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In This Issue

Perhaps it takes sitting back and viewing the game from its beginning in many of our lives, to its end, to get a true perspective of it all. I know that in my case, a view from behind the prison walls and the razor wire fences of maximum and medium security prisons, has given me a perspective that I think may well have escaped me but for my present circumstances. I have witnessed the game and/or street life played at its height. I have been a witness to all that happens in between, just as I have am now witnessing the end game. I have watched those in their twenties and early thirties as they frolicked, danced and partied as their money and their honeys rolled in with no end in sight. I have also watched sadly as one by one their time to pay the piper came and state and federal prison doors closed behind them, in many cases to never open again. I have watched them here and other prisons, as they walked the compounds in near shock as the reality of their circumstances gradually began to dawn on them. Like victims of PTSD, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) I have watched them as they attempt to grapple, often not

successfully with the prospect of spending the next twenty five, thirty, forty years or life away from the friends and families. I have seen the countenance of defiance, as it descends into looks of defeat and resignation, as the reality of the "end game" begins to settle in. I have also watched those that are lucky enough to return to the streets after fifteen, twenty or thirty years, return to homeless shelters or their daughter's or sister's couches. I have watched, as they return to what are now, strange cities and unfamiliar streets. Adrift in a new world, they find themselves both computer and technologically challenged, returning to a world where those they formerly called squares, are the one's now that may very well be their bosses or supervisors, if, they are fortunate enough to secure a job. Bereft of health insurance and any advance degrees, these are the ones that are threatened to fall between societys cracks. Having never worked a steady job, there are no 401k, social security benefits or annuities that have accrued over time. They have met the end game. Continued on page 2

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With jails now being little more than human warehouses, most leave ill-prepared for life in the outside world. With no health insurance any hospital visit can be costly or even deadly. According to an article in The New York Times A study of hospital emergency rooms in Wisconsin found that victims of severe traffic accidents without health insurance got 20 percent less care. Hospitals spent $3,300 more on average for each victim who was insured. They kept the insured 9.2 days, on average, and the uninsured just 6.4 days. Unsurprisingly, the uninsured were 40 percent more likely to die from their injuries (New York Times, Wednesday, August 22, 2012. Rationing Health Care More Fairly. Eduardo Porter). This is the end game. This is the part of the game that never appears in rap videos or is the subject of serious discussion. Is it avoidable? Perhaps! For how it all ends depends on the choices one makes or neglects to make. I can say this without hesitation or equivocation, if one does not choose early and wisely, the probability of the scenario outlined here becomes more probable than not. Your brother, Akbar Pray Editor-in Chief

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LIFE GOES ON: The Historic Rise of Life Sentences in America

A report from The Sentencing Project
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The Sentencing Project 1705 DeSales Street NW 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 628-0871 sentencingproject.org

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Are We Leaving Black Students Behind?

The T3 ( Turnaround Teacher Team) Initiative is an innovative program that recruits, develops, and supports effective, experienced teachers to serve in low-performing schools.

Research consistently has pointed to effective teaching as the most significant factor affecting student achievement.

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Witness to History 50 Years Later

Robert Boyd, 80 Knoxville, Tenn. I had no idea about the march, or anything about the civil rights movement at all. Things were moving quite well for me. I had a great job as a New York City fireman, and my wife worked in a bank. I received a phone call from the Vulcans, an organization of black New York City firemen, to come to a meeting. I was hesitant and said to my wife, I dont want to get involved in any of this civil rights stuff. She said, Civil rights stuff? We have this nice apartment, you have your job, I have my job at the bank because of the civil rights stuff. So I went. Ill never forget one little man, he must have been a senator or congressman. He came up to me, of all people, and whispered, say, Pass the bill. I didnt even know the bill he was talking about! So I said, Pass the bill! And everybody started shouting, Pass the bill! all the way down the Reflecting Pool. All over the place! It was the civil rights bill! That was amazing. My job was to make sure Martin was safe, so I was paying attention to my job. Consequently what I remember from the speech was more about the crowd than him. That was my focus. I dont remember listening to the speech, but I remember the impact it had on the people, the audience. When he started to speak, there was silence. Thousands and thousands of people, and not a word. And then when he finished, it was an uproar, a crescendo, and this joyous noise. Then I realized, this is something. And I tell you, it changed me. I became involved in the community and became president of the Flushing The Dogs Stopped Barking Cappy (Cathryn) Nunlist, 65 Lebanon, N.H.

nytimes.com/2013/08/23

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About two-thirds of black respondents (68%) and a quarter of whites (27%) say blacks are not treated as fairly as whites in the courts.
breakingbrown.com

