April 20, 2025 • 32 mins
This week, Latino USA shares episode 1 of Suave: Season 2.
Years have passed since Season One, and Suave is thriving. He’s got a great job. He’s on the news for his work on prison reform. He’s even got a new nickname on the block: Mr. Pulitzer. Suave is doing what he always dreamed of – and he’s making a real difference. It almost seems like “happily ever after.” Or is it?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
From Futuro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Marieno Rossa.
Today a preview of the first episode of season two
of our Bulletzer Prize winning podcast Suave. Well, Dear listener,
(00:29):
it's been seven years since the release of David Luis
Suave Gonzalez from a maximum security prison. Suave had been
sentenced to life without parole as a teenager. But you
might remember we were there when Suave finally walked out
of prison seven years ago. Now, Suave is navigating life
(00:52):
as a freeman and dealing with all of the feelings
and pressure that comes with it, because starting over is
complic and on the outside, life can come at you
dangerously fast. This season, we're gonna go deep into Suaves's
quest to define what freedom really means for him. Rieta
(01:13):
Martinelli is the host of Suavest season two, and she's
gonna guide us through this journey. And just a warning,
dear listener, this episode contained some strong language.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I'm not a pussy. I'm not a pussy at all.
What makes you think you could try me? And I'm
not going to react because if I get tugger, somebody's
going to get hurt. Not fake hurt, real hurt.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
This is the voice of a man who's found himself
at the end of his rope, a man who survived
more than thirty years in a max security prison, got out,
became successful, built what many would consider is a dream life,
and now seven years later, was risking it all.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So I guess I don't go ejail down? Yeah, Pope
to Teddy bed. Now that you got the grizzly bed,
I'm gonna fuck with me. That's how it's gonna go down.
It's on site. It's not gonna be let's talk outside.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
It's on site.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, I don't know where we're at. It's gonna be
on site. That's the do y'all wanted, y'all know.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And the reason the reason, as the gliic goes, is
that you can leave prison, but prison never really leaves you.
But before we get there, let's start with happier times.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, come on, we're gonna get a picture.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
We're standing outside Columbia University's historic Low Library in New
York City. It's October twentieth, twenty twenty two, and spirits
are high. Most of the team behind the Swave podcast
is here, including journalists Marie no Josa, what's up?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
What's up?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And Swave, a man who for a long time never
imagined that he would ever leave a prison cell, let
alone be here at the ceremony for the Pulitzer Price.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'm walking in and I'm looking, and I'm looking all
these expenses, so I only paid like ninety dollars for
my suit.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
We walk up the iconic Columbia Steps, through the doors,
past statues of Zeus and Apollo.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
It feels like standing in a Greek temple.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
None of the other journalists here invited their sources to
the ceremony. In a sea of black boat ties, Swabe
is rocking this bright blood red tie.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
One by one.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The winners are now stupid story. They called him swab
like the shampoo. But whatever. On stage, we hold hands
(04:29):
and Swave it holds the award. Swave decides immediately he's
going to be the one to keep it.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
After dinner, there's a reception.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
There's lots of very polite mingling happening over wine. Pretty boring,
to be honest, So we sneak off outside for some
fun of our own. Right on the Columbia Steps, we
sip on our drinks maybe even a little joint gets sparked.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
We go out with side and in my head, I'm thinking,
tonight it's the night that I realized I'm free. I'm
really free. It was like one of the movies that
I watch in prison that you know is a sad movie.
But at the end, you know, when they sit like
(05:20):
in the steps and they see the sunlight, you know,
it's like something magical is gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
In this moment, everything is perfect. A man who was
in prison for more than thirty years just won the
highest award in journalism.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
That was the night that mister Pulitzer was born.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Y'all know what it is.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Yeah, this is your man, Swab.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I'm just chilling it. A tough man ready to
take a shot of bad.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
But I just want to introduce you man.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Yo.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
This is the Adventures of Swave Gonzales and his full
of shir.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So, yeah, I'm going to with my pullus.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I'm going to give my Pullaser shower because you know,
we got to stay clean, man. You know, we just
can't be too in the world.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Mister Pulleitzer living his best life. It's happily ever after.
Right from Futuro Studios. This is Suave. I'm Julie de Martinelli.
(06:37):
In twenty seventeen, David Luis Swave Gonzales was released from
prison after thirty one years serving a life sentence without parole.
He was one of thousands of juvenile life first granted
a second chance at life. This is a story about
life after incarceration and the search for the true meaning
of freedom. This is season two, Maria.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
How are you.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Oh my god, Julieta, I am great. I mean yeah,
season two. We're here.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Yeah, we're back. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I think maybe we should introduce ourselves, right.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Yes, of course.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
So you are legendary journalists marieo Josa, the host of
Latino USA and the founder of Futura Media.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Okay, well, legendary is a big word. But in this case,
because I'm actually part of this story, I'm not going
to be doing the job of hosting. That is going
to be done by the host of Suavest season two,
and that is you, Julieta Martinelli.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
Yeah. Hi, So I'm Julieta.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I've been covering criminal justice pretty much all of my career,
and I'm actually the co producer of season one of suaves.
