A Black Man's Burden

By Emma C Holmes

One man’s traumatic experience and inevitable plight of being falsely accused of a crime; then suffering consequential imprisonment. This is a brief glimpse of past encounters of Paul’s life, which was the highlight of his happiness, until the unthinkable happens, which landed him in Graterford Prison.

Explore: The riveting controversial emotional letters written from prison that conveys sentiments of struggle, love and hate. What seemed at first as an attack on women, men, and society was in reality his desire to expose man’s inhumanity to man. Witness how Paul compares his imprisonment to feeling to...
“Like a Dog Going through the K-9 Process” Find out his definition of there is ...“Two Types of Men That Are Released from Prison.”
Discover how ushered in heavenly forces which provided a “Ray of Hope and Inspiration,” in a most surprising way. Epilogue: In the Cell Adjacent to Mine Dwells an Old Man. Find out of...“The Unique Role of Sergei Rachmaninoff & Ravel.” This is a lesson of how one man found peace and acquired the ability to forgive from a lonely prison cell. While the letters are authentic, this book was organized and inspired out of any human experience.
Emma C. Holmes American Author: Original from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Graduate: Widener University. ‘A Black man’s Burden,’ 2005... Revised in 2017. Received, Editor’s Choice Award in 2006 “The National Library of Poetry’ included poems: ‘Infinity,’& ‘Hurry’s Heavenly Home,’ in book form and on CD. New Book Released: The Captive-The Hologram Experience, Published in 2016. Sequel: ‘The Return of the Captive, 2017.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma C Holmes
• Release date: Aug 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9780692806135

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A Black Man’s Burden

Copyright 2017 Emma C. Holmes

Published by Emma C. Holmes at Smashwords

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A Black Man’s Burden

Copyright ©2017 by Emma C. Holmes

Smashwords Edition

EBook- 978-01-692-80613-5

ISBN: 978-0-692-80613-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

A Black Man’s Burden

A Black Man’s Burden tells of how one man’s life changed ultimately, after have been falsely accused of a crime. In the quietness of a starlit night at Graterford prison; Paul’s gentle cries toward heaven was his desire for help in a world that he thought would never hear. This is a lesson of how faith could inevitably strengthen the blight of the human spirit.

Explore extraordinary reviving controversial letters; revealing strong relentless sentiments of hardship, struggle, love, and hate, to finally forgiveness

Contents

A Brief Observation

When Negotiation Doesn’t work; Learn To Box

Invitation

The Meeting

The Courtship

Gratitude

Thanks A Million

Sacrifices

Fate or Chance

Some of the Best Minds Have Come out of Prison

Booze and Women

Employ The Maximum Force

Gubernatorial Elections

A Source of Comfort and Strength

Another Sodom and Gomorrah

A Perplexing Problem

Women and Men

Betrayed

Constitutional Rights

The Bill of Rights

Two Types Of Men Release From Prison

I Feel like a Dog who Has Gone Through the K-9 Process

Condolences

Epilogue: In The Cell Adjacent To Mine

Admiration

The Release

A Brief Observation

My name is Vicky. I’m from Philadelphia, PA, and I am one of six siblings. As a brief observation, Snellingburges and Bayack factories thrived back then. On any given weekday one could see the outpouring of workers flooding the streets heading for home. The cobbled streets are now replaced with traditional sidewalks, which is a constant reminder of how fleeting time really is. There were children jumping rope who would momentarily pause to exchange salutations with the passing workers. It seemed as though adults were more patient with children back then.

My brothers and sisters thought that going to bed at eight was unusual punishment; however, our parents determined long ago that retiring early was good for us, at least according to them. Our meal time was compared to that old television family, The Waltons with our family gathering around the table to say grace before dining. Prayers before meals were the dominant rules of the house.

My older brother Allen was our assigned sitter while our parents worked. And consequently, he became a self-exulted sergeant. Unfortunately, we were his appointed soldiers. This imaginary army, of course, was initiated by Allen to enforce his authority. This scenario continued for years. Nevertheless, Allen got the credit for our excellent house cleaning; and we siblings got credit for saying absolutely nothing about it. We were warned by Allen years ago not to divulge his unusual method of discipline. Well, actually, aside from the obvious sibling conflicts of interest, those were the most memorable times in my life. In those days, large families were not unusual. Our house was filled with a constant flow of children at our door asking for a snack of some kind.

Every Sunday after church, we enjoyed our traditional family gathering. And on many occasions Mother would feed a total stranger. She was a very compassionate; the personification of Real Christian love. Our mother Anna was a Teacher in the Public Schools for many years and excelled in educating children. Father was a store proprietor, he rose at four every morning to purchase goods from the Italian market, always remembering to awaken my brother Allen by turning his twin bed over on its wheels, to have him ‘Rise and Shine,’ for work before school. I imagined that Allen tried preparing himself mentally, knowing that his morning work would entail lifting heavy boxes of vegetables just before school. Allen resented this type of work discipline. Nevertheless, he knew full well of father’s sentiments to train his son early in life of independence, and the value of hard work. Of course, Allen thought this was unfair treatment at the time, considering that none of his friends had to toil before school.

Allen had no say in the matter and dared not voice his opinion, knowing father’s word was the law. Actually, why would he complain back then? After all, the strong discipline did have a positive influence on Allen, considering that later on in life he ended up having thirty-five men under his management. Some may have regarded Allen as a workaholic, because he put in over sixty hours a week. Although that was true, the trade- off was great, resulting in his making big bucks for the sacrifice of working long hours.

Back in those early days, my father Johnny’s produce store was always neatly stacked with fresh food; vegetables being on one