<![CDATA[FREE Shawn Ali!

<![CDATA[FREE Shawn Ali! - BLOG]]>Thu, 27 Jun 2024 10:30:08 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Still Fighting]]>Thu, 26 Jul 2018 01:31:01 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/still-fighting

Still Fighting

"The battle for freedom and justice
is never hopeless,
but it is never finally won.
Every morning, we must wake up
ready to fight it again."
---Kofi Annan

I did more today to fight for my eventual exoneration than I have over the past 7 months combined in the time that I've been free. I had a rare weekday off from work, so I wanted to make today count by executing several actions to procure documents, make phone calls, make connections and receive professional legal advice.

I'm more than grateful and excited each day that I get to wake up as a free man (making parole is like hitting the lottery in prison); however, the pain of my 23 years of wrongful imprisonment still tortures me daily (mentally). As much as I want to, I cannot forget what they (the crooked system) took from me and what they put me through when they kidnapped me as a 17-year-old, wrongfully convicted me, sentenced me to 40 years, and caged me up like an animal with another man (cellie) in a tiny, inhumane 6' by 11' foot cell for 23 years.

   When I was living in a prison cell, I was extremely limited on what I could do from my tiny cell to fight back against my injustice, but I still did what little I could within my limitations. I had hundreds of copies of my innocence story that I typed personally on a computer that I was using for one of my clerical prison jobs. I wasn't suppose to do it, but I did. I was working as a prison type of slave for free, so I took a chance in using their computer for my benefit. One of the Correctional Officers, who respected me for fighting for what I believed in, used one of the copiers to run me off about 50 copies of innocence story.

  On the days that my wrongful imprisonment was getting the best of me, I would fill up envelopes with copies of my story and a letter and mail them to different organizations, innocence projects, civil liberty groups, celebrities, basically to anyone (smile). Even if I wasn't getting anywhere, it made me feel better inside to do something to try fight back. If nothing else, I know each copy-of-my-story/letter was making another connection and raising the awareness about my injustice to at least one more person. In my mind, and with my faith, I kept telling myself "you never know who might read this" and I believed that eventually the right person was going to read my story and help me. I thought of each envelope that I mailed off as a seed I was planting into someone's heart and the sky was the limit to what my seed might grow into.

While I was in prison, Anthony Graves, an exoneree who spent 17 years on Texas Death Row, gave me some sound advice on fighting to be exonerated. He advised me to do
one-new-thing-each-day to fight. Even if it was just a prayer, a letter to someone, revisiting my case files, writing down note and ideas, expressing my pain in a poem/song, he said just do one-new-thing-each-day. On my darker days of doubt and disbelief when I chose to do nothing about my injustice, I felt far worse inside about my wrongful imprisonment than on the days that I did one-new-thing-each-day. Doing something---anything--- to fight back and channel my pain made me feel better about my hopeless existence in prison and Anthony Graves advice proved to be effective. Doing something, or one-new-thing-each-day, motivated me to do something else, and another something, and so on. My chain-link actions, and the positive energy that emanated from my actions, created a contagious momentum of me wanting to do SEVERAL-new-things-each-day.

I woke up today feeling a greater amount of pain and sadness about all the years I spent in prison for something that I didn't do. I've been so busy with trying to build my new life, going to work, attending my parole classes, reintegrating into society, and not to mention enjoying my freedom (smile), that I haven't been focusing on what's in my past (wrongful imprisonment). I shouldn't focus on the past. I'm living in the present for the best days of my life that I believe are in my future. Although I'm not going to focus on my past, I'm sure as hell not going to forget it and still fighting for my exoneration is something I will do in both my present and my future.

The reason I woke up today with my wrongful imprisonment heavy on my mind and emotionally disturbed was due to the phone conversation I had yesterday with Ms. Kate Germond, who is the Executive Director at Centurion Ministries, which is located in New Jersey and the oldest innocence project in the nation. Centurion Ministries was one of the few innocence you did a preliminary investigation/review into my case, but in the end they didn't take my case due to limited funding and people with more severe sentences (Death Row and Life Sentences) who needed there limited funding and services more than I did.

The reason I contacted Ms. Kate Germond was based on the suggestion of my friend in New Zealand, Ingrid Arvidson, who has been in touch with Ms. Germond about my case. Ingrid stays on me about typing new blogs and taking steps---now that I'm free---to continue the fight for my exoneration, and I thank her for that.

Ms. Germond told me that they wouldn't be able to take my case (I knew that; I'm a free man), but she did give me some of her seasoned, professional advice about getting a copy of my court docket, the full police report, contacting my trial lawyer, working to hire a Private Investigator and encouraged me to contact her again if and when I have any questions during different stages of my fight.

So, this morning, as I was laying in my comfortable bed and feeling down about the two-plus decades that I wrongfully spent in prison and the fact that I'm still treated like a second class citizen by some because I'm branded as an EX-FELON!, the voice inside of my head said, "Get your ass out of bed and do something about it. Be the solution to your problem." Based on all of the time I spent in prison and what I use to do to cope emotionally, I knew the best antidote to alleviate my current pain was to fight back by doing that one-new-thing-TODAY. Now that I'm free, I have more mobility (car), freedom, resources, finances, technology, and instant communication than I did when I was in a cell, and today I was determined to use them to take some steps forward in the fight for my exoneration.

