UBROOO109
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Stay tuned to meet a
man whose life has been
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transformed by
the power of God...
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My name is Yvonne
Lewis and you're watching
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Urban Report...
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Hello and welcome
to Urban Report...
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My guest today is Brian Heath
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and I'm so excited
to welcome him here
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because he's got a
story for us today...
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Welcome Brian...
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Thank you... how're you doing?
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I'm doing so well, praise God...
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Are you're doing okay?
you're hanging in there?
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Yes, yes, hanging
in here... Amen...
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I'm doing good...
That's good... that's good...
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Brian, you have a
powerful testimony...
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give us a little bit of
insight where were you born...
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Where were you raised?
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I was born in 1979
on the South side...
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no actually the
North Side of Chicago but
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I was on the South
side for so long...
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at Ed Wise Hospital to
Christine Washington and
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a David
Crowder... that I never met
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Okay... but, I
ended up meeting him
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my last day... I meet him...
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I ended up meeting
him like when I was 4
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and when I was 7
and that was it...
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so, he was, pretty much
was never a father figure
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So your dad wasn't in
your life, early on...
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No... Was there any man that
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was in your life
that kind of misses you?
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Yes, I had a stepfather
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and he came in
married my mother,
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was there from the time
we were 5-years-old on...
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he was not a good dad... Okay...
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but... How many
brothers and sisters
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did you have? I
have... one little sister
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named Crystal... she's adopted
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they adopted her
when she was 7-days-old...
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Hmmm... best thing...
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I have a
brother named Devonge...
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I have another brother named
James... older brother... dead
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I haven't seen
him since I was 7...
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I have two older step-sisters...
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Why haven't you see your brother
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since you were 7? Don't know...
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Just... he was just
gone... Just gone...
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Wow... so what was
your family like...
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life like? My
family life was very
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abusive...
physically... emotionally...
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spiritually... it
just wasn't there...
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it was the worst of the worst...
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it was horrible...
growing up in that household
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they starved us... they
had locks on the pantries
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locks on the refrigerators,
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locks on the cabinets,
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and it was... at times
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where we were choosing food
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and dog food... the
choice that we had to eat
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is real cheap Government
cereal called Kaboom...
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and the adults get to eat
bacon, eggs, toast, breads...
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and we had to make it for
them, but we couldn't eat it
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so, it was times
like that, then...
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if we did get in it or eat it,
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we'd get beaten
seriously... get beaten severely
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with extension cords
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or... whatever they just felt...
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Was there drug
abuse in the home?
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Yes, they smoked
marijuana, shot heroin...
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drank cough
syrup... smoked cigarettes,
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drank alcohol... so
that was their way of life...
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Were you ever exposed
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to any church
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or any spirituality in the home?
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There was... supposed to be
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they portrayed
the image on Sunday
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that really wasn't
there... Hmmm... hmmm...
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so they were acting like
they were this nice family
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good but in the background
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they were really evil people
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but... at one time... we had our
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great-grandmother, Theolo,
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who tried to keep us
grounded and at that time
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I was a Baptist and
went to Baptist School
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So you did go to Baptist School
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you did go to some
church and it was your
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great-grandmother...
that tried to...
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Yes... she was
trying to she wanted to
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introduce us to let us know that
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there was God but
with so much evil in the
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household... it was too hard
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to even keep your
eyes focused on God
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or even know who
God was... it was just
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"Yeah... whatever... "
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Isn't that
something how you can be
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in a situation where everything
around you is just so dark
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there's so much
evil, as you put it,
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in the home that
it's hard to think about
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anything else except
what you're dealing with
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and so your
great-grandmother, even though
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she really
couldn't keep it going...
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at least she... She
tried to plant the seed...
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She planted the seed... Yes...
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and that is
critical... and you never know
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what's going to
happen with that seed
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you never know
how... then it takes root
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and later... it springs forth...
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Yes... Right...
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Yes... So praise
God for grandmothers
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and great-grandmothers
who plant those seeds
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in children...
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so, I can't imagine
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as you were
talking... I'm thinking
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the children in this
home were starved and beaten
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and beaten for eating food
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that was going to the adults...
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where was your
mom in all this...
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was she a part of the
abuse, or was she a passive
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onlooker? Well,
at first she was a
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passive
onlooker... because it's like
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she didn't want
no parts of it...
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but she allowed my stepfather
just to do what he wanted
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with the kids...
but as we grew older
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she was... now she
wanted to be a part of it...
