Free Web space and hosting from 00family.com
Search the Web

BACK TO SOCIETY (BTS), INC.

BTS, Inc. Home Page What the Community Must Do... Community Empowerment! Community Empowerment and Organizing... Community Systems Safe Communities Resurrection Leadership Goals

LuQman M. Abdullah

LuQman M. Abdullah is Senior Vice President of BACK TO SOCIETY (BTS), INC. 501 (c) (3) nonprofit tax exempt organization, and Family Preservation Social Worker for Youth Service, Inc. LuQman is a community organizer who challenges people to act on behalf of their common interests. He empower people to act by developing shared relationships, understandings, and tasks which enable them to gain new resources, new understanding of their interests, and new capacity to use these resources on behalf of their interests. Background Information LuQman M. Abdullah is an international motivational speaker and inspirational coach for many audiences, community groups, schools, universities, religious institutions, corporations and the incarcerated. Advocacy: Pleading the cause of others. The strategy for making social change that is complementary to others-organizing, development, services delivery, work, etc. Inspiring: LuQman's testimony of overcoming oppression in prison to becoming a succcessful organizer, educator, writer, lecturer and entreprenuer, is an example for everyone who hears him, inspiring them to re-evaluate their lives, who they are, and who they want to be. Youth and adults alike respond powerfully to his message, and leave motivated, pledging to feed their mind, knowledge; their body, strength and their spirit, faith. Birth Place Piladelphia, PA Philadelphia Accomplishments Mr. Abdullah has a record of success in proposal writing, program development, community organizing/planning, economic development, and commercial development/ entrepreneurial training, life–skills training, project implementation and job recreation. LuQman Abdullah is the founder of Lambs Corp. (Learning Adolescents Motivated by Success Community Oriented Reform Program) in 1989. Mr. Abdullah is the former Director of Human Services for Renaissance Community Development Corporation, assisting the President/CEO in high level planning, proposal writing, program development, grant research & soliciting, workshop facilitating and consulting services. LuQman Abdullah is the facilitator of Temple University’s PASCEP Program, Community Organizing & Development Course (CEP #287). LuQman is an Advisory Board Member of PASCEP, Books Through Bars, Human Rights Coalition and MEE Productions (Motivational Educational Entertainment). He is a former Tutor for the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, grassroots activist, author of many essays and lecturer. LuQman M. Abdullah has a BA from Hampton University and Certificate in Community Economic Development from University of Delaware. Additional Information Strategic: Organizations, businesses, institutions, and individuals seeking to strengthen their strategic plans to better fulfill, create and improve on their mission can benefit from LuQman's expertise.

Let us unite to create a future for ourselves!

 Organization Information: 

Back To Society (BTS), Inc. is a non-profit, tax exempt 501 (C) (3), community-based organization incorporated in 1987.

 

Our organization operates in a collaborative effort with numerous community-based groups, businesses, public and private institutions and health organizations, as well as professionals throughout our targeted areas creating and promoting community based educational and economical development initiatives that achieve lasting economic viability; establishing strong healthy, thriving communities by providing affordable housing, educational and cultural opportunities, along with support services to community residents that provide access to resources.

 

Back To Society (BTS), Inc. has been instrumental in educational and business development/employment training, developing the best-trained workers and employers. BTS, Inc. has invested in the growth and development of our women and children through the development of our Community Organizing & Development Training Program, Push To Success Ministries, Youth Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment Program, Anti-Violence Awareness Program, Family Preservation, and Criminal Justice Initiatives.

 

Back To Society, Inc. through our employment and training component has successfully placed 200-260 low-income community residents on sole proprietorship opportunities with various institutions throughout the city of Philadelphia. Thus, creating full-time jobs and many business opportunities, and specialty licenses in… carpentry, electrical, welding, community development, anti-violence counseling, as well as apprenticeships. Back to Society, (BTS), Inc. has created a Human Service Department to provide and coordinate all of its social service activities.

