By Marcy Mistrett, CFYJ CEO

On Monday, the country will honor one of our most celebrated civil rights champions, the Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King embraced non-violence as his tool for social change. He organized and mobilized thousands of men, women, and children to stand together for something bigger than incremental change—he marched for a dream—that Black Americans would have access to the, “riches of freedom and the security of justice.”  More than 55 years ago, Dr. King forsake his own freedom for the greater good, and penned what may be one of his most critical calls to action in “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, when he notes that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, and calls on us to fight injustice through direct-action, a critical component of non-violent resistance that was a cornerstone of his movement work.

“There is no such thing as other people’s children, we all have a responsibility.” --David Shapiro, CEO of MENTOR The National Mentoring Partnership

Aprill O. Turner, CFYJ Communications Director

More than 5 million children, or one in 14, in the U.S. have had a parent in a state or federal prison at some point in their lives, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and children of color are much more likely to have a parent in prison. One in nine African-American children had a parent behind bars (2015). Since we all know that it takes a village to raise a child, we can all ask ourselves the question, what can I do to help?