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and now she started to beat us,
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and I can recall one time
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that... I was
raised up in a gang also
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so, they sent us to a
school that was the opposition
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of the gang... Okay,
now wait, what do you mean
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"raised up in a
gang" what do you mean?
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Well, my step-father was
a "Conservative Vice Lord"
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Oh... so your step-father
was a member of the gang...
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Yes... and... Wow...
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when we were raised up we
were called, "Little Lords"
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they were the
baby Vice Lords and...
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so... as we grew up...
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that's what me and my
brother used to portray
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to be a part of the
Conservative Vice Lords
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and when I got to school...
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it was all a
totally different gang
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gangs that we fought and
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people that we didn't like
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I didn't understand
it I was just living off
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my father's...
like I say... legacy
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so, I get
suspended from school...
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How old were you... this
time? Probably like 12...
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Okay... I get
suspended from school
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and I go home...
and they tie me down
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to a bed... Who is "they"?
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my mother and my
father... Okay...
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and they stripped
me naked and beat me
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until I had welts from my
calves to the middle of my back
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What were they beating you for?
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Because they said I
shouldn't have gotten suspended
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from school and I
tried to explain to them,
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"Wait a minute... you
raised me up in this...
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you raised us to
fight and go out there
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and do all this negativity
stuff but when the repercussions
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come from the fighting...
you want to beat me again
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so I'm getting double punished"
and they didn't care...
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it was like... they were
getting off for doing it...
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Was there anybody in
your life any adult that knew
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what was going on? I'm just...
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it's hard for me to
wrap my mind around...
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There were a lot of people,
there was a lady next door
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named Donna Jefferson,
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she would wait
till my mother leaves
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and call us next
door and feed us lasagna
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she made the best
lasagna and she would take us
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to Malls... to the
Show and she'd be like,
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"Well, I know you're parents
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are about to come,
so let's get back... "
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and she'd truck it Whoosh...
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all the way back to home
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and we'd go in the
house and we'd just sit there
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like nothing ever happened...
and then I had my aunties
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that... when I ran
away... I would go and live
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at their
house... but my mother was
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at this point...
she was just so evil
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she would just... call them...
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"I know he's over there,
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if he's over there...
I'm calling the Police"
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and in Chicago...
nobody wants the police
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called upon them... so now...
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my Aunt Bonnie she'd be like...
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"Look, you got to go...
she's about she's about to call
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the police...
I'm going to call my
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Aunt Major and
send you over there... "
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and so, I'd run to my
Aunt Major and I'd stay there
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for a couple of days and...
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if she just started
calling all the family
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members... it was
a point of time where
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I'd just ride the train...
I'd start in 95th and Dan Ryan
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and just ride the
train, to and fro...
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to and fro... all night...
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the train
conductors would get on
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and they'd see us and
they won't say nothing
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there are so
many kids in Chicago,
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just ride the train...
that's where we slept...
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Are you kidding me?
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because the family...
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The family is
abusive, we have nowhere to go
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or it was... the
train was safe...
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and the train
conductors knew that
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and they wouldn't bother us...
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You know...
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when I hear stuff like this...
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Brian... really... it
just hurts my heart...
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because to know that
there are children suffering
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like this and riding
the train all night...
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because there is
nowhere else to go
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and nothing else to do
and there's no one to help
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it's like... it's
such a dysfunctional
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situation and yet... and yet...
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I'm listening to you
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and I'm hearing how God had
00:10:39.69\00:10:41.63
His hand on you...
even though you were going
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through this... He
put that lady next door
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for you... to feed
you... He put your aunties there
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to help to kind of
ease the situation for you
00:10:50.52\00:10:54.49
and I just feel like
God's hand has been on you
00:10:54.53\00:10:58.44
but you went through some
really, really difficult times
00:10:58.47\00:11:03.75
so from when you were
about 5, on through 12 now
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we've got a pattern of
abuse, we've got starvation,
00:11:08.17\00:11:12.24
we've got you riding the
train, we've got your mom now,
00:11:12.27\00:11:16.30
joining in with the
abuse, so, where did that
00:11:16.34\00:11:19.93
take you... where
did you end up mentally
00:11:19.97\00:11:23.53
as a result of
this whole lifestyle?
00:11:23.56\00:11:27.21
Well, at 12... I was at
a point where I didn't care
00:11:27.25\00:11:30.77
about nothing... it
was hatred for the family
00:11:30.80\00:11:35.49
and it led... to a lot worse...
