March 15th - Day Two at Oklahoma Baptist University (oklahoma)

the prison system
i entered for a cause i felt i needed to stand up for
and was released with yet another cause
i am a white, upper middle class, twenty something
and though female, my class supersedes my birth sex
from 10 am
till
3 pm
she was locked up, hair a mess, crying uncontrollably, alcohol on her breath
but a person she was and is
six of us came just about 3 pm
and we were processed before her
because she did not fit the part

all of us bare foot
walking around on a germ filled cement floor
a stainless steel toilet behind one wall
though stainless-not so sure that is the right word

hands behind my back
metal cuffs in their place
i ducked my had as i took my seat

carrying a gift
of beautiful colors, words, and songs
an offering for those whose minds remain shut down
and as my feet stand down on the lawn
my comrades behind me sing us a song
"walk, walk"
"walk, walk"
i hear them say
staring straight ahead i hear them say
holding one corner in my hand

they had us let go
and our tablet fell to the ground
scavengers of hope come up behind
raising our voice once more


we created this beautiful quilt, working all morning, riders, community members, and students. the colors represented those found on the original gay pride flag (the rainbow plus pink and turquoise) and written on these fabric pieces were bible verses of love, quotations of affirmation, and the names of students around the country and on their campus who were forced into the closet or already expelled for coming out. 6 of us, myself included, and 2 community members began to walk onto campus as the rest of the riders say "om shanti" and "stay'n on equality" about 20 feet onto campus we were stopped by the police, the two community members turned around and walked back to our singing friends, and we 6 remained standing, the quilt dropping to the ground as we were each placed into handcuffs. as we drove away in the police car i saw two oklahoma baptist students pick up the quilt and bring it into the school's student union--though we were stopped halfway, our message made it into the student union. we were in jail for about six hours, i am proud of what my friends and i did that day, and so proud of what the students at obu did with our message of hope.