AKBAR PRAY FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE

Effectively
Promoting
Moderation in
an Age of
Extremism

The Cruel Reality of Post-Racial America

APFFC Board of Directors

Director
of Operations
Milagros Harris

Director of
Public Relations
Toni Johnson
Founder
Akbar Pray
Director of
Human
Resources
Rahman
Muhammad

Director of
Finance

Qasim
Abdul Karim

The Akbar Pray Foundation For Change (APFC) is a not for profit grassroots organization, dedicated to redirecting the
lives of our urban at risk youth. It has been and remains our organizations mantra that " we are the solution to our own
problems." It is our core belief that there are those within our communities, if so engaged, who can help turn the tide of
crime, delinquency and recidivism which grips the lives of so many our inner city youth.
Operating from the premise that to effectively attack or address any problem you must start at its root, we have begun a
program in some of our citys schools and group homes, where we supply speakers, mentors, CDs and written material
from the organizations founder, which cuts to the heart of the problem experienced by many of these youths. Some times
working with former gang members, inner city icons and others that have what is referred to as street cred, we have been
able to achieve remarkable results.
Expanding on our mission, we continuously recruit individuals from various work disciplines to aid in educating young
men and woman with marketable skills.
To those ends we have engaged people both inside and outside our community to come to our classes and or workshops to
share and discuss the ups and downs, ins and outs of a wide range of work disciplines and careers. Never favoring one
career path over any other, we have invited professors, urban fiction writers, successful members of the hip hop industry,
general construction contractors and a Superior Court Judge to these open discussions and Socratic Circle seminars.
Again, it is our core belief that "we are the solution, to our own problems." In closing. We invite your participation in this
noble undertaking.

IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ July 2015 Page

ISSUE 21

JULY 2015
THE

Majority of U.S.
public school students are in poverty

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap

Cover Photo by
Crystal A. Castro

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There is insidious move afoot, which is trying to undo the gains

that many of our people bleed, fought and died for.
By Akbar Pray
as a community attempted to wrap
our collective head and grieving
hearts around yet another brutal
murder, than another one seems to
elbow its way into our
consciousness.

There was a time not long

ago when stories of racial
profiling, police brutality of
unarmed minorities and
systemic racism in our
criminal justice system was
the news of the day. Now it
seems that virtually everyday,
in cities near and far,
horrendous stories of race and
how it plays out in the streets
and boulevards of our
country, flood the airways
with no end in sight. Whether
it is the slamming to the
pavement of an honor roll
Black student for reasons that
seem to fall apart on
inspection; the cold blooded
murder of an unarmed young
Black army vet in the throes
of PTSD meltdown or another
case of " He was reaching for
my gun." The stories now
come with maddening
frequency. No sooner than we

Suddenly, in this country of what

was purported to be a post-racial
society, the sordid underbelly of
race has taken center stage. We are
now apparently engaged with "
Post-Racial America " in a new
civil rights struggle.
For many of us that have listen
closely and read carefully, these
stories are not really news. We have
always known, some times
experientially other times
anecdotally and still other time
empirically, that racism both overt
and subliminal, has never left us.
The advances in technology such as
roaming hand held cameras, cell
phone cameras and camera placed
throughout many of our cities, has
introduced this generation to a
reality that many of them thought
was buried in the bins of history.
If, there is an upside to all of this
new civil rights challenge, it is that

this generation of selfie-loving

snapchat addicted and FaceBook
fans have heard the clarion call
for action and they have
answered it without hesitation.
They have become the tip of the
spear and a new vanguard to
address the issues of
gerrymandering, racial profiling
and stop and frisk. They have
been called to the "scratch line"
and not been found wanting.
They have proven themselves to
be far more than baggy pants and
gangsta rap and for that we
should be proud.
However, in the same breath that
we applaud the efforts of this
youth brigade; we must not
forget that we their elders,
uncles, aunts, fathers and
mothers, have an ongoing
obligation to never relax our
guard in this fight. That there is
insidious move afoot, which is
trying to undo the gains that
many of our people bleed, fought
and died for. As Fredrick
Douglas noted " Power concedes
nothing without a demand. It
never has and it never will. "
Akbar Pray

If we want to do more than just end mass incarcerationif we want to put an end to
the history of racial caste in Americawe must lay down our racial bribes, join
hands with people of all colors who are not content to wait for change to trickle
down, and say to those who would stand in our way: Accept all of us or none.
Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

apffc.org

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ISSUE 21/ July2015 Page 4

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High School Students Extend An Olive Branch to Local Police

This school year my job has entailed

teaching an elective sociology course to
seniors. I knew when I was given this
assignment that teaching Weber and
Calvinism were not going to be the means
to keeping my students engaged. As
inner city students, their lives and
surroundings provided more than enough
material for examining the social
condition. On any given day they
experience all of the ills a society has to
offer. Poverty; drug abuse; mass
incarceration; and their constant
companion, violence are daily
occurrences in the lives of my students.
Nevertheless, they seek normalcy in their
day-to-day activities in spite of the
pathologies, which permeate their
youthful experiences. Their concerns
mirror those of every high school senior
throughout the country and maybe the
world: where to attend college, who to
take to the prom and will they be able to

procure employment. Yet in a city that

boasts a crime rate which mirrors the
concentration of poverty, they now have
yet another concern to add to their list:
the mounting tensions between the
community and the police who are
supposed to protect and serve them.
After the decision not to indict police
officers in the deaths of Michael Brown
and Eric Garner the wave of frustration,
which manifested throughout the nation
in protests and die ins, made its way
through the student body. I could see
the fear in my students eyes, especially
among those who have been labeled
problems, or as I like to refer to them,
the talented tenth. Like many people
in the community, they had little faith in
a police force they had grown to
distrust, a police force who they felt
ignored their calls for help and
overstepped their boundaries with
unwarranted stops and racial profiling.

Yet the thought that these police were

not simply a nuisance, but could present
a menace to their very existence raised
genuine cause for concern, and a pause
from their often-foolish behaviors.
The 20th issue of the Urban Perspective
had been released only a few days
earlier. I presented them with 2 articles:
Back to Ferguson and Beyond by Akbar
Pray, and ProPublicas Deadly Force in
Black and White. We read and discussed
the shocking statistics from the latter and
the call to arms from the first. Their
assignment was to come up with a means
of preventing violence between the
police and the community. From their
collective responses they came to the
conclusion that first they needed to
establish a relationship with the police.
Their solution had a childlike simplicity
and honesty that might actually work.
They collectively wrote the police the
following letter:

Dear Captain Buono ,

Newarks Finest has a difficult job compared to other towns. Crime has been skyrocketing since we can remember. We are seniors
at Newarks Central High School. We are the community. When you cannot do your job, our lives are in danger. We are not the
enemy! We are on the same page and want to be partners with you.
We would like to invite you to our school to meet with our student task force over a game of basketball, some pizzas and a good
conversation. We are aware of problems such as Ferguson, the Michael Brown case etc., but we also have problems on our hands.
In addition to the community getting involved, police officers need to create a better relationship with the people of the
community. The solution to the problem can begin with getting to know each other. I was always told that before fixing a
problem, you must first fix yourself.
With that being said, we want to assume a positive role in our community. We want to be the leaders that stand up for the
community who are ready to do something about the violence instead of being scared and afraid to voice our opinions. We can
start off by not presenting ourselves as criminals and not being confrontational with the police that serve our community. We can
help stop bad policing and even the gang members.
Lets have a basketball game and come together like one big family. If we can play together, we can stay together.
Sincerely,
The Senior Class of 2015

