She's All Caught Up By Jamila Davis

She's All Caught Up is a cautionary tale for young people enamored by the fast life and the older folks that love them. This memoir tells of the negative influences that swayed the early life of author Jamila T. Davis (creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series). She is currently serving a 151 month sentence for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme.

Young Jamila grew up in a loving, middle class home. Her hardworking parents, the Davises, overcame the barriers of poverty and racism faced by African Americans in the segregated South. From the back wood shacks of the rural south, the Davises migrated north, making Jamaica Queens, New York their new home. They drove themselves relentlessly. By education and endless hard work, they attained their portion of the American dream.

Determined to afford their own children the opportunities they themselves never had, the Davises provided their children with a good life, hoping to guarantee their children's success.

At first, it seemed as though the formula worked. Jamila became her parents' ideal "star child." At a young age she performed in dance recitals at Lincoln Center and toured the country in a leading role in an off- Broadway play. Throughout elementary and middle school she maintained straight A's and was accepted to the acclaimed "Fame" High School of Performing Arts in New York City.

All was copacetic until high school years, when Jamila meets Craig. He was a 16 year old drug dealer from the Southside projects of Jamaica Queens. His street edge fascinated naive Jamila, and he quickly usurped Mrs. Davis' position as role model and protector.

Jamila became mesmerized by the hustlers and life in the inner city ghetto. Her values quickly changed. She wanted independence, power and notoriety, and she chose life in the fast lane to claim them. With her brains and beauty, she rises to the top!

As this high school teen rebels, breaking loose from her parents' tight reins, the Davises wage an "all-out" battle to save their only daughter who they love so desperately. But Jamila is in too deep! Poisoned by materialism and the drama of street life, she resists, and the Davis family is turned upside down!

This real-life story exemplifies the powerful societal influences that affect today's youth, and the almost insurmountable challenges of the older generation who fight hard to protect them. This heartfelt story empowers both youth and adults to understand the tragic consequences of poor choices while instilling the ability to resist them.

When this good girl goes bad, it seems as if there is no turning back.


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Jamila T. Davis, author of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series is a self-help expert, motivational speaker and a women's prison reform activist, who is currently a federal inmate. At age 25, she was a multimillionaire, high-flying real estate investor with ties to the hip-hop world. At age 31, she was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud scheme. While imprisoned, Davis has helped to change the lives of many through her inspirational books and cautionary tales based on her real-life experiences. For more information on Jamila T. Davis and to check out her latest memoir The High Price I Had To Pay visit www.voicesbooks.com or www.facebook.com/authorJamilaTDavis.

BPM: Introduce us to your book, She's All Caught Up and tell us what makes it unique.
Hello, my name is Jamila T. Davis. I am the author of She's All Caught Up, which is a memoir about my childhood. My book is a cautionary tale that exemplifies the early influences in my life, which ultimately swayed my thinking and turned me into a die-hard "money-chaser." Unlike typical urban books that glorify street life through a fictional character, my story is told from a true perspective. And, most importantly, it reveals the severe consequences of living life in the fast lane.

Here is the official introduction we are using to promote the book: She's All Caught Up is a real-life cautionary tale that exemplifies the powerful negative influences that affect today's youth and the consequences that arise from poor choices. Young Jamila grew up in a loving middle class home, raised by two hardworking parents, the Davises, in the suburbs of Jamaica Queens, New York. Determined to afford their children with the luxuries that they themselves never had, the Davises provided their children with a good life, hoping to guarantee their children's success.

At first it seemed as though their formula worked. Young Jamila maintained straight As and became her parents ideal "star child," as she graced the stage of Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in dance recitals and toured the country in a leading role in an off-Broadway play. All was copacetic in the Davis household until high school years when Jamila met her first love Craig- a 16 year old drug dealer from the Southside housing projects of Jamaica Queens.

As this high school teen rebels, breaking loose from her parents' tight reins, the Davises wage an "all-out" battle to save their only daughter whom they love so desperately. But Jamila is in too deep! Poisoned by the thorn of materialism, she lusts after independence, power and notoriety, and she chooses life in the fast last to claim them. When this good girl goes bad, it seems there is no turning back! Follow author Jamila T. Davis (creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series in her blazing memoir, She's All Caught Up!


