Jamila T. Davis Should Be Known For More Than Just Being The "Bank Fraud Queen"
To those of you who don't know, Jamila T. Davis is an African American woman from Jamaica Queens, New York. She's an author, motivational speaker, and tv personality. She was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for mortgage fraud but only served nine years behind bars. Now, Jamila goes all over the country speaking and motivating people, sharing her story of making poor choices, suffering the consequences, and emerging from the bottom back to the top. Jamila's story is also featured on BET+, American Gangster: Trap Queens.
From an interview with talk show, Sister Circle, Jamila grew up in a loving two parent home where her mom was a teacher and her father was a transit supervisor. She was incredibly smart, but extremely sheltered. She was attracted to bad boys and the fast life, so in high school, she began dating a 16-year old drug dealer. From there, she dabbled in many different hustles. Once she became use to the "lifestyle," she proceeded to venture into the "blue collar" side of things. After high school, Jamila had already became a seasoned professional in the real estate industry, catering to high profile clients in the hip hop world.
Jamila was eventually taught the ins and outs of the real estate hustle by two white males. According to Forbes.com, mortgage broker Nicholas Infantino and Lehman Brothers Bank were affiliated with Jamila and the scandal. However, when it came down to sentencing for the crime, Jamila was dealt the shorter end of the stick.She received 12 1/2 years while the white male accomplices only received two.
Behind bars, Jamila had time to reflect and change her life around. SHe wrote over a dozen books and is the co-founder of Women Over Incarcerated (WOI), an advocacy group created to shed light on injustice, provide resources to women in prison and female returning citizens, empowering them to successfully transition back into society and reunite with their families. In an interview with Blackenterprise.com, Jamila says there she met singer Lauryn Hill, who was serving time in 2014 for tax evasion. She says Hill really inspired her and helped her to start her advocacy work, even coming up with the name for it. We know that inequality has been the forefront of African Americans and African American women since the beginning of time. Jamila's story gives you a closer look at that inequality, but her story also gives you a look at how you fight that inequality. Her story isn't over as she continues to spread information and knowledge that can only help African Americans on their road to redemption and success.
Follow her @jamilatdavis
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