African Independence Workforce Program (AIWP)

The need to build the AIWP is not an abstract need. It is real, based on the impact of the past 40 years of mass incarceration that has torn apart families; interrupted the ability to produce and reproduce life; left our communities impoverished; left families without fathers, sons, uncles and mothers, daughters and sisters. AIWP is part of a process of the black community receiving our brothers and sisters back into the community to reverse the damage done by the prison system that has always been used as a colonial tool against the African community. We are 13% of the U.S. population, but we are more than 40% of the prison population. One in three black men and 1 in 18 black women will go to prison in our lifetime. In the current economic crisis, our communities everywhere are battered worse than ever with the escalation of prices for the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing and shelter. Like many communities of African people worldwide, in North St. Louis, the average income for an African family is $5 per day. We are creating opportunities for formerly incarcerated African men and women and all our people to receive training, gain employment and become stakeholders in a prosperous economy for our entire community.