WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:03.840 Sintoya Brown. 2 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:06.680 She's been in prison for more than a decade now, 3 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:10.000 but her case is catching fire on social media. 4 00:00:10.280 --> 00:00:13.560 Well you building today, Brown's lawyers are heading all the 5 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:14.720 way to Cincinnati. 6 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:17.239 They're going to go before the Sixth Circuit Court of 7 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:22.000 Appeals to argue that Cintoya Brown's sentence was unconstitutional. Till 8 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:26.120 you builds go, her dream of freedom now denied, as 9 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.000 the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Brown will become 10 00:00:29.040 --> 00:00:32.120 eligible for parole after her sixty ninth birthday. 11 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:35.280 Chances are, if you paid attention to the news at 12 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.360 any point between twenty seventeen and twenty nineteen, you've heard 13 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:43.640 Cintoya Brown's name. Then, in her thirties, the Tennessee native 14 00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:46.559 had been serving a life sentence for a murder committed 15 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.040 as a teen. At the time of her trial in 16 00:00:49.080 --> 00:00:51.600 two thousand and six, the state of Tennessee had a 17 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:55.360 mandatory sentence for this type of crime, life in prison, 18 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:57.480 no matter the circumstances. 19 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.000 Really have a situation where a sixteen year old child 20 00:01:02.400 --> 00:01:05.479 who operates at about a ten year old level, who 21 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.039 has organic brain damage and that affected her all the 22 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:12.240 way to the present. When you look at all this 23 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:16.080 was it a fundamentally fair trial. 24 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.199 Cinoya was born to an alcohol and crack addicted teen 25 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.600 mom and was later diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome. By 26 00:01:24.600 --> 00:01:27.880 two years old, her mother had given her up. She 27 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000 later became a runaway. As a young teen in the streets, 28 00:01:31.240 --> 00:01:35.120 she was sex trafficked by an older man. Then, one 29 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:38.080 night in two thousand and four, Cintoya was picked up 30 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:42.160 by a man in his forties. She was sixteen. While 31 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:45.240 in bed, Cinoya thought her abuser was reaching for a 32 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:48.520 gun and she shot him. She claimed it was self defense, 33 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:53.000 but it didn't really matter per Tennessee's law, Centoya was 34 00:01:53.080 --> 00:01:59.360 tried as an adult. WADA jury found defendant Centoya Denase Brown. 35 00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:03.440 Partly grey murdered, guilty. 36 00:02:03.240 --> 00:02:15.640 Of fellowly murdered and sentenced to life. More than a 37 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:19.480 decade into Cintoya's time in prison, artist Rihanna shared her 38 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:23.040 case in twenty seventeen, and it quickly went viral. A 39 00:02:23.160 --> 00:02:27.400 number of high profile supporters, including celebrities Kim Kardashian and 40 00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:33.200 Snoop Dogg, called for a second chance for Cinoia. In 41 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:37.960 twenty nineteen, Cintoya was finally granted clemency. By then Tennessee 42 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:42.400 Governor Bill Haslam. But what about the other one hundred 43 00:02:42.440 --> 00:02:46.880 and eighty plus juvenile lifers who remain in prison in Tennessee, 44 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:50.760 the ones who didn't get gofund me campaigns, segments on 45 00:02:50.880 --> 00:02:54.480 national TV, and support from celebrities. 46 00:03:04.720 --> 00:03:08.920 From Futuro Media and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria 47 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:13.440 Ino Rosa today the growing movement to push juveniles into 48 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:21.120 the adult prison system in Tennessee. In our show today, 49 00:03:21.480 --> 00:03:25.000 producer Jurieta Martinelli, who you heard from at the top, 50 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.840 is going to take us to Tennessee, where a legal 51 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:33.440 battle is currently brewing between those who believe in rehabilitation 52 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:37.120 for kids facing time in prison and those who wish 53 00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:42.800 to see longer, harsher sentencing for minors. Here's Jurieta Martinelli 54 00:03:42.920 --> 00:03:43.560 once again. 