Blog | United Black Family Scholarship Foundation
A Question on The Common Misconceptions Of Prison.
Why is it people think that prison is a place where you learn to make good choices, pick good friends, be polite and respectful all the time? Reply: Prison isn't where you learn to make 'good decisions.' It is a place you wind up warehoused as you await the day you...
Open the Gates, Smash the State: A Snippet of Contemporary Prison Movements
On August 21st, 1971, George Jackson, best-selling author and founding member of the Black Guerilla Family was shot to death in the San Quentin prison yard. Prison officials said Jackson had been trying to escape from the isolation unit where he was housed. Three...
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY NEGRO BECOMES FIERCE SCHOLAR!
In Souls of Black Folks W.E.B. Du Bois tells of the story of John Jones, a happy-go-lucky Negro from the small town of Altamaha, Georgia. John is a free spirit who’s always laughing, smiling, and singing. He’s loud and boisterous. Unfortunately, John is not very...
Memoir as a Tool for New Futures, Behind and Beyond Bars by Erika Duncan
Memoir as a Tool for New Futures, Behind and Beyond Bars Building Writing Communities in a Story Based Strategy for Redemption and Healing and Growth By Erika Duncan, Founder and Director of Herstory Writers Network What might happen if people who were incarcerated...
Home Coming: Returning Citizens & the Impact of Incarceration
"After years of waiting and counting down, it is almost time for the gates on the Iron House to open and your loved one to step through and come home. Your greatest dream and your worse nightmare are about to be realized...yes, it is your loved one and no, you don't...
Inspiration: A Life Born of Necessity
Going from prison yards to a university campus is quite the contrast of a life once lived; however, the brightness of his future blinds all doubts from his view.
If Only I had the Power and Possessed the Key
By C.G. If only I had the power to rise from the graves, all the buried slaves, who were raped, maimed and murdered. If I could only give them life, locked inside metal enslavements, with their key in my possession as they stood before me, I would set them all free –...
Building a Legacy: Adversity Introduces A Man to Himself
I was in prison sentenced to spend the rest of my days on earth locked in a cell. Still and yet, I possessed the ability to make a conscious decision to not allow these circumstances to define me….
From A Prison Cell to a Movement: Why Building Community Matters By Ivan Kilgore
From a Prison Cell to a Movement: Why Building Community Matters By Ivan Kilgore Shortly after going in, I realized I had to do more than just survive. No, I needed to create something that reach beyond these concrete walls. I founded UBFSF from a maximum-security...
REBUILDING THE COMMUNITY FROM WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
With the assistance of friends and family in 2014 I was able to incorporate the United Black Family Scholarship Foundation--a not-for-profit organization dedicated to rebuilding disadvantaged communities from within the community....
March 2025 Volunteer Highlights by Taos Washington
Volunteer Highlight By Taos Washington Since joining the United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF) in August 2023, I have progressed through several roles, each enhancing my ability to drive meaningful change within underserved communities. Beginning as the...
Being the Wife of an Incarcerated Man in the United States: My Testimony By Halima Kilgore
Being the Wife of an Incarcerated Man in the United States: My Testimony By Halima Kilgore My name is Halima Kilgore, and I am the wife of Ivan Kilgore, founder of the United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF). Through this testimony, I want to share my...
February 2025 Message From Our Founder
Rethinking Black History Month: Moving Beyond Western Benchmarks and Tokenized “Firsts” By Ivan Kilgore Every February, Black History Month is celebrated across the United States with tributes to African American pioneers who have "broken barriers" in politics,...
February Volunteer Highlight – Tom Gambaro
As Field Director for the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. Community Reinvestment Program, my focus is on addressing systemic challenges such as criminalization, homelessness, and barriers to affordable housing and homeownership. Through strategic partnerships and grassroots...
We Can Use Dr. King’s Legacy
We Can Use Dr. King’s Legacy By Erena Daniel The legacy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left at the height of the Civil Rights Movement had lasting and profound impacts on the consolidation efforts of African American people, both then and today. Despite the magnitude of...
The Intersection Between Dr. King’s Incarceration & Today’s Incarcerated Writer By Ivan Kilgore
THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN DR. KING'S INCARCERATION & TODAY'S INCARCERATED WRITER By Ivan Kilgore, January 2025 This year, I was invited to speak at the University of Santa Clara to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and its connection to...
December 2024 Message From Our Founder
December 2024 Message From Our Founde This month, we wanted to highlight the organization's biggest accomplishments for 2024. Personally, for me as someone who's been in a cage for over two decades, building infrastructure was at the top of the list. Hands down, any...
Rehabilitation Over Profit by Megan McDrew
Rehabilitation Over Profit By Megan McDrew Growing up in the shadow of San Quentin and Alcatraz, I’ve always been drawn to prisons with a mix of curiosity, disdain, and a healthy dose of fear. San Quentin, once one of the most notoriously dangerous prisons in...
November 2024 Message From Our Founder
November 2024 Message From Our Founder November marked the 24th year I've been incarcerated. In May, I graduated with two degrees: one in Liberal Arts and another in Political Science. It was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, I looked to the sky and smiled, knowing...
Prisoners of War by Monsour Owolabi
Prisoner of War By Monsour Owolabi this poem is part of the “100 Stories” Archive with Stony Brook University to be published 6 November 2024 I’m in a tomb for the living, locked in a box. My clothes are all white except my gray socks. It’s 95° or so I hear;...
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United Black Family Scholarship Foundation
BRISTOW OK 74010
Phone: 1-918-924-5872
Email: news@ubfsf.org
