WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 100320 Janelle Wood and Erma Johnson 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.000 Welcome to another edition of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:09.840 ramses Jah, and to say that today's episode is a 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:14.920 special episode would be an understatement. Not only is it 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:19.880 a special episode, it is a very important episode, very 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:24.079 significant episode, And the reason for that is because we 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.840 are very much as a community steal in the process 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:32.400 of healing. And my guests today are one woman who 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:39.839 specializes in working with mothers, Black mothers who have experienced 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:45.159 traumas and are in the process of healing. And another 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:47.680 or the other guests that I have today is a 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.560 mother herself who has endured what I can only guess 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.080 is the worst pain imaginable and is very much healing. 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.240 My guests today are Janelle Wood from The Black Mother's 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:05.720 Lam and Irma Johnson, the mother of Dion Johnson. Now, 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.520 for those of you who don't know, or otherwise have 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.360 not been out on the streets, or maybe you've been 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.440 living under a rock, who knows. Dion Johnson is a 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:21.360 young man whose life was taken from him at the 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:26.920 hands of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which in 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:32.360 and of itself is sort of an oxymoron. But he 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:34.680 was found sleeping in his car on the side of 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:41.800 the freeway and was subsequently killed. Obviously, I'm gonna let 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:46.640 the right folks tell the story, but that resulted in 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:53.320 tremendous outcry from the streets. I myself took to the streets. 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:59.960 Thousands of people took to the streets and demanded justice, 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:08.320 demanded an explanation. I saw people weep because that pain 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:14.520 was not just felt by Irma Johnson and her family. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.720 That pain is a reminder of the trauma that lots 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.760 of black and brown folks feel on a regular basis. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:27.680 And that trauma and that narrative that we keep getting 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:36.160 sold is very harmful and very dangerous if we don't 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:38.680 talk about it and deal with it. But in any event, 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.280 folks took to the streets. I saw his name written everywhere. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:47.960 There's been murals, etc. Et cetera tremendous show of support 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.560 from the community with this young man who lost his life, 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:55.080 And of course there's a demand for justice, and I 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.480 think it's important and the reason why this show exists 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:03.320 is to give women like this a stage to share 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:08.560 what is happening in their lives and what has happened 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.960 in the past, and what direction we're gonna move forward. 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:16.920 So first, I'm gonna welcome Irma Johnson to the show. 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:24.960 Oh hey, so the I guess the first question is 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:31.560 what is it like to have so much support from 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:32.240 the people. 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:40.360 Well, I appreciate all the support and love that I 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:48.560 get from this community. It's it's hard feeling, and I 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.240 just I love it. I didn't think that I would 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:57.840 be in a spotlight like this, but I appreciate it, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:02.160 and it feels good to knowing that everybody that's participating, 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:09.040 you know, they they spend their time to come out 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.920 and show the love and support, and I truly appreciate 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:13.520 it and it feels good. 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:20.000 As I said, you know, it's it's a horrible, unimaginable 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:25.000 thing to have to endure. But I did hear that 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:31.080 the funeral for your son was well attended. There was 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.240 a lot of love there. A lot of folks showed support, 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.600 so not just in the streets and protests, but actually, 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.400 you know, when it came time for there to be 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.480 you know, some togetherness and some family and some remembrance, 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:43.880 a lot of folks came and many folks who didn't 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.240 know Dion personally showed up just to show support. I'm 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.560 one of those people, as I mentioned earlier. I believe 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.280 I was. I know, I know I was the last 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.400 person to put flowers on his cascade before he was 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.839 lowered into the or where he was finally buried. I 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.800 went with my son just to go the funeral. So 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:11.400 what comes after that is, you know, healing and moving forward. 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:15.080 And I recognize that that's got to be very difficult 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.440 to do when there are so many unanswered questions and 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:23.960 so many people who are unwilling to cooperate. What was 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.240 your reaction when you found out that there was no 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.880 body cam footage, no dash cam footage, and that the 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.760 DPS was not willing to release the video outside of 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:40.080 the edited version of the video that didn't show the 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.919 alleged altercation. How did that make you feel? 