Today we’d like to introduce you to Judah Agbonkhina.
Judah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Dallas during the 90s when Gang violence and turf wars were at their worst. At one point in that history, Dallas had the number one murder rate in the country. This is where my story started. I grew up to become a troubled teen involved with gangs and all the things that come with gang banging, including the record.
At 22, I was standing in front of a judge facing possible prison time for a crime I had committed. My entire life was in the hands of a Judge and a Lawyer that my mom put most of her money into hiring. She didn’t want me to have a court-appointed Lawyer. This Lawyer, Mr. Marsaw, asked the Judge if she would permit me to join the military instead of being locked up. To my surprise, the Judge agreed! I had six months to get enlisted or I would be back in court. It was really the first chance anyone had ever taken on me. I was so grateful and overwhelmed.
I enlisted in The Army in 2009 and spent the next four years bettering myself and leaving my old environment behind. My life was forever affected by a caring lawyer and a concerned Judge. After the Birth of my Daughter in 2012, I left the military to help raise her. I started a Job at Discount Tire and was living back In Dallas, back in the same streets I had previously escaped, now with my own Child and Absolutely NOTHING had changed except gang culture. Young men and women just like myself, were still being caught up in the streets and it seemed no one cared. Our Kids were killing and being killed by each other.
A childhood friend of mine was murdered in the streets of Dallas. His death really weighed heavy on my heart. His name was Danny Odom and we went to church together when I was still gang banging, he was a little younger than me and we spent a lot of time together. I felt so guilty about his murder because I know I was an influence on his lifestyle, here I was getting my life together and I had left a Man behind. In the ARMY, we learned to never leave a Man behind. I was guilty of this crime with my brothers and sisters that I left in the streets. The ones I ran with, banged with, laughed and fought with. The ones I loved before I loved anyone else, the people who helped me survive the rough realities of street life, of being homeless, of being hungry, of being overlooked. I learned My friend Danny was murdered in Cold Blood in pleasant Grove and his killer has never been found. I knew at that moment that I had an obligation, a duty to go back to my old communities and try to help the young men and women growing up in those underserved, underdeveloped Neighborhoods find resources and let them know that someone cares.
Lack of Resources is what drives Crime in underdeveloped and underserved Neighborhoods like Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove and South Dallas. This is what we were doing in the streets, competing for the little Resources left behind. This is what they are still doing in the streets. So I started my own journey of understanding and growth, seeking answers to why I was the way I was when I was younger and how it had shaped who I was as an adult. On my Journey, I met back up with another childhood friend, Ebony Smith of Yoga N Da Hood. She was teaching free yoga at Kiest Park in Oak Cliff. I came out one day to see what yoga was about and was touched by the impact I could see she was having on our community. I started to come regularly, trying to catch every free yoga class I could.
I was learning Yoga and learning a different part of myself through the practice, a part of me that I had never been introduced to. Yoga is an inward practice as much as an outward practice. Meditation and mindfulness were showing me a peace I had yet to find in any place in my life. At this time, I was going through an unhealthy divorce with my child’s mother and I knew I couldn’t be an effective advocate for the Neighborhoods unless I dealt with my own trauma first. The trauma that had been with me since childhood, the trauma that was the catalyst for my life in the streets, the trauma that was the reason for my excursion into the military, the trauma that now had me in divorce courts and dealing with the death of a childhood friend. Ebony was teaching Trauma-Informed Yoga, a type of yoga that focuses on healing the traumas our bodies have stored up.
During these classes over the next year, I learned about Trauma and how to start healing it. I knew this was something I had to bring back to the young men and women of my communities. I asked Ebony one day to help me start a nonprofit organization that would help address some of the concerns I had in our communities, just like she did. I was teaching yoga at this point and with Ebony’s help, I was able to birth Suits For Judah, a Nonprofit Organization dedicated to engaging the youth of Dallas, Texas’ Underserved and Under-resourced Communities.
