Greetings Donors,

My name is David Pimentel, and I am Vice President/Co-founder of Impoverished Knowledge Advocacy Network Inc. a.k.a. IKAN, Brooklyn, NY is my birthplace; Camden, NJ is where I grew up for the most part. My four siblings and I witnessed the struggles our single mother endured to provide for her family as a poor minority woman, and her resilience, determination, work-ethic, and integrity provided us, her children, with our very first education. As time passes, appreciation for my mother's strength grows inside, because as a minority male I have experienced my own hardships, but the inequalities that women face in the U.S. — particularly poor non-white women — are too blatant and egregious to only generalize the plight of all those living through poverty and disenfranchisement.
Our aim at IKAN is to provide disadvantaged people with as many resources as we can accrue for the purpose of educating and empowering those that have been underrepresented in politics, underserved in justice, ostracized in society, ridiculed in media, overly exploited in cheap labor, and harmfully discriminated against by law enforcement.
My 29th birthday recently passed, marking the ninth one I spent in prison. I am incarcerated because I intervened when I discovered my younger sister was being forced into transactional sex. The individual exploiting her died during our encounter. Turning myself in for the crime committed was helpful in allowing a 12-year plea to be possible, and I accepted it being mindful that someone died because of my actions, and because I did not feel that a jury would view my actions as justified — especially not with a court-appointed attorney. My older brother and co-defendant took a 17-year plea for his involvement in the case. My younger sister, a survivor of the horrific realities that sex trafficking entails, was persuaded by her court-appointed lawyer to take a plea of 25 years in prison! So, in one tragic episode my mother lost three of five children to the legal system.
This background is being disclosed for donors to understand that my family and I represent millions of impoverished people living though adverse life experiences. I take full accountability for my past transgressions, and in the pursuit of redemption I have made significant progress in my education while in prison, which an associate degree in Liberal Arts addressed to me from Bard College will validate. Establishing a non-profit organization that can benefit millions of people in need is another step along the right path.
I am an advocate for the knowledge that exists in poor communities. Jay-Z, Eminem, Nicki Ninaj, and Tyler Perry to name a few, are exceptional talents that escaped poverty, but they also signify versions of themselves that remain shackled by poverty, and who either died, or are currently serving prison sentences, or are struggling to survive desolate circumstances. Now is the time to update what we are teaching; update how we are learning including the setting & methodology; upscaling exposure to different cultures through curriculum; providing evidence of the powerful implications that involve all members in our democracy in the development of it can have on our society. At IKAN, we don’t have all the solutions to the many inequalities we aim to address. However, we are ready to involve those living in poverty who are waiting for the chance to be heard in the necessary conversations to produce solutions.
Together, we can amplify the voices of the most suppressed, ensuring they are finally heard by the power structures that have silenced them for far too long. The stories, knowledge, claims, ingenuity and potential of impoverished people — particularly poor nonwhites, and of those, women — need to be sought out and protected lest they be destroyed — again — and we be left to believe we are inferior in our capacity to add to social thought and progression. The journey to build Impoverished Knowledge Advocacy Network Inc. a.k.a. IKAN into what is being described will be my life’s work and passion. Thanks to all who join me along the way in advance.
Sincerely,
David Pimental