55 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:47.920 The science is very clear. Human beings don't fully develop 56 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.200 their brains until they're at least twenty five, sometimes even older. 57 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:56.240 That's particularly true for the prefrontal cortex of the brain, 58 00:03:56.640 --> 00:04:00.120 which is responsible for our decision making and our ability 59 00:04:00.160 --> 00:04:03.880 to think through consequences of our actions. That's why in 60 00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:07.920 twenty sixteen, the Supreme Court made a monumental decision in 61 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:11.600 a case known as Montgomery versus Louisiana. 62 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.480 Now five to four decision, the High Court ruled that 63 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.400 it is unconstitutional for states to mandate sentences of life 64 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.760 without parole for juveniles under the age of eighteen. 65 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.719 A flurry of re sentencing hearings followed all around the 66 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.800 country for joannile lifers, but in Tennessee it seemed as 67 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:34.680 if the Supreme Court decision never came down. Tennessee claimed 68 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:38.000 that the Supreme Court decision didn't apply to them because 69 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.920 its mandatory sentences are technically sixty to life, and even 70 00:04:42.960 --> 00:04:46.239 when the Tennessee Supreme Court reduced the minimum serving time 71 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:50.240 to fifty one years in twenty eighteen, advocates argued it 72 00:04:50.320 --> 00:04:53.880 was still basically a life sentence. I mean, let's do 73 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:57.600 the math. Someone sentence at sixteen years old, like Centoia, 74 00:04:58.040 --> 00:04:59.839 has the right to go in front of a parole 75 00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:04.400 after serving fifty one years. By then that person would 76 00:05:04.440 --> 00:05:07.840 be at least sixty seven. But according to data from 77 00:05:07.880 --> 00:05:12.039 the Tennessee Department of Corrections, the average life expectancy of 78 00:05:12.080 --> 00:05:15.920 an incarcerated person in the state is just fifty two. 79 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.880 So basically, the chance that you would even make it 80 00:05:19.960 --> 00:05:24.440 to a parole hearing is in practice no, and that's 81 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.359 exactly what led to another lawsuit before the Tennessee Supreme 82 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:32.799 Court in twenty twenty two. The case revolved around Tyshawn Booker, 83 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.919 who likes Centoya, was convicted under the States to facto 84 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:41.080 life sentence when he was sixteen. Booker's lawyers argued that 85 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:48.159 the sentence was unconstitutional. This time, Tennessee's highest court agreed. 86 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.680 Do at five tonight life in prison no more for 87 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:56.200 certain inmates. Recently, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed years of 88 00:05:56.320 --> 00:06:00.279 law ruling it is unconstitutional for a juvenile to serve 89 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.560 a mandatory life sentence in the state. The court says 90 00:06:03.640 --> 00:06:07.240 juveniles should be eligible for parole after twenty five to 91 00:06:07.320 --> 00:06:12.760 thirty six years in prison instead of fifty one. 92 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:18.039 Advocates thought, this is it. Change is coming, and in 93 00:06:18.080 --> 00:06:21.960 a way, change did come, just not quite as they imagined. 94 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:25.880 Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally says violent crime is out of 95 00:06:25.880 --> 00:06:29.200 control in Tennessee and that lawmakers must change the process 96 00:06:29.200 --> 00:06:31.760 so criminal gangs can no longer use young people for 97 00:06:31.880 --> 00:06:36.159 violence with impunity. Republican lawmakers want more juveniles to be 98 00:06:36.200 --> 00:06:37.359 tried as adults. 99 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:44.440 The state legislature, controlled by Republicans, unleashed a flurry of 100 00:06:44.520 --> 00:06:47.680 new bills following the Tennessee Supreme Court's decision. 101 00:06:48.400 --> 00:06:48.640 Rep. 102 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:53.200 Robert Stevens of Smyrna, a neighboring town to Nashville, introduced 103 00:06:53.200 --> 00:06:57.120 a bill that would require juveniles sixteen or older to 104 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.640 be tried in adult court for their second defense, even 105 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:05.680 for petty arrests like shoplifting. Another bill by Republican lawmaker 106 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:09.360 John Gillespie of Memphis would allow courts to consider a 107 00:07:09.400 --> 00:07:14.040 person's juvenile record when making decisions about bond even decades 108 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.400 down the line. But according to advocates and lawyers that 109 00:07:17.440 --> 00:07:20.280 we spoke with, the worst of all was passed at 110 00:07:20.280 --> 00:07:23.760 the start of the year. It's called blended sentencing. 