Former Prisoners Offer Training to Youth on How to End Hostilities on the Streets

NNPA Newswire/BlackPressUSA
By Oakland Post Staff

An exclusive interview with Minister King X with the Post Staff and Richard Johnson

Minister King X, also known as Pyeface, said he was inspired by Richard Johnson’s call to the community to have former gang leaders and formerly incarcerated persons to spread the word through our networks with the message that these shootings and violence activities will unwittingly play into the hands of those who want to incarcerate them as the only solution.

“We need to be smart about how to resolve our various problems by not using guns,” he told the Post.

He told Johnson and Jonathan Jones from the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) that he wants the youth, gang members and the Oakland Chaplains “to hear my story on how I wound up in the (California) Youth Authority (CYA) and did five years in federal prison for a bank robbery charge.”

“I served over 20-plus years in prison. I was a foot soldier in the beginning, upholding what I perceived as my principles and morals when I thought cleaning up my own mess was something honorable.

“Then it backfired on me when I was charged for possession of a prison-made weapon and was sent to solitary confinement, and I was subjected to a prison validation based upon false confidential information for a few more years.”