 

a.)                Food Drive

b.)               Prison Outreach

c.)                Youth Entrepreneurial Training

d.)               Employment Training and Referral

e.)                Community Organizing & Development

f.)                 Senior Support Services

g.)               Transportation Services

h.)               Family Preservation/Counseling

i.)                 Anti-violence Advocacy

j.)                 Educational  & Technical Training

               k.)               Annual Children’s Events

From the Visionary to the Builder:

Russell L. Vance, Founder/President had a vision one day to give back to the community. Russell believed that we once lived in a healthy society but things changed. So, one day he said it is now time to go BACK TO SOCIETY, and from that point on the building began. Russell new that he had the vision but still needed someone who could build from his vision, so in 2003 after hearing many good things about the community outreach, family preservation, youth and proposal development strategies of LuQman, he embarded upon a mission to get him to become the builder of BACK TO SOCIETY (BTS), INC.

FIVE POINT PLATFORM

POINT #1:       SERVICE, PEACE, AND JUSTICE:            We seek to be selfless, sharing and providing assistance to everyone in the need of basic necessities, and desire peace in our communities.  We firmly support community efforts to promote unity among the many people, and other organizations of different communities; we believe that it is imperative that members of our community come together for our common survival.             Justice is a prime condition for peace.  We believe, and also recognize, that in order to achieve “peace” in our communities that there must be real justice, particularly in the economic aspect:  Massive resources will be necessary before “peace” can actually be achieved.  We firmly believe that “peace”, “justice”, and “service” are attainable goals, but only if we consciously and consistently work together to achieve them.            We demand economic justice for all people:  (1) A fair distribution of the wealth, (2.) Equal access to finance capital and community control of modern technology. (3) An end to high lending practices of financial institutions when it comes to poor communities, (4) Full and fair employment and compensation for all working people.              We believe that the economic empowerment of our communities can be achieved immediately though “community economic development” and its focus on establishing independent, community based economic, social cultural and political institutions that serve the collective needs of our communities.
POINT #2:     FOOD, HOUSING, MEDICAL CARE AND QUALITY EDUCATION:             We support the human right to food, decent and affordable housing, quality medical care and education. We believe housing and medical care must be a part of the public domain and exempt from the competitive forces of the market place.            We believe in educating our community to promote community involvement for social change, a sense of self worth within the members of our community, and reshape value systems to create a positive environment to live and learn in.  This educational process begins at birth and continues throughout life.  Childcare and development institutions must be fully integrated into a comprehensive education system based in and controlled by our communities, in order to prepare our youth to assume meaningful and productive roles in this society.POINT #3:      RESPECT:            We believe that it is important to establish rules governing the treatment of men/women, children, and elders in the community to enhance the harmony, keeping in mind nature of human behavior, as to maintain respect of each member in the community, and all people.POINT #4:      ELIMINATE DESTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS AND FORCES:            We want to eliminate within the community, the destruction and human devastation caused by destructive elements and forces, whether they be so-called illegal drugs, alcohol, violent crime or brutality.  We believe that members of our community aren’t the only people directly or indirectly responsible for the massive infusion of so-called criminal elements, which causes medical, social and economic problems, contributing to the wide spread despair and hopelessness among the broad masses of people, particularly among the youth.             We believe that poor people have been subject to selective discriminatory prosecutorial practices and policies that originate from a legislative proves inherently hostile to the interest and needs of poor people.  We believe that the money spent to imprison youth can be more effectively used to educate, train, and rehabilitate those who in reality are victims of racism.  We demand freedom for all our family members held unjustly in institutions.            We demand and seek an immediate end to all forms of police brutality, murder, and abuses of their power in our communities.  Any one of us could become a victim of these unjust practices at any moment. POINT #5:      RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE:            We believe that all people come from a rich and diverse spiritual tradition.  Although not without criticism, we support and appreciate the role of religious teachings in our communities.  We advocate religious and cultural tolerance based on a mutual respect and regard for truth, justice and human compassion.  We recognize that the institutions of the church, masjids, and temples have traditionally played a leading role in our communities for peace, freedom, and justice.  But, religious faith and belief is not enough, they must be tied to action in the inspiring tradition of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (Peace be unto them).  We must instruct our youth, by example, as to the true meaning of individual ethics and social responsibility.  We want freedom for all people and oppressed communities throughout the world.   

