April 25, 2024 • 22 mins
In this captivating episode of Listen to the Heartbeat with Aaron G, we welcome author Paul Scott. Not just another author, Scott's spellbinding tale traverses from his disturbing past to an inspiring and transformative future, all brewing within the cold walls of prison. The author of "Abandoned Before Birth, United in Prison," Scott sheds light on his path to self-awareness, symbolizing an emblem of hope in one of the darkest corners of human society.
This episode offers a remarkable journey from the mean streets to correction facilities and on to rising above adversity, not only for Scott himself but also for his son. With their fate entwined, their journey proves that transformation and redemption are attainable, even in the bleakest circumstances. The narrative strikes with such emotional intensity that it might seem like a story straight out of a film. Yet, this is the life Paul Scott lived, sharing his story through an unwavering voice.
Immerse in Paul Scott's journey characterized by trials and tribulations. Explore the rollercoaster of emotions as we shed light on his early life, the consequences of his choices, and his profound transformation during incarceration. Learn how he metamorphosed from a convict into a pillar of support for his son, and would eventually lead the way in empowering numerous lives impacted by the justice system through the 'Rising Scholars' program.
Listen as Scott passionately explicates the stirring creation of their co-authored book and relays his relentless quest towards redemption. This inspiring episode is a testament of Scott’s indomitable spirit. His story is steeped in despair, yet culminates in a story of victory over life's seemingly insurmountable challenges.
This edition of 'Listen to the Heartbeat with Aaron G' is much more than an interview. It is a shared human experience, a depiction of a journey that began in abandonment but culminated in the healing power of forgiveness. It reminds us all: no matter how lost one may seem, there is always a road to reconciliation and redemption.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to another episode of Listen to the Heartbeat with Aaron G.
Listen to the Heartbeat is a platform where you matter, a platform where your voice will be heard.
Today's special guest is Paul Scott. Paul Scott is an author of a book called
Abandoned Before Birth, United in Prison. Mr.
(00:25):
Scott is a future Rising Scholars.
Rising Scholars is a network of programs that's on community colleges,
and they recognize those of us who have been just as impacted. Dr. Mr.
Scott will be telling us about his experience of two decades behind the wall.
(00:48):
He will tell us how this book came about, Abandoned Before Birth, United in Prison.
And his desire, this desire that he has, despite the condition,
his challenges he's facing right now, his desire to reconnect with other scholars
right here on Mount San Antonio Community College. Mr.
(01:10):
Scott, welcome. Thank you to listen to the heartbeat.
Tell us about the experience that led you to prison and tell us how long you did. Yeah.
First of all, thank you for having me here. I greatly appreciate it,
and it's an honor for me to be here and definitely be in your presence.
(01:33):
I was the youngest of seven children, all by the two same parents,
and I had the opportunity to
play a lot of sports and academic opportunities that I took for granted.
And as a result, street activities and sports and recreation became more attractive
(01:55):
to me than academics did.
And so the adrenaline rush of the thrill of intensity from sports and just being
out in recreation was like a pre-exposure to drugs,
the effect drugs had on me.
I primarily went to prison as a result of becoming involved with drugs,
(02:19):
using them and selling them.
And consequently, I got caught up in some activities that caused me to receive
a very lengthy sentence, which basically was an 18 to life sentence in the California
Department of Corrections.
This happened when I was 19 years old.
Two days before I was arrested, a child was conceived. received,
(02:42):
eight months and 26 days later, he was born.
I was tried, convicted, and had received the sentence at that time.
And I was already in the Chino Reception Center, waiting to be processed,
to be sent to the institution that I would be, you know, beginning the.
Served a sentence. And he was born, you know, I turned 20 years old on June the 21st.
(03:05):
He was born four days later.
I served a total of 25 years in prison.
However, I saw my son when he was 18 months old, all the way up until he was 16 years old.
From 16 to 19, I didn't see him because he had his own son at the age of 16,
(03:27):
and he swore what happened to him, father not being present in his life,
would not happen to his son.
And so he tried to do the best he could to be there for him.
However, when he turned 19 years old, the same age I was, he got involved in
some activities that caused him to receive a sentence of seven years,
which he took a plea bargain for to avoid a more lengthier sentence had he been
(03:52):
found guilty under the charges that he was being faced with.
