Get Justice For Keston

Our amazing friend Keston Jones grew up in the projects of Brownsville, Brooklyn, without a father. That childhood abruptly ended at 16 when he became the youngest inmate at Sing Sing Prison because he had an incompetent public defender. Keston served 17 years and upon being released in 2011, at age 32, he dedicated his life to the service of others. He earned a Bachelors, then a Master's Degree in Human Services at Lincoln University and is currently earning his PhD in social justice at Yeshiva University. He founded The F.A.R.M., the Foundation for the Advancement & Rehabilitation of the Marginalized (thefarmny.org), a community peace center serving his neighborhood in Brooklyn. He is responsible for feeding thousands of New Yorkers, leading programs for at-risk youth, violence interruption at the neighborhood level, anger management and addiction. He created Focus On Fathers, a program advocating for the value of engaged fatherhood in black families. Now, as his first child, a baby girl, is born, Keston is not able to be present. He is incarcerated in Florida and faces several charges incurred while resisting arrest during a mental health crisis. Keston has experienced at least two other temporary episodes over the years, but has not yet been properly diagnosed or treated. This one, triggered in June of this year, was extreme. He now faces charges for assaulting the police officers who tried to subdue him and could serve several decades in prison without mental heath treatment, unless he receives good and appropriate legal defense.

With your generous support, we can hire a private defense attorney. Keston will hopefully receive justice and finally be treated for his mental illness and continue to contribute to society and become the kind of father he has been advocating for.