WEBVTT - KIM BOGUCKI: The IF Project 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:09.680 Well, hello there, here we are, my friend, back for 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:15.800 another awesome episode of love. Someone with the lailah where 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:21.520 my aim, our aim is to inspire you, to inspire 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:25.000 you to act upon that whisper in your heart, that 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:30.200 little voice that's telling you to do something, do anything 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.199 about a situation that has piqud your interest, that has 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.879 touched your heart, your soul. Doesn't have to be a 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:41.760 world crisis, doesn't have to be a national issue, doesn't 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.800 have to be a state or citywide problem. Could be 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.000 something in your neighborhood, could be something at the end 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.120 of your street. It could be cleaning up an empty 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.080 lot that's in your area. It just has to be 0:00:55.200 --> 0:01:00.000 something that will bless the life of one other person 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.760 and one heart, that will have a positive and profound 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:08.400 impact on the world. Who knows what the ripple effect 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.399 of that single action that you undertake. Who knows what 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.880 that might be. Years ago, more than four decades ago, 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:22.520 two men, two brothers, Jerome Kanegi and Steve Kanegy, saw 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:26.640 something in a young girl standing on a stage reciting 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:31.360 the Gettysburg Address. Four score and seven years ago, our 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.319 fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.200 in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.759 are created equal. They heard this young girl, junior high 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.520 school girl, reciting that, and they said, let's let's talk 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.400 to her, folks, Let's find out if she would be 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:56.160 interested in learning about radio. And because they took actions 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.680 that changed that young girl's life and gave her a 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.800 Sini haven, a place to show off, a place to 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.800 develop her talent, my young girl is now talking to you. 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.760 And because of that, I've been able to meet so 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:16.560 many amazing people and interview so many wonderful people on 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:20.960 so many topics. Because of that simple action that Jerome 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.800 Kanegi and Steve Kanegi took, that chance that they took 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.520 on investing their energy into me, I truly believe that 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:36.440 every time we touch a single heart, that gesture will 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:41.359 be ever widening, ever encompassing, spreading love to the furthest 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:47.040 reaches of the globe, creating moments and movements of joy 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:53.040 and hope, because that's what love does. Today's guest is 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.760 a friend of mine, a person I actually track down. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.519 I hate to use the term stocked, but it kind 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:05.080 of applies. I ran across a promotion for a documentary 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.240 late one evening a weird little indie movie that was 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.480 going to be playing in a small theater in my 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.880 little town. The next day. I don't know how it 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.160 came up in my social media feed, but it did, 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:19.800 and I called some friends and I went to see 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:25.160 this little indie movie. This documentary called The IF Project 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:31.040 IF the IF Project, It was started birth by Seattle 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:35.600 Police Detective Kim Bagooki. She is the co founder of 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:40.680 the IF Project and it's affecting youth. It is transforming 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:47.040 lives in a very real way. The IF Project. If 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:52.680 you check out their website www. Dot the Ifproject dot com, 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.120 you will find this description. We are a collaboration of 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:04.480 law enforcement, currently and previously incarcerated adults, and community partners 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:12.320 focused on intervention, prevention, and reduction in incarceration. Our work 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:17.440 is built upon and inspired by people sharing their personal 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:24.080 experiences surrounding the issues of incarceration. That project was based 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:29.279 on this simple question, if there was something someone could 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.359 have said or done that would have changed the path 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.320 that led you here here being in prison, what would 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.279 it have been? It is so awesome that I have 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.400 Kim in the studio with me today. But before we 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:44.960 get started, I got to take a minute here to 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.360 thank the Home Depot for their sponsorship of this podcast. 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.880 Every month, the Home Depot holds something called a do 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.440 it Herself Workshop. It's always on the third Thursday of 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.360 each month at half past six pm. You can set 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.679 your watch to it. But more importantly, you can learn 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.560 so much from attending these free workshops. If you are 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.800 intimidated by power tools, if you walk out in the 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.920 garage or the shed and you have no idea how 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.640 to use that drill or how to change a drill bit, 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.880 or you just get intimidated at the thought of using 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.800 a hammer and nail, guess what The Home Depots do 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.279 What her self workshops teach you how to do all 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.039 those things. You can learn to use tools, you can 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.400 learn how to put different colors together when you're painting. 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:42.640 You can feel so empowered after visiting several of these workshops. 