Editor’s note: Osime Brown is a 21-year-old autistic Black man who was sentenced to five years in prison for trying to stop a street robbery. Upon his release in October, he is scheduled for deportation to Jamaica where he has not been since he was four. He has no one there to help him with his high support needs. Read more here.
Today would have been Dejah Jones’s 18th birthday. When she was 14, after being bullied, she ended her life. She was talented, loving, kind, thoughtful, and a beautiful soul. Her presence made the world a better place. This week is Suicide Prevention Week, and in Dejah’s honor, we are posting daily with the hashtags #NoDejahVu and #SelfieForSuicidePrevention as a part of a collaborative effort to make the world a safer place.
Is suicide selfish? What is suicide?
Simply put, it is terminating one’s own life.
I have been on this earth for more than half a century, and I have never had, not for one moment, the desire to deliberately harm myself or to terminate my life, but I have known people who have committed suicide or attempted to do so.
Some may ask or even say, “Surely nothing can be so bad to drive someone to commit suicide.” Well, obviously something must be so bad for someone to go on a journey, all alone– for there is no one else with you– not knowing where it leads, what is behind the curtain or what monster, what abyss shall greet you, terror, gloom or obscure darkness, whether you are escaping one hell and entering a greater HELL!
Something must be that bad to bring one to that tipping point of no return. Something must have been that bad to make someone– who may be loved by at least one other person– leave them broken and perpetually sad.
SOMETHING MUST HAVE BEEN THAT BAD!
I knew a Young man who hanged himself: SOMETHING MUST HAVE BEEN THAT BAD, to leave us so sad, knowing that we loved him and would have gone a thousand miles for him. I have pulled at least two people from that tipping point, and it drains, but I would gladly be drained.
You are being chased by two Rottweilers, four Dobermans, and two hungry lions; you run like hell, with fear oozing out of every pore of your body. In flight you make Usain Bolt look like a tortoise:
ARE YOU SELFISH?
Hell, yes! I am trying, at all cost, to survive, to escape pain; it’s me for me, and I for me; it’s the red mist, I am blinded and cannot see clear, I am focussed, I can hear no sound, nor see any sights; I am blind to the world, and the world is blind to me: I am trying to save me the only way that I know.
Alas!
I wish someone was able to resonate with me.
Damn the cold-blooded and lifeless institutions that oppress humans to breaking point, where they cannot see reason anymore. So it is with systems and governments, even the law, lacking humanity and compassion, chasing and pursuing citizens and vulnerable souls, like two Rottweilers, four Dobermans, and two hungry lions:
Over the cliff, over the precipice, and there is no safety net!
Be kind, be caring, be compassionate, give explanations to decisions and actions affecting others. Such virtues may create respite to an emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually challenged soul.
LET US HELP EACH OTHER TO BREATHE!
Happy birthday to sweet Dejah, who deserved a safety net and a break from running so hard. We will fight for you.
I am a hardworking, caring, responsible, and reliable qualified mental health nurse. I have been described as a keen, warm-hearted, and having a good sense of humor by my peers. I have got skills such as immaculate time management skills, non-judgmental, and the ability to relate to people from a wide variety of social background, cultures, and creeds, without judging them or try to impose on their personal ethics. My philosophy in life is, never accentuate your failures; just use them as a stepping stone tothe future.
- Happy Birthday, Dejah, from Osime Brown’s Mother – #NoDejahVu - September 11, 2020
- HMP Stocken: My Son Osime Brown Does Not Need to Be a Statistic! - August 23, 2020