Continued on page 6

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Continued from page 5

I took it to the Principal who contacted
the local precinct. They loved the idea.
The Mayor and Police Director were
called. They supported the students
efforts. A press conference was
scheduled to publicly present the letter.
The students made signs and a banner
with the help of the art teacher, which
showed all shades of brown and black
people under the words Black Lives
Matter. Their parents signed permission
slips and instead of a walkout, these kids
marched arm-in-arm, escorted by their
Principal, their teachers, the Mayor and
even the Police Captain, to meet the
Police Director who praised them for
their efforts. Everyone who witnessed
the event had nothing but praise for these
children who had taken a pro-active
instead of a reactive positioneveryone
that is, but the press, who did not show
up, and the superintendents office who
rather than praising a principal who
averted a walk out, chose to not approve
the trip down the block and wrote her
up instead.
The next day, the Captain and two
officers showed up to a panel discussion
where the students voiced their concerns.
His only complaint was not enough time
to address all their questions. The game
was scheduled for Friday. The Principal
ordered the pizzas and both teachers and
students prepared for the basketball
game. The Captain showed up, but
unfortunately, two scheduled protests and

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insurance concerns kept the officers

from playing, something he said would
be remedied in short order. The game
went on between teachers and students
not thwarted by the absence of the
police. It was an excellent game which
proved an important point living is
the best way to show that Black Lives
Matter.
And then two officers, Wenjian Liu and
Rafael Ramos, sitting in their patrol car
in Brooklyn were shot at point-blank
range and killed by Ismaaiyl Brinsley
who, officials said, had traveled to the
city from Baltimore after shooting his
former girlfriend. Brinsley has long rap
sheet of crimes that include robbery and
carrying a concealed gun, made
statements on social media suggesting
that he planned to kill police officers
and was angered about the Eric Garner
and Michael Brown cases.
This tragedy must be seen for what it is:
the actions of a lunatic. Yet it has put
dark spin on the rights of citizens to
voice their concerns and to exercise
their right to freedom of speech and
assembly. The Mayor of New York
City is catching hell for this. Call it
scapegoating I guess...like blaming
Obama for everything bad that happens
in the country. People have the right to
assemble, but that is like comparing
apples and oranges against the actions
of a crazy gunman. Perhaps this loss

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

will illustrate the danger that police are

in during this climate...maybe it will
neutralize the anger people are feeling.
Maybe even more important, this
incident speaks to the state of mental
illness in this country, which is all but
ignored until somebody crazy does
something crazy, then it is treated like
an isolated incident. Mental illness is
not a crime...ignoring it is.
The criminal justice system is in
desperate need of reform, both from
the top down and bottom up. My
students have enough to fear, instead
they want to establish communal
relationships with the people who have
taken an oath to protect and serve
them. The prison system should not be
housing the mentally ill and releasing
them back to already stressed
communities. Nor should it be
removing non-violent heads of
household from families already
suffering under the strains of poverty.
And while none of us are nave enough
to think that a pizza and a basketball
game will save us from the ills of a
broken system, initiating and
improving the relationship between the
community and the police is a good
place to start. It is certainly better than
living like enemy combatants, side-byside and armed to the teeth. If any of
us are to survive these troubling times
we must respect the fact that all lives
matter: black, brown, white and blue.

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Donovan X. Ramsey is an Emerging Voices

Fellow at Demos, a public policy organization.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on July
3, 2015, on page A21 of the New York edition
with the headline: We Need Obama to Speak
For Us, Not at Us.

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WHAT IT COSTS TO LIVE

THE AMERICAN DREAM
Estimated annual cost for the average family of four

By Howard R. Gold,

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the drug dealer's twisted

version of The American
Dream, a false reality

. If you don't enrich your mind

first with knowledge, money
will become your worst enemy
and your worst nightmare.

buy it on
Amazon

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Obama Says Treating Drug Use

As a Criminal Problem Is
"Counterproductive"
President Barack Obama continues to speak out against
mass incarceration, the devastating impact of our drug
policies on communities of color and his expectation that
marijuana legalization will continue to spread.
By Tony Newman
Obama's comments came today during
his YouTube interviews with YouTube
bloggers, Bethany Mota, GloZell Green
and Hank Green.
Some Obama nuggets from today's
interview include this on marijuana:
"What you're seeing now is Colorado,
Washington through state referenda,
they're experimenting with legal
marijuana," the president said in
response to a question from host Hank
Green.
"The position of my administration has
been that we still have federal laws that
classify marijuana as an illegal
substance, but we're not going to spend a
lot of resources trying to turn back
decisions that have been made at the
state level on this issue. My suspicion is
that you're gonna see other states start
looking at this."
Obama also addressed how we should
treat people who are not violent drug
offenders.
"What I am doing at the federal level,"
Obama responded, "is asking my
Department of Justice just to examine
generally how we are treating nonviolent
drug offenders, because I think you're
right."
"What we have done is instead of
focusing on treatment -- the same way
we focused, say, with tobacco or drunk

driving or other problems where we treat

it as public health problem -- we've
treated this exclusively as a criminal
problem," the president said. "I think that
it's been counterproductive, and it's been
devastating in a lot of minority
communities. It presents the possibility
at least of unequal application of the law,
and that has to be changed."

The president expressed concern about

disparities in arrests for marijuana
possession. "Middle-class kids don't get
locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids
do," Obama said, adding that individual
users shouldn't be locked up "for long
stretches of jail time."

U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce

punitive sentencing.
Supporting policies that made the
sentences of thousands of prisoners
shorter and fairer.
Changing how the Justice Department
charges people to reduce the application
of draconian mandatory minimum
sentencing.
Establishing guidance allowing states
to legalize and regulate marijuana with
less federal interference.
Establishing guidance to make it easier
for banks to deal with state-legalized
marijuana businesses.
Promoting efforts to re-integrate
formerly incarcerated individuals into
society and eliminate barriers to
successful re-entry.
Working to end the "school-to-prison
pipeline", including working with the
Departments of Education to scale back
"zero tolerance" school discipline
policies.
Advocating for the restoration of
voting rights for the formerly
incarcerated.
Urging federal law enforcement
agencies to identify, train and equip
personnel who may interact with a
victim of a heroin overdose with the
overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

President Obama's moves coincide with

Attorney General Eric Holder actions.
They include:

Let's hope that President Obama goes

out swinging and helps end our nation's
longest, failed war.

Calling on policymakers at all levels to

find ways to reduce the number of people
behind bars.
Supporting efforts in Congress and the

Tony Newman is the director of media

relations for the Drug Policy Alliance.

