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Speaker 1: Hey, guys, it's Billed Courtney with an army of normal folks.

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Speaker 1: And we continue now with part two of our conversation

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Speaker 1: with Floernardo, right after these brief messages from our general sponsors.

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Speaker 1: All right, so now you got somebody pregnant. Mama says

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Speaker 1: you're getting through it, but you didn't. Well, I got

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Speaker 1: through it the best way I could.

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Speaker 2: You know, I worked every summer with my mother's boyfriend

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Speaker 2: who had a construction company. So I worked every summer

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Speaker 2: to help try to provide for my son. At the time,

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Speaker 2: they ended up putting me on child report. I paid

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Speaker 2: like seventy six dollars a month, and then right after

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Speaker 2: that gradu Now I was playing football and working at

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Speaker 2: DC Cafe in high school.

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Speaker 1: In high school with a baby, with a baby, and

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Speaker 1: so I mean you got to do is hear that

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Speaker 1: to realize the prospects of a future. It's pretty rough.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you are already loaded up amount of crap on

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Speaker 1: top of you that keeps you from being able to

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Speaker 1: try to go down a normal track. But you're trying.

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Speaker 1: You're working, playing ball, trying, trying.

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Speaker 2: So doing the off season when football wasn't going on,

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Speaker 2: I work from FATA clothes every day almost Monday through Friday,

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Speaker 2: and then on the weekend I try to do my work.

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Speaker 2: But then when football season came in, I do football

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Speaker 2: through the week and work on the weekends for fat

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Speaker 2: a club where I do doubleships.

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Speaker 1: Eight to three FATA cloth. So I can already hear

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Speaker 1: where this is going. You're killing yourself and no matter

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Speaker 1: what you do, there ain't enough money, and so you've

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Speaker 1: got to have a different way to get some more money.

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Speaker 1: And so, and can we be just candid. You're a

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Speaker 1: victim of your own circumstance. But the fact is you

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Speaker 1: don't have access to any thing else. So you remember

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Speaker 1: the guys with the rope chains and the grills and

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Speaker 1: the spinners on the luxus and they jumps.

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Speaker 2: They was always there, and they was always you know,

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Speaker 2: and they knew I played football and and but I

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Speaker 2: never got involved with what they was doing.

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Speaker 1: And they were spect to me for it.

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Speaker 2: And so after I graduated, I ended up, you know,

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Speaker 2: buying me a car. I bought a UH four Maverick

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Speaker 2: for three hundred and fifty dollars. I put some I

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Speaker 2: put some music in it. Two toils.

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Speaker 1: It was bumping lap and uh.

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Speaker 2: And I was in I was in the eleventh grade

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Speaker 2: during the time, and and and went on, and the

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Speaker 2: car it started catching on file me. So my father,

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Speaker 2: you know, buying me a Toyota Corolla for graduation, got

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Speaker 2: that car, graduated, Now got another son on the way.

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Speaker 2: And this time I'm working at FedEx. That ain't enough money.

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Speaker 2: So I worked fed eggs in DC Cafe. Back to

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Speaker 2: that same rhythm, working myself to death, and I'm like, man,

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Speaker 2: this is not enough. And so then I started hanging

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Speaker 2: with the guys in the community. I had a car.

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Speaker 2: Some of them didn't have a car, so they was like, no, no,

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Speaker 2: I give you a few dolls. You rob me here,

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Speaker 2: you run me down. So now I'm hanging with them,

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Speaker 2: watching them selling dope. But they took care of me.

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Speaker 2: They fed me. They if they went to the mall

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Speaker 2: and boss shoes at the Marl Memphis, I got a

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Speaker 2: new pair of shoes too. If they bought them an outfit,

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Speaker 2: they'll buy me an outfit too. It was like they

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Speaker 2: brought me into it, like we're not going to leave

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Speaker 2: you out while you're looking bad or anything, but you

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Speaker 2: with us, you're gonna look good.

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Speaker 1: And so after that that almost feels like a recruiting

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Speaker 1: I thought, bringing you in, they didn't care about you.

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Speaker 1: They care about what you could get them. And so

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget. It was one night, it was a

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Speaker 1: Sunday night, and one of my friends wanted ten rocks.

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Speaker 1: So I went to my other friend, one of your friend,

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Speaker 1: what one of ten rocks? Crack crack?

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Speaker 2: Yes, all right, And so I went and got him

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Speaker 2: from my other friend to take it to my other friend.

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Speaker 2: And he was like, he was like nah, noh, these

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Speaker 2: these too smile. So I called upon and I said

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Speaker 2: he don't want them. He said, all right, keep them.

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Speaker 2: I getting them from you tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: So that night, that.

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Speaker 2: Sunday night, I sat in my room and I just

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Speaker 2: I was just like mine. I was like, God, I

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Speaker 2: need some help. I needed what I need. I need

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Speaker 2: some type of help. And then I promised you. It

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Speaker 2: was this voice said, go sell those rocks. You know

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Speaker 2: all you know all the junkies, you know where the

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Speaker 2: head go to, where the head? And I got them

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Speaker 2: my Toyota Corolla, and that night I sold them ten rocks.

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Speaker 2: I made one hundred and forty dollars and I and

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Speaker 2: I called my part and I said hey, let me

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Speaker 2: get fourteen more rocks and I pay you one hundred

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Speaker 2: dollars for those ten rocks when I get paid from

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Speaker 2: Freediggs right and from right there it was all she wrote.

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Speaker 2: I put. I was good in math, so I put

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Speaker 2: a put together a strategy where I was like, why

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Speaker 2: would I sell another drug deal with ten rocks for

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Speaker 2: one hundred when I could just sell seven rocks for

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Speaker 2: one hundred to the one that smoked the crack. And

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Speaker 2: so from there I end up having five dope houses.

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Speaker 1: Five dope houses. What's a dope house? I know what

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Speaker 1: a dope but tell everybody what a dope house.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a location where all those that smoke crack

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Speaker 2: want to be in and they sit there in the

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Speaker 2: safe place. What do you mean you have? So what

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Speaker 2: ended up happening. It was certain and certain junkies that

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Speaker 2: I had connected with, and I told them I don't

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Speaker 2: want to mean nobody else, I'm just wanting to deal

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Speaker 2: with you, and every hundred dollars that you bring me,

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Speaker 2: I give you seven rocks. And so they was able

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Speaker 2: to break down, No, seven rocks instead of the rocks

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Speaker 2: theysel So when there was other drug dealers inside the

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Speaker 2: dope house. They wouldn't buy from them. They'll call me

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Speaker 2: and I'll pull up. But nobody messed with me because

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Speaker 2: they knew me from hanging with all the other big

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Speaker 2: drug dealers. So it was like I had a free

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Speaker 2: pass and that's how I was able to control the situation.

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Speaker 1: Ou aout.

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Speaker 2: All of them end up facing eight years. The thing

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Speaker 2: that happened was that I wasn't at my mother house

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Speaker 2: when the fast came, and so when I went to

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Speaker 2: court for this situation, that's the number one thing my

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Speaker 2: Lord stood on. Was there the inform it could have

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Speaker 2: put it down, and so I copped out on the

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Speaker 2: complete deal where I got eleven twenty nine misdemeanor charge

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Speaker 2: and I was on PROBATIONI you got lucky, yep and lucky.

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Speaker 1: So we'll stop right there. For everybody listen, that is

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Speaker 1: Flo Leonardo. That's it. And you're not the only two

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Speaker 1: in Memphisileize. There's a bunch of other folks with very

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Speaker 1: similar stories. Why is this important? Again, back to what

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Speaker 1: we said, the secret sauce of Memphisileize is this. The

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Speaker 1: goal is to reach the most at risk people in

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Speaker 1: our communities to gun violence. The who are you guys

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Speaker 1: people like you who know the life, who've lived the life,

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Speaker 1: who have the credibility, who understand where these folks have

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Speaker 1: come from and what they're up against every single day.

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Speaker 1: So we got the who, we got the what. But

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Speaker 1: the how and the why are the two things I

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Speaker 1: want to talk about now. First, how did you get

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Speaker 1: involved in memphisileized? And why did you change why? I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna start with you flow why why? I mean, your

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Speaker 1: entire world was this mess, right, And I get you

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Speaker 1: go to jail, and I get you got shot, and

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Speaker 1: I get all that, But there's a whole lot of

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Speaker 1: people that've been to jail and come out and don't change, right.

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Speaker 1: So how did you find mephisileized and why did you

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Speaker 1: decide to dedicate your life to this?

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Speaker 3: Well, going back to when I went back to prison

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Speaker 3: the second time, I was on the charge with being

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Speaker 3: feeling around guns because when they came from my son,

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Speaker 3: the guns where they're in the house.

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Speaker 4: Was in my name.

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Speaker 1: So did your son good time?

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Speaker 3: No, you didn't, never been in trouble, no ju in

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Speaker 3: our record anything. So it was a slap on the

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Speaker 3: wrist for him, and I think it was more so

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Speaker 3: an eye opener for me. I didn't understand then because

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Speaker 3: I honestly was not involved in the same type of

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Speaker 3: lifestyle my baby daddy was, but I wasn't, So that

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Speaker 3: was the justification I used.

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Speaker 4: You're guilty by association.

