APFFC Newsletter Urban Perspective May 2014

The RIGHT Take On the Prison Reform Movement

AKBAR PRAY FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE

HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA AND AT HOME

Five Fast Ways to Boost Your Credit Score

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apffc.org THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE ISSUE 18/May 2014

FROM THE AUTHOR OF


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ISSUE 18 MAY 2014

THE

Cover Photo by Crystal A. Castro


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APFFC Board of Directors

Director of Public Relations

Toni Johnson

Director of Operations

Milagros Harris

Director of Human

Resources Rahman

Muhammad

Founder Akbar Pray

Director of Finance Qasim

Abdul Karim

MISSION STATEMENT 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? IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?



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By Akbar Pray

I have often spoken in the past of choices and consequences, of risk and rewards. However, two recent articles regarding two distinct men, both urban legends in

their own right, and the choices that they made or perhaps did not make, shines an unblinking light on the subject of choices and their consequences. The articles that follow and the life paths that they reflect, present a much more compelling and persuasive argument for making well thought out choices than any words I have either written or spoken in this regard. Our posture here is neither to judge, nor to cast aspersions, but rather to encourage our readers to engage in sober reflection and introspection. Their stories follow.

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It was a stinging 9 degrees on a recent Thursday morning when Thomas Mickens bounded into the Rochdale Village Senior Center in Jamaica, Queens. He was 15 minutes early to teach his 8:30 a.m. aerobics class, and his boisterous entrance was met by friendly jabs and laughter from about three dozen enthusiastic older people. The group ranged from 60 to 89 years old, most on the younger side of old age; none relied on walkers and only two had canes.

Over the next hour, Mr. Mickens had his aging students working with 1-, 2- or 3-pound weights, stretching muscles, and doing chair and standing exercises. At one point, he had them doing the wave in their chairs. Looking good. A little higher. Work with me, Mr. Mickens, 50, coached over an R&B soundtrack.

Theyre picking five people out of this class to go to the Senior Olympics, he joked as he led them in leg lifts. Are you good? No, youre great!

I go to four of his classes a week, said Audrey Williams, lean and agile at 84, who drove about 10 blocks to get to class and attends another one Mr. Mickens teaches at a senior center in Rockaway. Its his personality and the workout. He notices everything.

Thomas Mickens turned his focus to teaching exercise to older adults. Credit Mr. Mickens dreams big. Right now, as president and C.E.O. of the Tommy Experience, a fitness company focused on older adults, he says he wants to turn his company into an international brand, as big as Bally Total Fitness and Equinox. He envisions sports merchandisers like Nike and Under Armour sponsoring his company and providing comfortable workout clothes for the 60-and-above set, to sponsor their grandmothers, aunts and grandfathers like they would sponsor kids or a team.

Continued on page 6

Of Crime and Punishment, Redemption and Aerobics

By JILL CARYL WEINER

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The outcome of the trial hardly matters: The defendant, a former hip-hop manager for artists like the Game and Gucci Mane, has already been sentenced to life in prison for running a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring

But the federal murder-for-hire trial of James Rosemond known in rap circles as Jimmy Henchman has provided a rare glimpse into a New York hip-hop feud that lasted for more than four years and ended with the fatal shooting of an associate of the rapper Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent. Closing arguments are expected on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Four former members of Mr. Rosemonds drug gang have taken the stand over the last three weeks to describe the long-running conflict between their boss and G-Unit, the rap group founded by 50 Cent and Tony Yayo and managed by Chris Lighty.

The feud started in early 2005 when the Game put out a debut solo album, and 50 Cent expelled him from G-Unit during a live radio show on Hot 97. The Game went to the station with a big entourage to confront 50 Cent. Shots were fired. One man was wounded. It escalated in March 2007, when Tony Yayo and a member of the G-Unit entourage, Lowell Fletcher, assaulted Mr. Rosemonds 14-year-old son on West 25th Street. Mr. Fletcher, a Bloods gang member whose street name was Lodi Mack, went to prison for the assault and drug possession; Tony Yayo, whose given name is Marvin Bernard, received 10 days of community service. Not satisfied, Mr. Rosemond, 49, pursued revenge against G-Unit for the next two years, shooting up the homes and torching the cars of his enemies, his former associates testified. Continued on page 6



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CrimeAerobics, continued from page 5

Continued on page 7

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Feudcontinued from page 5 Finally, on Sept. 27, 2009, prosecutors say, Mr. Rosemond orchestrated the shooting of Mr. Fletcher on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, just two weeks after he left prison.

Witnesses said a dispute that began as the usual posturing between hip-hop personas, calculated to excite fans and sell albums as both 50 Cent and the Game released insulting raps about each other, became for Mr. Rosemond a personal vendetta toward anyone connected with G-Unit. He said, These dudes aint going to be happy until they go to a funeral, testified Khalil Abdullah, who said he was one of Mr. Rosemonds managers in the drug ring. Mr. Abdullah also testified last year, when Mr. Rosemond was convicted in Federal District Court in Brooklyn of running a cocaine ring that pulled in $11 million a year. Prosecutors in Manhattan sought a separate trial on the murder charge for Mr. Rosemond and one of his alleged co-conspirators, Rodney Johnson.

Mr. Rosemonds lawyer, Bruce J. Maffeo, has hammered away at the credibility of the prosecutions witnesses, who testified on promises of reduced sentences for murder and drug convictions. In his cross-examinations, Mr. Maffeo also has stressed that Mr. Rosemond was in Miami at the time of the murder and that he never explicitly told his associates he wanted Mr. Fletcher to die. Mohammed Stewart, 36, told the jury he was one of Mr. Rosemonds top henchmen until his arrest in April 2010, going by the nickname Tef.

Mr. Stewart, who has a long history as a petty drug dealer, described shooting up the entrance of Mr. Lightys company, Violator Records, in 2005 in retaliation for the gunfight outside of Hot 97.

As the feud escalated, Mr. Stewart said he was asked by Mr. Rosemond to take part in several tit-for-tat acts of violence. In 2007, he slashed Mr. Lightys brother with a razor in the street. He also admitted he had shot up a house on Staten Island belonging to Baja Walters, a road manager for G-Unit. Mr. Stewart said he spent many nights with Mr. Rosemond staking out 50 Cent, Tony Yayo or Mr. Lighty, looking for a chance to shoot them.

He said that, you know, theyre not going to understand what it is until they are carrying a coffin and theyre crying, like I miss my homie, Mr. Stewart said.

Mr. Abdullah said the tensions between Mr. Rosemond and G-Unit began to heat up in December 2006 during the Mixtape Awards at the Apollo Theater. That night,

Tony Yayo accosted Mr. Rosemond and started yelling at him about the Games insults.

Continued on page 7



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CrimeAerobics, continued from page 6

these guys. I left a trail, but I cant clean it up.

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Feudcontinued from page 6 A member of Tony Yayos entourage flashed

a gun, and Mr. Rosemonds group left out a back exit, Mr. Abdulla said. Later that night, Mr. Abdullah said he hired two people to pump several bullets into Tony Yayos Bentley as it idled on Madison Avenue in Harlem.

