Eso won books from a wonderful bookstore, and im thrilled they are featuring the book here. And im going to make some very brief remarks because i think the real people that should share their stories are the fathers that are the focus of this book. And i became part of this Extraordinary Group five years ago but it actually predated my presence here this was an Informal Group that was organized in the Watts Community by a group of men including Andre Christian to be speaking of the later on, johnny daly several other men in the communities thought it would be a good idea to try to involve some of the fathers in the community in trying to promote peace. They used to meet in picnic tables behind the jordan Downs Committee center and they would have barbecued and they would cut air and they would talk to the man about being fathers. How to be better fathers the have to be part of the family. This group grew into a more formal structure with funding from the Childrens Institute and it was really the work of a brilliant black psychologist, a man named who believed that for too long weve been talking about it the problems in black and brown families and we needed to take a focus on the strengths in families of color. And he believed that a major strength was in the fathers that this was the source of strength for families and for the community. And, finally aside from andre and the name behind the gym and Childrens Institute the Housing Authority of the seat of los angeles got into the act and they said we are redeveloping jordan downs. And we want to get people in the committee involved. And so all of these forces came together in the perfect storm to great project fatherhood. And all they needed was a social worker, or so they thought to help them with any issues. I was called in as a social worker but i serving to feel i sort of feel like a mother, you know whatever the menu, i am ready and happy to fulfill that role. I also discovered just as doctors we believed that there was tremendous strength in the committees, tremendous untapped strength in the community. The book talks about it and are incredible stories. Theres sadness, this thing. Eastman experienced death. These mint experience one of their members having to go back to prison but there was also great joy. It was the birth of a baby who is here now, baby boy, and baby boy james who we might hear a hello from a little later on. There were birds graduation, achievements and there was great, great joy. So i think what im going to do is im going to introduce one of the fathers is also going to sort of introduce himself and some other Group Members enter each, each could make a few remarks on what the group has done for them and what some of their experiences have been. Well take some questions and then we will even have a little bit of singing near the end of our program from of the Group Members. Was kind of an example of how much talent and how much thoughtfulness, and what great abilities this group demonstrates. Heres the last thing i want to say before i let you listen to the fathers voices because these are the most important voices for you to hear. This group got me something i think ive always known intrinsically, but now the evidence is in. Theres a lot of talk about what watts means and who can fulfill the needs of watts. Is a lot of talk about what marginalized communities need. People talk a lot without understand a single thing. And i would say the biggest lesson for project fatherhood is what has what watts needs . What has leadership . What has people within its community who have grown up in its Community Come to understand this community . They are the leaders we should be supporting. Watts does not need outside experts. Watts needs service. It needs people to lift up its leaders and lift up its strength i dont think watts is unusual. This is true of a lot of marginalized communities. They are not marginalized by the people within them. Their marginalized from the outside. This has got to stop and weve got to look at these leaders. Some of them are the men here today. Some of them are empty community right now. We have to look at them strengthen them, provide them with resources, and went to lift them up because they will bring about the changes we truly need. So without further ado im going to call a man on the as ksd that im going to let him introduce himself and it is one of the first Bobby Macwhinnie from. So if you give my colleague ksd the microphone, he will say a few words and it is somebody else who is talking. Thank you very much. [applause] im glad to be here to support you today. I have a friend of mine who i would like to come up. His name is will and is also a friend of mine. Easier to support ms. Lieb today. Is also an involved father said he wanted to say a few words and will give the microphone to try to come and i will have him say a few words. Spent a good afternoon everyone. Im truly touched and they will get this once i got to give on this to give on this to give on efforts to develop the coming up this morning. It to my good friend into my newfound friend, congratulations on your great book. Im so proud of this project. With my friend and all these little ones, this book has inspired me to come rent anymore and more in my kids life. I have an 11 year old and he is the it in the end just a start in my life. Im just truly blessed to be associated with the project and good friends and father. Among the of the ones that are sitting here come little man over there. I have to say through all the work the project as it has brought a lot of as a father 60 year old young man, with an 11 year old son i can just say this, this project has been such an inspiration. It has brought me a lot of inner light to me bring something semison and give him some opportunity that i didnt have is coming up in watts. I was there in the 60s, you know, and all through the rights and all that so i experienced a lot of racial bias. This project in this book im sure it is going to be one of the greatest books we were probably ever get a chance to read. I suggest everyone get this book are not just read it but study it. Again, i just want to thank my good friends for having me over here. Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you very much. Happy fathers day. [applause] with that me im ksd. Project fatherhood. What project fatherhood has done for me is its allowed me to become a better person, not just a better father but a better person. And as a role model and a leader in the community what i do is to help the residents of jordan downs basically to speak for those who do not speak for themselves. So my job is to make sure that the police do what theyre supposed to do and not what they just want to do. And to make sure the residents have a fair stake in a whole different and thats what quasi fatherhood and others have done for me. With no further ado i will get the mic to her. [applause] thank you. Thats something i want to share. Initially project fatherhood was about these fathers and their children. But was quite striking is the fathers felt very strongly about building relationships with their children your also felt responsible for the children in the community. There are many children in the committee whose fathers are not around the fathers are the victims to be very blunt with you a new jim crow. Many of them are incarcerated. Many of them are incarcerated for long periods of time because of the mandatory minimums that were placed that unfairly targeted and affected communities of color. Michelle alexander certainly a great deal more eloquent than i am about the credit to prison pipeline, about the new jim crow, but one of the side effects of the new jim crow our children in the committee who are fatherless. And what happened with this group is a man like ksd like ronald like donald, some of the others will be meeting today, they step up. Tsd, im going to call you back. Maybe you could briefly explain just for a moment the youth impact sessions. Okay. So we do with the youth impact session is once a month we have all of the youngsters that they can gather within the Community Speaking of jordan Downs Housing project but we get all the young males in there. We have them come in then we talk to them but not only do we talk to them, we listen to them. So basically we like to find out whats going on within their lives and their household and their education standards and how they are being treated. So we actually listen to what their future entails right . So what it is that they would like to do and what type of programs that they would like to see come to the project. So we listen to them. Those that are like bad actors so to speak to we put them in like a little situation where everybody gets a turn to drill them for the bad things they have done. So we make them feel real bad while giving them good support at the same time. So that individual doesnt mess up anymore. So basically we stay on them. The fathers, we are fathers of the hood. I dont just get to be a father to your get mit. On a father to everybodys kid, right . Thats what we do with the impact session. We bring to an end. We listen to them. We scolded them if necessary, and we have a good time but thats a we do. We taken on trips and stuff like that too, but thats another service. But as far as the impact session go thats a we do at jordan downs project fatherhood for the youth. Once every month, and i will give the mic to dr. George a leap spent lets take a moment. Whos got questions . Weight. Im under strict orders. Forgive me. How were you targeted . How were you targeted as the person who would come in and work with the men in the community . Thats a great question. Or as i like to say whats a skinny middleaged white woman doing in the middle of watts with event of the community right . Its an honest question. I say this with all humility, that this is a communities that i belong to. And i belong to it not just an intellectual sense. I grew up in the westmont area of south first of all my grandparents immigrated from greece. They settled in South Los Angeles. My grandparents are all buried at inglewood cemetery. Every child in my child was born at sentinel hospital, and the adolescent i grew up in the westmont area. Even to this day my daughter who is here and shes sitting in the front row right here. She sort of been taken on the tour of where mom grew up. So part of it is i literally was born here. And i do remember the book opens with a scene where i am nine years old and were watching the watts riots a black and white tv. And michael cole was a history teacher at the time was explained to me that these were not riots. That these were about racism and economic dislocation to it wasnt even about Police Brutality, although there was plenty of that. It was about racism and that the Police Brutality was a symptom of that racism. Now, that is not the end of my store in watts. When i was working on my masters in social welfare at ucla ucla and all of their wisdom put me at a place called burbank Family Clinic in the valley where i was the darkest person there. And i was very rebellious and said no and they only had black students in watts and the land white students in burbank. And i said you were being racist. And so i got in trouble at ucla and theres a saying theres two tragedies in life. Wanting something and give me. And ucla decided they would give me what i wanted and they said okay you will put you in a year for a field placement at Martin Luther king, jr. Hospital. I think the father punishing me. I think its either going to shut me up. And what happened is i went as a very young, very green, very white msw student to Martin Luther king, jr. General hospital in 1978. Know, 1980. And it changed my life. And it changed my life for many reasons. I live in richmond. Ive rated the house with black. Not a Health Advocate a river i was a boarder border in the house with blackout because i believe in living in the community you serve. My great family went a little crazy when this happened, as you might