Friends of Justice

DO JUSTICE. LOVE MERCY. WALK HUMBLY.

Alan Bean: Executive Director. Dr. Bean was finishing his first novel and serving churches as interim pastor when the Drug Sting devastated Tulia. His articulate public protests resulted in him being “freed” from employment to work for local, state and national justice reform. Since the spring of 2000 Alan has served as Executive Director of Friends of Justice.
Most recently Dr. Bean researched and organized the narrative and the families of Jena LA, bringing public scrutiny to Jena, resulting in the biggest civil rights protest since the March on Washington.
Alan is the author of Taking out the Trash in Tulia, Texas, an insider’s account of the role Friends of Justice played in reversing one of the most egregious injustices in recent American history, an is looking for a publisher. Dr. Bean is currently working with families in Bunkie and Lafayette, Louisiana who have been the victims of wrongful prosecution, and receives daily pleas for help from across the nation.

David Carlton Hughes: Since October 2007. Co-President. David is a Dallas attorney who handles both criminal and civil cases. A veteran of over 140 jury trials, David graduated from Baylor Law School in 1982 and practiced in Corpus Christi and Austin before moving to Dallas with his family. David’s interest in criminal justice reform flows from his professional and personal experience with the inequities of the legal system.

HK Procter: Since October 2007. Co-President. HK is a retired manager with Pepsi Co. with a lifelong interest in race relations. A native of Mexia, Tx, HK has spent most of his adult life in Dallas.

William Julius Wilson: since May 2008.  A leading sociologist, Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University.  Bill Wilson is the author of numerous publications about race and inequality, including “The Truly Disadvantaged”, “When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor,” and “The Bridge Over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics.”  A MacArthur Prize Fellow from 1987 to 1992, Wilson is also the recipient of the 1998 Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the United States.  In June 1996 he was selected by Time magazine as one of America’s 25 Most Influential People.

Lydia Bean: Strategy and Development. Lydia has been an active Founding member of Friends of Justice. While working as a vounteer organizer for Friends of Justice, she developed a youth leadership training program for children affected by the incarceration of a family member, called Power Corps. Lydia currently spends countless hours assisting her father, Dr. Bean in program strategy as well as developing potential allies and funding for Friends of Justice. Lydia is finishing a PhD in Sociology at Harvard University, writing her dissertation on religion and public life in Canada and the United States. She is a founding member of the think tank advancing progressive ideas and strategy, New Vision, advises the Christian movement Sojourners, and is involved in Christian social justice organizing in the Boston area.

Tory Pegram: Since October 2007. Tory worked closely with the Jena community to organize, strategize, and protest. At the request of the parents of the Jena 6, Tory founded and coordinated the work of the Jena 6 LaSalle Parish Legal Working Group, a network of over 100 lawyers, law firms, law schools and law students working together to provide support to the defendant’s legal teams and to thoroughly examine evidence of racial injustice built into the school system, criminal justice system, electoral process, and other governmental systems in Jena. Previously with the Louisiana ACLU, Tory now works with the Angola Three Project in New Orleans.

J. Michael Carr: Since October 2007. J. Michael Carr, Jr. is a social entrepeneur with an extensive backgound in management. A native of Chicago, J. Michael grew up on the city’s South Side. As a cancer survivor who believes in the power of positive thinking, Mr. Carr established Fathers for the Future, a foundation aimed at assisting young fathers with economic and workforce development. An accomplished musician, J. Michael possesses a thorough knowledge of the histoy of jazz and hip hop.

Rafiki Cai: Since October 2007. Rafiki Cai is an expert in internet technology who became interested in criminal justice reform in response to a string of murders in Atlanta during the mid-1980s. a resident of Palmdale, CA who grew in in Chicago, Rafiki is the founder of Digital Freedom Institute, has worked as consultant for Tavis Smiley, Jesse Jackson and the National Black United Fund and describes himself as a “visionary technologist and consultant, dedicated to the empowermen of people and communities, through the creative leveraging of technology, financial literacy and regenerative economics.”

Thelma Johnson: Ms. Johnson, a founding member of Friends of Justice, has experienced first-hand the injustice of our justice system, spending time behind bars and watching a son, two nephews, and long-time friend, Joe Moore sent off for long sentences on trumped up charges. Thelma, a retired cook and club owner, is the unofficial “Auntie” of Tulia’s black community. Thelma has traveled extensively with Friends of Justice and has spent long hours counseling many of the young people involved in the Tulia drug sting.

Donna Nassor: Donna joined the Friends of Justice Board in Jan. 2007. A practicing attorney from Hackensack New Jersey, Donna also serves as Vice President of an electrical company and an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University. Donna has long been associated with peace and justice work and met Friends of Justice board members Freddie Brookins Jr., Thelma Johnson, and Alan and Nancy Bean at a Fellowship of Reconciliation conference in Los Angeles in 2004. A few months later, she showed Freddie Brookins Jr. and Alan Bean around the Big Apple. Donna is currently a Ph.D. candidate in psychology with a concentration in social transformation.

Ann Colomb, a housewife and community organizer, joined the Friends of Justice board in January 2007. In 2006, Ann and three of her sons were wrongfully convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of several dozen federal inmates. Following the aggressive intervention of Friends of Justice, Ann and her sons were completely vindicated and released to their families. Already, Ann has worked with Friends of Justice on cases in Jena and Bunkie, Louisiana.

Maida Asofsky: Since 2004, Maida has served as the Houston Regional Director of the ACLU of Texas. After graduating from law school in 1979, Ms. Asofsky worked as a trial attorney in the New York State Attorney General’s office (1979-1990), in the City of Houston Department of Law (1990-1992) and in a private law practice (1992-2004). Apart from her work with the ACLU, Maida is also actively involved in the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Family Service, and the Jewish Community Center.

Charles Kiker: Treasurer. Dr. Kiker and his wife Patricia had just retired to their home county after 40 years wandering the continent as a Baptist minister and teacher when the Sting came down. Charles has traveled to places like New York, Atlanta and Kansas City and the Texas legislature, telling the Tulia story and speaking out for criminal justice reform. Recently, Charles has developed an interest in alternative energy as a job-creating dynamo for hardscrabble communities like Tulia, Texas. Charles currently serves as President of Amarillo ACLU and on the state board of the Texas ACLU.

Nancy Bean: Secretary. Nancy was a teacher at Tulia High School when Friends of Justice began its work and experienced daily the devastation the “criminalization of poverty” wreaks on young people. The Bean family had just moved to Nancy’s hometown of Tulia to expose their three children to extended family community and the diversity of small town life when they began to smell something rotten. Nancy now works as a Counselor with Arlington Schools. Nancy heads up our camping program for children with incarcerated family members and has traveled widely representing Friends of Justice.

Freddie Brookins Sr.: NAACP Liaison. Mr. Brookins, a longtime advocate for fairness and empowerment in Tulia’s black community, is President of the Tulia NAACP Branch. His son, Freddie, Jr. was sentenced to 20 years when he refused to plea bargain the truth. Freddie, a meatpacking supervisor, has made frequent trips on behalf of Friends of Justice, telling his story in places like New York, Washington DC, Houston and Austin.

Irene Favila: LULAC Liaison. Irene Favila is Deputy District Director for Region 1 with the League of United Latin American Citizens and was a member of the Plainview, TX City Council until her recent move to Hereford, TX. She has worked as a civil rights advocate for many years and has cooperated with Friends of Justice since we first made a presentation to LULAC in January of 2000. Irene was directly responsible for the coverage in the Los Angeles Times in the fall of 2000. Recently, Irene spearheaded a successful fight for Latino voting rights in Plainview, Texas.