111 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.520 You're blending their sentence where part of it's done in 112 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.720 a juvenile setting and part of it's done in the 113 00:07:29.760 --> 00:07:30.560 adult setting. 114 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:35.280 That's Judge Sheila Callaway, who for over a decade has 115 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.560 presided over a juvenile courtroom in Nashville. Before that, she 116 00:07:39.640 --> 00:07:42.640 spent a decade in the same courtroom as a magistrate. 117 00:07:43.320 --> 00:07:46.360 Calloway says the new law requires judges like her to 118 00:07:46.440 --> 00:07:49.880 impose on minors as young as fourteen years old, a 119 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.520 juvenile sentence and an adult sentence once they reach legal age. 120 00:07:54.960 --> 00:07:59.960 If a child over fourteen commits a certain serious attention, 121 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:05.600 those sentences could be eligible for our blended. 122 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:08.680 Sentencing, and it comes with some new rules. 123 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.000 They have the right to have a jury trial on 124 00:08:12.200 --> 00:08:16.600 that matter within one year, and that jury trial has 125 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.680 to be held in the adult system by an adult judge. 126 00:08:20.760 --> 00:08:24.920 Then they are sent back to the junial court judge 127 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:28.760 to do the actual sentencing, and so as they judge, 128 00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:33.319 I have to sentence them to no less than serving 129 00:08:33.400 --> 00:08:36.520 up until the time they're nineteen years old, and once 130 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:40.960 they turn nineteen, I am also obligated to sentence them 131 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:42.240 to an adult sentence. 132 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.880 I want is to really take in what's happening here. 133 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:49.480 Say a sixteen year old is charged with a felony 134 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.680 like robbery, then a judge is obligated to sentence them 135 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:57.160 to prison until they're nineteen years old, and then on 136 00:08:57.240 --> 00:08:59.920 top of that, the teen has to be sentenced a 137 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.520 second time for the same crime as an adult too. 138 00:09:04.280 --> 00:09:07.800 You have the constitutional right to have a jury of 139 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.839 your peers, but if you're our fourteen or fifteen year old, 140 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:16.239 you're not allowed to be on a jury. Most juries 141 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:20.960 are filled with people who are voters first and foremost. 142 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.920 There's not a lot of diversity in the voting pool, 143 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.840 and so what you find out is most of those 144 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:31.280 juries of your peers, even as adults, aren't really what 145 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:35.240 our peers look like. And so there's a question about 146 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:39.000 whether this jury your peers is really going to stand 147 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:40.640 up to constitutional muster. 148 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:45.319 Some context here, about seventy five percent of Tennessee's population 149 00:09:45.520 --> 00:09:48.959 is white, but four out of five juvenile lifers in 150 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:53.440 prisons in Tennessee today are black men. The juries already 151 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:59.560 don't represent them. She also points out that the way 152 00:09:59.640 --> 00:10:02.559 that you law is written, it is an adult court 153 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:05.640 judge who hears the facts and evidence of the case 154 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.640 and decides whether to convict. When the child is sent 155 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:13.360 back to her courtroom just for sentencing, she now has 156 00:10:13.400 --> 00:10:16.720 to issue a sentence without being the one who heard 157 00:10:16.760 --> 00:10:18.640 the circumstances around the case. 158 00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:26.360 When we come back, we're going to continue looking at 159 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.000 why those working in juvenile justice say moving kids to 160 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:34.600 the adult system is a mistake, and we take a 161 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:38.000 visit to a group of volunteers hoping to step in 162 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.800 so miners don't end up in the system in the 163 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:41.440 first place. 164 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:42.520 Stay with us. 165 00:10:43.240 --> 00:11:03.480 Yes, before the break, we learned about the growing pressure 166 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.960 to prosecute children as adults in Tennessee. Now we pick 167 00:11:09.040 --> 00:11:12.400 up with a juvenile court judge who tells us why 168 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:16.760 it matters to keep kids within their own justice system. 