Daughter of “American Gangster” Gives Birth to a Loving Legacy
Posted April 8, 2008

Denzel Washington has breathed new life into the story of one of the most notorious criminals in the history of Harlem. He starred in last year’s critically acclaimed “American Gangster,” a film about Frank Lucas, the mastermind behind a booming 1970s heroin operation.

The movie left out at least one real-life character whose life is among those most impacted by Lucas: his daughter, Francine Lucas-Sinclair. Francine’s mother, Julie, was born and raised in Puerto Rico, also Francine’s home for most of her youth.

Today, Francine lives near Atlanta with her husband and children. Her line of work could not be more different than her father’s chosen profession. During the filming of “American Gangster,” she was inspired to dedicate herself to supporting children of incarcerated parents.

Francine has since founded Yellow Brick Roads, a nonprofit organization which she hopes will become a national system of support for the kids prisoners leave behind. Francine spoke with VidaAfroLatina.com about her life and her organization.

Vida:  How would you describe your relationship with your parents before they went to prison?

Francine:  It was a normal relationship. It always has been.

Vida:  How old were you when they were sent to prison?

Francine:  The first time I was 3 when my dad went to prison. And then the second time I was 9 when they both went to prison.

Vida:  The first time you continued to live with your mom and the second time you went to live with your grandparents in Puerto Rico?

Francine:  Yes.

Vida:  How long did you live with your grandparents?

Francine:  My mom actually got out [of prison] when I was about 14. I lived there a total of about 12 or 13 years before I came back to the States as an adult.

Vida:  When your mom got out of prison, did she come to live with you in Puerto Rico?

Francine:  Yes.

Vida:  How did having your parents in prison impact you?

Francine:  It impacted me greatly. When you’re growing up, there’s a reason why you stay with your parents until you go off to college. You need your parents’ guidance. I was lucky to have two grandparents who were good substitutes.

The incarceration of my parents, it directly affected my self-esteem and was a reason for shame. I didn’t share my story with anybody. It was a reason for trauma and stress and anxiety, things that other children of incarcerated parents have in common.

Vida:  How were your grandparents able to support you during that time?

Francine:  My grandfather, he owned property. He was a landlord and received social security, so he did have an income. It wasn’t that terrible for me. There are a lot of other people in worse situations. I can’t complain. But coming from where I came from, it was quite a drastic change.

Vida:  Did get the emotional support or psychological support that you needed?

Francine: My grandparents did what they could. But I didn’t get any professional help. Nobody in my schools [knew my parents were in prison].

There was nothing and there still is nothing in place in public schools to try to figure out who these kids are, even though there are 3 million who currently have this situation and 10 million who have had this situation at one point or another. Luckily, I had the resilience to make it through, but a lot of other kids don’t.

Vida:  What advice do you give to caretakers of children whose parents are incarcerated?

Francine: First of all, they shouldn’t hide the situation [from] the kids. Some caretakers do hide it and that makes it worse. Also, they should, if possible, try to help children maintain a bond with their parents in any way that they can. As far as professional help, most caretakers can’t afford to pay. They don’t get support from the government. If they are related to the children, they don’t get anything.

Unfortunately, our society doesn’t really cater much to this group at all. They’ve been quite invisible up till now. I think that by making Yellow Brick Roads a strong and visible and cohesive organization, it will give these children the importance that they deserve as a group. More people will be more aware of the problem

We can’t really do anything about people who are parents making mistakes and going to prison. But we can help the children. We can help minimize the pain and trauma that they go through. And we can also show them that they’re not the only ones in this situation and that no matter their circumstances it is possible for them to change their life.

Vida:  How did this idea first come about for you?

Francine:  The idea came about because when “American Gangster” was going down, they were filming it, it just popped in my head. I hadn’t even thought about other kids having been in my situation. I thought that I was just one of the few.

It wasn’t until I started doing research that I realized there are millions. And it’s growing because more people are going to jail for nonviolent crimes because of the tougher drug laws. A lot of women are being locked up. Actually, the rate of women has increased 400 percent in 20 years. A lot of the women are mothers and most of them are primary caretakers. The United States has surpassed Russia as the country that incarcerates the most people in the world.

Vida:  Isn’t it true that Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately incarcerated?

Francine:  Yes. One in 37 children of all races has a parent in prison. And it’s one in eight of African Americans.

I hope that other people see the importance of this. We ought to watch out for other people’s kids just as much as we watch out for our own. These kids are going to be married to our sons and daughters. They are going to be in our communities. It’s in our best interest that we try to make sure that these kids come out to be productive citizens.

Vida:  What are your first priorities in terms of building your organization and serving children?

Francine:  It’s all going to be simultaneous. It’s an after-school program. Children will be fed. We will help them with their homework. We’ll place a strong emphasis on academics. Also, financial literacy, which is very important [but] not taught in schools. Extra-curricular activities, that’s important, too. We’ll encourage them, if they want to learn calligraphy, if they want to do sports, whatever might be the case.

We’ll take these kids to go see their parents, if they choose to do so, once a month. If the parent is out of the area of the Yellow Brick Roads chapter, we’ll finance one trip a year for this kid, and the caregiver, to go see their parent.

Once this organization is truly strong and has a lot of money, then [we’ll have] scholarships for kids. Maybe their parents were in prison and didn’t save any money for college, or can’t buy a computer. I know this girl who had to go across the snow in the winter from her dorm room to the library every night to do her homework. She can’t afford to buy a computer because her mom got out of prison three or four years ago and only has a minimum wage job.

Another important thing that I consider is personal grooming. Especially when my mom was in prison, I didn’t have anybody to do my hair. Especially with the African-American girls, that’s a self-esteem issue. We’ll have somebody to do their hair to their liking once per week.

These kids just have an array of needs and unfortunately, as a society, we’ve neglected them. We see them as an extension of their parents. The dad or the mom committed the mistake and are in prison, but should we not help this child overcome obstacles so that in the future, instead of going to prison too,  he or she can become a teacher for example?

Vida:  What’s your best estimate for when you think you can actually be doing this work?

Francine: I’m hoping that within four months we might be able to get this actually up and running. We’ll start with one chapter and after that we have to replicate.

Vida:  Do you need volunteers?

Francine:  At this point, the best thing for people to do is go to our website. Go to “Support Us” and the “Get Involved” section and help us with our 5X5 Campaign. Donate $5 and invite five friends or family to do the same. If we keep doing that and everybody donates $5, we should be able to make this thing huge and help a lot of kids out there.

Francine Lucas-Sinclair is the founder of Yellow Brick Roads, a nonprofit organization created to support the children of incarcerated parents. Visit www.yellowbrickroads.org to make a donation or for more information. Francine can be reached at francine@yellowbrickroads.org.