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GUPTA Published: August 14, 2013

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Words From Saint

These writings are pro bono for my uncle Akbar Pray, A means of enticing you readers to never go astray. The subject matter of this Newsletter is broad in scope, There's something for the erudite, and those destitute of hope. But for me, this is my time to thank the man - the legend, Whose wisdom was innate; and his greatness was destined. I am proud to admit, you are a true inspiration, Wisdom based ingenuity doesn't negate patience. Being matriculated by Life, making it an art, You're a Gemologist with infinite jewels to impart. Us meeting wasn't by chance, but God's plan, Flesh, formerly known as words written by His hand. Keep in mind moments of sand seeping through an hour glass, Never neglect the breath of life - treat each as the last. I wish for you an extended life, and much success, Having Heaven on Earth- wings accompanying your flesh. Even if I'm not in your presence when you read this, Just picture a hand raised high, yet balled into a fist. If there's to be a Legend's Ball, you'd be a host, This poem's a goblet, words are wine, and this ellipses is the toast...... written by: Semaj Thomas '13

I remember a meeting I had with a Financial Advisor, His conclusion on his advice, "None would be the wiser. Failure's a lucrative business; invest in jails, You'll make enough money to send four generations to Yale." I had to sit back, and through a prism, ponder his views, " 'What's trash to some, is treasure to others' seemingly is truth." Was he a bigot or a realist was hard to differentiate, Oppression has long been the rich's source to quell hunger aches. To understand business, is to understand Republicans, Yet out of loyalty, I'm a Democrat - so heed my sentiments. War apparel's no longer khaki suits and All Stars, It's now seersucker suits, cufflinks and tie bars. How can there be a Community Revolution In Progress If there's nothing owned by our own to demand progress? We've been our own worse enemy, succumbing to complacency, Simple minded actions begot our modern day slavery. We're legally trafficked and housed by the F.B.O.P., Our oppositions are playing Monopoly and we're the currency. Us being portrayed as an evil is essential to their plight, Yet the truth - the contrary is plain and in sight. Education is the key, but if you don't believe me, Look at the most revered individuals on TV. Before athletes can be deemed as professionals, A G.P.A. was maintained - that's non-negotiable. Create your own options - strategize with a sober mind, Even a bum can have hope while inebriated with wine! Step out and go against the grain, elevating your brain, Doesn't Tookie have a Noble Peace Prize attached to his name? History is his story, and it's written by the victor, Become a 10 on the Triumphant Scales of Richter. With recourse, an industry can become null and void, Freedom awaits to be rung; now mash hard to rejoice...... written by: Semaj Thomas '13

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. -Joseph Campbell-

Let us know what youre thinking on our Facebook page! Akbar Pray Foundation For Change
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Black people in Ameika have been living in a state of war for over 400 years. This war continues to be waged as slavery, Jim Crow (de-facto segregation) and continued economic, social and psychological terrorism. We suffer and then suffer some more. Warfare as we know it, is multifaceted and we have been neutralized in a number of ways including: low/high intensity warfare, psychological, germ, chemical, drug, cultural, infanticide, genocide, fratricide and mentacidal warfare. We continue to experience domestic terrorism as disaffected, disenfranchised beings because Black people living in Amerika have no franchise. Weve never been recognized as a sovereign people because our sovereign rights were mislaid by the Maafa (aka the Black holocaust commonly referred to as the slave trade; a misnomer since trade implies an equally beneficial business transaction between willing participants). Possession of sovereign rights are a major vehicle that will give Afrikan descendants in Americka a path to power and supreme authority. Tractable federal civil rights legislations continue to demonstrate that we are Amerikan by name and not by sovereign citizenship status which is not existent for us as is evidenced by the Trayvon Martin verdict and our decent into socioeconomic/political hell. Amerika has absolutely no regard for our humanity! This dismissal of Black people has overwhelming evidence historically and presently in our disproportionate rate of poverty, incarceration, ignorance, drug use (buying and selling), criminal activity,

fratricide, fractured families, poor health, inferior education, mental illness and unemployment. Not one of these conditions has been improved upon, either by state or federal laws or legislation. Our sovereign rights to be wholly free and viable are imperceptible to most Black Folks. Have the courts offered any meaningful pretection against jury discrimination in the Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Central park 5, Rodney King, Sean Bell and now Trayvon Martin verdicts? A young black man, a child actually, was targeted criminalized and lynched (se Emmett Till ) and if the Justice Department didnt intervene (due to the outcry from the people) the diabolical agent would have immediately got his weapon of Black destruction back.

