{"id":24633,"date":"2020-03-27T18:43:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T18:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kitcummings.com\/?p=24633"},"modified":"2021-01-12T14:22:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T18:22:12","slug":"profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/profile\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURED ARTICLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"<\/h2>\n

Shattering the pipeline from schools to prisons<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kit Cummings was surprised when they called his name.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been invited to the Cobb NAACP annual awards celebration to speak, or so he thought.<\/p>\n

The next thing he knew he was smiling for the camera as NAACP past president Deane Bonner and current president Jeriene Grimes placed the 2020 Living the Dream Award into his hands. \u201cI was stunned. This means more than you can imagine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the first time he\u2019d taken a stage he wasn\u2019t expecting. Cummings shook the hand of Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, after being asked to take the stage to speak at the Gandhi Global Peace Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Spoke with prison officials around a table in a Ukrainian prison about how the Power of Peace program could transform their population. Stood before a room full of the most dangerous convicts in Georgia as they offered him the opportunity for revenge on the man who had almost killed his son.<\/p>\n

Now he has taken a seat at the table with the new Georgia House Study Committee on Youth Gangs and Violence as it seeks effective ways to address this threat in Georgia. Rep. Carl Gilliard, D-Garden City, leads the panel of experts who will take a hard look at how the state is dealing with gang violence and explore the most effective ways to take action, creating new legislation.<\/p>\n

Their bill to create a Youth Gang Intervention Task Force (HB885) was presented to the
\nSubcommittee on Homeland Security and Human Services last week (2.26.20) where it is being amended before submission to the House. There are currently over 70,000 identified, active, affiliated gang members in Georgia, according to Cummings, and current programs are failing to prevent what has become a public safety crisis.<\/p>\n

Cummings has also accepted a role on a Cobb County Gang Task Force helping to design a juvenile diversion twelve-month program called \u201cRISING.\u201d This gang accountability court is a first-of-its-kind pilot program designed to shatter the pipeline from schools to prisons.<\/p>\n

In his small office upstairs on Marietta Square and next door to an Irish pub, he is surrounded by the totems of his journey. The \u201cLiving the Dream\u201d award rests on a shelf directly behind him as he sits at his desk. \u201cRoots\u201d \u2014 a burnished, knotted walking stick \u2014 leans in a corner, never far out of reach.<\/p>\n

Fashioned out of a discarded branch by a homeless man known as \u201cRoots\u201d and decorated with stripes of blood red, black and white, the iconic staff has become a touchstone of redemption. Students will call out its name when Cummings walks through the halls, and inmates gather around the symbol carved out of bent, discarded trash into a symbol of new life, emblazoned with a symbol of peace. The broken branch that went on a world tour.<\/p>\n

His work with prisoners is a passion fueled by hundreds of hours spent with some of the most dangerous men behind bars. Men awaiting the needle or the electric chair on death row. Gang leaders feared by, well, everyone.<\/p>\n

His Power of Peace Project brings hope where there was none. Using the words of this country\u2019s most inspirational and effective advocate of nonviolence, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cummings has successfully brought his program of 40 Days of Peace to prisons around the country. \u201cIt\u2019s about the dream,\u201d he says. \u201cThey must formulate a dream that\u2019s bigger than themselves.\u201d Instilling hope \u2014 whether that is seeing a son again, or finding peace in changing \u2018hard time\u2019 to time with purpose \u2014 can transform a convict\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

While the U.S. accounts for only 5 percent of the planet\u2019s population, it holds 25 percent of the world\u2019s incarcerated. Given these grim statistics, Cummings is also focusing his efforts on those years that come before razor wire and shanks.<\/p>\n

The Power of Peace Project (POPP) also provides real world tools and methods to empower teens to achieve their dreams and protect them. \u201cTeams, campuses, and futures are being changed because of the passion of POPP,\u201d says Mike Linch, pastor of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, Ga.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had the privilege of introducing POPP to numerous high school principals and superintendents in the metro Atlanta area, opening the door for hundreds of students to be reached and changed,\u201d says Dr. Gordon Pritz, former superintendent of Douglas County Schools.<\/p>\n

His programs are proof that the paths of the young can be changed, says Cummings.<\/p>\n

Paintings crafted by convicts speak silent messages from the walls of his office. In one, a parade of men in prison garb walk toward the viewer down a green path littered with their discarded weapons, drugs, bottles, dice. They are young and old. Black, white, brown. A bearded man in a T-shirt and jeans walks in front, holding a white symbol of peace aloft.<\/p>\n

The name on his shirt is Kit.<\/p>\n

(By Ellen Kennerly, 404-202-1112)<\/strong>
\nFor more information, call 770-355-4048.,<\/strong> Kit@KitCummings.com<\/p>\n

kitcummings.com, powerofpeaceproject.com
\nKit Cumming\u2019s most recent book \u201cPeace Behind the Wire: A Nonviolent Resolution\u201d is a Benjamin Franklin Digital Award Silver Honoree and the winner of the 2016 Georgia Author of the Year Honorable Mention for Memoir\/Autobiography.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shattering the pipeline from schools to prisons   Kit Cummings was surprised when they called his name. He\u2019d been invited to the Cobb NAACP annual awards celebration to speak, or so he thought. The next thing he knew he was smiling for the camera as NAACP past president Deane Bonner and current president Jeriene Grimes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

