pine bluff icvr, inc.
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Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc.
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MISSION: To improve the quality of life for all citizens with special concerns for youth




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Justice Sunday Service Around the Clock in

Pine Bluff Arkansas and the Nation

​Sunday, January 15, 2023


Broadmor Elementary School  "Anti-bullying and gun violence Prevention Contest winners." We thank Parents, Broadmor Principal, Teachers, Staff, for their PEN OR PENCIL supports in a PBIS and ESL activity.



The Fortieth Annual Original KingFest™ January 2023

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We decided to be "UNITED" PBICVR Coffee with the Chiefs

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Pine Bluff, Watson Chapel and Dollarway School District participate in PEN OR PENCIL "Nonviolence to No Violence" initiative. 

Students signing PEN OR PENCIL Pledge against violence - Youngsters who remain in the PEN OR PENCIL Transformation Initiative have a 97% High School graduation rate
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PEN OR PENCIL King Team prepare to march against gun violence downtown Main Street in Pine Bluff

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Bishop Henry Hearns, first African American Mayor of Lancaster California, also pastor/author visit with Pine Bluff High School students during the PBICVR MLK Original KINGFEST Week 

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PEN OR PENCIL students participate in critical thinking skills at Pine Bluff High School 

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Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter has his rights read to him by PEN OR PENCIL Students assisted by a POP mentor

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Testimonies from PBICVR PEN OR PENCIL King Team Alumni


                                    
What is the PBICVR PEN OR PENCIL King Team?
Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration, Inc. [PBICVR] serves as Arkansas’ Lead PEN OR PENCIL Affiliate. PEN OR PENCIL is a copy written national group mentoring program of the National Alliance of Faith and Justice [NAFJ] based in Washington, DC. with affiliates located around the nation whose aim is to encourage youngsters to choose education and to boycott bullying, violence and negative behaviors, and the things which can put them in the pipeline to the juvenile justice system and ultimately get in prison. THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 6-12TH
 
POP has a unique curriculum, which consists of an extensive menu of activities. POP has been endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies, aligned with Common Core Standards. POP is supported by empirical data which supports the program’s effectiveness.  
 
POP targets At-Risk, High-Risk, and Underserved Youth in Pine Bluff. POP uses service learning, Standards -National Social Studies, Common Core, Thematic vocabularies and View-Ins.  Youth who have moved beyond delinquent acts to achieve positive developmental outcomes despite difficult life circumstances often attribute their success to the influence of and natural bond with a caring adult. 
 
POP is being deployed in all three school districts in Pine Bluff and has the potential to reducing bullying, violence, and trauma by 5 to 10%. PBICVR needs your support of its programming click on DONATE; your support is much appreciated

PBICVR Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (PB VITA) Center collaborating with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) since 2006; prepares Federal and State income taxes for low to moderate income citizens free of charge. The PBICVR volunteers have returned millions of dollars back into the pockets of these families for more than a decade.

Pine Bluff Wealth Building Coalition Planning Meeting for 2020 PBWBC Grand Opening of VITA Sites
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PBICVR, Inc. Second annual "Shoes for Kids" drive. Contact our office to donate. 870.730.1131

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PBICVR POP student makes trip to Washington, DC and travels to Selma, Alabama for the 50th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday."

THE MOVING CLASSROOM

Pine Bluff PEN OR PENCIL carried students to Washington, DC and to Selma, Alabama on the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when civil rights activists were attacked by Alabama law enforcement as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge however, two weeks later Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and people from across the nation gathered to march hand in hand across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery for equal treatment and voting rights. The Interested Citizens for Voter Registration, Inc. Arkansas' lead Pen or Pencil affiliate for the National Alliance of Faith and Justice in Washington, DC is collaborating with Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site to participate in Selma to Montgomery, Alabama project called, Pen or Pencil "Let Me Read You Your Rights Moving Classroom," scheduled took place March 19-25, 2015. The Arkansas delegation and 150 youth plus two distinguished professionals representing law and education. "The centerpiece of the journey was the week-long “Walking and Riding Classroom” (54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama), which will reveal the determination of youth and adults to change the attitudes of a nation and to stimulate and empower participants to share with peers and a broader audiences the ongoing struggle for human rights." - Rev. Jesse C. Turner, NAFJ PEN OR PENCIL program director. 

