I made a tragic decision in 1995, involving a drug deal negotiation gone wrong. It ended in a tragic incident and a human being losing his life. I was blind to see how my poor decisions would not only cost someone his life; those decisions would severely affect his family and community. Although a “sorry” can’t change what happened, I still want to express my sincerest apologies and point out the fact that I am committed wholeheartedly to my emotional growth & spiritual welfare even with the death of prolonged incarceration.
My name is Norman “Bariki” Williams Jr; I’m currently serving a LWOP (Life without Parole) sentence. I am located in central California at Avenal state prison; I have been incarcerated for more than 23 years but just recently got transferred to Avenal on February 26, 2019. Shortly after, the LWOP-FUEL support group was created which is about men coming together, sharing needed information, & helping each other. I was a support & committee member of the Solano LIFERS WITH OPTIMISTIC PROGRESS and under the lead coordinator Roy Walker who encouraged me to become more active in my own rehabilitation.
I am 49 years old, the fourth child of my father’s six kids and mother’s five kids, the father of one son who is currently serving our country in the military, and an uncle to over 25 beautiful nieces and nephews. I was born in Jamaica, raised on the mean Streets of Southside, Central Kingston by a single struggling mother.
During the political civil unrest that were ingrained in strife & brutal government policies in the 70s & 80s which caused my neighborhood to experience the most documented systematic violence of that time. Ten young men were lured out the safety of my neighborhood, five were murdered & the other five escaped the government kill squad, these men are my friends & cousins fathers. They called this incident the “Green Bay killing”. The next year 1979 a rival neighborhood came to mine and shot it up, that is when a stray bullet hit my face and I became a victim of social dysfunction & political genocide. 1980 was when the “Gold Street Massacre” occurred and the government kill squad struck again & massacred a few people at a party in my neighborhood.
Eventually my mother migrated to the United States, my siblings and I followed behind gradually one after another. We lived in Brooklyn New York with our single mother who worked two jobs to take care of her children. With the false hope that selling drugs would provide luxuries I fell into what most people would call “the wrong crowd”. From time to time I would get arrested for misdemeanor marijuana sales & carrying a concealed weapon, but never any time in prison.
The offense I was charged for occurred November 24th, 1995, when I was 25 year’s old. This was my first time in prison and when I arrived it was during a time when prison offered nothing but warehousing. But, I applied myself exclusively to become my best self & move toward a positive change and transformation.