of silver they got for selling you out to the press becomes an unbearable weight upon their spirit.
Michael, as you grope for the center of this ordeal and wait for the commotion to settle, I must remind you of what Bob Marley once sang: When one door is closed, another is opened . Yes, the lucrative endorsements will be taken away from you. But Michael you now have an opportunity to endorse something far more important than sports beverages or swimming gear. You are in a perfect position, should you so choose, to powerfully endorse the truth.
The truth is that marijuana prohibition is a great waste of lives and resources that does nothing to protect our society. It is harm on a massive scale without a shred of redemption in return. Its basic logic is flawed and its tactics are brutal, even draconian. Since 1992, approximately six million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, a number greater than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined. According to a study published by the Federation of American Scientists, nearly 60,000 marijuana offenders are incarcerated in the United States at any given time, More than a quarter of marijuana offenders are incarcerated for personal possession, with no other drugs involved in the offense. The total number of marijuana arrests far exceeds the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. What a waste, Michael, what an unjustifiable waste.
You are in a perfect position, now, to take this truth to the people who can make a difference. As you may have heard, there has been a change of guard in Washington. Stupid is out. Rationality is in. Your international celebrity would give this issue what it has never had before – a voice that cannot be ignored – at precisely the time when a change in policy really is possible.
You should know, Michael, that were you to successfully challenge this great evil, you would be doing a great service to my community. Since its inception, the war on drugs has in fact been a war on young black men and no group has suffered more from this failed program. If your efforts were to somehow stem the tide of Black people being shuttled between jail, prison, and court ordered supervision, you would be our hero and you would have earned our undying love and respect.
Lastly, Michael, however you choose to respond to the challenge of your current crisis, you must know that the only thing keeping you from holding your head high is the weight of all that gold around your neck.
I hope to meet you soon on the front of truth and redemption.
Be well,
Thomas Stanley
Musical Updates:
Last months shows with Leo at Pyramid Atlantic (This Bag is Not a Toy minus one) and Chris and Bobby at DCAC (MOM²) were each an unqualified success. The audience support for DC's art noise scene is growing organically and incrementally. Like all scenes of this sort, there remains a need for a broader demographic representation, but I'm confident that this too will come with time. The mission to save the world from boring music continues unabated.
Late Night Jazz has matured into a fearsome animal with teeth and a nose ring. It has really begun to feel like the first music program of the 21st century and I've been blessed with an amazing level of audience support. Check out the playlist linked above: Nobody is playing what I'm playing. If they are, I want to know about it. FYI WPFW is currently in the midst of a seasonal fund drive. The only way to keep our station listener-funded and commercial free is to get those checks in the mail!
Hip Hop at the End of Time made a really effective connection with an audience brought together at Montgomery College's Rockville campus by Dawn Avery and her colleagues. I'd love to repeat this lecture again in the very near future. I was actually surprised that I could get so much mileage out of talking about Lil' Wayne. Go Wheezy, go!
Site Update:
As I added my letter to Michael this morning I couldn't bear to remove the 60 Minutes piece about the West Bank. In its original placement, it interferred with the dropdown navbar at the top of the page. So here it is again. You really must see this.
I'd like to post your comments; just e-mail them to me. Good or bad. Friend or foe. We will get through this and it will be wonderful.
The definition of education is to nurture and develop the self. Not to fit into the society, rather, to change that society so every human being may live up to his or her full potential in alignment with the grand order of the universe.
-- William Parker< :::::: >