BPM: If you had to describe your book in one word, what would you call it? Why?
I would call my book a mirror, because it was written to cause readers to go within and reflect. At least one experience of Young Jamila will cause readers to relate to her struggles, regardless of their background, color or creed. I didn't hold back any of the truth of the events that occurred. I shared my strengths with my audience, as well as my weaknesses. I exposed the inner turmoil that kept me chasing inner fulfillment. My book reveals my dark secrets and my insecurities. I believe the pureness of my story, and its common similarities to the experiences of other females, will cause readers to reflect and explore their own characteristics, past influences and choices.

BPM: Tell us a little about your life and your upbringing.
I grew up in Jamaica, Queens- New York, in a middle class home. I was raised by both my parents, who were hard workers that migrated from the South. They overcame the barriers of poverty and racism and made a good life for themselves. Because they lacked certain opportunities growing up, they were determined to provide my brother and myself with the opportunities that they didn't have. I guess you could say my mother was like a stage mom. She had me enrolled in every activity you could think of from singing, dancing, and acting, to swimming, judo and tennis. She was determined that her kids would be well-rounded and successful. She raised me to have a ton of drive and ambition, because every day she had something different planned for us to do.

All was well in my household until high school years when I rebelled. I was introduced to the hood by my first boyfriend, a well known drug dealer, and that was all she wrote! I was hooked into life in the fast lane. I guess you could say, overnight I turned into the ultimate hustler. Instead of pursuing the plans that my parents had established for me, I choose to live a ghetto fabulous lifestyle. That's how I got caught up.

BPM: Tell us why many people refer to you as a "get-money" chick?
I grew up around many of my friends who became successful rappers, music industry executives, and just plain die hard hustlers. During my era street-life was glorified. I was mesmerized by this lifestyle and became determined to get a piece of the pie. I always had a knack for business, so it was easy to jump in the game. When I got my first taste of money and I saw the notoriety that it brought me, I fell in love with money. My passion caused me to quickly flourish, so I did a lot in a short period of time. By the time I was 25 years old, I was a multimillionaire and a lead financial go-to-person in the hip-hop music industry.

Seeking after the accolades of my peers, I hung out with gangsters, rap stars and professional sports figures. I drove fancy cars, rocked all the latest fashions, and I had a blinged out jewelry collection that would put a seasoned, materialistic, rapper to shame. I became driven by material gain. If a new car came out, I had to be the one amongst all my peers to have it first. I drove a Maybach way before Rick Ross was ever a rapper. When I came through, I made it my business to turn heads. Besides the fact, I was a female doing big things. That was rare, so I stood out. My insatiable drive kept me shooting for the stars. That's how I became referred to as a "get-money" chick.


BPM: How did She's All Caught Up come about?
On July 16, 2008, I was sentenced to 12½ years in federal prison for my role in a 30 million dollar bank fraud scheme. Stripped of my notoriety and the external props that I used to cover my insecurities, I was left depressed and hopeless. With my back up against the wall, I had to do some serious soul searching to find my true "self." The question that kept repeating in my mind was: How did I get here?

As I examined my life, I begin to write my life story. That's how I started my healing process. Writing down my experiences helped me to pinpoint all the influences that swayed my way of thinking. This process also helped me to remove the mask of fake self-esteem that I hid behind for years, discover the beauty of my true "self," and dethrone the negative thinking patterns that I unconsciously picked up from others. My writing helped me to clearly see that I shared the same dilemmas as many other women. I wanted desperately to be loved and accepted. It was this strong desire that led me on a never ending chase, seeking fulfillment in all the wrong places. The chase caused me to make several poor choices that I would later regret.

A couple of years ago, I joined this public speaking group called C.H.O.I.C.E.S, at the prison where I am housed at. We go out into the community and speak to "at-risk" youth about the bad choices we made that led to our imprisonment. I recognized the power of my story after seeing the reaction it had on youth in the community. At the end of the engagements, teens would come up to me and tell me how they could relate to my story. They also expressed that they would take heed to my message and deter from crime. Some of them even had tears in their eyes. Watching their expressions enabled me to see that my story had the ability to change lives. This caused me to go back to the drawing table and reframe She's All Caught Up as a cautionary tale, pinpointing the bad choices I made and how they ultimately affected me.