And so when I found this out, it really disturbed me.
I felt that I had failed and I was very disappointed and angry and upset.
And I was wanting to blame everybody. And when I took a look at myself,
I had to even include myself in that.
(04:15):
And so I thought the best thing to do would be to try to help my son rather
than having a whole bunch of anger just festering inside of myself.
And so I was a dual diagnosis drug and alcohol counselor. I worked for the head psychiatrist.
And when I went to him and let him know, hey, man, you might be losing me.
And he was like, what you mean, man? You my Kobe Bryant. You shake and move.
(04:35):
You make this thing work.
You help me get it off the ground. I said, well, man, my son just took a deal
for seven years. I've never lived with him one day in society.
And wherever you go in this prison the system, I have to be with him because
I may never get released.
And so the following week, my son was getting off receiving and release at the
institution I was located at.
I saw him that very day, the next day, and we socialized on a regular basis.
(05:03):
They didn't allow us to become cellmates right away because we had never lived together in society.
I was a model prisoner and a born again Christian, and he was a gang member.
And so they monitored our behavior and activities for four months before they
gave us the approval to become cellmates.
And we were cellies for four whole years until I eventually was found suitable
(05:24):
for parole and released.
He was released 10 months after me.
The very first, the very second day, that evening, we met in the Protestant
chapel and we was able to have some prayer together and interact regarding his
and my being incarcerated when my mother passed away.
(05:45):
And how guilty he felt about that, because I had always told him my mother lived
in a different town than the town that he was living in, which was Pasadena.
You know, and I let him know whenever your grandmother come in town,
no matter what, make sure you're there for her and that she gets to see you.
And so because her being in the hospital and passing away in a convalescent
(06:09):
home and he was incarcerated at the time or in the county jail,
he felt real bad and he felt that he had failed.
And so I knew at the time that we was having this encounter.
I could see that he was carrying a heavy load.
And he had let me know that he had never had a chance to fully grieve her loss
and that he had, you know, a lot of guilt inside.
(06:32):
And we was able to pray and help. And I was able to help him,
you know, feel relief from the burden he had been carrying.
He was wanting to know how I was feeling about it.
And I let him know, you know, sometimes circumstances can place us in situations
where they just happen. and that's out of our control, and you just have to
accept, you know, the hand that's dealt to you, and so don't beat yourself up over it.
(06:57):
And so when he saw that I wasn't disappointed or angry at him and that I was
there to, you know, provide him with the best support I could,
we came to terms with that. This was the only time we've been united.
We had visits over the years, but the visits would only last for two and a half,
three, four hours at the most before it was time for him to depart and for me
(07:18):
to go back into the prison.
So we never ever had a chance to just have any form of a civilized life or interaction
together until now here in the prison.
And so our agreement was that we would never be separated,
unless one of us got released, that we would do everything within our human
power and trust in God's favor to keep us together until one of us got released. East.
(07:44):
And that's exactly what happened after four years of us being self-partners together.
So let me ask you a question. You said you got out before him.
So you didn't did 10, 15 or 20 years then prior to that?
I'd been in for 20 years prior to his coming there. Okay. Continue.
(08:06):
And so when we came to that, that agreement.
We began to try to get to know one another. A lot of stuff came out during that time frame.
And so a lot of things I was already involved in doing with the different work assignments that I had.
Like I said, I was a dual diagnosis drug and alcohol counselor.
I went from that position to a psych service aide where I was assigned to take
(08:30):
care of a certain group of inmates who was under heavy medication and to monitor
their behaviors and stuff and their activities and their recreation and things along that line.
And so when he would see me giving other individuals more attention than I gave him,
I had knew these people longer and more than I had knew him because I didn't
(08:53):
have the opportunity to have dinner with him and look at TV with him and exercise with him.
But these were people that I had grown with. And so I would see little resemblance
of jealousy or hurt or neglect or abandonment.
And so he would, you know, do the best he could to try to express it with the skills that he had.
(09:16):
How did you address those perceived behaviors of abandonment or envy or jealousy?
How did you address that in that confined environment?