imagine. Greek family. I fell in love with watts, with its strength the family, the people who were there. And later in my career i became engaged in studying the gang problem. That i did want to study it for my office at ucla. I wanted to study it in the community. But the way i believe you dont show up in the committee and to hide, im here to study gangs and i met a series of former gang members. One of them was a man who is not here today but the most people in the room know big mike. Michael cummings. And he was one of my guys guides. He and Andre Christian who will be here. I started to do communitybased research, and i got to know them them. And i think i stated in the book and ill say about. Com it was sort of like falling back in love with an old boyfriend, or an old girlfriend or whatever the case may be. And watts was just a place that matter to me in a profound way. So thats sort of the twisty path by which mike asked me to be the social worker. Ill be very candid with you. Cii has project fatherhood groups all over southern california. For jordan downs group is unique in several ways and one of the ways in which is unique is its the only group with a female coleader. Michael cummings and hundred and Willie Freeman to you will need in fact he becomes elementary. But thats how. Ordinarily it wouldnt happen. And i do say it with deep humility and its my deep privilege to belong to these men into this community. So so we have our cover person this is the gentleman whose wonderful face adorns the cover of the book along with his son. Because it was very important we didnt just want a standard cover. We wanted someone from our group. And by the way ever many photographs taken of many of the folk in that group. I wouldve probably had all of them on the cover or all of them in the book but my publisher made a decision about who they would put on the cover. And so congratulations mr. America. You are the cover. Weve been talking a little bit about project fatherhood im going to let you catch your breath. I will take one more question and then i will call you a. Because willie elementary freeman, but as we call them he is very integral to this book an integral to the story like the men featured meeting. And he has certainly been a teacher to me that im going to happen come up i want him to catch his breath first and want to ask who else has a question . Thank you. Quick question about the funding aspect of the it sounds like the group was organic and is already in progress and then funding was introduced at what was the funding for and to what extent did he change the group . This is a great question. So the group was organic but money ultimately came from Childrens Institute. And partial snippet and they have a federal grant. And they had a for your federal grant to fund all these different projects throughout southern california. So the money came from the federal government, im going to go on the record right now. Not just for watts but across all the project fatherhood programs. Its not nearly enough. Its not nearly enough money. Its enough money to pay a stipend to the leaders. Its enough money so that we can provide gift cards to the fathers for activities with her children, but it is run on a shoestring. There is not enough money in this program, and these are not words. I live by this. I cant believe, big mike has arrived come to i didnt think would be here. So the money can minimal amount of money has come from the federal government. However, no pun intended to im putting my money where my mouth is because all of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to project fatherhood. And by the way, the grant runs out in october and there is no assurance that this grant will be renewed. So we are really in kind of a crunch time more than anything. Any other questions before im going to introduce a couple of folks who are critical that they take the mic to any other questions . Okay. What percentage of what was the percentage of fatherless children, children without fathers that were in prison or whatnot, when the project first started . And where is it today . How many children in jordan downs have fathers who are not with them for various reasons speak with ive been working with a couple of colleagues and ucla that have literally gone through both jordan downs, the jordan Downs Development as well as Nickerson Gardens and the imperial court, which are the two other developments at and then watts is not just a housing developer. Its surrounding community. And their estimate, this is their research is about to have done is over the past two years. And over the past two years from 2013 until 2015, twothirds of the children have fathers that are either in jail in prison or absent because of drug addiction. So is fully twothirds and is important to emphasize that it is jail and prison. Because nowadays in the state of california we have this movement where we are relocating a lot of folks are imprisoned back to the already overcrowded and brutal county jail. So i think its important to say that this is prison, this is jail. And then the other real scourge of watts which is drug addiction. It truly, truly is. And twothirds of up to twothirds of the children either way, black and brown had issued absentee fathers. Thats a great question. [inaudible] no, no. They want to take you. Thats why. Please forgive me. Whats the third Housing Project . Imperial court. And theres also hacienda spent i heard, used to work just across the street from jordan downs in southgate. Worked there for three years. Past there twice a big i heard a jordan downs is going to be torn down to is not is that a ruler or is that lack . That is at home of a rumor and effect. It is a fact that jordan downs is, an excellent question. And by the way, a really important question. Jordan sand is slated to be redeveloped. That is committed scheduled parts of it would be torn down and people would be relocated. So it wont just be completely demolished. They are already relocating the toxic soil. They determined