Black Lives Matter

“When I was a child I spoke as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things…”

    1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a young man, most households were headed by women. Strong African American and Latino women were filling the role of mother, father, disciplinarian, humanitarian and Santa Claus all at the same time.

Mothers would look out for each other’s children. Your mother was my mother and my mother was your mother. Everybody was one extended family and if you were acting the fool and someone’s mother came by, you would check yourself.

Since that time, something has happened to the African American man and woman. We no longer honor and respect those who carry the genes of our ancestors.

As I look out into communities of color today, I observe the condition of our people, especially the self-destructive behavior of women and children sleeping out on the streets and eating out of trash dumpsters. I wonder if there is any hope, then I think of our ancestors, and I am sure that many of them were confronted with situations that they thought were hopeless, but they endured and their endurance paved a pathway to the freedoms that we enjoy today.

So, I know that there is hope and I ask myself over and over, “What can I do?”

No matter where you are, or what position you are in, there is always something that we can do.

I will use my writing to help lift my people from this devastating way of life that many of them have found themselves trapped in.

If my words can prick the conscious of just one, then I am hopeful that “each one/teach one” strategy will be the beginning of a moral revolution that will spread throughout our communities like a wildfire.

African man and woman…Latino sisters and brothers… sometimes the truth can be a very bitter pill to swallow but we have to start somewhere. So why not begin by taking a long hard look at the man in the mirror.

We have become our own worst enemies. Before we can liberate ourselves from anything, we have to first take responsibility for our own actions.

How can we expect others to respect us when it is we/us who are running around calling our women “bitch” and “whore”? And it is us who are selling the drugs that cause them to sell their precious bodies on street corners that eventually result in their contracting Aids and denies our next generation the right to come into this world with a clean bill of heath.

It is us who are killing our mothers, sisters and brothers over drugs.

Something has to be done about this out of control problem.

I have noticed the things that many of our police commissioners have been doing to try and bring this problem under control and I appreciate their efforts.

But, the police cannot do it alone. We need all of our politicians and religious leaders to come together and attack this problem from all sides.

Respect for authority begins in the home. So, instead of running from the police, we should be running to them with ideas and solutions to help them take back our communities from the thugs who prevent our mothers and grandmothers from sitting out on their porch and watching children and grandchildren play without being shot or killed.

It is time for all men, whether you call yourself Christian or Muslim it is time to unite and take back our neighborhoods from the drug-pushing thugs who have  taken control and who prevent our children from going outside to play in a safe environment.

Daniel Cummings #AF-4891

Community Supported Programs

Donation drives should be held to support the following programs... seek donations from elected officials, faith-based groups, and local business owners.

Our young people need programs to substitute idle activities... establish community service programs and projects that include: an official career link site, computer literacy class and a community food cupboard program.

Hold monthly meetings with community leaders speaking on various topics such as social and economic issues.

Establish math clubs for our young people to participate in solving fun, yet difficult mathematical problems.

Establish book clubs. Have them read books for intellectual growth and expansion of perception. Discuss themes within the selected book and write short essays. Award them with a plaque or stipends.

Hold block parties, dance competitions and athletic activities to keep the community neighborly and friendly.

 

Lieutenant Governor Fetterman Kemps His Word

On July 11, 2018 Let’s Get Free hosted a community dialogue on pardons and parole. Panelists included CADBI members Robert Saleem Holbrook, Carol Speaks, Liz Guyer, Marcie Marra, and Pittsburg based politicians John Fetterman, Ed Gainey, Sara Innamorato, Summer Lee.

During the discussion, the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman stated the following:

1.      He opposed the unanimous vote on the Board of pardons for lifers and believes it is an impossible burden for a lifer.

2.      He supports judges having discretion when it comes to sentencing prisoners to life, which is a tacit support of parole for lifers that we can use.

3.      He said he supports changes to the Board of Pardons.

4.      He would consider presumptive parole for prisoners.

His statements as well as the whole event were recorded and are on YouTube. If elected, he should be held accountable to his word. The video is linked through Let’s Get Free’s website – http://www.letsgetfree.info

In his first year as pardons board chair, Lt. Governor Fetterman has made clemency his highest priority. He’s traveled to state prisons to encourage aging prisoners to apply for commutations.

