Inside the Fight Against the School-to-Prison Pipeline | Voces Media + FRONTLINE

Summary

The script narrates a journey from troubled youth to a transformative educator. It details the speaker's past in West Oakland, dealing with poverty, crime, and neglect, and his eventual path to becoming a gang prevention counselor. It highlights the struggles of at-risk youth and the importance of community support and education in overcoming adversity.

Takeaways

• 🚗 The speaker had a troubled past, including committing felonies and stealing cars during their teenage years.
• 🏠 They grew up in a challenging environment in West Oakland, living in a condemned apartment with limited resources and a mother who struggled to provide for the family.
• 👮‍♂️ The speaker was involved with the police and the juvenile justice system, indicating a history of legal troubles.
• 💉 The speaker admits to selling drugs, specifically heroin, highlighting the desperation and choices driven by poverty.
• 👨‍👧‍👦 The speaker's family faced numerous hardships, including a mother with a low level of education and an inability to provide basic necessities.
• 👩‍🏫 The speaker met their spouse, a professor, under humble circumstances in West Oakland, where they were both involved in community work and education.
• 🏫 The speaker and their spouse worked together as educators and gang prevention counselors, focusing on at-risk youth and investing their energy into helping these kids.
• 💔 The speaker's brother resorted to illegal activities, such as transporting meth, out of desperation to support the family financially.
• 🏛️ The speaker was expelled from high school, which further emphasizes the systemic challenges faced by individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• 🌳 The speaker was invited to run a program in Watts, a neighborhood known for its struggles, and despite initial hesitation, they decided to take on the challenge.
• 🌟 The speaker emphasizes the importance of sharing stories and experiences, believing that everyone has the power to overcome adversity and achieve success.

Q & A

What were the individual's teenage years like, according to the transcript?

The individual had a troubled adolescence, with three felonies and time spent in juvenile detention for stealing cars and selling heroin.

What was the living situation of the individual during their childhood?

The individual lived in a condemned apartment in West Oakland, with a mother who had a third-grade education and struggled to provide for the family.

How did the individual's brother attempt to support the family financially?

The brother resorted to transporting eight pounds of meth, which was his first criminal act, driven by the family's desperate need for money.

What was the individual's experience with the education system?

The individual was kicked out of high school due to tensions and was seen as a burden by the school, which did not believe in investing in their future.

What role did the individual play in their family as the oldest child?

As the oldest, the individual felt the responsibility to step up and help support the family, especially after their mother had an accident and could not work.

How did the individual transition from a troubled past to a healthier community?

The individual moved to Santa Barbara, which provided a basic healthy community with good opportunities, helping them to feel safe and start anew.

What was the individual's profession and how did they meet their partner?

The individual became a gang prevention counselor at a middle school and met their partner, who was a professor, while working in the same community.

What is the individual's perspective on the challenges faced by at-risk youth?

The individual believes that at-risk youth are often judged too easily and that the system should not put the blame on individuals for dropping out, but rather address the systemic issues.

What was the individual's response when asked to run a program in Watts?

Initially hesitant due to personal commitments, the individual was encouraged by their partner to take on the challenge, recognizing the importance of helping those who have been left behind.

What is the individual's approach to working with young people in the community?

The individual aims to share their story and facilitate the growth of the young people's inherent power, encouraging them to see opportunities for themselves and to build their own stories.

What message does the individual convey to the young people they work with?

The individual emphasizes that they are not there to save the young people but to share their stories and help them recognize their own potential to overcome adversity and achieve success.

Outlines

00:00

🚓 Overcoming Challenges: A Journey from Crime to Community Service

This paragraph introduces a person who, as a teenager, was involved in serious crimes such as stealing cars and selling heroin. They lived in a challenging environment in West Oakland, with a mother who had limited education and struggled to provide for the family. The individual reflects on their past and how their experiences led them to become a gang prevention counselor, working with at-risk youth. The narrative emphasizes the importance of understanding and supporting young people who face significant barriers in their lives, rather than simply blaming them for their circumstances.

05:00

💼 From Desperation to Education: A Family's Struggle and Hope

The second paragraph delves into the story of a family facing financial hardship, leading to a brother's involvement in drug trafficking. Despite the brother's arrest, the narrator steps up as the oldest sibling to support the family. The narrative shifts to the narrator's experience as a gang prevention counselor in East LA, emphasizing the need for alternative education and opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities. The story highlights the importance of mentorship and the power of believing in oneself and others, as the narrator is invited to run a program in Watts, aiming to inspire and support young people through shared experiences and stories.