that theres toxic soil from the factory that used to exist there. You know what that looks like. Heres the point where we have to push pause. Will there be money to redevelop jordan downs . Theres lovely plans, lovely blueprints, all kinds of ideas all kinds of contractors. Big mike will talk later about Job Opportunities but the big question weve got to ask is is that going to impact the federal funding to rebuild jordan downs . This is a big question. Because its going to take a lot of money. On the other hand, it desperately needs to be rebuilt. Okay. I am if its okay im going to introduce to people that have recently arrived and im going to first introduce a the man who brought me onto the scene elder Michael Cummings can big mike. I also wanted to share some time with willie elementary freeman. Fma can the microphone and what everybody on the microphone because this is being filmed otherwise i hate them. I wouldnt be using them. So the man, i who is one of the reasons we are all here together to whom i am personally so grateful, elder Michael Cummings. Good evening, everybody. Elder Michael Cummings. First give honor to god because if it wasnt for them i dont know where i would be. Just thank god for project fatherhood your when this first started it started as some young men coming together behind the Jordan High School gym which was elementary. Myself Andre Christian scorpio scorpio, already johnny believe it used to come because every second set and we put our money together to do a bbq, unit at the time people would come out to eat at a time when people came out and even if you think it was a time to get the message across about being a father, about peace in the committee come about trying to get some jobs. And then johnny bailey, which overturned a relationship from Housing Authority, and he had bought this grant from the Childrens Institute what was a 50,000 grant, just a Pilot Program. And a lot of people said it wouldnt work, not in the Housing Projects. So we applied for the grant. We actually got the grant. That was like five years later. We have extended the now. A Pilot Program would off so well in the young men came out to what extent of the program for the next three years at 100,000 a year and then they went on from there to another you. Thats where we at now. They want to talk a little bit about jobs . All coming up. When you talk about jobs and also you talk about the development of the jordan down Housing Project. Actually 750 million deal. 759 deal so the fathers was like hey can we get some of those jobs . So project fatherhood went to Maxine WatersEducational Center that is in watts and it have a program called we built which is the construction program. Then went and got the guys certified as a journeyman, apprenticeships to do construction. And turned around to the young men said hey, lets meet with the developer. They met with the developer and the second with a golden we wanted 30 of these jobs. So we want 10 hardware. If you was coming out of prison he was able to work. 10 for the ones that actually live in jordan down and 10 to live on the outskirts. Right now we have those jobs in writing. 30 for the fathers are also Jordan High School was doing a development there, redevelopment, redeveloping Jordan High School with 75 million do. So we got in touch with them. One of the biggest construction companys in the country and they can get and sat with us and told us we will hire the young men as long as they are certified. His daughter who are in the back row there sort of hiding but im calling them out. Okay. And they help rin a childrens run a childrens group and other groups we have going on at the same time. Whoever takes care of their kid. That group goes on at the same time. We have a childrens group that my wife and my daughter run with all the kids there and they do different activities and different things. Pretty much i can tell you exactly what they do. They can do a lot of arts and crafts. Yall help me in job applications. I dont know. Taking him where . Sky zone to get out. We usually have a beach trip. All the fathers get out there. We have been to magic mountain. Water world trips and things like that. Can you give us an example of your biggest Success Stories among young parttime who have participanted in one of the success is bill henry. He has been there since the project started. But before the two girls he had a done before that that the mother of the son wouldnt let him see him. He didnt know if he had rights. Thats what i call her a master social worker. Actually went through the channels to give them visitation rights. He had two daughters in high school. They got into a fistfight with each other. He was so mad and he want today whip them, beat them up. What he did he brought them to fatherhood. They were to settle the situation and the situation is settled today and graduated from high school and both of the daughters is working both of the daughters are working. Some of the major gains that have occurred have had to do with education. It is a critical goal of project fatherhood to keep the youth in school to see that they graduate, give them the help that they need to go to college. High school is not the ending. That has been a major goal for us and continues to be a tboal for goal for us. Im going to turn it over to another father who is on the cover with one of his children. I also want to say before i turn the microphone over that working and being a provider is critical for all of these fathers. They take great pride in want to go raise their children, not on the county but on their own earnings. These guys have gone and thats not to say there are enough jobs out there. We have men who want to work but during the five years of this group the unemployment has bounced around 50 to 55 . Its not that these men dont want to work but the jobs are not there. I am not so interested in Parenting Classes. We need Parenting Classes but what we need more is industry and i would love someone would locate a factory so people could