It is illegal for those who are incarcerated in Texas prisons to change their name. This law denies those imprisoned one of the most fundamental aspects of a person. Marius’ legal team will be fighting this in court. We’ll keep you posted on this struggle.
In response to the news, Marius composed this poem.
Why I Can’t be Introduced in Texas (or Say My Name)
Say my name, say my name,
Your laws they just confound me,
Like brick walls they surround me
Say my name, say my name,
I know that you can’t see me,
Make it so hard to be me
But what’s in a name?
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,
But I am not a rose, I am a man.
Yes, I’m a man, yes I am, and I can’t help but
Tell you so.
Though you’d say no.
How can I perform my gender,
An actor stripped of his lines,
How can this scene be “blocked”
When I am perpetually “clocked”
As what I am
Not.
The invisible man,
Without my name wrapped around me,
Giving me shape and substance
Like a bandage, holding this wound
Together.
Texas, you vigilante,
Riding rough-shod over the smallest liberty,
My name my only sovereignty
I am invaded by your assumptions
A nation under siege.
But my flag still waves,
And through the rockets’ red glare,
I’m still there.
Say
My
Name.