Before Black Lives Mattered: A Memoir

By John D. Garland

Before Black Lives Mattered chronicles the entrepreneurial journey of John D. Garland-an innovator shaped by adversity, determined to create opportunity where society saw limitation. While incarcerated, Garland developed Prints2Prisoners (P2P) as part of a school project-an ambitious platform designed to help families stay connected to their incarcerated loved ones through digital-to-print mail services. More than a business idea, P2P was a workforce solution, created to generate employment for formerly incarcerated individuals seeking a second chance. It was born from lived experience and built with a vision for restoration.

Seeking to scale the model, Garland applied for investment funding through the Distinguished Social Ventures Foundation (DSVF), a nonprofit founded by New York insurance executive Andrew Potash. After months of strategic planning, detailed presentations, and the sharing of proprietary concepts, Garland alleges that key figures associated with DSVF-Scott Potash and Jesse Blockton-appropriated elements of his business model. Soon after denying his funding request, a similar digital-to-print greeting card platform, Postable.com, was launched. The loss of funding led to the collapse of P2P, extinguishing what could have been a pipeline of employment for marginalized communities-particularly in the South Bronx, where Garland was raised during the era of Planned Shrinkage. In this memoir, he draws parallels between systemic disinvestment in his childhood community and the institutional barriers he faced as a Black entrepreneur navigating elite philanthropic networks.

Before Black Lives Mattered is a two volume set that spans from the ruins of the South Bronx to a prison cell and ultimately ends in support of the most consequential president in modern history, Donald J. Trump. It is both a personal reckoning and a broader examination of the structural challenges facing Black entrepreneurs, and is a testament to what it means to endure, rebuild, and keep moving forward.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H5YQYFNV
• ISBN13: 9798240961243
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: CLICCLIX Media Group, LLC
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"