Blog | United Black Family Scholarship Foundation
A Talk To Teachers
I had to realize when I was very young that I was none of those things I was told I was. I was not, for example, happy. I never touched a watermelon for all kinds of reasons that had been invented by white people, and I knew enough about life by this time to understand that whatever you invent, whatever you project, is you!
Book Review: BANANAS: OBSERVATIONS, FIXATIONS, AND DECLARATIONS, FROM A PROFOUNDLY DISORDERED MIND.
BANANAS: OBSERVATIONS, FIXATIONS, AND DECLARATIONS, FROM A PROFOUNDLY DISORDERED
MIND.
OUR 2023 SCHOLARSHIP LAUREATE
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Street Certified
As an incarcerated author, activist, and founder of the United Black Family Scholarship Foundation, I cannot begin to express how elated I was to host our first Nonprofit Coaching & Leadership Training event this past February in Oklahoma City. Indeed, it was a...
Why Philanthropy Must Start Investing in the People Behind Prison Bars By Glenn E. Martin
Why Philanthropy Must Start Investing in the People Behind Prison Bars By Glenn E. Martin Walk into almost any prison in America and, if you know where to look, you’ll find something philanthropy has been searching for: talent. We lock up some of America’s best and...
Picasso At Her Finest
At 17, she would become the youngest student accepted into her dream school as an animation major. Since, she has worked hard making the Provost list two years in a row, maintaining above 3.8 GPA.
University of California, Irvine Prison Pandemic Oral Archive
We often think of prisons as closed institutions that do not affect us or our communities. But, in fact, our society’s health, safety, and well-being are closely tied to our prisons. The COVID crisis in prisons is revealing long-standing and entrenched problems with mass incarceration generally….
Successful Inside-Out Restorative Justice Programs Are Possible By Isabella Cain
Successful Inside-Out Restorative Justice Programs Are Possible By Isabella Cain For decades restorative justice programs within the United States have focused on outside-in tactics. How can people or groups outside of the system help those individuals inside, where...
Making Charitable Donations to Non Profits By Desiree Cain, CPA
Making Charitable Donations to Non Profits By Desiree Cain, CP Making charitable donations is a wonderful way to support causes you care about. What many people don’t realize is that the IRS offers tax benefits that can make your gift even more impactful....
Partnerships vs. Charity — Empowering Incarcerated Leaders By Ivan Kilgore
Partnerships vs. Charity — Empowering Incarcerated Leaders: A First-Person Reflection for the Launch of The New Wave By Ivan Kilgore, Founder, United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF) For years, I’ve sat inside these concrete walls watching how...
9 Reasons to Reexamine Your Views on So-Called Racism – By bfthames
9 Reasons to Reexamine Your Views on So-Called Racism 1) IT'S NOT REAL Racism exists entirely in our minds, no matter how much we want it to be real. This isn't a history lesson, but a few tidbits to chew on might be helpful. Most of us know that dark skin...
Give Me Free! A Critique on Contemporary Prison Movements.
By Ivan Kilgore, June 2019 I'd say the Free Alabama Movement had a lot to do with many of the reforms in the state of Alabama that we are seeing in the news recently. Namely, the resending of the Habitual Offender Act, which lead to a sentence of LWOP. For those of...
Watch “Prisoner May Day Solidarity – Ivan Kilgore Statement in Oakland” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/xswrzsJUmU8
What Happened to California’s Prison Movement?
Today, some seven years after the historic California hunger strikes, the general attitude on the yard is not that of resistance but compliance…
We Are Not Yet Free — And That’s Why We’re Launching The New Wave By Ivan Kilgore
We Are Not Yet Free — And That’s Why We’re Launching The New Wave By Ivan Kilgore This past week, I had a powerful conversation with my comrade Max Parthas. We were talking about freedom, a word so often used, especially around national holidays like Juneteenth, but...
The Importance of Radical Activism in 2025 By Isabella Cain
The Importance of Radical Activism in 2025 By Isabella Cain In 1964, Malcolm X stood before the Organization of Afro-American Unity and declared: “You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says...
The People with the Worst Backgrounds Build the Best Futures: What Malcolm X Taught Me About Redemption, Resilience, and Revolution By Ivan Kilgore
The People with the Worst Backgrounds Build the Best Futures: What Malcolm X Taught Me About Redemption, Resilience, and Revolution By Ivan Kilgore When Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz said, "The people with the worst backgrounds build the best futures," I felt those words in my...
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...
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...
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...
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United Black Family Scholarship Foundation
BRISTOW OK 74010
Phone: 1-918-924-5872
Email: news@ubfsf.org
