Stay tuned to meet a man
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who was once a part
of a major crime family
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and is now proud to be
in the family of God...
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My name is Yvonne Lewis
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and you're
watching Urban Report...
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Hello and welcome
to Urban Report...
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My guest today
is John Turnipseed
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Author of "Bloodline"
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and Director of the
Center for Fathering
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in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
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Welcome to Urban Report John...
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Thank you so much for having me.
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Oh, it is such a
privilege to have you on...
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I first learned about
you from a radio interview
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that I heard... with
you talking about this book
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and when I heard
you... I thought,
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"I have to get
him on Urban Report...
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I have to have you
on Urban Report... "
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this book is powerful and
your life has been so amazing
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you start the first
chapter with the words,
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"I shouldn't be alive today... "
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tell us why you
shouldn't be alive...
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There has been just
too many times in my life
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where I should
have died... there's...
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people have shot
at me pointblank...
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people have done things to
me... been in rooms with me...
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with weapons and
things that for some reason
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they were not able to
kill me for some reason
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I've been put
in a kidnap before,
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and put in a trunk and taken out
to the woods to be killed and
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and the trunk
opened and I just got out
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and started running
and they couldn't catch me
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and just
amazing, amazing things...
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have happened in my life...
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but I know that it
wasn't luck I wasn't lucky...
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I'm so glad you said that John
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because so many people
will use the word "luck"
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"Oh, it was just
luck... " no we know...
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that it wasn't "luck"
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that God had His hand
on you your whole life...
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so let's talk about your
life, where did you grow up?
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Southern Alabama...
a place called Bottom
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I grew up in a Christian family
going to Church every single day
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my grandmother
telling me at age 5
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that I was
going to be a preacher
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I had 3 or 4 Church
suits that I wore every day
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and I loved the Church...
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and my father was
a very good father
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and took care of us and
was a deacon in the Choir
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and all kinds of
just great things,
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didn't know what hunger
was grew up on a farm...
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just being loved
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and grandmothers on
each side of me... man...
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I had it made...
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So you came from a
two-parent household...
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Yeah... your dad was very active
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in your family... and
very much a part of Church life
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and you were going
to Church every day...
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not just on the
weekends but every day...
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Every day... and
so, something happened
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when you were 7 years
old... tell us what happened...
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my father left to come
to Minneapolis, Minnesota...
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to start a new life...
he felt that Alabama was not
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the place that he
wanted to raise us
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Martin Luther King had
started some things down there
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and it was very
unpleasant... so he came up here
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and a year
later... we followed him...
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and when we got here...
he was not the same person...
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my father who I loved so
dearly had turned into...
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the boogie man...
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really... in my
life... I was scared of him...
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my mother was scared of him,
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I'd never seen
him raise his voice
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and he was now... cursing...
and had put some straightener
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in his hair... and...
had multiple girlfriends
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all of this... I'd
never witnessed before...
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and he refused to go to
Church and he cursed now...
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he was a different man...
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So what was it that
happened in his life
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that changed him so radically...
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from the
Christian dad that you knew
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to now this man
that you don't even know?
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He came up here and fell
into... with a group of people
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he used to go to a Bar
called "The Bucket of Blood"
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I remember the name of it...
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it was a little
hole-in-the-wall Bar
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and he'd take me
with him sometimes
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and I'd sit outside in the
car waiting for him to come out
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and all types of ladies
of the night and all that
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that was his "crowd" now
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that was... the people
that he hung around with
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he was a tall, good-looking
guy with a lot of charm...
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and just started drinking...
he had never drank before
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and left the Church... the
support system of the Church
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was nowhere around him anymore
the family... structure...
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Isn't it interesting how...
and we talk about this a lot
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on this Program... but
isn't it interesting how
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Satan has his plan for you,
and he just wants to destroy...
00:05:15.17\00:05:18.65
and he'll just take
you from Point A to Point B
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to Point C...
all the way down...
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because your dad
left there one way...
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and when you hooked
back up with him again...
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he was a totally
different person...
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because he had allowed
himself to go down that path...
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so how did that impact you?
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That... it sort of...
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it took the roof off of
my house... basically...
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I was a kid that was
spoiled with a father's love
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I was a kid that knew... I
had never been spanked before
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I was a kid that
was just a good kid...
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I knew who I was...
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and I just
wanted to please my dad
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I wanted to please
God and knew who He was...
