RODNEY J SUMLER - A part of my Story

PRISON... Just the sound of the word conjures images of isolation, subjugation, desperation, and intimidation.
Across the country, the prison population in America is soaring — from 500,000 people in 1980 to 2.3 million today.

The AC Phoenix Founder Rodney J. Sumler attended Howard University and graduated cum laude from North Carolina A&T State University. He earned graduate credits at Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served 4½ years in prison at seven facilities: Seymour Johnson Federal Prison Camp, Lenoir County Jail, Petersburg Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland Kentucky Federal correctional Institution, Atlanta Federal Detention Center, High Point Jail, and Beckley West Virginia Federal Prison Camp. He understood the prison life; he lived it.

Sumler, former publisher and founder of the AC Phoenix, a newspaper distributed in the Piedmont Triad and online, often tackles tough community issues. He was a lecturer, and the producer of life-changing programs on prison life. He published numerous articles on criminal justice issues and prison life; including, The Dark Side of the FBI, For the Children's Sake, Quick Facts on the BOP, The Segregation in our Federal Penal System, and Integrated but Unequal.

In 1989 Rodney Sumler faced the most serious time of his life as he stood the test of an investigation that many believed stemmed from one of the very issues this publication has spoken out against - the systematic, persecution and prosecution of African-Americans and others who would influence their community in its well-being and survival. Yet, the Phoenix continues, undaunted.

Sumler organized and sponsored town hall meetings, workshops, and panel discussions to dispel fear and myths. Through compassion and without judgment, he helped countless individual's get through some of the most difficult times in their lives.

At the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia Pope Francis visited, an estimated 80 percent of inmates have yet to be convicted of a crime, the Guardian reports.

A group of inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility worked together to build a chair for the pope as a gift.

Many incarcerated people are also coming from backgrounds where they had already lived in poverty. The average income prior to incarceration was $19,185 a year in 2014. Incarcerated individuals earn little or nothing during the months or years they serve. Upon their release, many have difficulty finding jobs, and are often banned from subsidized housing or other forms of government assistance.

While prison disrupts the life of the individual, it is the third worst destroyer of America's families – rating as high as death and divorce!

Speaking at the facility, Pope Francis told inmates: This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society. All of us are part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, help and enable your rehabilitation. A rehabilitation which everyone seeks and desires: inmates and their families, correctional authorities, social and educational programs. A rehabilitation which benefits and elevates the morale of the entire community.

Some 6,000 non-violent federal inmates were granted early release under a U.S. commission program. This program is part of a bipartisan effort to reduce the population in federal prisons.

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 25:35-36 For I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Thanks you Mr. Sumler for taking the time to minister to the hurting and for helping to make a better world for all people.

RODNEY J. SUMLER (Well done thy good and faithful servant.-RIP-)

Learn more about RJS: The Power of Rodney's Pen

THE AC PHOENIX FOUNDERS DAY - EVERY MARCH 13th

US Flag flown over the US Capitol presented to the family of RJS by Congresswoman Alma Adams