BPM: Does your faith or education inspire your writing?
Yes my faith and my "street" education inspires my writing. After living the high-life and hitting rock bottom, I had to find a place of refuge. I gained inner peace from studying the Bible and spending time with God. Locked behind bars, I quickly realized that all the things I was chasing after weren't all they were cracked up to be. In prison, I was abandoned by many of the very people who I tried so hard to please.

Through my personal experiences, I got a real serious education, learning life’s lessons about people. With the help of my family and a few friends, I was able to document the road map that that I used to obtain emotional healing and restoration, in prison, and I created the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series. It is a three book, nondenominational, faith-based book series geared to empower incarcerated women to heal, recognize their potential and recapture their dreams (www.vocseries.com). Imprisoned women across the country have said my books have been essential in helping them heal and develop the faith they need to successfully transition back into society.

The Bible is the main source I utilize to gain wisdom and knowledge. It teaches that all sin comes with consequences, whether immediately or in the future. Ultimately, we reap what we sow. I share this message with my readers in hope that they won’t take the same route that I once took.

I believe God is using me in this season to be a vessel to educate and to enlighten His people to the severe consequences of living life in the fast lane. I pray that my book will be an instrument that empowers others and saves lives. I hope that by reading about my life and the ultimate result of my poor choices- imprisonment, my readers will avoid crime at all costs! Prison life isn't fun or easy! Although movies and music videos often glorify the life of men in prison, I assure you there is nothing cool about being locked behind bars. What I experience from day-to-day is real and very painful, especially as a woman who is a single mother of two children. It is very important to me to get that point across to my audience!

BPM: What legacy does your writing offer to future readers?
I believe future readers will be enlightened to African American culture during my era. This is very important because it is a part of our history. Through my story, future readers will be able to go back in time and see the customs, practices and influences of the early hip-hop generation. At the same time, they will recognize that even though times have changed life lessons and experiences remain the same. Therefore, I believe future readers will learn the same valuable lessons gained by today's readers in many years to come!

Visit Voices Books: http:/www.voicesbooks.com
Follow Jamila on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamilatdavis
Like Jamila on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorJamilaTDavis


The High Price I Had To Pay by Jamila T. Davis
Nonfiction Book » Biography » Political biography
Free Download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/324608

Purchase books at Amazon: http://amzn.com/0985580798

NOTICE: The following articles can be shared on your ezine, blog or website. Please keep the articles intact! Include all images, links, bylines, footnotes and credits with each posting. If you use any of the articles for your publication, please notify Ella D. Curry at: edc_dg@yahoo.com

ARTICLES by JAMILA T. DAVIS

Justice In Denial

Incarcerated Woman Takes A Stand Against Recidivism and Pleads For Help

In The Belly of The Beast

Life In Prison with Lauryn Hill (via EzineArticles.com)


Womenoverincarcerated.org is an online advocacy group created to educate the public about the rising epidemic of federally incarcerated women and the consequences of their imprisonment. It's focus is on exposing the gross injustice women face in the U.S. judicial system, and the disparities between state and federal, male and female, and minority and non-minority offenders.

WomenOverIncarcerated.org aims to challenge the absence of parole, which causes each federal prisoner to serve 85% of her sentence without recourse, and introduce alternatives.

Facts About Women In Prison

The female incarcerated population in the U.S. continues to grow at alarming rates. More women are entering the United States prison system than any other country in the world! According to the Sentencing Project's September 12, 2012 Fact Sheet, the number of incarcerated women in prison in the U.S. increased 646% between 1980 and 2010, rising from 15,118 to 112,797. Today there are more than 205,000 women incarcerated in our nation. Most of these women are mothers, and many of them are first time offenders.

Out of the 220,000 prisoners that the federal Bureau of Prisons houses, roughly 7% (approximately 14,500) are women. Behind the walls of prisons throughout our country, women of diverse backgrounds, races and creeds are serving lengthy sentences for federal offenses. For comparable charges, state offenders are serving significantly less sentences. Contrary to popular belief, these women are not violent offenders who pose a physical threat to our society. Most of them are nonviolent offenders who can be effectively rehabilitated through alternative means to incarceration.

