Antonio Battle Update

Antonio Battle has now been moved from the Tombs to Rikers Island, where he is told he’ll wait until his February 15 court date. He is being told he will be released then, once his parole officer verifies that he was never AWOL. When he is released, he will start over once again—homeless and torn down by a system whose primary driver is apathy.

Antonio Battle deserves better than this. Like many of you, he is a profound thinker and a skilled, passionate writer. He wants to be an educator like many of us have the privilege of being. Like all of us, he is a person, deserving of the trust and freedom to determine his own destiny. In order to help convey this, I asked him to write me a letter that I could share with you. He called me today and asked me to transcribe what he’d written afraid that his letter would be held up and arrive too late to make any difference. Here are the words he gave me:

It is said that a journey is always better when it’s shared with others. And doing so, it allows us to grow stronger spiritually. Spiritual growth is not an isolated individualistic pursuit. It’s maturity, produced by relationships and community.

I know that it has been awhile since we last traveled together. So allow me to bring you up to date. On 11/29/18, I was released from DOC’s custody. 12/3/18, I was admitted into a psych ward caused by PTSD. Thirty days later, I was sent to a crisis center. Three weeks later, I entered into the shelter system. Nine days later, I was taken into custody by New York City’s Department of Corrections, parole division for failing to report. As a result I have lost all of my personal property, I am homeless once again, and incarcerated.

In the midst of it all, and though all these things are taking place in my life, I continue to maintain my love, faith, trust, belief, and sincere relationship with God. Surely “hardship often prepares ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny,” I quote C.S. Lewis.

In concluding, allow me to express, “For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out, and everything changes.” [I looked this up, and he’s quoting Cynthia Occelli’s Resurrecting Venus here. – John] So that’s where I’m at right now. I would like to humbly thank all of my supporters throughout my endeavors. I keep you all in my daily meditations. You shall hear from me in the very near future. Until then, let’s continue to journey together.

If the DOC keeps their word, he will be released from Rikers on 2/15 and will be once again starting over, with no money and no place to stay. I’m doing all I can for him—trying to find him legal representation, using my words to shed light on his treatment, picking up his remaining property from the shelter where he was picked up—but I’m just one person. I’ve learned from the team of educators and advocates I lean on the core premise that Antonio espouses above: relationships and community are at the core of maturity and positive social change.

With this in mind, I’m asking y’all to continue actively working on Antonio’s behalf. His struggle is one that thousands of people go through every week, every month, every year in this city and this country, in which we incarcerate more people than any civilization in modern history. But I believe his seed quotation above is apt. A seed can only be blown ceaselessly in the cold, indifferent wind for so long before it withers and dies. But give a seed just a little nourishment, a little room, and it can grow, bloom and reproduce, even after years and years of neglect.

Some of you have already done some really amazing, warmhearted, decent things for Antonio over the past weeks and months. Of all the guys I’ve worked with so far, his situation has been possibly the most challenging, with the most immediate and pressing needs. His most pressing needs are funds and a place to stay, but he also needs to know people care. If you want to help him a bit more financially, let me know. But also, if you want to send him a letter, or meet him with me when he comes out, or advocate for him, also let me know.

Let’s do this, Team.

Re/Creation is now running a fundraiser from July 12-31 with limited edition t-shirts and coffee mugs featuring Antonio Battle’s work. Please considering buying one (or more!). All funds will go to Antonio as he continues to struggle and strive in his work and in his reentry.