10:01

🌟 Believing in Potential: Encouraging Education and Resilience

This short paragraph focuses on the transformative power of belief and encouragement. The speaker reflects on the importance of showing young people that they can achieve great things, despite their backgrounds. The message is one of hope and potential, with an emphasis on the role of education in breaking cycles of poverty and disadvantage. The speaker encourages young people to see themselves in a different light, believing in their ability to succeed and overcome adversity.

Keywords

💡Felonies

Felonies are serious crimes that carry severe penalties, typically including imprisonment. In the video, the speaker mentions having committed three felonies as a teenager, which led to their time in juvenile detention. This reflects the theme of overcoming adversity and the challenges faced by individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.

💡Juvenile detention

Juvenile detention refers to the incarceration of minors in facilities separate from adult prisons. The speaker discusses their experience in juvenile detention for committing felonies, highlighting the impact of early life choices and the potential for redemption and change.

💡Drug dealing

Drug dealing involves the selling of illegal substances, such as heroin, which is mentioned in the script. The speaker admits to selling heroin in their neighborhood, illustrating the desperate measures some individuals resort to in impoverished environments to survive.

💡Poverty

Poverty is a state of financial hardship where individuals lack the means to meet their basic needs. The script describes living conditions in West Oakland, with the speaker's mother struggling to provide for her children despite having a limited education. Poverty is a central theme in the video, driving many of the challenges faced by the characters.

💡Community

Community refers to a group of people living in the same area or sharing common interests. The video emphasizes the importance of community support, particularly in disadvantaged areas like East LA, where individuals must find alternative paths to success and education.

💡Gang prevention counselor

A gang prevention counselor works with at-risk youth to prevent involvement in gang activities. The speaker's role as a gang prevention counselor is pivotal in the video, as it demonstrates their commitment to helping young people overcome challenges and build a better future.

💡Education

Education is the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. The video underscores the importance of education as a means of escape from poverty and a tool for empowerment. The speaker's journey and their work with at-risk youth highlight the transformative power of education.

💡Struggle

Struggle refers to a difficult or painful effort to achieve something. The script repeatedly mentions the struggles faced by the speaker and others in their community, such as dealing with poverty, crime, and the need to find alternative paths to success.

💡Resilience

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties. The video showcases the resilience of individuals who have faced significant hardships, emphasizing the importance of perseverance in overcoming life's challenges.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship involves guiding and supporting someone in their personal or professional development. The speaker's role as a mentor to former students in Watts is highlighted, demonstrating the impact of positive role models and guidance in helping young people navigate their struggles.

💡Success

Success is the achievement of one's goals or the attainment of wealth, fame, or well-being. The video explores different definitions of success, particularly in the context of overcoming adversity. The speaker encourages young people to believe in their potential to achieve success, regardless of their background.

Highlights

Individual with a troubled past, including three felonies as a teenager and time in juvenile detention.

Specialization in stealing cars during the individual's youth.

Involvement in selling drugs, specifically heroin, in the neighborhood.

Living conditions in a condemned apartment in West Oakland with a mother who had a third-grade education.

Experience of poverty and neglect, including sleeping on a kitchen floor with roaches and rats.

A story of a brother's attempt to find care for the family during a late-night walk.

The individual's move to Santa Barbara and the impact of a healthy community on their life.

Meeting a partner who was a professor and their shared work in community development.

The role of a gang prevention counselor and the importance of investing in at-risk youth.

Reflection on the societal judgments and the systemic issues affecting young people in impoverished areas.

A family's struggle with financial instability and the brother's desperate measures to provide for them.

The individual's own struggles with education and the challenges faced by those from similar backgrounds.

An invitation to run a program in Watts and the initial reluctance followed by a commitment to help.

The importance of providing positive role models and opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities.

The belief in the inherent power and potential of young people to overcome adversity.

The long-term commitment required to make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth.

The message of hope and belief in the ability of individuals to achieve the 'unbelievable'.

