She's All Caught Up

by Jamila T. Davis

She's All Caught Up!
She's All Caught Up is a cautionary tale for young people enamored by the fast life and the older folks that love them. This memoir tells of the negative influences that swayed the early life of author Jamila T. Davis (creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series). She is currently serving a 151 month sentence for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme.


Young Jamila grew up in a loving, middle class home. Her hardworking parents, the Davises, overcame the barriers of poverty and racism faced by African Americans in the segregated South. From the back wood shacks of the rural south, the Davises migrated north, making Jamaica Queens, New York their new home. They drove themselves relentlessly. By education and endless hard work, they attained their portion of the American dream.


Determined to afford their own children the opportunities they themselves never had, the Davises provided their children with a good life, hoping to guarantee their children's success.


At first, it seemed as though the formula worked. Jamila became her parents' ideal "star child." At a young age she performed in dance recitals at Lincoln Center and toured the country in a leading role in an off- Broadway play. Throughout elementary and middle school she maintained straight A's and was accepted to the acclaimed "Fame" High School of Performing Arts in New York City.


All was copacetic until high school years, when Jamila meets Craig. He was a 16 year old drug dealer from the Southside projects of Jamaica Queens. His street edge fascinated naive Jamila, and he quickly usurped Mrs. Davis' position as role model and protector.


Jamila became mesmerized by the hustlers and life in the inner city ghetto. Her values quickly changed. She wanted independence, power and notoriety, and she chose life in the fast lane to claim them. With her brains and beauty, she rises to the top!


As this high school teen rebels, breaking loose from her parents' tight reins, the Davises wage an "all-out" battle to save their only daughter who they love so desperately. But Jamila is in too deep! Poisoned by materialism and the drama of street life, she resists, and the Davis family is turned upside down!


This real-life story exemplifies the powerful societal influences that affect today's youth, and the almost insurmountable challenges of the older generation who fight hard to protect them. This heartfelt story empowers both youth and adults to understand the tragic consequences of poor choices while instilling the ability to resist them.


When this good girl goes bad, it seems as if there is no turning back.


Follow Jamila's journey in:


SHE'S ALL CAUGHT UP!

342 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2013

About the author

Jamila T. Davis, born and raised in Jamaica Queens, New York, is a motivational speaker and the creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series for incarcerated women. Through her powerful delivery, Davis illustrates the real-life lessons and consequences that result from poor choices. She also provides the techniques and strategies that she personally has utilized to
dethrone negative thinking patterns, achieve emotional healing, and restoration and growth. Davis is no stranger to triumphs and defeats.

By the age of 25, she utilized her business savvy and street smarts to rise to the top of her field, becoming a lead goto-person in the Hip-Hop Music Industry and a self-made millionaire through real estate investments. Davis lived a care-free lavish lifestyle, surrounded by rap stars, professional sports figures and other well known celebrities.
All seemed well until the thorn of materialism clouded Davis’ judgments and her business shortcuts backfired, causing her self-made empire to crumble.

Davis was convicted of bank fraud, for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme, and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison. Davis’ life was in a great shambles as she faced the obstacle of imprisonment. While living in a prison cell, stripped of all her worldly possessions, and abandoned by most of her peers, she was forced to deal with the root of her dilemmas- her own inner self. Davis searched passionately for answers and strategies to heal and regain her self-confidence, and to discover her life’s purpose. She utilized her formal training from Lincoln University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along with her real-life post-incarceration experiences and documented her discoveries. Revealing the tools, techniques and strategies she used to heal, Davis composed a series of books geared to empower women. Davis’ goal is to utilize her life experiences to uplift, inspire and empower her audience to achieve spiritual and emotional wholeness and become their very best.

Reviews

[African Americans on the Move Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true teaching/discovery tool that is a must read for young adults and teenagers alike. Jamila T Davis, did an excellent job allowing herself to be so transparent in the recounting of her (life trials) because of her unwillingness to adhere to the family values she grew up with. She showed how very easy misdirection can come upon you when your material and sometimes, childish wants overshadow your needs. And as parents, just as Jamila's mother, you strive hard to maintain a open and honest communication link with your children . All the while, being privy to the pitfalls, you try to instill those values that will best help your child navigate through life. Making sure to emphasize that 'all that glitters, is not gold' as they go through their seasons. Knowing that there is a real chance they may still succumb to the negative trappings, as in the case of Jamila. Teenage emotions are so profound that their blinders can and will encompass the obvious, highlighting paths that should never be traveled. Though entertaining and at times making you shake your head at the obscurity of it all, I commend Jamila for her transparency in the telling of her story and look forward to reading more about her in the future.