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they tried to
cover up that child abuse
00:11:39.38\00:11:44.27
and that time that they beat me,
00:11:44.31\00:11:47.42
that was so severely,
00:11:47.46\00:11:48.80
I ran away and I went to a
00:11:48.84\00:11:50.36
friend named Pelsa House
00:11:50.40\00:11:52.53
and I told him about it
and he wanted me to tell
00:11:52.57\00:11:55.99
his grandmother,
and I didn't want to...
00:11:56.03\00:11:59.05
but he was like...
"No, this ain't right... "
00:11:59.09\00:12:01.38
so, his grandma
called me up to her room
00:12:01.42\00:12:03.73
and she had me to
take my clothes off
00:12:03.76\00:12:06.01
and she looked at
the welts, and she's like
00:12:06.04\00:12:08.67
we're calling the
police, and she held me
00:12:08.70\00:12:11.06
and I put my head
on her lap and I think
00:12:11.10\00:12:13.37
that was one of
the times I cried...
00:12:13.41\00:12:15.38
and I just couldn't
stop crying, because...
00:12:15.41\00:12:19.40
you didn't feel that
love, so, we pressed charges...
00:12:19.43\00:12:24.52
How old were you at this point?
00:12:24.56\00:12:26.98
12... 12... we pressed charges
00:12:27.01\00:12:29.36
and they sent me
home, back home...
00:12:29.40\00:12:33.88
with them...
and when I got there
00:12:33.91\00:12:38.32
they nailed the window
shut, they nailed the door shut,
00:12:38.35\00:12:42.41
that morning... I wake up
00:12:42.44\00:12:45.18
hearing them
pulling the nails and stuff
00:12:45.21\00:12:47.27
out of the door, they sent me to
00:12:47.31\00:12:49.36
Cook County
Hospital to talk to a shrink
00:12:49.39\00:12:51.83
I don't know what was
said or how it even went
00:12:51.86\00:12:54.50
but all I know is...
half-an-hour later...
00:12:54.54\00:12:57.11
I was on a gurney on my
way to Lakeshore Hospital
00:12:57.14\00:12:59.85
for behavior problems...
everything is my fault,
00:12:59.88\00:13:02.55
so they committed me for
00:13:02.59\00:13:05.27
6 months...
00:13:05.31\00:13:07.63
and then they gave
up custody of me...
00:13:07.67\00:13:10.70
and I got sent to Merryfield...
00:13:10.73\00:13:13.75
this place where it's just a...
00:13:13.79\00:13:15.95
on the North side of Chicago...
00:13:15.98\00:13:18.07
it's real huge...
it's like 200 to 300 kids
00:13:18.10\00:13:22.54
up in there...
and there were just,
00:13:22.57\00:13:23.81
probably like 4-5 staff...
they were just so understaffed,
00:13:23.84\00:13:27.07
Hmmm... and we
all were just running
00:13:27.10\00:13:30.43
wild... and this
guy named Pitts...
00:13:30.47\00:13:33.73
I know we called him
Mr. Pitts, came in there
00:13:33.77\00:13:36.13
and I talked to him, I was like,
00:13:36.16\00:13:38.49
"I need to get out of
here, I can't stay in here...
00:13:38.53\00:13:41.20
if I stay here,
I'm going to die... "
00:13:41.23\00:13:42.55
and he was opening a
Group Home that night...
00:13:42.58\00:13:44.27
and he let me be
one of the first people
00:13:44.30\00:13:46.73
he selected to go
to the Group Home,
00:13:46.76\00:13:49.15
so, I'm thinking,
"Okay, this will be a good
00:13:49.50\00:13:52.34
thing... the Group
Home is on 49th and Woods...
00:13:52.37\00:13:55.18
it's called
Alpha House... but...
00:13:55.22\00:13:57.57
they had a midnight
staff there, and his name,
00:13:57.60\00:14:03.41
I'll just call him Napoleon,
I won't say his name but
00:14:03.44\00:14:05.73
we called him
Napoleon... and he used to...
00:14:05.77\00:14:09.04
he was like 70-years-old,
and he used to act like
00:14:09.07\00:14:12.40
a grandfather... but he
invited me and this other
00:14:12.43\00:14:15.72
guy over to his house one day
00:14:15.75\00:14:17.43
and we sitting over
there and we were looking
00:14:17.50\00:14:18.90
and it was like...
something ain't right
00:14:18.93\00:14:21.00
70-year-old guy...
there's no family pictures
00:14:21.04\00:14:24.49
no lady pictures, but
00:14:24.53\00:14:26.59
you have a video game system...
