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Ari Sesu Merretazon, Life After War

1 Richard Brookshire Founding the Black Veterans Project

The second interview begins with Ari’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the efforts made to gain disability benefits through Veteran Affairs (V.A.). The interview then discusses the use of drugs such as marijuana and heroin. The use of drugs was very prevalent due to the explosion of drugs in black communities. Ari attempted to provide resources for those affected by drug use within his community. Rap sessions also played a vital role in assisting with war trauma. Not only did surviving the war impact Ari’s mental state but impacted the relationships he had with his parents. Ari also discusses how he was imprisoned at Lorton Reformatory for five-and-a-half years (1969-1979) for the armed robbery of a mail truck transporting more than $300,000 in US currency scheduled to be incinerated.

Ari mentions the large racial difference in rates of incarceration. More specifically, how Lorton Reformatory consisted of 95% black men. However, Merretazon’s work in the Reformatory was revolutionary. He introduced higher education, base camps, and self-care programs. This work was so critical to achieving veteran reparations that Ari was able to meet with Jimmy Carter while incarcerated and testified before congress after he was released. Eventually, the work reached a point where veteran rights and reparations reached the Senate, and proper procedures and movement of veterans were established. The interview concludes with a powerful statement Ari made: “war is prison too.” This statement has profound sentiment toward the harsh conditions faced by imprisoned persons and the inability to forget or move past it, just as war.

[00:00:00] Interview introduction
[00:01:28] Early years of PTSD diagnosis and Veterans Affairs benefits
[00:04:15] Veteran drug use in Vietnam and the military
[00:08:40] Early stages of the Incarcerated Veterans Organization and testifying before congress
[00:11:07] Returning home to D.C. and the anti-war movement
[00:14:45] Disconnect between Black and White communities after returning from war
[00:19:00] Divide amongst veterans from different wars
[00:24:11] Ari’s resourcefulness and reparations to the community
[00:27:13] Hollywood’s distortion of Bloods and the struggles of Black veterans
[00:29:14] Ari’s experience from trial until incarceration
[00:35:08] Organizing with Black veterans
[00:37:29] The process of gaining recognition from Veteran Affairs
[00:42:25] Problems that came from trying to identify veterans in prison
[00:47:22] Meeting with President Carter
[00:53:07] Ari finding his call in prison
[00:55:00] Experiences at home after incarceration
[00:58:24] Testifying before the senate
[01:03:50] The gap between incarcerated veterans from WWII and Vietnam
[01:07:44] Follow-up questions - war is prison
[01:12:12] Relationship between trauma and incarceration

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Ari Sesu Merretazon, Activism for Black Veterans and Reparations Jason Higgins
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Ari Sesu Merretazon interviewed by Jason A. Higgins, Part 2 Ari Sesu Merretazon, interviewed by Jason A. Higgins, January 12, 2023 remotely from Blacksburg, VA. Part 2 focuses on his experiences coming home from Vietnam and the circumstances that led to his incarceration. While in prison, Merretazon organized incarcerated veterans and founded the first VA office inside a prison, the Incarcerated Veterans Assistance Organization, and helped veterans in prison files for disability benefits. His efforts led the Carter administration to order the Department of Justice to study incarcerated veterans and determinate how many veterans were in prison and jai. He testified before to Congress in 1979 on the issues that Vietnam veterans faced after the war, the lack of VA outreach programs to prisons and jails, and the denial of disability benefits to incarcerated veterans, a majority of whom were Black Vietnam veterans.