Today, I did more than one-new-thing-each-day to fight back; I did more like 6 or 7 things:

I drove downtown (Houston) to the Criminal Justice building to get a copy of my court docket and any other documents on my case that I could find that I don't already have. One of the clerks entered my cause number into the system and located y file in the warehouse on 5900 Canal Street, where they store the bulk of case file.
I drove 12 minutes away to the warehouse on Canal Street and they did have my file. I didn't find the court docket, but I did find my original indictments, motions that were filed, the jury selection, questions the jury asked during their deliberations, and a few other documents. I took iphone pictures of some of the documents and I put a paper clip on 15 pages, as they instructed me to, to have a copy made by them for $1 per page. Turns out their debit/credit card machine was down, so they gave the copies to me for free. How sweet (smile).
Next, I ventured in my car 5 minutes to the nearby Harris County Sheriffs Office to obtain a detailed copy of the Police Report in my case. I have a 7 page, watered-down version of my Police Report that my cousin was able to obtain while I was in prison, but I want the full police report with everything in it. They clerk there told me that there procedures didn't allow them to give me my full Police Report, but she did give me a form with the website with step by step instructions on how to request (online) for a copy of my full police report.
Seeing my trial lawyers name in my file and recalling what Ms. Germond told me, I Googled by trial lawyer and found his current phone number. I called his number and left him a voice mail message. I shared the great news that I was free, that I was still fighting to clear my name, and anything that he could do to help me would be appreciated, especially if he still had his file on my case.
My next stop was a 12 minute drive back to the heart of downtown Houston to the District Attorney's office. There is a special division within the DA's office that I had heard about called the Conviction Integrity Division. The Integrity Division looks into cases where there is a claim of actual innocence. I spoke to one of the paralegals and advised me on how to file a claim with their division, which is detailed letter summarizing my case and listing all of the points to support why I was wrongfully convicted. Letter writing and writing in general is something I know all to well from my time in prison. I may not even use that division (after all they are paid by the state and are on the DA's side) but I wanted to look into it.
My last stop was to the University of Houston Innocence Project at the main campus. I submitted my case to them when I was first released 7 months ago and I haven't been in touch with them since, so I wanted to check the status on my case. I spoke with the assistant director Cassandra Jeu and she told me my case was still active and open. No decision has yet been made on whether they are going to take my case or not. I was able to update her on what I'm trying to do for myself and she was happy about that. I know the more I can help myself, the more I can help them. Most innocence projects have limited funding, so they are real selective about whose case they atke on. Case in point is Anthony Graves who I mentioned earlier. All of the innocence projects originally turned him down. It was only when a group of journalism students from the University Of St. Thomas compiled a treasure trove of new evidence over 3 years that the same University of Houston Innocence Project decided to take his case. They were handed a pile of new evidence on a silver platter and won his exoneration after DA Kelly Seigler dismissed the charges.
Also, my trial lawyer did call me back and we had a great conversation. Yes, he was a court appointed attorney, and yes, I know he could have done a lot more for me to have prevented my wrongful conviction, but he was genuinely happy for me that I'm free and we had a fruitful 30 minute talk. He agreed to look in his office and storage for any files he had on my case and will help me in any way he can moving forward.

As you can see, I used my day off and freedom to get several things done on my case that came from advice that I was given by others and from ideas in my head that I've been thinking about. Even though I don't see any major results for my actions today, I did something, I fought back, I planted some seeds, I channeled my pain into some proactive actions, I made some positive connections, I sent out some positive signals into the Universe, I typed this blog and there's no telling who might read it and how it may effect you (hopefully positively), and I feel better now than when I woke up this morning. I feel a sense of accomplishment that I made today count for something that I strongly believe in (my innocence and exoneration). I have in front of me what will be a hard war to win---it's like I'm David fighting Goliath with a sling-shot---but all I can do is keep fighting and doing one-new-thing-each-day until I'm exonerated. I'm still here. Still Believing. Still Fighting.

]]><![CDATA[Another Day of Freedom]]>Sun, 15 Jul 2018 23:41:04 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/another-day-of-freedom

Another Day of Freedom

I woke up this morning as a free man. To those of you who know me and have been following my story through my trigger-happy photographic expressions via Facebook and Instagram, my freedom has passed the surprise stage and is old news by now. Maybe to some but not to me. That's why, after several months of distracted, "busy" freeworld-living, I'm here and trying to motivate myself to type a new blog. I don't want to forget where I came from and where I'm trying to go.

Even with being free for the past 7 months, there was still an element of surprise and excitement when I woke up this morning and did a full-body stretch in a real bed. I'm the first to admit that I've come a long way real fast in the past 7 months---car, job, new wardrobe, money in the bank, reunions with family and friends, exploring the city, etc---but freedom and the endless privileges and opportunities that come with being free never get old. I hit my knees every morning, like I did this morning, and thank God (profusely) for my freedom and give the Great I AM the first fruits of my day.

I opened up the blinds and there were no bars or fences blocking my view. No more instant coffee for me. I was able to make the choice between drinking Old San Antonio coffee from my Keurig or fresh gourmet French coffee from my Bodum French Press. I chose the French Press coffee. I was able to privately do my daily devotional reading, meditation and quote reading without the eavesdropping of a cellie and not one "excuse me" that I heard what seemed like a hundred times in my tiny 6' by 11' cell whenever one of my cellies needed to get to the other side of the cell. I don't miss having dry pancakes 4 or 5 times a week at 3:00 am in the morning with a vigorously regulated, 2 ounce leveled spoon of syrup. I'm now able to open my uncle's refrigerator and chose what i want to make. Waffles, eggs, toast, hash browns, cereal, fresh fruit. I make the choice. Every morning i eat a banana and an apple and an orange before the day is over with. There's not 100-plus guys in my room voting (and arguing) on what to watch, just me. What do I want to do with my day? Meet with a friend or family member. Hit a new restaurant. Go shopping. Buy some new Jordans to add to my collection. Workout. Go jogging in a park. Catch up on movies and Power shows on-demand. Museum. Movie. Type a blog. The choice is mine to make. I can open my front door and do what I want to do.