President Obama and Attorney General

Holder have repeatedly spoken out
against the drug war and mass
incarceration. Back last January
President Obama made national news
with an interview with the New Yorker.
"As has been well documented, I smoked
pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit
and a vice, not very different from the
cigarettes that I smoked as a young
person up through a big chunk of my
adult life. I don't think it is more
dangerous than alcohol," Obama told
David Remnick.

This piece first appeared on the Drug

Policy Alliance Blog.

I believe that the war on drugs is a tragically misplaced use of resources - an immoral
venture that produces far more suffering than it alleviates. -David Harsanyi-
apffc.org

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Words by Saint
Recently, a gentleman reached out to me requesting that I write
a poem for his wife. The things in which he conveyed to me
not only drew me to oblige his request, but it also captivated
me, and made me do some research in order to write this
article. I was overwhelmed with compassion as well as
empathy regarding their circumstance. The couple, who has
been together for seven years, and married for five, have been
faced with a trying moment via another individual's bad
decisions.
According to statements published by The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but made by The
Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), "Every day, almost
30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that
involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death
every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes
totals more than $59 billion"
At times, us as individuals just want to live life. We want to
celebrate. We want our celebration to be a reflection of our
mood. Sometimes, us an individuals just want to be comforted
due to a hardship we're experiencing. This is when we look for
a temporary uplift, a vacation from our current plight in life.
Either or, it seems that alcohol is the go-to product. Due to a
two year lapse in the releasing of information, the numbers
from this passed year of 2014 won't be available until 2016.
However, released in 2014, were the numbers from 2012
which were, "A total of 10,322 people were killed in alcoholimpaired driving crashes, which account for nearly one-third
(31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States." cited
by The Dept. of Transportation (DOT), National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [09-30-2014]
Available at URL: http://wwwnrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811870.pdf
In the married couple's case, their world was changed at the
hands of a repeat Driving While Impaired (DWI) offender. It's
noted that, "Drivers with a BAC of 0.008% or higher involved
in fatal crashes were seven times more likely to have a prior
conviction for DWI than were drivers with no alcohol in their
system." DOT, NHTSA. I'm not writing this to pass judgment;
everyone is entitled to their own perspectives, and beliefs.
However, I am writing this to bring some light to a matter that
is minimally addressed. I'm not demonizing anyone's desires to
celebrate, nor the way in which they choose to do so, but I am
aiming to embed in both your conscious and conscience, the
risk of harm that is placed on those who share the road with
those who have been drinking alcohol prior to driving. So,
before you choose to drive after taking shots to either
celebrate, or to console yourself regarding life, just know
you're risking another person's shot at life.

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The following poem was written on the behalf of Mr. C. Shaw for
his beloved wife:
As I sit and watch you sleep with a bruised and swollen face,
I'd give anything for us to trade this circumstantial place.
The day started out great as we awoke next to each other,
Despite the morning breath, we kissed, embracing each other.
We went about our hygiene, and then sat to have breakfast,
Departed while adorning our necks, me, a tie, and you, a necklace.
We went our separate ways, focused to seize the day,
However, human plans don't always mesh with fate.
How was you to know a man who was drunk beyond belief
Was embarking upon a high speed chase with police?
Suddenly, out of no-where, you were jackknifed,
Hit so bad, firemen had to use the jaws-of-life.
I received the doctor's phone call several hours ago,
Frantically, is a modest depiction of how I drove.
I was just inhaling your scent, and basking in your smile,
Sexual innuendos were were being thrown around.
I am brought out of my reverie, back to this reality
Via a machine indicating your heart beat.
Damn!!! I'm here for you; I've taken vows,
But I'm going to need all of Yahweh's strength now.
How am I going to be able to tell ou of our lost?
A miscarriage is what a selfish man's DWI has cost.
Anger, confusion, sadness, as well as helpless and bowed,
There's so many thoughts and feelings being experienced right
now.
We'll might need some counseling for a while to help us cope,
Our union has been dealt one astronomical blow.
Hence I'm not leaving your side - no how, no way,
Once you awake, may your healing start with seeing my face......
written by: Semaj
"Saint" Thomas

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

COMING SOON:
PRESENTS

CONTACT INFO:

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

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(Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

By Lyndsey Layton
For the first time in at least 50 years, a
majority of U.S. public school
students come from low-income
families, according to a new analysis
of 2013 federal data, a statistic that
has profound implications for the
nation.
The Southern Education Foundation
reports that 51 percent of students in
pre-kindergarten through 12th grade
in the 2012-2013 school year were
eligible for the federal program that
provides free and reduced-price
lunches. The lunch program is a rough
proxy for poverty, but the explosion
in the number of needy children in the
nations public classrooms is a recent
phenomenon that has been gaining
attention among educators, public
officials and researchers.
Weve all known this was the trend,
that we would get to a majority, but
its here sooner rather than later, said
Michael A. Rebell of the Campaign
for Educational Equity at Teachers
College at Columbia University,
noting that the poverty rate has been
increasing even as the economy has
improved. A lot of people at the top
are doing much better, but the people
at the bottom are not doing better at
all. Those are the people who have the
most children and send their children
to public school.
The shift to a majority-poor student
population means that in public
schools, a growing number of children
start kindergarten already trailing their
more privileged peers and rarely, if
ever, catch up. They are less likely to
have support at home, are less
frequently exposed to enriching

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activities outside of school, and are more

likely to drop out and never attend
college.
It also means that education policy,
funding decisions and classroom
instruction must adapt to the needy
children who arrive at school each day.
When they first come in my door in the
morning, the first thing I do is an
inventory of immediate needs: Did you
eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job
is making them feel safe, said Sonya
Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew
Wallace Elementary School in
Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18
kindergartners are eligible for free
lunches.
She helps them clean up with bathroom
wipes and toothbrushes, and she stocks a
drawer with clean socks, underwear,
pants and shoes.
Romero-Smith, 40, who has been a
teacher for 19 years, became a foster
mother in November to two girls, sisters
who attend her school. They had been
homeless, their father living on the streets
and their mother in jail, she said. When
she brought the girls home, she was
shocked by the disarray of their young
lives.
Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us
a while. Night terrors, that took a
little while. Hoarding food, flushing a
toilet and washing hands, it took us a
little while, she said. You spend some
time with little ones like this and its gut
wrenching. ... These kids arent
thinking, Am I going to take a test
today? Theyre thinking, Am I going to
be okay?
The job of teacher has expanded to
counselor, therapist, doctor, parent,
attorney, she said.
Schools, already under intense pressure

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

to deliver better test results and meet more

rigorous standards, face the doubly
difficult task of trying to raise the
achievement of poor children so that they
approach the same level as their more
affluent peers.
This is a watershed moment when you
look at that map, said Kent McGuire,
president of the Southern Education
Foundation, the nations oldest education
philanthropy, referring to a large swath of
the country filled with high-poverty
schools.
The fact is, weve had growing inequality
in the country for many years, he said. It
didnt happen overnight, but its steadily
been happening. Government used to be a
source of leadership and innovation around
issues of economic prosperity and upward
mobility. Now were a country disinclined
to invest in our young people.
The data show poor students spread across
the country, but the highest rates are
concentrated in Southern and Western
states. In 21 states, at least half the public
school children were eligible for free and
reduced-price lunches ranging from
Mississippi, where more than 70 percent of
students were from low-income families,
to Illinois, where one of every two students
was low-income.
Carey Wright, Mississippis state
superintendent of education, said quality
preschool is the key to helping poor
children.
Thats huge, she said. These children
can learn at the highest levels, but you
have to provide for them. You cant
assume they have books at home, or they
visit the library or go on vacations. You
have to think about what youre doing
across the state and ensuring theyre

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getting what other children get.