00:14:26.62\00:14:29.22
you have all these
toys around, what's wrong?
00:14:29.25\00:14:32.81
Hmmm... so we
felt uncomfortable,
00:14:32.84\00:14:34.12
so we talked and we left,
00:14:34.15\00:14:36.34
but he introduced
us to another person
00:14:36.37\00:14:38.99
which was his best friend,
and I was so thirsty for love
00:14:39.03\00:14:43.85
of a father figure... and
he was around 34 at the time
00:14:43.89\00:14:48.67
and he was an
all-right guy... he let us do...
00:14:48.71\00:14:53.09
he took care of
us... buy stuff for us
00:14:53.12\00:14:55.63
and... He would take you
00:14:55.66\00:14:56.99
out of the Group Home
to do... to hang out...
00:14:57.03\00:15:00.14
Yes, to hang
out... now we were kids
00:15:00.17\00:15:02.04
so we wanted to
go to the concerts
00:15:02.07\00:15:03.87
and we wanted to
go downtown to Chicago
00:15:03.90\00:15:07.08
and do what the adults do...
00:15:07.11\00:15:08.68
and smoke marijuana,
and stuff like that...
00:15:08.71\00:15:12.15
And he let you do that stuff?
00:15:12.19\00:15:13.68
He let us do
that... and we felt free
00:15:13.72\00:15:19.75
but, in the end, it was a shock
00:15:19.78\00:15:22.93
that he lived only 2 blocks
away from my mother's house
00:15:22.96\00:15:25.60
and at that time, I
didn't care about nothing
00:15:25.64\00:15:27.88
but my little sister,
so, my whole instincts and
00:15:27.92\00:15:30.13
situation was to get to her...
00:15:30.16\00:15:32.64
so he was like... "Do you want
to come to come live with me?"
00:15:32.68\00:15:34.75
and I was like...
"Yeah, I'll come live with you"
00:15:34.78\00:15:36.70
and so I lived
with him for a while and
00:15:36.73\00:15:38.91
everything worked out fine,
00:15:38.94\00:15:40.95
but to my surprise,
he was a sexual predator
00:15:40.98\00:15:43.66
and... He was grooming you...
00:15:43.70\00:15:47.20
He was
actually... grooming you...
00:15:47.24\00:15:49.43
taking you to
these things and...
00:15:49.47\00:15:51.21
So I would trust him... Right...
00:15:51.24\00:15:52.92
He was grooming
you... And kids trusted him,
00:15:52.95\00:15:56.07
and I end up falling
00:15:56.10\00:15:58.83
victim to him... Hmmm... hmmm...
00:15:58.86\00:16:01.52
Which is the
right word by-the-way...
00:16:01.55\00:16:03.99
You were a victim... yes...
00:16:04.02\00:16:05.94
So, when you
find out what you did
00:16:05.97\00:16:10.50
and being a kid from Chicago,
00:16:10.54\00:16:12.49
in a gang... you're
supposed to be tough...
00:16:12.52\00:16:15.45
you're not
supposed to be a victim...
00:16:15.48\00:16:17.67
of that caliber... it
doesn't happen to kids
00:16:17.71\00:16:19.81
in Chicago... at
least we don't know that,
00:16:19.84\00:16:21.91
we don't talk
about it... Right...
00:16:21.94\00:16:23.45
so, that was the instinct,
00:16:23.48\00:16:25.15
don't talk about
it... don't tell nobody...
00:16:25.18\00:16:27.13
and so I ran and I
met this other lady,
00:16:27.17\00:16:31.18
that stayed right
across the street from
00:16:31.22\00:16:32.92
Cornelius High School and
I started living with her...
00:16:32.96\00:16:35.89
and the gangs in Chicago
were just so bad there...
00:16:35.92\00:16:38.82
they ended up killing her...
00:16:38.85\00:16:41.40
so I had to go somewhere else...
00:16:41.44\00:16:43.92
I didn't want to go
back to this guy's house,
00:16:43.95\00:16:46.23
so, I ended up
going to this lady's house
00:16:46.26\00:16:48.51
in Chicago... and
00:16:48.54\00:16:51.26
I stayed out
there probably like...