So I was always there in the background, reporting and
writing for the show. And you might have even heard
me here and there in that season, most notably on
episode six while running down the street, Like running.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
Threw me off. Well, clearly he lives at that house,
and we should hire the fuck.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Up and get out of here.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, it's like, get out of there as fast as possible.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Yeah, And you know, I applied for the job to
work on season one because the prison system has always
been really real for me, right, It's always been a
part of my life. I grew up around a lot
of people that were affected by the car Sooro system,
and you know, one of the first memories I have
is of my dad being accused of a crime and
(08:36):
my mom wanting to separate us from all of that
and bringing us to the US.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
And here I was undocumented.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I grew up in a community around a lot of
undocumented people, so heavy police presence. You know, I've seen
a lot of people lose their freedom, and I think
that really taught me that people are very complex. People
can be good and do bad things. And I don't
think that we're always telling the story about those gray areas, right,
(09:03):
And so the story we're telling the season. It's a
little different from last time. It's about the long shadow
of prison, about the challenges that no one warns you
about when you get out, and about how after spending
the majority of his life locked up, freedom for Suave
(09:24):
has not been everything he imagined it would be.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Now, for those of you out there who are new
to the show, in season one, which by the way,
you should really go listen to right now, but in
season one, we told the story of Luis Suave Gonzalez.
Now I met him decades ago in a maximum security
prison in Pennsylvania. Suave at that time, he was convicted
(09:49):
of verter as a teenager. He was sentenced to life
without parole. And after we met that day, well, I
mean essentially we stayed in touch over the years and
we developed, you know, a relationship, right, some people might
even say it was a friendship. But then what ends
up happening is that laws changed because of the Supreme Court,
(10:13):
and Suave now had a chance to get out of prison,
and so we documented his release and we followed the
ups and downs of his journey to the outside. All
of that is in season one.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
So you know, Maria, when season one ended in twenty
twenty one. Save was focused on starting his new life
in Philadelphia, and I think we could have stopped documenting there.
I mean, we definitely thought about it.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right right, he's out of prison, I mean, end of story.
We tracked it all as the time passed. You know,
It's just so natural for me to record everything. So
even after the podcast dropped, I'm still recording. And that's
when I realized, hold on a second, like this story
is not over at all. In many ways, I was like,
(11:04):
we're just scratching the surface. And so basically we just
kept documenting everything that was happening in Swabi's life, and
there was a lot happening.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Early on in reporting, I asked Swavit what he thought
this season.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Should be about.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But as I've been thinking about writing season two, in
season one, we ended with you really wanting like some stability,
wanting to get a stable job, like a relationship. That's
kind of where you were when we ended. I see
you laughing, and it's killery where you going. So my
question is, if I use this tape here in the
(11:42):
episode one, what a swather want to achieve in season?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
In life listed season one, I was living life I
wasn't having fun. I was fucking boring.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I was.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I wouldn't say stress, but I was out of touch
with my community, if you want to call it that.
I'm living in the hood, but I was out of touch.
I chose to do that. Now it's like, fuck, I'm gone.
Who has some fun? And I know that it can
lead to destruction ways I know that, right and I'm
(12:24):
trying not to, you know, cross that destructive path. But
I'm having fun on all levels. I'm having fun. So
with season two, I'm hoping that people get it. Man, Like,
we're human beings. We've just been denied certain things because
of our incarceration. I'm human being. I'm only thirty right now.
(12:47):
I came home when I was twenty one, you know.
I mean, I'm looking at it in them turns right now.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We are going to get to that destructive path that
occurred later on in season two, But first cour the
truth is Save is having.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Fun, especially after the Pulitzer. I mean, things really just
took off.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I've been awarded like three different awards. Well, there's been
a couple of new stories.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
My local man is doing what he can to save
our streets. He spent decades behind bars.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Sean Att Wilson introduces us to this inspiring man.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I was given a second chance for a reason making music.
Making music. That's something that I'm doing, you know, he
went on me, Man, I'm like a William inside of
my I was Maily, your child and making decisions thirty
one years I was locked in a prison, started my
own truth Prime True Story, episodes of podcasts with different people.
(13:52):
As a Lieutenant governor, what is your position on juvenile
life is coming home and being on parole for life?
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think that the the juvenile life for.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Decision is the live podcast recordings are a big success.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It was pack house, really, I'm talking about we had
to turn people away, damn.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
And he's drawing the attention of some very important people.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
It's no boost about it. It's like the City Service
showed up.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
They did a round up of the building. You know,
they checked the whole building.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Asked Biden come in.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Ashley Biden as in that Biden the former president's daughter.
She lives in Philadelphia and has been an outspoken supporter
of criminal justice reform. Okay, and she.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Is right, I want to work with you. I'm like, sure,
why not?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And is looking at each other like really happening.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
So that's where we are today.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
You could say that it's a new day for Suave,
but really it's a whole new life. You know.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Mister Pulitzer is killing it.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I remember when you told me that he was mister Pulitzer,
and I was like, oh my god, because it's like
he's really embodying this entirely new alter ego and it's
like a thing to witness.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Yeah, and maybe it's fed into his tendency that he
already has to be a little bit of a diva
for lack of a better.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Word, just a little bit of a diva.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So Joey Deville, a younger friend of Suave that he mentors,
he told us a story about one of those moments
that Suave had at a restaurant where they were eating.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
You throw a lot of tantrums.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I do why y'all got this on a menu?
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Young because he was like, I'm sorry, sir, that Berger's
got a stock.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
We don't have any more of that.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
You want to order something that, why would you have
it on the menu if you don't have it, Hey,
raise the menu, They're saying, there, pal Bro, we had
to order you fooyah, I don't want it, and then
you started eating it because you was hungry as shit, diva.
But I thought you to know this is it Dan, motherfucker.