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.400 I love them, the do it her Self Workshop, the 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:50.040 Home Depot, more saving more doing with me in the 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:55.160 studio today for our podcast is I think dynamic is 0:05:55.200 --> 0:06:00.120 the best word to describe you, Kim. You are always there, 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:05.000 always connecting people and pieces together. You're like a You're 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:09.159 like a weaver, you know, an artist that weaves things together. 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.200 And you're always whenever I'm around here, you're weaving elements 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:17.200 and people together to make the world a better place. 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.240 Thank you. It's like in Africa when I go there, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.920 there are these people that weave the can take cloth, 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.839 you know, the famous African West African can take cloth. 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.360 And to watch them is to watch a dancer. It's 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.520 amazing the way their hands and their feet work together 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:38.080 in this beautiful rhythm. And the can take cloth tells 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.080 a story. If you know how to read the can 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.640 take cloth, you can read a tribe's history. You can 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.800 read about somebody's marriage woven in the cloth. And in 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.840 the same way you weave this story. You weave this 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:56.640 cloth of lives together. And it's fun to be a 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:58.440 part of that. And it's fun to watch you. 0:06:58.880 --> 0:06:59.760 Thank you. 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:04.760 You're amazing. So Kim you you are now a friend. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.800 But I had to work hard for this friendship. 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:09.760 That's a funny story. 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:16.600 Ever it is. It was very, very weird. I was 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.320 on social media one night after my show and something 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:24.200 popped up about a movie called The If Project. And 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.040 I don't know how that ad got there. I don't 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.720 know how I saw it. I don't know why it 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.960 piqued my interest, but it was this little indie movie 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.680 that was showing in my little town at this funky, 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.640 weird little theater that's been closed and open and closed 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.040 and open and closed and flooded and closed and open. 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.960 And it was showing the next day in the middle 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.120 of the day, like at noon or something crazy. And 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.640 so I called my girlfriends and I said, I saw 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.280 this ad for this movie. Who wants to go? And 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.760 like half a dozen of them that I'm in, which 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.680 is really weird because they all have lives and careers 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.600 and families. So we show up at this theater and 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:15.400 watch this profound movie called The If Project. And it broke. 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.320 The movie broke, the real broke in the theater like 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.560 two or three times, just like in the you know 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.480 fifties where it like melts on the screen. Yeah, it was. 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:26.840 I don't know what it was, what was going on, 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.280 but and I never did get to see the end 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:36.040 of it then. But that little movie changed me. It 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:41.960 changed my heart and it opened, I want to say, 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:46.520 open my heart to realities that I think that I 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:50.200 knew about. But it only scratched the surface of right 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:55.560 and came home, did my radio show, looked up the 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:59.520 movie online and found your name connected to it. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:04.439 And then you Facebook messaged me like four or five times. 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:05.720 Like a dozen times. 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.920 And I don't get to those messages often, but it 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.360 was kind of funny. You go ahead and finish telling 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:14.960 the story, because I'll start. I'll all laugh. I controlled. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.160 So I messaged you and I said, I saw this 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:19.840 little movie today and your name's attached to it, and 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:24.559 I'd like to learn more about the IF project. Nothing, 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.880 no response, nothing. So I wait a few days, and 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.200 first off, I want to see the end of the movie, 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.680 and I couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't at the time, 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:40.160 it wasn't available online anywhere. So now I'm kind of 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.240 getting frustrated and desperate, and so I'm writing you again. Hello, 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:48.040 it's me, Delilah wrote you the other day, kind of 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.840 wondering if I can learn more about the ZIF project. Nothing. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:52.760 Crickets. 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.080 How long was it before you finally decided to answer me? 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:03.120 I think I answered you on the third, third, or fourth. Yeah, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.680 I And I feel bad because I don't often get 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:10.880 on those social media responses, especially they're just private messenger. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.199 And I said, oh, it's really nice, and I think 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.320 I told you to go check the website out, like 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.640 I had no idea who you were, and then you did. 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.040 You were very polite, go look at our website, learn 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.640 more information. And then I wrote back and I said, well, 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.000 I think I could help the f project maybe get 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.680 the word out there, and you're like, how could you help? 