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Speaker 3: So once I was in prison for that, I had

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Speaker 3: to leave my fifteen year old she was only two.

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Speaker 4: She was two. That broke me, That broke you, That

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Speaker 4: broke me because I had.

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Speaker 3: To leave her for not. When I came home, my

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Speaker 3: oldest daughter, thank God, was there to be. I didn't

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Speaker 3: even deserve her to step.

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Speaker 1: In and say what a burden for her.

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Speaker 3: She had her own kids, She didn't have to step up.

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Speaker 3: She stepped up, and she took her sister hand. She

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Speaker 3: made sure I visit with her once, even when they

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Speaker 3: moved me from Florida to Texas, Texas to Alabama.

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Speaker 4: She made it heppen.

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Speaker 3: But it was just the one thing I've always pride

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Speaker 3: to myself on is that I wanted my family to

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Speaker 3: be different than what I was exposed to. So I

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Speaker 3: felt so inadequate as a mother to leave my baby

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Speaker 3: girl with my oldest daughter, with my grandkids while you

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Speaker 3: in jail. While I'm in jail yet again, so.

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Speaker 1: You just tried to come to Jesus meeting with yourself.

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Speaker 1: I did.

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Speaker 3: I came home one with the wrong notion. I tried

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Speaker 3: to make up for being gone to seven years, and

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Speaker 3: instead of coming home as a disciplinarian to my younger kids,

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Speaker 3: even my son, I was an enabler for them. I

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Speaker 3: didn't want them to be angry with me because I

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Speaker 3: had missed out seven years, so I was trying to

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Speaker 3: continue to make up for the time I lost. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 3: you're helping them to destroy theirselves. You can't get back

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Speaker 3: to seven years. You did it, you apologize, get past it.

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Speaker 3: But I was still living in that moment. So I

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Speaker 3: was allowing him and his brother to have a lifestyle

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Speaker 3: that I know was not good for them. And now

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Speaker 3: I condoned it, basically, because if you don't say nothing

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Speaker 3: about it or stop it, you're condoning it.

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Speaker 1: And that is some raw honesty about yourself.

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Speaker 4: I really had to face the fact that you fucked up.

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Speaker 3: You can stop blaming your dad. You can stop blaming

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Speaker 3: mom for not being strong enough to pull you from dad.

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Speaker 3: You can stop blaming the system for catching you because

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Speaker 3: you're mad because you got caught, and take full responsibility

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Speaker 3: for what you've done.

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Speaker 1: So why I'm mephasulized.

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Speaker 3: I actually came across this by pure accident. When I

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Speaker 3: got out, my mom was already made up to change

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Speaker 3: and do better. I came home, I went to Concord,

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Speaker 3: got a certified that little assistant degree. I was working

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Speaker 3: in a dental office and I met a young lady

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Speaker 3: that was working for the Problem of Human Service with

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Speaker 3: a special needs child and they couldn't get this baby

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Speaker 3: to cooperate. I came from behind the counter and set

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Speaker 3: in the floor, got his teeth clean X rays.

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Speaker 4: She was like, you work so well with children.

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Speaker 3: It was back pure accident because I was intentionally initially

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Speaker 3: supposed to work with. I started telling her a little

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Speaker 3: bit about me and what I really wanted to do.

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Speaker 3: My goal when I came home was to work with

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Speaker 3: trouble teens.

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Speaker 4: That was my goal.

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Speaker 3: Well, and she introduced me to a young lady that

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Speaker 3: was through one of our other partnerships we no longer have,

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Speaker 3: which was a lifelime to success. I met Mss Brown

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Speaker 3: who runs that organization. She wanted me to quit my

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Speaker 3: job and come work right then and there. When she's

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Speaker 3: told me about the Memphisillizes Initiative. I was like, this

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Speaker 3: something I would love to be a part of, you know,

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Speaker 3: But again, I was coming home. I was struggling and

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Speaker 3: working at Wendy's and doing dental assistants, trying to keep

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Speaker 3: from getting back into the mindset of the fast, free money.

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Speaker 4: Most definitely, I.

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Speaker 3: Met Carl Davis, met the team, and I was I

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Speaker 3: was bought in before they even told me I had

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Speaker 3: the job.

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Speaker 1: I was bought in.

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Speaker 3: It was honestly, it was just like God had really

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Speaker 3: answered my prayers. He was like, if you sacrifice and

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Speaker 3: do what you're supposed to do, everything else is gone

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Speaker 3: fall in place.

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Speaker 1: And it was only not an interesting God chap. We'll

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Speaker 1: be right back. What about you? Why I'm in phacialized.

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Speaker 1: How well did you get to memphacalives.

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Speaker 2: Well, I had my God moment that eight years and

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Speaker 2: then I was blessed not to receive. I started building

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Speaker 2: a relationship with God and from there I started became

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Speaker 2: a member of Missippi Boo Christian Church. And that's why

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Speaker 2: I learned by my morals. I learned to value people.

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Speaker 2: And the number one thing I started valuing was my boys.

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Speaker 2: I didn't want my boys to experience what I experienced

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Speaker 2: without my father being around. And I had a cousin

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Speaker 2: that ended up going to the FED. So I used

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Speaker 2: to have to go visit him as far as city.

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Speaker 2: And when you go in that visitation room, you're seeing families.

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Speaker 2: They're crying, sad, some joking, some talking, but majority of

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Speaker 2: them sad.

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Speaker 4: And I didn't want my boys to experience that.

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Speaker 1: That was one way.

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Speaker 2: And then secondly and me being in the streets, it

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Speaker 2: was a night a couple of guys tried to kidnap

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Speaker 2: me in front of my mama house. Tried to kidnap

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Speaker 2: you tried to kidnap me, and it was just luckily

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Speaker 2: because I was a drug though. Well, okay, but why

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Speaker 2: are you going to kidnap a drug deal? Because they

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Speaker 2: wanted the money. Either they wanted money or they wanted drugs.

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Speaker 2: And when they jack you like that, do you end

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Speaker 2: up dead or they just take your stuff, You're gonna

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Speaker 2: end up did So I didn't get in the car

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Speaker 2: when he hopped out.

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Speaker 1: When he hopped out and he was shaking, I knew

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Speaker 1: he's shaking. Yeah, he had this going on you, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he and his hand was shaken, so he was scared.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so when I saw that, in my mind, I'm like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I can get out of this. And so and then

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Speaker 2: he was like where the drugs here? Where the money?

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Speaker 2: And I'm like, what money? What drugs? And so I'm

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Speaker 2: really trying to identify who he is. So the next

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Speaker 2: shot I found out who it was. And so me

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Speaker 2: and him got the tussling over the gun, and so

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Speaker 2: I fell to the ground, but the guy that was

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Speaker 2: driving told him to shoot, shoot him and kill him,

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Speaker 2: kill him, and so I got up off the ground.

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Speaker 2: And then as we're still tussling on them for the gun,

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Speaker 2: I kind of pushed his hand off real hot and

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Speaker 2: I ran zigzagging into my neighbor yard and she the

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Speaker 2: one turned on the light.

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Speaker 1: She turned on the porch light.

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Speaker 2: And when she turned on the porch like this dude

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Speaker 2: jumped in the car and they bowed off.

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Speaker 1: All right, I got to ask you something one other

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Speaker 1: thing along the morality conversation we had briefly, there are

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Speaker 1: good people live in an Orange mound, who work hard,

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Speaker 1: who don't get involved in crime, who have homes, who

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Speaker 1: keep their yards tight, all of that, Why in God's

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Speaker 1: name do they put up Would you say all these

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Speaker 1: folks are out there in the open dealing. Why in

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Speaker 1: the world they put up with that? Why don't they

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Speaker 1: call the law and get that stuff off their streets? Well,

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Speaker 1: some of them do, some do call. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, in making a call, you putting yourself in jeopardy.

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Speaker 1: That's what I was expecting you to tell me.

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Speaker 4: You put yourself in jeopardy because at the same.

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Speaker 1: Time, or the drug guys retalian gangs retaliate against people,

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Speaker 1: they call the police.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes, I want to say all the time. Because I

303
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Speaker 2: was a drug dealer. The neighbor, next door, neighbor, cross,

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Speaker 2: everybody on the street knew what I was doing.

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Speaker 1: They knew that.

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Speaker 2: But I didn't see a drugs from my mother's house

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Speaker 2: I was. I had to joke the dope houses. But

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Speaker 2: the cars I had people pulling up, nice cars, clothes,

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Speaker 2: so they already knew what I was doing and so

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Speaker 2: from there. But they knew me from the little kid

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Speaker 2: they played football too. They walked up and down the

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Speaker 2: street with his headt and they saw their train. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: because nine times ten you it ain't just the drug dealers.

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Speaker 1: Just popped up. Somebody come up.

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Speaker 2: You saw them grow up and involving too that.

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Speaker 1: So you were going to church and dealing drugs and

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Speaker 1: then the kidnapping happened and you said enough. Well no

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Speaker 1: I ain't saying enough. I'm still trying to real hard

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Speaker 1: headed it very very stuff.