AL Barron
AAMBC Reviewer

[Jamila Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis: "She's All Caught Up" is a cautionary tale for young people enamored by the fast life and the older folks that love them. This personal memoir tells of the negative influences that swayed the early life of author Jamila T. Davis (creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series). She is currently serving a 151 month sentence for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme.



Young Jamila grew up in a loving, middle class home. Her hardworking parents, the Davises, overcame the barriers of poverty and racism faced by African Americans in the segregated South. From the back wood shacks of the rural south, the Davises migrated north, making Jamaica Queens, New York their new home. They drove themselves relentlessly. By education and endless hard work, they attained their portion of the American dream. Determined to afford their own children the opportunities they themselves never had, the Davises provided their children with a good life, hoping to guarantee their children's success.



At first, it seemed as though the formula worked. Jamila became her parents' ideal "star child." At a young age she performed in dance recitals at Lincoln Center and toured the country in a leading role in an off- Broadway play. Throughout elementary and middle school she maintained straight A's and was accepted to the acclaimed "Fame" High School of Performing Arts in New York City. All was copacetic until high school years, when Jamila meets Craig. He was a 16 year old drug dealer from the Southside projects of Jamaica Queens. His street edge fascinated naive Jamila, and he quickly usurped Mrs. Davis' position as role model and protector.



Jamila became mesmerized by the hustlers and life in the inner city ghetto. Her values quickly changed. She wanted independence, power and notoriety, and she chose life in the fast lane to claim them. With her brains and beauty, she rises to the top! As this high school teen rebels, breaking loose from her parents' tight reins, the Davises wage an "all-out" battle to save their only daughter who they love so desperately. But Jamila is in too deep! Poisoned by materialism and the drama of street life, she resists, and the Davis family is turned upside down!



This real-life story exemplifies the powerful societal influences that affect today's youth, and the almost insurmountable challenges of the older generation who fight hard to protect them. This heartfelt story empowers both youth and adults to understand the tragic consequences of poor choices while instilling the ability to resist them. When this good girl goes bad, it seems as if there is no turning back.



Critique: An exceptionally well written and dramatically candid account, Jamila T. Davis' personal story is very highly recommended reading, especially for teenagers and young adults facing similar backgrounds and temptations. "She's All Caught Up" is very highly recommended reading and would make an enduringly popular addition to school and community library American Biography collections.



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James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review


Additionally, this review will be archived on our Midwest Book Review website for the next five years at http://www.midwestbookreview.com

[Penny Rosier · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard not to get frustrated reading books like this. We as a society already know it's hard enough raising kids in the inner city facing the pitfalls of single parent homes, poor adult role models, and the lure of gangs and street thugs. But here you have a child brought up in a loving dual parent household, someone who excels at everything, has a brilliant future ahead of her and she throws it all away on immediate self gratification. Granted we're not all made to live the straight and narrow and be perfect little performing children, however, she was raised to know better and to resist these temptations. If we're not teaching ALL our children this we should be. By this day and age I do not believe ignorance of a thing is an excuse. There is too much on TV, in the schools, in our churches that teach us that following the wrong path is the quickest way to self destruction. I'm glad she owned up to it, but in jail everyone has perfect 20/20 hindsight. It's easy to say "I failed" then and look for sympathy, but really, if she hadn't gotten caught do you think she would even have considered she might be doing wrong? Why do we ennoble criminals who want to "come clean" to warn others not to make the same mistakes? It's easy to preach when you're serving time. Why are we not celebrating the inner city kid with nothing who fights his/her way from poverty to go to college while living on the streets and working full time? Or the poor little rich kid who thinks they have it so rough but still manages to make something of themselves despite being "entitled".
These cautionary tales are like the "Scared Straight" TV shows, sure the kids are scared while you have them trapped in a cell with convicted criminals, but honestly, as soon as there is a risk of any danger they are pulled out, as soon as the cameras are turned off they are free to go. And how often do you see at the end of the show how many of them reverted to their old ways and are back in the system? By the time you need to send them to "Scared Straight" or by the time most parents will have read this book it will already be too late. Everyone talks about how it "takes a village" to raise a child but parents are absentee even when they are home, teachers aren't allowed to do anything more than basic regurgitation of the curriculum to the students or the parents get mad at them for interfering, and the churches often aren't hip enough or are too threatening with all the fire and brimstone that even being a criminal seems less scary.
Good for her that she wanted to do something for young women to let them know the hazards of the "easy" life, but think how much better of a role model she could have been if she had been tempted by the glamour of the street life and realizing what it would really cost her turned her back on it and became successful on the right side of the law? Call it a cautionary tale if you like, I would prefer people read things like "From Homeless to Harvard" by Dawn Loggins, or watch the "Blind Side" about Michael Oher if they are looking for positive role models.
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