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:31.880 Yeah, and then you said, well, you know I have 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.200 a have a radio show, and I would just be 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:39.360 interested in learning more. And this vision of you, I 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:41.880 think you might have said. I had this vision of you, 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:46.480 like hold up in a basement, which I am doing this, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.760 I do know a radio show for five people or something. 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.960 You think I was some internet I don't know fan 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:55.800 base of seven. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.440 No, I don't know what it was. And I was, 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:00.640 and then you're like, no, I have like two hundred 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.959 and twenty syndicated shows in the US, like after we'd 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.559 had and I was like literally like Mike dropped for 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:11.520 a second and was like the Delilah. I think that 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.360 was my only response. And when you were like yes, 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:18.000 then I started just cracking up and was intensely embarrassed 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.400 that I had been like, oh no, just go to 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.080 our website and have this vision of you hold up 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.960 with like twelve cats doing some broadcasts. 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.920 In your basement, and now that you've been to my 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.480 basement and seen my twelve cats, yes, oh no, it's 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.160 like exactly. But once we connected and I got to 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.640 know you personally, I was even more impressed than I 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.360 was just watching the movie, because you're the real deal. 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.520 You don't just talk the talk, you walk the walk. 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.040 And I really want to how can people, first off, 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.800 anybody listening right now find the movie, the entire movie, 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:52.280 The IF Project. 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.520 So it's up on iTunes and it's just The IF 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.240 Project documentary. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.640 And it's wonderful. How many years did it take from 0:11:59.040 --> 0:11:59.960 the beginning to the end? 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.200 Oh well, well, IF was born in two thousand and eight, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.960 and we filmed for seven and a half years before 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.920 the documentary was finished. Katheryn Horan, the producer and co founder, 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.400 we were just going to film for a year and 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.760 do a youth education piece, which we do have that 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.960 as well in part of our programming, and she just 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.040 kept rolling film for seven and a half years because 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.160 the story is just kept, you know, blossoping and opening up, 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.400 and we got connected to some of the principles and 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.000 players in the movie. Really a lot, and some of 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.640 them were going to be getting out, and so it 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.680 just was an amazing seven and a half years of filming. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.840 I think we have like one hundred and thirty hours 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.920 in the can that she distilled down to eighty eight minutes. 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.800 That's incredible. I would love to see some of the 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.360 other hours because I know the eighty eight minutes she 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:48.640 picked were so powerful. 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:49.240 Thank you. 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.880 Hold on just a second, Kim, I am gonna uncuff 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.440 you from the studio mic for a second so you 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.880 can go get a drink of water, because there is so, so, 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.400 so much more you need to tell me after we 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.400 come back from hearing more from folks that make this 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:08.600 podcast possible. Please welcome. I wish you could give her 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:13.400 a round of applause. Kim Bagooki, co founder of the 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:14.320 IF Project. 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:15.040 Thank you. 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.000 Start at the beginning, Kim, about the IF Project. You've 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:21.240 been a police officer for how many years? 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:22.520 Thirty one years? 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.960 Thirty one years, and you were going into the woman's 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:29.959 prison to mentor to what no. 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:32.480 I was involved in a program called the West Side 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:36.040 Story Project, and it got international attention because we actually 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.600 use West Side Story, Broadway Theater and police to reach 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:43.120 out to youth to have discussion around you know, using 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.080 the vignettes when you're jet. You're jet to talk about 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:49.280 gang violence, Officer Krepkey to talk about the juvenile justice system, 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.120 you know, a couple things like that. And so Girl 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.839 Scouts Beyond Bars, which is a great program. That's why 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.040 I like to buy the cookies they have. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.080 We wait, stop right there. I got to say. Girl 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:02.760 Scouts Beyond Bars is where young girls joined Scouting when 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.440 their moms are incarcerated. They get to go in and 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:09.319 spend time with mom doing projects, earning badges. Didn't I 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.400 hear they had a camp, a sleepover or a camp bag. 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.160 I've spent the night in prison one night, Yes, with 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:16.080 the Girl Scouts. Yep. 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:20.080 That is so cool. That is one of those small 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.400 little pieces but life changing. 