  When I compare my 23 years of wrongful incarceration to the considerably shorter 7 months I've been free, it's no surprise to me that I experience several I-can't-believe-I'm free moments throughout the day. You know when freedom really hits me? When I make my daily commute to work on the freeway and drive intimately close to the big, bold, and beautiful Houston downtown skyline of towers. Sometimes when I'm driving and see the downtown skyline it brings tears in my eyes because it makes me realize how far I've come from the tiny cell I lived in with a bland, boring view of a different kind of concrete and metal scenery, the institutional setting of prison life.

But you know what? No matter how many family and friends i reunite with, how much money I make, how much delicious food I eat in all the restaurants I go to, no matter how much fun I have and how much I enjoy the people, places, and things in freedom, there is nothing good enough that I've experienced in my new found freedom that will make me forget my 23 years of wrongful imprisonment and the pain that I still feel. Some advise me to forget about my past and focus on my future as a free man, but I just can't. Yes, I'm more than happy to be free and I will focus on my future and make the most of my freedom, but I have to keep doing what I can to fight to prove my innocence and to ultimately be exonerated. We all have different purposes in life, and my purpose is to fight until I'm exonerated and to use by story to give back for the good.

Another day of freedom feels awesome to me, heavenly. However, I believe God restored my freedom to put me in a better position to prove my innocence and win my exoneration. I will take it day by day. I will not try to rush the process. I will thoroughly enjoy all of the little luxuries of freedom. I will smile and laugh with the unspeakable joy that resides in me. I will keep making daily choices that enhance my quality of life. I will eat, drink, and be merry. But I won't forget the gross injustice that the "system" put me through and i will keep fighting until I obtain the justice of my case being overturned, my name being cleared, and me being fully exonerated.

]]><![CDATA[Biking and Busing to Drive]]>Fri, 26 Jan 2018 02:46:06 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/biking-and-busing-to-drive

Biking and Busing to Drive

"Nothing is ordinary if you know how to use it." ---William Wolcott

"In life, it's not what you have that makes a difference. It's what you do with what you have." ---John C. Maxwell

For so many days, months, and years, my physical mobility and movements were severely restricted by the 3 brick walls and metal bars of a tiny 6' by 11' Texas prison cell and by the many locked metal doors, security gates and maximum security double-set of barbed-and-razor-wire fences that kept me trapped inside of a Human Zoo (you may refer to it as a prison). Now that I'm a free man, do you actually think I'm going to let not having a vehicle stop me from accomplishing the necessary tasks related to me reintegrating back into society, building my new life one decision, action, and day at a time, and exploring the adventurous places and sceneries of the free society that I was deprived from living in for so long. Hell to-the NO. (Smile).

In my mind, I'm just a bike ride or Metro ride (light rail and bus) away from going anywhere that I need or want to go. Most of the time, I prefer riding my bike, anyway. Even when I do ride the rail or bus, I always take my bike with me. That's one of the many cool things about living life in a more efficient, technology-driven 21st-Century---there's a compartment to carry my bike on the bus. Just like a jacket at this time of year in crazy-unpredictable-weather Houston: better to have my bike on me and not need it than to need it and not have it. I usually need it (smile). My theory is, in the 30 or so minutes it may take me to wait idly at a bus stop, I could easily be at least half-way to my destination while actively enjoying 30 minutes of new, uncharted freedom (to me anyway).
Distance, or the time it takes me to reach a given destination, is not even a factor. Weather isn't even a factor (I rode my bike in the recent ice storm to a job interview and in the rain several times). The only factors are DESIRE, DECISION, and DETERMINATION. It's up to me. Do I want to go somewhere, and if I do, am I willing to ride my bike and/or use public transportation to get there? An emphatic YES! YES! YES! There are no more bars, walls, guards, or fences stopping me, so why wouldn't I?

If I need or want to go somewhere, then I simply open my front door, hop on my bike and start riding. Ride with a big Kool-Aid smile on my face and sometimes with tears in my eyes. Ride with the thought of, "Damn, I can't believe I'm free." Ride with goosebumps and a rush of positive energy and emotions surging inside of me because it feels GREAT to be free, to go where I want and do what I want. Ride to the inspiring music that plays on my Pandora Motivation Radio station through my bluetooth headphones while my girl Siri's sweet voice interrupts periodically to give me directions. "Turn left in 700 feet." Yes baby, I sure will.

Downtown Houston, Parole Office, my mandatory Substance Abuse classes 3 times a week, the Harris Health Eligibility Center, Church, Bank of America, movie theater, job interview, DPS, Galleria, Food bank, HEB grocery store, Walmart--- trust me, I'll get there (tapping my muscular legs). It may take me a while, I may arrive sweaty and breathing hard and will down a bottle of water, but I'll reach my destination and have loads of fun on my way. From my own personal encounters and experience with freedom so far over the past 57 days, the journey has always been more interesting and exciting than the destination itself. Like the time my girl Siri---when we were first getting acquainted---guided me onto to the freeway and a cop pulled me over. I still blame her, but she says I clicked the drive option instead of the bike option on Google maps. Whatever (rolling eyes).

Majority of the time--unless I have a time deadline to be somewhere or my curfew is about to expire---the greater the distance it takes me to get somewhere, the more sites I get to see and freedom I get to absorb and the more I get to learn about living life in the free society. That's how I look at it. Even when I get fatigued or my legs are sore, I just tell myself, "At least I'm not in a prison cell," and I keep on peddling at a steady, leisure pace, and with a renewed motivation and strength, to my destination.

