In Kansas City, MO, the analytics retained for the annual crime per capita are astronomical. Neighborhood Schout (Kansas City, MO Crime Rates and Statistics - NeighborhoodScout) has Kansas City crime index at a 2 (100 would be the safest place to live). Kansas City is safer than 2% of all the US cities to live in. Kansas Cities annual crimes that are violent are at 7,853 and property crimes are at 21,409, totaling at 29,262. The crime rate (per 1,000 residents) is a staggering 15.96% for violent crimes and 43.52% for property crimes, totaling a devastating 59.49%. These numbers are not just digits on a spread sheet. These numbers represent real people, real mothers, and real fathers. These numbers represent the people that call our beloved city home such as the nurses and doctors that serve us in the most trying times of our lives, to the teachers that prepare each day to inspire the next generation of politicians and construction workers. It’s not enough to just look at these numbers, something must be done.
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Studies have shown that residents of inner cities live at a higher level of stress then their counter parts that live in suburban areas. Due to the constant bombardment of police and ambulance sirens, violent and drug activity, helicopter sounds, domestic violence, poverty, and negative social interaction, at such a high rate, that on an unconscious level, it raises their sense of awareness that is fueled by negative stress. The high level of stress keeps the residents on edge. That results in hyper-violent reactions to what one would assume to be simple situations. This also contributes to an increase ideology of survival or “I must do whatever it takes to make it through the day”. This philosophy seems to be a societal norm, which in many cases it is, but when it is seen through the lens of adverse living conditions, it could create an influx in criminal activity.
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Taking a look at Kansas City’s constant influx in crime over the years, shows that this study has merit. Kansas City’s crime per square mile is at a devastating 92 crimes per square mile compared to the national median that rest at 31.1. The re-enforcer that keeps the cycle going, is the sickening cycle itself. The more crimes, the more police we add, the more police the more arrests, which leads to separation in the homes. This is initiated by a 911 call that sends an officer in route, that is proceeded with sirens to clear the way due to an emergency.
Can there be better methods put in place when it comes to policing? I’d say yes, but that in no way means that we don’t need the police to enforce law. The policing is not the only issue at play here, it’s the ripple effects that take place. When you throw a rock in the water it creates a ripple. When you throw multiple rocks in the water, it creates multiple ripples. That is what’s happening in our cities. Multiple ripples are being created all throughout the day, caused by trauma, that in turns creates negative stress, that turns the wheel, that increases our statistics that continue to rise.
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I know what you are thinking. We have had this problem for years and there are organizations that are already out here to help solve this problem. I agree. We do have organizations that have been actively and diligently participating in the pursuit to change our social climate. As a city, we have had great achievements over the years, and yet we still lead our country’s murder rate as the 5th highest city in the United States of America. We out rank Chicago by 7 cities according to “The Trace,” (What’s the Homicide Capital of America? Murder Rates in U.S. Cities, Ranked. (thetrace.org)) Kansas City rates on a national level are at 30.2% when the highest murder rated city, which is St. Louis, MO, is at 64.5%. It may seem like a leap in percentages, but when it comes to a scale of this magnitude, 34% is only the difference of less than 10 murders more a month. Again, you see numbers and graphs, but they are merely representations of real people, living real lives like you and me.
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I, in no way, will ever bad mouth or speak lowly of the local organizations that actively pursue this unquenchable war on the violence and poverty that seeks to destroy our beautiful city. There have been extreme efforts that have been contributed by relentless organizations such as KC Mothers in Charge, Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, Grandparents Against Gun Violence, Aim for Peace, KC Nova, and so many more. The dragon that we are attempting to slay has many heads and many challenges that must be met to be effective. They all have a place in this fight, but only until these avenues are strategically aligned, will they produce the desired goal that we all are in pursuit of.
One of the greatest mistakes that we have fallen victim to is the post reaction solutions to criminal behavior. We are waiting until a problem happens to act and that is placing us behind the eight ball in many situations. This isn’t a new concept, as I speak with many of my colleagues in this field of social change. We all agree we need to address the preventive component, as well as the reactionary component. The issue, that stands at the forefront, is what does that process look like?