have paying jobs. Im going to introduce one of the fathers to talk much more of being on the cover, he is someone that i admire and is an important part of this group. And also what guides you as part of this group. Good evening everybody. Okay. Willy freeman. Ive been the youngest. Ive hanged out with the older cats. Its an outlet for brothers. We got together, you know, to do something positive in the neighborhood, you know. We go in there and we talk, having a conversation, you know what i mean. Anything except sports. Babies are filling out the graveyard. We talk sometimes and conversations get heated. We go to fussing, but its a lot of love. A few days, a week or so ago. A young girl hung we have a little thing we call checkins. The room went quiet like wow. Next question is how can we prevent that from happening again. What can we do to save our babies. They are so distraught they want to take their own lives. Everybody has ideas and we want to get out and looking at our babies and figuring out their body language and how they act go give them a hug. Some people go throughout life without getting a hug or being told i love you. Its a beautiful thing. Its a beautiful thing. I wouldnt trade project fatherhood for nothing in the world, for real. Oh yeah. We do this once a month we would pas out fliers in the neighborhood, split them up in groups and we tell them our stories, you know, what i mean. Dont be like me, be better than me. Mainly we advocate education you know, what i mean lack of education as long as economic no money, no knowledge youre upset. Mother and father are violence. If i cant feed my baby, im mad. If i dont know how to direct that anger anybody is a victim. Anybody is a victim. Im going to try to feed mickeyed no matter what. Thats just the law of nature. And the kids, they they come and they listen and we have their attention and they respect us. They respect us for it. We ask yall, why do we do this. They tell us, yall love us. Like i said i wouldnt trade it for nothing in the world. Who has questions for these remarkable men . Okay. Whos got a question . The question about how your groups divide is that by request or they saw a need or yall are growing to fulfill the needs . The mics, its recorded. [laughs] we have one sister doing it she didnt have the energy, you know what i mean to understand it, you know what i mean, what to do. Right them right there mike has a beautiful wife, beautiful family. Theyve got good projects, so creative. Its like wow you know thats wow. It takes a village to raise a child. We had Something Else doing the kids at first but you know, my wife and my daughter come in specially my daughter because i want her to deal with the kids and to able to teach and understand some of the things, because shes an a student. I take that back, an a plus student. What i wanted to do is give her a chance to help other kids to make sure the kids can understand the same thing she can. Also working with Jordan High School as mentor, peace resolution. Through the years when she was younger, fifth grade sixth grade, i used to take her to Jordan High School, i tell the kids if she can beat them in doing the work, if they beat her i would give them gift cards and stuff. What we want to do is educate them because that is the future of tomorrow. We wanted to make sure that youre talking about collaboration, we wanted to collaborate. If he was talking to just the kid, we have to make sure that we could talk to the mother, the brother, the sister. We want to impact everybody thats in the house. Thats how project fatherhood is set up. We dont want to pour into the father and not the mother and daughter. We want to make sure everybody is on the same page. On wednesday we got everybody in there and make sure that everybody can be educated or everybody can get a good job. The main thing is that we have these young men tools. We got people to raise money to get them tools, hard hats and vests. So just like prepare dinner plate. We put some starch, corn, fork, spoon, napkin and you can sit down and eat. We want to make sure that we can give them all the tools they need to make it. Yall talk about the importance of education. What things need to change to allow the kids you work with more successful . Microphone. The importance, they need to be stressed a lot more than what it is, specially African American community. Education needs to be stressed very more. The environment has to do with it. If you grow up around doctors and lawyers and engineers in the community, thats basically what well be, you know, but if you have drug dealers thats what we would be. I was interested in being h i want to be like him. We got to be more, we got to be more mindful that how you do is maybe how another child may do so influence better influence. This is somebody that im going to introduce later. Hello. Him and his twin brother ronald have been key members of the group. Hello everybody one of the surprising accomplishments that we have with the youth is the is the relationship that we have with the schools. We have several schools within the neighborhood. Were able to go to schools and interact with the kids and go to the classrooms and sit down with them and find out what theyre doing and go to the games. We have a coach mack. A couple of coaches football coach, basketball coach and we interact with the kids in the schools. I had a son who went to jordan who was mvp of football that now in college hes not in college at the moment, he made a mistake, well not a mistake but had a baby. Hes out there taking care of the baby. That was one of the key relationships with the kids is going to the schools and interacting with them and being part of their lives as well as in schools as well as in fatherhood. When we talk about school and making education better, one thing school, i graduated in Jordan High School in 1981. One thing i see when we talk about College Ready all kids are not going to college. We had a mechanic shop, body shop we had arts and craft, woodshop and we