By Ivan Kilgore, Founder, United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF)

Every year, Women’s History Month invites me to pause and reflect not only on the victories that have been won, but on the work that still remains. For me, it is a time to celebrate courage, resilience, and transformation. However, it is also a time that demands honesty; honesty about the systems that shaped inequality, the people who challenged them, and the uncomfortable truths that complicate even the legacies we admire most.

Women’s History Month, for me, becomes more than a celebration, but a space for truth.

By Isabella Cain, UBFSF Media & Marketing Director

Women’s History Month calls us to remember, celebrate, and amplify the voices of women who have shaped our world, often against extraordinary odds. Yet too often this recognition excludes one of the most marginalized and systematically silenced groups: incarcerated women. To truly honor the spirit of this month, we must move beyond surface-level celebration and commit to centering the narratives of women whose stories are frequently erased within the very systems that claim to rehabilitate them.

Their stories are not footnotes. They are foundational.

By Chanell Burnett

I have experienced first-hand the need for criminal justice and prison reform within the state of Virginia during the fifteen years of my incarceration. Were I to list the many complaints of offenses done to us, the number would be too great. And yet, they call us “the offenders..”

What of the offenses we suffer at the hands of this so-called justice system? Is it really justice? Or just-us? Just us against them? And I speak not presently in the terms of racial injustice or inequality, for that is another matter altogether. I am speaking of a justice system in which the primary prejudice seems to be against justice itself!

By EJ, UBFSF R.E.B.U.I.L.D. Program and Policy Coordinator

The United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF), through its R.E.B.U.I.L.D.
initiative—Reinvesting in Every Black and Underserved Institution to Liberate and
Diversify—centers its mission on restoring communities through intentional reinvestment, education, and community-driven development. Rooted in the understanding that disinvestment is not accidental but structural, the program seeks to equip communities with the tools to reclaim stability, strengthen cohesion, and build generational sustainability from within.

As part of this work, an initial community assessment was conducted in Northeast Oklahoma City. This effort included surveying seven participants, conducting one in-depth interview, and performing direct environmental observations. The purpose was not simply to document visible conditions, but to better understand how these conditions reflect deeper systemic patterns, and more importantly, how they can inform targeted, community-centered reinvestment strategies. While some of the observations may initially appear pessimistic, they ultimately point toward actionable opportunities to rebuild, stabilize, and empower.

Developments

→ Collaborated with the University of Central Oklahoma’s Career Development Director to secure volunteer opportunities and strategize a recruitment event to expand UBFSF participation.

→ Ian Wilson, R.E.B.U.I.L.D. Program Manager, met with the Prison Journalism Project and over six universities, including Georgetown University and Penn State, to expand the Nonprofit Coaching & Leadership Training Conference

→ UBFSF Founder Ivan Kilgore took part in a panel discussion at a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary, “The Alabama Solution” hosted by Freedom of the Press Foundation at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. One of Ivan’s and UBFSF's earliest projects was working on the Alabama Solution, which made this a very rewarding opportunity.

→ Our team has begun development planning for a feature documentary, Writing Beyond the Prison, highlighting Ivan’s resilience and more than three decades of writing from prison.

The Voices on Death Row podcast was born from a deeply human connection between Halima, based in France, and Borgela, a Haitian man sentenced to death in Pennsylvania — a relationship that has lasted for 17 years.

It all began through letters. Over time, their correspondence grew into a strong bond built on trust, empathy, and a shared desire to bring forward a story too often ignored.

In the podcast, Borgela recounts the day his life changed forever: an encounter with two police officers during which he says he acted in self-defense after being assaulted. This incident led to his conviction, and he has now spent over 30 years on death row.

Through this podcast, Halima provides him with a platform to share his truth, tell his story, and shed light on the often unseen realities of the justice system.

Voices on Death Row is an advocacy project that aims to raise awareness, humanize, and spark meaningful conversations.

Until next time,

A Different Way of Doing Things