Note: BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member Chuck Turner is writing this column from the U.S. Federal Prison in Hazelton, West Virginia where he is serving a three year term for a bribery conviction.  BC is in contact with Mr. Turner by email and telephone.  Click here to send an email message that BC can pass on to Chuck.

This is the postscript to the nine part series, Anatomy of a Frame UP, which describes my two and a half year struggle with the Justice Department which led to my being a convicted felon, now in the 6th month of my 36 month sentence.

Judge Woodlock, former US Attorney Sullivan, Asst. US Attorney McNeil, Mayor Menino, and others thought that my conviction and incarceration at age 70 would be the end of my lifetime of activism. What they didn't understand is that age and circumstances don't define reality. Reality is defined by the spirit that lies coiled within the heart of every human being.

I have been relocated to the mountains of West Virginia over 700 miles from Boston. It is unlikely, not impossible but unlikely, that I will be able to return to Boston before November 2013 which is my official release date as long as I can maintain my good time.

Rather than bemoan my fate, I have taken the only sensible path that an activist can take who finds herself or himself locked away by the forces against which s/he has been fighting. The path I have chosen is to use my time of incarceration to prepare myself and strengthen myself for the struggle that confronts all of us now and will be continuing to confront us as I come out of prison.

It should be clear that we are witnessing the fall of the remnants of the slave state that was established in 1789 when the Constitution was officially ratified. The corruption that we see in every sector of the American society is the natural outgrowth of a society developed on the ideology that a few are entitled to control the many in the name of democracy while viewing and treating some as less than human.

I only touch on this reality to say that the question the future presents, is not how to destroy the oligarchy that oppresses us but how to develop ourselves so that as the oligarchy falls, we are able to rebuild America street by street and town by town into a country that reflects our values.

What I believe is most important at this point is to continue not only to make our values clear through conscious struggle but also to concentrate on developing our capabilities to be the embodiment of the values of the society we seek to create. I know it is an easier task for me, isolated as I am.

I don't have the stress at the moment that comes from playing an active part in trying to change a decaying society. Nor do I have the challenges of supporting self and family. Obviously, not having those two responsibilities makes it much easier for me to concentrate on my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual development than those of you caught up in the "outside" world.

However, having experienced the increase of energy, creativity, and growth through my focus on self development, I have to suggest that we all need to find the time and space to redefine ourselves in the image of the future that we wish to create. We must become phoenixes rising out of the ashes of our past.

I believe that our next phase of struggle needs to focus on creating the future as we engage in fighting the remnants of the past. As we see cutbacks in all sectors, it is incumbent that we strengthen ourselves and our ability to do for self and our fellow human beings to the maximum degree possible. Remember the inscription over the Temple of the Delphic Oracle in Greece. "Know thy self". We need to look at ourselves to determine what steps we need to take to make ourselves into beacons of light for a new age.

The Struggle for Justice Continues,

chuck

Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank Mohammed Mustakeem, better known as M. Without his support, guidance, and inspiration to master the physical phane as well as navigate the Hazelton culture, Anatomy of a Frame UP would not have been written as I began my 36 month sentence.

Next Reflections:

I am going to take a break from writing for the next few weeks and enjoy the end of the summer/beginning of fall. Beginning the third week in October, I will focus on the subject that I touched on in my May writing regarding my 38 year quest to answer the questions: Where do we come from; Why are we here; and Where are we going.

As I said then, I have had what people would consider as an excellent academic education and yet was not exposed to what I would consider as any serious thinking regarding those questions. My hope is that I will be able to stimulate you to go beyond the framework of our western cultural understanding in your own thinking and practice.

As we approach the October 12th Columbus day holiday, let us remember that 600 years ago there was a cultural belief, not held by all obviously, that the world was flat. Columbus and others expanded western cultural consciousness by demonstrating its roundness. It is time for another expansion of our understanding of ourselves and the world. I hope to help by adding my thoughts to the boiling cauldron.

Let me suggest that as part of the process of seeking to expand consciousness, you Metu Neter Vol. 1: The Great Oracle of Tehuti and the Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation and Metu Neter Vol. 2: The Kamitic Initiation System by Ra Un Neter Amen. Through his writings, he is trying to help us regain the knowledge that enabled the Kamitians (Egyptians) to build a civilization 6000 years ago. The western world is still trying to understand the miraculous achievements of the Kamitians.

Click here to read any part in this BC series.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board  Member Chuck Turner - Served as a member of the Boston City Council for ten years and eleven months. He was a member and founder of the Fund the Dream campaign and was the Chair of the Council’s Human Rights Committee, and Vice Chair of the Hunger and Homelessness Committee. Click here to contact Mr. Turner. Your email messages will be passed on to Mr. Turner by BC. You may also visit SupportChuckTurner.com.

You may also write to Mr. Turner.  The address is:

Charles Turner #80641038
Hazelwood Penitentiary, P.O. Box 2000
Bruceton Mills, West Virginia 26525