[Kywuan Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s All Caught Up,” a memoir by Jamila T. Davis, takes readers on what seems to be a revolving roller coaster, as it follows the author’s early life. Growing up in an upper middle class home in Queens, NY: luxury gifts, designer clothes and diamond jewelry were nothing out of the ordinary for Jamila. With her parents recently escaping poverty and the typical urban prejudices facing African-Americans, Hosea & Liddie Davis attempted to better their children’s lives even if meant that their own happiness was at stake. Despite the Davis’s attempts to guide their child in the right light, their “golden-child’s” shine wasn’t so radiant after she met her first boyfriend from the South Jamaica projects. Suddenly Jamila’s carefree lifestyle that one could only imagine in a fantasy book turned to turmoil after being introduced to the world of drugs, fast money, and luxury vehicles. With her back against the wall, she discovers that only God is able to dig her from the grave that she excavated for her future.
After a day and a half of constant reading and five minute bathroom breaks, I was able to complete “She’s All Caught Up” with a full understanding as to what the author was thinking and the emotions she felt as her flashbacks were converted into text. Throughout my 19 years of living, I have never read a novel that sparked such incentive in my inner spirit. Chills ran down my spine as I flipped page after page, placing myself into the author’s shoes. I see this book as a wake-up call to the selfish and greed-stricken system that I unconsciously abide by daily. Sometimes I see myself following inthe same footsteps as Jamila, or as I like to call her, my mother. (Just to be clear the author is in fact my biological mother). However, I’m quickly guided back to my spiritual safety net that her wrongdoings have opened for my life. This book is extremely special to me and many other readers who have taken the time to read and assess her story. Not only does it teach young readers to love themselves and to cherish their lives, it is also written in such a detailed and relatable manner that even the toughest critic would have to respect the message and craft behind her writing style.
To be clear, memoirs and autobiographies are written to give readers a deeper insight into the life changing events that may have attributed to their success and/or downfall, but it is the author’s gift of descriptiveness that contributes to the reliability of the book; and I must say Jamila Davis has definitely tapped into her sphere of storytelling. “She’s All Caught Up” is definitely a story of the ages with content that delineates with thousands of teens around the world. If you have a chance please purchase a copy at your nearest online book retailer. You won’t regret it!

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a contest from Goodreads. The author was very open writing her thought processes. It is brutally honest to the core so it'll be hard to write a critical opinion. The book is well written and easy to read.

Right from the beginning I found her not likeable. Very early the personality traits that ruled her decision making were apparent. The bragging of how good she was at everything, the sympathy-getting "that's why the teacher didn't like me" hints at someone not taking responsibility for their own actions. At the age of ten her early desire for money, material possession's, and gaining a "get-money" drug dealer to take care of her hints at her life path. So of course the stereotypes of early sex, pregnancy, drugs and crime comes to mind. It's hard to believe this book ends when she was only 17 years old.