A few days later, Mr. Abdullah said Mr. Rosemond had told him that the rapper Sean Combs, now known as Diddy, tried to broker a truce in his office between Mr. Rosemond and Mr. Lighty. But the two managers started scuffling, and Mr. Combs had to break up the fight.

Brian McCleod, a low-level drug dealer who did errands at Mr. Rosemonds studio in the early 2000s, described how he lured Mr. Fletcher to Jerome and Mount Eden Avenues in the Bronx by promising to give him money and to introduce him to women.

Mr. McCleod, whose nickname is Slim, said he had gone to prison in 2004 after the police caught him as he carried nine kilograms of cocaine out of a stash house for Mr. Rosemond. While incarcerated, he said, he befriended a Bloods gang member who was close to Mr. Fletcher.

A day after Mr. McCleod was released in August 2009, he met with Mr. Rosemond outside Central Park. I told him I had a line on the individual who slapped his son, Mr. McCleod testified.

A few days later, Mr. McCleod said the pair met at the food court in the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle, where Mr. Rosemond offered him $30,000 to lead Mr. Fletcher into an ambush.

At first, Mr. McCleod said, Mr. Rosemond wanted to shoot Mr. Fletcher himself, saying its going to be so fast and so quick no one will know. But Mr. McCleod persuaded him to hire a mutual friend, Derrick Grant, to pull the trigger. They received a kilo of cocaine as payment.

Mr. Abdullah testified that Mr. Rosemond admitted to hiring the men who shot Mr. Fletcher. They were standing outside Mobay Restaurant in Harlem a few days after the murder when Mr. Rosemond started telling the story. He said Slims man came out of nowhere and clapped the dude up, Mr. Abdullah said.

Mr. Abdullah said he asked Mr. Rosemond if the murder could be traced back to him. He said, Nah, dude is a gangbanger, Mr. Abdullah recalled. That [expletive] happen in the Bronx.



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those that would be sentenced under it. However, in 1987 no one could have envisioned the havoc this new sentencing law and the crack to cocaine 100 to 1 ratio would have on those still trapped in what have come to refer to as the game. Many of us were blind sided, caught defending against a right cross, only to be punished by a left hook. On April 28, 2004, while many of you sleep, gangbanged or parties, the 108th Congress quietly passed a bill that is destined to have a more devastating effect on your generation then the Crack Law and New Sentencing Guidelines had on mine. This bill or law is now known as the ANTI-GANG ACT. It is been often said that ignorance of the law is no excuse. What that means for present purposes is that whether you are aware of the existence of a law or not matters little when you are in a court of law. In this regard my homies and brothers, let me lace you p. Under the provisions of the ANTI GANG ACT, you may be sentenced and punished as follows for the following violations:

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I remember reading somewhere once that those that do not learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat them. I am writing this letter in an effort to help you avoid repeating some too costly lessons. To that end I am writing this open letter to share with an insight that many claim can only truly be learned, understood, or appreciated from behind the restraints of a prison wall. It is my near prayer that you might learn this costly lesson without having to bump your collective heads, for some reasons my brothers are far too costly to learn from experience. Some lessons are so costly, that they will not allow you a second chance at bat. It is these type of lessons that I pray this open letter may help you avoid. On November 1, 1987, the United States Federal Government, through an act of congress, instituted a new sentencing program that would come to be known as the New Sentencing Guidelines. Simultaneously to the New Sentencing Guidelines, the United States Sentencing Commission decided to change the ratio of crack cocaine to powdered cocaine to a ratio of 100 to 1. What this meant in practical terms was that a person arrested for possession with the intent to distribute 1 gram of crack cocaine would be sentenced as if he had possessed 100 grams of powdered cocaine. By now most of you are familiar with this change and no doubt familiar with the direct consequences it entailed for

SECTION 102 CRIMINAL STREET GANGS (b) PARTICIPATING IN A CRIMINAL STREET GANG It shall be unlawful for any person (1) To do any act with the intent to affect the criminal activities of a street gang. (2) To commit, attempt to commit, aid or abet the commission or conspire to

commit a predicate gang crime. a. In furtherance or in aid of the activities of the street gang; b. For direct or indirect benefit of the criminal street gang, or in

association with the street gang; c. For the purpose of gaining entrance to, or maintaining or increasing

position in the criminal street gang; While knowingly be a member of or participating in a street gang Under the penalty of the aforementioned crimes, the ANTI GANG ACT provides as follows: (3) Who ever violates subsection (b)(2) or (b)(3) shall be fined under this titled,

imprisoned not more than 20 years or both; except (A) Where the predicate gang crime is a serious drug offense, then whoever

violates these subsections shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 30 years or both, or

(B) Where the predicate gang crime is a violent gang crime, whoever violates these subsections shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term or for life, or both. Continued on page 9



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As you sit now reading this letter in the comfort of your home, car or across a restaurants table, the penalties outlines above, some carrying life sentences, are no more than mere words on paper. However, and trust me my homies and brothers every time that you hear the words life sentence or continue to expiration and you are the subject being spoken of, it is like hearing it for the very first time. My brothers, there is a sinister plan stirring, being implemented by unsmiling men in dark suits. You are the hunted. The crimes and penalties were outlined with you in mind. Dont spring the trap. If you consider yourself true to what you have mistakenly called the game then my brother please know that the point of the game was never unjustified and wanton violence for violence sake. The game was meant as a jump-start from the poorhouse to the penthouse. If there was an idea or motive behind many of our entries into, it was to stack dollars not bodies. When money is your objective homie, violence is not a first resort; it is a last resort. With members of the police department routinely killing innocent black men, boys and sometimes women, how can you in clear conscious add to the misery index of your own communities with competing numbers. Drive by shootings, reckless gun-play has turned many of our neighborhoods into virtual killing fields. In the game as it is currently being played out, the death of innocent young boys and girls are fast becoming acceptable collateral damages. Now far more often that should ever be

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acceptable to any of us, the bullet meant for your supposed enemy invariably finds its way into the spine of some six-year old, paralyzing he/she for life, or in the head, abbreviating a life that has yet to be fully realized. My Blood Brothers If Brother Love Overrides Oppression and Destruction, then you cannot in fairness to the code you claim to live by be a part of the problem. You must become a vanguard for the solution. Your own code demands nothing less. My Crip Brothers If Community Revolution In Progress is what you truly stand for, then you must revolt against the senseless killings. You must revolt against the killing of young black children, whose only crime is that they live in your hood. Like your Blood brothers, your own code demands nothing less.

My brothers, when mom-dukes or grandma-dukes steps out of her house and sees you she should feel a sense of comfort, not fear and apprehension. If your sets and colors stand for anything, it was that you were to be a guardian in your hood -- the person that the old folks and children could turn to, not run from. That is supposed to be your calling. Step your game up.

