“Solidarity is a matter of holding firmly to what is planned…therefore when sages set things up, they use this means to get to know people beforehand and establish solidarity with them. Based on reason,virtue, humanity, justice, courtesy and culture, they figure out plans.”
-The Master Of Demon Valley (China circa 500 BCE)
Damien Echols was just on the Democracy Now! news program, and hearing guys who have been exonerated is always a rather surreal, or perhaps I should say hyper-real, experience. It’s inspiring, it reinvigorates my faith in Truth and re-reminds me that I will get out of this horrible place—we just have to keep pushing forward relentlessly!
This is one of the things Damien talked about; he spoke of how his supporters would always say that they just had to keep knocking and never-ever-ever give up, and eventually doors will open. Excellent advice! (I think his wife Lori may actually have said this.). Damien mentioned how his wife “did every single thing” and he didn’t even think about his case because if he did he would go insane. Anthony Graves—who was exonerated from Texas Death Row—has talked about how he thought of his case every day, and I knew Anthony when he was here, and he’d be on the grind constantly working on things daily (like I do!). Different people have different experiences I suppose.
Hearing about what Damien said concerning his wife’s awesome solidarity reminds me of the power of outside support. My people on the outside, my friends and supporters, are the absolute most vital part of all I do, of all we do. Damien also mentioned that he had to do 5 or 6 hours a day of meditation in order to remain sane (and he had a TV and could use the telephone daily). When asked about the conditions of prison he said that he had no words to describe it. This is something that people who have experienced living in super-seg isolation prisons often say. I’ve said this myself. How can you describe an environment that causes perfectly sane people to completely lose their minds?
Near the end of the interview the host, Amy Goodman—who I’ve been madly in love with for years!—asked Damien what message he had for others locked up and this is what he said: “Never give up!” Indeed. We must never give up. We must relentlessly push forward and cultivate Solidarity. Let the virtue of Truth be our guide in seeking real justice and let us consistently re-remind ourselves to hold firmly. We’re very reasonable and courteous people, yes, yes, of course—we’ll knock on doors very softly but if we don’t get the answers we need, Keep Knocking…and kick the damned doors down if we need to! This is the philosophy we must live by—constant motion, consistent exploration, non-stop action. The situation is very desperate, very extreme, and we must never give up. In this spirit I’ll sign off with:
Unwavering Love & Solidarity
Rob