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and when I saw this
happen to my father...
00:06:01.92\00:06:05.13
and I started praying every
day that he wouldn't come home
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I used to pray that
he'd come home safely...
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now I was praying that
he wouldn't come home...
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and praying that
something happened to him
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that he died... anything...
to keep him away from us
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the person that I loved so much,
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now became the
person that I just feared...
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and he was like a monster...
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and the spirit that
got a hold of him...
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and I just... I
didn't want him in the way...
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and that Satan had just
taken my father away from me...
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and with that... starts
destroying me and my brothers...
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Oh! that must have
been so traumatic...
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for you and your
brothers... and your mother...
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tell us about how your
dad was treating your mom...
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every single night he beat my
mother... every single night...
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I endured that
until I was about 8 years
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watching that... and the only
time that I was away from it
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was when I started
getting into trouble,
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so I would go to
the Juvenile Center
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I didn't want to be at home,
I would rather be in jail...
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rather than seeing my mother
being beaten every night...
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my dad... he was a jealous guy
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and he would
come around the house
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and accuse her of doing
things she wasn't doing...
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every night he'd come
there to check on his house
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and beat her up...
and then he'd leave...
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and it just became...
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it was the worst situation
that I could ever be in...
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my five little
brothers were looking at me
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like, "do something"
and we used to have sessions
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where we actually had
planned to harm him...
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and I was like
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10 or 11 years old...
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and these little
guys were trembling
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and wanted me to harm my dad,
to stop him... and I couldn't...
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and seemingly... the
prayers I was sending out...
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they were not being answered.
00:08:00.97\00:08:02.80
So how did that impact your
00:08:02.83\00:08:04.59
relationship with
the Lord at that point?
00:08:04.63\00:08:06.92
I felt that there was no God...
that it was all a trick...
00:08:06.95\00:08:12.48
that I'd been... fooled...
00:08:12.52\00:08:15.04
that I was a fool
00:08:15.08\00:08:18.04
for believing
that there was a God
00:08:18.08\00:08:20.02
and that the only thing
that was going to save me
00:08:20.06\00:08:23.05
was me... and I
started looking for
00:08:23.09\00:08:25.68
people that could help
me out of the situation
00:08:25.72\00:08:29.11
and I found them...
in a very dark place...
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I found a place full
of pimps and drug dealers
00:08:32.51\00:08:37.17
and gang bangers... and they...
sort of took me under their wing
00:08:37.21\00:08:40.50
and my dad was scared of them.
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Isn't that
something, John, how...
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the young men in our
culture often look to gangs
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to kind of fill in the spot
that the dad is supposed to fill
00:08:51.62\00:08:55.17
for protection, for
that sense of belonging
00:08:55.20\00:08:59.24
and so, that's kind
of where you went...
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When a child...
especially a young boy
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does not feel safe...
that's the most horrible feeling
00:09:06.44\00:09:09.69
in the world... and
you will seek safety...
00:09:09.73\00:09:13.49
from anything that's available,
00:09:13.52\00:09:15.64
and if it's a kid
that's the biggest bully
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on the block you'd
try to become his friend,
00:09:18.25\00:09:20.53
if there's a gang that's running
the streets that you live in...
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you will try to be
a part of that gang...
00:09:24.60\00:09:27.22
so that you feel a
center of safety...
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it's the worst feeling in
the world to feel unsafe...
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Absolutely... and
to... as I read your story...
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I realized how much
you had to deal with
00:09:37.51\00:09:40.79
just even going to School,
you have to be concerned about
00:09:40.83\00:09:45.58
"is something going to
happen on the way to School
00:09:45.62\00:09:47.53
something going to happen
when you get out of School...
00:09:47.56\00:09:49.72
is something going to happen
during the school day... "
00:09:49.76\00:09:52.43
you know, normal kids
don't have to deal with that
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you get on the
bus, you go to School,
00:09:54.94\00:09:57.05
you have your school
day and you come home...
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but life for you
was so tumultuous
00:09:59.80\00:10:03.51
how did you end up
getting into the gang...
00:10:03.55\00:10:07.09
how did they
enlist you into the gang?
00:10:07.13\00:10:11.03
I had a cousin that
came up from Chicago
00:10:11.07\00:10:14.90
and he gave me my first preview
into gangs and what they meant
00:10:14.94\00:10:19.23
and I idolized this guy...