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On a more personal level, there is no clearer indication of the senselessness and futility of banging for the sake of banging and stacking bodies as opposed to dollars then to be in a state or federal penitentiary and six months into your bid for murder you can barely make commissary and could not have made bail, if they had given you one. For that reason homies I ask you a question that you should have long since asked yourself: what was it all for? Lest my brother you get it twisted, Akbar Pray is not anti-money, nor am I anti-luxury. I am however, anti-nonsense, anti-foolishness, and anti-wasted lives. Trust me when I tell you that I know your struggles and feel your pain. Ive been there. I know that all the crimes that politicians often speak of, no one speaks of the crime of poverty; the crime of shattered dreams and dashed hopes; the crime of limited opportunities for some in a country that is a horn of plenty for others. Still yet my brothers and homies, I caution you that the Anti Gang Act has placed you in the cross hairs of a highly skilled and proficient sniper a sniper that is armed with the law and backed by a gang far more ruthless than you could ever imagine. Through his scope he sees neither red nor blue, neither soldier nor shot-caller. He only sees two colors, black and brown. You my brother, my homies, are his quarry, his target, the hunted. For that reason my brother I ask you to pump your brakes. Check your rear-view mirror. You will no doubt notice that the object in the mirror is closer than it appears. Your brother, Akbar Pray

Open Letter to my Homies continued from page 8



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By Milagros Milan Harris As the economic chasm between the haves and have-nots reaches cataclysmic proportions, what will become the new currency for

the have-nots? How about JOY?

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The fact is that people are good. Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior. Abraham Maslow



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Our ancient Egyptian forebears considered the worship and remembrance of our ancestors so vital to the science of spirituality, which they mastered, and to our spiritual

THE IMPORTANCE OF REMEMBERING OUR ANCESTORS

"Home is where the heart is."

By Dr. Ru Rudy Williams

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If weve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. Were no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge even to ourselves that

weve been so credulous. Carl Sagan

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If not us, who? If not now, when? Your brother, Fidel A.K.A. "Dr. Ru"

To succeed we need all the love, loyalty and support that we are capable of giving to each other, and we need unity and organization to find our way back home



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During my nearly two decades in the street, I had come across dudes that presumably had a lot of cash, they may have even been millionaires, they most certainly qualified for the more popular term: nigga-rich. Back in the 80s it wasnt uncommon to find several sneaker boxes full of cash, 10 and 20,000-dollar stacks, in a tenement or housing projects apartment in any ghetto, in most American cities. This seemed coolI mean if you came up hard and hungry and at some point found yourself able to actually put your hands on a couple of hundred-thousand dollars, having all that money at your immediate disposal, you might feel a sense of control over your own destiny. Who wouldnt feel a sense of security, having cash like that around?

Youd most definitely believe that with it you could handle any problemit may even feel like power. But there are many flaws in that type of power, one of the major flaws is that paper doesnt belong to you, it belongs to the Federal Reserve. And since it is the property of that privately owned corporation, as is stated on each and every document, it does not matter how much of it you have under your mattress or in your closet. If the Fed's enforcement agency, alternately referred to as the federal government, does not acknowledge your stash as legitimate, then it may as well be old newspaper. If your money isnt flowing in this countrys

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mainstream economic system or at least recognized by an established

banking organization, then it really doesnt provide you leverage, and it really isnt power at all. Its sitting there in shoe boxes and you can look at it and count it over and over again, but you know you had better be careful where and how you spend it. At some point you may realize that all that paper is somewhat of a burden, What am I gonna do with it, where can I hide it? How many chains and whips can I cop?!

Although these dilemmas may be less burdensome than hunger or despair, they are still burdens (if you havent been there, I really dont expect you to appreciate that point). But as with any burden youll probably seek to relieve yourself of its stress. So for the lack of better ideas you may go to car dealerships, jewelry stores and malls, which is fucked up because most colleges and trade schools will take that paper just as quickly, and they wont ask any questions either. But youre gonna look kind of silly walking around with a degree on your neck or trying to put 20 inch rims on a certificate of achievementso fuck that, right? Question: When is a profit not a profit? Answer: When the (definite) risks far outweigh the (potential) rewards. When this is the case it is just not a worthwhile chance to take.

Believe me, I know about Right-Now-syndrome and I Dont

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Give a Fuck-itis, but many of the judges in this countrys court system care even less about you than you do. Many of them (not all) especially dont give a fuck about giving you 30, 40 or 50 years in a prison cell. In fact they have a more difficult time deciding what to order for lunch than they do serving you a life bid. The sentencing for drug-related crimes has become more severe over the years, almost in direct correlation to the decreased profitability of selling them (makes ya say, Hmmm dont it?) and the people that are most affected by that increased severity are probably the least aware of it.

Mandatory minimums are so rigid that even first time, nonviolent offenders are more often being imprisonedis it because of the War on drugs? No. Its because a prison without inmates is like a hotel without guests. Wheres the profit in that? The people on the street, including cops, are no more than lubrication for the life-grinding wheels of the system, a system thats making the rich richer and is condemning the poor to an existence that rivals generational indentured servitude until death. This is the case in the world as well as in prison.

America is a business, run by businessmen under the auspices of government. From the viewpoint of people from the street, it has become painfully obvious that the main commodities in this business are drugs and human lives. Not a bad stock and trade when you think about it, plants and people are two resources that are not likely to run out anytime soon.

In his governmental expose, Behold A Pale Horse, ex-Naval Intelligence Briefing team member and author William Cooper (RIP) exposed many common practices of this system.

Continued on page 13..

The F ina l Insta l lment of the Three-Part Prev iew:

OLD GANGSTERS & YOUNG GUNS

The upcoming book by Cavario H.

Question: When is a profit not a profit?Answer: When the

(definite) risks far outweigh the (potential) rewards



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Young GunsContinued from page 12 In chapter 1 of the book: Excerpts from Silent

Weapons for Quiet Wars, under the excerpt heading Energy (second to last paragraph) it states; In order to achieve a totally predictable economy, the low-class elements of society must be brought under control, i.e., must be housebroken, trained, and assigned a yoke1 and long-term social duties from a very early age, before they have an opportunity to question the propriety of the matter. In order to achieve such conformity, the lower-class family unit must be disintegrated by a process of increasing preoccupation of the parents and the establishment of government-operated day-care centers for the occupationally orphaned children.

Yoke: (1) A device for joining together a pair of draft animals, esp. oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal. (2) An agency of oppression, subjection, servitude, etc. 2Propriety: rightness or justness. I was taught, The game is to be sold, not told, I believe that the price is substantially greater than the cost of a newspaper. Most criminals believe that they are operating outside of the systembut the truth is they are doing just as the circumstances being systematically perpetuated, through a campaign of information-manipulation and greed, religious anesthetizing and blindfolding, dictate that they do. Information is and always will be power, for one to believe that the privileged few who possess the greatest degree of that power are going to just give it away for the cost of a daily rag is, in my opinion, unrealistic.Consider that, and this as well; people want to be entertained more than they want to be informed. The privileged-few, overstanding this fact, provide as much entertainment as they can and keep the majority of information for themselvesin their own, more responsible, more capable and more deserving hands.And for what we do not know, those of us on the street have paid, and will continue to pay, with all that is dearest to us: our families, our freedom and our sanity. Ive shared this theory with different people over the years, and whether they are civies or soldiers, black-hats or white-collars, the common response is, If they can control the drugs flowing into this country, why dont they just stop it? To which I can only respond with a shrug of my shoulders and a simple one-word answer, Control. You probably thought I was going to say, Money. If thats so, then you really havent been paying attention, Ill make it plain, Information is power, money in the hands of the uninformed is just paper. They may as well wipe their asses with it.