I love riding my bike. Its just me---solo, all by myself--- and all 5 of my senses having a personal, intimate interaction with freedom. There is something so liberating about feeling the wind of freedom blowing on my face while I ride my bike to the music. There are no more prison fences to stop me. No more correctional officers to tell me where I can and can't go. No tiny prison cell to confine me in a tight space with another man. No more locked inside of a crowded, standing-room-only dayroom that is over capacity. No more having to walk within the painted yellow lines in a straight line behind other inmates like a trail of obedient ants. None of that. It's just me on my bike, riding and navigating through the city of Houston, a new-and-improved, cleaner, artistry, downtown-centric 21st-Century city of Houston, I must say. And I'm not riding my bike aimlessly just for the sake of fun and adventure; no, I'm simultaneously, and strategically, getting things done and accomplishing my reintegration goals. I always feel a sense of accomplishment, victory, and growth after each bike ride.

For example, on Thursday, 1/18---here's a good, multi-day story---I rode my bike 8.7 miles from downtown Houston to the DPS office on 4545 Dacoma. My mission was to start the process of obtaining my Drivers License. Riding my bike is fun and all, and it's a great form of exercise (helps to offset all of the good-eating I've been doing---smile), but it's more out of necessity than anything else. I have to ride my bike because I don't have a car. I'm not going to use not having a car as an excuse not to get things done, which requires going places, and some of the places I have to go are mandatory (Parole office and the multiple classes they have me going to). While I'm riding (using) my bike as my primary means of transportation, I'm going to make the most of it and have fun. However, I know I will eventually get a car, and when I do get a car, I will need a Driver License to drive it. I thought it would be wise to obtain my license right now, so I'll be ready to go when I do get a car. Makes sense, right?

Upon my release, I was re-united, via Facebook messenger, with one of my previous cellies, who is also now a free man. During our first messenger text-conversation, we did some catching up and traded advice on transitioning into society. He---to maintain his anonymity, let's call him Adam (I have learned that some people are funny about having their name or picture posted online)---was released only a couple of weeks before me. Adam gave me specific instructions, a 4-step process, on how to obtain my driving license within 24-hours if I wanted to, as he did:

1) Watch the Driver Impact Distracted Driver Impact video online and print out the certificate.
2) Go to the DPS office with proof of identity and address, take the written test (pass the test) and pay $25 for the Learners Permit.
3) Find a certified Third Party Driving School (the same day if you want) and pay them a fee to take the driving test.
4) Return to the DPS with the sealed envelope containing the driving test results, the Impact Video certificate, and Learners Permit, and pay an additional $11 to get a Driver License. Easy steps to follow but not easy in practice.

Well, just as Rome wasn't built in a day so wasn't getting my license. I learned that the hard way on my bike (smile). I failed miserably on my first attempt to go to the DPS to begin step 2 of the process. (I did step 1 online.) So before I tell you about my Thursday DPS bike adventure, lets rewind to Wednesday, the day before. It's a helluva story, so I hope you're ready to laugh.

On Wednesday, 1/17 I rode the metro rail downtown, and from downtown, I road my bike 9.3 miles---yes, you read right, 9.3 miles---to the DPS office on East Freeway. Why didn't I ride the bus? I wanted to. The problem was that Metro bus services were suspended indefinitely to later in the warmer part of the day due to some of the roads still being icy from the ice-storm we had in Houston the day before. (I sat at bus stop in the freezing cold for 15 minutes before my dumbass figured out---by not seeing any buses and checking on the metro website---that no buses were running.) But I didn't let that stop me. In hindsight, I should have, but I didn't. My stubborn, determined ass hopped on my bike and started peddling in the direction of East Freeway DPS office. Real-man-of-Genius.
Why even attempt to go to the DPS office on a cold, icy-road day? Because I'm a man of action, and I like to get things done in spite of the obstacles and challenges that are in front of me. The ice storm had already passed the night before, and though there were some icy roads left behind, the temperatures were slowly warming up. The metro rail was still running, so that was a good sign. According to the news, many businesses would open after noon. I called myself smart by hoping I was one of the few crazy-ass people to go to the DPS on a cold, icy-road day when most people would stay inside. I figured I would find the DPS waiting room near empty and that I would be in and out in no time. Boy, was I wrong.

To be safe, I tried calling the DPS hotline. The DPS hotline and it's operators are located in Austin. Austin was hit harder by the ice storm, so everything up there was closed down, including the DPS hotline. The computer-voice operators had no useful information to relay about the Houston DPS offices. So I set out for the DPS without knowing for sure if the Houston DPS locales would be open after noon or not.
So on icy-road, no-buses-for-most-of-the-day Wed., I rode my bike 9.3 miles from downtown Houston to the DPS office on East Freeway only to discover---what do you think happened? (laughing to myself)---that not only wasn't it not open, it wasn't even there. That's right, Siri had led me astray. There was a huge sign that stated that the DPS on East Freeway had closed down and relocated to a new, bigger office on Veterans Memorial Drive (17 miles away). Awww-no, can't be. It was, and I was sick. And not with a cold, but I was sick with disappointment.
So what did I do? Did I give up and head back home? No. The day was still young. I was either going to find a DPS open or see a lot more freedom while riding my bike to a closed DPS. After my disappointment melted away and my resolve returned, I Googled the next closest DPS office, which was 13 miles away. That would be the Pasadena DPS office on Red Bluff Road.

I hopped on my bike and started peddling that way while Siri guided me. I feel exhausted just thinking about that bike ride (smile). I arrived in Pasadena in about an hour, but there was a major, unexpected obstacle in my way. A car-only tunnel. The tunnel attendant wouldn't let me ride my bike through the tunnel. Obviously, or I wouldn't be alive to be telling this story. Ha-ha. I'm adventurous, but not crazy or stupid. I threw my bike in the back of a total stranger's truck and hitch-hiked across the Pasadena tunnel (maybe I am stupid).

