The Second Chance Chronicles w/ Chaddrick Thomas

  “I Was Taught That Violence Solves Problems” By Chaddrick Thomas Before I ever picked up a weapon, before I ever saw the inside of a courtroom, before I ever became another name buried under a violent crime conviction— I was taught that violence was the answer. I learned that lesson at home. Not in some criminal underworld. Not from TV or rap music. From love. From discipline. From the people raising me. When Pain Becomes the Teacher I was spanked. Whipped. Told it was for my own good. That “this hurts me more than it hurts you.” That if I did wrong, the answer was a belt. Or a switch. Or a backhand. And that if I cried? I got hit again—for being soft. I learned that pain was a consequence. That violence fixes disobedience. That when someone steps out of line, you make them feel it. That was my first education. And it came with love attached to it. The First Violence We Normalize Is Domestic In Black households, we don’t always get the luxury of soft discipline. We’re taught that...

  By: Chaddrick Thomas America doesn’t hate violence. It celebrates it. Funds it. Wears it on its chest like a badge and wraps it in a flag. What this country hates is uncontrolled violence—violence that can’t be policed, predicted, or turned into profit. What it hates is resistance. What it fears is the mirror. Because if we ever stopped long enough to look at what we do in the name of justice, order, and peace— We’d see that this country doesn’t fear violence. It fears accountability. We Worship Violence That Protects Power From football fields to Hollywood scripts to military parades and prison expansions, America teaches us that violence is strength—so long as it’s vertical. It teaches us: A cop who kills is a hero. A soldier who bombs is brave. A CEO who starves workers is “smart business.” A judge who hands out decades is “tough on crime.” This isn’t about safety. It’s about sanctifying state power. And We Dehumanize Those Who Disrupt That Power People fighting back are label...

  By Chaddrick Thomas The most dangerous kind of violence in this country isn’t the kind that kills. It’s the kind that challenges power. That’s why when police beat protestors, the headlines say “clashes.” But when protestors break windows, the headlines scream “riots.” That’s why drone strikes are “defense,” but Molotovs are “terror.” In America, violence from the top is called control. Violence from the bottom is called chaos. When the Oppressed Fight Back, the System Panics Every empire fears one thing: reversal. When violence flows from the oppressed back up the chain—toward institutions, toward symbols of power—the state doesn’t just react. It overreacts. Look at history: Nat Turner’s rebellion led to harsher slave codes. The Black Panthers sparked COINTELPRO. Ferguson protestors were met with tanks. January 6 was called “unrest.” But uprisings in Watts, Detroit, Minneapolis? “Threats to national security.” The system doesn’t fear violence. It fears disobedience. Even Our Res...

  By Chaddrick Thomas The first time I almost died, I was still an infant. Born with a closed food tube, barely breathing. But Gwendolyn Thomas—my mother—refused to let go. She fought for me from day one. That’s who she is. A woman who loves without limits, even when the world tells her to walk away. A woman who believed in her son, even when the system tried to bury him. She Raised Me With Love, Not Fear My father believed in “tough love.” But my mother? She believed in grace. In prayer. In presence. She didn’t condone my choices. She didn’t like what I did in the streets. But she never let the streets take her love from me. Not once. I came from a two-parent, middle-class home. I didn’t grow up with nothing— But I still made choices that led me down a dark road. And even when I disappointed her, when I gave her every reason to throw her hands up… She stood by me. They Took My Freedom, But She Never Let Me Feel Forgotten I was only 24 when I came to prison. A military veteran. A y...