Jonny Ablewhite Update:
Live'n'Direct from HMP Lowdham Grange May 2007
My Dear Vegan Friends,
Of the dozen or so philosophies we've trawled through on our dreamy tour of the world on Wednesday mornings, the Taoists have impressed me the most so far. Millennia before Darwin, Lao-Tzu observed the unfolding of the Universe in her infinite glory and realised succinctly our place within in. Even then he sensed intuitively that all life has evolutionary value in itself and, no doubt when pressed, would have agreed the human species will fail if it continues on its current course of destructive and exponential consumption, a bug that's been pertinently labelled "Affluenza". (This reminds me of Bill Hicks' adage that humans are a "virus with shoes"!). I also have to congratulate Encarta 2007 for providing me with much insightful information; it incites awe (is that illegal now!) on the marvels of the evolutionary process and visions of our future - strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a bumpy ride: it appears, that in 3 billion years, the Sun will be hot enough to boil the Earth's oceans away! Four billion years thereafter, the Sun will have used up all its hydrogen and will balloon into a giant star that engulfs the planet Mercury. At this point in it s life, the Sun will be a red giant star. The Sun will then be 2,000 times brighter than it is now, and hot enough to melt Earths rocks. At this time the outer solar system will get warmer and more habitable and life may bubble forth from the primordial soup once again! Sadly, by then we'll all be buggered and never to return! There's karma! Lao-Tzu would have loved Encarta!.... By the by, all the Western and Eastern Philosophy notes are available from me, about 25 sides of A4, so please send me a few stamps and these lessons may help you to reduce the monotony of those everlasting stalls, the few that are still formally allowed!
I am constantly reminded how slavery remains a pervasive concept - the poster overleaf illustrates how modern slavery is as an historical phenomenon. Animals, of course, continue to be enslaved - in their billions. Images selling their bodies still adorn the walls and screens of labs and supermarkets world wide. I have been working a lot recently with a friend, Emmanuel, who spends all his time trying to seek solutions for the crisis of gun and knife violence amongst ethnic minorities that seems an epidemic in almost every city. A number of us are working on a positive, educational initiative called Ankh-Life which intends to bring hope and dignity back into the lives of prisoners and their families caught in the perpetual cycle of economic and social disadvantage that plagues their communities. On of these initiatives is the "Cultural Diversity Course" which we would like to flourish throughout the prison network. This educational programme aims to relocate and reclaim black and minority peoples of value and importance from a thoroughly white-washed and Eurocentric history. Furthermore, this course offers a holistic approach to mind and body healing that wholly recommends the practice of Veganism. I have found a comfortable niche in this programme and we are hoping to recruit prisoners of all creeds and ethnicities to this philosophy, with Veganism at the helm! Olaudah Equiano returns with valour, Queen Cleopatra is celebrated as the African queen she was and Alice Walker and Ben Zephaniah are read, Vegans and animal advocates! We are in the process of organising a portfolio and I will insist Veganism remains one of the principle tenants of the Ankh-Life proposals. I have been so thunderstruck by the work of my friend Emanuel. My Masters course offers me skip loads of food for thought but academia does lock you into a mentally inert closet: Ankh-Life should be an opportunity to burst out and declare, "Hey! I'm Vegan and Proud!!" Rearranging my sensibilities in to socially constructive pursuits is obviously an important element of my rehabilitation from a "criminal state" to a functioning "citizen"! I pray the prison authorities pay close attention to how much effort I am expending in reforming my despicable behaviour! You can bear witness to this evolution of my character; from dribbling, primitive ne'er-do-well to gleaming, reconstructed studious fop - or as The Telegraph would have it, from angel to demon! What a transformation - I'd forgotten how cute I Was! Such a tragic fall from grace!!
What impresses me so continuously is the libertarian hive of Vegan activity that communally and cooperatively challenges the predatory and seemingly insatiable conceit of the over-developed Western world. Our diet remains a permanent challenge to that hegemony. They can raid our homes, but leave our fridges alone! I apologise for my facetiousness in light of recent paramilitary terror tactics, but I've woken up enough times with the Feds staring at me to recall my true feelings: "Strip me of my dignity, denude me of my largely useless otherworldly possessions, but leave the Cheezley alone! She ain't done you no 'arm, squire!!" If you saw the barmy farmers in The Lie of the Land this week you would have spotted the blaring irony of one of their lines: "I cannot see the difference between a bullock and a lamb going to slaughter or me killing a fox!" Eureka! A moral road to Damascus live on Channel 4! Seriously, it is clear in this case moral bankruptcy will swiftly be followed by financial bankruptcy! To celebrate the demise of British farming, the first "Cane and Abel" release is imminent. The buzz of altruism and collaboration that has surrounded the making of this CD has renewed my love of Peter Kropotkin and all his optimistic prognostications about human kind - it's that huge Darwinian beard you could just get lost in! The CD should be available from my website by the end of May - "From the Vegan to the Ridiculous". I've tried to maintain some personal dignity in the song writing but I have to apologise now for some rather over-indulgent vocal yawping à la Morrissey!
I have such a profound sense of wonder in the grace and significance of the natural world that seems so tragically off set with my utter woe that homo sapiens are so indifferent to this beauty. "The linguistic legacy of the 19th century Transcendentalist movement does us all proud (bear with me!). Henry David Thoreau said "in wildness is the wonder of the world"; you may laugh at my romantic and fey delusion but when you're institutionalised and incarcerated - surrounded by grass you can never lie on or flowers you can never smell - you crave, almost pathologically, to just quietly sit with nature and watch as she goes about her business. "You buffoon!" I hear you chide. But stop, for I have been lately shifted to another wing with, finally, some trees in my view, thrusting confidently above the fence in a gesture of eco-political defiance from Gaia! So I can now sit and stare, all dewy-eyed, at the trees and doze off in reverence. Thank you Thoreau - that is wonder and I shall never take even a leaf for granted again!
The letters I love - thank you! The visits I love - thank you again! You I love - thank you again and again!
Brightest Blessings to You All,
Jonny.