If a white man come in to here, would a
grammy of wall and tell you that chief state it
(16:03):
is not right? Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So we're gonna make it right for you.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
So what you're saying is like, if if a white
man comes in and like doesn't like what he's being served,
nobody's gonna call him a diva for a complaint.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
They're not.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
They're not.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
But my old people were like, you acting diva?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Man?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You acting extra.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
I was there, you were extra. You were actual with
a sid with a side of cheese, extra with a
side of cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well you're comical.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Because it's really you.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
You don't even be kind of be funny.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
This really be you.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I couldn't wait to ask mister Pulletzer himself about all
of this later. So when you're walking down the streets
of Philly, do you like it when people call you
mister Pullitzer or do you feel like, oh my god,
here we go again, Like I just.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Know you know that ship plays in my eagles.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I was like, guess you love it.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I do.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I love it. Listen, I ain't gonna lie. And you
know the young people pretend to have this swag with it.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Yeah, my old.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Here's got a bullish that's bigger than a Grammy. It's
bigger than jac And be honest, I was.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Like, whoa.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
That was like, you should collaborate with Kendrid to morn Yeah,
both got a pullaster.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I was like, Hey, the truth is is that we
have talked about this right, Like, you have to have
an ego.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I do. I have a big ego. Yeah. I could
say that now because I'm more comfortable with it. I
remember I had a conversation with Julia da about a
year ago and we was talking about, dang, everything good
to happen always end up with some bad shit. I
always feel guilty about it. And Julia told me, man, man, listen,
you have the rite to be happy. I'm like, you
(17:39):
know what, I'm gonna celebrate this. It could be twenty
years from now. You can't take that away. I don't
care if it's twenty years thirty years. We want. If
I could inspire other young people to believe that they
could do the same, why not.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
One day in November, Marie and I come down to
Philly to visit Suave. Suave is working with young people
as a support coach of I Am More. That's a
program for formerly incarcerated students at Community College of Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
You know, we're not talking about traditional students. We talk
about people that are still living in shelters. We talk
about people that are basically homeless coming to school. So
the school is a safe haven for them. They're coming
to school early because they don't want to be in
the streets.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Being here just a few minutes, it's clear that Swave
is that teacher, you know, the one. He's got dozens
of Jordan's and all the colorways. He rocks a fly
ass suit with a Yankees cap to work.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Being surrounded by younger people. They looking at me like
a father figure, they do.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
So today we are at Swabist School and we're really
trying to record a catch up interview with Swave.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
And yeah, yet the trying would be the key word,
because you know, he's a busy guy. Now, so students
are trickling in and out of his office all day.
Right now, they're like a dozen students. They're eating snacks,
they're having conversations. They're joking around. They're like, they're like
(19:49):
happy to be here in this office with Swave.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
You saying that you sing like Russia rights. We can't
be shot. Now what I'm just said, I.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Need a vacae, did he girl?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
I'll know what to do.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
I need a bey.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
So the thought that I am now a guest in
a class that Suave is teaching is truly mind blowing
because for years in one of my jobs as a
university and college professor, Suave would call in from prison
and that's how he would talk to my students. And
now here I am visiting a class that he's teaching.
I mean it's kind of incredible.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean, and now here you are in Philly,
sitting in his classroom and he's so excited for you
to meet his students.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I mean, it's just it's such a beautiful moment.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But before you can really get into this further with Suave,
his phone rings.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
So one of the biggest surprises for me on this
day is like this dude's phone is always blowing up.
I mean it's like non stop.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah, I mean, every fifteen minutes it just goes off.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeoh, I think it's every ten minutes we call from Pard,
an incarcerated individual at SCI Phoenix State Correctional Institution, and
a lot of the times it's friends. Well guys, we're
calling him from inside of prison.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I'm telling you, Bro, I'm telling you, Bro. I'm telling you, Bro,
you know how much ice cream you could sell out here. Bro,
you'd be rich selling ice cream out here versus being
jail house. I'm rich in the yard.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Soapa later tells me that one of his jobs when
he was in prison was actually working the ice cream
at commissary, which he may or may not have skimmed
the littles to sell on the side. And now his
friend Freddy has this old gig and.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
I'm gonna leave it that day. I ain't gonna preach it,
you know, Bro, Love you, Bro, And you better call
me again. Bro, you better call me soon.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
That's what you city.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I will.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Know a long time since I had heard the SCI
made rate one minute. It had been a long time
since I had heard that. You know how long it's
been since I have heard that.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Swe Nearly seven years out of prison, Suave is still
deeply involved with the prison system, maybe even more in
New and different ways than he ever was before.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Save is working at this re entry program at school right,
but on his off days, if he does happen to
have an off day, he's working with a group of
judges and he's juggling whatever he can from the outside
right to help the friends that he left behind who
are still on the inside.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I get phone calls every day, at least twenty thirty
phone calls a day from prison, and you know, guys
that've never seen a pullaser right calling me telling them
about man, you're representing all of us. This is a
win for all of us. And it is when I
get phone calls from politicians, you know, they want me
(23:21):
to go speak because they're trying to pass a bill
for life fers, and they think that I'm the poster child.
I'm like, at first, I used to get pissed off
because I'm not a poster child, But now I've realized that, like,
somebody has to be the voice, and this is what
it means being the voice for the voiceless. Bro, no
(23:45):
matter how much you try to run from it, you
are the voice for those that you left behind. And
I'm not running for an I'm embracing it. I'm embracing
it because I still got hope that them brothers and
sisters are going to come home one day.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
That night, November twentieth, twenty twenty three, we celebrate the
anniversary of suavest release from prison at Freddie and Tony's.