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Speaker 2: I switched from selling cracking cocaine to start selling high

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Speaker 2: end marijuana. And in their first wave of when they

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Speaker 2: used to call it ink or drow, I was part

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Speaker 2: of that first wave they came and so I switched

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Speaker 2: to that. And if the police came again and they

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Speaker 2: said they was like, this time, if we get you again,

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Speaker 2: it's gonna be over for you. Because my cousin had

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Speaker 2: already told me when they got him that the fizz

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Speaker 2: was come of asking about me because they wanted me.

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Speaker 2: So I was like, I ain't gonna see me no more.

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Speaker 2: I want to start a lawn service business. And right

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Speaker 2: now today I still have that lung service bisons. And

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Speaker 2: in my moment of going to me and sip a boulevard,

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Speaker 2: God gave me a passion for young people. He said,

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Speaker 2: I'm seeing how you've been faithful with your kids. Now

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Speaker 2: I need you to be a father to me in it.

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Speaker 2: And so I started going to the Orange Mound Community

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Speaker 2: Center hanging out with the young people up there, asking

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Speaker 2: them to come into a side room to hear about

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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. And that's that moment right there what led

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Speaker 2: me to where I'm at now with me his allies.

341
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Speaker 2: Because I had already started my own non prophet I

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Speaker 2: should not that I believe.

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Speaker 1: And so.

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Speaker 2: Twenty seventeen I lost five young men of guns. And

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Speaker 2: so when if It's eye last came, it was like

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Speaker 2: they wanted to talk talk to me about creating a

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00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,919
Speaker 2: partnership because I already have a van. I already got

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Speaker 2: a house that I that I called a safe house.

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Speaker 2: Because God spoke to me, he said, remember you had

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Speaker 2: them dope pals. He was like, what do what do

351
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,080
Speaker 2: you think they was doing? You was helping every interviewual

352
00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,520
Speaker 2: that came about drills from that house. You was helping

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Speaker 2: them deal with they trauma. They wanted to get hired,

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Speaker 2: to get away from what they was feeling and the

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Speaker 2: way the world had had hurted them. And so and

356
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Speaker 2: so when I was listening to God and said okay,

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Speaker 2: and then God was like, I peop pre parish for

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Speaker 2: lack of knowledge, get them knowledge, create a safe house

359
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,280
Speaker 2: and gilt knowledge. And then so Now, in losing my

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Speaker 2: young men in twenty seventeen, I learned that I didn't

361
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Speaker 2: have knowledge about my emotions. And when they died, it

362
00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,960
Speaker 2: was like I went to a dark place in my life.

363
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,320
Speaker 2: I was deeply depressed. I didn't want to do ministry

364
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Speaker 2: no more. I didn't want to work with young people

365
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,919
Speaker 2: no more. I told God I'd rather cut grass and

366
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Speaker 2: be out there with the mosquito, snakes, frogs and all

367
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Speaker 2: of them instead of being around people. And God said, no,

368
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Speaker 2: you're going back. And I read this book called a

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Speaker 2: Voice of the Heart that helped me with my emotions.

370
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Speaker 2: And then God said, now you know I have feared

371
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Speaker 2: to lose multiple people to good balance. Now you'll be

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Speaker 2: able to speak to those they lose multiple people to

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Speaker 2: go back. And so from there, uh, Pat car Susan Taffante.

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Speaker 2: They all came over to the safe house. My mama

375
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,159
Speaker 2: cooked some hamburger helper. I had about eight of my

376
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,359
Speaker 2: young guys over there, and then had wanted to start

377
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,440
Speaker 2: talking about the program, I mean, memphysialyzed. I said, Pat,

378
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,320
Speaker 2: hold up, I don't mean to cut you out. And

379
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Speaker 2: I went around to every young person that was in

380
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Speaker 2: their room and asked them how many time they've been shot,

381
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Speaker 2: and all of them have been shot at.

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Speaker 1: Least one time or more.

383
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Speaker 2: How old really range from seventeen to twenty one.

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Speaker 1: That's just amazing to me. And I think again, our

385
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,120
Speaker 1: society at large is to sensitize to it. They see it,

386
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Speaker 1: but it's different to see it on the news and

387
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,880
Speaker 1: read about it. It's a whole nother thing to sit

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Speaker 1: down and talk to a person who has been a

389
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Speaker 1: part or a victim of it. It gets very personal

390
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:53,520
Speaker 1: very quickly. So we got the who, we got the why,

391
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:59,359
Speaker 1: we got the what? What does memphisileies do? Why do

392
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 1: they do it? And who does it? And the truth

393
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: is the goal once again, mister, the folks who are

394
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,640
Speaker 1: most at risk for gun violence and wise to save

395
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Speaker 1: lives and that's what we're doing. And then the who

396
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,680
Speaker 1: are people who came from that because they're both suited

397
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 1: best suited to understand it. Here's the secret to it

398
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 1: all the how how does Memphis Allies do what they do?

399
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,400
Speaker 1: We know who they do it with what and why?

400
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: But how do they do it? And how do they

401
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,920
Speaker 1: measure their success? And are you having an impact?

402
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 4: We definitely are having that impact.

403
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,440
Speaker 1: How do you do it because I get it. You

404
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 1: got credibility if you're going to go into the neighborhoods

405
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 1: you came up in and you know the actors in

406
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 1: because you lived it and everything else and people probably

407
00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,679
Speaker 1: you probably got a little bit of a I know

408
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: you have to have a reputation in Orange Mount, right.

409
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,560
Speaker 1: I know you have to have a reputation in North Memphis. Right,

410
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 1: So you've get they will receive you more. I mean

411
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 1: if I drive up, they're like, who lose this guy? Right?

412
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 1: So they'll receive you. But receiving you in to that

413
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,160
Speaker 1: area and listening to you and hearing you and allowing

414
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 1: you to have some measure of change. That's the how

415
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: How does that work?

416
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 3: Building a relationship with them? What's up building the relationship

417
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 3: with them, a real genuine relationship with them, never giving

418
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 3: up being on conditional, I mean, non judgmental in every

419
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 3: way possible.

420
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,440
Speaker 1: Will you say you're reaching the most at risk? How

421
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,199
Speaker 1: do you know in North Hollywood or how do you

422
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,120
Speaker 1: know an Orange Mound? Who the most at risk?

423
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 4: Who the heitters are? They tell on themselves? If they don't, they.

424
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 1: Tell on themselves.

425
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 4: Social media gives you any out information you want.

426
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: This is the part I wanted to talk about a

427
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,920
Speaker 1: little bit because when I heard this, I thought, now,

428
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: that makes a lot of sense. I heard that, you guys,

429
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 1: there was a dude about seven eight months ago, went

430
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 1: around Memphis actually on TikTok or YouTube or something, videoed

431
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: himself riding around town shooting stuff up. I think he

432
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 1: shot three people before they finally stopped him. Right. I

433
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,240
Speaker 1: was told you guys knew that he was very high

434
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 1: risk and were trying to find him as as early

435
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 1: as two days before. Okay, that's the how, because that's magic.

436
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,879
Speaker 1: How How does that? How does I don't understand it?

437
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 3: The crime in the community. His name just kept coming

438
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:46,360
Speaker 3: up unto.

439
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 1: Because you're in the community. Okay, do people not see

440
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:50,919
Speaker 1: all his rights?

441
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,439
Speaker 3: No, because they genuinely know our outreaches the heart of

442
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 3: what we do when it comes to getting out there,

443
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 3: mingling with these guys and identifying that's where you know

444
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 3: you need to correct people, because again, nobody buys in

445
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 3: on a week. They don't buy in in a month.

446
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 3: Sometimes it takes an outreach worker eight months to even

447
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 3: get them to come to the building. But that comes

448
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 3: from being relentless engagement, being there for them answering the

449
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,919
Speaker 3: phone when they call, helping them when they need something done.

450
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 3: They know if you're genuine and if you're not. And

451
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 3: one thing about coming from street life, that loyalty thing,

452
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,439
Speaker 3: it's the way you use your loyalty though. See, they

453
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 3: are loyal to what they know, the culture, the people

454
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,680
Speaker 3: who show them these things. So you have to build

455
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 3: a relationship to gain loyalty with them. And that's exactly

456
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 3: what we have to do. That's why you can't have

457
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,160
Speaker 3: people the wrong people in position, because they can identify

458
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 3: who's just reading off a script. They know if you're

459
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 3: real and when you're not. I have a little thing

460
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,800
Speaker 3: I told around. I keep my federal prison I D

461
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 3: and I keep my diatment papers. Not a rat never

462
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 3: will be, so they respect that I'm not the police.

463
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 4: We're not the police. We're here to stop you.

464
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 3: And help you change, turn your life around and do

465
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:12,480
Speaker 3: something different.

466
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've read that. One of the things y'all say

467
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 1: is we're not the police. We do not work with

468
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 1: the police, and we ain't trying to solve no crimes.

469
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,640
Speaker 1: So that right there removes a barrier.

470
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:26,199
Speaker 4: It does.

471
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. I've read. I think there's eighty

472
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:46,160
Speaker 1: employees now with eighty one full time staff members with Memphisileies.