169 00:11:17.400 --> 00:11:19.640 Here's Riata Martinelli once again. 170 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.040 Judge Sheila Callaway says her nearly two decades in a 171 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.600 juvenile courtroom has taught her that many of those children 172 00:11:27.640 --> 00:11:30.080 who end up in front of her are also dealing 173 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.640 with complex trauma and unmet needs, something her courtroom, which 174 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:37.920 she calls trauma informed, has been trained to detect and 175 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.640 deal with. That is not true of adult courts, where 176 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:43.600 yet many juveniles end up in. 177 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.400 The majority of the youth that we see who have 178 00:11:46.520 --> 00:11:50.839 been charged with crimes have started in our system either 179 00:11:50.920 --> 00:11:54.640 being a child who has abused or neglected or being 180 00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:58.120 the center of a custody battle. And so there's a 181 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.640 large number of our youth that come to the system 182 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.240 that we're not giving the best opportunity to thrive from 183 00:12:06.280 --> 00:12:09.679 when they were children or when they were babies. And 184 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.320 for me, that is something that is super important for 185 00:12:12.400 --> 00:12:13.360 us to understand. 186 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.120 Advocates have long said what we often end up seeing 187 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:21.839 is victims become victimizers if there's no intervention to heal 188 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.280 the root issue. 189 00:12:23.400 --> 00:12:28.840 When we put children in prisons, we are stopping their growth. 190 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:34.960 We are halting their ability to change in a positive way. 191 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.320 We are placing them in ultra negative circumstances where their 192 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.640 brain is absorbing everything around them. We are cutting off 193 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:49.480 their ability to get true education, to have counseling and 194 00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:53.040 job training, and all the things that we need for 195 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.400 our youth to develop in a positive way. 196 00:12:57.040 --> 00:13:00.320 So when a child ends up in an adult prison system, 197 00:13:00.880 --> 00:13:03.160 the effect is the whole opposite. 198 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:07.360 A adult system is about crime and punishment. We can 199 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.640 absolutely affect the way that their brains are developing, which 200 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:16.720 gives them the opportunity to be rehabilitated. That's what the 201 00:13:16.760 --> 00:13:20.280 goal of a juvenile system was supposed to be and 202 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:21.480 what it should always be. 203 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.600 But if juvenile crime in the state is so out 204 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:33.079 of control that measures like this are needed to protect 205 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.240 the general population, then it makes sense. 206 00:13:36.400 --> 00:13:36.600 Right. 207 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:42.400 The thing is, despite Republican lawmakers across the state pushing 208 00:13:42.520 --> 00:13:46.120 for tough on crime sentencing and ongoing claims that juvenile 209 00:13:46.160 --> 00:13:50.360 crime is higher than ever, data actually shows that As 210 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.800 of twenty twenty four, youth arrests have decreased by more 211 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:55.880 than half in the last decade. 212 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.480 Educating the public is difficult, and we have several different 213 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:09.880 media that are constantly talking about the juvenile prime is increasing, 214 00:14:10.280 --> 00:14:13.319 and it's the same story of the same kid that 215 00:14:13.400 --> 00:14:17.160 committed the same crime. And so people who are listening 216 00:14:17.760 --> 00:14:22.600 to news and hearing these things are hearing, oh my god, 217 00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:25.920 all these kids are breaking in stuff. I think sometimes 218 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:30.680 our news media highlights juvenile crime much, much meta more 219 00:14:30.680 --> 00:14:34.080 than they highlight adult crime. That's not really. 220 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:42.680 Accurate, Calloway says. In essence, what we're seeing is the 221 00:14:42.760 --> 00:14:46.400 unexpected result of the Supreme Court decision that aim to 222 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.280 bring Tennessee laws regarding juvenile lifers to equal footing with 223 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:54.600 other states. It's a hard push by Republican lawmakers. The 224 00:14:54.760 --> 00:14:55.760 opposite way. 225 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.800 I think it's an effort to open the fleck who 226 00:15:01.280 --> 00:15:06.280 has to go into the adult system. 