 

UPDATE - after my seventh denial, my application number 3367 0 has been granted a public hearing scheduled for June 2020 session.

Restorative Justice Workshops by Daniel Cummings

Saturday morning January 25, 2020... While on my way to my first Restorative Justice workshop I noticed the Department of Corrections policy hanging on the walls. Their policy principles caught my attention because the words are similar to Restorative Justice Principles.

“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections operates as one team, embraces diversity, and commits to enhancing safety. We are proud of our reputation as leaders in the correction field. Our mission is to reduce criminal behavior by providing individualized treatment and education through accountability and positive change.”

I am now anxious to get into the room so that the facilitators could get the program started. “Let’s Circle Up” would begin at 8:00 AM and end at 3:45 PM.

In all of my programming over the past 48 years of my incarceration I can honestly tell you that Restorative justice is one of the best programs that the Department of Corrections has to offer.

If you are sincere about accountability, redemption, and healing for the communities that you will be returning to, I encourage you to get involved in Restorative Justice Programs. One of the things that surprised me was the number of young men participating in the program.

It is Saturday morning and there are so many other activities that these young brothers could be involved in, but they have turned off the TV, cancelled their weekend activities to discuss and share personal tragedies that have occurred in their lives with others who might be still grieving from the harm that they have caused others.

In listening to their stories, I became aware that many of them never had a childhood. They grew up literally from boys to men physically, emotionally, and mentally in dysfunctional households with families that had no idea of what it means to be a man. Their understanding of manhood was learned from the streets. Our communities need more long-term dedicated mentors.

-Daniel Cummings #AF4891

Remorseful...Justice Still Eludes Offender/Victim

Webster’s Definition of Remorse “A Deep moral anguish and regret for past misdeeds.”

I know the meaning of the word, but how does one find remorse in a case such as mine?

August 20, 1972, my wife was drugged and viciously raped...On August 23, 197 I entered the home that my wife’s rapist was hiding in, and I made the mistake of taking the law into my own hands

Over the years, I have wrestled with the burden of causing the death of another human being, for decades I struggled with the what if’s and the why me? And I often think of the family affected by my actions.

To the innocent people occupying the home that my wife’s rapist was hiding in... I give to you my sincere apology. Ruth, you and my wife was very close friends... Please know that I never had any intentions of harming you. My rage was only directed at the man who drugged and raped my wife.

Emotionally, the crime that I committed and was convicted of caused a great deal of pain, anger, hatred and suffering. People grieve in different way, but the grief is always there.

At my trial I could see that the pain was apparent from both of our families, I can’t describe the torment that the family of my wife’s rapist had to go through with their loss, but understanding that pain and suffering is not alien to any particular people, I know that they coped the best way that they could.

For a number of years I had no remorse. I felt that my actions was justified, my distorted religious views at that time conditioned me to believe that my actions of defending and protecting my family was what any real man would do.

However, my many years of spiritual growth, counseling, and therapeutic programs, I have now discarded all notion that such extreme actions are justified, and one of the first things that I did after I was baptized in 1988, was to write a letter expressing my remorse to the family of my wife’s rapist. I sent the letter to the commutation board to be forward on to the family.

I am deeply sorry for the pain that my actions caused not only the family of my wife’s rapist but my family as well, my remorse is genuine, it comes from the heart, and I take full responsibility for the actions that occurred during the early morning hours of August 23,1972.

My fate is now in the hands of the Pennsylvania Pardons Board... and my question to the commutation board members is... How long will justice elude the cry from a remorseful man?

 

Respectfully Submitted with sincerity 

Daniel Cummings

Urgent Message to African Americans and All Men of Color STOP THE KILLINGS

Many years ago during the era of legalized slavery, the African American women, and many women of color were beaten and forcefully raped by wicked slave masters and over-seers.

Decades up from that deplorable and horrible history that our ancestors were forced to endure, the African American woman and women of color are now willingly giving and selling their souls to strange men. And in many instances, it is the African American man and men of color who subjects our women to this degrading and shameful way of life.