One of the greatest mistakes that we have fallen victim to is the post reaction solutions to criminal behavior. We are waiting until a problem happens to act and that is placing us behind the eight ball in many situations. This isn’t a new concept, as I speak with many of my colleagues in this field of social change. We all agree we need to address the preventive component, as well as the reactionary component. The issue, that stands at the forefront, is what does that process look like?
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Let’s turn to the studies of a man named Dr. Stanton E. Samenow. Dr. Samenow received his B.A. (cum laude) from Yale University in 1963 and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1968. After working as a clinical psychologist on adolescent inpatient psychiatric services in the Ann Arbor (Michigan) area, he joined the Program for the Investigation of Criminal Behavior at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. From 1970 until June 1978, he was clinical research psychologist for that program. With the late Dr. Samuel Yochelson, he participated in the longest in-depth clinical research-treatment study of offenders that has been conducted in North America. The findings of that study are contained in the three-volume publication The Criminal Personality (Lanham, Md.: Roman and Littlefield) that he co-authored with Dr. Yochelson.
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Stanton Samenow theorized that criminal actions arise from errors in thought that develop into criminal thinking patterns. Samenow concluded that criminality was not rooted in physiological, psychological, or sociological afflictions. They stressed that criminals should not be thought of as victims. Instead, criminals should be recognized as rational actors like non-criminals. The difference between the two groups lies in their respective thought processes. Criminals display thinking patterns that are characterized by errors. Samenow identified 52 thinking errors that differentiated criminals from non-criminals.
Although the psychologists acknowledged that non-criminals also display thinking errors, they believed that criminals commit errors in greater numbers and in such a way that amplify one another. Thus, according to this research, when characterizing a criminal, we should not think of them as people who have “made mistakes”, but as people who acted upon errors in their own judgment. Nonetheless, their actions were deliberate. Therefore, by understanding the “errors” in their way of thinking, we can gain greater insight into the criminal mind, which would hold important implications for criminal law and beyond.
The errors that Samenow are referring to are established, solidified, and noticed in a person’s cultural design. More so in a person’s antecedent, because they are the thoughts that proceed the behavior. Mark A. Mattain writes a chapter titled, “Public Issues, Human Behavior, and Cultural Design,” in a social science book called, “Finding Solutions to Social Problems (Behavioral Strategies for Change),” about this very subject. He writes that a behavior is affected by not only the antecedents, but the postcedents also, which are the thoughts about the known consequences. Research is telling us that behavior is not automatic, in the sense that a person is not innately criminal but acts out criminality based on the thought process that a person subscribes to. Created contingencies lead a person into a criminal or destructive behavior. We must be clear. All thoughts that are destructive are not criminal. That is the difference between the thinking errors and the criminal thinking errors that Samenow is referring to.
Although the psychologists acknowledged that non-criminals also display thinking errors, they believed that criminals commit errors in greater numbers and in such a way that amplify one another. Thus, according to this research, when characterizing a criminal, we should not think of them as people who have “made mistakes”, but as people who acted upon errors in their own judgment. Nonetheless, their actions were deliberate. Therefore, by understanding the “errors” in their way of thinking, we can gain greater insight into the criminal mind, which would hold important implications for criminal law and beyond.
The errors that Samenow are referring to are established, solidified, and noticed in a person’s cultural design. More so in a person’s antecedent, because they are the thoughts that proceed the behavior. Mark A. Mattain writes a chapter titled, “Public Issues, Human Behavior, and Cultural Design,” in a social science book called, “Finding Solutions to Social Problems (Behavioral Strategies for Change),” about this very subject. He writes that a behavior is affected by not only the antecedents, but the postcedents also, which are the thoughts about the known consequences. Research is telling us that behavior is not automatic, in the sense that a person is not innately criminal but acts out criminality based on the thought process that a person subscribes to. Created contingencies lead a person into a criminal or destructive behavior. We must be clear. All thoughts that are destructive are not criminal. That is the difference between the thinking errors and the criminal thinking errors that Samenow is referring to.