227 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:10.960 So, how do you deal with public safety with children 228 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:15.400 who commit crimes, especially serious crimes that hurt and alter 229 00:15:15.560 --> 00:15:19.080 the lives of other people. How do you provide accountability 230 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:24.640 while still taking their humanity into account. It's a question 231 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:29.200 that judges, lawyers, activists and lawmakers have been scrambling over 232 00:15:29.400 --> 00:15:33.120 for a long time, seemingly nowhere closer to a solution. 233 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.400 It's not a simple, straightforward like here's the secret magic 234 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:40.840 bullet that cures at all. But when it comes to prevention, 235 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:43.920 it's a matter of just really showing a young child 236 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:46.200 that they are cared for, nurtured, and that there's a 237 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.080 community of support. 238 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.720 That's Marcel Hernandez I. 239 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:52.000 Am founder of Be About Change, and we are here 240 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.720 at the Boys and Girls Club in Columbia, Tennessee. 241 00:15:54.760 --> 00:15:59.560 Hernandez currently works in development for programs that empower marginalized communities. 242 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:04.320 He also runs this program called Project Lead. He partners 243 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:08.600 with other nonprofits, community groups, and even school systems to 244 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:10.920 encourage at risk kids to participate. 245 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.600 We know the strongest productor of negative justice outcomes involve 246 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:20.200 poverty and the inability to see available life choices. So 247 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.120 one thing that we really prefer to focus on is 248 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:26.000 how can we elevate the viewpoint of young people so 249 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.800 that we can then see farther, wider, broader in terms 250 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.720 of what life has to offer. Oftentimes it's just a 251 00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:37.600 matter of either environmental factors or circumstances or past traumas 252 00:16:37.640 --> 00:16:41.960 even and things that seemingly don't allow us to see 253 00:16:42.160 --> 00:16:45.200 farther down the road. So we try to function as 254 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.520 a mirror so that young people can see their own strengths. 255 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.320 On this warm, sunny April morning. I get to witness 256 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:52.040 it myself. 257 00:16:53.560 --> 00:16:55.240 So I'm going to give you also candie. 258 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.920 You all can have as much of that as possible. 259 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.480 However, the number of star wars that you are holding 260 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.439 in your hand is the number of things that you 261 00:17:04.520 --> 00:17:07.080 have to tell the person who says, tell me about 262 00:17:07.080 --> 00:17:07.520 your son. 263 00:17:08.280 --> 00:17:12.280 All right, no, no, no, no, no no. 264 00:17:17.520 --> 00:17:21.399 You have four minutes, all right, simply walk around and 265 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.080 talk to each other. And I just want to hear 266 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:23.919 one question. 267 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:26.480 I want you to ask the person to tell me 268 00:17:26.520 --> 00:17:27.280 about yourself. 269 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.440 All right, it's going to work. It's gonna work. 270 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:33.720 I look over at Marcel and he's smiling. 271 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.000 They're leading to a personal pitch learning how to tell 272 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.400 others about ourselves. So just social skills communication. 273 00:17:43.080 --> 00:17:46.239 It's just so funny because they had the opportunity to 274 00:17:46.280 --> 00:17:49.159 pull as many candies as they wanted. But now it's 275 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:51.640 a little bit of punishment if you got a little greedy. 276 00:17:52.280 --> 00:17:55.480 So it's such a dual lesson right. 277 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.280 Columbia is a town with about fifteen thousand residents an 278 00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:02.959 hour south west of Nashville. There really isn't much to 279 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.399 do in Columbia. On the drive there, I pass gorgeous 280 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.880 open pastures, farms, cows. It's a big football town, so 281 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.040 a lot of kids dream of making it by playing sports. 