... for they had loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. — John 12:42 Marriage has always been sacred to God. Unfortunately there have been people in every generation who have their own ideas about marriage. One of these ideas involves purity of race....
Rick Fisk
What Really Matters
It took several agonizing months of listening to cellmate's stories before I realized that my innocence didn't matter. At fifty-one, I'd had a pretty full life. So, what really matters? This 17-year-old African American boy, arrested in front of school merely because...
Hate Medicine
Hate medicine.... We watched him dying. Everyone on our wing had their own diagnosis. “Cirrhosis.” “It’s jaundice. Look at how yellow he is.” “How can you tell? He’s hispanic.” “Next time you get close to him, look at his eyes. They are yellow.” “I bet he has liver...
Hate Mail: End hateful prison mailroom practices
People hate us. It sounds melodramatic, but it is true nonetheless. We’re hated by each other, by people on the outside, and by people working on the inside. By ‘us,’ I mean incarcerated persons. Offenders, inmates, convicts, prisoners. And there are people who make...
Review of The Great Bridge by David McCullough
David McCullough's The Great Bridge is an extraordinary book. It tells the tale of how the Brooklyn Bridge was conceived and built. As is the case with other McCullough works, it is superbly crafted and reads as well as any great work of fiction. The main focus of the...
Review of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mendel
Station Eleven is one of those books that is so well-conceived and executed that you are sad when there's no more to read. After reading so many post-apocalyptic novels, many which barely bother to explain what caused society's collapse, I expected another contrived...
Review of David McCullough’s 1776
The Imperfect Hero: 1776 - A Review All men are flawed and make mistakes. Character is that quality in a man that transcends his flaws and propels him to success. In reading David McCullough's 1776, one will become intimate with George Washington's flaws and...
Letters From Prison: Hope is a Scarce Commodity
An excerpt of a letter from Rick in February of 2014, when he was still in county jail, and about six months before he was moved to prison. He writes about his idea to start Adopt an Inmate. I feel as though I am the most well-taken-care-of inmate in Del Valle. Having...
Review of Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings
Empires leave indelible marks on their conquests. Decades after they leave, voluntarily or not, their influence is still felt. Take Jamaica, for instance.Its natural resources and people had been plundered by the British for centuries. Even after slavery was finally...
Rick’s Review of Martin Lockett’s Palpable Irony
We introduced you to our friend Martin Lockett in a previous blog post. We are thrilled to say that Martin will be a regular contributor both here and in our quarterly newsletter. Do yourself a favor and get this book! —♦— Good people make mistakes. Martin Lockett is...