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:53.320 His belief I couldn't. I couldn't believe that they had 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:58.760 nothing but the end of it. They had actually put 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:03.440 him on the ground and he was laying there in pain, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.400 and I just didn't have any understanding. Okay, they caught 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.719 the end of it, but I know for a fact 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:18.880 they caught the whole the whold incident. Sure, but they're 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.200 telling us that they only got the last of it 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.320 where they see him laying on the ground after he's 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:27.000 already shot. 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.760 I noticed there was a part in the video and 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.200 it just kind of stuck with me where the officer 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.960 actually sort of stuck his boot out and kicked him 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:40.880 back to the ground when he was trying to kind 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.760 of right himself. And I'm very sorry because I know 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.520 you have to relive this on your own. So I'm 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.520 sorry that you're, you know, having to relive this. But 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.320 I think that it's such a display of strength that 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.120 you would come out and share this story with all 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:03.320 of us who have Obviously we can't we can't feel 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:07.320 as strongly as you do. But I think that by 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.280 sharing it helps all of us heal and we can 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.760 heal with you, so that that does mean a lot. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:14.120 But I do want you to know that that was 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:23.240 sort of heartbreaking, that it looked so inhuman and it 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.040 was it was just very hurtful to see. I think 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:29.200 that that is a picture perfect incident of why the 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:35.440 call Black Lives Matter exists. But I also want to 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:43.280 introduce Janelle Would. Janelle is from or founded an organization 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:49.480 called the Black Mother's Form. It was started in twenty 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:54.040 sixteen and formalized in twenty seventeen. If I'm not correct, 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.040 So I want you to talk a little bit about 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:02.200 the Black Mother's Forum. Where did come from, why, why 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:02.960 does it exist? 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:12.120 Well, thank you, my lovely black son. Black Mother's Forum 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.520 came into existence in August of twenty sixteen to provide 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:22.400 support for my beautiful mother sisters like Ms Johnson, like Ernon, 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:28.280 and other mothers who have had to face the realities 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.680 and the trauma of losing a child, a son, or 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:37.400 a daughter to police brutality. Me as mothers came together 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:41.280 in that day on August seventh, twenty sixteen, to address 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.880 the police brutality that we had seen repeatedly on national 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:51.720 TV here in our state, and oftentimes mothers their voices 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:56.640 have been silenced and we've been over talked by some 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:00.199 of our brothers. They don't mean to do it. At 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:04.000 times they do our community leaders. And I don't believe 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:10.840 a man can effectively articulate the pain that a mother 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:16.120 feels when her son or her daughter has been ripped 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:21.839 from her brutally, because only a mother can understand the 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.200 pain from the womb. The womb is a pain so 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.120 deep that no one else can articulate that the way 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.320 a mother can, and what we came to do is 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.880 we came to help our mothers better articulate their pain, 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.559 better articulate our concerns, and what we want to see 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:44.920 happen to stop these types of atrocities and these types 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:49.600 of systems that continue to get permission for those who 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.440 are in positions to protect and serve us, to kill 0:09:52.600 --> 0:10:00.319 us without any consequences, without any remorse, and without any 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:05.440 humanity behind their decision to do so, knowing that they 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.520 will not be held accountable. And so we came together 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.280 and said, enough is enough. We will no longer remain 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:15.040 silent or quiet. We will no longer stand by and 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:19.400 allow people to abuse our children, to disrespect our children, 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:24.679 to neglect our children, to kill our children, to terrorize 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.760 our children, to humiliate our children, to harm our children, 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:32.120 to talk down to our children. We said, enough is 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.880 enough of that. With your policies, your practices, your systems, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.320 your curriculums, whatever touches our children, you will stop doing 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.040 it to cause them harm. We're here for our children 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.200 to live, and we're not going to play the game anymore. 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.840 We've had enough of that. And we believe that once 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.800 Mama starts to speak, and when George Floyd called out 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:58.760 for his mama. The same day Dion was taken from us, 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:04.000 the same day they took away George Floyd, and the 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.400 world got to see that, and he called out for mama. 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:10.640 So he evoked every black mama on the face of 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:15.520 this earth, those mothers all over the world protesting the 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.679 brutality against our children, especially our sons and daughters. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:30.520 So excuse me, So you did mention that that was 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:36.360 very powerful. Just a personal note. You know, I didn't 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.160 grow up with my birth mother, so a lot of 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.120 times when I hear about you know, mothers and that 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.520 passion that that reminds me of something that I've kind 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.640 of pulled from different sources in my life. And just 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.160 to hear a passionate plea like that, it is especially 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.600 meaningful to me. But I do want to talk about this. 0:11:55.400 --> 0:12:00.440 You mentioned something about curriculum, and I think it's important 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.880 to I'm going somewhere with this. I think it's important 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:05.800 to look at the whole entire criminal justice system, not 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:12.680 just the policing, because there are many people who they 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:17.000 can live through an incident with the police. You know, 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.800 there's people who are brutalized and they live, but now 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:25.920 they are into the criminal justice system which historically has 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.280 never treated black and brown folks fairly. In fact, it's 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:37.960 quite the obsolete. It's extremely unfair comparatively speaking. And I 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.920 think that when you mentioned curriculum, it brings to mind 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:46.040 what's known as the school to prison pipeline. And I 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.160 want you to talk about what the school to prison 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:54.120 pipeline is and what the Black Mother's Forum has done 0:12:54.400 --> 0:13:00.160 to address the school to prison pipeline. 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.640 So, the school to prison pipeline is a pipeline where 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:10.240 we had identified that starts where teachers and administrators start 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:16.920 to target our black sons and daughters by with little infractions, 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.960 so minor infractions such as the teacher saying, this child 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:26.240 disrespected me, this child disrupted my class, this child has 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:30.280 an attitude, this child did this, and our children are 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.880 then sent to the office. Let me tell you how 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.520 it begins. They're sent to the office and then they 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:40.920 get something called a consequence. It's a disciplinary practice. This 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:45.320 discipline is for something minor, but the actual consequence itself 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.160 is very punitive, oftentimes resulting in our children being suspended, 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.800 which interrupts their instruction time. So now we're in school. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.360 Now we're going to put you out of school. We're 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.280 gonna suspend you for several days. You're now going to 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.320 be labeled as a troublemaker. You're going to be labeled 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.840 as someone who can't keep up with school because you've 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:09.479 missed two weeks of school. You come back, you're behind, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.480 you're failing. Now they start to label you. You start 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.520 to act out because now because you've missed so much time, 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:21.920 you're no longer you're no longer engaged. Because you're behind, 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:27.280 you feel embarrassed, and so we start the process and 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.560 then they start to put you out again because you're 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:34.160 not engaged. You're going to be disconnected and you're most 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.160 likely be in class not paying attention because you don't 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.600 know where you're at in class, and that starts you 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.560 back down the hall, back to the principal. So we 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.800 have this route right. And the more the child sits 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:50.160 out of school, the more the child gets behind, the 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.760 more their instruction time is interrupted, the more their educational 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:59.000 endeavors have been deterred. They will find themselves in a 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.760 position where they are interacting now more with law enforcement 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.800 than they've ever done before because there's nothing else to do. 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.080 They're out on the streets parents have to work, and 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.040 they now find themselves with the wrong types of company. 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.280 They're drawn to that, and so here we are, and 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.600 then that starts that child down a path. That's one way. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.800 The other way the scooter prison pipeline works is that 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.800 by third grade, if you can't read at a certain level. 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.120 Now they start to say, well, this child, this child here, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.000 and this child, this child's going to go somewhere. This 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.920 child is not. This child has some potential because they're 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.240 an athlete, we'll go ahead and move them over here. 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.440 And so now they start this sorting game. And then 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.120 our children that don't they feel that are not going 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:50.120 to make it. They become the target of harassment by 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.360 the schools and the teachers. They are bullied by the 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.480 schools and teachers, and then they start finding themselves on 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:00.200 the other side of an expulsion or a suspension can 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.840 expel our children for up to a year. What is 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.640 a child to do for a year? We missed school time, 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:08.960 and that means they can't go to school anywhere else. 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.560 When you have an expulsion, you cannot go to school 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.760 anywhere else for a year. So that child has missed 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:17.640 a year of their education. When they come back there behind. 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:21.480 They're embarrassed, and they're definitely discouraged, and they are truly 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.480 not interested. And so what will they do. They'll find 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.080 themselves in a situation where they will be and they 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.360 will be moving towards having those negative interactions with law 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:35.720 enforcement because they gotta find something to do with their time. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.640 And trust me, there's elements out there that will give 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:42.240 them something to do. And so this is the prison pipeline, 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.480 and then we get in. So then that's the school, 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.680 the pipeline school. Now we're going to the pipeline. The 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:52.040 pipeline again is these suspensions lead me into negative interactions 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.840 with the police. Now I start to get a record. 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.480 Now it can be a juvenile record because I've had 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:05.480 fifth graders going to juvenile court. Wow, juvenile court. Yes, yes, 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:10.720 we worked with them. Little girls, my little black daughters, 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.400 being harassed on the school bus by a little white 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.760 boy's thumping her in the head and playing with her 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.600 hair and calling her names. She goes to the school 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:23.359 bus driver and says, hey, he keeps hitting me and 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:28.160 calling me the N word. He's bullying her. The bus 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:32.720 driver says, stop being overly sensitive, go sit down. Little 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.240 boy picks on her again. She can only take so much, 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.639 and what she does and she turns around and she 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:43.960 finishes this whole conversation. Since she finishes it, Guess who 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.679 gets taken to the nurse. The white boy who's older 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.560 than her. Guess who was met by some by the principal, 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.439 escorted to the office and then to the police. A 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.920 ten year old. This happens all the time. Now she's 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.840 in the pipeline, she's going to court. Her mother's terrified. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.600 They ask us for help. We give the attorneys, you know, 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.920 attorneys that help us with this, and we advocate. We'll 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.480 go with them to court with them for helping to 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.960 read through policy with them, help them understand. We've also 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.399 acted as community service. Where the kids need to do 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.280 community service, they can do it through us, so they 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.840 can get those hours and not have a record. This 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.520 is terrifying for parents. But now this child has a record. 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.119 They so they start as early. I had a five 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:39.000 year old, five year old kindergarten boy who a principal 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:43.000 got on the phone and told me the boy threatened her. 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.160 She was scared for her life. He had no gun, 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:50.479 he's only five. He was a threat to the school 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.000 and they expelled him for a whole year. That means 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:55.159 he couldn't go to school for the whole year of 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.520 his five year old. Now, what are we gonna have. 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.360 What's gonna be the problem with him moving forward? We're 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:02.479 gonna have some problems there, so we're gonna put them 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.280 in the pipeline, and then at some point we're going 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:07.800 to prison, because you're gonna have all these stack ups 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:12.160 of different offenses until one day they're gonna get you're 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.720 gonna go to prison. And this is how it begins, 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.439 just one little thing after the other, Just like with school, 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:21.720 they stack on the referrals. The parent doesn't even know 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.040 the referrals are happening. They don't have to tell the 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.199 parent that they're sending their child to the office. The 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:28.399 parent thinks the child is sitting in class all day. 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.399 Child's sitting in the office, and they got one referral 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:33.600 to the other until they finally suspend them, and the 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.399 parent says, well, what happened We've been having problems with 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.360 your child? How come I'm just now finding out about it. Well, 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.600 we've been handling it. No you haven't. Clearly you haven't 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.480 handled it, and had you let me know. We would 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.479 have dealt with this earlier on, but they won't let 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.919 you know because they have to put the build up 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.720 the record against them. And now they have a discipline 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.359 file about this thick and by the time the parent 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.320 finds out and we've gotten involved a change that we 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.040 disrupt that. And what we do is we go in 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.760 and look at the policy, We look at the practice, 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.600 We question why it went down this way and if 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.600 we can get in it. And some parents don't even 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:15.480 know about us until the until us after the fact, 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:17.800 but those who find out abous while they're in the 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.280 middle of it. We've gotten involved where we've gone in, 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:23.840 challenged the decision and been able to get it reversed, 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.760 got the child back in school, got the child tutoring 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.960 to get them caught up after school, and the teacher 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.080 that put him out, that's the teacher is going to 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:35.840 tutor them and get them caught up very good. We're 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.360 not playing the games like this is enough. You you're 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.119 the one that caused this. You're gonna make sure they 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.360 get caught up, and you're gonna spend your extra time 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.960 after school and make sure it happen. So these are 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:48.160 some of the things that we've done, We've changed policy, 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.760 We've done Office of Civil Rights complaints. So Office the 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:55.399 Civil Rights they're the federal arm of the Department of 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:58.159 Education and Department of Justice. And so what we do 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.800 is we help parents build their case, make sure they 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.440 document document, document, We go through the proper channels. We 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:06.960 go to the principle they say, no, we're not going 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:10.240 to change our decision. Oh okay. Then we go to superintendent. No, 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:12.280 we're not going to change our decision. Okay. We go 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.639 to the governing board, No, we agree with the decision. 