I would more or less, we would exercise together, maybe play a little basketball.
I would invite him to go to church with me from time to time.
(09:39):
Over a period of time, I invited him to get involved with some of the programs
I was involved in, such as Yokefella, which was a spiritual counseling group,
and he did, and it helped him greatly.
I invited him to partake in some of the classes that I was involved with teaching.
Substance abuse classes, communication skills, transactional analysis.
(09:59):
Analysis, the form of the classes was being ran out of the psychiatric department.
And so the head psychiatrist, which is who I work for, he even invited him to
begin to attend some of the workshops and the classes and things along that line.
And as a result, he got a job working in the psychiatric department as a clerk
(10:21):
and a runner, which he took, you know,
passes to other sections for inmates who had appointments to come to that section
to meet with the psychiatrist or the psychologist that was assigned to them.
And so some of it began to rub off on him where he began to get more and more of an understanding.
But it still didn't provide him with what had been missing in his life.
(10:45):
Nothing could have filled that
slot, no matter how hard I tried to do whatever I did. And I fell short.
I fell short even with the resources that I had and the information. I feel short many times.
So the answer is you feel short. Yeah. Thank you for that.
Tell us about the creation of Abandoned Before Birth and United in Prison.
(11:10):
Abandoned before birth or united in prison falls under what you just asked me.
I never had the opportunity to place my son first.
I'm Paul Sr. He's Paul Jr. But instead of them calling him Paul Jr., he went by Little Paul.
And I went by Big Paul. So that's where we got rid of the Sr. and the Jr.
(11:32):
It's only for appropriate occasions such as the book.
It's titled by both of us. Paul Dale Scott Sr., Paul Dale Scott Jr.
And how the book came about was I had a revelation from God letting me know
how disappointed he was in me for not ever demonstrating to my son a complete
(11:54):
validation and confirmation of our relationship in that I placed him first.
I wasn't able to go into any baseball game, basketball game,
football game. I wasn't able to cheer him on. I wasn't able to brag on him.
None of that. And so without having any of those opportunities,
he didn't have any kind of image in his mind of my dad ever giving me any praise
(12:19):
or credit or acknowledgement on a large scale. hell.
And so God revealed to me, you're selfish.
You've been living your life. You've been enjoying things. You've been out of
prison now for X amount of years, and you've been doing service.
You and your son have had a lot of experiences together, but you've never placed him first.
(12:40):
You've been working on another book, your autobiography and your memoir of your
life story, but you haven't placed him first.
So when you get back down there to see him, ask him if he'd like to co-author
a book with you in regard to your and his relationship, how it came about and developed.
(13:03):
And so I was leaving from that very prison we shared the prison cell in on December the 2nd of 2018,
which was the last day, which was the last Sunday for Chaplain Alderson to be
employed by them because he was retiring that Wednesday.
And he said that the only way his mission would be complete was for him to get
(13:24):
Paul Scott back in to share his testimony before he resigned.
And he was able to get me back in on that Sunday to share my story and minister
to the to the population at the Jesus View Chapel.
And so on my way back, as I'm driving down the coast, the 101,
I looked out over the ocean and it was a glare that hit me.
(13:46):
And as I saw that glare, the voice said, ask your son if he'd like to write a book with you.
And so as soon as I got back down near the Pasadena, and I took him,
my grandson, and my granddaughter out to dinner.
And we was down in Old Town Pasadena.
For those who may be listening who might not know where that's at,
that's in the area where the road parade be at.
(14:08):
So just had that picture of, word picture to associate with that if necessary.
But while my granddaughter my grandson was
shopping after that because i gave him a little christmas early christmas money
to get whatever gift they was gonna get because i was living in atlanta georgia
at the time and they was doing shopping and my son and i was sitting down and
(14:31):
i asked him then hey man what you think about it he just jumped up and said yeah.
Yeah that's a good idea and i really had never seen him move like that so i
saw how me being and obedient to what was being revealed to me, how it affected him.
And I guess that was an example of me doing something to place him first or setting to the side.
(14:54):
And that opened the door for me to be more sensitive to other things in placing
him first rather than myself.
And so in the process of doing that, our relationship became a lot stronger.
