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Akbar Pray Foundation For Change

WE ARE THE SOLUTION TO OUR OWN PROBLEMS
Issue 2 May 5, 2012
African American children are nine times more likely than white children to have an incarcerated parent.. According to DOJ, African American parental incarceration creates additional challenges for children and families often resulting in financial instability and material hardship. Transient family relationships lack of structure, and residential mobility plague these kids. These problems can lead to inappropriate school behavior; performance problems; shame; social and institutional stigma. These issues are even more severe for already vulnerable families and caregivers who support contact between the incarcerated parent and his or her child. Continued on page 3

Central HS SJA E.K.W.I.P A Child Lecture Series Who Has An

February 24, 2012 Sharifa Salaam Esq., empowers young women to set goals, meet challenges and overcome obstacles.

Incarcerated Parent
By Akira Johnson

March 27, 2012 Larry Hamm, People s Organization for ProgressNew Jersey's leading voices against police brutality, April 12, 2012 Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. New Jerseys Medical Examiner discusses violence, health and history.and what we must do to bring change.

Are you a child between the ages of eleven and twenty-one, whose parent or guardian is presently incarcerated in a federal or state facility? Do you know a young man or young woman with one or both parents incarcerated? E.K.W.I.P is a not for profit group in it's nascent stages, set up to help the children of incarnated parents to navigate the social and psychological minefields that often beset them as their parent serves his or her sentence. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), in 2000, 2 million children had incarcerated parents, double the

IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO? IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

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Issue 2, May 5, 2012 issue, date

Notes From the Editors Desk

Virtually each and every day, that we turn on our TV's, listen to our radios or read our local or national newspapers, there is somber evidence that the economic picture in this country, though improving, is still dire. Unemployment still hovers above 8 per cent for the general population and near double that number for people of color. Indeed the only discernible dip in the unemployment rate for African Americans are for those that have had the benefit of a college education. Even there, where which should serve as a protectorate of sorts against the ravishes of hard and trying times, the gravitational pull of the recession and all that it entails in urban and suburban communities alike remains daunting at the very least. It is into this challenging employment environment that we are now sending our children to compete for jobs, full or part time. There is an unfortunate line of demarcation that runs through our communities. On one side of the line lay higher education jobs and all which that entails, on the other side of that line is a life lived on the slippery slope of illegality, and all which that choice and poor options entails. Most of us have sat idly by while these dynamics have played themselves out, often right in front of our eyes. Yet, none of the consequences that poor choices make have spurred us to collective action. Reaction...yeah, sometimes, but pro-action, not so much. Our time-tested mantra to our kids in this regard has often been, " If, you make your bed hard, then you have to sleep in it. Though the wisdom of this adage is obviously true, the results of allowing our children to live by it, has had a catastrophic effect on our kids and our communities. Not long ago, there once raged an historic debate between two towering historical figures, Booker T Washington and W. E B Dubois. Though that debate had many components, it essentially boiled down to this: whether African Americans should pursue degrees in the Humanities or whether they should learn trades i.e. marketable skills. As black colleges began a slow but steady growth and integration, though vehemently resisted by the powers that be, they gradually gained traction. The philosophy of W. E B.Dubois seemed to win the day and rule the roost, Humanities and Liberal Arts came front and center. Flash forward to the 21st century, where the acronym of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) now rules the roost. Now engineers of every sort are often sought after with a near frenzy, while Social Scientist and Liberal Art majors find full employment a herculean task. Into this challenging and technologically driven environment we are now placing our at risk and sometimes barely literate children. The problem is not doubt difficult. The mountain they are asked to scale, decidedly steep. Yet, scaling it, perhaps not to its summit, is no fools errand or an impossible quest. However, their climb cannot be done alone, unguided, unassisted. We can give some of them, though not all of them a leg up, a helping hand, a fighting chance. My friends, associates and family, we, you and I can do this. We can aid their efforts, buttress their quest. We cannot insure their success, for success ultimately is about individual effort. However, with our support, your support, we may be able to increase the chances of their success. We cannot insure that despite their best effort they will not fail, to greater or lessor degrees. However, we must try, not just for their sake but for our own as well. Here we must get in front of the problem, not behind it. If, you have expertise in any area, that you are willing to pass on to these children, be that expertise or discipline successful novel writing; record producing or brick masonry; computer literacy or any other viable skill, then we invite you to join us, in our effort to shift the paradigm. In closing please leave your contact information and your area of expertise. If, you have a friend or family member that you think will be willing to devote some time in this regard, please inform them about this effort. . " We are the solution to our own problems. If not now, then when? If not you, then who. " Your brother, Akbar Pray

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Issue 2, May 5, 2012 issue, date