473
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,640
Speaker 1: All right, how many of you are in these neighborhoods

474
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 1: engaging on a day to day basis with the most

475
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: at risk people saying I'm not the police out here

476
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 1: to solve crimes. I gonna write you out. I came

477
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,239
Speaker 1: from where you come from. I know you, I know

478
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,240
Speaker 1: your community, I know what you're feeling, I know what

479
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,400
Speaker 1: you're going through. But I got away a different way

480
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: to live. How many of you are out there doing

481
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: that on the ground.

482
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 3: In a Phraser Raleigh area, I should say out of

483
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 3: the percent, maybe in my building alone, I could honestly

484
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 3: say maybe ten of us that actually lived the life,

485
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 3: actually walked in their life, have that that credibility. Now,

486
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 3: don't get me wrong, just because you lived the life

487
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 3: and you were in the life, don't mean that you're

488
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,879
Speaker 3: going to be received from the You know you're not

489
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 3: going to be received.

490
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, well you laughed. I know why are you laughing?

491
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 1: Because because you're shaking your head off that fast. It's

492
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 1: because what you have to be qualified? Well, what in

493
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: constitutes qualification?

494
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,280
Speaker 2: That means that you are from that environment, the environment

495
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: already knows you. The environment already see that there's a

496
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 2: transition that you're trying to make in your life, and

497
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,400
Speaker 2: they know where you came from. The nine people they

498
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,640
Speaker 2: work up under me, but actuallyout that I believe they

499
00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,160
Speaker 2: all come from that environment. And and by me having

500
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 2: a partnership with me, if it's allies, it gave me

501
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 2: the ability to go back in that community and empower

502
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,919
Speaker 2: those that want to help change the community. So now

503
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 2: if there goes the qualification, Okay, I see Nato, Marlon Bowl,

504
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:40,440
Speaker 2: Tony Cadiza, Ms Barber, Paul Deryll, Fat fat.

505
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 1: Fat fat, don't meet fat fact.

506
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 2: I just like to name and all of us come

507
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 2: together and they see all of us coming together from

508
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 2: from the some being gds, some being great, some being

509
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 2: vice lord. I'm a drug dealer X drug dealer and

510
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 2: losing came together and unified to bring change in the community.

511
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 2: That's what qualification.

512
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 1: Since twenty nineteen, homicides in Memphis have gone up eighty

513
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: one percent. In twenty twenty two, a life was taken

514
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: every twenty nine hours three hundred and two homicides. Nineteen

515
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: children were killed. So far, homicide side is up more

516
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 1: than thirty percent over last year's numbers. A recent study

517
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,600
Speaker 1: found Memphis the eighth most dangerous city.

518
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 4: In the world. In the world, we're.

519
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:43,239
Speaker 1: Talking Beirut, We're talking Karachi, Pakistan, We're talking Tehran the

520
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 1: world now eighth most dangerous city.

521
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 4: In the world, which.

522
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,240
Speaker 1: Is interesting because ninety five percent of the people that

523
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: live in the city would not experience this being the

524
00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 1: eighth most city in the world. The honest, blatant truth is,

525
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: this is the folks that you come from. This is

526
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:14,040
Speaker 1: them on them, mostly youth villages. I Facilies has developed

527
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: a program model that combines street outreach with life coaching

528
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 1: and intensive clinical services and case management. SWITCH will identify,

529
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,080
Speaker 1: connect with, and serve individuals at the iceh GRIFF high

530
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 1: risk of involvement in violence. So I know what a

531
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 1: SWITCH is. A SWITCH is basically a bump stock kind

532
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: of It's it's something you put on a gun to

533
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: make it from semi automatic to automatic. It's street street

534
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: street talk. But SWITCH. The reason you call it SWITCH

535
00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 1: is it's an acronym that stands for support with intention

536
00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 1: to create hope. So talk about talk about this life coaching,

537
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 1: I get street outreach. We've established that that's what you

538
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 1: and your teams are out there doing. So once you

539
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 1: get them the life coaching with intensive clinical services and

540
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,960
Speaker 1: case management, explain what that means. Because you two guys

541
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:28,920
Speaker 1: are not professionally trained social workers. You didn't go to

542
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: school to be psychologists. So how does the thing transfer

543
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,320
Speaker 1: from what you are amazing at, which is a street

544
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: outreach and why we've just described to life coaching, intensive,

545
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 1: intensive clinical services and case management. How does that work?

546
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 3: I started out as a life coach. I'm now as supervisor,

547
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,600
Speaker 3: but I started as a life coach. And the word

548
00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,640
Speaker 3: life coach speaks for itself. You walk in through life

549
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 3: with this individual and when they build a report to

550
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 3: get them to when outreach starts out, they build a

551
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,240
Speaker 3: report to get them open to the idea of coming

552
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 3: into a programming. Then you're introduced to your life coach

553
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 3: and the rest of the team that you will letting

554
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 3: them know you have more than me, you have more

555
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,840
Speaker 3: than our reach. You have a whole staff here that's

556
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 3: here for you to help you get through this thing

557
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 3: called life and get you to the next step. Not

558
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 3: walking for you. I'm not making decisions for you. I'm

559
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,400
Speaker 3: not setting your goals for you. I'm taking the police,

560
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 3: and I'm definitely not the police. I'm here to walk

561
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 3: you through the necessary steps to get you to the

562
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 3: finish line. So that's when the rentless and relentless engagement begins.

563
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,080
Speaker 3: As a life coach, you have to be prepared and

564
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,560
Speaker 3: knowing they don't sleep traditional hours.

565
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 1: I was about to say, you got to be twenty

566
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 1: four seven because street folks, they're probably going to get

567
00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 1: angrist and the worst times at one in the morning,

568
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 1: not at three in the afternoon.

569
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 4: At three o'clock in the morning. You have to be

570
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:03,640
Speaker 4: ready to be on go.

571
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 3: And something as simple as working with an individual who's

572
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 3: the court may have referred them. They really don't want

573
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,200
Speaker 3: the program, but they know they gotta do it to

574
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 3: stay out of jail. Those are my favorite candidates really,

575
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 3: because I got you now. You might have been hard well,

576
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 3: I'll reached to reach you. You weren't ready yet, but

577
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 3: because you don't want to go to jail, the system

578
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,360
Speaker 3: has gave me that connection. Now it's my duty to

579
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,840
Speaker 3: get you to buy in. So as a life coach,

580
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 3: I'm there. I'm There's something as simple as them calling

581
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:36,160
Speaker 3: you at three in the morning because they at the

582
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,200
Speaker 3: girls house and got put out of She's fing to

583
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,880
Speaker 3: call the police, and you get up out your bed

584
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 3: to assist means more to them than you can possibly imagine.

585
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 3: Ever did anything for most of these individuals without expecting

586
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 3: something in return, So that that's always been my motto

587
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 3: to tell them, this is a job, but it's also

588
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:00,959
Speaker 3: my life.

589
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 1: Another moral tenant unconditional loss.

590
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 4: And can't be judgmental. You cannot be judge mental.

591
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 3: Some of these guys have did some bad things, but

592
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,760
Speaker 3: I generally want you to stop turn your life around.

593
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 3: And I can't be judge mental to the things and

594
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 3: get you through life and actually have a success rate.

595
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 3: If I'm gonna judge you by everything you've done, I

596
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 3: didn't get judged by everything I did.

597
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,560
Speaker 4: So I don't want to be that person.

598
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 3: And life is life in My grandson, fourteen years old,

599
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,360
Speaker 3: was just shot in the head last month by a friend,

600
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 3: a family friend, because they're.

601
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 4: Playing with a gun.

602
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 3: You're saying this, yeah, for my grandson, and this young

603
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,319
Speaker 3: man was eighteen and he's fourteen. But because they were

604
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 3: playing with the gun, my son them are angry and

605
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,359
Speaker 3: they were ready for revenge. My passionate what God gave

606
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 3: me to do when I walked out their prison six

607
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,799
Speaker 3: years ago, says No, I went to his bond here

608
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,919
Speaker 3: and to make sure you know that he's eighteen, he's

609
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,360
Speaker 3: he lost both of his parents gone, he lived with

610
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 3: his great grandmother. She's oh, she can't do anything for him.

611
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,719
Speaker 3: He's a prospect now for the program. Yeah, I was

612
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,399
Speaker 3: angry when it happened, but I also know the storyline

613
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 3: behind it. My kids don't see that right now because

614
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 3: all they think about is he was eighteen, he's fourteen.

615
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 3: The ball has dropped, not only with the eighteen year old,

616
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:24,959
Speaker 3: but with the fourteen year old as well.

617
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,160
Speaker 1: What's a fourteen year old doing hanging around with eighteen

618
00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 1: year old anyway?

619
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 3: My point exactly, So that was my thing to my son.

620
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,960
Speaker 3: I was like, you got to do more than make

621
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,120
Speaker 3: sure he go to school. Y'all think making sure school

622
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:40,520
Speaker 3: is That's not it. They interacting with everybody that they

623
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 3: come in contact with, from the time they wake up

624
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:44,919
Speaker 3: and step out your door to the time they walk

625
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:45,319
Speaker 3: back in.

626
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:53,319
Speaker 1: So Nardo mephicillies recruiting folks like you who've turned their

627
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:58,080
Speaker 1: life around, who've made that step, who've come from the

628
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,839
Speaker 1: life and then getting in the community to identify and

629
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 1: walk with people that are that are most likely to

630
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,759
Speaker 1: be in gun violence. That's truly the first up. That

631
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: ain't just that's not it. That's just the beginning, right,

632
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 1: So talk about the counseling services and the other stuff

633
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: besides life coaching. Well, the biggest part is the clinical piece.

