Karen Gilliam faced many obstacles on her road to becoming an Author. She was born in the marital Unit of Bennie and Annie Gray. Growing up, her parents were always there for her and made sure she had everything she needed. Her parents did everything they could to shield her from harm, but as she got older, she gravitated to the wrong crowd. Nearly 30 years ago, she was convicted of Armed Robbery Party to a Crime. Karen spent one week in jail before she was released. During that time, everything her father had preached to her came rushing back to her. When Karen walked out of the Milwaukee County jail, she never looked back. She completed her 5 years of probation, then she enrolled in college. She now has a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master Degree in Human Services. She has worked in the Social Services field for greater than 20 years. She worked as an Economic Support Specialist which assisted individuals obtaining or maintaining their FoodShare and Medicaid Benefits; a Recovery Support Specialist assisting individuals with accessing community resources after retuning back to the community from a correctional institution; Disability Benefits Specialist assisting the disabled with applying for Social Security Benefits and a Juvenile Probation Officer. Karen is now a strong advocate for continuing education, taking up a trade or accessing and exploiting those hiding talents.
One Hundred Seventy-Nine Degrees
The AfterMath
by Karen Gray/Gilliam
One Hundred Seventy-Nine Degrees
The AfterMath
by Karen Gray/Gilliam
Published Apr 21, 2021
251 Pages
Genre: FICTION / Urban & Street Lit
Book Details
The year 1619 slavery was enacted with 13 colonies. Tribes were violently taken from their homes in Africa and transported to European Countries by water where they were chained together in the lower level of a boat. Africans were then auctioned off at the pier. Slave owners purchased the slaves, chained them together and walked them back to their place of residence. Slave handlers rode on horses on the side of 5 or 6 slaves chained together in hand and foot shackles as they walked them up to the plantation house where they were used as forced labor. Over 400 hundred years later, the same scenario is still being played out; 5 or 6 African American, all chained together in hand and foot shackles being walked into a Prison with several correctional officers walking on the side and back of them. Two people who grew up in the City of Milwaukee could no longer stomach what was happening to their beloved city. They accessed their means and pulled together their resources and transformed a city that was in destitute into a beautiful city. After reading One Hundred and Seventy-Nine Degrees, The Aftermath, ask yourself, did the means justify the ends.