dont have that no more. A lot of people feel that high school is not for them because they are not going to college. I dont want to go to college. We have people that take a mercedes and tear it down and put it back together again. We have kids that can take a watch and put it back together again. All kids are not going to college. Some of the them want to go to the work field. We need to prepare them for that. Thats what the next fight should be to get vocationals in there for kids that want to do body and paint. I watch a will the of the a will the of the things. You get 2 3 million for that car. How can we prepare them for this business . When they come out of high school we cant prepare for that. We have to make sure we focus on the kids and what they can do before we go sideways. And by the way big mike is describing also. We are seeing consequences of the passage of proposition 13. I do want to point out theres a movement to resend part of that, not part of property taxes but on commercial property taxes. Im not going to go there. My real interest is when you talk about these young people who have all this talent and ive seen them all over the country, what about amen torring we know jobs have been sent over countries for cheap labor. I watch some of those shows. Has anyone watched the shows and made an attempt to contact them to see if young people can be sent in there as interns or some folks would come to work with the people. I dont think were being aggressive enough and assertive enough in a positive way. Make contact, make contact with those people who have the resources because they are resource hitch and start making the connections so that they can be mentors to our young people. I think thats succeedingly important. I agree, a you look at these fathers, every single one of these fathers is also working and i think anyone of them would like to be supported finally. I think they would like to do this fulltime. Big mike is running a tow truck company. Kfc you work with autos. What were you going to say . Going back to the question that you asked through project fatherhood we have developed a group called People Living safe, and i am a a low car low like i said, i have a proposal and i have various people that im reaching out to at this present time to bring that precise thing to this community where as you can help to build a car. The whole object to learn how to build a car. Its like providing a job for for the youth. Its like i have people that are willing to donate automobiles right now. I have people that know how to work on 18wheelers automechanic that are willing to help the men to build cars, maintain cars and in the program in which im working to establish right now is were going to give the people incentives. We were try toing to provide jobs. One of the incentives is well help you to build a car once you build a car everybody in the group that helps to build the car then the person who most needs the automobile would get to keep it. See, that program that you speak of right now is something that i from projecthood represented People Living safe are pushing right now to do for the youth of our community. And i think weve also got to look at other Funding Sources because South Los Angeles is an interesting place. Everybody acts like everybody part of South Los Angeles is ie den i i recently you feel they published a study about willowbrook and thats really important because you come to a place of where we are right now theres all types of organizations here. You have grassroot organizations like mics and kfc and they barely survive. Its a nondesert. One is to educate people. South los angeles is not one big community. It is multiple communities each with a culture and organizational structure on their own and we have to understand that, we have to. People who have those organizations, what they want to do is actually come out and do a presentation. Thats pretty much it. If we want to be successful with these kids we need someone to come out with a Pilot Program for years. Maybe 24 months. Its going to fail. Theres really no time for the kid to actually latch onto what is going on. Project fatherhood is so successful. We are just now seeing the fruits and seeing what fatherhood is all about. And that discourages our kids. When they first start this thing, itll be past this elementary, they take the funding after 14 months, after 12 months. We had a Reentry Program that was for deputy chief kenny gardner. He actually put this program in motion and it was working but he had a massive heart attack and he died. Six months later the program went away. He was able to get transportation to the Parole Office even to go on job interview, even to fill out a job application. It was working. Guess what . It went away. We are gas roots. So theyre looking at us. You said this program was going to be here. If nobody cant commit to a fiveyear program its kind of like dangling a piece of cheese in front of the rat. Once he get that theyre not going to put more out there. By the way when we started this many of the fathers said, are you going to stay, are you going to be here or is it going to be 12 months and out and you know what, that was a legitimate question. Everybody loved the program. Jimmy carter was defeated. Ronald reagan was elected and we wont go there. Sorry if you voted for ronald reagan, i will check your pulse to make sure youre not in a coma. Kathy has the homeboy industry tshirt. Homeboy industries is wonderful. There should be one in every corner. It is wonderful. There should be one everywhere. We need to demand it. I want to add in these men learned to be at hearings, made presentation at town halls. Theyre not just there in the community, theyre also speaking for the community. Now i want to take a minute to introduce two people. One of them says hes not going to speak. See,i always know we can get them worked up. They are twins even though they dont look a like. Youre identical. [inaudible conversations] just like him. No, no. Im not going to give