Ameena matthews biography images

Home » Community Leadership. The film followed three violence interrupters over the course of a year and their journey to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once engaged in. Employed by the organization Ceasefire, the interrupters used their street cred to stop conflict before it escalated into foul play. Matthews grew up in a tight-knit family in Chicago.

She was raised by her grandmother and is the daughter of Jeff Fort, who has been labeled by the media as a notorious gang leader, the co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang, and founder of its El Rukn clique. At the age of 15, Matthews left home and took care of herself by selling drugs. After over 15 years of navigating the ups and downs of that lifestyle, she decided to make a change and embrace a life steeped in spirituality and making a difference in her community.

She married Shaykh Dr. Matthews has two sons from previous relationships.

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In , Matthews received a call from Tio Hardiman. At the time he was the Executive Director of Ceasefire. He heard about her on the streets and felt she would be an excellent candidate to help interrupt violence. And she was. She would go out there and get in the face of some of the toughest guys in Chicago and work things out. At the same time, I never met anyone that had such a passion for the work.

I used to call her the 21st century Harriet Tubman.