Darren Walker, president of the Ford
Foundation, was born in a charity
hospital in 1959 to a single mother.
Federal programs helped shrink the
obstacles he faced, first by providing
him with Head Start, the earlychildhood education program, and later,
Pell grants to help pay tuition at the
University of Texas, he said.
The country needs to make that same
commitment today to help poor
children, he said.
Even at 8 or 9 years old, I knew that
America wanted me to succeed, he
said. What we know is that the
mobility escalator has simply stopped
for some Americans. I was able to ride
that mobility escalator in part because
there were so many people, and parts of
our society, cheering me on.
We need to fix the escalator, he said.
We fix it by recommitting ourselves to
the idea of public education. We have
the capacity. The question is, do we
have the will?
The new report raises questions among
educators and officials about whether
states and the federal government are
devoting enough money and using it
effectively to meet the complex
needs of poor children.
The Obama administration wants
Congress to add $1 billion to the
$14.4 billion it spends annually to help
states educate poor children. It also
wants Congress to fund preschool for
those from low-income families.
Collectively, the states and the federal
government spend about $500 billion
annually on primary and secondary
schools, about $79 billion of it from
Washington.
The amount spent on each student can
vary wildly from state to state. States
with high student-poverty rates tend to
spend less per student: Of the 27 states
with the highest percentages of student
poverty, all but five spent less than the
national average of $10,938 per student.
Republicans in Congress have been
wary of new spending programs,

arguing that more money is not

necessarily the answer and that federal
dollars could be more effective if
redundant programs were streamlined
and more power was given to states.
Many Republicans also think that the
government ought to give tax dollars to
low-income families to use as vouchers
for private-school tuition, believing that
is a better alternative to public schools.
GOP leaders in Congress have rebuffed
President Obamas calls to fund
preschool for low-income families,
although a number of Republican and
Democratic governors have initiated
state programs in the past several years.
The report comes as Congress begins
debate about rewriting the countrys
main federal education law, first passed
as part of President Lyndon B.
Johnsons War on Poverty and
designed to help states educate poor
children. The most recent version of the
law, known as No Child Left Behind,
has emphasized accountability and
outcomes, measuring whether schools

met benchmarks and sanctioning them

when they fell short.
That federal focus on results, as opposed
to need, is wrongheaded, Rebell said.
We have to think about how to give
these kids a meaningful education, he
said. We have to give them quality
teachers, small class sizes, up-to-date
equipment. But in addition, if were
serious, we have to do things that
overcome the damages of poverty. We
have to meet their health needs, their
mental health needs, after-school
programs, summer programs, parent
engagement, early-childhood services.
These are the so-called wraparound
services. Some people think of them as
add-ons. Theyre not. Theyre
imperative.
Lyndsey Layton has been covering
national education since 2011, writing
about everything from parent trigger laws
to povertys impact on education to the
shifting politics of school reform.

Jmeal Collins
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By Dr. Guy T. Fisher

But, by the time I became a

teenager my rejection of being called a
Black man or a Black person, had
changed to a proud acceptance. The
Black Panther Party's movement was

formed all across the United States
instilling a long overdue pride in being
Black, or African-American, while
seeking nothing more then equality as a
people and leaving the words: "Say it
loud! I'm Black and I'm proud"! As a
reminder to accept who we are as a
people of color.

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Rich Cons/Poor Families

Find your talent or ability beyond the dead-end script of so-called fast money.

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By Christopher Ingraham
Follow @_cingraham
There were 2.3 million prisoners in the
U.S. as of the 2010 Census. It's often
been remarked that our national
incarceration rate of 707 adults per every
100,000 residents is the highest in the
world, by a huge margin.
We tend to focus less on where we're
putting all those people. But the 2010
Census tallied the location of every adult
and juvenile prisoner in the United
States. If we were to put them all on a
map, this is what they would look like:

Incarcerated population, 2010

0

25

100

The map shows the raw number of

prisoners in each U.S. county as of the
2010 Census. Much of the discussion of
regional prison population only centers
around inmates in our 1,800 state and
federal correctional facilities. But at any
given time, hundreds of thousands more
individuals are locked up in the nation's
3,200 local and county jails. This map
includes these individuals as well.
To put these figures in context, we have
slightly more jails and prisons in the
U.S. -- 5,000 plus -- than we do degreegranting colleges and universities. In
many parts of America, particularly the
South, there are more people living in
prisons than on college campuses.
As you can see in the map, states differ
in the extent to which they spread their
correctional populations out
geographically. Florida, Arizona and
California stand out as states with
sizeable corrections populations in just

250

1000

about every county. States in the

midwest, on the other hand, tend to
have concentrated populations in just a
handful of counties. Prisons tend to
leave an unmistakeable mark on the
landscape, as artist Josh Begley has
documented.
Because of the mix of state, federal
and local correctional facilities in each
county, it doesn't make sense to
express these numbers as a rate -- X
prisoners per Y number of adults. The
presence of a federal or state facility in
a given county will greatly inflate that
county's prisoner count relative to the
general population. And in many
instances, large correctional facilities
are located in sparsely populated
regions, like Northern New York. In
some of these counties, prisons
account for 10, 20 or 30 percent of the
total population.In recent years
criminal justice reform has risen to

prominence in the national

conversation, with both Democrats and
Republicans looking for ways to dial
back the incarceration-focused policies
of the '80s and '90s. This map shows
one reason why the issue is gaining
traction: prisoners are literally every
where you look in the U.S. Nearly 85
percent of U.S. counties are home to
some number of incarcerated
individuals. Localities spend tens of
thousands of dollars per prisoner each
year -- and often much more than that -to house, feed and provide them with
medical care. Most counties would
doubtless prefer to spend this money
elsewhere.

To see the interactive map go to:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/
wonkblog/wp/2015/01/06/the-u-s-hasmore-jails-than-colleges-heres-a-map-

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.-Victor Hugo

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published in Prison Legal News

The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is
operating under revised guidelines
intended to expand the circumstances
under which federal prisoners can seek
a reduction in their sentences through
the agencys Compassionate Release
Program, following two scathing reports
that took the BOP to task for
mismanaging the program and routinely
denying early release requests.
In fact, a review by the U.S. Department
of Justices Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) determined that over the
six-year period from 2006 through
2011, the BOPs failure to act on such
requests led to the deaths of 13% of the
federal prisoners who sought
compassionate release due to a terminal
illness, who died in prison before their
requests were decided.
Further, by refusing to petition courts on
behalf of prisoners who should be
considered for compassionate release,
the BOP is usurping the decisionmaking power of judges, argued a
November 2012 report co-authored by
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
(FAMM).
The revised guidelines, included in a
BOP Program Statement issued on
August 12, 2013, broadens the
circumstances in which the BOP will
consider [compassionate release]
requests, according to a statement
posted on the White Houses website.
The revisions cover terminal and non-

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terminal medical circumstances;

circumstances for elderly inmates;
circumstances in which there has been
the death or incapacitation of the family
member caregiver of an inmates child;
and circumstances in which the spouse
or registered partner of an inmate has
become incapacitated. [See: PLN, May
2014, p.40].