I made it safely across the tunnel and rode my bike the rest of the way to the Pasadena DPS office. When I arrived there---and yes, this time it was there---it wasn't open. (Frown). It was closed due to the icy roads. (Though I didn't see one icy road on my way there.) No surprise. I knew when I set out on my DPS journey that morning that arriving to a closed DPS office was a strong possibility. It made me feel better to see several dumbass people like me showing up in droves to the closed DPS office. Apparently, none of us got the memo and had the same bright idea.
You would think I would of been mad about the wasted trip(s), but I wasn't. Extremely fatigued, but not mad. I was laughing at myself. It was an exhilarating, high-endurance ride. I saw some beautiful sceneries and felt alive. My ride wasn't even over at that point. If you think about it, I still had to ride 13 more miles home. (If you do the math, I rode my bike 35.3 miles that Wednesday and was no closer to obtaining my license than when I woke up that morning.) The funny thing is, I knew, as a free man, I could wake up the very next morning and try all over again.

That's exactly what I did. The next day, on a sunny-breezy, no-more-ice Thursday, 1/18, I took the metro rail downtown to attend my 1pm Anger Management class, and then afterwards, I rode my bike 8.7 miles to the DPS office on Dacoma. I could of rode the bus, but Siri said I would make it there faster on my bike, and plus, it was a beautiful day outside. I would of went to the DPS office early in the morning, but I didn't want to risk being late for my class if I got held up in a long DPS line and packed waiting room.
A long line, that was stretched outside and wrapped around the building Black-Friday style, was what I saw when I arrived at the Dacoma DPS at around 3:00 pm. Are they selling a new iphone model or giving out free money? Damn, that line is long, I thought. No sweat. If I can ride my bike to Bum-F-Egypt and back, I can wait behind what looked like 100 people (and another 100 people in the waiting area that I couldn't see). "At least I'm not in a prison cell."

At around 4:30 pm, I made it inside, took my ticket number and waited in the super packed waiting area. I had to be at another mandatory class at 6 pm. The DPS closes at 5 pm, but because of the ice storm backing them up for a couple of days, they were staying over and servicing everyone that was in the waiting area at 5:00. Best-case scenario I would get out at 5 pm, but whether I rode the bus or my bike, according to Google maps, I wouldn't make it to my 6 pm class on time. While I was outside standing in line, I had the mental forethought to call my bestfriend Fernando at work, as I knew he was getting off, and I asked him to meet me in the DPS parking lot so that he could drive me to class. He wasn't feeling up to it and he was in the wrong car (small sedan's aren't good for packing bikes), but he said he would do it.

At 5:15 pm, I still had 12 ticket numbers in front of me. I had to do something. I had a couple of good converations with one of the DPS ladies, so I went back to her. Most people enjoy talking to me because I'm always smiling and I act like a happy/curious tourist (if they only knew). I struck up another engaging conversation with her then I segued into my special-situation problem. I lifted my pants leg up, showed her my ankle monitor, explained that I was on parole and that I had to be at a mandatory parole class at 6 pm and if she could please help me get serviced more quickly.

Do you know what she did? She asked her co-worker friend to open up a new station, and she put me at the front of the line. I couldn't believe it. It worked Adam (wink). I wanted to give her a hug. Her friend processed me. I gave her proof of my identity and address, did my finger prints, picture, eye test, and pre-paid the $25 for Learners Permit. She said the written test stopped at 4:15 pm, but she instructed me to come back the next day so that I could take the written test and get my Learners Permit.

After I exited DPS backdoor, I was on a new mission to get to my class. It was 5:30pm and only a car would get me there in 30 minutes. I unlocked my faithful bike and started searching the DPS parking lot for Fernando. I wasn't even sure if he made it. I called him on my phone. "Fernando. Bro., where are you at? I don't see you. I need to get to my class." "I'm at home bro," Fernando dropped the bomb on me. "You're at home. What?!? C'mon bro. You told me-----". Then he cut me off, "I'm just joking bro. Turn around. I'm pulling up right behind you." Sure enough, there he was, my boy, loyal as ever. Ha-ha-ha, damn, he got me good. We squeezed my bike into his backseat and made it to my class on time.

The next day, Friday, 1/19, I took the bus to the same DPS office on Dacoma. When I arrived there at around 9:30 am, the line was even longer than the day before. Are you kidding me? (This was the picture of the DPS line that I posted on Facebook.) A DPS guy came outside and gave us all a speech. He said the Dacoma DPS office only can hold 150 people, they were well over the capacity and that it would be a 2-3 hour wait. Futhermore, he said there was a new and bigger DPS office on Veterans Memorial Drive (go figure) that held 350 people and the wait was only 45 minutes at that location. He proceeded to hand out fliers with the address and contact info to Veterans Memorial DPS. He didn't have to tell me twice. I hopped on my bike, put some jams on and started heading that way.

I rode my bike 7.2 miles to the DPS office on Veterans Memorial. On the way there, the crank that's attached to my peddle came loose. I carry an entire bike fix-it kit in my backpack, so I was ready. I tightened the crank with a socket-wrench and continued on my mission. There wasn't a line outside of the Veterans Memorial DPS office. That was a good sign. I'm glad I listened to the DPS guy at the beyond-capacity Dacoma office. I was in and out at the Veteran's Memorial office in less than 25 minutes. I took my written test (on the computer), passed it, showed the DPS clerk my receipt from the night before, and she printed me out my Learner's Permit. It took me three days, but step 2 was completed.
I tried to contact a Third Party Driving School to get the driving test over with, but each one I contacted had a reason why they couldn't do it. Either they were closed or weren't yet certified to do the test (Third Party Driving Schools for adults is a new, less-than-a- year state approved industry in Texas) or they were booked for the day. A couple of the schools offered to do my driving test that night, but my curfew is at 5 pm on Friday, so I couldn't swing it.