As people we need to continue to pressure the politicians to put forward legislation regarding our sovereignty
As people we need to continue to pressure the politicians to put forward legislation regarding our sovereignty; lobby Congress to sign a Sovereign Rights Bill for Black people (disenfranchised Afrikans) in Amerika, and/or petition the courts to establish a Federal responsibility trust regarding out sovereign rights. Racial biases and stereotypes are given free reign throughout the whole of the United States Autocracy- while at the same tome appearing on the surface to be colorblind. If we continue to fail to solidify our sovereign righs, then all the noise you hear in the aftermath of the Trayvon murder will be drowned out by the silence of second-class de-jure status.

YOU DONT STUDY HISSTORY OR YOUR STORYS O YOU RECEIVE THE SAME TREATMETN OVER AND OVER AGAIN! Wisdom is defined as: intelligence, C.L.E.A.R. thinking and good judgement. I offer some practical intelligent ways to save our children: 1. MAKE TIME FOR THEM 2. LISTEN TO THEM 3. TEACH THEM HOW TO WRITE 4. TEACH THEM HOW TO RESEARCH 5. TEACH THEM HOW TO WALK SAFELY THOUGH THE HOOD AND THE SUBURBS 6. TEACH THEM HISTORY AND SHOW THEM THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT 7. MAKESURE THEY DONT BECOME A SALVE TO MISECONOMICS (CREDIT CARDS, LOANS, ETC.) 8. ENCOURAGE THEM TO DEVELP A SPECIFIC ARTFORM (WRITING, MUSIC, DANCE) TEACH THEMTHE RESPOSIBILITY OF ART TO CAUSE SOCIAL CHANGE. 9. TEACH THEM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WANTS AND NEEDS 10. TEACH THEM NOT TO TAKE THINGS AT FACE VALUE 11. TEACH TEM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALE AND MAN, FEMALE AND WOMAN 12. TEACH THEM TO STAND ON THE SQUARE FOR WHAT IS RIGHT AND THEY WILL NOT FALL FOR WHAT IS WRONG Power to the people. M.M. Ankh Heru Maat

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Happy Endings

By Omifalade

It seems that everywhere you look these days, people are trying to dethrone one another. You drive through the neighborhood you grew up in, and everything-everyone looks like theyre in a movie about zombies; that emaciated look and a form of despair. Yet they continue there lives, not even aware of how it has consumed them and infected their whole being. There was a time when I believed that humanity was more important than anything else, more than money or even security of any kind. Since then I have dedicated my life to the bettering of mankind, and while I feel that peoples political, as well as their religious jargon have hindered many, in many ways my heart continues to believe that the human race has a chance. It appears that the mistake we have made is in not understanding that religion is merely a doctrine, with tools, rules and ceremonies created by man to bring them closer to God. Have we lost our awareness of LOVE, compassion or even sympathy towards one another, on your own? Have we lost sight that we are all children of this universe with all our imperfections and that our judgments only make things worse? Our world has never belonged to just those that call themselves rightous, it belongs to all people no matter the color, creed, nationality, or gender. Our children have lent us this world to fix it for them, as we lent it to our parents to fix it for us as well. Yet the cycle of destruction continues and nothing is being done to save our souls, our spirit or even our own humanity. There was a time when fairytales were read to us, and kept us in the belief that all things were possible. Even in the eyes of our CreatorOr the powers that be, we were taught to not judge and to help our fellow man or woman and yet how can such beautiful word be spoken and yet in the same breath, nothing but condemnations come out of peoples mouths? There are many cries of help from our children and those cries are becoming more violent than ever, and yet instead of people, religious people, judging these kids, they would just walk the walk instead of talking the talk, maybejust maybe, our humanity may repair itself just enough to see a difference. And that would really be a happy ending.

YOUR EDUCATIONAL NEWS

Smart Time Triplets Join Mensa
SEPTEMBER 2013 Florham Park, NJ Making the grades are three smart girls who have joined as members of Mensa. The triplets are The Wilson Trio Kate, Victoria and Elizabeth. They are the first African American Triplets to be accepted by the prestigious group for high intelligence. The Mensa group highlights people from ages young to old and is considered a prominent organization promoting higher intelligence. The New Jersey Triplets have scored exceedingly on IQ tests and have moved to New Jersey to attend school at the Brookdale School in Florham Park, NJ. Eager to continue their education the trio is excited by being in their new school. Parents of the 9 soon to be 10 year olds are glad to have them being accepted by Mensa and look forward to their daughters having even better education because of the great school district in Florham. That's smart time for Triplets.