And so that's how the book came about. Tell us about your desire to learn about
(15:15):
rising scholars for those who have been justice impacted and the return to a
natural connection to people.
The overall desire is me giving back to God what he gave me.
He saved my life. He gave me another chance.
(15:37):
And he let me know the greatest work you could do is just be a servant.
Help people not make the mistakes you made.
Those who have made the mistakes, help them be able to have some form of redemption
or healing or deliverance. And in the process, you can still heal and be delivered
along the way yourself, son.
(15:58):
And in the process, help these people, families, be united and reunited and restored.
Because you and your son was not a unique situation, that there's many families
out there who the fathers don't know who their children are and the children
don't know who their fathers are.
And they long to have that kind of relationship. And maybe you sharing your
(16:21):
story of being a service might be able to help.
And so being of service to help any form of rising scholars to discover their
potential or their gift,
their purpose for being created at any way I can play a part in that.
That's my reasonable service.
(16:43):
That's what motivates me to be a part of Rising Scholars and do it in a way, in an anonymous way.
I don't have to get the credit for it. The credit is God's.
He just had me be of service in a way of showing my appreciation for what he
did for me and what he's continuing to do for me.
(17:05):
Because I'm a work still in progress myself.
I haven't completely arrived. But one thing for sure, I forget those things
that are behind me and I march on for what's in front of me,
which is the higher calling.
And so with that being said, it's a lot of work to be done, but the amount of
(17:25):
people that's doing it, it's not a whole lot of us.
And so where can I go? What can I do after all I've been through?
Nothing can be given to me to compensate for the losses that I've taken.
Losing my father, my grandmother, my sister and my mother while incarcerated
and not able to go to any of their funerals or any of that. And then sharing
(17:46):
a prison cell with my son.
Nothing can be given to me to compensate for that hurt, that pain,
that suffering, other than to be of service to someone else that might be faced
with that or might have faced it and they're struggling with moving on.
Give them a hand with moving on. Let them know they don't have to stay stuck
there, that they're not alone,
(18:07):
that there is a love that surpasses all understanding if they can just take
their eyes off the circumstances and place them on the creator.
That's what rising scholars is really all
about it's the ram in the bush but
we got to seek it if we want to find it
(18:28):
it just ain't gonna fall in our lap so for
those of y'all who don't know rising scholars
is a program here on mount san antonio community college that has four pathways
The first pathway is for those who are looking to get their GED or to get a certificate.
(18:53):
Let's say some people just need some technical skills to get another job.
The third pathway is those that are seeking an AA degree.
And the fourth pathway is those who are transferring, seeking higher credentials.
You have to be just as impacted to become a rising scholar. There are so many benefits.
(19:17):
Tutoring, book service, mentorship, peer support specialists.
There's just so many, many, many, many benefits, man, here at Mount San Antonio Community College.
It's awesome. You know, we want to thank Mr.
Scott for coming and sharing with us how Abandoned Before Birth and United in Prison came about.
(19:45):
Thank you for sharing your inspiration that I asked you to ask your son would he like to participate.
Thank you for reminding us how we are a dopamine nation.
He talked about how sports was a precursor to that adrenaline rush,
(20:10):
dopamine, that was similar to drugs and alcohol, which was the precursor.
To prison. Mr. Scott, I want to thank you. Do you have any last words?
Other than if anybody's interested in my son and my story, the book is available
at Amazon and will soon be at Barnes and Nobles.
(20:34):
And they can contact me if they have any questions regarding any information.
My son and I are presently working on the study book because we've been hit
with a number of different questions. of people asking us, well,
how did you guys work through this? And how did that happen?
And what took place here? Just those different questions have caused us to say,
(20:55):
man, a study book would be perfect for a father and son or father and daughter,
or even a mother and a son to be able to sit down and have a dialogue.
Or for some people that's taking human behavior or psychology courses that want
to just know about the manner in which a son and father are able to come to
(21:16):
terms with forgiving one another and working out their differences and have
a relationship under such circumstances.
So how do they contact you? You say they can contact you. How do they contact you?
Well, they can contact me through my email, which is pdscott1961 at yahoo.com,
or they can contact me through you.
(21:38):
No, you said contact you. Don't contact me. My bad.