Of greater concern, these women have been ripped away from their children and families, causing psychological and financial hardships. Unlike state prisoners, female federal prisoners are often housed in states far away from their residences. It is common for families to have to travel in excess of 500 miles to visit women in federal prison, because there are limited facilities that house these women. As a result, many federal female inmates only get to see their children a few times each year. Some, who lack the necessary finances, don't get to see their children at all! This vicious cycle of incarceration spirals yet another epidemic of youth vulnerable to criminal behavior, because of the lack of guidance and support from their maternal, parental figures.

Instead of paying their way forward and becoming productive members of society, these women are being "warehoused" in prisons throughout our nation, without receiving adequate programming to foster true rehabilitation. Instead of paying their debt back to society, tax payers are paying a hefty price to house these prisoners, and in many cases, also pay for the care of their children. In the case of females in federal prison, these figures add up quickly. The average cost to house each woman is approximately $30,000 a year, not including medical expenses. Utilizing this figure, it cost tax payers over $6.1 billion a year to house female offenders!

Female federal offenders often face discrimination in the U.S. judicial system. Females are more likely to receive greater sentences than their male counterparts who commit the same exact crimes, especially for white collar crimes. As federal inmates, these women are left to serve 85% of their sentence without any recourse. Unlike state prisoners, federal inmates do not receive parole. As a result, the large population of female offenders experience over-crowdedness and lack of access to effective programming, and often insufficient health care. These women are simply housed in prison, for significant periods of time, serving no productive purpose. Does any of this make any sense? You be the judge!

Women offenders often face different circumstances than the average male offender, yet the rehabilitation efforts for both males and females in the U.S. justice system is typically treated as one and the same. Although women offenders have victimized others through their crimes, most of them are also victims. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics published in December of 1999, 57.2 percent of females reported abuse before admission to prison. These women have special needs that MUST be addressed! Harsh punishments without effective programming will NOT remedy these issues! There must be a CHANGE! If not, our entire society is negatively effected!

Instead of locking mothers away and throwing away the key, at great expense to the general public, womenoverincarcerated.org believes these women, of every demographic, deserve a second chance to restore their lives and correct their paths. There are more adequate solutions for rehabilitation than are currently available. These alternatives will save tax payer dollars, and at the same time offer female offenders an opportunity to become productive, contributing, members of society.

Help us to reunite families and create change! Your support will make a difference!

Click HERE to find out the true faces of the women serving time in federal prison.

Jamila T. Davis, born and raised in Jamaica Queens, New York, is a motivational speaker and the creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series for incarcerated women. Through her powerful delivery, Davis illustrates the real-life lessons and consequences that result from poor choices. She also provides the techniques and strategies that she personally has utilized to dethrone negative thinking patterns, achieve emotional healing, and restoration and growth.

Davis is no stranger to triumphs and defeats. By the age of 25, she utilized her business savvy and street smarts to rise to the top of her field, becoming a lead go-to person in the Hip-Hop Music Industry and a self-made millionaire through real estate investments. Davis lived a care-free lavish lifestyle, surrounded by rap stars, professional sports figures and other well known celebrities.

All seemed well until the thorn of materialism clouded Davis’ judgments and her business shortcuts backfired, causing her self-made empire to crumble. Davis was convicted of bank fraud, for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme, and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison. Davis’ life was in a great shambles as she faced the obstacle of imprisonment. While living in a prison cell, stripped of all her worldly possessions, and abandoned by most of her peers, she was forced to deal with the root of her dilemmas- her own inner self.

Davis searched passionately for answers and strategies to heal and regain her self-confidence, and to discover her life’s purpose. She utilized her formal training from Lincoln University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along with her real-life post-incarceration experiences and documented her discoveries. Revealing the tools, techniques and strategies she used to heal, Davis composed a series of books geared to empower women.

Davis’ goal is to utilize her life experiences to uplift, inspire and empower her audience to achieve spiritual and emotional wholeness and become their very best, despite their dilemmas and past obstacles. Visit Voices Books: http:/www.voicesbooks.com.
Order books by Jamila here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/377986


Follow Jamila on Facebook and Twitter:

Follow Jamila on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamilatdavis
Like Jamila on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorJamilaTDavis


The High Price I Had To Pay by Jamila T. Davis
Nonfiction Book » Biography » Political biography
Free Download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/324608

Purchase books at Amazon: http://amzn.com/0985580798

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