African American and Latino men, the next time you step out the front or back door of your home, stop for a few moments and take a long look at our communities; observe the mentality of our people.

Stop the killings.

Stop selling drugs to our women.

Stop forcing our women to sell their precious bodies to strange men.

I am so tired of seeing our women running around acting like a fool on the Jerry Springer and Maury Show, and I’m tired of turning on the evening news and seeing men of color caught on camera doing stupid shit.

African American men and women, Latino sisters and brothers, we are the descendants of kings and queens. Royalty runs through our veins. Far too many of our people have fallen from grace. We can, and we must do better.

Please!

Please!

Please!

STOP THE KILLINGS

 

Community Call Outs

One of the many formulas used to Stop The Killings in African America neighborhoods is to have meetings in churches, mosques and recreation centers labeled as “call outs to the black man”.

During these “call outs”, man-to-man discussions will take place regarding:

1. Responsibilities as a man

2. Moral conduct

3. Characteristics of a man

4. End violence and take on the act of kindness

5. Protect and honor the community and

6. Become role models for the youth, 3 – 13 years of age

The above is a start of something to grow into big results. Positive peer intervention each one teach one.

The most important thing is to show them love and care, once they realize someone loves them, then they will listen.

Cognitive transformation is the first line of defense when ending violence. We must get them to change their thinking as in negative thoughts, erase negative influences, become leaders through empowerment over self. If a man changes his thinking, he changes his behavior. Teach them about the culture of crime; the unlawful activities practiced by any particular group of people because of their shared values and beliefs.

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden. When a garden is unkempt, it grows weeds and loos a mess. When the garden is cultivated and tended to, it takes on beautiful scenery. It will shed fruit, flowers, vegetables of all kinds. The garden attracts bees, butterflies and moths of all sorts.

On the other hand, when a man tends the garden of his mind, he’s weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection; the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. Man later discovers he is the “master gardener of his soul”; the director of his life.

Andrau Wright #AM-7851

The Violence and Killings Has To Stop

Our young people are running into homes, assaulting and robbing our elders. They are falling deeper and deeper into a way of life where the only exit is death.

THIS BEHAVIOR HAS TO STOP

I have to ask myself over and over – what can I do? No matter where you are or what position you are in, there is always something that you can do. Law enforcement, community activist, clergy and guidance counselors need to work together in attacking this out of control problem.

OUR CHILDREN NEED GUIDANCE  Respect for law enforcement and common decency for others begins in the home. Mothers and fathers, please start parenting your children before it is too late.

LAW ENFORCEMENT Our young people will respect and relate better to officers from the communities that they grew up in.

RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL LEADERS Our young people need moral guidance that teaches them a respect for all humanity no matter what religious, political or cultural background they are from.

POLITICIAN/LEGISLATORS Our young people need after school academic and vocational programs that will get them high paying jobs.

In A Split Second

This title comes from the fact that it only takes a split second to make a bad decision, a mistake, be with the wrong people, do something you might not think is a crime, and lose your life or take a life.

The pain you will bring to yourself, your family and the victim’s family is terrible, painful and sometimes can never be repaired.

The pain a bad second can bring is just too much to describe.

Pathway to Redemption

  My birth name is Daniel Cummings given to me by my father. My nickname is Pita, given to me by my grandfather. My attribute out why I was given to me by my spiritual father.

 Who am I? At this moment, in this place and time, I am Daniel Cummings, a spiritual being locked behind concrete walls, steel bars, and barbed wire fences for nearly 5 decades.

  I am here for committing a crime that I thought was justified when I could find no other recourse for justice. I am doing a natural life sentence for my taking the life of the man who raped my wife. Was it right for this man to write my wife? Was it right for me to take his life? What is right, what is wrong? Questions I have asked myself as I continue this journey. I know that I can never make up for taking the life of another human being, but for the rest of my life my hope is to save some lives in my work with at-risk youth. It is time to turn the page and enter into my life of redemption.