00:10:19.27\00:10:21.57
and he kept me safe...
00:10:21.60\00:10:23.83
my dad, you know, was
sort of leery of him...
00:10:23.87\00:10:25.96
and then the Chicago
gang started coming up...
00:10:25.99\00:10:29.71
into Minnesota and I
was fascinated by them,
00:10:29.74\00:10:33.31
these guys were not
afraid of anything...
00:10:33.35\00:10:36.92
and then they had guns...
00:10:36.96\00:10:38.03
and they were like
12, 13, 14 years of age
00:10:38.07\00:10:40.67
just not just Chicago,
but St. Louis and other...
00:10:40.70\00:10:44.61
even from Wisconsin...
gangs had started filtering up
00:10:44.65\00:10:48.52
in Minnesota... and I
started hanging around
00:10:48.55\00:10:51.70
with those guys... and
they were into robberies
00:10:51.73\00:10:55.12
and all kinds of
stuff... and when I turned 18...
00:10:55.15\00:10:58.50
is when it really
materialized in my life
00:10:58.54\00:11:00.83
and I went to
jail for armed robbery
00:11:00.86\00:11:03.12
and by the time I was 18...
00:11:03.16\00:11:05.79
I threatened my dad...
made him leave my mother alone
00:11:05.82\00:11:08.52
I threatened him with a
gun, I almost killed him,
00:11:08.56\00:11:12.52
I was just... out-of-control...
00:11:12.55\00:11:14.38
and my father was
then scared of me...
00:11:14.41\00:11:16.58
I switched the table on him
00:11:16.61\00:11:18.95
and I got my
courage from the gangs
00:11:18.98\00:11:20.66
and I got into prison...
00:11:20.70\00:11:23.62
and I organized the
first prison gang in 1972
00:11:23.66\00:11:26.94
in Minnesota... and we
just ran a prison for 3 years
00:11:26.97\00:11:30.82
everything that
came into the prison...
00:11:30.85\00:11:33.68
if someone wanted it to be
safe, they had to deal with us,
00:11:33.71\00:11:36.75
if someone wanted drugs,
sex, whatever they wanted,
00:11:36.78\00:11:40.07
whatever dark thing
they wanted in that prison...
00:11:40.10\00:11:43.06
we controlled...
00:11:43.10\00:11:44.36
just through the
sheer force of the gang...
00:11:44.40\00:11:46.80
Without giving details...
because it could be a problem,
00:11:46.84\00:11:52.80
how did you get
00:11:52.83\00:11:54.18
those kinds of
substances into a prison...
00:11:54.21\00:11:58.17
it just seems so weird
00:11:58.21\00:12:01.99
that you can get
anything you want...
00:12:02.03\00:12:03.98
you can get sex in the
prison, how can you do that?
00:12:04.01\00:12:07.42
Well, we formed an
Organization a Nonprofit...
00:12:07.45\00:12:10.81
that dealt with
women coming into prison
00:12:10.84\00:12:15.77
to help prisoners...
00:12:15.81\00:12:17.15
that's the way we did it,
so we... on a weekly basis
00:12:17.18\00:12:20.65
ten women would
come into prison...
00:12:20.68\00:12:22.36
that I'd selected...
and come to private meetings
00:12:22.39\00:12:26.06
in the prison... with
inmates that I selected
00:12:26.10\00:12:29.59
to help us... and
that Group was a Nonprofit
00:12:29.63\00:12:33.09
and I won't say the name of it,
00:12:33.12\00:12:36.23
because they're
still alive today...
00:12:36.26\00:12:37.75
but they're not
the same Organization
00:12:37.79\00:12:39.21
and we just
infiltrated the Nonprofit
00:12:39.24\00:12:42.53
and made it...
they brought drugs in...
00:12:42.57\00:12:47.04
they provided sex...
00:12:47.07\00:12:48.32
some of the Guards there...
we had large amounts of money
00:12:48.36\00:12:51.99
while in prison because
we controlled all the drugs
00:12:52.02\00:12:55.46
and everything so,
Guards would take our money
00:12:55.50\00:12:58.90
in and out of the prison for us
00:12:58.94\00:13:00.57
gangs are very powerful
00:13:00.61\00:13:02.11
in their persuasion
00:13:02.15\00:13:03.59
especially when you
have a captive audience...