634
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 1: That's the clinical piece.

635
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 2: That's what I say to my guys in young ladies

636
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:46,040
Speaker 2: because because of the trauma that we deal with, I'm

637
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,920
Speaker 2: like me being an orange now. The same people that

638
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,319
Speaker 2: they've lost, I've lost too, So the same hurd that

639
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 2: they feel, I feel too. I've cried in front of

640
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,480
Speaker 2: my young people. I spoken counter license, balloon releases and

641
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 2: all those things, and share my heartwell about the trauma,

642
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 2: the side of us dealing with our emotions and what

643
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:12,680
Speaker 2: I shared with them. I go to see a counselor

644
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 2: every two weeks. Why man, and we have a large

645
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:29,919
Speaker 2: generation that's walking around hurt that I am.

646
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 1: I have. I don't know why I feel so defed.

647
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,840
Speaker 1: I have to be. I feel like I have to

648
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:43,520
Speaker 1: be h m hm. Language matters, and I fear I

649
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:49,480
Speaker 1: like the skill to properly articulate what's going on in

650
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 1: my brain to ask you the proper question. So forgive me.

651
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 4: If this is.

652
00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:04,400
Speaker 1: Not right, I'm gonna go there. I hear feelings, I

653
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 1: hear sadness, I hear hurt, I hear love. What I

654
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:18,759
Speaker 1: hear are really very basic human emotions that matter and

655
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 1: lead to an an emotionally intact human being. Those are

656
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 1: the basics of emotional intelligence. Is love and care, and

657
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 1: concern and hurt, passion, all of those things. I hear

658
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 1: those words come out of your mouth, But you're also

659
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,960
Speaker 1: describing to me actions from those same people who have

660
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:50,400
Speaker 1: those emotions that are near animalistic, praying on other people,

661
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: carrying gun's, physical abuse, sexual abuse. I am having the

662
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:04,759
Speaker 1: hardest time in the world balancing the act against what

663
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,080
Speaker 1: you're telling me these people are feeling. Do you understand

664
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. I don't. I'm I'm really struggling with

665
00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:21,680
Speaker 1: how can these two dichotomies be part of the same public,

666
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,919
Speaker 1: just part of the same people. How can these people

667
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: that are experiencing this pain and this love and the

668
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 1: sadness and all of the things you're talking about also

669
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 1: be the same people that will pull out a gun

670
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 1: and jack you and kill you. For one hundred and

671
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 1: fifty dollars in the rocks because those people are not

672
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:43,439
Speaker 1: showing empathetic love and compassionate concern. But they're the same

673
00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 1: people you're telling me are dealing with that. Do you

674
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 1: see what I'm saying. I'm struggling and I hear you.

675
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna give you this. My child is born

676
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,839
Speaker 1: he crass with three things, food.

677
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 2: And to be healed. That's the only three things. So

678
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:12,640
Speaker 2: imagine a baby growing up burly, getting fed, burly, getting changed, barely,

679
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:17,080
Speaker 2: being hoogged, and crying majority of the time for just

680
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 2: for those three basic needs. Now you get them up

681
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:27,640
Speaker 2: to six seven years old. Now they can talk. Now,

682
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,800
Speaker 2: they can tear you how they feel. But ain't nobody listening,

683
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 2: Ain't nobody doing it? Now I'm fourteen, thirteen, fourteen, Now

684
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,600
Speaker 2: I know how to survive by what I see. And

685
00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,520
Speaker 2: I've been walking around with this hurts since I was

686
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 2: a child, but I was never able to express it

687
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,839
Speaker 2: because guess what. And it's nothing against school system, but

688
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:56,800
Speaker 2: the school system doesn't teach about emotions. They the first

689
00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:01,000
Speaker 2: thing they do if the child acts up emotionally, you're

690
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 2: getting one aidy. You go into the atturn to school.

691
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,480
Speaker 2: The turn to school, don't teach them about no emotions.

692
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,479
Speaker 2: So now you got a whole generation that don't even

693
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,799
Speaker 2: know nothing about the emotions that God gave them for a.

694
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:18,000
Speaker 1: Reason, absolutely no emotional intelligence.

695
00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 2: And my people of Paris for a lack of knowledge.

696
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 2: So now you get more a generation is more emotionally

697
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,400
Speaker 2: disturbed than emotionally intelligence, which is why you say the

698
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: counseling service of memphacialized is the big key. Yes, because

699
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,400
Speaker 2: now once they if you can get them out of

700
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:39,000
Speaker 2: life just a little bit, get your hooks in them,

701
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 2: identify them first, build a relationship with them, because your

702
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:46,440
Speaker 2: credibility because they feel you, and they got to be

703
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,640
Speaker 2: willing to talk. And then you get them in and

704
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:55,160
Speaker 2: you're a life coach. Now the emotional component, what does

705
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 2: that look like?

706
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:56,600
Speaker 1: How do y'all do that?

707
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,920
Speaker 3: When they first come into services? The life coach is

708
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 3: the next key person. So it is our job to

709
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,120
Speaker 3: make sure we work well with the clinical staff because

710
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,479
Speaker 3: again we're coming from a culture where we would talk.

711
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:11,880
Speaker 3: You don't go in there and talk to these folks

712
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,240
Speaker 3: about your business and you ain't crazy.

713
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 4: You don't see no counter.

714
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:20,479
Speaker 1: A thousand times, so to.

715
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,239
Speaker 3: Get them to break that walk just to even We

716
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:28,120
Speaker 3: don't call our clinical staffs psychiatrists or nothing like that.

717
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:32,000
Speaker 3: We just tell them we have a person that's going

718
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:35,560
Speaker 3: to help you work through your feelings, and and then

719
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 3: the clinical specialists to build their relationship with them. But

720
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 3: it's not until you start identifying the trauma that you

721
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,960
Speaker 3: can make better choices, because you become it's a I

722
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,560
Speaker 3: had an alter ego in the streets. I was Goldie.

723
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:57,560
Speaker 3: Don't play with me, Goldie, don't play with me in

724
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 3: the streets. Why since I used to have ten goals.

725
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:09,400
Speaker 3: I I was gaudy and they knew don't play with gaudy.

726
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:14,360
Speaker 3: But at home I was flowing, big baby, I was

727
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,200
Speaker 3: I could be myself at home, break down, cry, But

728
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 3: in the streets I had to keep up an illusion.

729
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 3: These guys have never been able to express the soft

730
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,120
Speaker 3: side of them because they don't want to be them weak.

731
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:29,560
Speaker 3: So when you get when you start identifying the trauma

732
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:31,840
Speaker 3: and being able to realize, that's why.

733
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:34,480
Speaker 4: Some of the decisions. I'm fifty one, I go to

734
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,080
Speaker 4: counseling every month. I have my children in counseling.

735
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:40,080
Speaker 3: We have family counseling because of all the damage that

736
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:41,279
Speaker 3: was done let.

737
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:43,960
Speaker 1: Me tell you something. I go to counseling once a more.

738
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:46,200
Speaker 3: It's the best thing that happen to me. And I

739
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,719
Speaker 3: would have never been opened up to that. If you

740
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:50,760
Speaker 3: had to ask me this ten years ago, I wouldn't

741
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,560
Speaker 3: even be open to It's only within these six years

742
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,279
Speaker 3: that I've took that serious in my own life so

743
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,840
Speaker 3: that I can give it to my children and my

744
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:01,240
Speaker 3: grandkids trying to breeze their gap.

745
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. I have friends in the police department,

746
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:19,440
Speaker 1: and they tell me, well, first of all, Memphis is

747
00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:23,080
Speaker 1: six hundred and sixty thousand people inside the loop. If

748
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 1: you take outside the loop and the metropolitan area including

749
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 1: the little bit of North Mississippian West Memphis and all,

750
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,520
Speaker 1: we're about one point three million people. They tell me

751
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:39,800
Speaker 1: that the same fifteen hundred people are rotating in a

752
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,239
Speaker 1: nine of two oh one. I'm sorry, two to one

753
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:46,520
Speaker 1: popular for people here are that's the city jail, the

754
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:49,279
Speaker 1: same fifteen hundred, two thousand people, the same people they're

755
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:53,400
Speaker 1: rusting over and over and over again. As I think

756
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:56,640
Speaker 1: about that, let's say it's two thousand he let's say

757
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,680
Speaker 1: it's three thousand people. Let's say five I'll just say five,

758
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,520
Speaker 1: Let's say his numbers are small and it's five thousand people.

759
00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:07,880
Speaker 1: That means we've got a million and a half people

760
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:13,680
Speaker 1: basically being held hostage by five thousand. One, that's absurd.

761
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,919
Speaker 1: But two, if you really think about it, that's why

762
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:22,640
Speaker 1: I believe you guys have the answer because you all

763
00:45:22,719 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 1: don't have to affect the whole damn city. You only

764
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:28,919
Speaker 1: got to find those five thousand, and if you could

765
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:37,480
Speaker 1: change half of those, you should conceivably reduce crime violent crime.