This is my story and the beginning of my journey…

  August 20, 1972. I returned home from a hard days work and found that my wife had been drugged and raped.

  On August 23, 1972, I made the mistake of taking the law into my own hands and killed my wife’s rapist, this was a mistake that I have been regretting for over 48 years.

  It took me a long time to accept the fact that I had no right to take the law onto my hands and deprive this man of his right to a trial, and a jury of his peers as I had, and this is something that has been bothering me for a long time.

 Throughout my incarceration, counselors and several correction officers have told me that they would have done the same thing if their wife or daughter had been raped and for a long time…

  My conversations with these officers made me feel that my actions were justified, but I would eventually begin to see things differently and accept responsibility for all that occurred in the home that my wife’s accused rapist was hiding in on August 23, 1972.

 Over the years, I’ve had many restless nights from reliving the tragedy that occurred on the night that my wife was raped. The what-ifs, and why me questions I have asked myself still lingers and answered, and the nightmares never really go way. Sometimes I am awakened from hearing Ruth’s screams and at other times it is from seeing the expression on Alvin’s face. As I matured, spiritually the nightmares subsided, or would only occur periodically, and I thank God for that because the burden was becoming too heavy for me to bear.

 Nearly 5 decades have passed since that scared, immature 26-year-old man entered Ruth’s home and terrorized her family and I’ve always wanted to tell Ruth that I never had any intentions of harming her or any of the innocent people occupying her home. My rage was only directed at the man drugging and raping my wife.

Prior to my spiritual awakening, I had never given any thought to how my actions had affected Ruth’s family, but after seeing her emotional reactions at my trial, I could clearly see that she was still in pain and was being traumatized all over again from the trial. Seeing Ruth’s emotional outburst grieve me for many years and I’ve always wanted to tell her that I was feeling her pain and I was sorry, but I did not know how to express my remorse at that time.

I am now a 74-year-old mature God-fearing Christian man striving to please my Lord Jesus Christ and I’ve been guided into a pathway of atonement, remorse, and redemption.

In April 1998 I had a spiritual awakening and it was at that point that I begin to reach out to Ruth and her family. I sat down to write a two-page letter expressing my remorse to the family. After expressing my sorrow, I was able to let go of some of the grief that I been caring for many years, and I finally found some peace of mind in knowing that Ruth now knows that I never had any intentions of harming her.

With this piece of mine, I can now focus on the mission that God has given to me and my pathway to redemption.

Political attention needs to be brought to all the senseless killings that is going on in Maine mainly communities of color. I have been locked by prison walls for a very long time, but my mind is free and I know that there is power in words so I am reaching out to our politicians and community activist organizations for assistance in helping me to flood the communities with stop the killing messages on buses and throughout the malls that our young people patronize. Also if corporations can erect wicker billboards in our communities why can’t the faith-based communities unite and purchase stop the killing billboards?

I know that we can rise above this sickness. Education is the key… So as a start I am making a pledge to myself and my community with hopes that every concerned citizen who reads this message makes a pledge to themselves to do whatever they can to stop the killings and end the violence that is ravaging our communities.

Daniel Cummings number AF – 4891

Pledge of Redemption

I hereby pledge to dedicate a portion of every day to diligently strive to improve myself spiritually, intellectually, politically and socially so that I will no longer participate in any lifestyle that makes me an agent of destruction in my community.

I will make it my duty to become fully aware of the impact that drugs and other criminal activity have on the overall deterioration of the quality of life in my community.

I pledge to encourage my friends and associates to change their thinking and behavior as an effort towards improving the quality of life in the community and to begin a genuine one healing process.

I promise to never allow peer pressure or popular opinion to Dieter me from the mission of convincing my associates that the welfare of the community is in the best interest of us all new line I pledge that beginning today I will strive with those who value the community as I do, and figure out a way and means to support growth and progress in our communities.

I pledge to align myself with faith-based community activist and law enforcement to help them take back our communities so that our children will have a safe environment to play in and our mothers, fathers and grandparents can enjoy their senior years in a safe environment.

I pledge to forever remain a part of the solution and never again live my life as a part of the problem.

Voices from the inside reaching out