Crime

Faith-based groups need to do more to help ex-offenders with second chances

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — The faith-based community must speak with one voice in creating second chances for people released from prison.

Published

7 years ago

March 1, 2019

Oakland Post

By Ameera Steward

The faith-based community must speak with one voice in creating second chances for people released from prison, a group of panelists said during a discussion this month at the Church at Brook Hills.

Jessica Haney looks on as Kenneth Tyrone King speaks during the program. (Ameera Steward Photos, The Birmingham Times)

[/media-credit] Jessica Haney looks on as Kenneth Tyrone King speaks during the program.

The Prison Fellowship and Offender Alumni Association of Alabama hosted the event, “Unlocking Second Chances” and talked about the significance of second chances and the role played by faith-based institutions.

Panelists were Kenneth Tyrone King, public relations director, Offender Alumni Association; Pastor Keith Stanley, founder of WorkFaith Birmingham; and Jessica Haney, author and Celebrate Recovery Ministry leader and CrossFit coach which recently became involved with Unlocking Second Chances. The panel was moderated by Brent Leatherwood, director of strategic partnerships, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

It’s powerful when people speak with one voice, Haney said.

“It shows love, it shows unity…when the whole church, meaning the body of Christ all over, if they would do and be who they say they are, we wouldn’t be having the struggle to begin with,” she said. “If you really think about it, we’re powerful, we have the power to combat this whole issue [of formerly incarcerated people not getting second chances] if we would all get on the same page and do the things that we’re called to do.”

She added that [the church]has the means to make such a difference if we (would be unified, if . . . “quit being afraid to be uncomfortable, get out there, [and] get messy.”

“Full-time” Life Of Drugs

Haney told part of her story and said her mother worked a lot and her dad had an addiction and with no supervision she started making bad choices, doing drugs and got married twice before she turned 17 and “lived a full time life of drug addiction.”

[/media-credit] Jessica Hanley

She was incarcerated several times for drugs beginning at 17. “I was junkie. I lived like a junkie, talked like a junkie, acted like a junkie.” That was the way it would always be, she was told.. “That was what was fed to me my years of trying to get help, that I’m always going to have this disease, that I’m always going to struggle…’you’re always going to have to deal with this, you’re never going to get over it, you’re never going to find freedom from it’ and I used that for a crutch my whole life to say well nobody expects anything any different out of me.”

While she was in jail at Ottawa County she went through the Substance Abuse Prevention Program (SAP) “and I was ready for real help and real change, and I met the Lord and people say ‘jail house religion,’ I don’t care what you call it, all I know is it was freedom for me. It was where my chains were broke, it was where I found what could truly sustain me because I had exhausted every other avenue possible. I tried everything else…and nothing worked until I found a true relationship with God.”

Early on in her recovery, Haney said she “messed up.” Her husband couldn’t reach her, so he called a neighbor, who happened to be the deacon of the church.

She said the deacon walked into her house, “looks at my mess, gets me up, makes me a pot of coffee and she talks to me.”

“She don’t talk to me about my mess, she don’t even mention the obvious chaos that’s visible to see. She tells me about her mess…and I thought this lady was perfect….I wanted to be her when I grew up. She was perfect in my eyes, but she let me know that ‘hey I’m not perfect either, I struggle in a different area. This is the area I struggle in,’” said Haney.

That one conversation changed her life and let her know, “I can do this too,” she said. Haney concluded by going back to a statement she felt needed to be reiterated, “we need to be real and we need to love people.”

“Love For One Another”

Stanley said it’s important for the church to speak with one voice.

He said Jesus taught about our love for one another “. . . we can display that love together for one another and those formerly incarcerated or those that are struggling with addictions …when we can come together as one voice . . . we display…the power of the gospel in a way that the world takes notice,” he said.

Pastor Keith Stanley, founder of WorkFaith Birmingham. (Ameera Steward Photos, The Birmingham Times)

[/media-credit] Pastor Keith Stanley, founder of WorkFaith Birmingham.

The church needs to set the example, Stanley said.

“I think the people who are not believers often look at us and wonder if that Christianity is real why there is so much division in different church buildings,” he said. “And so when we lead those church buildings together we show love for one another, we care for brothers and sisters who have come to faith and Christ.”

King said, “ministry is involving, it’s intentional, it’s Jesus…breaking down barriers of culture, breaking down barriers of sexism . . . We’ve got to be intentional and we all speak with one voice whether it’s in Sylacauga, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa or Montgomery.”

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

3 days ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

Published

3 days ago

August 15, 2026

Oakland Post

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Crime

Congresswoman Simon Demands Investigation into Trump’s Abuse of Emergency Powers for Coal Export Terminal in West Oakland

POST NEWS GROUP — Last week, in a letter to the GAO Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, Simon and her colleagues questioned the Department of Energy’s plan to use up to $425 million in DPA funds to support coal-fired power plants and construct the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland.

Published

1 week ago

August 9, 2026

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‘No On Coal’ demonstrators protest the use of the Port of Oakland as a terminal to ship coal overseas. File photo.

By Post Staff

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) joined California senators and other members of the California delegation to Congress to call on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Trump administration’s use of the Defense Production Act and other taxpayer funds to support coal projects, including the proposed coal export terminal in West Oakland.

Defense Production Act funding is for national defense emergencies, such as authorizing private car companies to build parts for tanks or ships.

Since President Donald Trump’s June 4 announcement of $75 million in funding for the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, Simon has opposed and worked to stop the proposed coal terminal.

She filed an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2027 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would have prohibited funding for the proposed Oakland coal export terminal project; however, House Republicans blocked the amendment.

Last week, in a letter to the GAO Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, Simon and her colleagues questioned the Department of Energy’s plan to use up to $425 million in DPA funds to support coal-fired power plants and construct the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland.

This terminal project would primarily serve foreign commercial markets, rather than meet national emergency needs.

“The Defense Production Act was intended to scale up domestic industrial capabilities to meet urgent military or national emergency needs; therefore, its invocation to construct a commercial, civilian export facility intended primarily to serve foreign commercial markets raises profound statutory, legal, and fiscal questions,” wrote the lawmakers, which included Senators Alex Padilla (D) and Adam Schiff (D), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee and Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA-08) and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17).

“We do not believe this satisfies the statutory definition of ‘national defense’ or ‘critical infrastructure protection’ under the DPA and that there is no legally sufficient, data-driven nexus between civilian coal exports and immediate U.S. military readiness or critical infrastructure defense,” the lawmakers’ letter said.

DPA funds are intended for U.S. national security and defense readiness. The Trump administration is instead diverting these funds to support a commercial export project that primarily benefits private industries and foreign markets in East Asia.

“Congress has never appropriated funds to the DOE’s DPA account with the intent of propping up a dying industry or financing a purely commercial project,” continued the lawmakers. “We are deeply concerned that DOE has improperly diverted funds from accounts intended by Congress for the critical modernization and resilience support of our nation’s grid to instead finance a commercial fossil fuel export project.”

Simon and colleagues also raised concerns that the Trump administration has improperly diverted funds designated for critical grid modernization and may be using emergency authorities to circumvent local environmental protections.

“With no clear national security nexus, we question whether the DOE utilized emergency DPA authorities with the intent of preempting or subverting valid local health ordinances and environmental regulations. If so, this would be a gross departure from the intent of the DPA,” concluded the lawmakers.