Greetings to IOA,

Content!…This is the first word of this letter I insist on stating. I’m Christian and a firm believer of being content. I received your first letter and my apologies for taking so long to respond. Under my circumstances I have been seriously practicing what I preach to set an example for others around me that complain about everything inside or outside the jail. According to my beliefs which it says in Phillippians 4:11, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances,” and also Hebrews 13:5-6, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” and because of this I refrained from writing. My God is a God of Love, Justice, Peace, Happiness and everything Good. So on behalf of my Brother through Christ our Savior, in whom I actually grew up with as we went to United Pentecostal Church, which is now First Pentecostal Church located on Carver St., from childhood to adulthood, and God allowing me to be present at his “Homecoming” to Heaven, my condolences to Matthew McCain, but I disclose to those who know or who may not know details about his death. Brother McCain passed away between the night of Jan 18, 2016 and the morning before 6:30 a.m. on Jan 19, 2016 because the day of the 19 of Jan. we were all held in our cells for breakfast due to his passing. As my heart went out to him and I broke down crying after one of the lieutenants confirmed to me he was gone, that he died from a seizure, I began to think things through. I have a medical understanding of what triggers seizures but not all. I know that eating what you are not supposed to in accordance with cholesterol, hypertension, anxiety, and stress, as well as physical trauma, can trigger seizures. It does not always have an immediate effect, it usually is progressing depending on many variables such as: how stressed or anxious a person may be and for how long; what kind of physical trauma, etc. Now between Jan 10-12 2016, Matthew McCain experienced serious physical trauma that may or may not have been reported. He was struck fiercely by an inmate for no apparent reason, I witnessed this, directly in the face and he then struck the ground and hit his head again on the floor. He attempted to get back up and fell again, as the officers rushed in to control the situation that was already out of control, but was their job, and did not once assist Matthew McCain with getting off the floor as he reached for chairs and hands to grab hold of. Immediately they put him in his cell as well as the other inmate. He waited until everyone else was locked back in their cells before medical came to get him. Even though he didn’t experience an immediate seizure, I feel this could have been the cause of his seizure later down the line. The inmate that hit him was not even charged for assaulting McCain. The officers even went back and looked at the video footage and saw that McCain didn’t do anything.  Since that inmate entered the pod I never witnessed McCain provoking that inmate.  And what a lot of people didn’t understand about Matthew McCain’s attitude was that it was a result to all the seizures he had. Every seizure a person has affects them differently than others, some may have personality changes, others could lose feeling in various places—it varies. And being locked back 18 hours out of the day causes a lot of anxiety and stress, and the slow judicial system in Durham, NC in accordance to handling cases could be done in a considerate and timely fashion and could also reduce the occupancy in these jails. It seems the Durham County Jail is more interested in making money off of our oppressions but literally wasting taxpayers money that fund the jail to a percentage. How much I don’t know.

What sense does it make to be holding individuals for almost 2 years without sufficient evidence? They get away with this everywhere because no one is fighting to get “General Statute Laws” in accordance to how long they have to handle a case according to classification. All this is said, in which I could go into deeper detail but now is not the time, being locked back all day causes serious states of stress and anxiety, especially when you could be in the pod talking with someone on a regular basis about your personal issues if you choose to, than waiting a week before someone from “Mental Health to come see you. By that time there is no telling what the issue may be. By that time you may have suppressed it. And when it comes out it’s horrible.

For example, an officer keeps treating you like crap and knowledgably, you bit your tongue because you could get locked back for thirty days. You contact “Mental Health” while you are in the STARR or STARR/GRAD program and they respond back saying “you must let STARR staff know you need to see us before we can pull you out of class.” Then you’re like, “Cool! Ok.” and you do that the very next class, several times, and no one ever lets “Mental Health” know. The issue has now been neglected. Though I brought this forward as an example this is a true story—“it happened to me!” But the issue was never suppressed or left unattended because I consulted with my God and I was alright, but everyone don’t believe in God! You know? So what about them, the ones with more serious issues than being treated like crap? That same stress could result, over time into a seizure as well, just saying everybody’s body is different. They traditionally treat us like we are the same. “Animals”—an animal is a living organism able to move about. “Beast”—a beast is any large animal or a brutal, gross person. “Brutal”—brutal means a savage or cruel individual. I agree there are those of such character in here, but we all are not carrying ourselves in such a manner. I feel we should all not be characterized as such. The judicial system can be so “Bubbleheaded” which means “silly and ignorant” people being so quick to judge. But have the nerve to have my father’s word (Bible) in every courtroom. Why isn’t there also Qu’rans for Muslims when they stand before a judge, again, just saying. I’m entitled to expressing facts and opinions. They also treated Matthew McCain like an animal. They want respect, but don’t respect themselves, and that can go vice versa, but it can’t apply to all because if it could, why aren’t we all poor, rich, crazy, locked up, and so many other things because we are not the same. What applies out there in the world should also apply in jail. We should still be able to exercise our rights to their fullest capability. Just because we’re locked up don’t mean we don’t want better or deserve better, it just shows the truth of life, we all make mistakes, and just want to be forgiven, and another chance to correct our wrongs instead of being shipped off to prison all the time. I know this don’t apply to everyone. I’m saying this in general. I’ll leave you with this, IOA: Fight till you can’t fight no more. Please be our voice from the Inside to the Outside.

(Hebrews 13:3) “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

God Bless and Thank you .

Sincerely (make change)

Pastor Willie

*it would be real nice if this letter could reach the mayor or governor. Push this please.