RAISED BY WOLVES: Inside the Mind of a

Guerilla Hustler, Available on AMAZON.COM

The amazing autobiography of Cavario H. (Creator and former Editor at Large of Dondiva Magazine) - One of New York City's most documented and prolific hustlers - Raised by Wolves. This book is not only interesting and inspirational, it's also an honest and truly impartial look into his life, the difficult decisions he had to make in order to succeed as well as survive and the triumphs of trial and error. Be sure to purchase this book as first editions are going fast.

Rec

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James Baldwin


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remarkable civilization in recorded history. The Ancient Egyptians. The nascent emergence of the first European civilization was made possible only through Black Africans. Most Greek intellectuals made the pilgrimage to Egypt, the cradle of civilization, as a part of their education. Today, the Ancient Egyptians depicted on the Discovery Channel are portrayed as looking European, but if we read the writings of the Ancient Greeks and their contemporaries, who were eye-witnesses to this civilization, the Egyptians were described as having black skin, full lips, broad noses and wooly hair. From a Eurocentric perspective, Ancient Egyptians appeared to have started their civilization with a fully formed language; a complex system of writing; an advance

Continued on page 15

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account of Afrikan history. According to scholars such as geneticist Rebecca Cann; archeologist Louis Leakey; anthropologist Albert Churchward, the genetic make up of all humans can be traced back to the oldest human remains found in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Ancient scholar Herodotus tells us that the very fist civilizations also sprung from this same region. They called them the

Ethiopians, meaning the burnt-faced ones. According to the ancient historians, these Ethiopians werent only the founders of civilization, but the founders of humanity as well, considered the first of all men to appear on the earth; the Autochthones or those who sprung from the soil, the founders of science and civilization and the favorites of the Gods. According to the French philosopher, Count Volney, the first learned nation was a nation of Blacks.While others were yet barbarians, the Ethiopians, a race of people now rejected from society for their black skin a frizzled hair, were the first to discover the elements of the arts an sciences. From these Ethiopians emerged the most

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People of color are in the worst social and economic conditions we have been in history. While our ancestors were forced to endure kidnapping and bondage, their descendants, actually assist the oppressors, knowingly or unknowingly, in the perpetuation of the very slave system at the root of our condition. Our psychological colonization and bondage is facilitated and solidified by an inaccurate account of Afrikan history. In order to de-colonize our minds, we must appropriately and systematically address those areas in which we lack knowledge, such as our cultural heritage, spiritual conceptions, economics and the world views of our ancestors. According to U.S. text books, Afrikan people became relevant in 1619 with the advent of slavery. We are told that weve contributed nothing of substance to history or civilization. Believing that our history began with slavery and that before this we were savages, running round in the jungle butt-ass naked, subconsciously weve developed an inferiority complex. Stripped of our history, the debilitating myths about Afrikans are perpetuated because they generate peculiar psychological characteristics in Americas Afrikans. As a result we have developed low self-esteem and a lack of confidence. Hence, our lack of identity and direction as a collective make us ripe for exploitation. Lets begin our brief but accurate

AN ACCURATE HISTORY OF OUR AFRICAN ROOTS BY VIRGILLIO LLANO

Stripped of our history, the debilitating myths about Afrikans

are perpetuated because they generate peculiar psychological

characteristics in Americas Afrikans.


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Follow Steven Brill on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SullivanBrill http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-brill/federal-drug-sentencing-i_b_5077295.html

1. The retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) of 2010, which increased the amounts of crack cocaine that trigger five and 10 year mandatory minimums. The SSA would make the FSA retroactive by allowing federal crack cocaine offenders who committed their offenses before August 3, 2010 to make a motion to the Court requesting the application of the FSA to their case. 2. SSA would modify and expand the criteria for the "safety valve" exception to mandatory minimums by allowing the "safety valve" benefit to apply to those defendants who fall into Criminal History Category I and II -- rather than just Category I.

3.Perhaps the most critical and also the most controversial aspect of the bill, reduce the five, 10 and 20 year mandatory minimum sentences to two, five and 10 year terms respectively.

Further positives of reducing mandatory minimum sentences include: reduce prison overcrowding saving taxpayer money minimizing the risk of destroying family units which in

turn destroy communities.

Federal Sentencing for Drug Crime is about to get smarter; or, at least that what some people think. In what could be a significant change in the Federal Sentencing laws for drug crimes, Senator Richard Durbin sponsored a bill -- "The Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013" or SSA -- that was introduced to the Senate in August of 2013. There is no word on if and when the bill will become law, (it has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and heads now to the Senate Floor) but President Obama -- through Attorney General Holder -- has made it clear that he advocates of change to the sentencing laws and would likely sign the bill. To some, like the NAACP and FAMM -- Families against Mandatory Minimums -- this bill is a welcomed change. To others, like some seasoned U.S. Attorneys across the country this is bad for communities and will directly lead to a drug crime surge. Either way, the SSA is a clear message that the America's strategy in the War on Drugs is about to change its tactics.



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Over the last several weeks or so, there has been an outpouring of comments, news reporting, dissertations and a bit of hyperbolas regarding the news that during the eighties the Reverend Al Sharpton acted as an undercover informant for the FBI. The streets of course are talking. However, so is much of mainstream media. Reverend Sharpton has been for years, the proverbial flame thrower, social agitator and community activist. In instances where the state or federal government has failed or been slow to act on behalf of members of the minority communities, Reverend Sharpton has brought an unblinking light. He has been a thorn in the side of the powers that be. To hear now that he has been on more than one occasion or perhaps over a prolonged period of time a paid informant, if this is to be believed, I would call into question his prior works, or at the very least, give one reason for pause. Our OP-ED here is neither to cast aspersions or to render judgment, but rather to give more light than heat to a question that now is under discussion in households across the country.

A snitch working for any law enforcement agency be it state or federal, may at some point be required to testify in open court. His testimony therefore is a matter of public record. A confidential informant may never testify in open court, as he is far more valuable to those in law enforcement if he remains " confidential. " To those who in the past or present have acted on behalf of the law enforcement community, the agent provocateur would be the pick of the litter. The agent provocateur all but creates crimes for the unwary to participate in. In many instances his or her conduct can border on entrapment and indeed may qualify as just that. Their role is justified in their minds by the fact that those that they have ensnared have already shown a propensity or predisposition to

SNITCHES,

AND AGENTS PROVOCATEURS

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engage in in the crime committed. There are of course laws in place to protect those unsuspecting and in some cases duped individuals who have been all but bum rushed into committing crimes at the instigation of the provocateurs. However, defending ones self against these allegations has long been a protracted and losing battle. As these various terms and labels are bantered about, we here at T.U.P. thought it instructive to bring more light than heat to this subject. Along these lines we have taken from our archives an article written by our Editor-in-Chief on the subject " The Snitch Factor. What a snitch is and what a snitch is not. Again ours is not a judgment. We are simply trying to provide a platform from which our readers may be able to reach an informed position on this subject.