Jamila was very intelligent, talented and easily spoiled by her parents, friends & family. A lot due to her personality, incredible talent and burgeoning manipulation. Jamila had a strong religious family network that did all they could to teach her right from wrong. I seriously doubt a book like this or someone talking to her in her youth would've changed this young ladies choices and won't make much of difference to young people with her personality traits. Her slang, clothing brand names, and references to popular celebrities of her day seem archaic now. She would say, "no one could tell me nothing" when she was feeling good and that resonates true throughout her life.

I hope Jamila will be able to pay back her parents retirement one day. When Jamila is out of prison if she gets back into trouble her parents need to step back and let her really hit rock bottom. Take care of themselves first. Like dealing with an addict. Prison might have changed Jamila but it's easy to change when you have a lot of time to reflect; the true test will come on the outside. I wish you the best Jamila.

I doubt her cautionary tale will influence youth to make better decisions but it's a good quick read that gives genuine insight into another person's mind and motivations.

[Ivory R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir tells of the negative influences that swayed the early life of author Jamila T. Davis (creator of the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series). She is currently serving a 151 month sentence for her role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme. Young Jamila grew up in a loving, middle class home. Her hardworking parents, the Davis's, overcame the barriers of poverty and racism faced by African Americans in the segregated South. Determined to afford their own children the opportunities they themselves never had, the Davis's provided their children with a good life, hoping to guarantee their children's success. At a young age she performed in dance recitals at Lincoln Center and toured the country in a leading role in an off- Broadway play. Throughout elementary and middle school she maintained straight A's and was accepted to the acclaimed "Fame" High School of Performing Arts in New York City. In high school, Jamila became mesmerized by the hustlers and life in the inner city ghetto. Her values quickly changed. She wanted independence, power and notoriety, and she chose life in the fast lane to claim them. With her brains and beauty, she rises to the top!

I would to commend Jamila for reaching out to young people so that they will hopefully not get sucked into the whirlstorm of criminal life. It goes to show that a good home life is not going to keep a child out of trouble, it does ultimately become their choices. It was easy to see how the money, cars, clothes that can be gained with street life can seem so glamorous. Jamila was smart and extremely talented and it hurt my heart to see her throw away all that promise for the immediate need. I would have given anything to have the talent to get into a high school of performing arts. Overall good read for young people who may be trying to decide the direction they want to go in life.

[Susan Bissell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was taken in from the first page of Jamila book. Here is a story of how Jamila goes from a loving hard working middle class home with all the advantages that two parents can give their family. Jamila is a very smart student that is very talented in singing, dancing and acting, and she loses it all when she becomes a teenager and finds herself drawn into the lore of making a lot of money selling or running drug, plus all that money can buy, changes Jamila and her brother Kee's life forever. Jamila writes about her life and how she is all caught up in the fast lifestyle that brings the best and the worst of everything, including abusive men, pregnancy and abortion, and heartache to her and her family. This is the 70's at the start of the drug trade comes to the local neighborhoods. For Jamile it meant the nicest cars, the best clothes and jewelry you can buy, where generations before never made this kind of money before. Jamila tells it like it is, how she ruined her life at the young age of 17 years old where she goes to jail for drug procession. She tells all about her life from Queens to the projects to the rural south living this fast lifestyle and the trouble you will eventually get into. I think this is a great read for the young and the old who have children and grandchildren that are becoming teenagers and the lore of fast easy money from the world of drugs and were they can end up; either in jail or six feet under. I would love to read the second book Jamila is bringing out about the rest of her life! One thing for sure is; if she can speak as well as she writes, I can see why she is a great motivational speaker!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Gina Stanish · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s all Caught Up is a memoir written by Jamila T. Davis.

Jamila Davis is an ambitious young girl who can dance, sing, act and has big dreams of one day being a superstar on television. The love of her family, her faith in God and her sheer determination to succeed in every aspect of her life is what keeps her grounded and on the right track for years. However, when boys, money, designer jewelry, name brand fashion trends and street drugs become the ultimate obsession, life as Jamila knows it will never be the same again.

Get all caught up in Davis’ empowering real world story of crime and consequences. It’s a fast paced, drama filled, inspirational read that will keep you entertained from beginning to end. Every young woman who is struggling to come into their own will find some sort of confidence and motivation (inside themselves) within the context of this book. Written from the heart and presented beautifully it’s a prime example of how just one stupid mistake can ruin a person’s life forever.