It's this little Puerto Rican joint in North Philly, the
neighborhood where Suave grew up. He has a virgin pinaco
laa mofongo, and a steakan Sevoyal.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And you know, it's like a really chill moment, and
it stands out because it's one of the very few
times that we don't pull out the recorder immediately. Now
we're just sitting there in the restaurant, eating delicious Puerto
Rican food, just kind of enjoying the moment and the mocktails.
But then, of course later we do turn on the
(24:48):
recorder and we get to talking about the big picture,
and suavit tells us that while on the outside everything
looks great, he's funny, he's bold, he's mister Pulitzer, but
that insight emotionally, that's actually not at all how he feels.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I just feel sometimes that being free is not what
everybody think it is. It's really not and it's not
really Everybody hype it up like you're free, you could
do whatever you want to do. It's all your pains
(25:31):
and misery are gone. That's bullshit, man. My miseries and
pains are just starting. Like seriously, I never had this
much misery and pain in my life. When I was
in prison, I didn't. I was shut out from the world.
You know, you cold shut everything down. And I'll hear
(25:57):
you can't do that because you got people looking for you,
got people that want they lean on you for their support,
for their comfort. I don't want to live up to
nobody expectations and none of that. You know, I'm done
with that. I am not happy. I'm glad I'm home.
(26:21):
I'm glad about that. But if you say describe happy,
I should be able to describe happy, and I can't.
I can't. I won't even know how to start to
describe happy, even with a pullaser. Even I can't describe
it because.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So In Mexico, there's the concept of like I let
you get that, you know, the big prison and the
little prison. The prisoners in the jail, they're in the
small prison, but the rest of us. We're living in
the big prison, the prison of you know, this whole
existential question about humanity, and and we've talked a lot
(27:02):
about it's not always going to be happy outside.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
You know. As much as I like to fake myself
out and think that I'm ready to for this life,
I wasn't ready. You know, I'm learning how to get
through it, but I wasn't ready. Nobody gave me a
crash course, like, this is what's gonna happen. You know,
you gotta pay bills, You're gonna confront this, You're gonna
be heartbroken, You're gonna have doubts about this. It's just hard,
(27:32):
you know. And and sometimes from the outside it looks
like I'm living a good life and now, but I'm
really now, you know, I'm just getting by.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
Swabe did the unthinkable.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
He beat a life sentence, but he's not yet free.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Coming up on this season of Swaveing.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Oh that's him right there.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, by shot.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Seven years out of prison, Swave is still looking for
a way home.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
What's going on for you?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's my first time here. I in forty five years
when I came out with another kid.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
He makes the trip of a lifetime.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I'm happy that I'm here sharing with my family because
I was in prison.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
This is history, but swavest relationships are tested.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I don't know how to deal with relationship. I dealt
with that relationship the same way I dealt with a cell.
Make mean you are not getting the loan, you gotta move.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
If I got to sell.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Then you start getting phone calls? What time you get
off from work?
Speaker 6 (28:45):
What are you doing?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Oh? I don't know. Mentally is like, I'm not ready for.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
This, and cracks start to form.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How is it that I became the mother figure in
your fucking life? Because that's not what I want to be.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
I don't know what you're trying to get it with this.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
People are like, oh, swave season one it's all about
you being friends. It's like, guess what it's not friends?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And how on the outside life can come at you
dangerously fast.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
With me, that's bun go down, that's the do what
my Mother's great.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I just don't want to see your backlos that, but like,
that's scariously fucking shit at me.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
That's coming up on season two of swave.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
My thanks to Julieta Martinelli for hosting this episode with
me and What you just heard is the first episode
of the Suavit podcast season two. It's a roller coaster
of an incredible story about the very long shadow of prison.
So I highly recommend you go and listen to it.
Wherever you get your podcasts, just find Suave the podcast
(30:04):
and if you want to listen to all of the
episodes of Suave, and I'm telling you I binged on
it right away, and if you want to do that,
ad free right now plus get exclusive bonus episodes like
Swave and Me getting deep about the challenges of making
this season or Suave getting into how he made music
(30:25):
in prison. Then you can sign up and join Futuro
Plus at Puturo Studios dot org. Suave season two is
produced by Julia Ta Martinelli with help from associate producer
Lileanadries and edited by Marlon Bishop. Dan ri Veos is
(30:48):
the post production producer. Our production managers are Jessica Ellis
and Nancy Trujillo. Our engineers are Stephanie Lebau and Julia Caruso.
Our fact checker is Amy Tar. Production help from Joaquin Coppler,
Juan Diego Ramirez, Nicole Rothwell, Joey dil Vaye, Eldo Alvarez,
Jrim Marquez and Tasha Sandoval. Our executive editors are Marlon Bishop,
(31:13):
Maria Garcia, Suave Gonzalez and myself. And now for our
weekly Latino USA show. Here the credits for the rest
of the team from Sana Guire, Felicia Dominguez, Fernanda Chavari,
Victoria Strada, Dominiquin, Estrosa Rinaldo, Leanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Rusado,
Luis Luna, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia, JJ Carubin and
(31:37):
Nour Saudi Penni, Lee Ramirez, Marlon Bishop, Maria Garcia and
I are co executive producers and I'm your host, Mariao Josa.
Join us again on our next episode. In the meantime,
I'll see you on all of our social media not
deva yas yest la proxima chiaou.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the Melon Foundation.