00:13:03.62\00:13:07.57
Yeah, yeah, I'm
sure... so, you were in a gang
00:13:07.60\00:13:11.52
not just any gang,
00:13:11.55\00:13:13.78
you formed the gang...
00:13:13.82\00:13:15.98
I formed the gang...
and you were in prison
00:13:16.02\00:13:19.46
for how long... the first time?
00:13:19.49\00:13:21.68
Three and a half years...
00:13:21.72\00:13:23.48
And during that time,
did you meet other prisoners
00:13:23.52\00:13:28.70
that kind of gotten more
steeped into that kind of life,
00:13:28.74\00:13:34.83
where was your
head at that time?
00:13:34.87\00:13:37.31
Well, during that time,
00:13:37.34\00:13:39.03
I was the leader
of the prison gang
00:13:39.06\00:13:43.71
and so, everything ran
through me... and at that time
00:13:43.74\00:13:47.12
they kept older
prisoners in another prison...
00:13:47.15\00:13:49.20
away from us...
00:13:49.23\00:13:50.33
and so I had control of
all the younger prisoners...
00:13:50.36\00:13:53.29
and a lot of them
were from different States
00:13:53.32\00:13:56.32
so I learned a lot
about different gangs
00:13:56.36\00:13:59.33
and different
ways of doing things
00:13:59.36\00:14:01.06
from a lot of different places,
00:14:01.09\00:14:02.72
and the most powerful
thing I learned about gangs
00:14:02.76\00:14:06.82
is that you seclude people
from their safety net, you know,
00:14:06.86\00:14:10.96
if a person had a
really good mother or something
00:14:10.99\00:14:14.57
you made a conflict between them
00:14:14.61\00:14:17.75
you made the people in the
prison depend wholly upon you...
00:14:17.79\00:14:21.20
and the most
important thing you did was...
00:14:21.24\00:14:24.60
was take away their safety...
just take away their safety...
00:14:24.64\00:14:27.22
and if you give people
power, a sense of power...
00:14:27.25\00:14:32.68
they will do
anything to keep it...
00:14:32.71\00:14:34.38
and so, that's how I kept them.
00:14:34.41\00:14:36.80
That's a very interesting point
because in a place like a prison
00:14:36.95\00:14:41.27
where you feel powerless...
to have a sense of power
00:14:41.31\00:14:45.51
has to be kind
of exhilarating...
00:14:45.55\00:14:48.34
it has to be...
Well, absolutely...
00:14:48.38\00:14:50.57
yeah, that must be really
kind of exciting to the prisoner
00:14:50.61\00:14:55.54
and almost validating...
since everything is taken away
00:14:55.58\00:15:00.48
you have nothing
anymore... really...
00:15:00.52\00:15:02.46
not even an
identity... you have a number...
00:15:02.49\00:15:04.95
so, its got to be kind
of exhilarating to have that
00:15:04.99\00:15:09.52
so, you go through that...
00:15:09.56\00:15:11.96
you come out...
00:15:12.00\00:15:14.60
and what do you do
after you get out...
00:15:14.64\00:15:16.59
do you say, "I'm
never going to be
00:15:16.63\00:15:18.31
a criminal
again... " what do you do?
00:15:18.34\00:15:19.95
No, that's just the beginning...
you figure out a way
00:15:19.98\00:15:23.63
that you can be a criminal
and not go back to jail again...
00:15:23.66\00:15:27.23
you know, that becomes the goal,
I met people in prison that
00:15:27.27\00:15:32.29
taught me things
about Alarm Systems and
00:15:32.32\00:15:34.85
things of that nature...
about the different sex trades
00:15:34.89\00:15:39.48
and things...
and how to make money
00:15:39.51\00:15:42.16
doing bad things to people,
and extortion and loan sharking
00:15:42.19\00:15:47.73
and all kinds of
stuff... you know,
00:15:47.77\00:15:49.43
I learned that from guys
that I was in prison with...
00:15:49.46\00:15:52.48
we had a lot of time
to think about things...
00:15:52.52\00:15:54.99
so, when I got out... it
was basically... making sure
00:15:55.02\00:15:59.50
that I had a
"fake job" to go to...
00:15:59.53\00:16:01.35
and I had somebody say
that I worked for them...
00:16:01.39\00:16:03.76
and I ran my criminal enterprise
this time... with my family...
