A Life of Payne: A Memoir

Bio

Winfred Payne is a political activist, lecturer, author, and inspirational speaker who happily shares the history of his checkered past and his rise from a life of crime to a life of assisting others with finding hope and a path to a brighter future. The Little Rock, AR native was transformed after spending twenty-five years, six months, and ten days in federal prisons.

Winfred spent his youth in what is known as the East End of downtown, Little Rock, AR, reared by his mother and grandmother. For the first eleven years of his life, he was the only child of his mother, who was a teenager when he was conceived. Winfred’s mother eventually married to which four sisters and two brothers were born. By the age of sixteen, Winfred had lived on his own in New York City, St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago, learning how to grow up fast while getting a “street” education. Further, around this time and by adding a few years to his age, Winfred enlisted in the United States Army, serving a little over a year before being discharged.
In the 1960’s, Winfred got involved with the Black Panther Party during the Civil Rights Movement. Winfred robbed banks to help support the movement. Once considered one of America’s most sought-after fugitives, he had three escapes between 1969 and 1976. Eventually, Winfred was captured in 1975 and sentenced to two, twenty-year sentences and a nineteen-year sentence all running consecutively in which he served until his release in 2000.

With one of the most colored pasts in American history, Winfred travels the country sharing his personal history, lecturing at colleges and universities, among other groups, on the impact of the past and current social climates while infusing his thoughts on sustainable solutions and strategies of implementation. He inspires all who he encounters, especially those on the margins of society, both young and old. Although non-traditional, Winfred often says that his college education spanned twenty-five years and beyond.
Today, Winfred serves as a consultant to many groups and organizations, assisting them with building capacity in various areas such as community organizing and program evaluation. This work has afforded him the opportunity to give back to his hometown of Little Rock, AR by working alongside many education institutions and other non-profit and community-based organizations, most notably serving as advisor to the Executive leadership for the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. In addition, Winfred is currently the Executive Director of Alternatives for Youth and owner of Mnmulligan Services, Inc., both located in Minneapolis, MN. and consist of developing referral-network initiatives to bridge gaps in the lives of individuals, families, and overall communities while fostering a collaborative environment for service providers.
Winfred is a certified Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)trainer, supporting various communities with knowing how to interact with different cultures without being insensitive. In conjunction, Winfred designs youth programs and initiatives as a consultant to various communities and organizations. At a youthful age, somewhere north of 70, Winfred often says, “As long as I have health, strength, and air in my lungs, I will stay active, helping build communities, as there is, yet much work to be done.”