Developed By:

LuQman M. Abdullah

Senior Vice President

 

Speaking Engagements, Proposal Development, Consultation, or Courses Offered:

www.phila.gov,www.whitehouse.gov,www.sba.gov

 

Team Learning

Virtually all important decisions occur in groups. Teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning units. Unless a team can learn, the organisation cannot learn. Team learning focusses on the learning ability of the group. Adults learn best from each other, by reflecting on how they are addressing problems, questioning assumptions, and receiving feedback from their team and from their results. With team learning, the learning ability of the group becomes greater than the learning ability of any individual in the group.

Shared Visions

To create a shared vision, large numbers of people within the organisation must draft it, empowering them to create a single image of the future. All members of the organisation must understand, share and contribute to the vision for it to become reality. With a shared vision, people will do things because they want to, not because they have to.

Mental Models

Each individual has an internal image of the world, with deeply ingrained assumptions. Individuals will act according to the true mental model that they subconsciously hold, not according to the theories which they claim to believe. If team members can constructively challenge each others' ideas and assumptions, they can begin to perceive their mental models, and to change these to create a shared mental model for the team. This is important as the individual's mental model will control what they think can or cannot be done.

Personal Mastery

Personal mastery is the process of continually clarifying and deepening an individual's personal vision. This is a matter of personal choice for the individual and involves continually assessing the gap between their current and desired proficiencies in an objective manner, and practising and refining skills until they are internalised. This develops self esteem and creates the confidence to tackle new challenges.

The Fifth Discipline - Systems Thinking

The cornerstone of any learning organisation is the fifth discipline - systems thinking. This is the ability to see the bigger picture, to look at the interrelationships of a system as opposed to simple cause-effect chains; allowing continuous processes to be studied rather than single snapshots. The fifth discipline shows us that the essential properties of a system are not determined by the sum of its parts but by the process of interactions between those parts.

The Laws of the Fifth Discipline

Behaviour to Discourage

  1. Regard any new idea from below with suspicion -- because it is new and because it is from below
  2. Express criticisms freely and withhold praise (that keeps people on their toes). Let them know they can be fired at any time
  3. Treat problems as a sign of failure
  4. Make decisions to reorganise or change policies in secret and spring them on people unexpectedly (that also keeps people on their toes)
  5. Above all, never forget that you, the higher-ups, already know everything important about business.

This is the reason systems thinking is fundamental to any learning organisation; it is the discipline used to implement the disciplines. Without systems thinking each of the disciplines would be isolated and therefore not achieve their objective. The fifth discipline integrates them to form the whole system, a system whose properties exceed the sum of its parts. However, the converse is also true - systems thinking cannot be achieved without the other core disciplines: personal mastery, team learning, mental models and shared vision. All of these disciplines are needed to successfully implement systems thinking, again illustrating the principal of the fifth discipline: systems should be viewed as interrelationships rather than isolated parts.

  1. Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions. Solutions shift problems from one part of a system to another.
  2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back. `Compensating feedback': well intentioned interventions which eventually make matters worse.
  3. Behaviour grows better before it grows worse. The short-term benefits of compensating feedback are seen before the long-term disbenefits.
  4. The easy way out usually leads back in. Familiar solutions which are easy to implement usually do not solve the problem.
  5. The cure can be worse than the disease. Familiar solutions can not only be ineffective; sometimes they are addictive and dangerous.
  6. Faster is slower. The optimal rate of growth is much slower than the fastest growth possible.
  7. Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space. The area of a system which is generating the problems is usually distant to the area showing the symptoms.
  8. Small changes can produce big results-but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious. Problems can be solved by making small changes to an apparently unrelated part of the system.
  9. You can have your cake and eat it too - but not at once. Problems viewed from a systems point of view, as opposed to a single snapshot, can turn out not to be problems at all.
  10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants. A systems' properties depend on the whole.
  11. There is no blame. The individual and the cause of their problems are part of a single system.

An organisation which is not a learning one also displays behaviours, however these should definitely not be encouraged. Rosabeth Moss Kanter studied a range of large Americam corporations and came up with rules for stifling initiative :