Transcripts

I had three felonies as teenager I went

to juvie for three felonies

I love to steal cars that's what I

specialized in this corner is where I

sold heroin

so this is my junior high five police

cars one junior high

we lived in this condemned apartment and

West Oakland a mother had a third grade

education

she was scraping by - just to feed us my

mom will go to work and lock the door on

us from the outside three-year-old and a

semi you'll

remember sleeping on this kitchen floor

with roaches and rats crawling all

around me tremble all night long

those so cold

my mom tells me this story that she's

coming back at 2:00 in the morning and

she sees my brother and walking on he's

14 and he's old in my head and then

she's like hey where are you guys going

and he's like oh we're going to find

someone that's gonna take care of us

[Music]

[Music]

getting away kind of helped me to I

don't know

he'll he'll just feel safe you know

Santa Barbara just a basic healthy

community that gives them good

opportunities for people now we'll think

oh you married a professor really I

didn't

I met him he was living in West Oakland

with his mom he would work on cars and

all the kids in the neighborhood would

come and he would teach him how to work

on the cars and talk to them about their

life they've loved like loved him

I was a gang prevention counselor at a

middle school Rebecca was a student

teacher we teamed up and really put a

lot of our love and energy into these

kids

and is these at-risk kids right

quote-unquote that created our family in

a sense

Oh

[Music]

[Music]

I say big food a lot of these young

people you know he's a person that

struggled that came from the very

impoverished household morning but how

you doing today

[Music]

these are young people that are going

through struggles where they must

overcome barriers that young people

should have to deal with period now

they're up against a lot I think they

get judged too easy

I'd say drop out you're putting the

blame on the individual

push out this is wait a medic system

what's going on here what are we doing

wrong as a system to address this issue

our family has always struggled you know

like whether they have food we don't

have program we don't have to pay the

bills and my mom she had an accident at

work so she can't work and my brother

he's the type of person that is like I'm

gonna do what it's necessary to actually

get the money

so he got in a train with he was like

eight pounds of meth and well he got

caught it was his first time he had no

record at all he just did it because we

just needed the money he tells me and

they meet I'm all depressed I miss you

and I'm today like you know I miss you

too it but a little gonna

step up that was my job I'm the oldest

one I had step up

I got kicked out of high school the

tensions were hard over there we fought

in the school campus they thought like I

was just going to cost money but they

kicked me out

[Music]

Outsiders see my neighborhood my

community as like it's okay for them to

drop out they're used to it that's what

they are when you come from a community

like East LA like once it's not like

your dad's gonna give you his business

it's not like you know you can walk into

the mouth of your parents you got to

find an alternative an education is way

up and a way out

[Music]

that was amazing so I hadn't heard from

Martine in like 15 years he said hey you

know dr. Rios what's up hotshot

professor how about running a program in

watts to him that's that sounds like a

lot and at first I thought man I can't

do it you know doesn't pay I gotta help

my wife she's going through this whole

10-year process

I said no to him Rebecca she says to me

the origins of who you are begin with

young people who have been left behind

wait we don't really have a choice we're

gonna go out there this summer can you

many of the people I invited to watts

for my former students I had mentored

them when I grew up right around the

corner everyone said yes

no one hesitated and no one said no

going back to the victor story he's kind

of like you know Victor come over to the

pad it wasn't like oh my god I want this

guy to be a professor Chicano professors

you know said it wasn't about that it

was just about hosting my little

brother's friend at the back these girls

and these guys coming in I think a lot

of them there's a lot of pain I just

hope that they see there's an

opportunity to see themselves different

it's like no enough you to start to be

treated it with respect you deserve to

go out and get an education you get to

build your story and you get to build it

and we tell it to us

that's only thing we gonna do the

reality is that most young people don't

have access to positive habits there's

very few for us growing up you know so

part of it is letting them know you're

real and you got something to offer

what's the thing that it's gonna take

for us to do well as a community as a

people you know and in trying to achieve

success whatever success may be we're

not here to tell you we're gonna save

you we're here to ask your permission to

share our stories with you and for you

to share your stories with us to hear

your stories a struggle grit resilience

determination we don't want to become a

setup where the kids think there's gonna

be all these changes no dream tell them

from day one it's a long-term process

for you to begin to overcome that

adversity we're not here to give you the

power you already got it we're just here

to facilitate to see that power grow

most important but you're gonna find

these kids are hungry they wanna like

gravitate to to what you got to offer

Martine Flores

he says to me brown people like us we

could go to college too man

we believe in you and we will love it

that you believe in yourself so much

that you could accomplish the

unbelievable

you