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.520 Oh okay. Then we go to the Office of Civil Rights. 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:21.680 Now we have gotten all the paperwork, Officer Civil Rights 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:24.879 will take it because we'll say this child was bullied, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.480 they were threatened due to their race based on these 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:33.159 things had occurred. No other child that was white we 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.480 did the same thing, would have gotten this type of 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:40.399 punishment for this long and put we boomed data. So 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:44.400 we get the data, we show them. Officer Civil Rights 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:46.399 takes it. This is when we get an opportunity to 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.800 do a mediation. It's called a mediation. Went that mediation. 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:52.600 What we've done is we've been able to rewrite policies 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:56.520 and practices as a result of the agreement and the settlement, 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:02.000 parents have also received damages because I make sure they're 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.760 documenting the damage that it's caused their child through going 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:09.960 to mental health counseling, getting services for that child. And 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:13.160 now we have a bill and we're like, here's the bill, 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:17.520 here's what's happened, and we get damages for the parent 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:20.399 because the parent has been through something, get them. And 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:25.240 so the parent gets paid for their trauma, what it's 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:29.159 done to their family, alice has impacted their siblings. We 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:33.000 get it all for them, but we also get policy 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:36.680 changes and practices, and this is how we've started to 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:39.679 interrupt and disrupt some of this foolishness at the school 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:40.560 school level. 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:48.920 Very good, awesome. The I appreciate the fact that the 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:53.720 Black Mother's Forum isn't just for when a life is lost, 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:55.639 and you know, I know that it's for that too, 0:22:55.760 --> 0:22:59.280 but it's it has a three hundred and sixty degree 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:01.920 approach to what it means to be a black mother 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:05.359 raising a black child in this country. And I do 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:08.520 want to talk more about that, but it brings the thought, 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:13.200 you know, Miss Johnson, for those of us who didn't 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.240 grow up with dionn for those of us who might 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.840 be maybe they're not even black, maybe they're just an 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:30.399 ally to black people and they know the name, you know, 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:34.320 or they've been on the streets or whatever. I think 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.840 it's important for us to you know, I can't tell 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:40.440 you what it means to honor someone's legacy, but I 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:42.200 think it, you know, in my heart of hearts, I 0:23:42.240 --> 0:23:45.040 think it's good to honor his legacy by telling the 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:50.800 full story about the man. And for those of us 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:53.719 who have championed this cry, for those of us who 0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:55.879 drive by his murals and will remember that name for 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:58.399 the rest of our lives, would you please tell us 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:03.240 a little bit about what Dionne was like, you know, 0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:06.440 growing up, what he was like to be around. You know, 0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:09.120 that's your baby, So I'd like to hear it from 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:09.560 his mother. 0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:14.680 Oh, I mean, because I always been smart, ever since 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:16.280 he was little. He was always smart. 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:18.800 He loved music. I love music. 0:24:20.480 --> 0:24:24.320 He wanted to pursue his music. But as a child, 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:27.040 when he was growing up, he was just like my 0:24:27.160 --> 0:24:29.320 little shadow. He wanted to go everywhere with me. 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:32.479 He wanted to just be with me. I don't care. 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:34.920 I have other children, but he was the one that 0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:39.240 just was always under me, and when I go somewhere, 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:41.040 he's always think he has to go with me. 0:24:42.600 --> 0:24:43.640 He liked sports. 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:48.560 He was good at sports, as strong as a mule. 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:51.560 That little boy, well, that boy, he was strong. He 0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:56.440 was very strong. And No, he just he had a 0:24:56.520 --> 0:25:02.640 lot of friends peers that loved him because of his personality, 0:25:02.640 --> 0:25:04.920 because he was he was the type of person that 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:07.200 when you're around him, you just love to be around 0:25:07.320 --> 0:25:11.920 him because he was he had that personality that kind 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:14.679 of like funny type of character. 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:16.199 Sure he was. 0:25:17.720 --> 0:25:24.800 Light of a party. Yeah, And as he grew, you know, 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:27.440 he had some little troubles. 0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:29.080 No, and. 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:36.920 But still that wasn't my son. I think he just got. 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:42.560 With the wrong crew, let him down the wrong path. 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:47.680 I was always the mother that says, look, you know, 0:25:48.600 --> 0:25:51.919 some of these boys that wanted to hang with him 0:25:52.080 --> 0:25:56.200 was a lot older than him. And I wasn't good 0:25:56.280 --> 0:25:59.479 with that. But it happened because I can't watch him 0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:01.520 all the time, have to work out, to do other things. 0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:07.320 And he went down these paths, but he he always 0:26:07.440 --> 0:26:11.359 came back around. He was a good person, genuinely a 0:26:11.480 --> 0:26:17.000