TEN (10) THINGS MOST MISSED ABOUT THE FREE WORLD ?

1. FREEDOM BEING ABLE TO GO AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.

2. MY FAMILY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHER'S AND SISTER WHO IS THE YOUNGEST OF ALL
CHILDREN. JUST BEING AROUND THEM DAILY AND ALL THE SMALL THINGS WE THINK
THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. ME BEING THE OLDEST OF THEM AND ME FEELING IT WAS MY
RESPONSIBILTY TO LOOK OVER THEM.

3. MY MOTHER AND HER COOKING WHO KNEW HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING JUST THE WAY
I LIKE IT TO THE POINT WHERE IF I WAS EATING SOMEONE ELSE'S COOKING IF IT WASN'T
COOKED THE WAY MY MOTHER COOKED THAN IT WAS COOKED WRONG.

4. GIVING MY GRANDMOTHER A SURPRISE VISIT AND REMEMBERING JUST AS I TURN THE
CORNER TO HER BLOCK THAT SHE LIVES ON I COULD SEE HER BEFORE SHE SEEN ME
SITTING ON HER INSIDE PORCH LOOKING OUT IN THE EVENING AS THE SUN WAS GOING
DOWN AND ME REMEMBEPING AS I WAS GETTING CLOSER TO HER HOUSE WONDERING
WHAT SHE COOKED FOR DINNER.

5. FAMILY GET TOGETHERS AND COOKOUTS GETTING TOGETHER WITH FAMILY MEMBERS
YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN ALL YEAR LONG AND SOME EVEN LONGER AND YOU MAY NOT
SEE AGAIN UNTIL THE NEXT FAMILY GET TOGETHER OR COOKOUT.

6. COMING OUT OF MY HOUSE AND STANDING ON MY FRONT STEPS AND LOOKING BOTH
WAYS UP AND DOWN THE BLOCK AND SEEING ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN BUSY IN THEIR
PLAYING WITH EACH OTHER AND NOT A WORRY IN THE WORLD.

7. MY BABY SISTER WHO AT THE TIME I WAS ARRESTED WAS ABOUT 1 1/2 YEARS OLD WHO
IS NOW 19-YEARS OLD AND ME MISSING OUT ON THIS TIME TO BE THERE FOR HER LIKE A BIG
BROTHER SHOULD. ALSO MY YOUNGEST BROTHER WHO AT THE TIME OF MY ARREST WAS
ONLY 10-YEARS OLD (WOULD'VE TURN 11yrs. LATER THAT YEAR) WHO I FELT THAT ME AND
HIM WAS THE CLOSEST OF MY BROTHERS. WHO ALSO WAS MURDERED THIS YEAR ON MY
BIRTHDAY FEBRUARY 8th, 2000.

8. WHENEVER I HAD A PROBLEM OR SOMETHING ON MY MIND AND JUST NEEDED TO GET
AWAY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS TO BE BY MYSELF. I WOULD TAKE LONG WALKS
SOMETIMES TO THE PARK AND TAKE MY DOG AND BEFORE I KNEW IT WHATEVER
PROBLEMS THAT I HAD ON MY MIND WAS GONE.

9. AT LEAST ONE OR TWO SATURDAYS EVERY MONTH MY MOTHER AND AUNT WOULD GET
TOGETHER EARLY IN THE MORNING TO GO SGOPPING WHICH WOULD TAKE THEM ALL DAY
LONG TO DO ALL THEIR SHOPPING AND HOW THEY WOULD MAKE ME AND MY COUSIN GO
WITH THEM TO CARRY THE BAGS AND REMEMBERING HOW ME AND MY COUSIN NEVER
WANTED TO GO WITH THEM BUT THEY MADE US GO ANYWAY. ALSO REMEMBERING AT TIMES
HOW WE USE TO TRY AND HIDE SOME WHERE BUT HOW THEY USE TO ALWAYS FINDS US.

10. WAKING UP EVERY DAY AND NOT THINKING OR WORRYING ABOUT THE DEATH-ROW AND
WHETHER OR NOT I'LL EVER GET OFF OF DEATH-ROW.

To attempt to fathom the enormous injustice Ralph Trent Stokes experienced in his story
"The Last Round" you only have to read the two year study on Capital Punishment recently released by the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC. The report is titled,
"THE DEATH PENALTY IN BLACK AND WHITE: WHO LIVES WHO DIES, WHO DECIDES."
and was compiled by University of Iowa Law Professor David Baldus and statistician George Woodworth. What they found was shocking. They examined a total of 667 murder cases of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1993 (Stokes case among them) and of the 520 Black Defendants and 147 White Defendants, ninety five of the black defendants were sentenced to death in stark contrast to only 19 death sentenced white defendants. A Black defendant charged with murder is almost four times more likely to get the death penalty in Philly than a white defendant, no matter how heinous the murder is. The chances of a poor black defendant going to death row from Philadelphia is far greater than defendants in most states in the deep south. These findings should shock anyones sense of justice.

                                            SUPPORT RALPH STOKES !
                                                    
                                WRITE RALPH TRENT STOKES DIRECTLY:
                       Ralph T. Stokes #AY9034
                             175 Progress Drive.
                               Waynesburg, PA.
                               15370-8090  USA

          RALPH STOKES INFORMATION AND LINKS

Worldwidefriends.org support page

Ralph Stokes - Writings / Poetry

Ralph T Stokes-The Last Round  All the info about the injustice surrou nding this conviction set up by Ralph's supporters in Denmark.

Ralph's Cyberspace Inmates Page                            Read Ralph's message and penpal/ legal assistance requests.

Cellpalls Penpal Request                                                        INCLUDES POETRY

Ralph Stokes' Page from Lamp Of Hope

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