282 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.160 As I sit in on the activities of the day, 283 00:18:18.560 --> 00:18:21.720 I learn more about them. There are ten kids here, 284 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.400 nine boys and one girl. They range in ages from 285 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:31.480 twelve to seventeen. The day started with a group workout. First, 286 00:18:31.520 --> 00:18:35.160 they did push ups and burpies. Hernandez is a lifelong 287 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:38.959 believer that learning to be disciplined and fitness spreads to 288 00:18:39.040 --> 00:18:42.879 other areas. The kids seem to enjoy it. Most of 289 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:45.680 the leaders in the room today are African American men 290 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:48.960 as young as college aged all the way to retirement. 291 00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:51.960 They tell me that it's important that kids have male 292 00:18:52.040 --> 00:18:55.000 figures in their lives to look up to, who understand 293 00:18:55.080 --> 00:18:57.879 where they come from and what their lives are like. 294 00:18:58.520 --> 00:19:00.960 Oftentimes we find that we're trying to kind of undo 295 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.959 a lifetime of things that have kind of led up 296 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:04.880 to that, and so in a very real sense, it's 297 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.080 more of an intervention rather than a prevention. 298 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.000 But at Project Lead, the name of the game is 299 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.880 here and now, not when it's too late. 300 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:18.520 So somebody tell me from your experience, how either easy 301 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.760 or how difficult was that? It was easy? 302 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:23.600 Okay? 303 00:19:25.320 --> 00:19:27.359 All you had to talk about was so all right? 304 00:19:27.560 --> 00:19:29.199 So who got the I'm gonna be right over there 305 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:32.880 with who got the opportunity to talk to Elijah? All right? 306 00:19:33.320 --> 00:19:34.440 Somebody tell me what. 307 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:38.760 They remember this tell me about yourself. Question is going 308 00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:41.160 to be important for you to know and to know. 309 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.440 How to answer it, because you will be asking job 310 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:45.800 interviews to tell me about yourself as you begin to 311 00:19:45.840 --> 00:19:47.280 get into college and go. 312 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:49.560 Forward and move into workspaces. 313 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.120 People want to know who you are. 314 00:19:52.520 --> 00:19:55.639 But what A few brave volunteers stand on a small 315 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:58.919 table and share their elevator pitch that they spent the 316 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:03.080 morning working on mentors, having teaching them how to confidently 317 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:06.760 introduce themselves, share what they have to offer, and ask 318 00:20:06.840 --> 00:20:09.480 for what they want. They tell the young people in 319 00:20:09.520 --> 00:20:12.120 the room that it'll help them when applying for college 320 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:16.360 and later for a good job. They will have college interviews, 321 00:20:16.560 --> 00:20:20.399 they will get good jobs. They want them to envision it, 322 00:20:20.800 --> 00:20:23.480 to see themselves doing it successfully. 323 00:20:23.760 --> 00:20:24.720 Tell about yourself. 324 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:28.160 Nice meet. 325 00:20:28.800 --> 00:20:30.080 I'm a numberious school. 326 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.879 I recently joined the track team and I'm currently headed 327 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:36.159 to the Sun Secret I'm interested in playing football this 328 00:20:36.280 --> 00:20:37.639 year and I love to. 329 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.000 Opportunities that you play sports at the next levels. 330 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:42.920 Uh, what do you be helping to? 331 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:44.280 Scheduling stuff the next week? 332 00:20:44.840 --> 00:20:45.280 The same? 333 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:46.240 The must be your time. 334 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.160 One by one, more hands go up. In the end, 335 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.200 every kid has volunteered to go up and introduce themselves 336 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.040 their peers, and the mentors cheer them on. They tell 337 00:21:02.080 --> 00:21:06.359 them how well they've done, how confident they sound. Even 338 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:09.840 when they're dismissed, the kids hang around. A few of 339 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:12.639 them help clean up, Others go to the court and 340 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.679 shoot a basketball. A couple others linger around chatting with 341 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.480 Hernandez and the group of men here today it's a Saturday, 342 00:21:20.800 --> 00:21:23.600 a day off from school, but the kids are not 343 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:24.480 ready to go home. 344 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.240 The biggest piece that we've seen when it comes to 345 00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:31.080 success or shifting those trajectories is, of course, number one 346 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:34.840 is family engagement. Family involvement. Number two community involvement. So 347 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:38.359 young people seem to thrive when they are fully aware 348 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:39.520 that there's a community. 