I ran into the same set of problems on Monday. They wanted to do my driving test at night, but Monday is my other day that my curfew is at 5 pm. There were also a few driving schools that were trying to hustle me. Wanted me to watch a 6 hour driving video for $100. You can't hustle a hustler (I grew up in the hood, streets, and in the pen.) That wasn't one of Adam's 4 steps, so I didn't buy into it. I contacted APEX driving school---the same one Adam used---and we set up a driving test appointment for 10:30 am Tuesday morning.

On Tues. 1/23, my mission was to get my Driver License. I took two buses to the APEX driving school on Bissonnet. I handed the driver instructor my Driving Impact Video certificate and my Learner's Permit, along with $69 (it's worth it because, had I did my driver test through DPS, I would have waited until mid-February for an appointment). I did my 20 minute driving test, passed it, and my instructor gave me my results and all of the above mentioned paperwork in a special-red-tape sealed envelope.
I took two more buses way to the DPS office waaay-the-hell on Veterans Memorial. The Dacoma office was closer, but the Veterans Memorial location made a believer out of me the previous time ( a bigger facility with a shorter waiting time). The wait was longer the second time---about an 1 hour and 30 minutes---but it went by fast, and before I knew it, my ticket number was being called. I was about to get my license. I've never had a license before. I WAS EXCITED!!! (smile)

I handed the DPS clerk the sealed envelope that the driving instructor gave me, and she processed me in the same way that the other clerk did when I paid for my Learner's Permit. She took my picture, thumb prints, eye test, and I had to pay the $11 driving license fee. After 4 days, over 50 miles of bike riding, 6 bus rides, and $105 ($112 if you count the bus fees), I earned my Driving License. I used my DESIRE, DECISION, and DETERMINATION to get on my bike and ride the bus to allow me to drive legally with a license. Now I just need a car, and I think I already have one coming (wink).

]]><![CDATA[BUTTERFLY]]>Sat, 13 Jan 2018 16:26:15 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/butterfly

BUTTERFLY
by ShawnAli
The miniature masterpiece painting with wings. One of the Supreme Creators most beautiful creations. A living-breathing-and-flying piece of Divine artwork with a powerful, transformative story behind it's unique creation and crawl-to-fly evolution. The butterfly.
Often the most attention-grabbing mobile sparkle on any Springtime scenery, the butterfly flutters and flaunts its decorative wings with an ostentatious I-Only-Live-Once (and for short period of time) confidence, floating freely like a feather drifting in a breeze until it reaches its desired goal: a fragrant, sweet flower.
The life of a butterfly wasn't always so easy and beautiful in the beginning; in fact, it was just the opposite. Hard and ugly. The life cycle of a butterfly occurs in 4 stages: the egg, the larva(caterpillar), the chrysalis(cocoon), and finally, the adult---the colorfully patterned flying insects that we admire on greeting cards, in publications, in our backyards, and at the Butterfly Center in the Natural Science Museum, as I did this past week.
The life span of a butterfly varies from a few weeks to as long as one year (but no species of butterflies live longer than one year), but most butterflies, on average, live for several weeks. The butterfly is the adult stage, and the best/final stage, of the 4-stage insect. When a butterfly lands and slowly flaps its originally patterned wings(like humans with fingerprints, no two butterfly wing patterns are alike), I think, because it lives for such a short period of time, the butterfly, in all its majestic insect Renaissance royalty, wants someone, at least one person, to gaze at it's beautifully designed wings before it passes on (no form of life ever dies). Besides procreating and pollinating, I believe the butterfly's purpose in life is for someone to see it and, in that single moment, to appreciate it's beauty. For what good is beauty if no one ever gets to see it?
As the butterfly, I believe we have to go through necessary stages of growth and development before we can become a person of significance/success en route to our various goals in life towards fulfilling our purpose on this earth. Reaching our goals without plans and stages to prepare us for our own version of success is just as impossible as it is for a caterpillar to fly. (A caterpillar cannot fly until its transformed during the cocoon stage.) We have to go through something in order to become something (or someone). Failure and defeat are often prerequisite stages to success.
As people, like the butterfly, we will be confined inside challenging cocoons that will demand the best of us during the worst situations. It won't be easy, we'll get sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired, get depressed, want to give up at times, but in the end, after we come out of that cocoon, we'll make it and be a better person because of what we went through. You see, the butterfly derives both it's sustenance and strength to fly away from it's cocoon condition through the laborious task of eating it's way out of the cocoon. We have to fall, crawl, and struggle so that we can learn, grow, and succeed. And having a lot of money isn't success. A well-off person who isn't happy and isn't fulfilling their purpose in life is trapped in a cocoon and may never transform into a butterfly.
In my case, as most of you know, I did 23 years in prison. Being in prison as an innocent man was my caterpillar-cocoon stages. All these rappers talk about being at the bottom. (Sigh) I was at the bottom of the bottom. I was as low as a person can get with the exception of being on Death Row and death itself. And when you're at the extreme bottom like I was, and I woke up on some days in a depressed state of mind that pushed me even lower, having a bad day, getting put on lock down for a stabbing or whatever, no mail at mail-call on that particular day, etc.......sometimes death seemed like the better option. I'm too strong-minded for that, believed there was a greater purpose in my future behind all of my struggles and pain, so I would shake off my temporary negative mindset and keep on crawling and surviving inside of my tiny cocoon. I would pray, verbalize outloud positive affirmations (i,e. "I'm better than this," "No weapon formed against me will prosper," "There's a purpose behind my pain," "Make Today Count Shawn. You have the same amount of minutes in a day as someone that is free"), I would psyche my mind out, tell myself that I was away at a quasi-University or an intense training center, where I could I learn anything I wanted to and become the man I wanted to, I hung positive phrases and quotes on my cell walls, I took trips and vacations through reading books, I enrolled in college, studied hard, earned two degrees, learned and taught myself so many things, including how to type, discovered gifts and talents about myself then I cultivated those gifts to stay busy and to keep my mind off of the time and my innocence, I channeled my pain through my writing, songs, and poetry, I wrote my innocence story and started a writing campaign to make more people aware of my innocence so that I could get the help I needed, I wrote to pen pals and total strangers, who became some of my closet friends still today and who did more for me than some of my own family, strangers-turned-friends who believed in me and shined a light of hope into my darkness, I did push-ups and more push-ups and more push-ups until I was doing 1,000 reps, doing push-ups, pouring with sweat and tears at the same time bc I was determined to not let the "system" defeat me and I was determined to leave prison a balanced and transformed man....I did whatever it took to keep me crawling, learning and growing inside of my cocoon until my day arrived for me to fly. There is a moth-butterfly in the tropical rain forest that remains in the caterpillar stage for 30 years before it becomes a butterfly. That was me. Crawling everyday, but still believing and living with a purpose. Once I clocked in close to 23 years and made parole and started counting down the days to my freedom for those last few months, guys would come up to me and inquire about my release status. "How many days you got left Shawn?" I would tell them, bro., I only have 27 days to live. I'll be dying in 27 days. Dying??? They would look at me crazy. Confused. (One of my favorite rap songs is "Dead and Gone" by Justin Timberlake and T.I.). Death gives birth to life. Out with the old and in with the new. Then I would go on to tell them I'm about to die and be a new man--a FREE man--with a new life in a new world, the freeworld. I'm about to fly away from this place--transformed--and fly as high, as far, and for as long as I can with every fiber of my grateful being.
I was released on November 30th and I've been flying ever since. I both admire and respect the butterfly. Think if you were told you only had a few weeks to live, or at the most, a year (like the butterfly), what would you do? My next question is why do you have to be put in a drastic situation like that to do what you want--or should--do in life. Smell the roses. Find your purpose. Do some living. You might just spot a butterfly while you're doing it. #GETTHEMOSTOUTOFLIFE #TRANSFORMATION

