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#ACCESS901: Memoir provides lens to ‘see’ Cyntoia Brown-Long

NNPA NEWSWIRE — As for “Young Cyntoia” specifically, “I would tell her, you don’t know half the things that you think you know,” she said. “I thought I knew better than my mother and anyone else around me. You couldn’t tell me anything! I would tell (Young Cyntoia), ‘you have no idea what life is really about. You’re not equipped, you’re not ready…to be grown… God has it so you’re in your home with your parents for a reason… so you learn the ways of the world.’”

Published

6 years ago

October 16, 2019

Oakland Post

Cyntoia Brown-Long

By Joy Doss, Special to the New Tri-State Defender

Cyntoia Brown’s story sent waves of nausea across my stomach and a riptide of ire through my mind. The ham-fisted “morality” and the way in which “justice” was meted out did not sit right in my spirit.

Where was the compassion? Where were the courtroom hugs and Bible? Where was the forgiveness that is often required of us? Do you mean to tell me there’s more compassion for a serial predator and frequent flyer with prostitutes than for this girl-child?

Last week, in advance of the Oct. 15 release of her memoir: “Free Cyntoia (My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System),” I interviewed her for my TSD column #Access901. There was so much running through my mind as I read the book in preparation for our conversation. A few takeaways and most salient points (without spoilers):

My own foolish young girl behavior.
The simultaneous invisibility and sexualization of young black and brown girls and resulting normalization of this.
She was spiraling for some time, but the big fall happened in a matter of weeks.
Who’s to blame? Where was the fail?
How remarkable this woman is!

Who doesn’t want to be grown, especially as a teenager? I know I did. I pushed boundaries. But I quickly realized I was NOT ready for grown up stuff. When the grown stuff came at me around age 15, I said to myself, “Oh. This? NOPE.”

But I also remember wanting to be loved by someone, not to fill a void or resolve daddy issues. I just wanted to feel beautiful, special and adored like the girls in the movies. Cyntoia was no different than me or most of us. She just had the follow through and boldness I didn’t!

As with many teenagers, she was seeking freedom, belonging and acceptance, which she found in the streets. Although at home she was loved, accepted and never isolated. From most angles, it looked as if she had a good life. Most girls (or boys) that are drawn to the streets do so because there’s something lacking in their family life; not so much here.

So, what made her feel so disenchanted and at times angry?

In its simplest form, it was challenges with her identity and her otherness.

“I struggled with feeling different, feeling like an outcast… Now, we’ve done more to make people feel like it’s OK to be different. We’ve done more for inclusiveness,” she told me. “I was feeling like I didn’t belong where I was. And I just didn’t know what to do with those feelings.”

One thing is crystal clear. There was this dichotomy of being a girl in a woman’s body. This woman-child was doing grown stuff with her body but still thinking like a child. She believed in fairytales in the midst of this madness; Prince Charming will save the day.

Cyntoia was 16 when she had the fateful encounter that ended with her killing a man she said picked her up for a paid sexual encounter.

Of course, her logic was faulty. Sometimes the stranger-danger alert kicked in, other times it didn’t; and other times it did but she walked right into danger anyway. How did she distinguish one situation from another? What made her decide that this bad thing/person wasn’t as bad as this other bad thing/person?

“I really didn’t do evaluations. There was no real risk assessment,” she said.

“I was just walking into situations and pretty much just reacting as they happened. I was just blindly walking in…I didn’t think about the consequences…so it wasn’t always consistent. And (consequently) I ended up dealing with things no one else my age would be able to navigate.”

She continued: “I wanted all this freedom but when I was legally declared grown at the age of 16, I was like, whoa, ‘I’m really in over my head this time.’ You realize how wrong you were. You’re forced to be grown without understanding what it means to be adult or even be a woman. Having to face life as an adult, you realize what mom was saying. It’s difficult to grow up like that.”

A useful tool in healing, self-forgiveness and uncovering personal truths is writing to your younger self. What she would tell Young Cyntoia and young girls?

“Slow down. I remember saying, ‘This is it, this is life,’ without slowing down to think about, ‘Where am I going? What do I want to do?’ Take the time to stop and think through things? Who are you? What do you want to see happen?

“We don’t think through things at that age. Ask yourselves, ‘Who are you and who do you want to be? What do you see coming from this course of behavior?’”

As for “Young Cyntoia” specifically, “I would tell her, you don’t know half the things that you think you know,” she said.

“I thought I knew better than my mother and anyone else around me. You couldn’t tell me anything! I would tell (Young Cyntoia), ‘you have no idea what life is really about. You’re not equipped, you’re not ready…to be grown… God has it so you’re in your home with your parents for a reason… so you learn the ways of the world.’”

Tried as an adult, she was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery. Tennessee law mandated that she not be eligible for parole for at least 51 years. She was 31 when her sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Bill Haslam on Aug 7, 2019.

Throughout the criminal court process, she continued to believe the criminal justice system would protect her and see her. Which raises the point of invisibility and sexualization of black and brown girls. This is a story in and unto itself, pegged to the larger community.

As a mother to a young daughter, I find this distressing. It’s not just white people, it’s us too. Invisibility is a twin demon of sexualizing children. Some people just don’t see their girlhood or their innocence. Somehow the lens through which people view our children is distorted. Since slavery, our bodies were never our own; they were up for grabs for whoever was interested. Clearly, there are remnants of this disposition today.

Without spoiling the book and going too deep into the weeds, I encourage people to just stop and see our girls. See their worth, even when they don’t. It’s doesn’t matter if she’s “fass” or womanish or “developed.” DOES. NOT. MATTER. It’s our job as adults to shepherd children through the growing up process in the healthiest way possible. Even when they aren’t our kids, it’s still our village!

When we hear of these stories, our instinct often is to immediately assign blame. In between expletives and invectives, I was seeking a target. Whose fault is this? How did this happen?

However, there is no blame assignation anywhere in this book, which is one of the ways in which Cyntoia is absolutely remarkable. She doesn’t even seem to blame any of the predatory grown men who passed through her life.

How?

I think this is part of being “Free Cyntoia.” Letting go and letting God. Through all of the trama, she managed to reconnect spiritually. The entire book, her entire story is a testimony. BUT. GOD. Sometimes there isn’t anything else to say.

Cyntoia came through this 15-year battle not weary, not worn, not weak. Still, how do you reprogram emotionally and find forgiveness for the people who have inflicted this kind of pain and trauma? How do you shed that armor? I am confounded by how much strength, resolve and, yes, faith, it must take to be in this place of peace.

“The crazy thing is that I really didn’t have a difficult time shedding the armor,” she said. “When I got out, I was like, ‘OK, I’m free.’ … I didn’t have a hard time transitioning. It’s natural. God made us to be free individuals.”

Now she can move how she wants.

“Lights out would be at 9:30,” she recalled. “So now, sometimes I’ll be up until 3 o’clock in the morning!”

There’s a freedom in “just cause” too!

She credits her support system as a huge reason her transition was so seamless.

“My husband has been incredible. Support matters. I’m super blessed coming out into the situation that I did.” (She’s now Cyntoia Brown-Long, having married Christian hip hop artist Jamie Long while in prison.)

What’s next? She looks forward to working with young people, the legal community and generally being of service.

“Free Cyntoia” puts humanity at the forefront. Everyone has a story. It’s up to us to see that and see them.

(“Free Cyntoia: My Search For Redemption in the American Prison System” is available for purchase on all platforms. On Sunday (Oct. 20), she will be in Memphis at New Direction Christian Church. The 6 p.m. event is free.)

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

admin

Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,