PBICVR PEN OR PENCIL King Team complete community service project of weeding, cleaning and planting flowers in planters at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park - To join the King Team call 870.730.1131

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PBICVR POP King Team students visit Mr. Henri Linton at UAPB to learn African American history of AM&N/UAPB and Pine Bluff

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Mr. Codney Washington a PEN OR PENCIL mentor works with students at Robert F. Morehead Middle School

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POP Nonviolence to Noviolence rally at Watson Chapel Junior High School

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​Working with children from Nonviolence to No Violence March

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News & Updates

PBICVR PEN OR PENCIL students participate in a B.U.S. Boycott, go 40 days without negative behaviors and Let Me Read You Your Rights activity at Robert F. Morehead Middle School
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Rebecca Newby a former Pen or Pencil Student and current Watson Chapel School Teachers delivers a message in poetry about Pen or Pencil Movement.

​RESUME
Jesse C. Turner
Pine Bluff, AR 71601

EDUCATION

2010 Graduate Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire
Master of Science Degree Community Economic Development
1965-1968 Attended AM&N College/University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Major in Mathematics; Minor in Business Administration
Southeast High School, Pine Bluff - Indiana Street Elementary School, Pine Bluff
Work Experience
2012–Present Project Director National Alliance of Faith and Justice PEN OR PENCIL Initiative
2000-2012 U. S. Department of Justice Weed and Seed Program Coordinator
1968-1990 Cotton Belt Railroad, Pine Bluff, AR-Journeyman Electrician
1976-1977 Served as Mechanical Department Supervisor Cotton Belt Railroad
1981-1983 Pastor Union Grove Baptist Church, Gould, AR
1995-Present Pastor The Historic Elm Grove Baptist Church, Pine Bluff, AR
1986-Present Executive Director Interested Citizens for Voter Registration, Inc., Pine Bluff, AR
Community Involvement and Investment
Thirty years of community building experience; over a decade of crime prevention experience and training
2018 organized two-thousand students from all Pine Bluff School Districts in Community Marches and Assemblies calling for an end to community Gun Violence and Bullying on school campuses
Participated as member of research Study group with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and the Jefferson Comprehensive Care Systems, Inc., to address asthma disparities, among the economically disadvantaged and minority population in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County
Organized the Original PBICVR KINGFEST Celebration for Pine Bluff and Jefferson County honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Organized PBICVR Coffee with the Chiefs in Pine Bluff for Faith and Law Enforcement
2012 Organized Adopt A Grandparent Project
2004 Organized Y.E.S. Youth Empowerment Strategies
Spearheaded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Assembly in Pine Bluff in 1998. The fortieth year after Dr. King visited AM&N campus, now UAPB, to give the 1958 commencement address. The Youth Assembly generated approximately $400, 000 for the Pine Bluff economy
Spearheaded efforts to name a 140-acre park in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Organized and named the first monument in Arkansas in honor of Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Spearheaded efforts in 2003 to secure $3.2 million U. S. Transportation dollars to resurface University Drive/Highway 79 North, total project cost $6.7 million dollars
Led Efforts to name the southern by-pass in honor of the late Pine Bluff native and Civil Rights Attorney Wiley Austin Branton, Sr., the cost of the memorial - $100 million dollars. The Branton Interstate Highway is a first in Arkansas to honor an African American
Led the efforts to bring the US Department of Justice “Weed & Seed Crime Strategy” to Pine Bluff resulting in Pine Bluff receiving approximately $8 million dollars in funds and services
Organized the PBICVR Distinguish Service Awards Community Program to recognize Pine Bluff Law Enforcement, Firemen, Residents and Citizens for good deeds done in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County.
Recognized for Weed and Seed work as one of fifty best collaborations in America by the National Crime Prevention
Council in Washington DC along with Faith and Service Technical Network (FASTEN) the collaboration featured
Weed and Seed/PBICVR, Inc. in a document called, Faith Community and Criminal Justice Collaboration; a project
funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and featured in the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America (CADCA) “The
CADCA Strategizer 47.”
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs selected him as one of only a few Weed and Seed Site
Coordinators to attend leadership training at the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America [CADCA] Leadership
Forum in Oxen Hills, Maryland in 2010.
The Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) invited him to
Washington, DC to evaluate the National Weed and Seed Strategy.
Led efforts in 1997 to establish the PBICVR “Respect for Life Campaign” to reduce homicides in Pine Bluff and
Jefferson County, specifically among African Americans which resulted in a homicide free summer featured in the
New York Times newspaper and the USA today Magazine
Organized the relocation of the only WWII Monument in Arkansas which recognize African Americans WWII Veterans