Contact you. What other methods can they call you? Do you have an email?
You got Instagram? You got Facebook?
I'm on Facebook. I only do Facebook for business only.
I don't do it just for browsing and keeping up with the Joneses,
any of that kind of stuff. It's business related only.
(22:00):
I don't have an Instagram account or Snapchat, any of that other stuff.
So give us your email again. email is pd scott
p as in paul d as in daryl scott
1961 at yahoo.com and
if you come down to reach me by phone i can be reached at 909-344-2448 for
(22:22):
any questions or any assistance uh whatsoever and also uh i'm a part of a a
non-profit organization called authentic affairs and authentic affairs FAIR's
mission is primarily to create opportunities for people to discover their success
and branch out and be of service to the world.
You heard it first here on Listen to the Heartbeat. That was Paul Scott.
(22:47):
Music.
Welcome to another episode of Listen to the Heartbeat with Aaron G.
Listen to the Heartbeat is a platform where you matter, a platform where your voice will be heard.
Today's special guest is Paul Scott. Paul Scott is an author of a book called
Abandoned Before Birth, United in Prison. Mr.
(00:25):
Scott is a future Rising Scholars.
Rising Scholars is a network of programs that's on community colleges,
and they recognize those of us who have been just as impacted. Dr. Mr.
Scott will be telling us about his experience of two decades behind the wall.
(00:48):
He will tell us how this book came about, Abandoned Before Birth, United in Prison.
And his desire, this desire that he has, despite the condition,
his challenges he's facing right now, his desire to reconnect with other scholars
right here on Mount San Antonio Community College. Mr.
(01:10):
Scott, welcome. Thank you to listen to the heartbeat.
Tell us about the experience that led you to prison and tell us how long you did. Yeah.
First of all, thank you for having me here. I greatly appreciate it,
and it's an honor for me to be here and definitely be in your presence.
(01:33):
I was the youngest of seven children, all by the two same parents,
and I had the opportunity to
play a lot of sports and academic opportunities that I took for granted.
And as a result, street activities and sports and recreation became more attractive
(01:55):
to me than academics did.
And so the adrenaline rush of the thrill of intensity from sports and just being
out in recreation was like a pre-exposure to drugs,
the effect drugs had on me.
I primarily went to prison as a result of becoming involved with drugs,
(02:19):
using them and selling them.
And consequently, I got caught up in some activities that caused me to receive
a very lengthy sentence, which basically was an 18 to life sentence in the California
Department of Corrections.
This happened when I was 19 years old.
Two days before I was arrested, a child was conceived. received,
(02:42):
eight months and 26 days later, he was born.
I was tried, convicted, and had received the sentence at that time.
And I was already in the Chino Reception Center, waiting to be processed,
to be sent to the institution that I would be, you know, beginning the.
Served a sentence. And he was born, you know, I turned 20 years old on June the 21st.
(03:05):
He was born four days later.
I served a total of 25 years in prison.
However, I saw my son when he was 18 months old, all the way up until he was 16 years old.
From 16 to 19, I didn't see him because he had his own son at the age of 16,
(03:27):
and he swore what happened to him, father not being present in his life,
would not happen to his son.
And so he tried to do the best he could to be there for him.
However, when he turned 19 years old, the same age I was, he got involved in
some activities that caused him to receive a sentence of seven years,
which he took a plea bargain for to avoid a more lengthier sentence had he been
(03:52):
found guilty under the charges that he was being faced with.
And so when I found this out, it really disturbed me.
I felt that I had failed and I was very disappointed and angry and upset.
And I was wanting to blame everybody. And when I took a look at myself,
I had to even include myself in that.
(04:15):
And so I thought the best thing to do would be to try to help my son rather
than having a whole bunch of anger just festering inside of myself.
And so I was a dual diagnosis drug and alcohol counselor. I worked for the head psychiatrist.
And when I went to him and let him know, hey, man, you might be losing me.
And he was like, what you mean, man? You my Kobe Bryant. You shake and move.
(04:35):
You make this thing work.
You help me get it off the ground. I said, well, man, my son just took a deal
for seven years. I've never lived with him one day in society.
And wherever you go in this prison the system, I have to be with him because
I may never get released.