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:24.920 Yeah. And I think the thing for me is when 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:26.360 they said this is who we are and what we'd 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.120 like you to do. Would you work with our girls 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.720 with the you know, similar format that we did with 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.120 West Side Story, I was like absolutely, because what they 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.720 were doing is they were continuing family unification, which I 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.280 knew is going to be critically important for those girls 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.479 when dealing with, you know, having a parent that's incarcerated, 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.160 and I said, absolutely, I'll go in. But I'm absolutely 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.400 I'll work with you the girls, but I want to 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.040 go in and ask the mother's permission because I knew 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.920 that those mothers were going to be calling home and 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:54.920 I didn't want their child to go, oh the police 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:56.920 were at troop meeting today and have the mom freak 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.520 out about what I would have potentially or what the 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.680 police would potentially said to the child about their mother 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.080 because their mother was incarcerated. So I went down to 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.480 w CCW Watchingtoncrustion Center for Women back in March of 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:09.240 two thousand and eight. 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:10.200 I'm sad. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.040 I said hey, and they said, you know, arms crossed, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.400 sitting back what he basically would It was very chilly 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:17.800 in the room. Let's just put it that way. But 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.120 I think the thing that happening even before I started 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.800 talking with them is I had some really intense misperceptions 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.880 of what somebody that was incarcerated acted like, looked like, 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.160 talk like. You know, for twenty years, I'd been putting 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.760 people in handcuffs, not realizing the story behind or the 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.240 person behind those handcuffs, And when I went into the prison, 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:39.080 I was super nervous and I often say, you know, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:40.920 I feel like I was going to get shanked because 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.520 I'd been watching way too much you know, reality TV, 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.040 which since then I don't watch that stuff. But you know, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:49.480 I had to do a gut check when I walked 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.080 in the door because these women just looked like people 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.720 I would hang out with. Not I often say that 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.680 I had remembered arresting for twenty years, so I had to. 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.360 You know, I'd been in community police sing and thought, oh, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.040 I know all this. And I walked in and I 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.560 was like, wow, I am. I still have a lot 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.920 of work to do with my biases and prejudices that 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:08.960 I had no idea I had. And they really opened 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:10.960 my eyes to that in that split second. And then 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:16.080 the conversation absolutely was chilly because I represented. 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:17.560 Police officers would put them in jail. 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.800 Yeah, and last time they saw us, they're probably getting 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:20.680 take away from their kids. 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:21.040 Yeah. 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:22.960 So then I asked the question. 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:28.240 You asked the question that has become life changing for thousands, 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.440 probably tens of thousands of people, and it birthed the 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:32.880 if project, which is. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.560 If there was something somebody could have said or done 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.120 to change the path that led you here, what would 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:38.600 it have been. 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.760 So you asked that question to the women in prison, 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.760 and one of them took the challenge. 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.280 She did, And I think what's important is I didn't 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.840 ask that question to sit here eleven years later. I 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.200 asked the question to continue dialogue. 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.480 And you asked the question because you sincerely wanted to know. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.200 But what happened, which is in the movie which I 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:03.320 just love, who is a Hot Ticket sassy Pants, and 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.600 hated you, hated the police, hated the police, not you personally, 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.440 but what you represented. And she was very honest about 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.160 that in the movie. Because she had been raised to 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.840 not trust police officers and to hate people in authority, 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.040 she took that challenge and ran with it. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.359 Yep. She actually asked the women to write the answer 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:27.040 down to give to me so that we could share 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.000 those answers, and children would not their children or other 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.560 children would not have to follow in their footsteps to prison. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.719 And completely selfless, she wrote it down, and in the 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:42.800 movie they show her handing you this stack of papers, 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.240 and there was the answer. Yep, there was the answer 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.400 to the question, which wasn't a sentence, but page after 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:56.359 page after page, and then the IF project began. And 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.680 I love that you brought in tutors to help the 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.480 women who hadn't gotten an education to be able to 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:05.560 write out their answer. I love that you brought in 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:10.000 counselors who help them to tap into the answer. Yeah, 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.000 because nobody wakes up one day and goes I think 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:13.600 I want to go to prison. I think I want 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.960 to become, you know, a drug dealer. I think I 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:20.000 want to kill somebody in a bad drug deal. Nobody 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.720 wakes up one day and suddenly chooses that path. 