00:16:51.29\00:16:53.52
this is probably over...
this is actually a 3-year span
00:16:53.56\00:16:58.69
that I'm talking
about... but I ended up
00:16:58.72\00:17:02.21
staying out there for a while
00:17:02.24\00:17:03.42
and I was starting to just
come around because this lady...
00:17:03.46\00:17:08.92
her name was
Linda... and she was nice...
00:17:08.96\00:17:12.24
so she would let the kids
do what they wanted to do...
00:17:12.27\00:17:15.85
it was a safe haven
for us but in the end
00:17:15.88\00:17:18.48
I usually run away...
00:17:18.51\00:17:19.72
and I had to find my
way back to Chicago...
00:17:19.76\00:17:22.21
and one day... I just had this
00:17:22.25\00:17:24.32
bad, bad feeling
00:17:24.36\00:17:26.91
like something wrong
with your little sister
00:17:26.95\00:17:29.18
so, I told her... I said,
"I got to get back to Chicago"
00:17:29.22\00:17:33.03
How far from Chicago were you?
00:17:33.07\00:17:35.40
Chicago was probably
like 30 to 45 minutes away,
00:17:35.43\00:17:40.23
but she told
me... she was like...
00:17:40.27\00:17:42.20
"Do not go back to Chicago,
stay out here an extra 2 weeks"
00:17:42.23\00:17:45.40
but I don't care
about nobody, or nothing...
00:17:45.44\00:17:48.27
so I had to get back to Chicago,
00:17:48.31\00:17:50.07
so, I got back to
Chicago, probably around 8
00:17:50.29\00:17:54.11
8 that morning...
00:17:54.15\00:17:55.51
by 11:45 I was sitting
00:17:55.54\00:17:57.84
on the porch
with my little sister
00:17:57.87\00:17:59.19
and the guy that I fell
victim to was driving his car
00:17:59.22\00:18:05.27
up the street
jumped out the car,
00:18:05.30\00:18:07.70
put a gun on my head,
00:18:07.73\00:18:09.40
and on my little sister's
head, looking for my brother...
00:18:09.44\00:18:13.71
some of his friends
because they were supposed to
00:18:13.74\00:18:16.51
have stolen some stuff from him
00:18:16.55\00:18:18.82
and he threatened us,
00:18:18.86\00:18:22.77
to do worse to my little
sister what he did to me...
00:18:22.81\00:18:25.88
and to kill us... and
at that point in time,
00:18:25.92\00:18:28.56
I lost it... the
only instinct I had
00:18:28.60\00:18:32.68
was to protect her...
and 3 o'clock that morning
00:18:32.72\00:18:37.70
I ended up going
over to his house
00:18:37.74\00:18:40.54
and I ended up
murdering the guy...
00:18:40.57\00:18:43.34
and I got caught,
00:18:43.38\00:18:47.46
by the police... I
never tried to hide it
00:18:47.49\00:18:50.29
or like I wasn't
guilty, but, I fought the case
00:18:50.32\00:18:57.43
for 3 years...
and then I just took a
00:18:57.46\00:18:59.62
plea bargain for
38 years in prison...
00:18:59.65\00:19:01.63
and I ended up
serving 19 years...
00:19:01.66\00:19:05.94
So you were away for 19 years...
00:19:05.98\00:19:08.30
For 19 years in prison...
00:19:08.34\00:19:09.85
and not until
probably 2006 somewhere...
00:19:09.88\00:19:19.61
I started feeling comfortable...
00:19:19.65\00:19:21.15
so I started telling people...
"Okay, this is what happened...
00:19:21.18\00:19:23.38
this is the true
story of what happened... "
00:19:23.42\00:19:25.55
and my mother knew about it,
00:19:25.59\00:19:28.52
but they weren't telling nobody
00:19:28.56\00:19:31.42
if they tell somebody... it
was always something negative
00:19:31.46\00:19:34.96
that if I come out of
prison, I'd be a homosexual
00:19:35.00\00:19:37.85
or something negative...
it was never a lot of God
00:19:37.89\00:19:40.71
and it was just evil...
00:19:40.75\00:19:42.38
How did you find God? I
found God because in 2000
00:19:42.41\00:19:48.91
I decided I
couldn't do this no more...
00:19:48.94\00:19:52.36
I hit a bottom... it was so low
00:19:52.39\00:19:55.39
that I didn't have no
choice but to look up...
00:19:55.43\00:19:57.37
and I got on my
knees and I prayed...