And so the following week, my son was getting off receiving and release at the
institution I was located at.
I saw him that very day, the next day, and we socialized on a regular basis.
(05:03):
They didn't allow us to become cellmates right away because we had never lived together in society.
I was a model prisoner and a born again Christian, and he was a gang member.
And so they monitored our behavior and activities for four months before they
gave us the approval to become cellmates.
And we were cellies for four whole years until I eventually was found suitable
(05:24):
for parole and released.
He was released 10 months after me.
The very first, the very second day, that evening, we met in the Protestant
chapel and we was able to have some prayer together and interact regarding his
and my being incarcerated when my mother passed away.
(05:45):
And how guilty he felt about that, because I had always told him my mother lived
in a different town than the town that he was living in, which was Pasadena.
You know, and I let him know whenever your grandmother come in town,
no matter what, make sure you're there for her and that she gets to see you.
And so because her being in the hospital and passing away in a convalescent
(06:09):
home and he was incarcerated at the time or in the county jail,
he felt real bad and he felt that he had failed.
And so I knew at the time that we was having this encounter.
I could see that he was carrying a heavy load.
And he had let me know that he had never had a chance to fully grieve her loss
and that he had, you know, a lot of guilt inside.
(06:32):
And we was able to pray and help. And I was able to help him,
you know, feel relief from the burden he had been carrying.
He was wanting to know how I was feeling about it.
And I let him know, you know, sometimes circumstances can place us in situations
where they just happen. and that's out of our control, and you just have to
accept, you know, the hand that's dealt to you, and so don't beat yourself up over it.
(06:57):
And so when he saw that I wasn't disappointed or angry at him and that I was
there to, you know, provide him with the best support I could,
we came to terms with that. This was the only time we've been united.
We had visits over the years, but the visits would only last for two and a half,
three, four hours at the most before it was time for him to depart and for me
(07:18):
to go back into the prison.
So we never ever had a chance to just have any form of a civilized life or interaction
together until now here in the prison.
And so our agreement was that we would never be separated,
unless one of us got released, that we would do everything within our human
power and trust in God's favor to keep us together until one of us got released. East.
(07:44):
And that's exactly what happened after four years of us being self-partners together.
So let me ask you a question. You said you got out before him.
So you didn't did 10, 15 or 20 years then prior to that?
I'd been in for 20 years prior to his coming there. Okay. Continue.
(08:06):
And so when we came to that, that agreement.
We began to try to get to know one another. A lot of stuff came out during that time frame.
And so a lot of things I was already involved in doing with the different work assignments that I had.
Like I said, I was a dual diagnosis drug and alcohol counselor.
I went from that position to a psych service aide where I was assigned to take
(08:30):
care of a certain group of inmates who was under heavy medication and to monitor
their behaviors and stuff and their activities and their recreation and things along that line.
And so when he would see me giving other individuals more attention than I gave him,
I had knew these people longer and more than I had knew him because I didn't
(08:53):
have the opportunity to have dinner with him and look at TV with him and exercise with him.
But these were people that I had grown with. And so I would see little resemblance
of jealousy or hurt or neglect or abandonment.
And so he would, you know, do the best he could to try to express it with the skills that he had.
(09:16):
How did you address those perceived behaviors of abandonment or envy or jealousy?
How did you address that in that confined environment?
I would more or less, we would exercise together, maybe play a little basketball.
I would invite him to go to church with me from time to time.
(09:39):
Over a period of time, I invited him to get involved with some of the programs
I was involved in, such as Yokefella, which was a spiritual counseling group,
and he did, and it helped him greatly.
I invited him to partake in some of the classes that I was involved with teaching.
Substance abuse classes, communication skills, transactional analysis.
(09:59):
Analysis, the form of the classes was being ran out of the psychiatric department.
And so the head psychiatrist, which is who I work for, he even invited him to
begin to attend some of the workshops and the classes and things along that line.
And as a result, he got a job working in the psychiatric department as a clerk
(10:21):
and a runner, which he took, you know,
passes to other sections for inmates who had appointments to come to that section
to meet with the psychiatrist or the psychologist that was assigned to them.
