From Kristi Kendall, speaker at last week's Voting Rights rally, from Floyd County

A Coming Out of Sorts…

As some of you might know, I went to Frankfort last week to lobby for HB 70. This bill would restore the voting rights to most former felons. What you may not know is the reason I did this…

I’m a former felon. Yep, sure am. If you didn’t know this before now, sorry for springing it on you this way. Chances are I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure how you’d react. Many, well most, of my Facebook friends already know, some were felons like me, some were employed at the prison, some were special people who came into my life (Dale, Julia, Colleen, and Brittany) as a result of my time there.

As a result of my conviction, I am not allowed to vote. Now, many people don’t vote and could give a crap about it, but I, on the other hand, am not one of those people. I am opinionated as most of you know and demand that my voice be heard. Kinda sucks when you can’t have your voice heard and express those opinions. It also affects me on my job. I work at a law office as a paralegal and can not become a Notary until my rights are restored. Aside from my boss, I am now the only other employee at the office and since he can’t (ethically) notarize his own paperwork, that leaves us notary-less. If you’ve ever worked for or know anything about legal offices, not having a notary is almost unheard of honestly.

When I was invited to go to the Lobby Day for HB70, I was a little apprehensive. I’m a creature of habit and that certainly didn’t fit in with my "Get up, go to work, come homeâ€ routine. I would have to take a day off from work, drive down there with a stranger, and be assertive with Legislators whom I did not know and was scared I’d say the wrong thing to. I mentioned it to Johna… "So I’ve been invited to this thing….â€ To which she said "You’re going. This is what you do. You’re going.â€

So, I’m going and then I was asked if I wanted to speak. To say that I felt nauseous when I read that email would be an understatement. Johna said "You’re doing it.â€ Chance said "You’re doing it.â€ Crap…why is my family more confident in me than I am of myself? They were not content, as I was, to let me sit in the shadows and go about my day-to-day life. Crap…

I tried to write a speech. I’m not a speech-writer, so it goes without saying that I didn’t get any farther than "Hi, my name is Kristi.â€ I thought I might write a poem. "You can write a poem. You’ve done that. You have a folder full.â€ For days, the blank Word document stared right back at me, the cursor even seemed to laugh at my writer’s block.

Wednesday night, 6 hours before I was scheduled to meet my traveling partner in front of Peking, the words came, so did the anger and the sadness. Here’s what I wrote….

The Price of Freedom

Let me tell ya somethin’

Freedom ain’t cheap…

I know

Because I bought mine

I bought my freedom

By keeping my head down

And my eyes forward.

I bought my freedom

With self-help classes

And slave wages.

I bought my freedom

With

"Yes Sirâ€

and swallowed sarcasm.

I bought my freedom

With humiliation

Isolation

And alienation.

I bought my freedom

With every handcuff

Shackle

And chain

You put around my body.

I bought my freedom

When you strip-searched

Me

In front of 200 people.

I bought my freedom

When I stood up for others

And suffered for it

I bought my freedom

When your officer

Offered candy

To touch me

I bought my freedom

When I taught others

To read.

I bought my freedom

With lost time

Lost loves

And lost respect.

I bought my freedom

By turning my cheek,

Doing the right thing,

And letting go.

I bought my freedom

By keeping my mouth shut

….sometimes.

I bought my freedom

From you

And it took me years to pay

You back.

I bought my freedom

"Paid in Fullâ€ he said

when I walked out the gates.

I bought my freedom

I paid for it

It’s mine.

So why are you trying to collect interest

On a debt I already paid?

You can find a video of Kristi's poem read during the Voting Rights rally in Frankfort  Here.