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By Emily Badger Youve probably experienced this before (though maybe not in those terms): When youre lost in concentration trying to solve a problem like a broken computer, youre more likely to neglect other tasks, things like remembering to take the dog for a walk, or picking your kid up from school. This is why people who use cell phones behind the wheel actually perform worse as drivers. Its why air traffic controllers focused on averting a mid-air collision are less likely to pay attention to other planes in the sky. We only have so much cognitive capacity to spread around. It's a scarce resource.

cognition tests, saddled with a mental load that was the equivalent of losing an entire nights sleep. Put another way, the condition of poverty imposed a mental burden akin to losing 13 IQ points, or comparable to the cognitive difference thats been observed between chronic alcoholics and normal adults.

Scarcity: Why having too little means so much. The limitations created by poverty directly impact the cognitive control and fluid intelligence that we need for all kinds of everyday tasks. When your focus is on basic needs, as in the case of the poor, Shafir says, youre just more likely to not notice things, youre more likely to not resist things you ought to resist, youre more likely to forget things, youre going to have less patience, less attention to devote to your children when they come back from school. At the macro level, this means we lost an enormous amount of cognitive ability during the recession. Millions of people were less able give to their children, or to remember to take their medication. Conversely, going forward, this also means that anti-poverty programs could have a huge benefit that we've never recognized before: Help people become more financially stable, and you also free up their cognitive resources to succeed in all kinds of other ways as well. All the data shows it isn't about poor people, its about people who happen to be in poverty. All the data suggests it is not the person, it's the context theyre inhabiting.

The condition of poverty imposed a mental burden akin to losing 13 IQ points

The finding further undercuts the theory that poor people, through inherent weakness, are responsible for their own poverty or that they ought to be able to lift themselves out of it with enough effort. This research suggests that the reality of poverty actually makes it harder to execute fundamental life skills. Being poor means, as the authors write, coping with not just a shortfall of money, but also with a concurrent shortfall of cognitive resources.

Researchers publishing some groundbreaking findings in the journal Science have concluded that poverty imposes such a massive cognitive load on the poor that they have little left over to do many of the things that might lift them out of poverty like go to night school, or search for a new job, or even remember to pay bills on time. The This explains, for example, why poor condition of poverty imposed a mental people who arent good with money burden akin to losing 13 IQ points might also struggle to be good In a series of experiments run by parents. The two problems arent researchers at Princeton, Harvard, and unconnected. Poor people live in a the University of Warwick, low- constant state of scarcity, a income people who were primed to debilitating environment that Shafir think about financial problems and Mullainathan describe in, performed poorly on a series of

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Soul on Fire
An excerpt from the upcoming book, Soul on Fire by Hafiz Farid

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I was on American Most Wanted Fugitive and Capture List; International Police watch list, Interpol fugitive capture list: My American Name is Roland (aka Panama) Campbell. I am Black with Brown eyes, 6 feet tall, 235 pounds, born on May 5, 1962. I am presently 51 years old. I have been in Federal Prison for the past 17 plus years, serving 150 year sentence. After being kidnapped and brought here to the U.S.A. from Costa Rica on the sole word of the government informant and chief witness in this case, who actually admitted to being the perpetrator of these crimes I am convicted of: Armed Band and Postal robberies (Marcus Robertson the leader in these crimes stated in an identification hearing to determine if I wasthe person; he said "I don't ever remember identifying a photo of Campbell" whether it being 5 years or 5 days ago in the U.S. attorney's office prior to trial). I received 125 years of my sentence for firearm offenses called 924(c)(use or carrying a firearm during a crime of violence or drug offense) 18 USC SECTION 924(c). I currently have 133 years more years to serve. For Bank and Postal Robberies Counts, I received 25 years running concurrent (together). For the 7 counts of the firearm offenses (924(c)), I received 125 years. I was never found with a firearm relating to these crimes. There was never a civilian "eye-witness" who identified me relating to these crimes (in fact all co-defendants were either Idby witnesses or in photo arrays or forensic evidence at the crimes and even mis-id); there was no forensic evidence ever found at these crimes relating to me. In fact, none of the addresses here in the US or outside this country that was searched relating to me for these crimes, was there ever found "ANY" evidence of these crimes that relate to me. So how did I get here? On the word of a Snitch or Government Informant who was paid to set me up, and receive a cooperation agreement for a lighter sentence to Lie on Me. and Destroy my family and get off for his crimes only to go out and commit several other crimes (he has been arrested several more times since I have been in prison). So this is a warning to all those who want to be Bad-Man, Gun Slingers, Gun-Men, and Gun Clappers. You don't have to get caught with a Gun, nor do they have to find it. All they need is One word from your enemies, One of your friends, or anyone who can just say we know he is a Gun-man and Here I am with 150 years with no-one whose seen or heard me commit these crimes except the word of paid government liars ....to say there goes the "Bad-Guy" and Poof I am gone for the rest of my life!!! At least until the Law changes or the Truth comes to Light? You can find more about my case in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Federal Court Citations under U.S. v. Campbell 300 f.3d. 202(2nd.Cir.2002): Or The American Most Wanted Achieves : with John Walsh commentator: Or Unsolved Mysteries' achieves 1995-1996, in the month of July.

