0:00:23.656,0:00:26.036 >> We're going right to the[br]street corners to get this data. 0:00:26.686,0:00:29.006 Right? And what are we finding? 0:00:29.176,0:00:33.346 We're finding in our interviews, we're[br]finding from our surveys, that the very people 0:00:33.346,0:00:38.966 that are dropping out, that are arguing not to[br]want and valuing education are the very people 0:00:38.966,0:00:44.116 in overwhelming numbers, at least from our[br]research, that want to be adequately educated. 0:00:44.196,0:00:46.046 I'm talking about guys on[br]the street selling drugs. 0:00:46.706,0:00:50.806 They actually want to go to school, they want[br]to go to college, they want to go to a place 0:00:51.116,0:00:54.106 where they feel that they're respected,[br]they want to go to a place where they feel 0:00:54.106,0:00:56.486 that they're nurtured, where[br]they feel that they're loved. 0:00:57.116,0:01:04.316 Right? Many of the children are coming from[br]homes that are, you know, rife with all kinds 0:01:04.316,0:01:05.796 of issues, so they make sure if we're hungry, 0:01:06.316,0:01:09.906 they make sure if we're wearing the same[br]thing a second or a third day in a row. 0:01:10.226,0:01:13.626 I think many of the children are grappling,[br]particularly the boys are grappling with issues 0:01:13.626,0:01:16.726 around school violence, or[br]other street activities 0:01:16.726,0:01:18.546 that are taking place within[br]a school environment. 0:01:19.226,0:01:25.046 I think, I think many of the children are[br]actually not being prepared to graduate, 0:01:25.046,0:01:27.066 not only high school, but[br]also to enroll in college. 0:01:27.356,0:01:30.176 And when you take home those[br]kinds of experiences, you know, 0:01:31.346,0:01:34.726 it keeps me up at night,[br]I'll be honest with you. 0:01:36.146,0:01:41.236 Lots of night sweats, you know, I have trouble[br]going to sleep at night, sometimes carrying some 0:01:41.236,0:01:44.746 of these stories, you know, to[br]interview a father and talk about, 0:01:45.046,0:01:52.466 and hear him talk about what it means to[br]be a father and lose your son, you know, 0:01:52.466,0:01:58.326 and to have an older man break down in front[br]of you, or have a mother break down in front 0:01:58.326,0:02:00.306 of you, you know, we've got all of this stuff. 0:02:00.306,0:02:02.496 You know? We've heard all these stories. 0:02:03.526,0:02:08.376 To be there with a young man, an adult,[br]you know, in his 20s, and for him to break 0:02:08.416,0:02:13.296 down crying in front of you[br]because he doesn't have a job 0:02:13.606,0:02:18.826 or he knows he can't support his[br]children in the way that he wants to. 0:02:18.826,0:02:23.476 But when I'm actually on the ground walking[br]through the communities, block to block, 0:02:23.516,0:02:26.936 really speaking with some of those guys[br]that's really out there doing X, Y and Z, 0:02:27.206,0:02:31.136 one of the things they really[br]want me to understand and capture 0:02:31.176,0:02:35.736 through this project is also the[br]community, the love that's in 0:02:35.816,0:02:39.056 or amongst street life oriented[br]community, communities, 0:02:39.166,0:02:41.126 which is inside a larger [inaudible] community. 0:02:41.516,0:02:48.756 But oftentimes these guys are involved with[br]caring for loved ones, siblings, in addition to, 0:02:48.756,0:02:54.186 you know, elders, parents, grandmothers,[br]uncles, aunts, oftentimes, you know, 0:02:54.506,0:02:59.096 they play a real role with respect to[br]organizing these communities, you know, 0:02:59.096,0:03:03.656 getting them out to events, you know, promoting[br]certain positive things throughout the scope 0:03:03.656,0:03:08.666 of a south bridge or an east side, oftentimes,[br]you know, and not to say it's necessarily right 0:03:08.666,0:03:13.176 or wrong, but we may see some of these young[br]men paying rent for grandma, for auntie, 0:03:13.216,0:03:16.816 for the young lady, or the older[br]lady who may be, who may have two 0:03:16.816,0:03:18.866 or three kids under her direction. 0:03:19.186,0:03:22.316 We oftentimes see them buying[br]bookbags for the children. 0:03:22.476,0:03:26.886 And at the end of the day,[br]very little change is created. 0:03:27.656,0:03:33.426 Not until we're able to create a scenario[br]where children can be fed properly, 0:03:33.426,0:03:38.226 where children can be housed properly, where[br]children can actually be educated properly, 0:03:39.326,0:03:42.476 will we really have an opportunity to[br]see the change that we all want to see. 0:03:43.006,0:03:50.896 2009, three years before we had one male from[br]this community that graduated from high school. 0:03:51.786,0:03:54.856 Jeez, that's crazy. 0:03:55.016,0:03:57.446 How did we even let it get that bad, you know? 0:03:57.656,0:04:02.026 So, I vowed, you know, [inaudible][br]to kind of reverse these conditions. 0:04:04.076,0:04:08.456 But I vowed to be here, you know, throughout[br]the duration of my life doing any and everything 0:04:08.456,0:04:11.346 to make sure that these stories[br]and these voices get 0:04:11.346,0:04:12.976 out to the people that need to hear about them. 0:04:13.516,0:04:25.620 [ Music ]