And so some of it began to rub off on him where he began to get more and more of an understanding.
But it still didn't provide him with what had been missing in his life.
(10:45):
Nothing could have filled that
slot, no matter how hard I tried to do whatever I did. And I fell short.
I fell short even with the resources that I had and the information. I feel short many times.
So the answer is you feel short. Yeah. Thank you for that.
Tell us about the creation of Abandoned Before Birth and United in Prison.
(11:10):
Abandoned before birth or united in prison falls under what you just asked me.
I never had the opportunity to place my son first.
I'm Paul Sr. He's Paul Jr. But instead of them calling him Paul Jr., he went by Little Paul.
And I went by Big Paul. So that's where we got rid of the Sr. and the Jr.
(11:32):
It's only for appropriate occasions such as the book.
It's titled by both of us. Paul Dale Scott Sr., Paul Dale Scott Jr.
And how the book came about was I had a revelation from God letting me know
how disappointed he was in me for not ever demonstrating to my son a complete
(11:54):
validation and confirmation of our relationship in that I placed him first.
I wasn't able to go into any baseball game, basketball game,
football game. I wasn't able to cheer him on. I wasn't able to brag on him.
None of that. And so without having any of those opportunities,
he didn't have any kind of image in his mind of my dad ever giving me any praise
(12:19):
or credit or acknowledgement on a large scale. hell.
And so God revealed to me, you're selfish.
You've been living your life. You've been enjoying things. You've been out of
prison now for X amount of years, and you've been doing service.
You and your son have had a lot of experiences together, but you've never placed him first.
(12:40):
You've been working on another book, your autobiography and your memoir of your
life story, but you haven't placed him first.
So when you get back down there to see him, ask him if he'd like to co-author
a book with you in regard to your and his relationship, how it came about and developed.
(13:03):
And so I was leaving from that very prison we shared the prison cell in on December the 2nd of 2018,
which was the last day, which was the last Sunday for Chaplain Alderson to be
employed by them because he was retiring that Wednesday.
And he said that the only way his mission would be complete was for him to get
(13:24):
Paul Scott back in to share his testimony before he resigned.
And he was able to get me back in on that Sunday to share my story and minister
to the to the population at the Jesus View Chapel.
And so on my way back, as I'm driving down the coast, the 101,
I looked out over the ocean and it was a glare that hit me.
(13:46):
And as I saw that glare, the voice said, ask your son if he'd like to write a book with you.
And so as soon as I got back down near the Pasadena, and I took him,
my grandson, and my granddaughter out to dinner.
And we was down in Old Town Pasadena.
For those who may be listening who might not know where that's at,
that's in the area where the road parade be at.
(14:08):
So just had that picture of, word picture to associate with that if necessary.
But while my granddaughter my grandson was
shopping after that because i gave him a little christmas early christmas money
to get whatever gift they was gonna get because i was living in atlanta georgia
at the time and they was doing shopping and my son and i was sitting down and
(14:31):
i asked him then hey man what you think about it he just jumped up and said yeah.
Yeah that's a good idea and i really had never seen him move like that so i
saw how me being and obedient to what was being revealed to me, how it affected him.
And I guess that was an example of me doing something to place him first or setting to the side.
(14:54):
And that opened the door for me to be more sensitive to other things in placing
him first rather than myself.
And so in the process of doing that, our relationship became a lot stronger.
And so that's how the book came about. Tell us about your desire to learn about
(15:15):
rising scholars for those who have been justice impacted and the return to a
natural connection to people.
The overall desire is me giving back to God what he gave me.
He saved my life. He gave me another chance.
(15:37):
And he let me know the greatest work you could do is just be a servant.
Help people not make the mistakes you made.
Those who have made the mistakes, help them be able to have some form of redemption
or healing or deliverance. And in the process, you can still heal and be delivered
along the way yourself, son.
(15:58):
And in the process, help these people, families, be united and reunited and restored.
Because you and your son was not a unique situation, that there's many families
out there who the fathers don't know who their children are and the children
don't know who their fathers are.
And they long to have that kind of relationship. And maybe you sharing your
(16:21):
story of being a service might be able to help.
And so being of service to help any form of rising scholars to discover their
potential or their gift,
their purpose for being created at any way I can play a part in that.