My goodness, what's going on? How did we allow ourselves to fall to this dismal state of being? To succumb to the pathetic level of mercenaries, hookers and clowns? Greed and Corporate Capitalism! These two gods have reduced everything and everybody to base commodities; life to mere buying and selling; the world to producer and consumers, ads, commercials and endorsers. So, my people, where do you fit in in the Amerikkkan Nightmare? Keep it real; what do you have to sell? A mean cross-over, a nice singing voice, or a "phat ass"? To let them tell it, without something to sell, you don't have nothing coming. If you don't push a $300,000 Maybach, live in a million dollar mansion, rock an iced-out Rollie and pop Cristal morning, noon and night, your worth is zero in the eyes of society and the "new world order". Damn, whatever happened to black pride, black power, black love and all that? Tell me, did someone blink their eye and vanish the whole 1960s and the '70s? Man, we have to stop destroying ourselves for money--for crumbs. That's exactly what the corporate powers want us to do while they continue to get richer and richer off of our blood, sweat and tears. Keep your spirits up; don't let Money Madness drive you insane or into doing things you'll regret for the rest of your life.

MONEY MADNESS
by Rudy Williams
How important is money? Wait, hold up, don't be too quick to respond. Before you do, let me re-phase the question somewhat: HOW IMPORTANT IS MONEY TO YOU? C'mon, Y'all, be brutally honest with yourselves: what would some of you "gangstas" do for an ounce of crack? And all of you new house "niggers" for a chance to be on a reality t.v. show, and 15 minutes of fame? Or, in the case of us prisoners, for a cigarette butt and 10 stamps? Would you blow the back of your man's head off? Air out your dirty laundry--all of your little stinking, fifty secrets? Stick a 12-inch shank into your "dawg's" ribs when he ain't looking? Don't laugh; it ain't funny. For little or nothing, we're dying and killing each other like mosquitos! Money has become for us "the be all of everything" -our raison d'etre-- more valuable than life, love, loyalty, friendship, family, and even God Almighty. For the love of money and fame, more and more of us are stealing, killing, and even squealing, on our own mothers. Money, money, money-anything for "the almighty dollar".

E.K.W.I.P A Child Who Has An Incarcerated Parent

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development. To that end, we have established a board where you can discuss whatever issues are currently troubling you and expect to get some feed back from others kids similarly situated, as well as a older young woman (the organizations founder) that has both experiential as well as academic background to help you address your concerns. Check us out on Facebook:

Research suggests that intervening in the lives of children with incarcerated parents to preserve and strengthen positive family connections can yield constructive societal benefits. These include reduced recidivism, less intergenerational criminal justice involvement, and the promotion of healthy child

If, you are a young adult and are interested in assisting us in this endeavor, please contact me with your ideas and interest. Come join us and be a part of this muchneeded effort.

Empowering-Kids-With-Incarcerated-Parents-EKWIP Akbar Pray Foundation For Change-APFFC

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date Issue 2 May 5,issue, 2012

APFFCs Community Liaison Saleemah (Cynthia) Mosley

N.J. residents to be honored with Citizen Leadership Awards April 26, 2012 By Shannon McDonald Five New Jersey residents will be honored next week at a ceremony for the inaugural Citizen Leadership Awards. Cynthia Mosley of Newark, Tracy Jordan of Perth Amboy, Tamra Marsh of Camden, Linda Murray of Willingboro and Eric Kipnis of Cherry Hill will be at the Citizens Campaign gala in North Jersey Monday. Marsh helped Camden and its school board adopt a better process for obtaining insurance coverage that will save the city more than $4 million. Murray, a Rutgers-Camden grad student, will be recognized for her volunteer work with the Willingboro Zoning Board and Human Relations Commission, and her encouragement of others to volunteer. Kipnis is the founder of South Jersey Citizens for Change, which he uses to keep neighbors informed of local government affairs. Mosley and Jordan, of North Jersey, will be celebrated for their community education efforts and campaign to save the local newspaper, respectively. These five people are getting props at the state level for their hard work. Know someone else who deserves a shout-out? You can give them Props on NewsWorks. http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/the-feed/item/37589-nj-residents-to-be-honored-with-citizen-leadership-awards

TIME SERVED!
Sign the Petition
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/TimeServed/

!Target: FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CRITICS OF UNJUST SENTENCING! Sponsored by: FRIENDS OF AKBAR PRAY On June 21, 1988, Wayne Akbar Pray was sentenced under the federal drug kingpin statute to life in prison without-parole, although he had no prior arrests or convictions, just minor infractions! To learn more about Akbar, thru his writings and experiences, please visit: aviewfromtheinside.weebly.com