Oba Tsare Woodyard, Mr. Prairie View 2008-09, hosted a seminar entitled The War on Black Youth: State of Emergency held in the New Science Building on Sept. 24 where Reginald Gordon was speaker.
“I chose Reginald Gordon to speak because I felt Prairie View students would benefit from his presentation,” said Woodyard.
Gordon is an inspirational speaker who travels speaking of his own prison experience and how to avoid such a fate.
Gordon said he is concerned for the African-American race because percentages show that in the last 20 years 60 percent of all young men in prison are black, and that African-American women are currently the fastest people going to prison right now.
Gordon said that it is critical to make good decisions and that the youth cannot let television be their primary educator.
Arguing that the African-American race is exploited on a daily basis, Gordon said, “Everyone is making money off our race, from the video games like Grand Theft Auto, to the fake gold teeth they sell at Wal-Mart.”
Gordon stated that he came from a nice “church going” family but that his father’s abusiveness towards his mother caused her to kick him out. It is from that point that Gordon said he began to act out to fit in with the crowd.
At 16 he and five of his friends were arrested for a robbery in which the police killed one. Gordon was sentenced to 200 years in prison.
“The prison system is modern day slavery,” said Gordon. “The prison system makes the inmates lazy, angry, hateful, and some contract HIV before they are released.”
Gordon pointed out that the prison system almost makes it impossible to be a functioning member of society after release, which is why the cycle of our young black men going back and forth to prison is nearly inevitable.
It was in prison that Gordon created the program Scared Straight in 1983. Gordon spent 19 years of his life in prison, and has been out for only 15. When he finally got out of prison he had two grandchildren.
Over the years Gordon has created gang prevention programs that help youth find jobs and does whatever it takes to keep them out of a negative lifestyle.
Even though Gordon leads a very busy lifestyle, he has his priorities well in order.
“My most important job is taking care of my children,” said Gordon.
Woodyard was impressed with Gordon and felt that he was a very effective choice as a speaker.
“The presentation was excellent and it touched many individuals,” said Woodyard.