Melon makes grants to support the visionaries and communities that
unlock the power of the arts and humanities to help
connect us all more at Melon dot org. Public Welfare
Foundation catalyzing transformative approaches to justice that are community led, restorative,
(32:18):
and racially just and the Heising Simons Foundation Unlocking knowledge, opportunity,
and possibilities. More at hsfoundation dot org
From Futuro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Marieno Rossa.
Today a preview of the first episode of season two
of our Bulletzer Prize winning podcast Suave. Well, Dear listener,
(00:29):
it's been seven years since the release of David Luis
Suave Gonzalez from a maximum security prison. Suave had been
sentenced to life without parole as a teenager. But you
might remember we were there when Suave finally walked out
of prison seven years ago. Now, Suave is navigating life
(00:52):
as a freeman and dealing with all of the feelings
and pressure that comes with it, because starting over is
complic and on the outside, life can come at you
dangerously fast. This season, we're gonna go deep into Suaves's
quest to define what freedom really means for him. Rieta
(01:13):
Martinelli is the host of Suavest season two, and she's
gonna guide us through this journey. And just a warning,
dear listener, this episode contained some strong language.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I'm not a pussy. I'm not a pussy at all.
What makes you think you could try me? And I'm
not going to react because if I get tugger, somebody's
going to get hurt. Not fake hurt, real hurt.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
This is the voice of a man who's found himself
at the end of his rope, a man who survived
more than thirty years in a max security prison, got out,
became successful, built what many would consider is a dream life,
and now seven years later, was risking it all.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So I guess I don't go ejail down? Yeah, Pope
to Teddy bed. Now that you got the grizzly bed,
I'm gonna fuck with me. That's how it's gonna go down.
It's on site. It's not gonna be let's talk outside.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
It's on site.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, I don't know where we're at. It's gonna be
on site. That's the do y'all wanted, y'all know.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And the reason the reason, as the gliic goes, is
that you can leave prison, but prison never really leaves you.
But before we get there, let's start with happier times.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, come on, we're gonna get a picture.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
We're standing outside Columbia University's historic Low Library in New
York City. It's October twentieth, twenty twenty two, and spirits
are high. Most of the team behind the Swave podcast
is here, including journalists Marie no Josa, what's up?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
What's up?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And Swave, a man who for a long time never
imagined that he would ever leave a prison cell, let
alone be here at the ceremony for the Pulitzer Price.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'm walking in and I'm looking, and I'm looking all
these expenses, so I only paid like ninety dollars for
my suit.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
We walk up the iconic Columbia Steps, through the doors,
past statues of Zeus and Apollo.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
It feels like standing in a Greek temple.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
None of the other journalists here invited their sources to
the ceremony. In a sea of black boat ties, Swabe
is rocking this bright blood red tie.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
One by one.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The winners are now stupid story. They called him swab
like the shampoo. But whatever. On stage, we hold hands
(04:29):
and Swave it holds the award. Swave decides immediately he's
going to be the one to keep it.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
After dinner, there's a reception.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
There's lots of very polite mingling happening over wine. Pretty boring,
to be honest, So we sneak off outside for some
fun of our own. Right on the Columbia Steps, we
sip on our drinks maybe even a little joint gets sparked.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
We go out with side and in my head, I'm thinking,
tonight it's the night that I realized I'm free. I'm
really free. It was like one of the movies that
I watch in prison that you know is a sad movie.
But at the end, you know, when they sit like
(05:20):
in the steps and they see the sunlight, you know,
it's like something magical is gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
In this moment, everything is perfect. A man who was
in prison for more than thirty years just won the
highest award in journalism.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
That was the night that mister Pulitzer was born.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Y'all know what it is.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Yeah, this is your man, Swab.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I'm just chilling it. A tough man ready to
take a shot of bad.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
But I just want to introduce you man.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Yo.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
This is the Adventures of Swave Gonzales and his full
of shir.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So, yeah, I'm going to with my pullus.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I'm going to give my Pullaser shower because you know,
we got to stay clean, man. You know, we just
can't be too in the world.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Mister Pulleitzer living his best life. It's happily ever after.
Right from Futuro Studios. This is Suave. I'm Julie de Martinelli.
(06:37):
In twenty seventeen, David Luis Swave Gonzales was released from
prison after thirty one years serving a life sentence without parole.
He was one of thousands of juvenile life first granted
a second chance at life. This is a story about
life after incarceration and the search for the true meaning
of freedom. This is season two, Maria.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
How are you.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Oh my god, Julieta, I am great. I mean yeah,
season two. We're here.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Yeah, we're back. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I think maybe we should introduce ourselves, right.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Yes, of course.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
So you are legendary journalists marieo Josa, the host of
Latino USA and the founder of Futura Media.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Okay, well, legendary is a big word. But in this case,
because I'm actually part of this story, I'm not going
to be doing the job of hosting. That is going
to be done by the host of Suavest season two,
and that is you, Julieta Martinelli.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
Yeah. Hi, So I'm Julieta.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I've been covering criminal justice pretty much all of my career,
and I'm actually the co producer of season one of suaves.
