United Black Family Scholarship Foundation

I WANT TO BELIEVE TODAY THAT EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE

When I came to prison 24 years ago, I didn't realize there was a little boy inside of me screaming for help. My father had been tragically murdered when I was three years old. At that age, I didn't understand what death was or how trauma would impact me or my family. Eventually, my mother suffered a mental breakdown, which left me with an obligation to care for three little sisters. A child making adult decisions, this little boy never had a chance to be a kid, to play, to be carefree.

In prison, I discovered writing as a way to heal and cope with the neglect stemming from my childhood and the isolation, sense of powerlessness, and dehumanization my incarceration subjected me to. It allowed personal development, organization, and most importantly deep reflection. The experience is one I often share with others, be they fellow prisoners, university students, or anyone who'll listen with hopes of inspiring them.

Indeed, the transformative power of writing is one that I'm passionate about and wish to extend to other incarcerated men and women who, like myself, dare to explore the inner-child, the harms done to us as well as that which we've caused. We want to give back, sharing our written work with hopes of inspiring change.

I'm asking for your support to achieve this! Our organization recently launched the Writing Beyond The Prison Archive in partnership with the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University. Next, our Hundred Stories Project aims to publish 30 incarcerated prisoner's manuscripts a year and produce 10 animated, three minute film shorts depicting the disorienting aspects of life in prison which contribute to recidivism, mental illness and addiction.

Make a gift today to change the narrative, change our communities, and change the world! Sign up as a sustaining donor by texting UBFSF to 44-321.

Changing the World from a Prison Cell Support us in our mission to help those most affected become the agents of change we want to see in prison-pipeline communities. No one is born a criminal. I've been incarcerated 24 years. During which, I've come to recognize the fact that the men and women who find themselves incarcerated were once innocent children. We had dreams of becoming inventors, teachers, doctors, and super heroes. What destroyed our dreams, homes, and prospects for personal growth, didn't disappear with our incarceration. Prison is only an illusion of public safety and rehabilitation. Anyone who works at one or has been locked up, will tell you this. They'll also tell you there are countless incarcerated people who wish for nothing more than an opportunity to prevent the next child's dream from being destroyed by the circumstances that destroyed ours. We found a way to help them achieve this! By providing those closest to the problem with access to tools and resources needed to create change, incarcerated folks can become catalysts for the change we want to see in underserved communities. We're our community's greatest hope! Without it, the cycles of dysfunction, abuse, addiction, and neglected childhoods continue. Without your contribution, we cannot drive change or rekindle hope. By donating, you help our organization provide incarcerated folks access to our "Nonprofit Coaching & Leadership Training Program for America's Incarcerated", which teaches returning citizens how to develop effective community-based programs, transition them to outside communities, set up nonprofits, create social entrepreneurial endeavors, build community partnerships, secure grant funding, and so much more.

Access to these tools will mean the difference between an incarcerated person reentering society with minimal marketable skills and a lack of connection or commitment to his or her community to an incarcerated person actually learning how to become an effective community organizer, skilled volunteer, employee, grant writer, and/or program director. Please help us provide those most impacted the tools and resources that politicians and prison bureaucrats do not. In doing so, we empower our incarcerated brothers and sisters with the skills and knowledge they need to become the stewards of the change we want to see in our communities. Donate today! To become a sustaining donor, text UBFSF to 44-321.