Ep. 273 - Redemption & Resilience | Casey Diaz & Bryan Ward

🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of The Dad Up Podcast.

🟫 Redemption & Resilience| Casey Diaz and Bryan Ward

👉 Darwin “Casey” Diaz is a former gang leader and growing up on the mean streets of Los Angeles, he was forced to fight for his life.

👉 He was eventually incarcerated as one of the most violent criminals in California.

👉 While in prison, several dudes from two long-established gangs—18th Street and Florencia 13—asked him to become a “shot caller.”

👉 One of the shot callers’ responsibilities was to control the shanks within the prison population—the crude homemade knives used for stabbing another prisoner.

👉 Casey was the one who slept with the shanks—all thirteen of them under his mattress. It would be suicidal not to give him your shank because if you don’t, then he’d have you killed.

👉 Then Casey was transferred to New Folsom State Prison outside Sacramento, California, and placed in solitary confinement because of his “shot caller” status.

👉 Social interactions with other inmates were nonexistent and severely limited with guards.

👉 After a year or so at New Folsom, he heard the guards come by his cell with an announcement: “Church service. Any inmate wanting to go, stand by your gate.”

👉 His life was forever changed in that cell when one day God approached Casey in a miraculous way.

👉 Upon his release from prison, Casey landed a job making signs and today runs his own company, Samiah Signs.

👉 Casey enjoys teaching at church and sharing his story with audiences around the country.

👉 Grateful for a second chance at life, Casey wrote a book called The Shot Caller.

👉 When you read Casey Diaz’s book, you will understand why he knows firsthand how gangs destroy lives and ravage neighborhoods.

👉 Casey was caught up in a destructive lifestyle and was in deep about as deep as you can go. It’s amazing he’s still alive.

👉 Everyone needs to be concerned, especially parents of teens and young children who ask, “What can I do to keep my kids out of gangs?”

👉 Casey says there’s no easy answer, but you can certainly take steps to greatly reduce the odds of one of your children being caught up in a gang.

👉Make sure you check out Casey’s links in the show notes.

Dad Up!

📞 Contact with Bryan Ward:

✅ Dad Up Instagram:

https://instagram.com/daduppodcast

✅ Dad Up YouTube:

https://youtube.com/c/DadUpPodcast

✅ Dad Up Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dad-up-podcast/id1486764562

✅ Dad Up LinkTree:

https://linktr.ee/Daduptribe

📞 Contact with Casey Diaz:

✅ Casey Diaz Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/real_casey_diaz_

✅ Casey Diaz Website & Book Order:

https://caseydiaz.net/

✅ Casey Diaz Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/casey.diaz

✅ Casey Diaz LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-diaz-537b848