So I was always there in the background, reporting and
writing for the show. And you might have even heard
me here and there in that season, most notably on
episode six while running down the street, Like running.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
Threw me off. Well, clearly he lives at that house,
and we should hire the fuck.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Up and get out of here.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, it's like, get out of there as fast as possible.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Yeah, And you know, I applied for the job to
work on season one because the prison system has always
been really real for me, right, It's always been a
part of my life. I grew up around a lot
of people that were affected by the car Sooro system,
and you know, one of the first memories I have
is of my dad being accused of a crime and
(08:36):
my mom wanting to separate us from all of that
and bringing us to the US.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
And here I was undocumented.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I grew up in a community around a lot of
undocumented people, so heavy police presence. You know, I've seen
a lot of people lose their freedom, and I think
that really taught me that people are very complex. People
can be good and do bad things. And I don't
think that we're always telling the story about those gray areas, right,
(09:03):
And so the story we're telling the season. It's a
little different from last time. It's about the long shadow
of prison, about the challenges that no one warns you
about when you get out, and about how after spending
the majority of his life locked up, freedom for Suave
(09:24):
has not been everything he imagined it would be.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Now, for those of you out there who are new
to the show, in season one, which by the way,
you should really go listen to right now, but in
season one, we told the story of Luis Suave Gonzalez.
Now I met him decades ago in a maximum security
prison in Pennsylvania. Suave at that time, he was convicted
(09:49):
of verter as a teenager. He was sentenced to life
without parole. And after we met that day, well, I
mean essentially we stayed in touch over the years and
we developed, you know, a relationship, right, some people might
even say it was a friendship. But then what ends
up happening is that laws changed because of the Supreme Court,
(10:13):
and Suave now had a chance to get out of prison,
and so we documented his release and we followed the
ups and downs of his journey to the outside. All
of that is in season one.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
So you know, Maria, when season one ended in twenty
twenty one. Save was focused on starting his new life
in Philadelphia, and I think we could have stopped documenting there.
I mean, we definitely thought about it.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right right, he's out of prison, I mean, end of story.
We tracked it all as the time passed. You know,
It's just so natural for me to record everything. So
even after the podcast dropped, I'm still recording. And that's
when I realized, hold on a second, like this story
is not over at all. In many ways, I was like,
(11:04):
we're just scratching the surface. And so basically we just
kept documenting everything that was happening in Swabi's life, and
there was a lot happening.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Early on in reporting, I asked Swavit what he thought
this season.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Should be about.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But as I've been thinking about writing season two, in
season one, we ended with you really wanting like some stability,
wanting to get a stable job, like a relationship. That's
kind of where you were when we ended. I see
you laughing, and it's killery where you going. So my
question is, if I use this tape here in the
(11:42):
episode one, what a swather want to achieve in season?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
In life listed season one, I was living life I
wasn't having fun. I was fucking boring.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I was.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I wouldn't say stress, but I was out of touch
with my community, if you want to call it that.
I'm living in the hood, but I was out of touch.
I chose to do that. Now it's like, fuck, I'm gone.
Who has some fun? And I know that it can
lead to destruction ways I know that, right and I'm
(12:24):
trying not to, you know, cross that destructive path. But
I'm having fun on all levels. I'm having fun. So
with season two, I'm hoping that people get it. Man, Like,
we're human beings. We've just been denied certain things because
of our incarceration. I'm human being. I'm only thirty right now.
(12:47):
I came home when I was twenty one, you know.
I mean, I'm looking at it in them turns right now.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We are going to get to that destructive path that
occurred later on in season two, But first cour the
truth is Save is having.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Fun, especially after the Pulitzer. I mean, things really just
took off.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I've been awarded like three different awards. Well, there's been
a couple of new stories.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
My local man is doing what he can to save
our streets. He spent decades behind bars.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Sean Att Wilson introduces us to this inspiring man.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I was given a second chance for a reason making music.
Making music. That's something that I'm doing, you know, he
went on me, Man, I'm like a William inside of
my I was Maily, your child and making decisions thirty
one years I was locked in a prison, started my
own truth Prime True Story, episodes of podcasts with different people.
(13:52):
As a Lieutenant governor, what is your position on juvenile
life is coming home and being on parole for life?
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think that the the juvenile life for.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Decision is the live podcast recordings are a big success.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It was pack house, really, I'm talking about we had
to turn people away, damn.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
And he's drawing the attention of some very important people.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
It's no boost about it. It's like the City Service
showed up.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
They did a round up of the building. You know,
they checked the whole building.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Asked Biden come in.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Ashley Biden as in that Biden the former president's daughter.
She lives in Philadelphia and has been an outspoken supporter
of criminal justice reform. Okay, and she.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Is right, I want to work with you. I'm like, sure,
why not?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And is looking at each other like really happening.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
So that's where we are today.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
You could say that it's a new day for Suave,
but really it's a whole new life. You know.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Mister Pulitzer is killing it.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I remember when you told me that he was mister Pulitzer,
and I was like, oh my god, because it's like
he's really embodying this entirely new alter ego and it's
like a thing to witness.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Yeah, and maybe it's fed into his tendency that he
already has to be a little bit of a diva
for lack of a better.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Word, just a little bit of a diva.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So Joey Deville, a younger friend of Suave that he mentors,
he told us a story about one of those moments
that Suave had at a restaurant where they were eating.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
You throw a lot of tantrums.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I do why y'all got this on a menu?
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Young because he was like, I'm sorry, sir, that Berger's
got a stock.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
We don't have any more of that.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
You want to order something that, why would you have
it on the menu if you don't have it, Hey,
raise the menu, They're saying, there, pal Bro, we had
to order you fooyah, I don't want it, and then
you started eating it because you was hungry as shit, diva.
But I thought you to know this is it Dan, motherfucker.