Because these thinking errors are not innate and learned, that means a person can be habilitated or rehabilitated. This leads us to the study of Neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning, an experience or following injury. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to adapt to changes in an individual's environment by forming new neural connections over time. Neuroplasticity explains how the human brain is able to adapt, master new skills, store memories and information, and even recover after a traumatic brain injury. (www.emotiv.com)
Neuroplasticity provides us with a brain that can adapt not only to changes inflicted by damage, but more importantly, allows adaptation to any and all experiences and changes we may encounter, freeing us from merely responding reflexively as a consequence of genetically determined hardwiring. Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone recently stated that neuroplasticity “… is an intrinsic property of the human brain and represents evolution’s invention to enable the nervous system to escape the restrictions of its own genome and thus adapt to environmental pressures, physiological changes, and experiences.” (What is neuroplasticity and how does it work? - David Perlmutter M.D. (drperlmutter.com))
Neuroplasticity is the method in which behavior modification is processed through. It is the heartbeat of any Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) program that is out. Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) focuses on teaching students how to be in control of their own behavior by changing their thought processes and self-talk. This process is derived from the well-known techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy and used in a therapeutic setting for patients suffering from anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. CBM can be highly effective when used in classrooms, because it helps students become more aware of their behavior and what they need to do to change it. (Cognitive Behavior Modification in the Classroom | Study.com)
Behavior is predominantly made up of beliefs and motivations. It is the beliefs that we subscribe to that fuel us. According to Aaron Temkin Beck, “If beliefs do not change, there is no improvement. If beliefs change, symptoms change. Beliefs function as little operational units.” This means that one’s thoughts and beliefs (schema) affect one’s behavior and subsequent actions. It is here where Lyrik’s Institution understands, this process is where effective change starts.
There are many programs that apply the sciences of CBM but there are not many organizations that apply a series of applications to arrive at a desired goal. Most organizations apply components, such as, anger management, self-talk, emotional intelligence, knowing the brain etc., but they do not apply them systematically. For the process of Neuroplasticity to fully work, repetition has to be applied for the new thought process to take root. Mark A. Mattaini writes in Find Solutions to Social Problems, that there are 5 types of reinforcers that tend to solidify the beliefs that we create - positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment, and extinction.
Positive reinforcement:
Negative Reinforcement:
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment:
Extinction:
Stanton Samenow’s proven theory, the method of Neuroplasticity, and the understanding of reinforcers, is what sets Lyrik’s Institution apart from any and every other social change agent that is fighting this social change battle for the lives in our communities.
Neuroplasticity provides us with a brain that can adapt not only to changes inflicted by damage, but more importantly, allows adaptation to any and all experiences and changes we may encounter, freeing us from merely responding reflexively as a consequence of genetically determined hardwiring. Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone recently stated that neuroplasticity “… is an intrinsic property of the human brain and represents evolution’s invention to enable the nervous system to escape the restrictions of its own genome and thus adapt to environmental pressures, physiological changes, and experiences.” (What is neuroplasticity and how does it work? - David Perlmutter M.D. (drperlmutter.com))
Neuroplasticity is the method in which behavior modification is processed through. It is the heartbeat of any Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) program that is out. Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) focuses on teaching students how to be in control of their own behavior by changing their thought processes and self-talk. This process is derived from the well-known techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy and used in a therapeutic setting for patients suffering from anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. CBM can be highly effective when used in classrooms, because it helps students become more aware of their behavior and what they need to do to change it. (Cognitive Behavior Modification in the Classroom | Study.com)
Behavior is predominantly made up of beliefs and motivations. It is the beliefs that we subscribe to that fuel us. According to Aaron Temkin Beck, “If beliefs do not change, there is no improvement. If beliefs change, symptoms change. Beliefs function as little operational units.” This means that one’s thoughts and beliefs (schema) affect one’s behavior and subsequent actions. It is here where Lyrik’s Institution understands, this process is where effective change starts.
There are many programs that apply the sciences of CBM but there are not many organizations that apply a series of applications to arrive at a desired goal. Most organizations apply components, such as, anger management, self-talk, emotional intelligence, knowing the brain etc., but they do not apply them systematically. For the process of Neuroplasticity to fully work, repetition has to be applied for the new thought process to take root. Mark A. Mattaini writes in Find Solutions to Social Problems, that there are 5 types of reinforcers that tend to solidify the beliefs that we create - positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment, and extinction.
Positive reinforcement:
- If a stimulus is presented after a particular behavior then that behavior is observed to be strengthened or to increase in the future. (i.e. you do something right you get a reward.)
