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On the last Sunday in May 1995, Ako Abdul-Samad was sitting in an office at the Eldora youth detention center having what others might call a come to Jesus session with a soon-to-be released 16-year-old.
A Black Muslim working for Urban Dreams, Abdul-Samad was showing he had the kid s number. Having blown three previous opportunities for a release, the spirited boy he d just met had been in Eldora 10 months for drug possession. The stately man in the leather suspenders wasn t going to tolerate a fourth derailment.
You re intelligent, the told the kid. You know the streets. You ve been manipulating folks a long time. ....

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