If a white man come in to here, would a
grammy of wall and tell you that chief state it
(16:03):
is not right? Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So we're gonna make it right for you.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
So what you're saying is like, if if a white
man comes in and like doesn't like what he's being served,
nobody's gonna call him a diva for a complaint.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
They're not.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
They're not.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
But my old people were like, you acting diva?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Man?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You acting extra.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
I was there, you were extra. You were actual with
a sid with a side of cheese, extra with a
side of cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well you're comical.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Because it's really you.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
You don't even be kind of be funny.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
This really be you.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I couldn't wait to ask mister Pulletzer himself about all
of this later. So when you're walking down the streets
of Philly, do you like it when people call you
mister Pullitzer or do you feel like, oh my god,
here we go again, Like I just.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Know you know that ship plays in my eagles.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I was like, guess you love it.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I do.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I love it. Listen, I ain't gonna lie. And you
know the young people pretend to have this swag with it.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Yeah, my old.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Here's got a bullish that's bigger than a Grammy. It's
bigger than jac And be honest, I was.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Like, whoa.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
That was like, you should collaborate with Kendrid to morn Yeah,
both got a pullaster.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I was like, Hey, the truth is is that we
have talked about this right, Like, you have to have
an ego.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I do. I have a big ego. Yeah. I could
say that now because I'm more comfortable with it. I
remember I had a conversation with Julia da about a
year ago and we was talking about, dang, everything good
to happen always end up with some bad shit. I
always feel guilty about it. And Julia told me, man, man, listen,
you have the rite to be happy. I'm like, you
(17:39):
know what, I'm gonna celebrate this. It could be twenty
years from now. You can't take that away. I don't
care if it's twenty years thirty years. We want. If
I could inspire other young people to believe that they
could do the same, why not.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
One day in November, Marie and I come down to
Philly to visit Suave. Suave is working with young people
as a support coach of I Am More. That's a
program for formerly incarcerated students at Community College of Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
You know, we're not talking about traditional students. We talk
about people that are still living in shelters. We talk
about people that are basically homeless coming to school. So
the school is a safe haven for them. They're coming
to school early because they don't want to be in
the streets.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Being here just a few minutes, it's clear that Swave
is that teacher, you know, the one. He's got dozens
of Jordan's and all the colorways. He rocks a fly
ass suit with a Yankees cap to work.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Being surrounded by younger people. They looking at me like
a father figure, they do.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
So today we are at Swabist School and we're really
trying to record a catch up interview with Swave.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
And yeah, yet the trying would be the key word,
because you know, he's a busy guy. Now, so students
are trickling in and out of his office all day.
Right now, they're like a dozen students. They're eating snacks,
they're having conversations. They're joking around. They're like, they're like
(19:49):
happy to be here in this office with Swave.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
You saying that you sing like Russia rights. We can't
be shot. Now what I'm just said, I.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Need a vacae, did he girl?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
I'll know what to do.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
I need a bey.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
So the thought that I am now a guest in
a class that Suave is teaching is truly mind blowing
because for years in one of my jobs as a
university and college professor, Suave would call in from prison
and that's how he would talk to my students. And
now here I am visiting a class that he's teaching.
I mean it's kind of incredible.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean, and now here you are in Philly,
sitting in his classroom and he's so excited for you
to meet his students.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I mean, it's just it's such a beautiful moment.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But before you can really get into this further with Suave,
his phone rings.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
So one of the biggest surprises for me on this
day is like this dude's phone is always blowing up.
I mean it's like non stop.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah, I mean, every fifteen minutes it just goes off.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeoh, I think it's every ten minutes we call from Pard,
an incarcerated individual at SCI Phoenix State Correctional Institution, and
a lot of the times it's friends. Well guys, we're
calling him from inside of prison.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I'm telling you, Bro, I'm telling you, Bro. I'm telling you, Bro,
you know how much ice cream you could sell out here. Bro,
you'd be rich selling ice cream out here versus being
jail house. I'm rich in the yard.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Soapa later tells me that one of his jobs when
he was in prison was actually working the ice cream
at commissary, which he may or may not have skimmed
the littles to sell on the side. And now his
friend Freddy has this old gig and.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
I'm gonna leave it that day. I ain't gonna preach it,
you know, Bro, Love you, Bro, And you better call
me again. Bro, you better call me soon.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
That's what you city.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I will.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Know a long time since I had heard the SCI
made rate one minute. It had been a long time
since I had heard that. You know how long it's
been since I have heard that.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Swe Nearly seven years out of prison, Suave is still
deeply involved with the prison system, maybe even more in
New and different ways than he ever was before.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Save is working at this re entry program at school right,
but on his off days, if he does happen to
have an off day, he's working with a group of
judges and he's juggling whatever he can from the outside
right to help the friends that he left behind who
are still on the inside.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I get phone calls every day, at least twenty thirty
phone calls a day from prison, and you know, guys
that've never seen a pullaser right calling me telling them
about man, you're representing all of us. This is a
win for all of us. And it is when I
get phone calls from politicians, you know, they want me
(23:21):
to go speak because they're trying to pass a bill
for life fers, and they think that I'm the poster child.
I'm like, at first, I used to get pissed off
because I'm not a poster child, But now I've realized that, like,
somebody has to be the voice, and this is what
it means being the voice for the voiceless. Bro, no
(23:45):
matter how much you try to run from it, you
are the voice for those that you left behind. And
I'm not running for an I'm embracing it. I'm embracing
it because I still got hope that them brothers and
sisters are going to come home one day.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
That night, November twentieth, twenty twenty three, we celebrate the
anniversary of suavest release from prison at Freddie and Tony's.
It's this little Puerto Rican joint in North Philly, the
neighborhood where Suave grew up. He has a virgin pinaco
laa mofongo, and a steakan Sevoyal.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And you know, it's like a really chill moment, and
it stands out because it's one of the very few
times that we don't pull out the recorder immediately. Now
we're just sitting there in the restaurant, eating delicious Puerto
Rican food, just kind of enjoying the moment and the mocktails.