766
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:40,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, true, from that ankle, But we also got to

767
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:43,600
Speaker 2: think about the other generation is coming up. Just watching

768
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:48,000
Speaker 2: all this, you got some format witted to duplicate what

769
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:53,560
Speaker 2: they say, So yes, starting there, but also dad.

770
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 1: Which just back to the beginning. While you're now not

771
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 1: talking seventeen to thirty five, now you're getting into the

772
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:05,000
Speaker 1: eleven or twelve year old who, sadly, it's an absolute

773
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:09,399
Speaker 1: disgusting narrative on our culture that are eleven twelve year

774
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,560
Speaker 1: olds need counseling, but they've already been so exposed to

775
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:16,640
Speaker 1: so much exactly from any of the same stuff that

776
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 1: the older us are from a baby. Are you getting

777
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 1: that done? That part?

778
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,680
Speaker 2: You know, I know it's other organizations that target the

779
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:30,480
Speaker 2: younger kids, like an Orange man. You got Reizone ministries,

780
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 2: which I used to work for Realizon. It's targeting those

781
00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 2: young kids, and so it's just a process. What it's

782
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:42,040
Speaker 2: really saying to the larger number of this community is

783
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:46,680
Speaker 2: that we all got to come together. It ain't just memphisilized.

784
00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:51,719
Speaker 2: It's gonna take all of us to work together to

785
00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,840
Speaker 2: create chance to that small number because what they're seeing,

786
00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,879
Speaker 2: they looking at it. If y'all not working together, why

787
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:05,640
Speaker 2: you want us to do anything? What a I'm convinced

788
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:11,600
Speaker 2: this situation exists in Baltimore, Jack'ssissippi, Montgomery, al Vama, Burnound Vam,

789
00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:13,640
Speaker 2: Phoenix airs on a pickup city?

790
00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:16,759
Speaker 1: Are you? I mean the same stuff every year?

791
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:21,400
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, this has been going on since the Compton

792
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 2: and Watch days.

793
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:28,239
Speaker 1: I'd say eighties. Yeah, it's all it did, was unraveled.

794
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,759
Speaker 1: What we know from the few people have engaged and

795
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:37,640
Speaker 1: what you are doing now is that it tell me

796
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:43,719
Speaker 1: some success stories. Tell me, tell me after all this redemption,

797
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,200
Speaker 1: give me some redemption to don give me each of

798
00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:50,400
Speaker 1: you give me. I know I'm not going to say

799
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:53,680
Speaker 1: your favorite story, because I know there's probably a number

800
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:58,840
Speaker 1: of them, but give leave our listeners with a story

801
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:04,520
Speaker 1: that is well in some regards, speaks to why you

802
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:06,240
Speaker 1: keep waking up and doing it every day.

803
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,400
Speaker 3: Because just to say one means the world to me

804
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 3: coming from that culture and working with this individual. I

805
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:19,319
Speaker 3: have one particular. He is my favorite because I know,

806
00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:24,319
Speaker 3: I don't know how familiar you are with how big

807
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:28,560
Speaker 3: was from me, how big he was?

808
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:32,480
Speaker 1: All right, well I do. I'm a little different though,

809
00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:38,479
Speaker 1: and I assure you law enforcement all over the United

810
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:44,080
Speaker 1: States does. But Craig Pettis was the kingpin of Memphis.

811
00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 1: And that dude was from around Booker T. Washington, kind

812
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:52,359
Speaker 1: of South Memphis area, and he uh, he got big

813
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:56,400
Speaker 1: enough that he was directly tied with Mexican cartels and

814
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: was a bad dude. Yep. And when I say a

815
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:03,160
Speaker 1: bad dude, I mean it both leggered literally a bad dude,

816
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:06,279
Speaker 1: but also metaphorically. This was one bad dude. He had

817
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:10,920
Speaker 1: it lined up. He was, he was I think he

818
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 1: was really from Memphis. He was kind of the og

819
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:16,560
Speaker 1: was thatkay? So go ahead.

820
00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:20,600
Speaker 3: We have a participant that was actually on his indictment

821
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:22,799
Speaker 3: on his what on his indictment on.

822
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:25,760
Speaker 1: It was indicted with Craig Pattis.

823
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:28,840
Speaker 4: So he was very heavily involved with that in just

824
00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:29,600
Speaker 4: a happen I.

825
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:32,719
Speaker 1: Mean, people need to understand, we're not talking low level

826
00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:36,279
Speaker 1: street gang stuff. This is if we were if we

827
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 1: put it to the Italian mob days of New York

828
00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:43,560
Speaker 1: and Chicago, we're talking Gottie. Yeah, I mean that's really

829
00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:47,080
Speaker 1: what we're talking. Craig Pattis was in the in the

830
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:52,480
Speaker 1: urban Vaxican cartel street gang world. I mean, he was

831
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:56,440
Speaker 1: the deal, right, So you had a guy that was

832
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:59,839
Speaker 1: close to Crag, like one of his lieutenants for better.

833
00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:04,360
Speaker 3: So once he got out of prison, of course, federal

834
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 3: probation is crazy. You have to go to all these

835
00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:12,520
Speaker 3: meet all these different criterias. So I met him at

836
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:17,919
Speaker 3: Angry Management workshop that I had to take myself through

837
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:21,680
Speaker 3: the Federal when I was on probation. This young man.

838
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 3: I talked to him a little bit then, but I

839
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:29,160
Speaker 3: couldn't get him. But I ended up going to Seaspire

840
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:34,319
Speaker 3: and his nephew was there. So he's actually trying to

841
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:37,440
Speaker 3: do some of the same type of work himself because

842
00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:42,279
Speaker 3: he from where he came from and we connected. Then

843
00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:46,400
Speaker 3: he became a participant on the our side. Of the

844
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:51,880
Speaker 3: swift side. Amazing, But somebody I know from the caliber

845
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 3: of this young man, what he's done, what he's been

846
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:58,839
Speaker 3: convicted of to come home and still want to make

847
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:02,920
Speaker 3: a change push and whatever his reason was, I don't know.

848
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:07,360
Speaker 3: But he's not affiliated with not one thing.

849
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:09,320
Speaker 1: From his He's side of the life. How old is he?

850
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,640
Speaker 4: Thirty to thirty two, going to be thirty three?

851
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:14,879
Speaker 1: So what's he doing now?

852
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:18,600
Speaker 3: He is actually trying to start his own nonprofit organization

853
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:22,080
Speaker 3: working with teams. He has a football team. He's like

854
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:25,480
Speaker 3: really doing a lot in the community to help get them.

855
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 1: And this dude was all up in craigatter Betters's lafe

856
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:36,200
Speaker 1: at one time. Did are you convinced that the counseling

857
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:39,960
Speaker 1: and the life coaching and the time he spent as

858
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:40,879
Speaker 1: what got this done?

859
00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:44,320
Speaker 3: It was definitely the clinical piece. He didn't even realize,

860
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,440
Speaker 3: like most people, how much trauma you really have until

861
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:48,480
Speaker 3: you start facing it.

862
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 1: Facing Why did he talk to you in the first place?

863
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,960
Speaker 3: Because our affiliation gainst the Disciples, you know, that was

864
00:51:55,040 --> 00:51:55,960
Speaker 3: just the icebreaker.

865
00:51:56,400 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 1: But it's almost like a fraternity or sorority. It's almost

866
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:04,160
Speaker 1: like you're in a lung of a fraternity of sorority.

867
00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:07,520
Speaker 1: But you're just reaching out and saying just.

868
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:09,880
Speaker 3: Basically telling a little bit of my story as well,

869
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,120
Speaker 3: Like I changed, bro, I can't do it no more,

870
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:13,959
Speaker 3: And he's like, I ain't doing no more either.

871
00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:16,120
Speaker 4: That's the ice. Break right there.

872
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:18,279
Speaker 1: And show them. Let me show you how I can

873
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:19,239
Speaker 1: help you get there.

874
00:52:19,719 --> 00:52:23,800
Speaker 3: And now he's actually opening up a few doors on

875
00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:26,720
Speaker 3: the younger side that I really desire to do as well.

876
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,319
Speaker 4: So I'm loving it. And this shows me that you're

877
00:52:29,360 --> 00:52:30,000
Speaker 4: in the right place.

878
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 3: When I wake up every morning and I decide that

879
00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:37,000
Speaker 3: I don't want to get revenge on nothing nobody that

880
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:40,280
Speaker 3: hurt me, I can look past your flowers and still

881
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:42,799
Speaker 3: want what's genially best for you. I know I'm in

882
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:45,279
Speaker 3: the right place and I've been in contact with the

883
00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:45,920
Speaker 3: right people.

884
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:50,319
Speaker 4: Mephicialized Saveel, and so.

885
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:53,120
Speaker 3: I can only give back because I've been home six

886
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:55,560
Speaker 3: years and when I haven't looked back.

887
00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:59,239
Speaker 4: But the first two years was such a struggle. I

888
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:00,600
Speaker 4: came close every day.

889
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:04,040
Speaker 3: It was a conscious decision to make money to do

890
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:07,440
Speaker 3: the right thing because I felt so beat down from

891
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:08,320
Speaker 3: my past.

892
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:09,719
Speaker 4: There were no.