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.439 No name for flame. She's now our director of re 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.959 entering Programming. She helped write the writing workshop with a 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.440 lot of her expertise in mind on how to get 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.920 somebody to the place to be able to answer that question. 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.360 We've had women go through that writing workshop because that's 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.320 what was created out of it, eight or nine times 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.960 and keep going just a little bit, a little bit more, 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:47.960 a little bit back, a little bit deeper. Yeah, it's 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:49.639 been it's been transformational. 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:54.760 How many different prisons now is the IF project in? 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:56.679 Do you have any idea? 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.600 I think probably we're just in the process of getting 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.520 in. In the state of California, in all of four women's prisons, 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.359 there's significantly less women's prisons in the country. Visited Connecticut 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:11.040 last week. We've done some work in Colorado, We've been 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:11.400 in all. 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:12.960 That you're in men's prisons now too. 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.679 We've done writing workshops and men's prisons. Most of our 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:20.159 programming we have really focused on females because I really 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.000 do believe with the things that we've learned that they 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.280 are the gatekeepers for us to understand and end mass 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.560 incarceration in our country. Because eighty five percent of women 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.800 that are incarcerated or mothers, So just. 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:32.320 Think about it, say that one more time. 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:36.000 Eighty five percent of women that are incarcerated or mothers. 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:39.000 And if you are a child of a mom who's 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:43.200 made bad choices and is incarcerated, where do you end up? 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.280 Well, there's not you know, the data isn't give us 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.960 exact numbers, but you're risk for dropping out of school, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:55.520 juvenile delinquency, following in a parent's footstep, experiencing poverty is 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.000 much higher than a child that actually has one or 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:00.360 two parents at home. So we know that that that 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.520 potentially is our next generation of incarceration. And not to 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:09.040 discount having a father incarcerated or anything like that, but 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.359 usually especially when a woman gets out of prison, it's like, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.080 here's your kids. When a guy gets out of prison, 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.480 it's not necessarily the same thing. So there's so much 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.960 going on for future generations and a legacy of incarceration 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:21.720 with females. 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.880 So women goes to prison five, six, seven, eight years, 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:28.480 gets out, here's your kid, and there's been no relationship 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:29.960 established or continued. 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:33.760 Well, that's why it's important for family unification program and 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:35.720 that's why girl Scouts be on bars. Stuff like that 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.960 is important. And also while they're in prison. The sad 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.880 part is sometimes it is that interruption where they realize, oh, 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:44.960 I can go to school and get an education, which 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:47.240 means when they get out there actually can make more 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:49.440 money to support a family and not have to make 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:53.639 bad decisions or get into bad relationships in order to 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.640 continue raising their children and not end up back in poverty. Again, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.320 poverty is the number one indicator in the world for 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:01.560 incarceration and to end in this country as well. 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:06.760 So if you're raised in poverty, if your parents are impoverished, 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:11.720 one or both, your chances of ending up incarcerated how 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:12.400 much high. 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:13.880 Or you I don't know, I don't know. I don't 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:16.360 have the statistical numbers, but your parents are as well. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.600 Because what happens is you can you end up in 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.320 survival mode. You and I would do the same thing 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.080 if we needed to survive. What would you do to 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.720 take care of your kids? And sometimes some of the. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:32.680 Who says I haven't already Honestly, I'll be real honest 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:34.720 here there, but for the grace of God go I 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:42.040 because when I was younger, my addiction was to abusive men. 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.840 I tried to fix men who didn't want to be fixed. 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:50.879 And I watched the movie and I related to so 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:55.160 many women that were incarcerated because just like me, they 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:57.680 fell in love with somebody who didn't want to be fixed. 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.280 Only they didn't see the off ramp to get out 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:04.560 of that relationship. Yep, you know. I was so fortunate 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.800 and so blessed with my first marriage that when my 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.600 son was born, my son was the off ramp. I said, 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:14.480 I cannot put him through this. Had I not had 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:18.639 a child, who knows what choices I may have made 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:21.400 because I was involved with somebody who was addicted. 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:22.040