Age: 43
Accomplishments:
• Class of '99 graduate of Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, NC
• Class of '22 graduate of the College at Southeastern with a Bachelor's in Pastoral Ministry w/ Emphasis on Adult Counseling
• Graduated as the first practicing Muslim to complete the NC Field Minister program @ Nash Correctional Institution in December '22
• Artwork featured in exhibits like "Incarceration and Creation: Art as a Human Need" (2021), " Degrees of Separation" (2022), "Sotto Voce" (2022), and "Emergence" (2022)
• Eager to accept commissions for graphite drawings specifically
• Am always ready to do speaking engagements via telephone interviews due to incarceration limitations. Have already recorded various episodes for the Prison Pod podcast hosted by Valerie Cartonio as well as other outlets. Interviews based around prison experiences (life as an ex-gang member in prison, the care and love I have for my faith [Islam] as a Muslim, art as a therapeutic need in the carceral environment, etc.)
• Am very encouraged to engage kids with the intention of steering them away from gangs and prison in general as a result of my own experiences.