00:16:03.79\00:16:08.19
it was safer to
work with family members
00:16:08.23\00:16:11.14
that we already had
a connection with...
00:16:11.18\00:16:14.02
than it was to become strangers
and since we had a large family
00:16:14.05\00:16:18.39
and a lot of the
men in my family...
00:16:18.43\00:16:20.61
did the same thing my dad
did... I don't know why...
00:16:20.64\00:16:23.16
it seemed like a spirit
invaded our whole family...
00:16:23.19\00:16:25.67
and at one time...
we were the largest gang
00:16:25.71\00:16:28.42
in the State of Minnesota,
it was all... family members...
00:16:28.46\00:16:32.59
Wow! so you mentioned
00:16:32.62\00:16:34.62
generations and
generational curses,
00:16:34.65\00:16:38.18
let's talk a little bit
about generational curses
00:16:38.21\00:16:41.04
for those who are
unfamiliar with that term...
00:16:41.07\00:16:43.87
explain it and then explain
how that affected your family.
00:16:43.90\00:16:47.56
Yeah, generational curses...
00:16:47.60\00:16:49.88
it is something that
follows each generation
00:16:49.92\00:16:52.81
sometimes you see generations
of preachers in a family
00:16:52.85\00:16:56.33
their great-great-great-great
grandfather was a preacher
00:16:56.36\00:16:59.81
and their father,
and their everybody
00:16:59.84\00:17:01.67
was a preacher in their
family, or a mechanic...
00:17:01.71\00:17:03.74
in our family... there
were generations of guys
00:17:03.77\00:17:07.18
my father went to jail...
and my father got shot...
00:17:07.21\00:17:10.89
and my father didn't
take care of his kids...
00:17:10.93\00:17:13.54
I went to jail... got shot...
didn't take care of my kids...
00:17:13.58\00:17:17.93
my son went to jail...
this is the third generation...
00:17:17.97\00:17:20.37
got shot... my son
got shot 17 times actually
00:17:20.40\00:17:24.52
and didn't take care of his kids
now my grandson got shot at 16
00:17:24.55\00:17:29.51
has two kids and is doing
00:17:29.54\00:17:32.57
"Life without the
possibility of parole"
00:17:32.60\00:17:34.40
so, if that ain't a generational
curse, I don't know what it is
00:17:34.44\00:17:38.03
and it was the
spirit of being criminals
00:17:38.07\00:17:40.84
we were raising
criminals instead of kids...
00:17:40.87\00:17:43.57
you know, it was like,
when my son, Johnny, was 12,
00:17:43.61\00:17:47.66
I told him, "You don't
have to go to School anymore,
00:17:47.70\00:17:49.47
why go to school... when
you're going to sell dope
00:17:49.51\00:17:53.09
that's what
you're going to do... "
00:17:53.13\00:17:54.49
that "school is for the
other kids... it's not for you"
00:17:54.53\00:17:59.24
the spirit of evil had
just taken over my whole family.
00:17:59.28\00:18:03.96
So how did God
deliver you from that?
00:18:04.00\00:18:08.82
Let's talk about how
your life was transformed...
00:18:08.85\00:18:12.35
How did you find Jesus?
00:18:12.39\00:18:13.89
I found Jesus... you know...
00:18:13.92\00:18:16.01
a number of
things that had happened
00:18:16.05\00:18:19.71
and I knew it was...
I knew that some reason
00:18:19.74\00:18:22.84
there was something
good in the world...
00:18:22.87\00:18:25.93
that kept saving me...
that kept hovering around me...
00:18:25.97\00:18:29.58
and bad things just
kept happening to me...
00:18:29.62\00:18:33.34
in my family...
people were being killed...
00:18:33.37\00:18:37.02
my best friends being killed and
finally I'm lying in a jail cell
00:18:37.06\00:18:43.13
and I had already went through
00:18:43.17\00:18:46.18
my 3-year-old son had
been beaten to death by a guy
00:18:46.21\00:18:49.67
that I never met...
that had run off with my wife
00:18:49.70\00:18:52.91
and so... and that was
part of the lifestyle I lived
00:18:52.95\00:18:56.13
you know, "Well, you can
lose another person... so what?"
00:18:56.17\00:18:59.78
but he killed my
son... I don't know why...
00:18:59.81\00:19:05.21
and then I got out of jail
and it didn't change at all...
