Mayor Mark, I call him my father
By Saeed Moussa
Saeed Moussa is my name. I am from Ghana, in Africa.
He is called Mr. and/or Mayor Mark by everyone not as a sign of fear but that of respect. As a standup man, he is approachable, a good listener, respectful, and respected by inmates of all races, religious affiliations and creed, and has helped countless individuals how to move in the dreaded United States Bureau of Prisons (USBOP) system.
The stigma of who people think Mayor Mark is is deeply upsetting and unfair, for he has showed in the nearly 30 years of his incarceration integrity and displayed character traits that are nobel but never imposing. He in a nut shell moves like he doesn't belong here (in prison), still has class, is faultless, dependable, empathetic, and cannot wait to see him be reunited with his family (who means the world to him and vice-versa).
Mayor Mark is my friend, well, more than that. I call him my father. No man do I respect more than him.
My Praise for Mayor Marks book, "A Poet Dreams - a prisoner's search for meaning"
An unfathomably gut-wrenching, haunting, totally gripping, emotionally breathtaking, linguistically thought-provoking, devastatingly hopeless, unimaginably funny under the circumstance, and incomparably suspenseful true story that takes the reader into the cruel world of the United States Bureau of Prisons system.
In "A Poet Dreams - a prisoner search for meaning", Mark Crawford sheds light on the dark, inhumane, forgotten, inconsiderate and unjust world of the United States Federal prison system. Based on true events, his novel focuses on the lives of the forgotten, able-bodied, innocent but wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment, yet filled with hope for a second chance at freedom and dreams for a future reunification with family and loved ones.
This is a tale of success, friendship, injustice, loss, bravery, hopelessness, faith, and forgiveness that transcends any book written on the subject experienced by Mark Crawford; a young man who left home at age 15 in the face of adversity, defied all odds to become mayor of Corpus Christi, a small town in Texas, saw his life and achievements go down the tubes after getting wrongfully accused and sentenced to life imprisonment by the federal justice system that sought to punish him at all cost after he was initially exonerated twice in different state courts by a jury of his peers.
Mark's story is a real page-turner, indelibly sad, nonetheless, he leavens the pathos with humor in spite of the soul-shattering and tragic circumstances making it emotionally devastating, funny, self-deprecating and deadly serious all at once. It will make every free citizen out there wonder why such a barbaric system is still allowed to operate with impunity even to this day.
Mayor Mark demonstrated in his search for meaning from the injustice he had to endure that he's an embodiment of someone who's above anything petty, it's almost regal. His ability to accept life for what it was and for as long as it was, see the good in the rejected stones (justly or unjustly incarcerated people rejected or forgotten about by the free world), and help bring the best in them in their quest to rehabilitate and be responsible citizens is priceless.
My Take on Mayor Mark's Cake/Pie/Pizza Philosophy in "A Poet Dreams - a prisoner's search for meaning"
In Mayor Mark's must-read Cake/Pie/Pizza Philosophy, he explains in detail the seven steps or individual levels to spiritual maturity in the evolution of humanity's spiritual development gleaned from his personal experiences. To put it mildly, this is one of the greatest philosophies that achieves true unity, oneness and understanding for all of humanity as it not only enlightens readers to adopt a more unifying approach towards one another by living in harmony with each other, but also be more accepting in spite of their religious affiliations and/or differences.
Saeed Moussa