PREVENTING PRISON TERMS FROM BEING A FAMILY LEGACY

Former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode told of visiting a prison last
year and meeting three generations of one family - grandfather, son
and grandson - who met for the first time while serving time in the
same prison for separate offenses.

The grandson, sentenced to life, added the footnote that he, too, had
a son whom he had not seen.

"I expect to meet him for the first time when he lands in jail, too,
one day," Dr. Goode said the grandson told him.

The first black mayor of Philadelphia - who earned a doctorate of
ministry three years ago and now is a Baptist minister and social
advocate - said the prison story makes a point. It illustrates the
urgency of having mentors intervene in the lives of children who have
a parent or parents in prison.

Dr. Goode recruited mentors in Dallas on Sept. 10 when he spoke at the
Belo Mansion Pavilion at a luncheon that launched the first Amachi
program. Earlier in the day, he and a host committee talked about the
program with mothers in a federal women's prison hospital in Fort
Worth. The politician-turned-preacher founded the national Amachi
program in Philadelphia to urge intervention by matching mentors from
faith-based organizations with children of incarcerated people. He
said Amachi is a Nigerian Ibo word that means "who knows but what God
has brought us through this child."

"We know we can change the direction of a child if we can put a mentor
in their life," Dr. Goode said.

His personal transitions have affected how he makes a difference, he
said in an interview. "When I was young, I thought I could change the
whole world," he said. "I know now it's best to change a small part of
it."

The Amachi program is his small part. It will operate in this area
through the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas.

During the luncheon, he detailed how faith-based groups are key
resources to help "children of promise" who are at risk of joining
their incarcerated parents.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics bears him out. He said there are 2.5
million children in the nation - including about 70,000 in North Texas
- - who have one or both parents behind bars. His research projects that
about 50,000 of the North Texas children, about 70 percent, will
become inmates without intervention, he said.

The North Carolina native who grew up in Philadelphia said that at 12,
he was "the son of an incarcerated father." But he said a pastor
mentored and sent him to school, despite a counselor's prediction that
he "was not college material."

"They sent me" to college, he said. "They didn't ask me. I went and
the rest is history. I went on to become the mayor of the
fifth-largest city in the country."

He asked people in the audience to come stand in front if they would
join him as mentors. The Rev. John Morris, pastor of St. Mark AME Zion
Church in Oak Cliff and his wife, Marcella Morris, were among about 30
out of the 100 people there who came forward. Dr. Goode led them in a
pledge and had them sign volunteer cards. Mr. Morris said he would
encourage his congregation to follow Dr. Goode's plan that mentors
spend one hour a week for a year mentoring a prisoner's child.

To inquire about being a mentor, call (toll-free) 1-888-887-BIGS
(2447). ABOUT TOWN: Dallas County Director of Health and Human
Services Betty Culbreath-Lister and nursing home owner Dr. Leona
"Tiny" Hawkins are among nine women who will be honored at the annual
Mary McLeod Bethune Recognition Luncheon which the Greater Trinity
Section of the National Council of Negro Women sponsors. The luncheon
will be 11:30 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel, 2222
Stemmons Freeway. Tickets are $45. Call 214-725-1504.