00:19:57.41\00:19:59.76
"Yea, I'm lonely...
00:19:59.80\00:20:02.39
this is the worst
feeling that I ever had... "
00:20:02.42\00:20:04.19
Were you
incarcerated at this point?
00:20:04.22\00:20:06.09
Yes... and I
couldn't do nothing...
00:20:06.12\00:20:07.95
and I wanted love...
so, it's never on our time
00:20:07.98\00:20:15.98
but it's always on God's
time, so, there's an old saying,
00:20:16.01\00:20:19.69
"Rome wasn't built in
a day... " so in 2004,
00:20:19.72\00:20:23.79
God put this guy in my
life that was my roommate
00:20:23.82\00:20:27.19
and I saw him reading the
Conflict of Ages series...
00:20:27.22\00:20:30.56
so, I asked him about
it... his name is Tony,
00:20:30.59\00:20:34.34
if I'm not mistaken, and
he told me about the books
00:20:34.37\00:20:37.18
from Ellen G.
White... he let me read them...
00:20:37.21\00:20:39.29
Now, when I was
in... I have to jump back
00:20:39.32\00:20:41.36
a little
before... Hmmm... hmmm...
00:20:41.40\00:20:42.48
when I was in the
Juvenile Detention Center
00:20:42.51\00:20:45.14
there was a guy named
Michael Hedges and his wife
00:20:45.18\00:20:47.98
that ran the LTS Department,
and from the time that I left
00:20:48.02\00:20:52.84
to the time that I
was even up in Prison,
00:20:52.88\00:20:55.47
he would write
me... send me letters...
00:20:55.51\00:20:58.07
What's LTS? It's the department
00:20:58.11\00:21:02.82
where they run
gym... I don't know...
00:21:02.85\00:21:05.67
Leisure Time Service...
that's what we called it
00:21:05.70\00:21:08.83
Okay... okay... but
we never figured it...
00:21:08.87\00:21:10.43
I don't understand it
so we just called it...
00:21:10.46\00:21:11.98
LTS... that's right...
00:21:12.02\00:21:13.24
it was our
recreation... Right... right...
00:21:13.28\00:21:15.25
so, him and his
wife would send me books
00:21:15.29\00:21:17.19
so, they always sent
me James Patterson books
00:21:17.23\00:21:19.97
because I had trouble reading...
00:21:20.01\00:21:22.32
and James Patterson books
helped me learn how to read
00:21:22.35\00:21:25.16
and develop my reading, so
I sat there and I wrote him
00:21:25.20\00:21:27.98
a letter one day...
his wife and I was like...
00:21:28.01\00:21:29.86
"Look, I don't want
James Patterson books no more,
00:21:29.89\00:21:31.70
I want the
Conflict of Ages series...
00:21:31.73\00:21:33.94
I want to learn about
Ellen G. White and the
00:21:33.97\00:21:36.34
Seventh-day
Adventist Church, to find out
00:21:36.38\00:21:38.72
that him and his wife
were Seventh-day Adventists...
00:21:38.76\00:21:41.30
Wow... So, they
sent me the books
00:21:41.34\00:21:44.18
immediately...
they talked to me...
00:21:44.22\00:21:47.00
and they didn't have...
when I was in the Prison System
00:21:47.03\00:21:50.15
they didn't have Prison Ministry
for the Seventh-day Adventists
00:21:50.19\00:21:54.17
so I asked God to send me
somewhere... where they did...
00:21:54.21\00:21:56.92
and I end up
getting transferred to
00:21:56.96\00:21:59.00
Big Muddy River
Correctional Center
00:21:59.04\00:22:01.01
and when I got there...
there was a Pastor there
00:22:01.05\00:22:03.76
called Floren Leader
who did Prison Ministry...
00:22:03.79\00:22:06.47
and he studied
with me... baptized me
00:22:06.50\00:22:09.57
as a Seventh-day
Adventist, and during that time
00:22:09.61\00:22:12.83
I still was yearning
for the love of a family,
00:22:12.87\00:22:15.90
so Pastor Leader got an idea...