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The Snitch Factor

A rash of events over the last several days, not the less of which was the senseless murder of a sixteen year old college student in Chicago, has caused this nation to focus on violence in the African American communities, the suppose code of silence that code seems to demand. Over the last several days or so, politicians of every stripe have attempted to address the issue of supposed snitching in the urban communities. To that end they have lamented both long and hard on the dire consequences that burden our communities when the murder or murders of some innocent, or not so innocent, persons death goes unattended and far too often unpunished. Notwithstanding the some times correctness of their position, our pundits and leaders have failed to truly grasp the core issue in this matter. As a result of the collective failure, they have conceded on an issue that all but insures that their message will never gain currency or footing in the urban communities. I read somewhere an adage that is more than fitting here. The adage goes that who ever has defined the issue or the question, has already won ninety percent of the argument. In the instant matter our leaders have failed to grasp and therefore define the issue. Hence, they have for all intents and purposes conceded the argument. The Question of What a Snitch is and What a Snitch is Not

A snitch is first and foremost a person that has a bested interest in a crime that he or she was a part of. A person who then for reason that are self-serving, decides to betray a trust, for some consideration, monetary or otherwise. He or she is in sum and substance a party to some crime or illegal activity. A snitch elevates his or her interest above all others. For that reason, there are no friendships so sacred, no ties so strong, that the

THE

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snitch will not forsake. For the snitch, there are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interest. Is this article pro-snitching or even encourage snitching? It is not and it does not. What I am attempting here is to bring more light than heat to a subject that desperately cries out for clarification. Over the last twenty some years, I have watched the harm that real snitches can do. I have watched those that have ducked their just deserts, while all the while implicating some marginal player in a crime that they themselves stood at the epicenter of. I have watched them betray mothers, brothers, and sometimes, innocent people in crimes that they shared no part in. I have watched these self absorbed, self centered pariahs cleverly mix lies with truth to ensure that someone other than themselves bear the blunt of crimes that were committed by them or a cadre of criminal minions. No I dont condone snitching, not now, not ever. However, and perhaps even more so, I dont condone the perverted definition of snitching that has taken hold in our neighborhoods. Lets not get it twisted. A grandmother that identifies that scum that knocks her down, kicks her mercilessly, then robs her of her Social Security or Welfare check is not a snitch. Grandma was not a part or party to some illegal activity or affairs. She had no vested interest in the outcome of that crime. She did not betray a trust or break a bond. Your grandmother was plain and simply, a victim. Along similar lines, neither is your nine year-old niece or nephew a snitch that identifies from a line up the pervert that tried to molest them. Likewise, neither are the countless young men that have come forward and identified priests or pastors that stole their innocence. They are not, and were not snitches and shouldnt be identified as such ever. None of the afore mentioned parties were a part of the crime that was committed against them. They never entered into an argument to break the law, and when the hammer fell, elected to betray whatever trusts existed between themselves and their comrades. A snitch in his or her essence is a betrayer, not a grandmother, a citizen or a young child that identifies the scum that tried or succeeded in raping them. Neither is your neighbor a snitch that calls the police after seeing some burglar breaking into your home. He is a citizen, doing what citizens do, behaving as citizens behave. Somehow, at some point someone has taken the true definition of snitch and turned it upside down on its head. In hoods that refuse to self-police, where they look the other way, what this bastardized definition of the word snitch has caused its neighborhoods that are not killing fields and children that dare not go outside, less they lose their young lives, and the culprit in their deaths go unquestioned, unpunished. Collectively we have to redefine what a snitch is and what a snitch isnt. Your brother, Akbar Pray



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Sharpton was eager to get slice of 1980s coke deal: pal

By Frank Rosario

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This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Right Act in America and the national theme of this year for Black History is Civil Rights in America. Reflecting upon the relevancy of the statement, I thought about its meaning and being a former teacher I immediately went to a dictionary. Civil: of a citizen or citizens, of having to do with the government, state or nation, occurring among citizens of one community, state or nation, polite, courteous, behaving in a civilize way as a citizen should, having to do with the private rights of individuals and with the laws protecting these rights, enjoying the benefits of civilization. Rights: as it ought to be, agreeing with what is good, just or lawful, equitable, ethical, correct, true, favorable, healthy normal; something that is due a person, fair treatment; justice, to make correct; put in order set right; By inherent or personal right; independent of other conditions or qualifications Humanity: human beings taken as a group; people; mankind, kindness, mercy; human nature, character or quality Human rights: the rights of all human beings to fair treatment and justice and to basic needs such as food shelter and education The struggle for Civil or Human Rights in America may be different from what our ancestors endured but the struggle today is just as arduous. Much has changed, much has not. This post racial utopia that everyone believed would come into play with

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an African American President has not. In fact, the presence of an African American in the most powerful seat and title in the world has flushed up the sick, deeply embedded racism that exists in this country even though the institution of slavery was 385 years ago. Today, many still find a ceiling or the reformed racism that no longer openly growls but now wears a mask that grins and lies.

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We Shall Not Be Moved! By Deborah Smith-Gregory

President of the Newark Chapter NAACP

The struggle for Civil or Human Rights in America may be different from what our ancestors endured but the struggle today

is just as arduous.

Moving toward the next century: We shall not be moved from

working to increase the number of registered voters, promoting voter education and empowerment;

We shall not be moved from working to eliminate discriminatory practices regarding wages, training, promotions and dismissals;

Or addressing discriminatory practices in public education;

We shall not be moved from addressing discriminatory housing practices;

Or from supporting equal access to healthcare, treatment and research

We shall not be moved from enlisting the moral support of the religious community to address civil rights initiatives.

Or from coordinating youth programs promoting leadership;

We shall not be moved from calling for an end to racial disparities at all levels of the penal system and calling for smarter criminal justice policies;

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!!



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My name is Justin MacFarlane A.K.A Jesse James. I'm from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ottawa is a very diverse city with many cultures and people from all walks of life. I

believe I benefited from this by meeting so many different folks and learning different ideologies. I went to Rideau High School in the heart of Ottawa, on St. Laurent Blvd. Rideau taught me more then just math and history etc.... it taught me the way the world works, how people interact with each other, how people gain respect, and how to make an extra buck here and there. I enrolled in a co-op program while attending Rideau, which is a program where you leave the school for half the day and spend it in a career environment. Instead of picking automotive shops, or retail stores like many of the other students, I decided to aim for a recording studio (seeing how I love music and had been rapping since the age of 13). Now... let me tell you... this was around 2000 and studios in Ottawa were scarce. The few that existed had no interest in a co-op student. I really had to dig to find one that would take me on as a student. I found that at Sound Of One Hand Studios. (It has been taken on by new owners and has a new name, but still stands in Ottawa on Liverpool Crt.).