\"\"<\/h2>\r\n

Shattering the pipeline from schools to prisons<\/h2>\r\n \r\n\r\nKit Cummings was surprised when they called his name.\r\n\r\nHe\u2019d been invited to the Cobb NAACP annual awards celebration to speak, or so he thought.\r\n\r\nThe next thing he knew he was smiling for the camera as NAACP past president Deane Bonner and current president Jeriene Grimes placed the 2020 Living the Dream Award into his hands. \u201cI was stunned. This means more than you can imagine,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nIt wasn\u2019t the first time he\u2019d taken a stage he wasn\u2019t expecting. Cummings shook the hand of Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, after being asked to take the stage to speak at the Gandhi Global Peace Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Spoke with prison officials around a table in a Ukrainian prison about how the Power of Peace program could transform their population. Stood before a room full of the most dangerous convicts in Georgia as they offered him the opportunity for revenge on the man who had almost killed his son.\r\n\r\nNow he has taken a seat at the table with the new Georgia House Study Committee on Youth Gangs and Violence as it seeks effective ways to address this threat in Georgia. Rep. Carl Gilliard, D-Garden City, leads the panel of experts who will take a hard look at how the state is dealing with gang violence and explore the most effective ways to take action, creating new legislation.\r\n\r\nTheir bill to create a Youth Gang Intervention Task Force (HB885) was presented to the\r\nSubcommittee on Homeland Security and Human Services last week (2.26.20) where it is being amended before submission to the House. There are currently over 70,000 identified, active, affiliated gang members in Georgia, according to Cummings, and current programs are failing to prevent what has become a public safety crisis.\r\n\r\nCummings has also accepted a role on a Cobb County Gang Task Force helping to design a juvenile diversion twelve-month program called \u201cRISING.\u201d This gang accountability court is a first-of-its-kind pilot program designed to shatter the pipeline from schools to prisons.\r\n\r\nIn his small office upstairs on Marietta Square and next door to an Irish pub, he is surrounded by the totems of his journey. The \u201cLiving the Dream\u201d award rests on a shelf directly behind him as he sits at his desk. \u201cRoots\u201d \u2014 a burnished, knotted walking stick \u2014 leans in a corner, never far out of reach.\r\n\r\nFashioned out of a discarded branch by a homeless man known as \u201cRoots\u201d and decorated with stripes of blood red, black and white, the iconic staff has become a touchstone of redemption. Students will call out its name when Cummings walks through the halls, and inmates gather around the symbol carved out of bent, discarded trash into a symbol of new life, emblazoned with a symbol of peace. The broken branch that went on a world tour.\r\n\r\nHis work with prisoners is a passion fueled by hundreds of hours spent with some of the most dangerous men behind bars. Men awaiting the needle or the electric chair on death row. Gang leaders feared by, well, everyone.\r\n\r\nHis Power of Peace Project brings hope where there was none. Using the words of this country\u2019s most inspirational and effective advocate of nonviolence, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cummings has successfully brought his program of 40 Days of Peace to prisons around the country. \u201cIt\u2019s about the dream,\u201d he says. \u201cThey must formulate a dream that\u2019s bigger than themselves.\u201d Instilling hope \u2014 whether that is seeing a son again, or finding peace in changing \u2018hard time\u2019 to time with purpose \u2014 can transform a convict\u2019s life.\r\n\r\nWhile the U.S. accounts for only 5 percent of the planet\u2019s population, it holds 25 percent of the world\u2019s incarcerated. Given these grim statistics, Cummings is also focusing his efforts on those years that come before razor wire and shanks.\r\n\r\nThe Power of Peace Project (POPP) also provides real world tools and methods to empower teens to achieve their dreams and protect them. \u201cTeams, campuses, and futures are being changed because of the passion of POPP,\u201d says Mike Linch, pastor of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, Ga.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have had the privilege of introducing POPP to numerous high school principals and superintendents in the metro Atlanta area, opening the door for hundreds of students to be reached and changed,\u201d says Dr. Gordon Pritz, former superintendent of Douglas County Schools.\r\n\r\nHis programs are proof that the paths of the young can be changed, says Cummings.\r\n\r\nPaintings crafted by convicts speak silent messages from the walls of his office. In one, a parade of men in prison garb walk toward the viewer down a green path littered with their discarded weapons, drugs, bottles, dice. They are young and old. Black, white, brown. A bearded man in a T-shirt and jeans walks in front, holding a white symbol of peace aloft.\r\n\r\nThe name on his shirt is Kit.\r\n\r\n(By Ellen Kennerly, 404-202-1112)<\/strong>\r\nFor more information, call 770-355-4048.,<\/strong> Kit@KitCummings.com\r\n\r\nkitcummings.com, powerofpeaceproject.com\r\nKit Cumming\u2019s most recent book \u201cPeace Behind the Wire: A Nonviolent Resolution\u201d is a Benjamin Franklin Digital Award Silver Honoree and the winner of the 2016 Georgia Author of the Year Honorable Mention for Memoir\/Autobiography.","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24633"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25966,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24633\/revisions\/25966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitcummings.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}