Opinion

Andre Mouton Is A Model of What the Formerly Incarcerated Can Achieve

Published

10 years ago

March 7, 2016

By Troy Williams

With all the news in mainstream media about the dangers of so many men returning home from prison, you would think that it would not be hard to find success stories.

But that is not the case.

One person, in whose footsteps I’d like to follow, is Andre Mouton, a resident of Oakland, father and primary care taker of his five daughters, a student in a masters degree program, and the founder of S.A.F.E., Student Advocates For Education.

After spending two years in Folson State prison Mouton was released in 1992. In 2005, he applied for a pardon but would have to wait another six years before Governor Jerry Brown recognized his efforts to keep young men out of the prison pipeline.

The pardon from Governor Brown, which reads in part that Mouton was granted a full pardon because “since his release from prison, he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibiting good moral character, and conducted himself as a law abiding citizen.”

As someone who is formerly incarcerated and desires to change perceptions about the men who return home from prison, I was most interested in Mouton’s work with youth in the community.

From what I’ve been told by youth who participate in S.A.F.E., Mouton has been someone who shows up when they’re in need, provides resources, time and money out of his own pocket to assist them in their personal and educational development.

One participant named Maurice Patterson dropped out of high school. When he decided to re-enroll, the district told him that he had aged out.

That’s when Mouton and his organization went into action. Because of his knowledge of school district rules and regulations, and more importantly his willingness to sit with youth and understand their unique circumstances, he made sure that Patterson had the educational opportunity.

He eventually graduated from high school with honors and is currently making plans to attend college.

S.A.F.E. operated from 2000 until Mouton was injured in 2012. “That’s when I turned my efforts toward furthering my own education,” he said. “Now I am restarting the organization because youth continue to lack advocacy, and we need leadership that will advocate for our them.”

Mouton has earned an AA degree in political science and liberal arts a Bachelors of Arts in political science with a pre-law option. He is currently enrolled in a masters program in public administration at Cal State East Bay.

The S.A.F.E. program offers participants a one-on-one mentorship, rewards for academic performance, and a cross-country road trip to educational and historical sites, including Black colleges in Atlanta, GA.

Mouton says S.A.F.E has a 95 percent graduation rate, making it an excellent model for the City of Oakland, Oakland Public Schools, and community-based organizations to create a more holistic approach to the challenges facing African Americans and Latino in Oakland.

“The approach,” Mouton said, “should be of single mind and direction without bureaucracy, red tape and politics.”

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Advice

COMMENTARY: If You Don’t Want Your ‘Black Card’ Revoked, Watch What You Bring to Holiday Dinners

From Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s Day, whether it’s the dining room table or the bid whist (Spades? Uno, anyone?) table, your card may be in danger.

Published

14 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

The ‘aunties’ playing cards. iStock photo by Andreswd.

By Wanda Ravernell
Post Staff

From the fourth week of November to the first week in January, if you are of African descent, but particularly African American, certain violations of cultural etiquette will get your ‘Black card’ revoked.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s Day, whether it’s the dining room table or the bid whist (Spades? Uno, anyone?) table, your card may be in danger.

It could take until Super Bowl Sunday for reinstatement.

I don’t know much about the card table, but for years I was on probation by the ‘Aunties,’ the givers and takers of Black cards.

How I Got into Trouble

It was 1970-something and I was influenced by the health food movement that emerged from the hippie era. A vegetarian (which was then considered sacrilegious by most Black people I knew) prepared me a simple meal: grated cheese over steamed broccoli, lentils, and brown rice.

I introduced the broccoli dish at the Friday night supper with my aunt and grandfather. She pronounced the bright green broccoli undone, but she ate it. (I did not, of course, try brown rice on them.)

I knew that I would be allowed back in the kitchen when she attempted the dish, but the broccoli had been cooked to death. (Y’all remember when ALL vegetables, not just greens, were cooked to mush?)

My Black card, which had been revoked was then reattained because they ate what I prepared and imitated it.

Over the decades, various transgressions have become normalized. I remember when having a smoked turkey neck instead of a ham hock in collard greens was greeted with mumblings and murmurings at both the dining room and card tables. Then came vegan versions with just olive oil (What? No Crisco? No bacon, at least?) and garlic. And now my husband stir fries his collards in a wok.

But No Matter How Things Have Changed…

At holiday meals, there are assigned tasks. Uncle Jack chopped raw onions when needed. Uncle Buddy made the fruit salad for Easter. My mother brought the greens in winter, macaroni salad in summer. Aunt Deanie did the macaroni and cheese, and the great aunts, my deceased grandmother’s sisters, oversaw the preparation of the roast beef, turkey, and ham. My father, if he were present, did the carving.

These designations/assignments were binding agreements that could stand up in a court of law. Do not violate the law of assignments by bringing some other version of a tried-and-true dish, even if you call it a new ‘cheese and noodle item’ to ‘try out.’ The auntie lawgivers know what you are trying to do. It’s called a menu coup d’état, and they are not having it.

The time for experiments is in your own home: your spouse and kids are the Guinea pigs.

My mother’s variation of a classic that I detested from that Sunday to the present was adding crushed pineapple to mashed sweet potatoes. A relative stops by, tries it, and then it can be introduced as an add-on to the standard holiday menu.

My Aunt Vivian’s concoctions from Good Housekeeping or Ladies’ Home Journal magazine also made it to the Black people’s tables all over the country in the form of a green bean casserole.

What Not to Do and How Did It Cross Your Mind?

People are, of all things holy, preparing mac ‘n’ cheese with so much sugar it tastes like custard with noodles in it.

Also showing up in the wrong places: raisins. Raisins have been reported in the stuffing (makes no sense unless it’s in a ‘sweet meats’ dish), in a pan of corn bread, and – heresy in the Black kitchen – the MAC ‘n’ CHEESE.

These are not mere allegations: There is photographic evidence of these Black card violations, but I don’t want to defame witnesses who remained present at the scene of the crimes.

The cook – bless his/her heart – was probably well-meaning, if ignorant. Maybe they got the idea from a social media influencer, much like Aunt Viv got recipes from magazines.

Thankfully, a long-winded blessing of the food at the table can give the wary attendee time to locate the oddity’s place on the table and plan accordingly.

But who knows? Innovation always prevails, for, as the old folks say, ‘waste makes want.’ What if the leftovers were cut up, dipped in breadcrumbs and deep fried? The next day, that dish might make it to the TV tray by the card table.

An older cousin – on her way to being an Auntie – in her bonnet, leggings, T-shirt, and bunny slippers and too tired to object, might try it and like it….

And if she ‘rubs your head’ after eating it, the new dish might be a winner and (Whew!) everybody, thanks God, keeps their Black cards.

Until the next time.