00:19:05.24\00:19:09.58
and then I was in
jail another time...
00:19:09.62\00:19:12.04
and my oldest son was shot...
00:19:12.08\00:19:14.67
and they had shot him
so badly that he thought
00:19:14.70\00:19:18.86
his leg was still
on and it was gone...
00:19:18.89\00:19:21.49
and he thought I was
in the room with him...
00:19:21.53\00:19:24.62
and he was hallucinating
and the hospital called me
00:19:24.65\00:19:28.48
in jail... to talk to my son...
to tell him his leg was missing
00:19:28.51\00:19:32.28
and that's when it hit me...
00:19:32.31\00:19:34.12
that I was the most
horrible father in the world...
00:19:34.16\00:19:38.38
that I had left my
kids unprotected...
00:19:38.41\00:19:42.17
and that everything that I had
taught them, couldn't save them,
00:19:42.21\00:19:45.43
from the people in the
world that would devour them...
00:19:45.46\00:19:49.66
and I had been
accused of 50 felonies...
00:19:49.69\00:19:55.01
and was getting ready to go
to jail for a very long time...
00:19:55.04\00:19:59.24
and I just decided, you
know, that was enough...
00:19:59.28\00:20:01.96
I just couldn't do it
anymore, it was just...
00:20:02.00\00:20:04.63
something from my past...
00:20:04.66\00:20:07.47
that told me about God...
00:20:07.51\00:20:10.25
my grandmother, those
teachings that I'd learned
00:20:10.29\00:20:13.14
at 5 or 6 years of age...
00:20:13.17\00:20:14.60
filtered into that
room that I was in,
00:20:14.64\00:20:17.95
and I just got on my
knees and just started crying...
00:20:17.99\00:20:21.11
and I don't know...
00:20:21.15\00:20:22.43
I can't tell you
what I said to God...
00:20:22.47\00:20:24.90
because I don't remember...
00:20:24.93\00:20:26.22
but I know that
I knew that He came
00:20:26.25\00:20:29.05
in that period of time...
00:20:29.08\00:20:31.20
and that He told me
that it would be all right...
00:20:31.24\00:20:34.69
I don't know the words,
and I got off of that floor
00:20:34.72\00:20:38.14
I knew I was saved...
and I walked out of...
00:20:38.18\00:20:41.40
I ended up not going
to prison miraculously...
00:20:41.44\00:20:44.63
God, again... Yes...
00:20:44.66\00:20:46.83
and started helping people
00:20:46.86\00:20:49.85
helping other fathers that
had not fathered their kids
00:20:49.88\00:20:53.58
so God, you know, He...
even though I denied Him,
00:20:53.61\00:20:57.95
cursed Him, walked away from Him
and said that He didn't exist...
00:20:57.98\00:21:01.23
came... right when
I asked Him to come.
00:21:01.26\00:21:05.08
Oh! that is so, so beautiful...
because that's the God we serve
00:21:05.11\00:21:10.83
because when we ask Him...
when we reach out to Him...
00:21:10.87\00:21:14.79
when we tell Him,
00:21:14.82\00:21:16.03
"I can't deal with this
anymore, please, help me"
00:21:16.06\00:21:19.70
He hears that
prayer... Absolutely...
00:21:19.74\00:21:21.74
and I just wish other
people who don't know God
00:21:21.77\00:21:26.04
would just give Him a try...
because there's nothing...
00:21:26.08\00:21:29.10
nothing like that...
00:21:29.14\00:21:30.62
so once you got
up off your knees
00:21:30.66\00:21:32.89
you felt this sense of peace?
00:21:32.93\00:21:35.95
I knew that everything
was going to be all right...
00:21:35.98\00:21:39.57
I was getting
ready to be sentenced
00:21:39.61\00:21:42.61
for those 50 felonies...
and I went out and bought
00:21:42.64\00:21:46.02
a house... and
everybody thought I was crazy
00:21:46.05\00:21:47.64
for some reason... I just
felt that I wasn't going to jail
00:21:47.68\00:21:51.93
but it was impossible
that I would not go to jail
00:21:51.97\00:21:55.37
people were coming
to my court appearances
00:21:55.40\00:21:59.15
because they thought that
I would turn state's evidence
00:21:59.18\00:22:03.18
or become a snitch...
because I knew a lot of
00:22:03.22\00:22:06.54
a lot about a lot of things...
