Southside Angel- My Journey through Prostitution, Addiction, and Abuse
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By late , some of his members were beefing, which turned into violence—most gang violence in the U. Then 32, his ERS—freedom due to "earned release"—was revoked due to gang activity, and he was sent to the private Delta Correctional Facility, which was notorious for gang activity and violence. There, he gathered Royals in the yard and told them the feds were after him.
Ivey had his six-point tattoos covered, but left the large Royal shield on his shin, inking "retired" under it. I thought I was doing something.
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I wasn't doing nothing but prolonging my miserable existence. In , Randy Adams was sitting in a waiting room with his life flashing in front of his eyes when an angel appeared next to him. Pearl native Randy Adams was almost sent away for 30 years for dealing meth, but rehab saved him. He then did the same thing for Benny Ivey and other addicts. Then 39, Adams was facing 30 years in prison for dealing meth. The Pearl native had worked as a truck driver since he was about 20, soon doing the drug to help him stay awake on long hauls between Mississippi and California.
He had been smoking pot since his early teens, so illicit substances weren't new to him. He soon started buying meth in California and bringing it back to his home state to deal even as his first wife and three daughters waited at home. He got away with it for years, but was finally caught up in an undercover sting, bolstered by audio and video from a truck stop. He was changed with transfer of controlled substance. But he was sitting outside the courtroom awaiting his sentencing when that angel appeared in the form of Brenda Mathis, program director of the Hinds County Circuit Drug Court.
Without him knowing who she was, Mathis just started talking to him, and he told her his whole story. She must've liked what she heard because she soon asked if wanted to attend drug court instead of getting locked up. Hinds Circuit Judge William Skinner approved, and Adams got out of jail, and deputies took him to Common Bond Recovery Center, then a drug-rehabilitation center in South Jackson, in shackles and chains He was under court order to complete 30 days of treatment.
At the point he could leave, though, he decided to stay longer. Because the counseling was so effective, Adams started studying it himself. He went on to get a degree in counseling from Jackson State University, and Common Bond hired him as a counselor. He worked his way up to admission director and then executive director, wanting to help others like himself.
Hank Vandenburgh (Author of Southside Angel- My Journey through Prostitution, Addiction, and Abuse)
At his home, Adams knocked on his own chest, choked up. Ivey had left Delta Correctional not a gangster, but still an addict. He soon got busted again for driving a woman to a drug deal which he says he didn't know was happening. At this point, Ivey was 34 and sitting in jail in a state of despair, sick of his years of crime and addiction, but with no idea how to leave it.
He had never even had a driver's license, much less a real job. All I knew was dope and gangs, that's all I ever cared about. But I was tired of it, man. She was already a recovering drug addict. Adams remembers first meeting Ivey in the jail and how disgusted he was with his own life choices, as Ivey broke down crying in front of him: There, Ivey worked out, prayed and wrote his story with pen and paper for eight months, as he explained in detail while standing in the parking lot pointing to now boarded-up buildings of the rehab that changed his life.
It later closed due to lack of funding, Adams said. Ivey also met his now-wife, then Kristina Arnold, there as she was visiting someone else. He used his charm on her; she by then was a former addict herself, and she had a young daughter and was suspicious of his past. He and Kristina got married, and he adopted her daughter, now 12, on Valentine's Day Ivey's trajectory had definitely shifted upward since Common Bond: He became a partner in the plumbing business when one of the partners died, lifting his income.
And the couple found a 2,square-foot home on what he now calls "Ivey Hill" in Florence. It was a mess, but he used remodeling skills his father had taught him to fix it up. He and Kristina work out in the garage where he used to have a Confederate flag on the wall—as a sign of rebellion against Yankees who belittle southerners, he said—until photographer Imani Khayyam visited.
Since I published a story about Ivey and white gangs in The Guardian in April , his life has made yet another turn.