893
00:53:09,719 --> 00:53:13,080
Speaker 3: Outlets, and so to come into an organization that's offering

894
00:53:13,120 --> 00:53:16,040
Speaker 3: me an outlet to not only face my traumas, but

895
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,000
Speaker 3: give me resources to case management. I didn't have those

896
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,600
Speaker 3: resources when I was a teen. They sent us to

897
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:25,240
Speaker 3: Saint Peter's. We run away, We go to the doctor, runaway.

898
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:29,360
Speaker 3: It's like the community itself. We need everybody doing this,

899
00:53:29,600 --> 00:53:32,160
Speaker 3: We need those You put people in prison. You want

900
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:34,440
Speaker 3: to know why receiptivism it's not really working and they

901
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,600
Speaker 3: keep going back. There's nothing when they get out that

902
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:40,319
Speaker 3: is not punishment, that is not helping them, that's not

903
00:53:40,840 --> 00:53:42,919
Speaker 3: dealing with the trauma of why they did the things

904
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:43,440
Speaker 3: that they did.

905
00:53:44,239 --> 00:53:47,279
Speaker 1: The whole moniker of rehabilitation is a joke. It is

906
00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:48,760
Speaker 1: and rehabilitating nothing.

907
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:49,520
Speaker 4: No, it didn't.

908
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:53,120
Speaker 3: You took me from Memphis, a little Memphis girl, put

909
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:56,880
Speaker 3: me in federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, with three thousand

910
00:53:57,080 --> 00:54:02,600
Speaker 3: other individuals that do the thing or worse. Nothing in

911
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:07,360
Speaker 3: there keeping us positive, but seeing there trading stories, reconnected,

912
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:08,920
Speaker 3: but not on a positive note.

913
00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:10,840
Speaker 1: Making contacts for when you get out.

914
00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:13,680
Speaker 4: Exactly, that's exactly what it's built on.

915
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:16,560
Speaker 3: And if you don't have a mindset to want to

916
00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:19,400
Speaker 3: do something different, you're gonna fall back into the same trench.

917
00:54:19,480 --> 00:54:21,520
Speaker 1: But even if you have the mindset, like you said,

918
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:23,880
Speaker 1: what Memphacilite is providing.

919
00:54:24,040 --> 00:54:26,920
Speaker 4: It helps the resources definitely need.

920
00:54:27,160 --> 00:54:30,040
Speaker 1: And when I say resources, not money, but the stuff

921
00:54:30,040 --> 00:54:31,680
Speaker 1: to work on your soul exactly.

922
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:36,600
Speaker 3: And it's not helping. When you come home, you don't

923
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:39,080
Speaker 3: have anything. So all the little fancy things you had

924
00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:41,280
Speaker 3: and you was taking from people and living a lifestyle,

925
00:54:41,320 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 3: you're coming home.

926
00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:42,920
Speaker 4: You back to zero.

927
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:45,920
Speaker 3: So when you really come home and your mindset is

928
00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:48,160
Speaker 3: I want a job, I'm gonna do right. You go

929
00:54:48,239 --> 00:54:50,480
Speaker 3: from making ten thousand dollars in a week to making

930
00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:54,960
Speaker 3: two hundred dollars every two weeks. That ain't it's not equal.

931
00:54:55,320 --> 00:54:57,600
Speaker 3: And then you got the barrier of housing. If you

932
00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:01,440
Speaker 3: don't have moral support, family support, nine times out of ten,

933
00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:04,120
Speaker 3: you're gonna find yourself in a situation you're gonna have

934
00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:07,000
Speaker 3: to make a conscious decision or do right do wrong.

935
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,080
Speaker 3: There's a barrier with housing when you have a conviction.

936
00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:14,880
Speaker 3: There's a barrier with jobs now and it's up until recently,

937
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:18,640
Speaker 3: I didn't even realize that my life insurance policy is

938
00:55:18,680 --> 00:55:21,240
Speaker 3: higher than a normal person because I'm a convicted felling.

939
00:55:21,920 --> 00:55:24,480
Speaker 3: And when my agent told me that I was like, why,

940
00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:29,200
Speaker 3: it's like, because I guess you're more likely to die

941
00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:33,480
Speaker 3: from a non natural causes than the average citizen.

942
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:36,840
Speaker 1: Honestly, that's terrible, but it does make sense.

943
00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,080
Speaker 3: But that was just a profound thing to me, Like wow,

944
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:45,040
Speaker 3: like it's everything, it's everything against you, so it's really

945
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:45,640
Speaker 3: on you.

946
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:48,840
Speaker 4: There's good and people. I really believe there's good people

947
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:52,120
Speaker 4: just choose to Everything is a choice. You make a

948
00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:54,279
Speaker 4: conscious decision to do and you just got to face

949
00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:55,240
Speaker 4: the consequences.

950
00:55:56,560 --> 00:55:59,799
Speaker 1: And what memphicilized does it all?

951
00:56:01,560 --> 00:56:04,720
Speaker 3: That the clinical piece, I must say, it's my favorite

952
00:56:04,719 --> 00:56:09,680
Speaker 3: piece because even now I found out things about myself

953
00:56:09,719 --> 00:56:12,680
Speaker 3: I had pushed down so far that I didn't even

954
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,600
Speaker 3: want to ever come back up again. I basically forgot

955
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:17,719
Speaker 3: about it until going through their process.

956
00:56:18,440 --> 00:56:20,920
Speaker 4: That's the most thing that these guys get out of there.

957
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:23,440
Speaker 3: You see guys that you know the committee murder crying

958
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:25,120
Speaker 3: like a little baby when they come out.

959
00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:28,000
Speaker 4: Of session because they finally got to take.

960
00:56:27,840 --> 00:56:30,640
Speaker 3: Off the mask that I'm here, I'm the man or

961
00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:33,640
Speaker 3: young ladies that turned themself into the soul provide of

962
00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:34,719
Speaker 3: the family and want to be.

963
00:56:34,680 --> 00:56:35,600
Speaker 4: Tough, tough, tough, tough.

964
00:56:36,120 --> 00:56:39,080
Speaker 3: That clinical Piece is so important, and that's why this

965
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:42,880
Speaker 3: organization for me, I love all of the organizations that

966
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:44,600
Speaker 3: are doing this thing because it's gonna take all of

967
00:56:44,680 --> 00:56:47,680
Speaker 3: us coming together, because if we divide, they divide, and

968
00:56:47,719 --> 00:56:49,600
Speaker 3: it is our desire to get all of them under

969
00:56:49,640 --> 00:56:53,360
Speaker 3: one room. Gangst the disciple aob whoever, we want you,

970
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:55,480
Speaker 3: we treat you as a person, not as a label

971
00:56:55,520 --> 00:56:59,440
Speaker 3: of an organization. But if you don't, everybody needs to

972
00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:02,040
Speaker 3: get on their peace because mental illness is real, depression

973
00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:05,200
Speaker 3: is real, and we have to address those things to

974
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:06,680
Speaker 3: get to see the bigger picture.

975
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:10,600
Speaker 1: It's phenomenal me that we're going out talking about reducing

976
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:13,120
Speaker 1: gung violence by going and talking to the most at

977
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:16,720
Speaker 1: risk pece Piece and these gang bangers, these hard folks,

978
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:24,120
Speaker 1: and with it boils down to us counseling, outreach, life coach, mentoring,

979
00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:30,800
Speaker 1: basically trying to get into them the basics that they

980
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:33,040
Speaker 1: should have been taught by their mom and grandmama when

981
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,720
Speaker 1: they were two to seven years old. Yep, all right,

982
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,200
Speaker 1: what's yours? You got? You got give me a story

983
00:57:39,200 --> 00:57:42,040
Speaker 1: of maybe not your favorite, but one of your favorites, something.

984
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:44,480
Speaker 2: For us to say, I have a favorite young man

985
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:47,320
Speaker 2: that I brought into the program one of the first

986
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:51,880
Speaker 2: and he had a situation, well, his girlfriend had a

987
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:55,960
Speaker 2: situation where she got into it with her friend's boyfriend

988
00:57:56,520 --> 00:58:00,440
Speaker 2: and she called him and he ended up coming to

989
00:58:00,440 --> 00:58:04,560
Speaker 2: say today or try to anyway, and they put it

990
00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:07,960
Speaker 2: up on the guy and you know, ended up being

991
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:12,520
Speaker 2: a gunfight. But luckily, you know, he didn't lose his

992
00:58:12,560 --> 00:58:16,600
Speaker 2: life in the situation. Nobody should live through that, exactly.

993
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:21,040
Speaker 2: Nobody should live through being in America on a city

994
00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:27,840
Speaker 2: street at a convenience store. I mean, we make fun

995
00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:31,080
Speaker 2: of all these Third world countries and the stuff that

996
00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:33,840
Speaker 2: goes on. We're like, yeah, you know, look they don't

997
00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:37,600
Speaker 2: have it, We're doing it. Nobody should live through that.