That's my reasonable service.
(16:43):
That's what motivates me to be a part of Rising Scholars and do it in a way, in an anonymous way.
I don't have to get the credit for it. The credit is God's.
He just had me be of service in a way of showing my appreciation for what he
did for me and what he's continuing to do for me.
(17:05):
Because I'm a work still in progress myself.
I haven't completely arrived. But one thing for sure, I forget those things
that are behind me and I march on for what's in front of me,
which is the higher calling.
And so with that being said, it's a lot of work to be done, but the amount of
(17:25):
people that's doing it, it's not a whole lot of us.
And so where can I go? What can I do after all I've been through?
Nothing can be given to me to compensate for the losses that I've taken.
Losing my father, my grandmother, my sister and my mother while incarcerated
and not able to go to any of their funerals or any of that. And then sharing
(17:46):
a prison cell with my son.
Nothing can be given to me to compensate for that hurt, that pain,
that suffering, other than to be of service to someone else that might be faced
with that or might have faced it and they're struggling with moving on.
Give them a hand with moving on. Let them know they don't have to stay stuck
there, that they're not alone,
(18:07):
that there is a love that surpasses all understanding if they can just take
their eyes off the circumstances and place them on the creator.
That's what rising scholars is really all
about it's the ram in the bush but
we got to seek it if we want to find it
(18:28):
it just ain't gonna fall in our lap so for
those of y'all who don't know rising scholars
is a program here on mount san antonio community college that has four pathways
The first pathway is for those who are looking to get their GED or to get a certificate.
(18:53):
Let's say some people just need some technical skills to get another job.
The third pathway is those that are seeking an AA degree.
And the fourth pathway is those who are transferring, seeking higher credentials.
You have to be just as impacted to become a rising scholar. There are so many benefits.
(19:17):
Tutoring, book service, mentorship, peer support specialists.
There's just so many, many, many, many benefits, man, here at Mount San Antonio Community College.
It's awesome. You know, we want to thank Mr.
Scott for coming and sharing with us how Abandoned Before Birth and United in Prison came about.
(19:45):
Thank you for sharing your inspiration that I asked you to ask your son would he like to participate.
Thank you for reminding us how we are a dopamine nation.
He talked about how sports was a precursor to that adrenaline rush,
(20:10):
dopamine, that was similar to drugs and alcohol, which was the precursor.
To prison. Mr. Scott, I want to thank you. Do you have any last words?
Other than if anybody's interested in my son and my story, the book is available
at Amazon and will soon be at Barnes and Nobles.
(20:34):
And they can contact me if they have any questions regarding any information.
My son and I are presently working on the study book because we've been hit
with a number of different questions. of people asking us, well,
how did you guys work through this? And how did that happen?
And what took place here? Just those different questions have caused us to say,
(20:55):
man, a study book would be perfect for a father and son or father and daughter,
or even a mother and a son to be able to sit down and have a dialogue.
Or for some people that's taking human behavior or psychology courses that want
to just know about the manner in which a son and father are able to come to
(21:16):
terms with forgiving one another and working out their differences and have
a relationship under such circumstances.
So how do they contact you? You say they can contact you. How do they contact you?
Well, they can contact me through my email, which is pdscott1961 at yahoo.com,
or they can contact me through you.
(21:38):
No, you said contact you. Don't contact me. My bad.
Contact you. What other methods can they call you? Do you have an email?
You got Instagram? You got Facebook?
I'm on Facebook. I only do Facebook for business only.
I don't do it just for browsing and keeping up with the Joneses,
any of that kind of stuff. It's business related only.
(22:00):
I don't have an Instagram account or Snapchat, any of that other stuff.
So give us your email again. email is pd scott
p as in paul d as in daryl scott
1961 at yahoo.com and
if you come down to reach me by phone i can be reached at 909-344-2448 for
(22:22):
any questions or any assistance uh whatsoever and also uh i'm a part of a a
non-profit organization called authentic affairs and authentic affairs FAIR's
mission is primarily to create opportunities for people to discover their success
and branch out and be of service to the world.
You heard it first here on Listen to the Heartbeat. That was Paul Scott.
(22:47):
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