Negative Reinforcement:
- If a stimulus is removed following the occurrence of some behavior in the future the probability of that behavior is strengthened, relieved. (i.e. a corporation rewards employee with time off for giving blood)
Positive Punishment
- A behavior is followed by a consequence that is presented and the behavior declines in strength. (i.e. a person goes to jail for committing a crime and does not go back to jail.)
Negative Punishment:
- A stimulus is removed following the occurrence of the behavior and the future likelihood of that behavior decreases, (i.e., you have a mother on welfare who stands to lose her benefits if her boyfriend moves in with her, if, as a result of this policy, the woman does not allow her boyfriend to move in, principles of negative punishment have exerted their influence. The mother on welfare never allows a boyfriend to move in and thus her benefits are never at risk.)
Extinction:
- In the use of extinction procedures, it is important to determine what consequences are maintaining a target behavior and then arrange for such contingencies to be halted. If the consequences have been completely and correctly identified, the behavior will decline overtime and perhaps cease entirely (i.e., if Canada stops its baby bonus and the birth rate declines, the extinction has occurred.)
Stanton Samenow’s proven theory, the method of Neuroplasticity, and the understanding of reinforcers, is what sets Lyrik’s Institution apart from any and every other social change agent that is fighting this social change battle for the lives in our communities.
We pride ourselves on being an umbrella organization that offers multiple aspects of behavior modification in a systematic way that will allow our scholars to arrive at a desired destination. We want to provide tools that train our scholars how to think about their thinking. We do that by teaching:
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Most schools of thought believe teaching through diversity is creating programs that are bilingual so all demographics can understand. Although that is a huge part of teaching, other factors play a huge component when you want to reach and solidify a change in the thought process of a group of people. Our classes are interactive and culturally based to provide a haven for the scholars to learn in. We use teaching tools such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Memes, Fashion, Music, Dance, Relevant News, Community Issues, Games and Seminars that are all based in the culture that our Scholars are from, to teach the methods that are proven to work. An example of that is, we do not use the word teacher, we use Culture Coach. We do not use the word student we use Scholar. It is small but intentional tactics like these that make the process of teaching easier because we are creating a familiar environment for them that allows them to feel safe and valued. It is these aspects that sets us apart from other organizations.
Like any other school, Lyrik’s Institute will require students to qualify their enrollment consistently via the following:
- Students must attend a certain number of days per semester
- A book report will be completed and turned in on a master of the particular art of their choosing every quarter
- A passing grade point average is required to return the next year
- Drug use, weapons, or violence on campus is strictly prohibited and the student will be at risk of expulsion
- Students are required to meet with their mentors and counselors according to the schedule provided
Why creative arts why not sport or scholastics as your reinforcer
I am glad you asked! For students to truly grow and progress, there has to be a point when intrinsic motivation comes into balance with extrinsic motivation. In the early stages of learning an art form, students engage with the activity because it's fun (intrinsic motivation). However, this motivation will allow them to progress only so far, and then their development begins to slow -- or even stop. At this point, lean on extrinsic motivation to continue your students' growth. This can take the form of auditions, tests, or other assessments. Like the impact of early intrinsic motivation, this kind of engagement will help your students grow and progress. While both types of motivation are helpful and productive, a hybrid of the two is most successful. Your students will study or practice not only for the external rewards, but also because of the self-enjoyment or satisfaction this gives them.
Improved Cognition
Improved Cognition
- Research connects learning music to improved "verbal memory, second language pronunciation accuracy, reading ability, and executive functions" in youth (Frontiers in Neuroscience). By immersing students in arts education, you draw them into an incredibly complex and multifaceted endeavor that combines many subject matters (like mathematics, history, language, and science) while being uniquely tied to culture.
- For example, in order for a Scholar to play in tune, he must have a scientific understanding of sound waves and other musical acoustics principles. Likewise, for a student to give an inspired performance of Shakespeare, she must understand social, cultural, and historical events of the time. The arts are valuable not only as stand-alone subject matter, but also as the perfect link between all subject matters -- and a great delivery system for these concepts, as well. You can see this in the correlation between drawing and geometry, or between meter and time signatures and math concepts such as fractions.