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Due to his life of crime, Ivey has longed to be what is commonly called a "credible messenger" in the violence-prevention world —using his story and experiences to deter young people from making the same mistakes. And now it is happening: Ivey is determined to cross race lines to help deter crime, especially since he grew up knowing that the same forces lead to crime along race lines, especially poverty and addiction. He and Kristina showed up at Jackson City Hall in early June for a meeting about crime, telling his story about stabbing the crack dealer on Marsalis Lane to a mostly black audience.
He also met with A. Mitchell, who leads anti-violence work in New York City and whom Mayor Chokwe Lumumba had invited to Jackson to consult on crime issues. The two bonded as they brainstormed ideas for what would help people returning from prison to re-integrate into healthy lives without re-offending. Ivey is also working with Ronnie Crudup Jr. Facebook is a pulpit for Ivey's ministry, drawing comments from former gang members who are cheering him on and telling him to hurry and publish his damn book because they'll buy it.
On June 20, Ivey posted on Facebook that he had run into a former Aryan Brotherhood member who told him, "Yeah, I don't associate anymore, but I'm still white.
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And Jesus wasn't white, so I don't care nothin' about race. Ivey posted that he then added: I don't wanna hear it lol. At the June people's assembly at New Horizon Church on Ellis Avenue, Ivey was one of a few white faces in the packed room of people brainstorming solutions to crime.
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They sat arm-to-arm, using colored markers to earnestly fill big stickies with suggestions. Then they stood together to report out to the group. Photo of Zeakyy Harrington by Imani Khayyam.
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Integrate into society with sponsored employers," Ivey suggested. Transition meetings to go to upon release Knight, a black man who stands about a foot taller, jumped in to finish Ivey's sentence: Know what route you need to take, what you need to go to to make yourself a whole person again. Some people have nothing, nobody to encourage them to know that life's not over. Meantime, Chris Dennington is determined to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. He is working in his brother's restaurant in Pearl, while building his own remodeling business.
Dennington also wants to help steer young people away from crime and addiction as well, and hopes to work with Ivey's credible-messenger team to tell his story and inspire others to make better choices. Dennington's message is straightforward: The print edition reports that heroin was among the drugs that Chris Dennington used. That is incorrect, and the writer apologizes for the error. Like independent media outlets around the world, the Jackson Free Press works hard to produce important content on a limited budget.
We'd love your help! Support the JFP and get a few perks along the way! Click here for more info. User agreement and privacy statement. Jackson Free Press Jump to content. The Sacramento chapter went freely throughout the entire city and surrounding areas, ranging from North Highlands to the then s gang-infested Oak Park neighborhood, then further south into the Meadowview and Pocket Areas. Walking sometimes 10 miles during the course of a four-hour patrol, Angels even crossed the Sacramento River into neighboring Yolo County to patrol what were then the communities of Bend and Brite, now incorporated into West Sacramento.
The Crips were identified by blue rags hanging from their pockets; their rival gang, the Bloods , did the same thing but used red rags. Since the uniform of the Guardian Angels is a red and white T-shirt, the Crips at the time considered them enemies while the Bloods saw them as weak fakes of their own gang. On occasion, the Sacramento Chapter patrols used cars to reach areas that were too far to walk, and several times the Sacramento Chapter was called into service in other cities, helping launch the chapter in Stockton CA.
They traveled as far away as Los Angeles, where with the local chapter they officially assisted the police with crowd control during the Rose Parade. The Guardian Angels were mostly greeted favorably in the city, and sought out by the media to comment on crime and local issues. Press conferences were held during the tense time before Eric Royce Leonard , dubbed the "Thrill Killer", was arrested in ; and during the controversial Sacramento debut of Colors about the Bloods and Crips.
Because of the stance of the Guardian Angels in response to Leonard's murders of three Round Table Pizza employees, the Old Sacramento restaurant offered free dinner for one patrol every Saturday and Sunday night. The Tampa Bay region of Florida has always been an active area within the group's history.