everything away. You have to read the book. Let me tell you, i used to go home from project fatherhood and i would wake up at 3 00 in the morning and think what am i going to do with the twins they dont like me, what is going to happen. [laughs] so im going to let them speak for themselves, but im greek, a few gray hairs i have these gentlemen gave them to me at times. We didnt all go, i love you so much. Let met tell you. They gave as good as they got. And still do and we had heated discussions but i love them, i love them. I have both of them on speed dial. I had a stroke five years february. My brother had just got out. It was a tia stroke. It left me kind of speechless and i be forgetting. I forget i was in here. This was baby boy. He was 3 days old. I got shot twice in the same leg and one with a. 45. Thats for being in the streets. His birthday, thats the reason you have envelopes in the seats. Im kind of hungry right now. If anybody besides buying a book can pitch anything, we are going to have him walk around with it and thank yall whatever you can do, a dollar is okay with me. Thats why the envelope is in there. I appreciate everybody coming out. I appreciate all of yall from the bottom of my heart. Im going to give this to my brother and let him blow yalls mind. Yesterday in jordan we had our annual fathers day luncheon. They give awards to each other most disruptive in the group best singer all kinds of award most likely to be late. However, they give the father of the year award and yesterday ronald won the father of the year award so it was really an honor. And by the way, when you say it takes a village, ill tell you baby boy whose real name is shahan james but we do call him baby boy. He has been raised by the group. Ronald is one of the residents of jordan do you understand who downs who is a leader of the community. He talked about his brother getting out. I want to caution you this is not a briefly stay. Donald i would like you to share your story. Also donald is going to sing a song to you. Donald, there you go. Youre on. Yes, my name is donald james. I have a stays name what is called donald twin james. I went to prison a couple of days ago. Actually i did 32 years in prison. I didnt go to the county jail and get out or go to prison for a year or two. I went to prison for taking someones life regrettably. While in prison i was able to associate with people from overseas producers directors they put on an International Talent show and the play was the late Samuel Becker and i was chosen to perform vladimir. That play was featured in 36 countries. Even today they are coming back to finish a documentary of my life pertain to go my play. When i got out, i had the joy of getting custody of my nephew who is my son today. I just got through speaking about him a little earlier. It was a joy but in the process i was having problems because i had never raised no child or anything like that. Going to prison so young, i didnt know anything about kids. I had my nephew come to me and asked me to take custody of him because the circumstances, at the time he didnt want to be there. I ended up something some real problems with him being a father to him and so thats how i became involved with project fatherhood. It walked me through the steps and helped me out a lot. Right now we are are best of friends. Its all a blessing. Like i said, i went to prison, i did something wrong i took someones life. It wasnt a joy of doing that. I learned my lesson. I came out with the best of understanding. I went in there hating everything and came out loving everything. One of the two of the things that i did that got me back to society when i got out was that i went into a baby what we see is what i see right now a group of people talking and getting along. These were babies, all i could hear was, wa wa, wa. [laughs] it was a completely different place. In prison it wasnt one voice it wasnt even one nothing. Everybody was against each other. The other place that i went to was supermarket. I went food for less. Biting on them. You know a joy to be around different things, you know. It made my life complete. It made me forget about prison, you know. I know what ive been through what i left, it was just a joy to be home. In doing that time, i ended up in a come of bands groups and stuff. I also did a little singing and acting and stuff when i was on the streets. I had went to do a movie with jessica laine. I was an actor african dancer. [laughs] the uniform that they gave us i wasnt feeling it. I got to say you want to make 100 a day. You have to go to hollywood and be an african, you can take my spot. He went down. He didnt like it either but he went to finish it up. They had uniforms. It was a mess. Like women say a hot mess. Thats what that was a hot mes. The song that i want to sing is a song from a po eem poem and the song is called cage and it goes like this. I was locked up by the forces but not shared by all. Surrounded by thoughts and ceilings that lies and false. The bounds of my desires is what surely, i read and acknowledge the true meanings of love. I was strapped in a cage. Cage. Cage. Because im cage. Now im like this animal whose lost his mate and its devastating because i dont know my faith. So my heart basis now it just wont stop. Discovering a true baby, i still cant set my love free. So i know that you are the key. Cage cage. Now im free and im loving it. Thank you very much. [applause] walk around [inaudible conversations] [laughs] im going to see who has more questions. Questions . Oh. Did a beautiful report and sat through a couple of Group Meetings and survived. I did i enjoyed it. Can you all talk about what youre doing because youre replicating what youve done in jordan downs. I dont know if its different. If they came to you they said to you hey let us help you out. Talk to us a little bit about that. Yeah, im going to turn it over to big mike. We have gone over to nickerson garden. Told us when you take project fatherhood you have to form it for the you have to tweak