Good Friday - "All of Us or None"

The gentleman pictured is Mr. Dorsey Nunn, co-founder of "All of Us or None", an advocacy group of formerly incarcerated people who works tirelessly for the 70 million people in America with criminal records and those who are still "on vacation or missing" as Dorsey playfully states.

As he wheels the Barbie bicycle into the recreation center in Menlo Park, CA, he is accompanied by many of his old reformed friends to deliver bicycles to the children of men and women who are incarcerated.

There is a huge Black man, who was a member of the Black Panthers who educated Dorsey while they were in prison together.  There is a childhood, formerly drug addicted friend, whom Dorsey refused to give up on, while trying to kick his own eight year crack habit.

Lastly, there were all of the other volunteers who were wheeling bikes into the center to give to kids because they couldn't do it for their own children because they were in prison. When giving the bikes away, Dorsey and his volunteers always tell them that they are from the child's incarcerated father or mother.

Mr. Nunn, who is also the director of the "San Francisco Legal Services For Prisoners With Children" has taken his energy and programs to another level. He has held meetings in the White House and the Department of Justice to discuss prisoner's rights.

Ten years ago, "All of Us or None" scored a major victory when the organization's members filled the chambers of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to demand that the box on city employment applications that asks about felony convictions be removed and asked later in the interview.

The "ban the box" ordinance in San Francisco passed and was the first in the nation and garnered the city the reputation as being the "City of Leftist.  The ban is now in 96 cities and counties in California and 13 states that are led by Democrats and Republicans.

The group's name "All of Us or None" came from a Bertolt Brecht poem.

Slave, who is it who shall free you?
Those in deepest darkest lying?
Comrade, these alone shall see you,
They alone can hear you crying,
Comrade only slaves can free you.
Everything or nothing, All of Us or None.

Dorsey Nunn has suffered personal setbacks in his life and this year he lost the last of his seven brothers. Last December, his daughter died a of cycle cell anemia illness at the age of 45. He has two granddaughters who live in the suburbs and attend ballet and acting classes which Dorsey finds difficult and uncomfortable to be a part of.

His grandchildren tell him that he is now middleclass, but Mr. Nunn is still more comfortable with his bicycle giveaways. During one session he asked if anybody had ever stolen a bike and many hands went up. Dorsey laughed with that full bellied laugh of his and shouted, "now it's your chance to give one back"!

Read more about Mr. Dorsey Nunn by going to lee.romney @latimes.com