Some prisoner advocates expressed

doubt that the new guidelines will make
much difference. I dont believe its
going to change at all, said attorney
Marc Seitles, who represents a prisoner
denied early release despite suffering
from terminal cancer. Its still the same
people making decisions.
The revised compassionate release
guidelines, which officials said were
implemented as part of a Smart on
Crime initiative by the Department of
Justice (DOJ), failed to address some of
the recommendations contained in the
OIG report and did not respond to
criticisms raised by HRW and FAMM.
The BOPs Compassionate Release
Program was established by the
Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which
instituted determinate sentencing but
also included so-called safety valves
to allow for reductions in unjust or

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

unfair sentences. Congress intended the

sentencing judge, not the BOP, to
determine whether a prisoner should
receive a sentence reduction, according
to the joint HRW/FAMM report.
Under U.S. Sentencing Commission
guidelines amended on November 1,
2007, judges are to consider
extraordinary and compelling
circumstances that merit a prisoners early
release, such as a terminal illness,
incapacitation or the death of a prisoners
spouse that would force his or her
children into foster care.
But to take advantage of the
compassionate release provisions,
prisoners must submit copious amounts of
paperwork which must then be reviewed
and approved by a string of federal
bureaucrats before the request is even
submitted to a judge for consideration.
According to the U.S. Government
Accountability Office, the BOP submits
such requests infrequently.
In fact, the OIG report found that of the
approximately 214,000 federal offenders
housed in BOP-operated or contracted
facilities, an average of only 24 prisoners
are released each year through the BOPs

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WHY DO WE KEEP KILLING EACH OTHER?

Jabrell Vines
In the City of Newark in todays day and
age, thats the solution for most young black males.
Blacks are just 13% of the population, yet, according
to a 2005 Bureau of Justice statistics report from the
US Department of Justice, we account for about half
of all the countrys homicides. Its all black-onblack-crime, not black vs any other race. There were
over 100 homicides last year in the City of Newark.
It, sadly, falls under MONEY, DRUGS, and
HATRED.
First off, why do we keep killing each
other? Why cant we come together and unite as
one? I ask myself the same question every day. I
lost five brothers due to someones ignorance. The
reason for taking their lives was pointless; for
example, a female and money, thus, leaving their
loved ones traumatized. Young black males feel like
they have something to prove most of these crimes
are run off others energy.
Furthermore, drug dealers hate to see the
next man making more money than they do. It eats
him alive inside and he says it must come to an end
some way somehow. For example, rob him for the
money then kill him. The actual person wont
commit the crime. He will send someone (a start)
to do it and then pay him money for completing the
mission.
Lastly, hatred between two people or
organizations causes a rise in crime. Two gangs
beefing with the same intent to kill each other. As
an example, the Bloods and Crips documentary
people were killed and harassed by police every day.
After so many years, they are trying to find a solution
to the problem. Many people hold grudges and will
hold onto that grudge and continue to kill until they,
themselves, are dead and gone.
In conclusion, with the poverty in the black
community, the killing will never stop. Its possible
for crime to decrease and that is what Mayor Ras
Baraka is trying to do. The longer the drugs stay on
the streets, the more homicides there will be. Why
do we keep killing each other? Young Black
Americans dont know any better; most are growing
up in a struggling single parent household. They have
the mindset I have to get it so me and my family can
survive by ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!!

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AN OPEN LETTER
BY Zjontaye Gordon
To whom it may concern,
Justice is not served correctly and is not equalized. It
starts with respect and theres not enough respect in this world
for one another. Loss of dignity, fights, vulgar language, gang
activity and murder are all signs of disrespect. This is how it
starts, by fighting and taking anothers life. Now it all needs to
stop. Where did the dignity go and how do we get it back? I
will be fighting from this day forward to get the pride, dignity,
and love back that we once had for each other.
My name is Zjontaye Gordon; I am 16 years old and a
Junior at Central High School in Newark, NJ. Where I come
from theres violence everywhere and I intend to put a stop to
it. I intend to ensure that people in our community give and
receive respect from others. There are a lot of things that come
with respect that we as young black brothers and sisters do not
show. Instead of going to school we join gangs, do drugs and
sell them, expecting to make a living out of it. I know
education is the answer, but out of national graduation rate of
81 percent, only 68 percent of those students are black.
Moreover, white students surpass the national average with an
85 percent graduation rate. Other demographics averaged the
following numbers: 76 percent for Hispanics, 93 percent for
Asian/Pacific Islanders and 68 percent for American
Indian/Alaska Native. With a 17 percent difference between the
two races is it a surprise that African Americans in the urban
community are more likely to fall into drugs and gangs? Now,
those who choose drugs and gangs are disrespectful to
themselves and their families, but at the same time, they do not
define the community. They do not define me. If there were
enough mutual respect for everyone, a lot of things that happen
now would not happen.
Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Reginald Terry, and the
case where a rookie cop shot an unarmed person. All these bad
things happened and its almost like the law makes it okay for
all this to happen. Its like we live in a society of police vs.
black people. There is way too much police aggression and the
law makes it okay with their unfair judgments.
I am speaking to you as one of the African American
teenagers living in an urban community. We as black people
feel powerless when it comes to white people. Why? Because
they have the power and they make us feel that way. Police can

pretty much do whatever they want to do to us and we have no

choice but to stay black and die. The law shows the public that
African Americans dont have power. How is it fair that Eric
Garner on video saying I cant breathe and dying because of
the aggression the policeman used is fair enough that the
officer was not indicted? Mr. Garner cannot get justice because
he is now dead. Whos going to get justice for his family? The
government? Well, let look at Congress. There are 45 African
American members, 8.3% of the total in the 113th congress.
There are 37 Hispanic or Latino members, 6.9% and 13
members of the 113th Congress, that is 2.4 percent, are Asian,
South Asians or Pacific Islander ancestry. White people alone
in 2013 made up 77.7 percent of the governmental branch
assigned to make the laws laws like the Stand Your Ground
law that set George Zimmerman free after he killed Trayvon
Martin in 2012. What does this 77 percent know about our
lives?
I will tell you something about my life. I am coming
to you because we are more than just the tone of our skin color.
For me growing up is tough, seeing all the bad things that have
happened: from having family members and close friend
involved in gangs, selling drugs, robbing, to stolen cars,
everything! Ive seen it all in my 16 years of life. My godfather
was shot in front of my face in front of my building. I was
young though, I didnt really understand it. The point is I was
there, and saw everything. It hurts and to this day when I think
about him. I have lost a lot of people, when I was young and
over the last couple of years to the present time. I lost one of
my closest friends, Kasson Morman, my oldest brother, another
close friend and Ive almost lost my cousin recently. All these
things and Im still here, one of those people could have been
me.
So my request, my plea, when you are faced with a
conflict with an African American male or female, remember
that young man or woman has fought throughout most of
his/her life just to make it another day. Even more importantly,
remember that young man or woman is human, like you.
According to the Constitution, African Americans, as citizens
of the United States, have the right to due process. So respect
us, respect our rights. We have the right to defend ourselves.
We have the right not to die.

