At the age of 14 my mother left an abusive stepfather who beat us and her. We moved from Chicago to Detroit in 1986; at the time I couldn’t understand why he beat us so much. Since my stepfather was not in the picture I hit the streets of Detroit with a suicidal mentality and a hunger to make money any way I could. Eventually I was introduced to crack houses in Detroit and I ended up in juvenile detention. My grandmother would not get me out; I had to wait on my mother and moved back to Illinois.

At the age of 22, I went to jail for attempted armed robbery and selling drugs and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. While in prison I was in a gang. The funny thing: the gang told me I had to get my GED! I earned my GED while incarcerated and have been hooked on education ever since. I took everything the institution had to offer as far as academics: I got an associate degree in business administration, a small business management certificate, a dataprocessing certificate, a custodial maintenance certificate, and toastmaster public speaking club. At that time I was familiar with God but truly didn’t know him.

At the age of 35 I went back to prison, this time federal. I had to do 26 years and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. During that time, while coping with my diagnosis, I had a revelation of God. It was time to change my life or die in prison.

I was released from prison in 2020, got out early and am still adjusting to society after being locked up for 13 years in the federal corrections. I have worked in a variety of jobs and began volunteering with Faith Coalition for the Common Good on the transformational task force. I am also attending school to obtain a bachelor degree in criminal justice.

After six months of volunteering, the Faith Coalition invested in me and sent me to weeklong Gamaliel training which motivated me to be a community organizer. I am now employed as a full-time organizer with the Faith Coalition. My definition of a community organizer: you have to listen to people, build relationships and bring people together to build power. By listening and talking to the people you show them that they have the power instilled in them to make things happen for the betterment of self and the community.

Jesus is my prime example of an organizer. He came off the throne to the people that were not recognized in society, picked 12 and organized them to prepare for the kingdom of God. They turned the world as it was known at that time upside down. That is what I am doing: going to the churches on the east side of Springfield and building relationships with people in the community. I am organizing people to build power among the community, uniting the churches to bring forth God’s initial plan of justice in our city. I want to create God’s kingdom on the east side of Springfield by restoring, reinvesting and renewing what our community needs.

The Faith Coalition is a member of a bi-state organization – Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa. I’d like to invite you to the GOII public meeting which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at Monroe Street Christian Church, 1229 E. Monroe St., Springfield. The GOII bi-state affiliates advocate for racial and economic justice issues affecting our communities and states. Gun violence, the Pretrial Fairness Act, juvenile court fees and fines, temporary visitor’s driver’s licenses, and the CO2 pipeline will be the issues discussed at the public meeting.

Gov. JB Pritzker, guvernatorial candidate state Sen. Darren Bailey, secretary of state candidates Alexi Giannoulias and Dan Brady, and all other candidates running for these offices, as well as the elected officials and those running for the Illinois General Assembly, have been invited to the event. You have the opportunity to participate in building power to make a systemic change in our city and state! Please join us! Register for this event by emailing fccg2208@gmail.com.

Quonie Barney is a community organizer with Faith Coalition for the Common Good.