ENTERTAINER, ENTREPENEUR AND HES JUST GETTNG STARTED

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The owner at the time was a gentleman by the name of John Dooher, who really took me under his wing and allowed me full access to his studio. After I graduated high school and the program was over, he took me on as an apprentice and allowed me to continue to learn. My parents were not in a position to send me to college so hey... this was the next best thing. I would go to my full time job at a CD store everyday, and then walk up to the studio every evening and practice. Sometimes I didn't even know what I was practicing. Writing lyrics, beats, Pro Tools, guitar... whatever it was, I was just happy to be there. Unfortunately Mr. Dooher could no longer retain ownership of the studio (I think it's because he was too generous to kids like me)... so when the new owners rolled in, my free time ran out. I took what I learned there and ran with it. I started building my own home studio, piece by piece. A drum machine here, a computer there, a guitar, synthesizer, microphone etc... Now, I also have to point out that I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by good musicians most of my life. The universe has a strange way of pulling the right people together. So once I had a little studio set up, people I knew from the street and the neighborhood would naturally flock my way. Some of them just looking to benefit themselves, some of them becoming life long friends. You learn to separate the two very quickly. I won't get into the nonsense and dramatics that surround the rap music genre...the egos, the dope, the fake, the Hollywood gangsters...etc... but let's just say I've come across my fair share of characters! (I should also mention I'm a fan of all genres and enjoy everything from Frank Sinatra, to Etta James, to Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy,

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Bob Dylan... and the list goes on.) So I spent many years supporting the local hip hop scene and even participating myself by rapping on features. I never released any solo work, but I did end up travelling down to Newark, New Jersey to record with one of the guys I grew up on... Hussein Fatal from 2Pac's Outlawz. For me that was a big deal because I felt like that was the top of the line. I didn't care about making money or being on magazine covers, I just thought it was cool as hell to be rapping with this dude I grew up on. First time I went to Newark was in 2008 and we went to a local studio. Next year in 2009 I brought my home studio down and set it up in a townhouse. And the year after that, 2010, I brought it down again and we set it up in a hotel. In the end we had enough for a little album to throw on the Internet for free download. I don't know how much attention it got, but I was proud either way. After that, the music thing died down for me and I tried focusing on other artists like my friend's soul band and other local rappers.

Throughout this time I was also engaging in different careers. I started Continued on page 22



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Let us know what youre

thinking on Facebook THE URBAN

PERSPECTIVE

AND

Akbar Pray Foundation For Change

Memorial Safia Miller

4

doing work at age 12, helping my mother clean the doctor's office she was employed at. She would give me 5 dollars for a good nights work. That implanted work ethic. I went on to have a paper route, work at A&W, Canadian Tire, Landscaping/Construction, CD store, Lawn Care, Uniform Supplies.... but I always wanted to have my own business. I said "fuck it" ... and registered a business number. I tried to start a business selling bathroom supplies to local businesses. Soaps, toilet paper, paper towel, hand sanitizers... whatever makes money. Things didn't work out as easy as I thought they would. Legal issues and suppliers etc.... but I'm saving that one... Bathroom industry will never die ;) So I quit my union job to start a different kind of business with truck owner/operators. I became a member of a team who owns 5 trucks and delivers medical supplies to hospitals and doctors offices. I love my job and make good money doing it. It ain't the top of the world... but I'm only 29... and I have a long way to go....



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by

COMING SOON:

PRESENTS

CONTACT INFO: [email protected]

Please have a seat my love, and take heed to whats said, Theres some things Im experiencing Ive always dread. I think nows the time to stop being in my own way, Its cause of you Im facing and chasing my demons away. When I used to get asked about me getting married, I viewed love as a disease that one terminally carried. People grow and change according to the quality of time, Something stale can, and often times, changes ones mind. I guess being from a broken home has nurture this view, Picture 3000 miles being between whom fathered you. Learning martial arts and how to play catch by myself, Made me devalue a partnership regarding emotional health. Spend the night, then go home, was the mantra for my dome, Being the only child desensitized the meaning of alone. Im not making excuses; just giving an explanation Why commitment is a feat for me - please have patience. This is unchartered waters, and Id truly hate to fail, Picture a craved basket of fresh eggs that suddenly fell. Something deemed as anointed giving way to disappointment, Picture a gradual degradation of bones thats double jointed. I can admit to being scared; Im a true man, Baby at least Im being honest, and I hope you understand. Please help me stop my past from becoming things to come, Carrying-on a family pattern would make me nuptially numb. I want to do right by you, and be all youll ever need, Deemed as a risk that was worth taking indefinitely. Now with that being said; will you give me your hand? Thatll be confirmation you were meant for this man......

apffc.org THE URBAN

If its anybody whos under Gods grace, I am, A true wretched soul whos committed a large amount of sin. Yet I still possess the breath of life, still having a chance To fortify my stake in an ethereal trance. Truly, a spirit is like that of a fallen snow flake, Beautiful til intersected with humans destined mistakes. Im trying to get back to my original state of being, A peaceful energy in lieu of one whos internally grieving. Lord, please forgive my flesh on the behalf of my spirit, And take my accumulated slate of sin and clear it. Im sorry for nefarious actions done for fleshly satisfaction, Heal these self-inflicted wounds by way of Your compassion. As for spiritual health, allow me to forgive myself, Its within Your grace and mercy that one attains wealth. Let my soul be on Earth as it was in Your home, Fearfully and skillfully wrought, yet a joy to behold. Through Your Sons act, which was done for the remission, This prodigal soul has returned with a written repentance. Atonement is sought after when Im asleep and when awake, May this temple be Your dwelling for an indefinite stay......

**************************** Salutations Dearie; (thats what I call my grandmother) This is going to make your hand raise to have your mouth covered. This is being penned with the love of a first grandchild, Sending you birthday wishes, causing a tearful smile. How did it feel to read about yourself in Proverbs 31? In making you, God just wanted to have fun. Im still in awe in regards to His wondrous deeds, Placing a legion of angels in one flesh for all to see. I recall you driving yourself and several others to church, I still have my life, health, and strength - so clearly, prayer works. You exemplify so many virtuous attributes, It might take me til my last breath to list them out for you. How was it leaving the Pearly Gates, no longer walking on gold? I bet your home was on a hill, where from milk and honey flows. Your deity has graced the Earth; as it did Heaven, The result of Gods breath of life and dust having a wedding. You are a great grandmother in two different ways, By way of posterity, and actions displayed. I am glad I came through a mother whom derived from you, Though mannish when I was younger, still, I was Saint to you. May this ode be viewed as me giving you a trillion roses, As well as us shaking our heads while rubbing noses. This was penned on a Bible - enhancing this as truth, Happy Birthday Pretty lady, your grandson adores you......


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T Bloomfield B

Stick Up Kids-Is Out to Play

The cult classic, Death of the Game, by Akbar Pray is back! Newly edited, same myth shattering saga. Death of the Game tells the true story of one of the longest trials in history. Akbar Pray gives a detailed account( including court documents) of the circumstances surrounding his trial and conviction as one of the first Super Kingpins in the U.S. A must read for parents teachers or anyone who cares about a kid whos thinking about a life in the game, Death of the Game answers the question: Do you wanna make a suckers bet with your life? 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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In this world we live in, filled with chaos, it seems we have become like ghost instead of people. When we carry anger, sadness and grudges and having nothing than our own belligerent attitude, it does nothing for us other than to age usbadly. Some of us seek therapy or search for sounding boards and yet nothing is resolved. For some, the pain becomes motivation. Yet in the long run, facing our own demons is much more soothing than just passing the buck. We are advised to forgive and to let go, or so that is what we have been taught to believe is what is expected. Interesting concept, but what about if you can forgive and yet not let go? Then what? Is it wrong? Is it sinful? Is it merely our ego?