If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and
you're wrong, you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green God make no rules about color; only society make rules where my people
suffer, and that why we must have redemption and redemption now.
Bob Marley
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The effects of World Religions

on people of Afrikan descent: Conclusion
By Virgilio Llano

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Newark, NJ, NAACP President

Deborah Smith-Gregory Sounds a Call to Action
As She Enters a Second Term

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By the R.E.D. Poet (Real Energetic Dialogue)

A.K.A. Murk
Men of Honor
Statistics say were not supposed to make it.
The law says Im gonna give you some much time that the
only
Example you could give to your kids would be to be your
replacement.
Poverty says I was make to keep you in your place, thats
why I was created with the hands of hatred, why do you
think its so easy for your right hand to become a hater.
The streets say keep it real, dont snitch! life is a bitch,
its bitter sweet, stay strong and dont be scared to taste
her.
The gang said RIDE and throw your set up high and never
turn your back on your nation.
The slave master use to say NIGGER, we say NIGGA,
leaving everybody else confused on how the fuck we
could use the vernacular of a racist.
the struggle said aint nothing new under the Sun; the
concept of hard time is so old, its ancient.
Most say we going to die anyway so they dont want to be
bothered.
The rich class looks at the poor class and says you are my
footstool, for I am POWER!!
The middle class wishing to be the rich class, so they look
at the poor class too and say Im smarter and yall
cowards.
Damn!
Thats shy some say the world is sour. But
With all that said, while wearing all this RED! No matter
what else I said, I say in the midst of all of this,
We still produce a remnant elite called the MEN OF
HONOR!!!!
We defy statistics and dare go harder.
We go against the odds with blood in our eyes, 5 a ride
against the tide but qith different demise than the 300
Spartans.
Because of whatever is said, you know, what ever they
say, instead of play, we ponder.
For every action theres a re-action., so all our reactions to
their actions has to produce the words that will be put o
our graves;
That will say: YOU! They were the MEN OF HONOR!!!
(Fuck wht they say, know who you are and conduct
yourself in that wayKNOW THY SELF!!We MEN
OF HONOR)
-MURK
By the R.E.D. Poet, Ulysses Banks, #20670-014

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Inner Fighter!
Everyday is another battle, the war of the titans.
But were still alive! Peace Almighty!
From street fighting, to prison beefs, humbled to a speed writer.
A mental gun, if the trigger twitch. The pen hits, BOOM!
Intellectual fire.
We done walked through all hell, and left the devil shook.
He turned up the heat, we laughed, relaxed, and used it to cook.
You can view or expression, expressing the opposite of living in
depression.
A warriors motto: never let em see you sweat, not matter how
depressing.
Always oppose oppression. We overcome by brotherly love, you
see?
What we can do for you didnt stop because we got arrested.
To all our sisters, all the ladies; We got yall back too!
All we gotta do is tighten our laces.
We stood the test, and at our best kept straight faces.
We been through enough, but dont worry. It didnt turn us crazy.
It made we sufficient, hard workers, the opposite of intellectually
lazy.
As we chant on the behalf of our ancestors, somebody better pay
we!!
Just look inside we, and you could see the war of the titans.
Fighting within for Peace, Love Truth, Freedom, and Justice;
5 principals of enlightenment.
Our 3 rd Eye never blinks, for our hind-sight has been heightened.
So there is still life in our blood, Peace Almighty!
And if the stars begin to fall, let we die amongst them, while
Metaphorically striking with lightening!
But until that day, let we bask in the Sun and keep shining.
For the only way to live it to keep fighting,
Because the only way to win is to build that Inner Fighter!
INNER FIGHTER!
By the R.E.D. Poet (Real Energetic Dialogue) A.K.A. Murk
Ulysses Banks, # 20670-014

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DON'T PAY OUTRAGEOUS ATTORNEYS FEES!

Credit counselors, attorneys, ex-convicts say planning ahead is key

By Connie Prater

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Here are changes that can

help close the wage gap.

http://www.aauw.org/2014/09/18/
gender-pay-gap/

We must raise both the ceiling and the floor.

Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
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Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion
against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would
do this, it would change the earth.
William Faulkner
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What is the Difference?

Torture by any other name is still an atrocity

By Retired Army Major Paul Bergrin

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The cult classic, Death of the Game,

by Akbar Pray is back!

The Concise Untold History of the United States Paperback

by Oliver Stone Peter Kuznick
A companion to Oliver Stones ten-part documentary series of the same name,
this guide offers a peoples history of the American Empire that is as riveting,
eye-opening, and thought-provoking as any history book you will ever read. It
achieves what history, at its best, ought to do: presents a mountain of previously
unknown facts that makes you question and re-examine many of your long-held
assumptions about the most influential events (Glenn Greenwald).
Miles: The Autobiography
by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe
"Miles: The Autobiography, " like Miles himself, holds nothing back. He speaks
frankly and openly about his drug problem and how he overcame it. He condemns
the racism he has encountered in the music business and in American society
generally. And he discusses the women in his life. But above all, Miles talks
about music and musicians, including the legends he has played with over the
years: Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Trane, Mingus, and many others.
Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press
by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair
Here at last is the full saga. Fact-packed and fast-paced, Whiteout is a richly
detailed excavation of the CIAs dirtiest secrets, featuring a thrilling history that
stretches from Sicily in 1944, to the Medellin Cocaine Cartel. For all who want to
know the truth about the Agency, this is the book to start with.
The F.B.I. and Martin Luther King, Jr.
by David J. Garrow
Garrow uncovers the voyeurism and racism within J. Edgar Hoovers FBI while
unmasking Hoovers personal desire to destroy King. The spying only intensified
once King publicly denounced the Vietnam War, and the FBI continued
surveillance until his death, demonstrating an unprecedented abuse of power by
the FBI and the government as a whole.

Available in Paperback and Kindle

format at
www.akbarpray.com and
www.amazon.com
Or send cashiers check or money
order for $16.95 plus $2.95 shipping
and handling to
Brick City Publications
P.O. BOX 542
Bloomfield, NJ , 07003

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Black Maria
by Michael Lucas
Maria Valentine is an attractive, young, straight-laced female growing up in
Washington, D.C., who along with her girlfriends, Sunny and Ruby, are drawn to
a quick answer to solve their problems of being broke: robbing banks! Greed
makes them take risks and daring rides on the wild side until Maria, Sunny, and
Ruby discover a rocky road that turns out to have a horrifying dead end. This
book features an innovative blend of story lines based on invention of facts
distorted into fantasy fiction. A tightly crafted classic of dreams coming true,
solely for your entertainment.

All titles are available through Amazon.com and your local books store

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Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council,

global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to
rewrite state laws that govern your rights.
In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE" on
specific changes to the law that are then proposed in your state.
DO YOU?