Spearheaded effort to name the first Pine Bluff School District Administration building in honor of M. D. Jordan and R.
N. Chanay, two local African American educators.
Shepherd legislation through the Arkansas State House and Senate to reduce the use of Nitrous-Oxide for street
racing. The Bill is called "The Nitrous-Oxide Prohibition Act" or “Eric's Law” named in in honor of my nephew Eric
Lamont Turner.
Led efforts to name a school in honor of W. T. Cheney, the first local African American principal in the Pine Bluff
School District to receive this honor
Spearheaded the establishment of Pine Bluff PEN OR PENCIL, an affiliate with the National Alliance of Faith and
Justice. www.penorpencilmovement.org
Established Pine Bluff CARES Mentoring Movement in Pine Bluff in association with the National CARES Mentoring.
www.caresmentoring.org
Spearheaded efforts in the Pine Bluff School District to allow teachers and personnel to be off for the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Holiday
Established the PBICVR King Team in Pine Bluff, (youth between the ages of 12-19), who pledge to be drug free,
nonviolent, and commit to community service work
Led a successful effort to change the way Pine Bluff, Dollarway, and Watson Chapel elect School Board Members,
resulting in more African Americans being elected to serve on School Boards
Spearheaded efforts to change City Council election from at-large to Wards election which resulted in more African
representation on Pine Bluff City Council
1987 led successful boycott against Pine Bluff Commercial, the largest newspaper in Southeast Arkansas, aimed at
hiring more African American Reporters and fairer news coverage for the black community and UAPB. The Boycott
was the catalyst for the Journalism Program, the Radio Station (UAPB 89.7 FM) and TV24 Television Station
NOTABLES
2020 Appointed to the Federal 400 Years of African American History Commission Faith and Justice Subcommittee,
serves as Chairman of Faith Component
Board Member Emergency Food and Shelter Federal Program
Board of Visitors University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
President of Pine Bluff Faith Community Coalition Ministerial Alliance
Board Member Go Forward Pine Bluff, Inc.
Member Woodson Center – Community Affiliate Network (CAN)
Member of Justice Sunday National Steering Committee
2003 Served on the National Task Force on Black Church and Ministry to High Risk Youth 
2003 Honorary Co-chairman of the President’s Dinner Honoring President George W. Bush, invited by President
George and Barbara Bush
Led Tour of Pine Bluff for President George H.W. Bush [view at] https://www.c-span.org/video/?32583-1/republicanwalking-
tour-pine-bluff
Former Vice President Community Enterprises Development Corporation
Former member of Pine Bluff Jefferson County Equal Opportunity Commission, Inc.
Former member UAPB NCA/Higher Learning Commission Steering Committee
Former Chairman Quality Education Committee PBHS
Former Board of Trustees Southeast Arkansas College
Former Board of Directors Volunteer in Public Schools
Former Board of Director Pine Bluff Boys & Girls Club
Former Member Racial Disparities in Arkansas Criminal Justice Steering Committee Former Member Pine Bluff
Former Community Housing Resource Board - Former Member Parents as Teachers Advisory Committee
AWARDS
2019 Received Distinguish 400 Award from the Federal 400 Years of African American History Commission *The first
ever in Arkansas to receive this prestigious Award
2019 Work with African Americans Recognized in Congressional Record U.S. House of Representatives
2018 (October) Received the Spirit of Elijah Award from New Saint Hurricane Missionary Baptist Church
2018 (April) Received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major Innovation Service Award from the U.S. Department
of Education Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, in collaboration with the White House’s
Initiative for Educational Excellence for African-Americans for performing extraordinary everyday acts of service
focusing on innovative approaches serving students
2013 Received the Drum Major for Service Award from Corporation for National and Community Service in
Washington DC in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a signed letter from former President Barrack Obama
2015 The Rev. Jesse C. Turner Good Citizen Award National Alliance of Faith and Justice, a national award which
recognize community service
2013 Mary Church Terrell Award for Civil Rights
2013 Corporation for National and Community Service President’s Volunteer of the Year Award
2009 Corporation for National and Community Service President’s Volunteer of the Year Award
2006 Recipient of the first United States Attorney, Eastern District of Arkansas, Coin of Excellence Award
2006 Governor Mike Huckabee Certificate of Recognition in Public Service
2005-2006 Humanitarian of the Year Award, KAPPA Alpha Psi, Inc. Pine Bluff Alumni Chapter
2003 Served on the National Task Force on the Black Church and Ministry to High Risk Youth with the National
Religious Affairs Association of Black in Criminal Justice
2003 Honorary Co-chair for Republican of the President’s Dinner Honoring President George W. Bush; invited by
George H.W. and Barbara Bush
2002 Boys and Girls Club of America, Alumni Association of Jefferson County, Outstanding Contribution Award
1990 Recipient of the Arkansas Education Association Award for Civil Rights
1987 Recipient of the first NAACP Dove Award, highest honor given by Pine Bluff Branch
1985 Distinguish Achievement Award Recipient of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
1984 William Townsend Lodge Outstanding Citizen Award
1984 Certificate of Recognition of the United states Army Materiel Command Pine Bluff Arsenal
 
OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND WORK WITH

Arkansas -Governor Mike Huckabee, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton former Secretary of State, Governor Asa
Hutchinson, Arkansas Senators Dale Bumpers, Blanche L. Lincoln, John Boozman, Tom Cotton, Tim
Hutchinson, Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin, U.S. Representatives Beryl Anthony, Jay W.
Dickey, Jr. Bruce Westerman, French Hill, Virginia’s first African American Governor Douglas L. Wilder,
Governor Ralph Northan, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, Coretta Scott King, Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Ambassador and Mayor Andrew Young, Henry Hearns, first African American Mayor of Lancaster
California, Bernard LaFayette Jr. organizer of voter registration in Selma Alabama, as well as planner of the
March from Selma to Montgomery (Bloody Sunday) Shirley Chisholm the first black woman elected to the
United States Congress, the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, and the
first woman to appear in a United States presidential debate. Addie L. Richburg, President of National
Alliance of Faith and Justice the first executive director for the Federal 400 Years of African American
History Commission in Washington, DC,, Susan L. Taylor, Founder National CARES Mentoring in New
York, Harry Belafonte, Wiley A. Branton, Sr., Rev. E. V. Hill, one of the nation’s most powerful evangelist.
Tim Scott, first elected African American U.S. Senator in South Carolina, Michael Steele, first African
American Chairman of the National Republican Committee, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of U.S. House
of Representatives; Chester Hynes, first African American to serve on City Council in Pine Bluff, Leslie
Rutledge, Arkansas’ Attorney General among others.
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