998
00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:41,040
Speaker 2: And he able to get into the program. He was

999
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:45,240
Speaker 2: traumatized from the situation and that's what the clinical piece

1000
00:58:45,680 --> 00:58:49,240
Speaker 2: really helped me. And so now he's about to graduate

1001
00:58:49,680 --> 00:58:51,040
Speaker 2: and he wanted to be in the pro I mean,

1002
00:58:51,080 --> 00:58:54,280
Speaker 2: he wants to be part of what we're doing to

1003
00:58:54,280 --> 00:58:55,560
Speaker 2: bring change in the community.

1004
00:58:55,560 --> 00:58:59,120
Speaker 1: He wants to do what you do after being affected

1005
00:58:59,160 --> 00:59:03,360
Speaker 1: by what you do exactly, I mean, exactly, that's exactly

1006
00:59:03,400 --> 00:59:08,200
Speaker 1: what you're trying to get right Yet get the get

1007
00:59:08,240 --> 00:59:11,160
Speaker 1: out of the gun world and into the fixed world exactly,

1008
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:13,160
Speaker 1: and be safe. That's awesome.

1009
00:59:13,640 --> 00:59:14,200
Speaker 4: Be safe.

1010
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:16,680
Speaker 1: If anybody wants to get in touch with you because

1011
00:59:16,720 --> 00:59:21,560
Speaker 1: they're sitting in Louisville and they want to know how

1012
00:59:21,600 --> 00:59:24,280
Speaker 1: to do this in their community, how do they reach you?

1013
00:59:24,320 --> 00:59:29,080
Speaker 3: Guys my personal email. They can reach me through the

1014
00:59:29,120 --> 00:59:33,440
Speaker 3: Memphis Allis website, but personally, if they want to reach me,

1015
00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:38,760
Speaker 3: they can reach me at Florence dot Collins Brooks at

1016
00:59:38,800 --> 00:59:40,240
Speaker 3: Youth Villages dot.

1017
00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:44,840
Speaker 2: Org at Youth Villages, and they can reach me at

1018
00:59:45,000 --> 00:59:53,720
Speaker 2: Renaldo dot is in dB L at gmail dot com.

1019
00:59:53,960 --> 00:59:59,360
Speaker 1: Do you wake up every morning looking in the mirror thinking, Wow,

1020
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:00,640
Speaker 1: my wife changed.

1021
01:00:01,400 --> 01:00:06,160
Speaker 4: Yes, I wish my mom was here to see it.

1022
01:00:06,800 --> 01:00:10,000
Speaker 3: I wish my mom was here to see it.

1023
01:00:10,080 --> 01:00:13,840
Speaker 1: She is. You ain't seeing her, You seeing us the

1024
01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:20,800
Speaker 1: way I believe man flow Nardo, Thank you so much

1025
01:00:20,920 --> 01:00:27,000
Speaker 1: for being so transparent about your backgrounds. I know you

1026
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:29,800
Speaker 1: have to be really proud of the stuff you've made

1027
01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:31,240
Speaker 1: in your life to get where you are and to

1028
01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:33,560
Speaker 1: do the work you're doing to make such an amazing

1029
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:38,200
Speaker 1: difference in your community. And reliving all of the past

1030
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:42,200
Speaker 1: I know is part of that work. It's a necessary

1031
01:00:42,240 --> 01:00:44,800
Speaker 1: measure of that work for your credibility and how you

1032
01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:48,320
Speaker 1: outreach to people. But you know, you're blatant honesty about

1033
01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:52,800
Speaker 1: it and all. I don't want it to be sensationalized.

1034
01:00:53,040 --> 01:00:54,600
Speaker 1: And the reason I wanted to hear it so much

1035
01:00:54,640 --> 01:00:56,960
Speaker 1: is because I think it's such an integral part of

1036
01:00:56,960 --> 01:01:03,080
Speaker 1: the story. But it serves hopefully for those listening dust

1037
01:01:03,080 --> 01:01:10,400
Speaker 1: to understand, you know, just how traumatic it really is

1038
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:17,520
Speaker 1: coming up that way. I really appreciate you kind of

1039
01:01:18,480 --> 01:01:22,440
Speaker 1: giving us a glimpse into, you know, exactly what you

1040
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:26,040
Speaker 1: said a kid coming up. Imagine a child wanting the

1041
01:01:26,080 --> 01:01:28,880
Speaker 1: three things they need and not getting it, and then

1042
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:32,560
Speaker 1: going from one month old to fifteen years old and

1043
01:01:32,600 --> 01:01:37,680
Speaker 1: still not receiving it. You know, it really does indicate

1044
01:01:38,240 --> 01:01:41,240
Speaker 1: how so many people end up being these at risk

1045
01:01:41,520 --> 01:01:47,480
Speaker 1: most at risk youth. What an amazing story, What an

1046
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:51,960
Speaker 1: amazing bunch of work you do. Is there are there

1047
01:01:52,160 --> 01:01:56,040
Speaker 1: any data points yet about the success of the work

1048
01:01:56,040 --> 01:01:58,640
Speaker 1: you've done to end with? Do you know if there's

1049
01:01:58,760 --> 01:02:03,360
Speaker 1: I know it's a relative. I mean, the measurables are

1050
01:02:03,400 --> 01:02:07,120
Speaker 1: not all there yet. But other than you just sing

1051
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:13,479
Speaker 1: in your communities people changing, are the data points there yet?

1052
01:02:13,520 --> 01:02:15,840
Speaker 1: To tell us what the reduction in the communities you're

1053
01:02:15,880 --> 01:02:19,720
Speaker 1: working on are yet or is that just stay tuned

1054
01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:21,960
Speaker 1: until we can get those measurables.

1055
01:02:22,240 --> 01:02:25,120
Speaker 3: I say stay tuned, Yeah, I would say stay tied.

1056
01:02:25,160 --> 01:02:27,440
Speaker 3: I mean we see a little bit out of it.

1057
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:30,640
Speaker 1: Not not yet, I mean, but you've been out here

1058
01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:33,000
Speaker 1: doing this really full time for now.

1059
01:02:33,320 --> 01:02:38,200
Speaker 2: As far as from what we've seen the people we encounter,

1060
01:02:38,440 --> 01:02:41,720
Speaker 2: engaging the people that understand what we do and what

1061
01:02:41,760 --> 01:02:45,840
Speaker 2: we stand for, we can say, yes, there is there

1062
01:02:45,880 --> 01:02:46,880
Speaker 2: should be some data.

1063
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:48,160
Speaker 1: But just the.

1064
01:02:49,880 --> 01:02:54,440
Speaker 2: Embrace, embracement of the communities in the people that is

1065
01:02:54,520 --> 01:02:58,040
Speaker 2: involved in comp is the key. Like I was at

1066
01:02:58,040 --> 01:03:02,120
Speaker 2: Wilfa House yesterday and one of my young guys they

1067
01:03:02,240 --> 01:03:06,200
Speaker 2: seen the van. They came up in the White House. Yes,

1068
01:03:06,920 --> 01:03:09,280
Speaker 2: one of them had his gun right there on his side,

1069
01:03:10,240 --> 01:03:12,800
Speaker 2: and people in the White House they stopped and look.

1070
01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:15,560
Speaker 2: But he came over. He said, name is, I've just

1071
01:03:15,600 --> 01:03:18,000
Speaker 2: seen the van. Just wanted to come high. Let you

1072
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:21,640
Speaker 2: appreciate you. I said, man, you being careful?

1073
01:03:21,720 --> 01:03:22,120
Speaker 1: You all right?

1074
01:03:22,400 --> 01:03:26,240
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I said, you need to give We need to.

1075
01:03:26,320 --> 01:03:30,920
Speaker 1: Add lunch and eventually hopefully that guy comes to you

1076
01:03:30,960 --> 01:03:34,560
Speaker 1: and actually gets worked on. But that's it. Just build

1077
01:03:35,280 --> 01:03:38,840
Speaker 1: and they know that I love them. At least they

1078
01:03:38,920 --> 01:03:45,280
Speaker 1: know you're there. It's a beautiful thing. Nardo Flow, thanks

1079
01:03:45,360 --> 01:03:47,360
Speaker 1: for spending time with me and telling your story. I

1080
01:03:47,400 --> 01:03:48,280
Speaker 1: really appreciate it.

1081
01:03:48,520 --> 01:03:52,480
Speaker 4: I appreciate you, appreciate the opportunity.

1082
01:03:51,760 --> 01:04:02,280
Speaker 1: Sir, and thank you for joining us this week. If Flo,

1083
01:04:02,560 --> 01:04:06,080
Speaker 1: Nardo or other guests have inspired you in general, or

1084
01:04:06,120 --> 01:04:10,960
Speaker 1: better yet, inspired you to take action by donating to memphisiizes,

1085
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:14,960
Speaker 1: starting something like it in your own community, or something

1086
01:04:15,000 --> 01:04:18,800
Speaker 1: else entirely, please let me know. I'd love to hear

1087
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:22,720
Speaker 1: about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at

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Speaker 1: normalfolks dot us, and I guarantee you this. I will respond.

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Speaker 1: And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with friends

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01:04:30,160 --> 01:04:34,960
Speaker 1: and on social subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it.

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01:04:35,520 --> 01:04:39,960
Speaker 1: Join the army at normalfolks dot us consider becoming a

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Speaker 1: premium member. There all of these things that will help

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Speaker 1: us grow an army of normal folks thanks to our producer,

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Speaker 1: Ironlight Labs. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.