There have been 2 chapters serving the Tampa Bay area since the group was founded. In the first Tampa chapter was established but lasted until A second chapter was established in The Guardian Angels have been active in Orlando, Florida due to the increase in murder and crime rates. Residents of nearby Brockton, Massachusetts launched a chapter in March in response to a rise in street violence, and they were quickly able to build a working relationship with the city's police chief.
In , they started recruiting in Kansas City, Missouri , and a chapter was started with five Guardian Angels in October In , they started recruiting in Portland, Oregon. After being told by the National Training Director that they had to make 3 arrests per month, the chapter asked about this new directive and at that time was told they never even had a chapter, despite reports to the contrary; the Kansas City chapter soon disbanded and now patrol their city on their own from vehicles seeking persons of interest and criminal activity.
Constant fears about street crime led one US Congressman to invite the Guardian Angels to open a chapter in Cleveland. They made 2 arrests and helped police to apprehend 13 people. They disbanded in but a new chapter was formed in and is still active today. A chapter was formed in Bucyrus, Ohio in A community once overtaken by crime and drugs now empowered and thriving.
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In , the Washington, DC chapter announced they would increase their presence on the DC Metro System following an increase in violent crime. A local organization of the Guardian Angels was formed in Japan in The Guardian Angels Japan has chapters in most of the major cities and is second only to America in membership and activities.
The Guardian Angels concept faced opposition in Japan, but Oda succeeded in convincing Japanese officials that the organization would be run by Japanese members for the Japanese people [ citation needed ] , and the principles of the organization were not just American but universal. Official acceptance culminated with a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in The Guardian Angels were the first community organization in Japan to be awarded non-profit status.
A chapter of the Guardian Angels was established in the State of Israel. The Guardian Angels Israel is led by Jill Shames a social activist and martial artist who had migrated there. Guardian Angels Israel has completed a few Safety Patrols but primarily works with at risk youth in the Jewish Ethiopian Falasha immigrant population. In London, the Guardian Angels have been active since ; by their numbers had dwindled to a group of around In the United Kingdom , the law requires that people use only "reasonable force" as appropriate to the situation, which leads Guardian Angel training to centre on using the minimum possible force, and to only use force to prevent a dangerous situation from escalating.
All violent crimes are reported to the police, and intervention leading to citizens' arrests legal in Britain or use of force is only employed in extreme cases. Their presence in London was controversial in the first decade of existence, with press articles accusing the group of vigilantism or attempting to avoid paying for travel on the London Underground whilst wearing their colours. In , discussion in Parliament raised the possibility of American members of the Guardian Angels being declared persona non grata owing to their presence being "not conducive to the public good", but this was rejected.
The Manchester Chapter was established around and ceased operating in A Toronto , Ontario chapter was originally formed in and ran until A smaller chapter ran briefly in the Parkdale area of Toronto in — but disbanded. The " Boxing Day shooting " resulted in the death of teenager Jane Creba on a busy downtown street, and provoked renewed attention to law-and-order issues in Canada, and Curtis Sliwa stated that he had been contacted by many Torontonians interested in having a local chapter. However, both mayor David Miller and police chief Bill Blair stated they were not interested in trying what had not worked twice before.
Despite the opposition of the Mayor, community groups, and the police chief, the Toronto Chapter moved ahead. Toronto's first group of Guardian Angels hit the streets Thursday, July 13 for their inaugural patrol in the city's downtown core. The group's official launch in Toronto came just two days after members were forced to move their graduation ceremony from a seniors residence on Dundas Street. A Vancouver chapter was in operation as of November There was a chapter there in the early s. Some of the alumni from that group are assisting with the new chapter. An attempt to organize a chapter in Ottawa failed after the police and city refused to cooperate plus a negative reaction and lack of interest from the majority of its population.
A Calgary chapter was set up, with the first group finishing its training in March A Halifax chapter is in operation as of May