it, turn it, shape it for the community and even though nickerson garden is less than a mile away, its a different community. Were just at a very beginning level there, so its quite challenging. Yes, project fatherhood started in Nickerson Gardens from two young beings. They are peacemakers mentors and advocators and they want to replicate what we were doing. I think this is going on the second month. Actually its a second month and dr. Leap is the master social worker over there. Its not a funded program. These young men wanted to get together and start it. I dont get paid. Im just there to show them how to facilitate. Once they know how to facilitate they will be taking over the group. They have about maybe 2530 guys already. We neat every friday from 5 006 30 and these young men went past they wanted to go out in the community to get more fathers and actually start peacekeeping events. They want today wanted to get out and Start Playing softball. The first they wanted is to play softball with our joes tosca th toscano. I think its going to be a historical group. If they can get any funding for it, but even if they dont get no funding for it, i think theyre going to continue this group as they are doing right now. Let me tell you you have young men, old men middleaged men everybody is coming to see what is going on. You know how it is. Some of them leave and some of them stay but they have about 2530 strong that come now every week and this is going to the second month. Thats a really difference from what we saw in jordan downs. Not a lot of the men came out and i was very frightened as to whether or not this was going to sort of Gain Momentum where the Nickerson Gardens they really had started with a young group. We built up, wouldnt you say mike . You have the twins here when we first started. They know a lot of people. They were born and raised in there. I was raised in the outskirts. The success from jordan downs fatherhood had spilled over there. All you have to do is keep it going. If you really want to see success in the community where we come from, we need a Pilot Program. And im talking five years at 5 million a year and i bet you after the fifth year fatherhood, they will need no help from nobody no where out. Its a plan that has been talked about. The fathers have different ideas but we need a chance, finances. We dont even have our own building we need our own building things like that. If you really want to see success. We need 5 million a year and i grantee you it will be a success. Question . [laughs] just quick, how many fathers how many are in the group at jordan downs . How many fathers in the group at jordans . Take the mic . On the roster 75. Every week we have anywhere from 30 to 32 thats there every week. Most of them have jobs. A lot of them do have jobs. A lot of them come close to the end, you know, with their work boots. Im hoping the ones that get job can still come in and im hoping to get new ones to get them jobs and get them going. One more question. Someone had one more question. [inaudible conversations] room for we have time for one more question. Okay. Good, okay, lindy. Give us another question. We are ready to talk. I am also going to say i think the question about Nickerson Gardens is very important. Just like i said about home boy a few moments ago, i need to call the attention that the majors office has developed 23 what they call grid zones. 23 of them. Theres no funding for fatherhood. None and i think that there needs to be funding. Im not saying that the majors office needs to provide the funding, but if we want safety to continue, if we want violence to be prevented this is what we have to invest in. We invest heavily in Law Enforcement but we need to invest just as heavily in peace enforcement. That was part of my question, the 25 million, 5 million for five years its a drop in the bucket as to what would you be spending in incarcerating. If the powers help fund this are aware of that and can help stimulate the money to flow in. Well, its go ahead mike. They spend, i think its 66 i think its 6600 for an inmate. No, no. 70,000 a year for inmate, and i think its 9,000 a year to go to school or Something Like that. If you decide to put somebody through harvard ucla. Thats right. Mike has been schooled. Ucla. [laughs] im just i think we can save a lot of lives just like elementary was saying, a lot of us have been shot, prison, gang activity, dope dealers dope users. That way you dont have to go through this. This is whats going to happen. Dont go you know, so i mean, if we could get that type of funding i believe that well be all right. You know, you have every father thats in the homeworking. Fatherhood is designed for the father to spend more time with the kids, not the mother, but the fathers to spend for time with them. Excuse me. Before we end this i would like to say to everybody thank you for coming and enjoying project fatherhood and are here to support dr. Lee. For all the fathers we want to express and she is truly a part of the family, when i say shes our sister mother best friend, this is her. On behalf of jordan downs project fatherhood this is our friend, mother and sister and we love her the dead and we would not let anything happen to her and that is what i have to say for jordan downs project fatherhood. Oh yeah, we thank you for having us here and yall come down here to get some books and specially this one right here. [applause] and and the formal part of our program, but you should each take some time and talk to the fathers oneonone. Thank you all. [applause] okay. Right up here in the front. [inaudible conversations] thank you. Hi. Im up for it. Youre watching book tv on cspan2. Book television, television for serious readers. Here is a look at some programs to watch for this weekend on book tv. Michael tanner talks about the growing national debt. Transformation of africa. History of first African Americans in the space program. For a complete Television Schedule visit booktv. Org. Television for serious readers