Tup Issue 21 July 2015

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AKBAR PRAY FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE

Effectively Promoting

Moderation in an Age of Extremism

The Cruel Reality of Post-Racial America

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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

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

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

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap

ISSUE 21 JULY 2015

THE

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Cover Photo by Crystal A. Castro

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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

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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. 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

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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

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

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

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High School Students Extend An Olive Branch to Local Police

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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

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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.

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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:

Continued on page 6

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

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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

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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-by-side 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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By Howard R. Gold,

WHAT IT COSTS TO LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM

Estimated annual cost for the average family of four


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buy it on Amazon

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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.

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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

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.

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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." 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. 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." President Obama's moves coincide with Attorney General Eric Holder actions. They include: Calling on policymakers at all levels to find ways to reduce the number of people behind bars. Supporting efforts in Congress and the

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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. Let's hope that President Obama goes out swinging and helps end our nation's longest, failed war. Tony Newman is the director of media relations for the Drug Policy Alliance. 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-


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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 alcohol-impaired 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://www-nrd.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

COMING SOON:

PRESENTS

CONTACT INFO:

Words by Saint


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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

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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

(Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)


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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 early-childhood 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,

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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

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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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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.

By Dr. Guy T. Fisher


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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:

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 degree-granting 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

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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

Incarcerated population, 2010 0 1 25 100 250 1000

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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-has-more-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

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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 decision-making 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

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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-on-black-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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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

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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.

AN OPEN LETTER BY Zjontaye Gordon


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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apffc.org THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE ISSUE 21/ July 2015 Page

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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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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


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 3rd 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

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

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

DON'T PAY OUTRAGEOUS ATTORNEYS FEES!

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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!

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 apffc.org THE URBAN PERSPECTIVE ISSUE 21/ JULY 2015 Page

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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. 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. 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.

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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

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


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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 you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'l l be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you.

The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit. -Will iam J. Clinton-


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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


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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


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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

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By Jmeal Collins

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RITE OF PASSAGE (A BADGE OF HONOR) AMONG SPECIFIC SUB-CULTURES; 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


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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.

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By Douglas Quenqua

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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

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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

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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.


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By Joseph Jazz Hayden and Lewis Webb, Jr.

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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


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Urban Literature

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

Trafficking) By Marvin Ellison

Meat Factory

14.95 per book 4.50 shipping&

handling Money Orders

made to Etched in Stone,

PO Box 22071 Newark, NJ 07102

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

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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

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Documents

Tup Issue 21 July 2015