Innocent Criminals

This piece is by Isabel Mercado, a writer and a senior at Ventura High School.

I know my future because I know my history.

Ghetto Prison, we won’t stop until we are free

We will rise in the city of fallen angels 

If money is the root of all evil then greed is the seed

Private Prisons, this isn’t livin’

Perhaps we take because nobody is giving

America is a rich man’s vision and a poor man’s prison.

The world is dying and we’ve all gone mad

When will it all end?

Too many Blacks and browns hurt by the system, we're victims of legal sin and we beg for mercy when condemned by evil men

There is no love in the heart of the city. If there is a god, where is she?

This is what I see

We are no longer slaves but we sure as hell aren’t free.

So until we don’t have to kill and steal for a family, tattoo these words I just spoke on my chest and read them aloud when I break all the rules on the behalf of every innocent criminal.