00:22:15.94\00:22:19.00
he said... I
wanted the Commentary,
00:22:19.03\00:22:21.42
the Seventh-day
Adventist Commentary,
00:22:21.45\00:22:22.75
so he said... he had me go write
00:22:22.78\00:22:24.03
to 30 Churches and asked them
to all donate $15 to Paul Neal
00:22:24.07\00:22:28.53
now, Paul Neal ran
the Adventist Book Center
00:22:28.57\00:22:32.93
but I was on my own... I
didn't have no income coming
00:22:32.97\00:22:36.56
all I was living
off was the $15 a month
00:22:36.59\00:22:38.79
that the State gives you
00:22:38.82\00:22:39.96
and I've been
living like that forever...
00:22:40.00\00:22:43.18
so, I had a friend named Doc...
00:22:43.21\00:22:45.66
who, just one day
out of the blue said...
00:22:45.69\00:22:47.72
"Are you still
looking for the commentaries?"
00:22:47.76\00:22:49.71
I said, "Yeah... " He
just gave me 30 write outs...
00:22:49.75\00:22:51.84
he said, "Get to
writing" so, I wrote...
00:22:51.87\00:22:56.53
hand wrote 30 letters...
and out of the 30 letters,
00:22:56.57\00:23:00.20
only 4 churches responded...
00:23:00.24\00:23:02.66
but Paul Neal
took it upon himself
00:23:02.69\00:23:04.29
and went around in a book mobile
and raised the money himself
00:23:04.32\00:23:07.27
and in the process,
00:23:07.30\00:23:08.85
I end up getting in contact
with this lady named Shirley Cox
00:23:08.88\00:23:13.83
from the Belvidere Church
and she did Prison Ministry
00:23:13.87\00:23:16.96
with me... and I
ended up getting in
00:23:17.00\00:23:18.63
contact with this
lady named Kanya Thompson
00:23:18.67\00:23:21.10
who's my spiritual
mother, at the Stewardson Church
00:23:21.14\00:23:24.92
and we developed a
real, real close bond,
00:23:24.95\00:23:29.25
and then I met
my spiritual aunty
00:23:29.29\00:23:31.62
Ms. Debra Wheeling... Wyland..
00:23:31.65\00:23:33.91
and they've been
there ever since...
00:23:33.95\00:23:37.41
and they studied with
me, they prayed with me,
00:23:37.45\00:23:41.18
and they just did everything
00:23:41.22\00:23:43.89
that God could do
00:23:43.93\00:23:45.06
and He blessed me
with a family that I was
00:23:45.10\00:23:47.22
craving for...
He did... He did...
00:23:47.25\00:23:49.59
I'm sitting here thinking...
00:23:49.63\00:23:50.98
"Look at God...
look what He's done... "
00:23:51.01\00:23:53.52
The Bible says, "He
takes the solitary...
00:23:53.55\00:23:56.02
puts the
solitary in families... "
00:23:56.06\00:23:58.46
and that's what
he did for you...
00:23:58.49\00:24:00.26
He gave you the love
that you were looking for...
00:24:00.30\00:24:04.10
that you so desperately
needed, He gave that to you,
00:24:04.13\00:24:07.90
and now, you can go
back into the Prisons
00:24:07.94\00:24:13.39
and help them there...
00:24:13.42\00:24:16.28
What would you say
to someone in prison
00:24:16.31\00:24:18.68
who is going through
what you went through...
00:24:18.71\00:24:21.49
looking for love and
looking for acceptance
00:24:21.53\00:24:24.66
and just feeling
alone... what would you say
00:24:24.69\00:24:27.78
to an inmate there right now...
00:24:27.82\00:24:29.44
you can look
into the camera there
00:24:29.48\00:24:31.37
and speak to that inmate...
00:24:31.41\00:24:33.75
Just don't give up,
don't ever give up...
00:24:33.78\00:24:36.22
God is always there...
no matter how much you go
00:24:36.26\00:24:38.78
through... no
matter how low you feel,
00:24:38.81\00:24:41.36
as long as you look up,
00:24:41.40\00:24:42.90
God is always there
00:24:42.94\00:24:44.38
and He will provide
for everything you need,
00:24:44.41\00:24:46.53
He will not give you
much more than you can handle.
00:24:46.56\00:24:48.63
Amen... what a beautiful,
00:24:48.66\00:24:51.73
beautiful thing...
what's the biggest challenge
00:24:51.76\00:24:54.32
that you feel
that you're facing...
00:24:54.35\00:24:56.88
now, since
you've been released...
00:24:56.91\00:24:59.07
what are some of the
challenges that you face...
00:24:59.10\00:25:01.55
That nobody wants
to hire me... Hmmm...