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traffic. As we stopped at a traffic light, people on the

sidewalks waiting to cross the street would peer with morbid
curiosity at the criminals in the van guarded by the armed U.S.
Marshalls. Yesterday, I had been one of them... My world
literally changed overnight. It was surreal.

By Chalana McFarland
Most people remember Valentine's Day with fond recollections
of romantic escapades. Yet, for me, it marks a far more dismal
memory. Not one of a broken heart but of a broken promise.
My four year old daughter wanted me to be her Valentine. She
solicited the aid of friends and family members to help her plan
the perfect evening. Unbeknownst to her, I was in the midst of a
criminal trial being held in the Richard B. Russell Federal
Building in Atlanta, GA. After completing law school in 1996,
I had spend many days of my legal practice in this building:
filing pleadings and petitions, observing trials or even meeting a
colleague for a quick lunch in the building's cafeteria. Yet this
day was different because rather than being legal counsel in the
trial, this time I was the defendant in at that time the largest
mortgage fraud prosecution in the history of the Northern
District of Georgia.
When they picked me up from the sidewalk in front of the
courthouse on February 14th, for my daughter it was just
another day of picking Mommy up from work. Her beautiful
smile vanquishing the demons of the grueling day I had spent
in court. The jury was out and my life hung in the balance.
We spent a lovely evening dining with family and friends at
my daughter's favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. Snuggled in
a booth irreverently slurping spaghetti and haggling over the
last remaining breadstick, I opened the handmade Valentine's
card my daughter had made for me in pre-school. At
bedtime, I tucked my daughter in with a kiss and a promise to
see her tomorrow. Little did I know that would become a
promise I could not fulfill.
On February 15, 2005, I was immediately taken into custody
after the jury returned a guilty verdict. Despite having
successfully remained on pretrial release for the better part of
a year, I was suddenly deemed a flight risk. I was not given a
chance to say goodbye, close up my house or even to make
childcare arrangements. As I was transported to the jail in my
prim black suit now accessorized by handcuffs and waist
chains, I thought ironically how careful I had been that
morning not to get a run in my hose while getting dressed for
court. Looking down, I saw my hose were now shredded by
the steel leg shackles that bruised and bloodied my ankles. I
looked out the van's windows and saw people hurrying to
their homes in the frantic pace of Atlanta's five o'clock

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On August 25, 2005 after being held for six months in the
Atlanta City Detention Center, I was sentenced to serve 360
months (30 years) as a first time non-violent offender for the
role I played as a closing attorney in a mortgage fraud
conspiracy. I have never even had a traffic ticket or even
detention in school. Yet I was given the longest sentence for
mortgage fraud in the history of the United States. I was
given the moniker "Queen of Mortgage Fraud" by then U.S.
Attorney David Nahimas, a lofty title for someone who had
only practiced real estate law for a mere two years...
At the age of 37, I began serving my sentence in the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. Nearly ten years later, I make $.12 an hour
as a recreation orderly and pay $25 monthly toward my
restitution. It is estimated that over the course of my sentence,
it will cost the FBOP approximately a million dollars to house
me..
The federal system has no parole or early release
programs. My conviction has been upheld and my only hope
of relief now is executive clemency or a retroactive change in
the white collar sentencing guidelines.
My scheduled release date with credit for good time is April 4,
2031. The little girl that I put to bed on that fateful
Valentine's night will be 31 years old.

In 2015
This s the year of blessings. The year to rectify anything
that you may have broken. It's going to take courage,
determination, concentration and wisdom when it come
to making decisions. 2014' was filled with lots of
unpredictable and unnecessary events that could have
been avoided or corrected. Don't allow 2015' to be a
year filled with malice and destructive behavior. We
have children who need to know that they are loved and
safe out there...we need everyone to play a role to ensure
their safety. There may be people we hurt, relationships
that were damaged and burnt bridges. Don't be afraid to
be the person who wave the white flag...it doesn't have
to be for surrender; but it will serve for peace/tranquility.
Make sure that you develop a relationship with God, the
creator has the ability to have a special connection with
each and every one of us. Take full advantage of his
love and share that love with others.
Eternal Love!
Walter Tut Johnson

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 35

TEN PERCENT OF THE TIME

The government keeps calling me demanding eighty five percent of my time,
But I opted to give them ninety, seeing that ninety percent of me is a crime.
Ninety percent of me in physical ____________ is flesh, where the other ten
percent_____ maning my brain, isn engaged in a tussle.
Now underneath of the weight pile I lift.... that is my muscle, the secret is that
I don't life for survival, that my mind is very lustful, very egotisical...enchanted
by beauty, very imaginative_____ surreal,
And it was the ten percent of me that denied the court appeal.
Because whether blunt smoking or gun totting you or me I will kill.
So it will lay by he text of the year, to spare me the hex of a beer, and I'll watch
the NFL games, while I observe life from the exosphere.
From between the planets and outer space, it will be concerned about a new warden,
me the presidential race. I mean it will be pout and complain about a preferential
taste.
Where I will get my nutrients by all means, no protein from a steak but from a small
bean.
Tell it that these wet like leaves.... they are called greens, that's us being together,
it's not what it all seems.
I'm not behind the wall, not the best of me,
My body they may have, but my mind stays free
Written by Gregory Morse.

EYES OF A SINNER
ENTRY NO. 8
Indignation is fermenting inside his brain,
a cocktail of gun powder and cocaines courses through his viens,
Seven years ago he saw his older brother lay slain,
immolated by a gang from who's membership he refrained,
Retribution is what he comes to claim, with a gun he rapidly releases his pain,
his tate of impairment has manipulated his aim,
He shoots hazardly into the crowd believing they all are the same,
He recklessly kiss an innocent man,
A father wlaking his son home from a physicians exam
He sees fervor for revenge in the eyes of the boy as he runs toward the train, a
destructive attribute he once gained.

If y ou live long enough, y ou'll m ake mistakes.

But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person.
It's how y ou handle adversity , not how it affect s you.
The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.
-William J. Clinton apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 36

INSIDE/OUT
A column dedicated to Prison Relationships

Dear I/O,
I have been locked down for 12 years and have been in a relationship with the mother of my daughter for most of that
period. Over the course of our relationship there have of course been challenges. However, it seems that our relationship
has begun to fray at the edges. The bickering has been incessant and now we are hardly speaking. What can I do to try and
keep our relationship together and why is it so difficult to maintain a relationship when one of the parties is incarcerated?
Signed,

Frustrated
My brother Frustrated,
Having been incarcerated myself for now 27 years, I know the
strain that maintaining a healthy requires and trust when I tell you
that the strain exist on both sides of the razor wire. What often
invites angst and tension to seep inside an otherwise intact
relationship is that we, those of us that live this side of the razor
wire, live in a parallel universe of sorts. Even time, which is a
relative matter, differs contextually for us as opposed to those that
live in the outside world.
Example: You tell baby or even a dear friend, that you need
money on your books, as you want to make commissary. They
assure you that they've got you. However, four days later, nothing
has touched. You are as livid as you are broke. Their response
when you finally talk, the response seems to you almost cavalier: "
I figured I would get you in a few days or it just slip pass me."
And here's the rub homie, it probably did, as 1 day or 3 days later
is no big deal in a world that moves at warp speed. However, on
this side of the razor wire it might make the difference between
falling out with a friend who fronted you for a few dollars and is
looking for it back or paying for a haircut with you barber.
Continued on page38

