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In a recent profile in The New Yorker, Aisha “Pinky” Cole — owner and operator of Slutty Vegan, a plant-based burger restaurant chain that started in Atlanta, Georgia — talks about the influence of her formerly incarcerated father:
“‘I got my entrepreneurial hustle from my dad, the most brilliant man I’ve ever known,’ Cole told me one Thursday in February, as we sat eating hot ‘chicken’ sandwiches and drinking mojitos at Bar Vegan, a small-plates Slutty Vegan spinoff in Atlanta’s Ponce City Market, a converted Sears building that’s now home to dozens of high-end venders. The day Cole was born, her father, Stanley, a Jamaican immigrant, was sentenced to thirty years in prison for his role as the leader of what prosecutors described as a ‘large-scale cocaine distribution ring,’ whose proceeds he laundered through fronts including a Baltimore night club called Exodus. ‘He did what he had to do to provide for his family,’ Cole said. After his imprisonment, she and her four siblings were raised by her mother, Ichelle, also from Jamaica, who worked in a bank and as a McDonald’s cashier to support the family on her own.”
In our 10th anniversary year, JustLeadershipUSA’s work of educating, elevating, and empowering justice-impacted leaders continues and is growing even stronger!
We are preparing for our very special 10th anniversary gala in New York City on October 21st, and we would love for you to be there with us.
This is going to be a very special time to look back on the past decade of JLUSA’s important work, the 1,600+ leaders we have helped get to the next level in their work, and even more importantly, we will look ahead to the next 10 years and beyond!
We can’t do this without you. We need your support to help us continue to do this work now and into the future. By purchasing a $50 streaming ticket, you are saying to the amazing leaders in our network who represent the 70+ million Americans who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system, “I see you, and I support you!”
Please plan now to join us in person or give a one-time $100 gift or set up a recurring $10 monthly donation to celebrate JLUSA’s 10th anniversary year, and together we will build a fair and just U.S. Thank you!
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