00:25:01.59\00:25:04.30
so, I applied for jobs and
hundreds... it seemed like to me
00:25:04.33\00:25:10.77
I put on a nice tie,
dressed up and walked the town
00:25:10.80\00:25:15.43
and I pass every test...
the drug test the reading test,
00:25:15.46\00:25:19.98
the math test...
00:25:20.01\00:25:21.28
fill out all those forms but
00:25:21.31\00:25:24.39
every time it comes towards
00:25:24.43\00:25:26.85
experience... I have none...
00:25:26.89\00:25:28.97
because I've been incarcerated
since I was a child...
00:25:29.00\00:25:30.76
since I was 15... so
I leave that blank...
00:25:30.79\00:25:33.90
and then when it comes
to the background check,
00:25:33.93\00:25:36.71
all they care is all
they see is "Murderer"
00:25:36.74\00:25:39.48
but they don't know the story
00:25:39.52\00:25:41.22
Right... and
then the people that
00:25:41.25\00:25:42.65
do the interview...
they might like me...
00:25:42.69\00:25:44.53
but they're not the people
to assess the background check,
00:25:44.56\00:25:48.26
Right... so, I'm out...
00:25:48.30\00:25:50.56
You know, to me that's
one of the biggest tragedies
00:25:50.59\00:25:57.21
that we have and
that is "Re-entry"
00:25:57.24\00:26:00.55
because... if
that's on your record...
00:26:00.59\00:26:03.86
how do you get people to say,
00:26:03.90\00:26:06.74
"We want you to work here... "
00:26:06.77\00:26:09.54
how to you get
them to overlook that?
00:26:09.58\00:26:12.90
That is a huge
thing... but guess what?
00:26:12.94\00:26:16.22
God's got something for you...
00:26:16.37\00:26:17.99
"Well, I'm trying to... I'm
writing a book about my life
00:26:18.03\00:26:21.25
and in my book I'm
trying to help people
00:26:21.28\00:26:26.24
and to guide people
and see whatever we can do
00:26:26.28\00:26:31.98
it's called the
00:26:32.02\00:26:33.53
"The Guard... in the
Dark Side of Chicago"
00:26:33.56\00:26:35.73
and I just hope it
00:26:35.76\00:26:39.49
opens people's eyes to abuse,
00:26:39.52\00:26:41.98
sexual abuse, mental,
spiritual and physical abuse
00:26:42.02\00:26:45.50
and help them... and
hope God leads me down
00:26:45.54\00:26:49.53
the road of ministry...
00:26:49.57\00:26:50.64
God's got a plan for you
Brian, He's got a plan for you,
00:26:50.67\00:26:55.45
and I know it
because He's got...
00:26:55.48\00:26:58.14
the Bible says in Jeremiah
29:11 I'm sure you know that...
00:26:58.18\00:27:02.52
"For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you...
00:27:02.56\00:27:04.79
thoughts of
peace and not of evil
00:27:04.82\00:27:06.54
to give you an expected end. "
00:27:06.57\00:27:08.51
and another version says... "to
give you a future and a hope. "
00:27:08.55\00:27:11.85
God's got that for
you... and I just...
00:27:11.88\00:27:14.97
I pray that some doors will open
00:27:15.01\00:27:17.77
I pray that some of our viewers
00:27:17.80\00:27:20.75
will watch and see you and say,
00:27:20.78\00:27:23.66
"Hey, I've got a job
for that young man... "
00:27:23.70\00:27:26.20
so be of good
courage and thank you so much
00:27:26.24\00:27:28.71
for being with us...
00:27:28.74\00:27:30.18
Thank you for having me...
00:27:30.22\00:27:31.33
It's been a joy and
I'm looking forward to
00:27:31.37\00:27:34.09
reading that book
when it comes out...
00:27:34.12\00:27:37.04
Well, thank you so
much for joining us...
00:27:37.08\00:27:39.96
You know... as I always say...
00:27:39.99\00:27:41.50
on Urban Report...
God's got a plan for you,
00:27:41.54\00:27:45.40
He has not abandoned you,
He is not going to let you go,
00:27:45.43\00:27:50.37
He has the everlasting
arms that keep you and hold you.
00:27:50.40\00:27:55.30
Thank you so
much for tuning in...
00:27:55.33\00:27:57.15
Make sure to join us next time,
00:27:57.18\00:27:58.99
because you know what?
00:27:59.03\00:28:00.20
It just wouldn't be
the same without you...
00:28:00.24\00:28:03.35