Thug Jail Brother (Part 47)
MEMO TO SELF: AN INFORMED PERSON IS AN EDUCATED PERSON...

The police have arrested one person and they hope to have the other person in custody before the service tonight. I ask do they have a name of the person that they have in custody and she says yes, his name is Sirreal Johnson. When The Prophet and Mother Winfrey return from Ms. Sheba’s room she collapses right in the Prophet’s Arms. I called for a nurse and they come running over and they start working on Mother Winfrey. I think this is all too much for her to take; they put some smelling salt to her nose and poof she is sitting up on the floor. She just keep saying, why lawd, why they do that to my baby, ooh Lawd, ooh Lawd, Jesus, Jesus. They ask her if she is okay and she says, I will be okay, I just need to get to the chapel. I get a wheel chair and The Prophet wheels Mother Winfrey to the chapel. Once they get in the chapel, she tells him to leave mother here for a while, cause she got some talking to do. The Prophet comes back to the hall and we sit down and I give him the good news that the police have arrested one person and they have a warrant for the arrest for the other. He wants to know if I had the name of the person and I say someone name his name is Sirreal Johnson. He looks at me and say who the fuck is that and I say I have no clue.

I tell The Prophet the plans for the prayer vigil and a lot of your fans, Ms. Sheba friends and the press will be present.  Mac D is already here and he will be speaking, Dr. Manny will be speaking, Mother Winfrey may want to say something. Captain Jonathon Kennedy of the Baltimore Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) will say a few words and of course we have you down to perform, if you want to. We go back to the chapel and Mother Winfrey is singing Precious Lord Take My Hand.  I look and The Prophet and he looks at me and we are both going through, wow Lawd. Mother Winfrey wants to go see Ms. Sheba again and as we walk towards her room we run into Mr. Sexy himself, Dr. Eric Manny. He asks if we could have a seat in the waiting room and talk. He gives us an update and says that Ms. Sheba is still in critical but stable condition. Dr. Manny says that she is still in serious condition and that they will be waking Ms. Sheba up later tonight. They think that the swelling has reduced and she no longer needs to be in a medical coma. The Prophet ask Eric what are the chances for a full recovery and he says about sixty, forty. Mother Winfrey says, no disrespect Doctor, but are you saved and do you believe in the power of prayer. Doctor Manny answered yes and she said then I need you to change those odds, my God will restore one hundred fold. You believe that, he said yes ma'am and then she said, give me your hand and she reached in her bag and pulled out some anointing oil. She took the oil and poured it in his hands, she said now you have healing hands. I ask Eric if he will be coming to the prayer vigil and he says I will see you in a few minutes.

I get the truck and meet The Prophet and Mother Winfrey and we drive over to the prayer vigil. When we get there, there are about three hundred people in all shapes, sizes and genders.  I hope Mother Winfrey can take this. We have transsexuals, drag queens, lesbian, fem men, thug men, thug women, dl men and straight men. I look up and I see Taye, Lil Z, Ahmad and Malek standing there and they all come over and give me a hug. We start the night with Mac D, and he talks about Ms. Sheba and he offers a twenty thousand dollar reward. Mac D get emotional and says, we need to find these fool, KA POW and walks off.  Eric or should I say Dr. Manny takes the mic and says as a gay medical doctor my soul starts jumping, hallelujah, he is gay, not dl but gay. He goes on to say that he know what it is like to be discriminated against. He went on to say being attacked, beaten, brutalized, murdered or harmed in any way based on who and what you are should never be tolerated. The need for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in hate crime legislation has become more apparent given the continual increase in gay-based violence.

The public agrees. Polls show that 73% of Americans support hate crime legislation, including protection based on sexual orientation including sexual orientation and gender identity in hate crime legislation ensures LGBT community have the same basic rights to protection against discrimination currently given to other citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Hate crime legislation increases the severity of criminal punishments and helps deter anti-gay violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and other areas. Enough is enough we deserve more and we want more and we will take this issue up in Annapolis at the State House. Mr. Governor we have a message for you, if we do not see result, then we want your job, your ass will be on the unemployment line. The crowd goes crazy and I am so proud of him, I was clapping and screaming. When he comes off the stage I give him a big ass hug and thank him. Ahmad introduces himself and grabs my arm like he is jealous and sending the Doctor a message.

Captain Jonathon Kennedy of the Baltimore Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit said that on average, one transgendered individual is reported murdered every month. This high statistic does not account for hate crimes against transgendered individuals that are either not reported or are misreported as crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias.  Too often there is a disparity between the institutional responses hate crimes against transgendered individual. Transgendered Crimes should receive individualized attention.  Hate crimes are often more severe than other crimes. According to last reported FBI hate crime statistics there were 12,163 reported hate crimes in 2007. 14.2 percent of which were based on sexual orientation. Current hate crimes laws do not include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability. Many hate crimes also go unreported. As of June 2008, seven states have no hate crime laws at all, 20 states have hate crime laws that do not protect sexual orientation, and 24 states have hate crime laws that do include sexual orientation I would like to announce tonight that we have one person in custody and we plan on charging him with a hate crime. We also have a warrant, for another suspect and we should have him in custody in the next few days.

Finally, I got up and spoke; I told the crowd that Ms. Sheba met a tragic fate on the other night by the hands of two local thugs who beat her for being "flamboyantly gay." She was fortunate to still be here even though she is in critical condition. Many of our gay, lesbian and transgender brothers and sisters- Matthew Shepard, Charles Howard , Gwen Araujo to name only a few- were not as fortunate. Most people think of hate crimes as being exclusively against persons based on race, ethnicity or gender, but hate-based crimes against gay, lesbians and transgender people are equally rooted in our history and just as heinous. Ms. Sheba get your ass out of that bed, we miss you and we need you and our prayers are with you. After I spoke, The Prophet spoke and he said that Ms. Sheba is a special friend and he needed her to keep his life in order. She handles all of my business and I am not sure how I am going to make it. But, I believe that she is going to be okay, any day now I expect here to say, Ms. Sheba gona have to work her magic, KA POW. He then starts to perform his new song “It is what it is, Love me for me”. Boy, these queens out here love this song and the place was like a party instead of a prayer vigil. Just like Ms. Sheba would have wanted it, as we prepared for prayer Mother Winfrey said I want to say something.

The Prophet escorts his mother in-law to the mic and she says, I don’t know you folks, but I want to thank you for coming out for my daughter. Yes, I said my daughter; when you have kids you never know what they will grow up to be. I never thought I would be standing here calling my son my daughter, but when you love you child it should not matter. Ms. Sheba is gona be alright, I talked to God and he told me she would be alright. Then she kicked up Amazing Grace and there was not a dry eye in the place. We all lit candles and a preacher gave words and said a prayer and the services were over. After the service Captain Jonathon Kennedy came over and asked me and The Prophet, if we had a moment. He wanted to show us a picture of the man that they had arrested, Sirreal Johnson.  He asked if we knew him and when I looked at the picture, I had to grab Ahmad’s arm and all I could say is no, no, oh Lawd no… 

To Be Continued…

Malek Ariel, aka MA

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