I am an African American man and a former prosecutor. For over twenty years I have worked in or around the criminal justice system, and I observed hundreds of young African American men enter into the criminal system and not be seen again for several years.
I prosecuted people who made life-altering decisions in moments of distress or poor judgment. During sentencing, most people said that they were following the wrong crowd. It bothered me. It disturbed me that I could not go back in time and help each one of them make better decisions.
I prayed about it, and what you are about to read came to me one small portion at a time. Instead of making a career in politics or at a large law firm, I decided to make a difference with the skills God has given me in the nonprofit realm. Through prayer, Saving Icarus transitioned from idea to concept on September 11, 2017.
The Mission: Helping At-Risk Young People
Through more prayer, Saving Icarus transitioned from concept to nonprofit on February 3, 2020. I now bring the nonprofit to you to help with a public launch for Spring / Summer 2021. The mission for Saving Icarus is to help at-risk kids from single parent homes avoid the criminal justice system by teaching them better decision making skills and mental coping methods through bike touring in and around Western Pennsylvania.
We will have speakers from all different walks of life who will share with the kids how they overcame adversity, which will impart to them that person’s unique problem solving skills and coping methods. The kids will then journal about it and share what they have learned in small group discussion.
At the end of our program, the kids will volunteer with a local charity to cultivate the skills of compassion and empathy. My goal is not to remove the obstacles that a young person of color faces, but to prepare them with tools centered on loving others as you would love yourself, culture, and commitment to a greater good that they can use when confronted with unfair and overwhelming odds.
Keeping Them Out of The System
These tools and skills will be cultivated through the fun of exploring Western Pennsylvania’s trails, bike maintenance, and bike repair. The focus is to help the kids avoid becoming a part of the following stark data:
- The Sentencing Project determined that there are 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States.
- The Federal Bureau of Prisons determined that 38.2 percent of all Federal inmates are African American and 93.2 percent are male.
- According to the National Center for Fathering, 85 percent of youth in prison come from fatherless homes and 70 percent of gang members come from the same single parent family structure.
All of these numbers are abstract, but I experienced them day after day of young black men in jail outfits and shackles in the courthouse, and it happens every day in most courthouses.
Creating a Detour
The criminal justice system is in the middle of great change and in need of a complete renovation. While the system is under construction, my objective is to create a detour around the criminal justice system until it is corrected. We can even the odds for at-risk youth. According to Mentor.org, at-risk youth who have been mentored are 85 percent more likely to participate in sports and extracurricular activities, 78 percent more likely to volunteer, 55 percent more likely to enroll in college, and 46 percent less likely to use drugs.
I aspire to strengthen the internal character of the youth through adventure, compassion, community, culture, and encouraging thoughtful responses to adversity through reflection.
I Need Your Help
I need your help to make Saving Icarus’s Spring / Summer 2021 a success. Contribute what you can. If you cannot contribute, then I would be grateful to be placed in your prayers. If you are able to do both, then I am humbled and honored.
The only thing that is needed for evil to win is for good people to do nothing. I don’t know if I qualify as a “good person”, but I saw something that was wrong and I intend on doing something about it. This is what I can do. Thank you.
Peace and Blessings to you and your families,
Jerry Johnson
Executive Director
Saving Icarus
Saving Icarus 