(Scroll down for Michael Martin) INNER FREEDOM SUPPORT CONNECTION Adam is still serving time in prison, and hopes these words may keep others from entering the crime addiction syndrome that ends in prison or death. CRIME ADDICTION by Adam Martin I was once a Category One criminal, which means I was addicted to crime, before I was saved from my past lifestyle that I had chosen to live. Yes, I chose to be a criminal, until I received some support from a very dear friend of mine, Rev. Joyanna Freeland. This lady reached out to me through her letters and books to help me see that I had a very bad addiction. This addiction was going to kill me in due time, as it did my father. I was bred into crime and studied crime like a college student studies medicine or science. It took me awhile to catch on that I had an addiction. I did smoke a little weed now and then, but my main drug of choice was crime and the adrenaline rush that I received from committing crimes. I robbed banks with my father and ran his gang while he was in prison. It was my choice to be a crime junkie. The first rush from a robbery hooked me for what I thought was life. I was literally saved by Rev. Joyanna, who showed me that I can be a nice person and allow myself to face what I did, where as before I would have never done so. My father used me as a pawn in his world, and I was readily acceptable to this as I craved the attention that I got from committing crimes both for him and with him, plus the rush of the adrenaline that I got. It was so bad that I would have to rob at least two to three banks a day to keep the power of the crime flowing through my veins. Yes, I have been in many prisons and jails across this country, but out of it all, I learned not how to better myself, but rather how to be a better criminal from my elders. It is a sad fact sure, but at that point in my life, there was nothing and no one in my life who could sway me to be a real person, and not a criminal. The power I would get from the rush and the control of the people was first in my priorities, and the money secondary. There are no groups for ex-felons to join up who were/are addicted to crime. Nobody really seems to grasp that crime is one of the worst addictions that a person faces. It is not like a drug addict, or alcoholic at all. It is a sickness that is swept under the rug by everyone and left to the prison system to sort out. Rev. Freeland has reached not only myself but other inmates through her teachings in books and letters to help us understand why we are criminals, and the weaknesses that we as criminals have. Her studies reach through the walls of concrete and steel, into our very essence of being and helps us all to overcome this horrendous addiction. She pours out love to those of us who have never known such a thing. Sure it is hard on her, but she has done this for a very long time and I have climbed up from my addiction with her help. I face it every day of my life, because it is a continuous battle I must fight to stay out of trouble, due to the addiction of crime I have. I see no books on how crime is an addiction at all out there and it is sad because the truth is that if it is cotinually ignored it will only get worse for those of you out there. I see talk shows about prisons and criminals. Those people who do the shows are sadly misinformed. I watch them all and see no mention of the stress a person in prison faces every single day they are locked up. The talk show host leads people to believe that we in prison have it made. They do not know about the stress of wondering if your neighbor got a Dear John letter and is in a bad mood and poor mental state. This occurs and at times can escalate into a crime like knifing someone. Anyone in particular who happens to smile, or be in the wrong place or time. People are misled by the media into thinking criminals have it so easy. There is no truth in that at all. We are more often than not neglected with the only redress through the courts and then it s a blow to us for trying to receive help through the justice system, as we get harassed from the prison officials for filing lawsuits. We are still fathers, brothers, uncles, and sons even though we are in prison. We are still all human beings who require a nice word or a friendly gesture from someone. It is projected that by the year 2000 a large portion of the American population will either be in prison or on parole. Not to mention the people who will know someone or have at least one member of their family incarcerated in jail or prison. This is an epidemic, or plague, of a lack of social conscience that will allow this to occur. It is time to look deeper into the psyche of the addiction of crime and study the cause and effect this has on the human mind, not time to lock up and throw away the key on your fellow beings. Rev. Freeland has several ways you too can help defeat this current trend if you are willing. If not, well in due time you will recall what I have attempted to discuss in this article. Michael, Adam's younger brother, eventually followed the family business syndrome and inevitably ended up in prison, having accidentally killed his best friend, while using pot. He's been in prison from age 26 to 31, and hopes to be free soon, with the commitment to stay out of prison. BROTHERHOOD? UNITY? Michael Martin I asked Michael about his gang-activities, and have his permission to print his answer in hopes it might dissuade someone from this lifestyle. He said, " Joyanna, you can print anything I write to you, unless told not to. I have nothin' left to hide. Man, I am beginning to free myself already. Praise God." We were just a bunch of thugs across the nation who came together in the guise of unity. I came from the groins of a master manipulator or con man (The same father mentioned by my brother, Adam). I knew at a young age how to rad folds and how to give them what they needed most, regardless of what it was, I would give it freely, as long as they served a purpose. I used and saw a lot of people used up under the pretense of brotherhood. They do it for their own needs need to belong and be accepted. Man, all you fellas out there need to wise up. The Gang thang is good for a few high-ups in the organization at y'all'sexpense. Seek a true leader. I know One. His name is Jesus Christ. He died for y'all, and me too. Ain't no gang member actually gonna die for you, and if they did, it was by accident. True, I got bros out there I won't trade for the world now. But before I found out about the agape love through Jesus, I would let them take a fall if it profited me a few grand. Some I let go for a couple of hundred bucks. The gang thang is about the greed of some narrow yet farsighted folks makin' bucks. They'll pump your nuts up, just to make money. I write this at the risk of hurting my very dear friends who over the years may of thought against, but never questioned my means when lettin' some fellas be sent out, because it profited us all. Mostly they loved doing' it to prove themselves, for what? I love 'em doin' it until I didn't get my slice. Then God be with you. And brother Bam Bam if you ever read this, I'm sorry for all I've had a hand in puttin' you through. Let's just be brothers; ain't no need to be so hard all the time. Evil Lynn and your kids, my Godchildren, need and deserve more from us both. Let's get it on for God, bro. Big Mike |