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Solitary Watch Guest Author Bonnie Kerness

Editors Note: As coordinator of the American Friends Service Committees Prison Watch Project, Bonnie Kerness is a leading voice for humanitarian reform of U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers. Kerness is also a pioneer in raising awareness about the use of prolonged solitary confinement, and in uncompromisingly identifying the practice as a form of torture. Since the 1990s, she has coordinated AFSCs STOPMAX Campaign, which works to eliminate the use of isolation and segregation in U.S. prisons through research, grassroots organizing, public education and policy advocacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Between the 1913 closing of Eastern State Penitentiarys isolation cages and the 1983 lockdown of the federal facility in Marion, Illinois (recently recounted in Nancy Kurshans book Out of Control) is a history of struggle against the use of extended solitary confinement in New Jersey, which is little known. In 1975, after the tumultuous years of the Civil Rights Movement, the Viet Nam War and the prisoners rights movement, Trenton State Prison (now New Jersey State Prison) established an administrative isolation unit for politically dissident prisoners. The warden and his staff decided to use this technique, which was modeled after a unit in Soledad Prison in California. The Management Control Unit housed those prisoners who had not broken institutional rules, but who were, as a result of their political convictions and expressions, seen to be a threat by prison administrators. Thus, the New Jersey MCU pre-dated the advent of the control unit in federal system. In his book Inside Out Fifty Years Behind the Walls of New Jerseys Trenton State Prison, former guard, Harry Camisa says, The guys singled out for the MCU were viewed as potential troublemakers or political leaders who needed to be segregated to keep them from influencing the rest of the population. This was a new and controversial concept in New Jersey. The unit isolated activists and leaders from the prisons general population, as it attempted to psychologically reshape their convictions by subjecting them to an extraordinary level

of physical control and sensory deprivation. The definition of no touch torture is a set of practices used to inflict pain or suffering without resorting to direct physical violence: sleep deprivation, sensory disorientation, solitary confinement, humiliation, extreme cold or heat, extreme light or dark. Intentional placement situations. A systematic attack on all human stimuli. A November 2010 New Jersey Network program called Due Process Solitary: Who and Why featured myself and Ojore, and other advocates and lawyers talking about the history of activism to close the MCU. The history of the opposition to the New Jersey Management Control Unit includes advocates from the 1994-1998 National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons, of which the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown was a founding member. It also includes the publication of a Survivors Manual written by and for people living in isolation inspired by Ojore. The political use of isolation in ensuing years has morphed into entire isolation prisons being built for the mentally ill. The political use of this form of torture continues with the development of Security Threat Group Management Units (for purported gang members), and Communications Management Units (for Muslims in the federal system). Imam Jamil Al-Amin has been held in such conditions for years. For those of us monitoring US prisons over decades, the targeting of radicalization feels eerily familiar. The Department of Corrections is more than an institution; it is a state of mind. That state of mind has led to the use of no touch and other devices of torture both here and overseas. We owe thanks to all of those inside and out who have spoken out: Eddie Griffin, Jr, who had the courage to write Breaking Mens Minds while he was held in the Marion Control Unit; the Marion Brothers who were part of the ongoing resistance to the control unit repression; and to the hundreds of prisoners who had the mettle to contribute their testimony and art to AFSC s 2012 Torture in US Prisons, and to Jean Ross and the many lawyers who have been there for all of us, inside and out. http://solitarywatch.com/category/solitary-confinement/page/11/

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
-NelsonMandela-
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Its true. I suffer, but I rise above that suffering because I know it is through my suffering that the masses of people are so inspired to fight back. Published on Friday, October 4, 2013 by Common Dreams

- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer

Mercy at the End of a Life

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Joseph Jazz Hayden

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Five years in the makingworth every minute!

LAST OF A

Dying
BREED

Available at the following locations for $16.95

akbarpray.com Brick City Publications, PO Box 452, Bloomfield, NJ 07003 Amazon.com And wherever books are sold!

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