What’s in the Brown Paper Bag?

What’s in the Brown Paper Bag? A Glimpse of Compassion on Death Row by Luis Ramirez Texas DCJ #999309

“I’m about [to] share with you a story who’s telling is long past due. It’s a familiar story to most of you reading this from death row. And now it’s one that all of you in ‘free world’ may benefit from. This is the story of my first day on the row.

(for the full article and multimedia experience, click here:  OM-Times June 2010 Edition)

“I came here in May of 1999. The exact date is something that I can’t recall. I do remember arriving in the afternoon. I was placed in a cell on H-20 wing over at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, TX. A Tsunami of emotions and thoughts were going through my mind at the time. I remember the only things in the cell were a mattress, pillow, a couple of sheets, a pillow case, a roll of toilet paper, and a blanket. I remember sitting there, utterly lost.

“The first person I met there was Napolean Beasley. Back then, Death Row prisoners still worked.

“His job at the time was to clean up the wing and help serve during meal times. He was walking around sweeping the pod in these ridiculous looking rubber boots. He came up to the bars on my cell and asked me if I was new. I told him that I had just arrived on death row. He asked what my name is. I told him, not seeing any harm in it. He then stepped back where he could see all three tiers. He hollered at everyone, ‘There’s a new man here. He just drove up. His name is Luis Ramirez.’ “When he did that, I didn’t know what to make of it at first. I thought I had made some kind of mistake. You see, like most of you, I was of the impression that everyone on death row was evil. I thought I would find hundreds of ‘Hannibal Lecters’ in here. And now, they all knew my name. I thought, ‘Oh well,’ that’s strike one. I was sure that they would soon begin harassing me. This is what happens in the movies after all. “Well that’s not what happened. After supper was served, Napolean was once again sweeping the floors. As he passed my cell, he swept a brown paper bag into it. I asked him, ‘What’s this’? He said for me to look inside and continued on his way. Man, I didn’t know what to expect. I was certain it was something bad. Curiosity did get the best of me though. I carefully opened the bag. What I found was the last thing I ever expected to find on death row, and everything I needed. The bag contained some stamps, envelopes, notepad, pen, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brush, a pastry, a soda, and a cup of Ramen noodles. I remember asking Napolean where this came from.