Richie Coleman has been a periodic contributor to Highbrid Nation since its inception. Unfortunately he was recently incarcerated on allegations of Drug Conspiracy. He is currently serving time in the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, NY and is awaiting trial.

Richie is a father of one, holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and has lived a life not unlike many in The Nation. While spending time reflecting on his life both good and bad he has been keeping a diary/ memoir. He has asked that we share excerpts of his story in hopes that it will help prevent others from ending up in similar circumstance. These are his words…..

Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) New York, NY

January 17, 2010

One day this week my cousin ‘Shake’ sent me some picture from our childhood for me to reminisce to. Naturally I showed them to Kahn to let him see me back in the days! Immediately, Kahn says, ‘Hey! That’s Shake!’ Surprised that he knew my cousin, I confirmed who he was. Kahn proceeded to tell me that he served 6 years with my cousin upstate in Comstock Great Meadow, when my cousin Shake was incarcerated.

My initial reaction (and the one I let off to KAHN) was one of happiness and hype. No wonder me and this guy got along so well. If he got along with my cousin then it was an easy idea for us to connect and for me to vibe with the guy. It opened up a whole new range of conversations between me and Kahn. He began telling me stories of my cousin upstate. Many of them violent.

Gradually the euphoria I initially felt over our common comrade began to give way to a resentful feeling of disgust. After spending years behind bars with my cousin, Kahn and I were now incarcerated together. Damn! Where did me and my cousin let our family down! Me and Shake were definitely Black Sheep of the family and that was ok for the most part. But were we now ‘veterans’ of the pirson system? This was nothing to be proud or happy about, regardless of how Kahn sensed I was feeling. And what of Kahn? State time, now federal time. The worst part is all three of us are fathers to young children no older than 12.

I left the conversation feeling as if my head would explode from the encounter. I became angry. I wanted to call my cousin and tell him how much of a couple of failures we had become. What legacy are we to leave? Is this how we want to be remembered? The phone rang twice and my cousins mother picked up. After one sentence from her, I knew something was very wrong with my cousin when she calmly told me he was in the hospital. He had been shot 4 times in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Written correspondence can be sent to Richie at:

Richie Coleman III
#04479-087
MCC New York
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007