Tag: russell browning

A Message: Parole + Non-Violent/Violent

There is a lot of good that comes from what you are doing.

I wrote to the Richmond Times last week and spoke on the parole issue… I stated facts and can back it up… But it does no good unless everyone stands together… People want to go home, and I of all people respect that and I agree something needs to be done…

But everyone needs to understand that saying: ‘one crime is better than the other or one crime is violent and the other isn’t is wrong… Look, I’m involved in a start up program called Victim Impact: Listen and Learn. Its a straight forward concept that let’s real victims speak about what happened to them and what it does to them and their families… Not one said it didn’t do harm to them or their families. It is a fact that crime effects people in four main areas,: physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual… Some people has said they are locked up on non violent drug charges… Well let’s see here, the person dealing to people and getting them hooked on something that has them going out to steal, rob, or even murder a female priest for a confession plate just to be able to get the drug you got them hooked on… So the root of the evil was the person selling the drugs… Nonviolent overdoes?? Sorry but even stealing someone’s money without them knowing it causes harm regardless if you are there when it happens… We all need to do better in here and out there…

We all need to stop with, ‘I’m better than you’ crap, because that’s what is holding everything back… Illegal is illegal regardless… We want change from where we are at?? Then less start the change from within!!! Start with yourself, and with your partner and expand it out throughout the place you are at and then we will get the change we are looking for; because if we can’t change ourselves then those people out there are not going to want to help with our initial goals…

I just try to stay on point with what I’m trying to accomplish and I know its bigger than me… peace!!

Russell Browning

“Stress is What We Wake Up To.”

Stress is what we wake up to, walk with, and lay down with… It’s in our phone calls, our visits, and our mail… Its in our food, prices at the already high commissary, and a holiday package that costs more than you can afford! Its all around us, and how do we escape it?? We don’t… We have learned over time that people like “Youngkin,” do things for the political aspect of it.

Think back 30 years to when Governor Allen had Virginia… The scare tactic he ran off of and the way the system went down…. Youngkin is running in his shadows trying to gain a foothold in the political landscape off of our backs as past politician’s have done also. So for me, I try to live with it. When it gets to the point I think its winning, I stop everything and take a step back… So I embrace it, and at times I may need something to help me get up or go to sleep, but after 30+ years with no breaks and a lot of dreams, I think embracing it works better than fighting with it.

People, I’ve lost almost all of my family… I’m at the hands of the system and whatever it chooses to do… But I keep pushing for change!! Mental health in the system is not up to what society thinks it is in here. Think about it, the man at Marion who was killed last February 2022, by those COs who kicked him and one hour later they found him dead… That wasn’t the first time it happened. The medical staff at Smith County Hospital didn’t report the first incident in 2018 to the police, so they got by with it… Now they may never be prosecuted for killing a man with the brain of an eight year old child!!!

Mental health isn’t no where near were it should be in here… I’ve seen people who have actually lost it and because they are put into regular pods instead of mental health treatment centers, they usually get assaulted…

We need people who are committed to making big changes in this system and those who talk the game but don’t follow thru, make sure to impeach them from the office they received by your good graces… People out there can put them in office but can remove them also before their term is up if they don’t hold up to their campaign promise.

The old heads in the system like to say, (let the young bucks have it now)… We let the young people out there stand up to get their loved ones back from a system that’s not designed to rehabilitate, it just warehouses people for the federal dollars. Money is the only thing that talks…

Russell Browning, #1116214