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I do not view things in that manner. It has been my experience in my life time and profession that I have become like a sin eater people come to me to confess, to listen, and to help them get closer to God and or the Devil. Although I may question who am I to judge, whether they desire wine or blood does not make a difference to me when it is my own soul I am concerned about. What I can tell you is that there is a difference between what we call Karma and Dharma. One is cause and effect and the other is intention, lovely scenario since they both work hand in hand. You see, it is one thing to say, I will not be a murderer and yet hire someone to do it for you, does that save you? No, you are still the same person you always were just in a different situation. Now lets take an abused person who spends years in therapy and yet still allows himself self to fail by allowing these feelings to haunt him. Trust me I know. It was not until recently that I realized, it does not matter if I talk to God six times a day or 20 times a day if

By Omifalade

3

my mind is still who I was then, my spirit will continue on the journey of not disrespecting God, but disrespecting myself. That is intention, maybe not conscious intention but never the less intention. It is only when we stop crying, yelling, feeling bad, that things truly become clear. It is when you have to decide, am I free now to face all my demons before I can continue to live? Always state the facts about a person or persons. Tell the truth, no matter how good or how awful in order for forgiveness to begin, not for anyone else, but for you. This has been a challenge I have struggled with for many years, but I finally got it. Even if I forgive my tormentors, it does no good at all if I cannot forget. If I blame all my troubles on where I came from, I will never be able to journey to where I am truly supposed to be. So, while forgiving may sometimes seem like too much work; sometime you just have to give it to the wind and never look back. Then you can truly find your freedom from pain.

Love and Light Omifalade

Keep in mind, hurting people often hurt other people as a result of their own pain. If somebody is rude and inconsiderate, you can almost be certain that they have some unresolved issues inside. They have some major problems, anger, resentment, or some heartache they are trying to cope with or overcome. The last thing they need is for you to make matters worse by responding angrily. Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential



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Survey says you have five years after college to move out By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

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1. Make early payments: Pay all credit card bills and loans bills before their statement due date. Even make multiple payments during the month rather than a single remittance. Making a payment before the due date can lower your utilization rate, which in turn can raise your credit score. If your total available credit is $20,000 and you have a $10,000 total balance, then according to FICO, you have used 50%of your available credit-and that's your utilization rate. How much you owe is 30% of your FICO score, your utilization is a large part.

2. Stick to 33% credit use rule. I suggest paying off or paying down all open lines of credit so that their individual balances don't exceed 33% of the total available credit. Use only that percentage of the total limit at one time.

3. Ask for goodwill deletion. Request a goodwill deletion based on previous on time payments. A goodwill deletion occurs when a creditor decides to remove a negative mark based on the customers request. State your case in writing, explain why the payment was late, point out previous good payment history, and ask the creditor to reconsider the negative mark, giving the recipient 30 days to respond to the request. Removing one or two marks on your credit report will raise your credit score.

4. Keep aged accounts even if they are no longer useful. A portion of your score is based on history and how long you've maintained lines of credit. According to FICO,15%of your score is the length of your credit history." Close a 15 year-old account and you'll wipe out all of its history." Closing the account will increase your debt to available credit amount, which will again lower your credit score.

5.Remove a bad debt. Typically, paying off a collection account doesn't remove it from your credit report. However, sometimes collection agencies will agree to remove the debt from your credit report, if you agree to pay it off. Be sure to get any such agreement in writing. Remember the only on who in charge of building your credit score is you. Take action, and don't continue to stay enslaved to debt. Next month I will speak about why it's important to leave a will, and not a bill. Our goal is to financially empower. For you can't change who you are, to you change what you know.

By Sharmon A Howell Business Consultant and Author of

Complete Credit Restoration Program

Preview and Purchase the book at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Credit-Restoration-

Program-Sharmon/dp/149289446X



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The 2013 alleged carjacking-turned felony murder in Short Hills Mall, located in an affluent New Jersey suburb received national attention. The two individuals shot to death on the dark streets of Newark, New Jersey, on the same night, went unnoticed. Whats the message? The violently shortened life of a preppy attorney from Hoboken is more newsworthy and significant than the similarly shortened loves of two Newark residents!

Despite having been under state-takeover almost tow decades, Newark Schools are still failing generation after generation. Yet, we are surprised when the dropout and /or graduates of a state-controlled school system make the news and misery index for all the wrong reasons. Undoubtedly, the four individuals being held in the mall carjacking arent college graduates. Clearly, education prepares students to succeed in life. Within inner city neighborhoods nationwide, failed schools are typically the pipeline to the poverty line of economic struggle, single-parent households, criminality, gangs and a prison cell. There is absolutely no upside to stepping out into society without an education.

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On any given day, drop by the campuses of Rutgers and Seton Hall universities inquire what percentage of their student body is

comprised of graduates of Newark schools. Stop by PSE&G, Verizon, or Panasonic, as them what percentage of the top; middle and lower management staff are graduates of Newark schools. Stop by the juvenile detention center and county jail; inquire what percentage of their populations attended Newark schools. Ask the New Jersey Department of Corrections, what percentage of its population attended Newark schools. Whether its Camden, Paterson, Irvington, East Orange, or Jersey City, the mirror reflects the same. Safety in the suburbs is a myth! The highway corridors torn through urban communities to convenience corporate employees are passageways to leafy zip codes. Thus failed schools impact us all. Furthermore, in an age of globalization the intergenerational wasted and denied human potential of untold scores of marginalized African americans leaves the country at a competitive disadvantage. Get involved with the lives of our youth. Peace!

BY MARVIN ELLISON



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STOLEN GIRLS Nigerias Stolen Children: What You Need

to Know About the 276 Abducted Schoolgirls By Zeninjor Enwemeka

Boston.com Staff

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Zakiyyah Zai'mah, MA

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The Hand I Write With www.ThehandIwritewith.com

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OUR GIRLS NEED HASHTAGS TOO!


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1

by TUT

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I made that I strive to live by:

Id like to thank my dear friend Mr. Akbar Pray and his supporters for spearheading such a wonderful cause for change and enlightenment. Respectfully, Walter Tut Johnson



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In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice. -Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/giving-up-on-4-year-olds.html


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OUR QUEST FOR A MORE PERFECT UNION

An excerpt from the soon to be released, Soul On Fire -by Hafiz Farid

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President Barack Obama is going to Charlotte North Carolina to address the nation and the world on the eve of his acceptance of the democratic nomination for president. When one thinks of the daunting task of recapturing the hearts and minds of the American people as he did 4 years earlier it seems like an impossible dream that even he himself has to have doubts about. To achieve this feat would be a greater accomplishment than winning the presidency and has far more promise for the people of these still disunited states, America and the world, for what does it profit a man to gain the presidency and lose the soul of the nation. Thus it seems clear to me that Barack Obama must go not to Charlotte, but back to Philadelphia, and rediscover that place in his heart and soul that connected and resonated with the heart and soul of America, back to that magnificent moment in time when the spirit was expressed so eloquently that it transcended time, space and race. The speech that almost never was, this was undoubtedly his finest hour and one of ours as a nation, and yet this was a decision to speak on the forbidden topic of race that he himself made over the objections of his advisors. Jeremiah Wright or wrong, was the catalyst for this monumental manifestation of truth and reality but the well that it sprung from was the Soul of Man and its Divine Providence, that place that Carlye spoke of when he said that truth crushed to earth shall rise again that sacred center within us all that knows truth when it hears it