00:22:06.57\00:22:08.40
and that I could have
talked my way out of jail...
00:22:08.43\00:22:10.84
but I didn't do that...
00:22:10.88\00:22:11.92
I just threw myself at
the mercy of the Court because
00:22:11.96\00:22:14.54
I don't recommend it
for everybody... but...
00:22:14.58\00:22:17.75
I knew that God had me...
00:22:17.78\00:22:19.41
and that even if I
had gone to jail...
00:22:19.44\00:22:21.35
that I would be okay...
00:22:21.39\00:22:22.63
and the judge just
changed his mind...
00:22:22.67\00:22:24.89
and didn't send me to
jail... he was a Christian guy
00:22:24.93\00:22:27.99
and we are good
friends to this day...
00:22:28.03\00:22:29.78
20 years later,
we're still good friends...
00:22:29.81\00:22:31.78
and he said, you know,
00:22:31.82\00:22:33.81
"God just told me
to give you a shot... "
00:22:33.85\00:22:37.76
so he worked in my
behalf, he protected me...
00:22:37.79\00:22:41.67
you know... men don't
live to be 60 in my family
00:22:41.71\00:22:45.31
I'm 60 years old...
that doesn't happen...
00:22:45.35\00:22:48.57
a lot of great things
are happening in my life
00:22:48.61\00:22:51.14
and I know it is
God... I know it's God...
00:22:51.18\00:22:53.64
Amen... let's talk
about the Center for Fathering
00:22:53.67\00:22:56.77
and Urban Ventures...
you are the Vice President
00:22:56.80\00:22:59.82
at Urban
Ventures... tell us a bit about
00:22:59.86\00:23:03.02
what you're doing for fathers...
00:23:03.06\00:23:04.51
We work with
about a 1,000 men a year
00:23:04.54\00:23:06.80
most of them
coming out of prisons...
00:23:06.84\00:23:09.03
80 percent drug addiction
00:23:09.06\00:23:12.25
felonies in their past
00:23:12.29\00:23:15.40
that want to get back
into life to their kids...
00:23:15.44\00:23:18.36
but we realize... that
sending a broken father
00:23:18.40\00:23:21.29
back into the life of a
child is not the solution...
00:23:21.33\00:23:24.40
we work with the father,
with me, I went to treatment
00:23:24.43\00:23:27.30
because I was a drug addict,
I had to do some other things
00:23:27.33\00:23:31.75
to make sure that I
had steady employment
00:23:31.79\00:23:33.81
and things of that
nature before I decided to start
00:23:33.85\00:23:37.52
convincing my kids that
I had turned a new leaf...
00:23:37.55\00:23:41.19
and so, that's
what we do with men...
00:23:41.22\00:23:43.48
and we go out and find
them on the street corners
00:23:43.51\00:23:45.75
and we go into drug houses,
we go anywhere that men are
00:23:45.79\00:23:49.06
failing at... and
we reach out to them
00:23:49.09\00:23:51.66
and in my Community...
00:23:51.69\00:23:54.65
Jesus is known to be alive
00:23:54.68\00:23:57.59
and some of the guys
call me, "One of God's boys"
00:23:57.63\00:24:01.13
you know, and so I can go
into other gang territories
00:24:01.16\00:24:04.39
without fear...
because they know I'm on
00:24:04.43\00:24:06.86
something good... and
that good thing is God...
00:24:06.90\00:24:09.19
and somehow, in our Community...
00:24:09.23\00:24:11.65
everybody knows that God
is around... somewhere...
00:24:11.69\00:24:15.97
and they might not
know how to get to Him,
00:24:16.00\00:24:17.59
but they know He's around
00:24:17.63\00:24:19.14
and that's the tool
that we use to get people to
00:24:19.17\00:24:22.58
change their lives...
00:24:22.62\00:24:24.09
That is amazing...
00:24:24.12\00:24:26.52
so, how do these fathers
find out about your Program
00:24:26.55\00:24:30.96
are you kind of
marketing into the prisons
00:24:31.00\00:24:34.94
and letting them know,
00:24:34.97\00:24:36.07
"Hey, we have this
Center for Fathering...
00:24:36.10\00:24:38.36
when you come out" or
how are you marketing it?