349 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.919 Of support at the end of the day, the mentors 350 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.840 who are volunteering from different programs and cities, most of 351 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:50.240 whom have just met today, gather around. They give thanks, 352 00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:53.600 speaking strength on to one another, just as they did 353 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:54.280 the children. 354 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:57.640 This confirmation that we get the right key people here 355 00:21:57.880 --> 00:21:58.800 to make all this happen. 356 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:00.200 So close to you. 357 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.880 I really admire your work, and you're a man. You're 358 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.400 gonna you're gonna keep writing, right. I can see it. 359 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:10.840 I can I can see the day when Jack remembers 360 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.920 how you put your hand on his shoulder and told 361 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.840 him I've been where you're at. 362 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.960 You didn't have somebody that I could say I looked 363 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:20.560 up to that was big. 364 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:21.960 You feel. 365 00:22:23.520 --> 00:22:23.960 Appreciate. 366 00:22:25.280 --> 00:22:27.080 So I would encourage all of us to be praying 367 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:31.120 for the hearts of these kids and show up actually 368 00:22:31.320 --> 00:22:33.919 their hearts. Be softly, be willing to listen to the 369 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:36.520 wisdom in this room. 370 00:22:36.520 --> 00:22:38.600 One of the local leaders speaks up. 371 00:22:38.800 --> 00:22:40.520 I just noticed you. I've been arm a whole lot. 372 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:41.760 I just know how it works. 373 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:43.640 They have to see it, and it has to say 374 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:45.480 exist because a lot of people do. 375 00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:48.919 This, but then you don't. 376 00:22:49.080 --> 00:22:51.639 You know, So that's really the key component to that 377 00:22:52.600 --> 00:22:54.440 come said Okay, you know what, that's something I'm for 378 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:55.480 to or. 379 00:22:55.600 --> 00:22:57.040 It's just another thing. 380 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:02.040 And getting the parents, I'm kids, get the parents, believe in. 381 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.000 There because we're only un failure away of being just 382 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:05.879 like some people. 383 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:18.760 And maybe really that's the only way out of this, 384 00:23:20.520 --> 00:23:24.480 showing up and showing care and commitment to the parents too, 385 00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:29.040 and understanding that every adult was once a child, maybe 386 00:23:29.080 --> 00:23:32.680 a child who was also failed by the system, and 387 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:37.720 treating children as children and working together as a community 388 00:23:38.080 --> 00:23:41.800 to make sure their needs are met before it's too late. 389 00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:51.320 After all, it does take a village. 390 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.280 Our episode was produced by Julieta Martinelli and edited by 391 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:07.560 Andrea Lopez Cruzado. It was mixed by gabriel A Bayez. 392 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.240 Fact checking for this episode by Roxanna Aguire. The Latino 393 00:24:12.320 --> 00:24:17.719 USA team also includes Julia Caruso, Jessica Ellis, Victor Ri Estrava, 394 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:24.520 Dominique Inestrosa, Renaldo Lenos Junior, Stephanie Lebau, Luis, Luna Marta Martinez, 395 00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:30.040 Monica Morales, Garcia, JJ Carubin, Tasha Sandoval, Moor Saudi, and 396 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:35.280 Nancy Truchuillo. Fernanda Chavari is our managing editor. Benni Lee Ramirez, 397 00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:38.440 Maria Garcia and I are co executive producers and I'm 398 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.480 your host, Maria Josa. Join us again on our next episode. 399 00:24:41.520 --> 00:24:43.760 In the meantime, look for us on all of your 400 00:24:43.800 --> 00:24:47.200 social media. I'll see you on Instagram. Asta approxima note 401 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:48.240