Dear Joshua

He looked at the paper and knew his time was up. After a year of running from his past, it finally caught up, and at the worst possible moment too.
"Mr Kadiri, it's about time you came with us." The police guard withdrew the arrest warrant and loaded him into the van.
His eyes landed on the distraught face of his newly wedded wife and strayed down to the noticeable bulge in her tummy.

After a few hours, he already knew what he was arrested for and he knew he wasn't getting out of it. He did in fact kill the man, it was his knife and his fingerprints were found on the car door where he stashed the body.
"You might not be getting out of this one mate." His lawyer whispered to him after the briefing in the station.
"How much time are we looking at?"
His lawyer loosened his tie a bit then continued.
"With all the evidence and the people pushing the case, it's safe to say you aren't seeing your family ever again."
His lawyer watched as Mr Kadiri's fist tightened while hearing his verdict.
"I see.." Mr Kadiri replied resignedly.
"Thank you for your services. Can I borrow a pen and some paper?"

Mr Kadiri sat alone at a table in the cafeteria with paper in his front.
There was a guard a few feet away watching him, his lawyer standing at the wall plus multiple cameras.
He didn't care though, he just wanted to write a letter and he had 30 minutes to do so...

After a moment to gather his thoughts, he began..

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Dear Joshua,

I hope by the time you're reading this, you have a basic understanding of my thoughts and the Ville mentality corrosion is far from you. Ville mentality in the sense that getting money and getting ladies is more important than your education and your family.
If you're reading this while you still have that mentality, then I'll have to apologize because it means I've failed you twice as a father. Once because I wasn't there to put you on the right track and twice because my absence and the reason I'm at where I'm at isn't enough of a deterrent for you to not step foot in this life.
Yet if by chance you're a better man than I was, a better man than I could be. You'd be at the table on your 18th birthday reading this and I'll be happy knowing you did have the best mom and I did have the best wife.

Joshua... The streets are unfriendly.
I know you've probably heard that saying numerous times but when you're hearing it the streets would probably be way more friendly than it ever was. Regardless, I'll say it again; The streets are unfriendly.
So unfriendly that even when a respectful black man like myself tries to protect the love of his life from a wealthy perverted white man he's not only insulted, dishonored and ridiculed for his efforts, he's meted the punishment of life imprisonment.
I didn't write this letter to lament at my faith, nor did I write it for you to have or start a vendetta against our judicial system. The system is here to protect us, as faulty as it may be.

I wrote this letter to tell you the 7 rules a man must have. Sounds a bit pompous of me but I've seen a lot of types of men.
A lot of men who thought they were men, a lot of men who acted like men yet were really just scared babies, men who were monsters and men who were beaten by monsters, also saw some women who had to become men.
*Regardless, all I know is no man is perfect, but with these 7 rules, I believe a man can get pretty close.."

1. Master your emotions, don't suppress them:
   Some people tend to wrongly assume that a man should be numb to emotions, he shouldn't feel pain nor feel hurt; be stoic, be neutral, as hard as a rock, as sharp as steel. That's wrong.
   A man should feel, the best men feel deeply, yet they react with calm. True strength isn't the numbness of emotion, it's your control over it.
2. Take Responsibility:
   Everything you touch becomes your responsibility. Own it, don't make excuses for failure. Ownership builds character and respect.
3. Respect everyone and everything
   Being a man means you acknowledge everyone and everything for how they interact with you and you give them their respect. Because you can overpower isn't a reason to overpower, yet if you can respect, that's enough of a reason to try respect.
4. Speak less, do more
   It's always best to build in silence. Let your actions be louder than your words.
5. Discipline is everything.
   Motivation fades but discipline keeps you going, a step a day carries you miles but you only move if you're determined to take that next step.
6. Stand for Something.
   In a world where everything is happening at once, choose something and stand for it. A man with something to stand for has something to fall for, yet a man who stands for nothing falls for everything.
7. Be an adult
   This is the most important rule. Becoming an adult means being able to empathize, for you to be able to empathize means you need to have imagination and experience.
   Imagination to put yourself in their shoes, experience to know that once in their shoes, you wouldn't want to be treated in the way you were about to treat them.
   A man is a shield and a sword. Empathy helps you decide who you defend or who you attack.

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"Your time is up, Mr Kadiri." The guard stood up from the chair and pointed to the clock.
Indeed his 30 minutes of writing had elapsed.
He didn't notice how much time had gone, he didn't notice the once standing guard had carried a chair and sat down. Not until he folded the paper to hand to his lawyer did he even notice that he was crying.
"Would you be alright?" His lawyer asked him
"I'll be fine." He replied, cleaning his face with his sleeve.
Life imprisonment for a black man meant no visits apart from his legal representative.
That letter would probably be the last his family would hear from him in a long time.
Still he was content, he had said all he wanted on the paper.
Unlike so many men who have walked these halls, as he walked to his cellblock, his home for the next 70 years, he walked in smiling.

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