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Communication
Deepening Cultural and Self-Understanding
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“When students explore content using dramatic scripts, they can make gains in reading fluency and comprehension, while having fun,” Says Kevin Pease, writer of Strategies from the dramatic arts can enhance student engagement (October 30,2020).
We don’t want to choose any reinforcer to solidly the tools that we are teaching, we want the very reinforcer to be a teaching method itself. We found that in the creative arts. It allows us to create an environment that we can work the tools out in. Part of our fundraising efforts are the quarterly events that the program puts together. The Scholars have to put an event together using all the creative arts and build it all from scratch. This is going to challenge them in some of the most trying ways, but that is where the program steps in and works through the issues that arise with the tools that they learn during the program. This allows them to test and perfect the methods in real time.
Why Cognitive behavior modification… because it works!
- Research shows that CBT is the most effective form of treatment for those coping with depression and anxiety. CBT alone is 50-75% effective for overcoming depression and anxiety after 5 – 15 modules. Medication alone is effective; however, science still does not understand the long-term effects on the brain and body. (www.starlingminds.com)
- The response rates of CBT varied between 38% for treating obsessive compulsive disorder (Eddy et al., 2004) and 82% for treating body dysmorphic disorder (Ipser et al, 2009). (www.ncbi.nlm.gov July 31,2012)
- It is one of the most effective treatments for conditions where anxiety or depression is the main problem. It is the most effective psychological treatment for moderate and severe depression. It is as effective as antidepressants for many types of depression. (www.rcpsych.ac.uk )
- After studying 3,876 people, self-guided online CBT is found to be significantly more effective in lowering depression symptoms compared to face-to-face treatment. Other study findings show that the treatment adherence of online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is 82%. Treatment adherence is how likely someone is to follow a treatment plan. Over 86% of Starling Minds digital CBT users will improve their mental health and become more mentally fit. (What is Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? - Starling Minds | Starling Minds)
For nearly 50 years, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has claimed higher scientific authority among the vast legion of psychotherapy approaches as a result of having more research demonstrate its effectiveness than any other therapeutic method. Increasingly, that track record of empirical evidence has been acknowledged and even translated into government funders and insurance companies requiring therapists to use CBT if they want to be reimbursed. (Psychotherapy Networker Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is Effective as Clinicians Believe? (psychotherapynetworker.org) )
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angels
How effective is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (cogbtherapy.com)
How effective is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (cogbtherapy.com)
But really Kyle R Hollins (President, Founder and CEO of Lyrik’s Institution) why do you believe that this method works.
Because I am a living testimony to the process and the powerful effects that it can have on its participants. I was sentenced to 90 months in the federal penitentiary for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and felony position of a firearm in furtherance of a drug traffic crime. That was my federal cases, I was also convicted of class A and B trafficking in the state of Missouri. I am what Samenow refers to in his book as being fully active in the criminal mind state. Little did I know that I was going to run into a force that was bigger than me in the journey that I was to face during my incarceration.
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I can remember sitting across from Probation officer after being pulled over during a random traffic stop, to be found with an AK47 Assault Rifle. He sits across from his desk and ask me why I would have a gun like that in my possession. I tell him that I was going to a party and I wanted to make sure that I was going to be protected. He scratches his head and proceeds to ask me, “So, let me get this right, you went to a place to have fun Knowing it was a possibility that you could be killed?” I reply with a smart remark, “that’s Kansas City for you, you have to do what you have to do.” He sits back in his chair and ask me if I would walk into a bank that I knew was being robed. I said no quickly as if what he said was stupid and no one would do it. He asked me what the difference was between what I had done and the bank illustration. Knowing he had me, I could not let him know he was right, so I further explained myself. I told him everyone in Kansas City carries a gun. He asked me if my mother carried a gun, I told him that she did not. I answer quickly, “that’s only because she doesn’t live the life I live. He folds his hands and sits back in his chair and stares at me with out saying a word. I ranted and raved but deep down I knew he had me and there was nothing I could do to get out of it.