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 37

We all see things through the prism of our life experiences. For
you it is difficult to see past your day-to-day experiences, for
her it is hard to fully appreciate the ongoing gravity of life in a
prison environment. However, and conversely, it is equally
hard for you to appreciate the everyday challenges and stress
triggers that life daily throws her way: the kids, the job, the
struggle to merely make it and my brother the anger that is
present no doubt far more than you realize, that your not there
to help her navigate this storm tossed sea.
Both of you have very real, highly individual concerns and
often these concerns will blind you to seeing the angst the
stress that your significant other lives with, endures. Self
absorbed, neither you nor she ask in an engaging manner,
"baby, how's your day been," and allow the other person the
liberty of venting, of letting it all out and in her case perhaps,
in tears.
If there is any one thing that can help to sustain a relationship,
it is listening to one another in sincerity. Not waiting to hop in
with a response, but listening with sober reflection and genuine
concern and homie, learn to listen and hear, even in her silence.
For if you cannot understand her silence, how can you hope to
understand her words.
Touch back, open up and temper down the testosterone.

One love.

Inside

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 38

2
1
3

By Jmeal Collins

RITE OF PASSAGE (A BADGE OF

HONOR) AMONG SPECIFIC SUBCULTURES; SOCIAL NORMS AND
VALUES THAT ARE NOT
MEASURED ON A MIDDLE CLASS
SCALE.
However, most men such as myself,
know that responsibility these days are
seldom accepted for ones actions, and
there is always another factor at fault,
leaving room for the

many issues that we face in
every city across the globe: the education
and socialization of what some people may
call the American Urban Underclass. I have
spared no efforts to achieve the goal of social
upward mobility, starting with self first, by
enrolling in college; creating and re-vamping
THE VICTIM IMPACT PROGRAM,
ALONG WITH THE SUPPORT AND
TIRELESS EFFORTS OF OTHERS here at
Otisville; CERTIFICATION IN CONFLICT
RESOLUTION; BEING A MENTOR /
INSTRUCTOR FOR OTHER INMATES;
MENTORING THE YOUTH THROUGH
THE MAIL AND IN THE PROCESS OF
WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH
other organizations to mentor youths across
the globe.
As I have become older and more seasoned
its truly DISHEARTENING TO SEE AND
HEAR THAT SO MANY YOUNG MEN'S
FOCUS IS ON THE CONCEPT THAT
GETTING ARRESTED AND SPENDING
TIME IN PRISON IS CONSIDERED-AS A

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

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1
3
2

Lots of people move in and out of poverty over the course of their lives.
And it doesnt take much for people at the edge to lose their footing.
By Douglas Quenqua

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 40

4
6
1
2
3
5

It is amazing what a clean room can

do for you, not just mentally or
emotionally but also spiritually! It
can give you peace of mind like you
would not even believe. It can make
you feel like your world is becoming
stable. I pride myself in keeping my
house very immaculate the
bathroom, kitchen, living room,
dining room, and spare room. The
only room in the house that has
always been a mess is my bedroom.
Not only has it been a mess, it had

apffc.org

reeked of nicotine. As a smoker I never

realized how strong and how bad that
smell really was until I let it go. So on
Tuesday of this week, my friend Anna
pushed me to clean my room, to vacuum,
dust, wipe down the walls and the blinds,
wash the curtains and my comforter along
with some of my garments that I had
laying around. Although the clothing
were not dirty, they were saturated with
that cigarette smell that I could never
smell because I was living in it.
The moral of the story is not about
cigarettes nor about the smell of cigarette,
it is merely about a clean room; you see I
woke up at that moment and realized it is
about your peace of mind. If the place
that is the most sacred to you, your sacred

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

space, the place where you lay your head to

find some type of solace; if that place is
cluttered so will your mind be. If that place
is dirty what do you expect to get?
I have found as spiritual being...that we are
surrounded by forces that we cannot see,
and those negative forces, what ever they
may be, Devils, demons, whatever you want
to call them, give off energy which will not
allow you to progress, but rather just live in
filth. It wants you to live in clutter because
it wants you to feel miserable. So to all of
you out there, the moral of this story is that
if you want some type of organization or
some type of peace of mind, remove clutter,
dirt, and filth. It makes for a better way to
be and live without any negative
involvement from the unknown.

ISSUE 21/JULY 2015

Page 41

2
1

By Joseph Jazz Hayden and Lewis Webb, Jr.

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 42

POST-RACIAL AMERICA:
Not long after president Obama' first term election to the highest office of the land, and as this country's first African
American president, pundits, politicians, clergy and store clerks, were all heard to exclaim that America had entered
into a post racial era. The basis for this assessment was evidenced by president Obama's shattering across the board
defeat of his Republican rival John McCain.
To the tune of " No more excuses ' many of us uniformly embraced the belief that race in a America no longer
mattered. Why does that view now seem fanciful and naive? Less than seven full years from that historic event of
President Obama's swearing in as this country 44th president, race sits at the very forefront, indeed the epic center, of
discussions being held across this country.
From sub-prime red lining; stop and frisk; 100 -1 crack cocaine to cocaine ratio; the murder of unarmed people of
color, more often than not by white police officers, and culminating in the massacre of nine innocent African American
men and woman, the repugnant odor or racism seeps from every pore and strata of our country. AL thought racism
and bigotry is far from a new phenomenon in our country, modern technology has brought it into our homes with an
immediacy not seen since the snarling dogs of Mississippi and the rabid mobs of Boston Massachusetts.
Body camera, camera equipped cell phones and the proliferation of surveillance cameras throughout most of our cities
has forced us once again to face the Hydra headed beast of undistinguished and unfiltered racial bigotry and animus.
One would have thought that the type of blatant racism we are witnessing today had been buried in the dustbins of
history. That the new foe, the new challenge, would be systemic racism, i.e. unequal enforcement of the law, racial
preferencing and hiring practices. That the bad old days when Black lives clearly did not matter was a thing of the
past. However, recent events, falling virtually one
over the other have shown us that the notion of "post
racial America " was worse than fanciful.
Who would have thought that in 2015 an event would
occur, specifically targeting African Americans that
would match the ferocity and inhumanity of the
Birmingham church bombing of nearly 50 years ago,
which took the lives of four black children? Who
would have imagined that is " post racial America "
Black churches throughout the south would once
again be being burnt to the ground? The names and
circumstances under which these unspeakable acts
have occurred have changed, but the end results have
remained unfortunately the same.
The collective and communal grief that encased our
hearts wit the murder of Medgar Edgars and the
murder and torture of Emmet Till, once again brings
tears to our eyes and pain to our collective hearts with
the murder of a shining star, Clemente Pinkney and a
young Black child, Tamir Rice. If, there is a lesson to
be learned for this generation it is that our battle, our
struggle for human, equal and civil rights in this
country is far from over.
One love,
Akbar Pray

apffc.org

THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE

ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015

Page 43

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