]]><![CDATA[43 Days of Freedom]]>Fri, 12 Jan 2018 05:55:03 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/43-days-of-freedomDate: 1/11/2018

Time: 8:40am

Occasion: Loving life as a Free Man

" Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." --Helen Keller

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched--they must be felt within the heart." --Helen Keller

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
--Helen Keller

Life is about creating yourself. A better me. A better you. Day by beautiful day. Until we get what we want out of life. The type of life that we envision for ourselves. Not what someone else envisions for us, but what you envision for yourself. What I envision for myself. A meaningful life that leaves our legacy behind, once we pass on, inside of the people we love, and the people we came in contact with. Also in the things that we create, through our God-given gifts and talents. Creations that we leave behind in the form of words, pictures, songs, art, businesses, organizations, worthy causes, and so forth.
I find it astounding--and nothing short of a miracle--that a woman, Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind, was not only so full of life but was also able to articulate the details of life so well--a life, mind you, that she never saw with her eyes nor heard with her ears--into captivating, vividly descriptive words. Her so called "handicap" become her strength because it brought out the best in her. It was an adventure and a daily challenge for her to live a "normal" life without having two of her main senses, much less an exceptionally successful life, which she did. She wrote her name into the history books. I know my sociology teacher is reading this(smile). So what do think Tina? I think it's safe to safe that Helen Keller reached the Self-Actualization stage, the highest stage in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory.
What Helen did not have in not having her eyesight and hearing, she made up for, abundantly, in her writing of essays, short stories, and books. She was able to look at the beautiful details of life intently and deeply through the lens of her writing. Did you know that Helen Keller was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelors of Arts degree? And she didn't attend just any university. Helen attended the oldest, and arguably the most prestigious university in the United States: Harvard. Yeah. She did that. We all know it's not easy to get accepted into Harvard. There are fully functional people with taking-for-granted access to all 5 of their senses that will not accomplish even a fraction of what Helen Keller did.
When I doubt myself and think that I'm not capable of accomplishing something, all I have to do is think about her miraculous, hardwork boot-strap story and the adventurous, illustrious life she lived--in spite of being deaf-blind--and my doubts and excuses are eliminated.
Some of my favorite quotes (reading and memorizing inspiring quotes is one of my hobbies) came from the fertile mind, lips, and pen of one Helen Keller. If a woman, who was both deaf and blind, could live and enjoy life to the fullest--and I mean the fullest, Google Helen Keller--then why can't I? Why can't you? She didn't let her deaf-blind condition hold her back, so I'm not going to let my lengthy wrongful, unjust incarceration hold me back.
When something precious in life is taken away from us, or we never have it to begin with, as in the case Helen Keller's deaf-blind condition, we appreciate it even more. I had my freedom, and then one day--poof--it was suddenly taken away from me at the age of 17. When I was wrongly arrested on that unforgettable night in 1995, I had no way of knowing--wouldn't of believed it if Moses told me--that I wouldn't see freedom again for 23 years. I was wrongly imprisoned for a crime I did NOT commit, and deprived of my natural freedom and forced to live in a tiny 6' by 11' cell....FOR OVER TWO DECADES! My unjust incarceration was my handicap. My blindness. My deafness. All of my youthful years--20's and 30's--were taken away from me. However, my adversity made me look more inwardly, within myself and in God, and over time, I was able to discover a new me and a new freedom. An inner freedom. A limitless freedom that the "system" could not take away from me. The freedom of my spirit, my mind, creativity, writing, music, my attitude, education.....everything.
As you all know, I have recently regained my physical freedom. The past 43 days of my new life as a free man have been amazing. And it's the simplest things that I find fun, exciting and incredible. Time for another Helen Keller quote (smile): "To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug." As I transition to living life as a free man, with a transformed perspective and a new belief system that was created and shaped over 23 years in a prison cell, it's as if I'm seeing and hearing life for the first time. I never knew life was so beautiful. Adversity can bring out the best in us. As it did me and as it did for Helen Keller. My newfound freedom and new lease on life makes me wonder how much greater Helen Keller's life and legacy would have been had she regained her eyesight and hearing after 23 years. If she had the same second chance that I've been given. I feel so blessed and grateful. And so should you. Even if everything isn't going our way (I want to be exonerated), and when we want it to and how we want it to, we are so blessed. Beyond measure. The sad thing is some people are to blind to see how blessed they really are and the most that life has to offer them. 143    ]]><![CDATA[I'm FREE!!!]]>Sun, 31 Dec 2017 05:56:14 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/im-free   Hello friends. I'm FREE!!! Obviously(smile). I've taken and posted enough pictures to make that known. However, I won't be totally free from the leash the "system" has on me until I'm exonerated. Not only will I keep this website up and running, but I'll expand it's use.
