Concerned about the educational and economic interruption in the lives of these six black young defendants in Jena, LA, the Fathers for the Future Foundation, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, has created a separate scholarship fund to help these youth continue their education after this ordeal has ended. It is the mission of the Fathers for the Future Foundation to educate adult men between the ages of 16 - 30 in financial literacy, parenting, life-skills, and job training.
A delegation from the Fathers for the Future Foundation will serve as Ambassadors for Common Peace at the September 20th, 2007 protest rally of the Jena 6 trial in Jena, Louisiana. J. Michael Carr Jr. and Troy Nkrumah (National Hip Hop Political Convention) will lead this delegation of young people to Jena to monitor, mediate, and demonstrate for the justice of the six youth who are on trial. This delegation includes over 10 young lawyers from around the country who will work as legal observers to ensure that the constitutional rights of the demonstrators are not violated by law enforcement.
Invited by the "Friends of Justice", the actual organization to first break the Jena 6 story to the Chicago Tribune and BBC in December 2006, these Ambassadors For Common Peace will work to promote civility and goodwill at the mobilization in Jena, LA. The hip hop generation has taken a stand to voice their objection to the circumstances around this trial because the impact will have such long term ramifications on American society thus making silence not an option.
The Ambassadors For Common Peace understand that it is the proclivity of both sides to interpret the case based on their own perceptions; however, we would like to state that it is our intention and objective to remain true to the philosophy of nonviolent direct action. Therefore, our focus is to be advocates for peaceful, but vocal demonstration and to discourage those who seek to agitate through the call for violence at the September 20th rally.
"The lives of these six young men are very important to our delegation; and creating opportunities for all men is our ultimate goal", said president and founder of the Fathers for the Future Foundation, J. Michael Carr Jr. "The trial in Jena, LA is only a small aspect of a larger problem that is plaguing the nation. The question is not, how do we prosecute warehouses of our youth, but rather how to nurture them and secure a future of liberty with the pursuit of happiness that is a right of all Americans? Irrespective of race, nationally young men are not being treated respectfully. We demand fairness for young men in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike. Jena, LA is the first stop on our journey to social justice and economic opportunity for our nation's young men".
For more information about the Ambassadors For Common Peace, please visit www.fathersforfuture.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Kyra Barker-Carr
A New Way Media
773-966-8048
kyrac@anewwaymedia.com