A study was done and it was discovered that 1 in every six prisoners in Texas State Prisons come from Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove and South Dallas. It is Suits For Judahs’ Mission to lower and even eradicate that ratio. As an organization, we provide mentorship and also teach yoga in our communities. We work with other community organizations to help create networking opportunities and provide Community exposure through our media platform, ‘Word On Da Street W/Judah.’ We are also working with other organizations and individuals to help create an entrepreneurship program that we believe, with the community’s help, can be a catalyst for economic growth and development in the neighborhoods the City has ignored and left behind. Our Board is made up of people from the Community and our mentors are too. We have been engaging the Dallas Communities and youth since 2018. With the help of our secretary, D’wan Polk, we have expanded and grown our reach in Dallas through different mediums and interactions.
So In conclusion, Suits For Judah is the result of a full circle reckoning. I am now helping the streets I once harmed, I am now helping to heal the traumas I once created and I am engaging the potential 1 in 6 that I almost became. I am grateful for The help of everyone who has contributed to the growth and foundation of Suits For Judah, especially D’wan Polk, who works tirelessly as a Secretary and Producer in our Organization, without the help of other Community organizations Like YNDH and committed Mentors like Zondria Mackey and Kenneth Horne. We would still just be an Idea. Namaste.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has NOT been a smooth road. Funding was and continues to be our biggest challenge. We have applied for Grants and been denied for one reason or another. We don’t have the funds currently to hire a grant writer so we are learning through trial and error. At the beginning of our Journey, our Secretary D’wan Polk was diagnosed and battling triple negative Breast Cancer. Those were rough days, we are just grateful she’s a Warrior Queen and beat her cancer. Exposure was an issue for a while. Getting our information out and letting the community know we were here, we partially addressed that issue with the creation of our media arm ‘Word On Da Street W/Judah’ the internet TV news station. Volunteers for our mentorship positions are always needed and of course, Participants in our programs are now a concern because of Covid-19.
Please tell us about Suits For Judah.
Suits For Judah is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization located in The Dallas TX area. We are dedicated to engaging the youth in Dallas TXs’ underserved and under-resourced communities; our goal is to impact the 1 in 6 Texas Prison Ratio that affects the residents of Pleasant Grove, Oak Cliff and South Dallas. Our Mission is to Identify at-risk populations and provide some guidance and interest, to be present and to establish a clear route for our youth away from the snags of the street life. Through mentorship and exposure to people, places and things outside of their norm, we can help our troubled and struggling youth see the value in themselves and their community.
We are unique because we work directly with other community organizations, city officials and alternative mediums to reach and engage the community and also our core Target group. We are known for teaching yoga, helping pass out books and food, Mentoring youth and getting useful and helpful information out to the community through ‘Word On Da Street W/ Judah’ interviews, news and coverage of Community events. What sets us apart is our willingness to engage the community by volunteering and working with other organizations that are doing the same or similar in order to help expand everyone’s reach and hopefully, overall effectiveness. We are most proud of our campaigns that engage Community conversation. We currently have two campaigns: #SaveThe1in6 and #NoMoreMasks. #SaveThe1in6 is about informing the Dallas Community about the fact that 1 in 6 of every Texas prisoner comes from Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove and South Dallas. #NoMoreMasks is a campaign addressing Child Sex Abuse in our communities, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually Abused before they turn 18 years old. These are conversations our communities need to be having.
Do you feel like our city is a good place for businesses like yours? If someone was just starting out, would you recommend them starting out here? If not, what can our city do to improve?
Our Business is the Business of lives. There is no place on Earth that can’t use that Business. We believe anyone wanting to help in their community in a big way is a good thing. I recommend anyone wanting to start a nonprofit organization in Dallas, TX be prepared for the struggles of funding. This city can do better when it comes to endorsing and funding Local, smaller Community Organizations to help with their growth and effectiveness in their missions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.suits4judah.com
- Phone: 469-328-2069
- Email: Suits4Judah@outlook.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1na8eqobmg0xa&utm_content=btvczis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suitsForJudah/
Image Credit:
D’wan Polk
Judah
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