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because it is the very nature of our souls. Barack Obama knew at that moment,..that where he stood was more important than where he sat, he risked the presidency to set a president, one that elevated the nation not himself, he reminded us that we all must acknowledge the stain that has made us an imperfect union and yet bear the awesome responsibility of striving to live up to the true meaning of our creed. As the world watched, we the people, all felt proud to be called American, for one from among us had stood before the world and courageously proclaimed our historical legacy and in spite of it being cracked like the liberty bell that represents it, our truth rang out and stirred the hearts of millions who want America to be what it truly can be. To be or not to be is still the question, and as Dylan said the answer my friend is blowing in the wind you Mr. President merely have to catch it, recapture it. Go back to Philadelphia, to the root of its meaning; loving from the greek philos. Alice Walker once wrote that we need a leader who loves us, and I think she was saying not just US the United States but we the people, all of us, regardless of race, creed or color. While your political gurus advise you for hours on how to respond to the mantra how are we better off now than we were four years ago, the heart and soul of the matter that you must exhort to the American people is are we, the people, a better people than we were four years ago, or forty years ago, or 400 hundred years ago. That is the question, for if we are not a better people after all this time, all of our sweat and tears, all of the blood that has been shed in the name of democracy, than whose the better

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candidate doesnt really matter. This is the question, of course there are some that will say this question is too philosophical, too spiritual, I say that it was the spirit of the American revolutionaries and the philosophy of the founding fathers that is the very bedrock of this great nation. The spirit of what America was destined to be is what has been lost, that spirit is what we must recaptured and to do this we must not merely engage in political ramble,.. we must go back to the preamble;

We the people of the United States in order to form a more Perfect Union and secure the

Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the

United States of America.



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Americans are consuming as much as trice the recommended amount of salt in their food. Can something be done about it?

By THOMAS A. FARLEY

123

The reason that nearly everyone eats way too much sodium is that

our food is loaded with it, and often where we dont taste or

expect it.



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How Conservatives Learned to Prison Reform

By Shane Bauer

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STATE PARTY CHANGE Alabama Republican 10% Alaska Republican 1% Arizona Republican 3% Arkansas Democratic 2% California Democratic -27% Colorado Democratic -17% Connecticut Democratic -16%

DC Democratic -10% Delaware Republican 3% Florida Republican -3% Georgia Democratic -8% Idaho Republican 3% Illinois Democratic NA Indiana Republican 7% Iowa Democratic -4% Kansas Republican 5% Kentucky Democratic 6% Louisiana Democratic 4% Maine Democratic -1% Maryland Democratic -10% Mass. Democratic -1% Michigan Republican -14% Minnesota Democratic 5% Mississippi Democratic 3% Missouri Democratic 0% Montana Democratic -4% Nebraska Democratic 2% Nevada Democratic -9%

New Hampshire Democratic -1% New Jersey Democratic -17%

New Mexico Democratic -6% New York Democratic -16%

North Carolina Democratic -9% North Dakota Republican 3%

Ohio Republican 3% Oklahoma Republican -7% Oregon Democratic 2%

Pennsylvania Republican 13% Rhode Island Democratic -18%

South Carolina Republican -13% South Dakota Republican -10% Tennessee Republican -5% Texas Republican -20% Utah Republican -13% Vermont Democratic -14% Virginia Democratic -13% Washington Democratic -13% West Virginia Democratic 8% Wisconsin Republican -11% Wyoming Republican -16%

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by Joseph Jazz Hayden

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How many of you have been following the recent shift in the conversation about reforming the "criminal justice system"? Well, the conversation has taken a distinct turn in a positive direction. The era of "tough on crime" seems to be coming to an end. Why? Because "nothing exceeds like excess". In the wake of the civil rights victories of the 50's and 60's, that virtually eliminated de jure segregation and finally gave African Americans access to the ballot box, there was launched a national pushback by reactionary/conservative forces (for every action there is a reaction) framed as a war on crime and a war on drugs that led to mass incarceration and the disenfranchisement of millions of poor people of color. The prison population increased exponentially from 300,000 in 1970 to 2.4 million today with another 5

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million under the control of the criminal justice system. America had become a virtual prison nation. With 5% of the world's population America has 25% of the worlds prisoners! For forty years the tough on crime policies have driven this growth and expansion of the prison population. This appears to be coming to an end because nothing exceeds like excess. There has been a policy shift from tough on crime to being smart on crime. Politicians from President Obama, Erica Holder (attorney general), Rand Paul, and the Governor of Texas (the execution state) have all come out for sweeping reforms of criminal justice. Much of this call for reform is driven by a cost benefit analysis and the damage done to Americas international image as the champion of Human and Civil Rights

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______________________________ Support for sweeping reforms is coming from all sides driven by community activist whose role in driving this shift to the right side of history goes unheralded. ______________________________ Change comes and goes. The window of opportunity is open (at the moment) and it is time for those of us that are most impacted to come up with a vision of what change will look like. I am among the most impacted population. I am an Abolitionist when it comes to prisons. However, as long as they must continue to exist I demand that they be turned into institutions of vocational and academic learning under the control of the impacted communities. And, I demand that the criminals justice system be brought under the control of the communities that it serves. Identify those in the community that support these demands and support them. Jazz [email protected]

_Bryan Stevenson

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Urban Literature

Meat Factory (The Crude Interchangeable Realms of Pole Dancers, Porn Stars and Human

Trafficking) By Marvin Ellison

Send check or Money Order for 14.95 plus $4.50 for shipping and handling to: Etched in Stone Publications PO Box 212 Newark, New Jersey 07106

Tales from the Underground Diva Lounge By Milagros Milan

Sample and purchase the book: www.undergrounddivalounge.com

Take a trek though the lives of four women and the events that forever change their lives. Their search for validation,

security and love sends them on a tumultuous journey towards

personal growth, self-awareness, and self-esteem.

Butat what price?

Available at the special price of $16.95 plus $ 2.95 (money

orders please): Brick City Publications

P.O. BOX 452 Bloomfield NJ. 07003

This is a must read book by anyone who's credit has been negatively affected due to bad debt and past collections. Learn to do for yourself what lawyers and credit consultants have been charging thousands to do.... Millions of people today have bad credit for a variety of reasons. Learn through this book what to do to correct that.

Available in Paperback for $7.99 And $3.99 for Kindle at: www.amazon.com

Al-Saadiq Banks ruled the streets for years ..... his life --- the good, the bad and everything in between, reads like a Hollywood

movie. Find all of the legendary Al-Saadiq Banks books at www.true2lifeproductions

.com And True 2 Life Publications PO Box 8722

Newark, NJ, 07108 646-350-8590

Documents

APFFC Newsletter Urban Perspective May 2014