00:24:38.40\00:24:41.24
Well, through a number of things
we have movies, we have books,
00:24:41.27\00:24:46.30
we do go into the
prisons, I speak a lot in jails,
00:24:46.33\00:24:50.87
I do a weekly TV
Show, in Minneapolis here
00:24:50.90\00:24:55.41
that's on Cable Network,
we send 4 guys out every day
00:24:55.44\00:24:59.94
for 6 hours...
to ride the buses,
00:24:59.97\00:25:02.93
and talk to guys about
The Center for Fathering...
00:25:02.96\00:25:05.98
and the Bus Company
allows us to do that...
00:25:06.01\00:25:10.30
they know that we are a
Faith-based Organization
00:25:10.34\00:25:12.88
they know that we're
connected to a Church
00:25:12.92\00:25:14.36
and they allow us to do that,
because when we're on the bus,
00:25:14.39\00:25:18.26
young African-American men,
especially, act differently...
00:25:18.29\00:25:22.12
you know, they don't
cuss, our Slogan is...
00:25:22.16\00:25:26.05
"No need to cuss or
fuss... you're on the peace bus"
00:25:26.08\00:25:29.51
and whatever bus we're on...
the young guys respect that
00:25:29.55\00:25:32.95
and a lot of
them know some of us
00:25:32.98\00:25:35.98
or have heard of us...
and they come to our meetings
00:25:36.01\00:25:40.32
like I said, a thousand
men this year came at least
00:25:40.35\00:25:44.59
let me see... a thousand
men came to at least 10 meetings
00:25:44.62\00:25:48.72
Wow! and tell us briefly
00:25:48.75\00:25:51.11
because we only
have about a minute left
00:25:51.14\00:25:53.08
what do they
learn in your classes?
00:25:53.12\00:25:56.60
It's all Character Development,
and teaching them how to
00:25:56.63\00:26:00.62
apply for a job and get a
job, and why a job is important
00:26:00.66\00:26:04.62
and why a good
life is important...
00:26:04.65\00:26:06.55
if the good character of
a man is what defines him
00:26:06.59\00:26:10.22
and so, and we
model that behavior
00:26:10.26\00:26:12.61
we make sure they have a mentor.
00:26:12.65\00:26:14.93
That is critical... a
mentor is critical because
00:26:14.97\00:26:20.47
how do they know what to do
if they don't see it modeled...
00:26:20.51\00:26:24.85
Absolutely... or if
they don't have someone
00:26:24.89\00:26:26.86
to just kind of walk them
through the whole process...
00:26:26.90\00:26:31.84
Amen... tell us, if you would,
00:26:31.87\00:26:35.15
in closing...
why it's so important
00:26:35.18\00:26:38.36
for fathers to get it together.
00:26:38.40\00:26:40.27
If a child does not
have that father in his life,
00:26:40.31\00:26:45.18
it's such a big leap
for him to understand
00:26:45.22\00:26:49.00
how much God
loves him... Hmmm...
00:26:49.03\00:26:51.46
and the father is the
first path to God, you know,
00:26:51.50\00:26:56.36
we teach our kids
how to be loved...
00:26:56.39\00:26:58.27
and how to be safe... and
so that God can gather them in
00:26:58.31\00:27:03.57
especially when we're not around
00:27:03.61\00:27:05.37
and so, man, we
serve an important role
00:27:05.41\00:27:08.83
God put is in our
kid's life for a reason...
00:27:08.86\00:27:11.21
and we need to own up to that.
00:27:11.25\00:27:12.71
Yes... for
sure... thank you so much
00:27:12.75\00:27:15.18
for being with us... I
can't thank you enough...
00:27:15.22\00:27:17.76
may God bless you as
you continue to serve him
00:27:17.80\00:27:21.18
and help other men to
know more about God...
00:27:21.22\00:27:24.53
who is the ultimate
parent... the ultimate father...
00:27:24.57\00:27:28.50
Thank you so much Brother
John for being with us today...
00:27:28.53\00:27:31.65
Amen... All I have to say is,
00:27:31.68\00:27:33.68
"Look at God... " look
at how He can take a life
00:27:33.71\00:27:36.29
that was headed for destruction
00:27:36.32\00:27:37.80
and turn it into
one headed for heaven...
00:27:37.83\00:27:39.93
thank you so much for
tuning in, join us next time
00:27:39.96\00:27:42.66
because it wouldn't be
the same without you...
00:27:42.70\00:27:45.36