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I have many stories like this but I use this one because during my incarceration I realized that this is the story that so many people live with and create whole realities out of. It is thinking like this that trap people in the cycle of criminality. But that thought process is not learned over night, it is from repetitious acts that solidify in our cultural designs that I spoke about earlier. I was sentenced to 10 years in the state prison with a chance to do a cognitive modification program that was introduced to the penal system, this program would turn my 10 years in to 4 months if I could finish the program with no problems. I thought that was going t be a breeze, a couple of months and I was back at home. The program was more intense than I thought, it exposed that I was trapped in a way of thinking that I really had no way to get out of unless this new information was applied to my thinking process.
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I thought I had it all together right up to my last week of the program, when my Federal Number changed, and I was shipped to the Federal holding In Leavenworth Kansas (CCA). That is where I learned of the new charges that were waiting on me. I was facing 35 years when I first stepped into the court room. After about 2 years of fighting my case I was blessed to receive a 90-month sentence. I know it may sound odd to hear me say, that I was blessed to receive 90 months. But it was true, I had an opportunity to make it back home to raise my 3-year-old daughter that I left behind.
After sentencing I was transferred from holding to Leavenworth United States Penitentiary to serve my time. I came in contact with a program called, “Life Connections.” This cognitive modification program blew my 4-month program out of the water. This program was 18 months and they made sure they were going to use all 18 months to apply the modification process. Dr. Kendal Hughes was the director at the time, and he ran it with skill and grace and offered an environment that allowed me to grow in way I had never known I could. I fell in love with the process so much I spent my time studying the origin of this method and how it was taught. I was able to secure a lead job for the program that allowed me to see how the program was ran from behind the scenes. From contracting, curriculum building, staffing, training and so much more.
I decided to try my hand at teaching the method and had great success, I graduated the highest participant rate of a program called, “Men of Influence.” It was graduating 12-15 students of a class that started out with 32 students. I graduated a class of 30 participants, with the methods I learned and integrated into the curriculum. I watched harden criminals have some of the biggest break throughs, that changed their lives but not only theirs but their families also. Then I looked at it on a macro scale and seen that they then were going to affect their communities in positives ways also. Life Connections Reduced the recidivism rate of its participants by 70%.
I decided to try my hand at teaching the method and had great success, I graduated the highest participant rate of a program called, “Men of Influence.” It was graduating 12-15 students of a class that started out with 32 students. I graduated a class of 30 participants, with the methods I learned and integrated into the curriculum. I watched harden criminals have some of the biggest break throughs, that changed their lives but not only theirs but their families also. Then I looked at it on a macro scale and seen that they then were going to affect their communities in positives ways also. Life Connections Reduced the recidivism rate of its participants by 70%.
Looking at the programs budget I seen that it coasts close to $30,000 to house an inmate in the program. As effective as this process is, it blew my mind that it was being applied post-conviction. What if it was used as a preventive measure rather then a reactionary method. And if a person did go to prison after taking the program, at least it wouldn’t be new information, rather information to build on. Furthering an opportunity to decrease the recidivism rate and in the end impact their community with new positive thinking strategies.
Understanding this I took another program that offered another side of the Cognitive Modification model called, “RDAP.” I used this program as a learning tool also, and towards the end of this 9-month program I was teaching again. The greatest and life saving principle that I took away from all the behavior modification programing, was the ability to think about my thinking. Post incarceration this very process has saved me from making terrible mistakes and allowed me to give away this very information to those that are around me.
Understanding this I took another program that offered another side of the Cognitive Modification model called, “RDAP.” I used this program as a learning tool also, and towards the end of this 9-month program I was teaching again. The greatest and life saving principle that I took away from all the behavior modification programing, was the ability to think about my thinking. Post incarceration this very process has saved me from making terrible mistakes and allowed me to give away this very information to those that are around me.
Lyrik’s Institution’s name is derived from my daughter’s name. When I went prison, she was 3 years old and when I came home, she was 11 years old. I called home on her birthday and her mother told me that she had a rough day and had to go to the buddy room because she was sad the whole day. I came to find out that she was sad because I was not there to spend her birthday with her. At that point I realized I passed the systemic cycle to her and if I did not do something about it, statistics favored her being in the same place and situation I was in. I vowed to find a way to change that, along that journey I learned that there are allot of Lyriks out there and this information needed to be duplicated in a way that could be effective and relevant. And now, because of a dedicated team, the hand of God, and many great people I am proud to present to you.