So this will be my first of many blogs that I will type and post on my website. Wow, freedom feels good. I'm actually typing my own blog. For so many years, I carefully hand wrote my blogs and I had to rely on a few of my big-hearted friends to either type or scan my blogs for me and post them to my site. (Thank you Becky, Pam, Melissa and Seth.) Tonight I'm sitting here on my comfy couch in my spacious bedroom and typing my own blog. Like so many surreal moments that I have experienced over the past 30 days that I've been free, the small task of typing my blog myself is a big reminder that I'm FREE. (Looking up to the ceiling) THANK YOU LORD!
That's right, today is my 30 day anniversary of being a free man after having spent the past 23 years of life in prison. I celebrated this morning by making myself a Grand Slam breakfast, and what better day to type my first blog than today. For so many days ( awake with my eyes wide open), and for so many nights (asleep with my eyes closed), I dreamed about regaining my physical freedom and how it would be like. My prison stay was so lengthy (from age 17 to age 40) that I forgot how it felt to be free. Prison, as much as I hated it, but because I had to adapt and survive, became my normal. I have to tell all of you, FREEDOM IS BETTER THAN I EVER DREAMED OR IMAGINED IT TO BE (big smile).
My first 30 days of freedom have been amazing. 30 individual miracles with hundreds of miraculous moments occurring each day. Everyday has been a fun adventure, a learning experience, and a priceless gift of living life as a normal person. Even on Saturdays, like today, when I'm on locked down status and I'm not allowed to step one foot out of the house, I'm having a blast. (I'm on an ankle monitor for the first 90 days.) I will take waking up in a house that's 50 times bigger than my prison cell over being back in prison any day. How people get out of prison and even think about committing a crime and risk losing their freedom again, I don't know what in the hell they're thinking. I can't do it. That thought is not even remotely located in my universe. I love being free and the steps I'm taking forward towards building my new life. It may take a little longer succeeding the right (legal) way, but that's the only way I will pursue and fulfill the goals, dreams, and vision that I have for my life. I was wrongly convicted, but when I got locked up at age 17, I was not on the right track. I'm a transformed man now and I'm thoroughly enjoying my new life.
I will post more blogs in the future, but it was on my heart to to express my thoughts and feelings through a few lines tonight on the eve of New Years Eve. I'm on Facebook and Instagram, so I welcome your friendship there. I like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. If your life isn't how you want it to be, I believe you have the power to turn it around in 2018. Set some realistic goals, devise plans to reach them, and execute your plans by working hard to reach your goals. I'd like to thank my family and friends who were there for me while I was at my lowest in prison and who are still there for me helping through this reintegration process. A special thanks to my cousin NATALIE. I'd also like to thank Shadohkt and the rest of my family in Shiraz, Gary, Cyrus, Rick, Fernando, Mike, Jessica, Ivan and Seth. And also....I haven't forgot about you G (wink). Love you girl and wish you all the best in your life. Have a Happy New Year!!!!!! 2018 is going to be a GREAT year. "You don't have to be Great to start, but you have to start to be Great."--Unknown ]]><![CDATA[27 Days to Go: Skinny Jeans]]>Mon, 04 Dec 2017 15:44:24 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/27-days-to-go-skinny-jeans

]]><![CDATA[43 Days to Go: Eat, Pray, Love]]>Mon, 27 Nov 2017 15:08:19 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/43-days-to-go-eat-pray-love

]]><![CDATA[Counting Down the Days]]>Tue, 24 Oct 2017 21:02:25 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/counting-down-the-days

]]><![CDATA[Update (sent with last blog post "One Last Dream")]]>Mon, 11 Sep 2017 22:14:06 GMThttps://www.freeshawnali.com/blog/update-sent-with-last-blog-post-one-last-dream

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Still Fighting"The battle for freedom and justiceis never hopeless,but it is never finally won.Every morning, we must wake upready to fight it again." ---Kofi Annan

Still Fighting

"The battle for freedom and justice
is never hopeless,
but it is never finally won.
Every morning, we must wake up
ready to fight it again."
---Kofi Annan