But then, of course later we do turn on the
(24:48):
recorder and we get to talking about the big picture,
and suavit tells us that while on the outside everything
looks great, he's funny, he's bold, he's mister Pulitzer, but
that insight emotionally, that's actually not at all how he feels.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I just feel sometimes that being free is not what
everybody think it is. It's really not and it's not
really Everybody hype it up like you're free, you could
do whatever you want to do. It's all your pains
(25:31):
and misery are gone. That's bullshit, man. My miseries and
pains are just starting. Like seriously, I never had this
much misery and pain in my life. When I was
in prison, I didn't. I was shut out from the world.
You know, you cold shut everything down. And I'll hear
(25:57):
you can't do that because you got people looking for you,
got people that want they lean on you for their support,
for their comfort. I don't want to live up to
nobody expectations and none of that. You know, I'm done
with that. I am not happy. I'm glad I'm home.
(26:21):
I'm glad about that. But if you say describe happy,
I should be able to describe happy, and I can't.
I can't. I won't even know how to start to
describe happy, even with a pullaser. Even I can't describe
it because.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So In Mexico, there's the concept of like I let
you get that, you know, the big prison and the
little prison. The prisoners in the jail, they're in the
small prison, but the rest of us. We're living in
the big prison, the prison of you know, this whole
existential question about humanity, and and we've talked a lot
(27:02):
about it's not always going to be happy outside.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
You know. As much as I like to fake myself
out and think that I'm ready to for this life,
I wasn't ready. You know, I'm learning how to get
through it, but I wasn't ready. Nobody gave me a
crash course, like, this is what's gonna happen. You know,
you gotta pay bills, You're gonna confront this, You're gonna
be heartbroken, You're gonna have doubts about this. It's just hard,
(27:32):
you know. And and sometimes from the outside it looks
like I'm living a good life and now, but I'm
really now, you know, I'm just getting by.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
Swabe did the unthinkable.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
He beat a life sentence, but he's not yet free.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Coming up on this season of Swaveing.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Oh that's him right there.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, by shot.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Seven years out of prison, Swave is still looking for
a way home.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
What's going on for you?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's my first time here. I in forty five years
when I came out with another kid.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
He makes the trip of a lifetime.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I'm happy that I'm here sharing with my family because
I was in prison.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
This is history, but swavest relationships are tested.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I don't know how to deal with relationship. I dealt
with that relationship the same way I dealt with a cell.
Make mean you are not getting the loan, you gotta move.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
If I got to sell.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Then you start getting phone calls? What time you get
off from work?
Speaker 6 (28:45):
What are you doing?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Oh? I don't know. Mentally is like, I'm not ready for.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
This, and cracks start to form.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How is it that I became the mother figure in
your fucking life? Because that's not what I want to be.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
I don't know what you're trying to get it with this.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
People are like, oh, swave season one it's all about
you being friends. It's like, guess what it's not friends?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And how on the outside life can come at you
dangerously fast.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
With me, that's bun go down, that's the do what
my Mother's great.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I just don't want to see your backlos that, but like,
that's scariously fucking shit at me.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
That's coming up on season two of swave.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
My thanks to Julieta Martinelli for hosting this episode with
me and What you just heard is the first episode
of the Suavit podcast season two. It's a roller coaster
of an incredible story about the very long shadow of prison.
So I highly recommend you go and listen to it.
Wherever you get your podcasts, just find Suave the podcast
(30:04):
and if you want to listen to all of the
episodes of Suave, and I'm telling you I binged on
it right away, and if you want to do that,
ad free right now plus get exclusive bonus episodes like
Swave and Me getting deep about the challenges of making
this season or Suave getting into how he made music
(30:25):
in prison. Then you can sign up and join Futuro
Plus at Puturo Studios dot org. Suave season two is
produced by Julia Ta Martinelli with help from associate producer
Lileanadries and edited by Marlon Bishop. Dan ri Veos is
(30:48):
the post production producer. Our production managers are Jessica Ellis
and Nancy Trujillo. Our engineers are Stephanie Lebau and Julia Caruso.
Our fact checker is Amy Tar. Production help from Joaquin Coppler,
Juan Diego Ramirez, Nicole Rothwell, Joey dil Vaye, Eldo Alvarez,
Jrim Marquez and Tasha Sandoval. Our executive editors are Marlon Bishop,
(31:13):
Maria Garcia, Suave Gonzalez and myself. And now for our
weekly Latino USA show. Here the credits for the rest
of the team from Sana Guire, Felicia Dominguez, Fernanda Chavari,
Victoria Strada, Dominiquin, Estrosa Rinaldo, Leanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Rusado,
Luis Luna, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia, JJ Carubin and
(31:37):
Nour Saudi Penni, Lee Ramirez, Marlon Bishop, Maria Garcia and
I are co executive producers and I'm your host, Mariao Josa.
Join us again on our next episode. In the meantime,
I'll see you on all of our social media not
deva yas yest la proxima chiaou.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the Melon Foundation.
Melon makes grants to support the visionaries and communities that
unlock the power of the arts and humanities to help
connect us all more at Melon dot org. Public Welfare
Foundation catalyzing transformative approaches to justice that are community led, restorative,
(32:18):
and racially just and the Heising Simons Foundation Unlocking knowledge, opportunity,
and possibilities. More at hsfoundation dot org
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