This April, we recognize National Reentry Month by spotlighting the work of the Philadelphia Office of Reentry Partnerships and Executive Director Assata Thomas. We discuss the city's commitment to supporting justice-impacted individuals, along with several key events happening throughout the month—from job fairs to expungement clinics.
🗓️ Upcoming Events:
📸 Instagram: @reentryphila_
💼 LinkedIn: Office of Reentry Partnerships
📞 Office: 215-683-3770
As we mark National Second Chance Month, we're highlighting the return of Suave, the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast from Futuro Studios. Season 2 follows David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez—this time as both subject and co-executive producer—joined by Maria Hinojosa and host Julieta Martinelli. Together, they explore reentry, parole, and the emotional aftermath of incarceration in a deeply personal and powerful way.
🎧 Listen to Suave:
• Futuro Media: https://futurostudios.org/podcasts/suave/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/suave/id1548544921
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3O1Kh08wk4Owa6DbxX6l6P
• iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-suave-76112132/
🔗 Socials:
• Suave: IG @suavegonzalez215 | TikTok @counttimetv
• Maria Hinojosa: IG/Threads @maria_la_hinojosa | X @maria_hinojosa
• Julieta Martinelli: IG/Threads @jujuxwrites | X @itsjmartinelli
🗓️ Upcoming Events:
- April 25: Investafest (9AM–3PM) – Energy Hall, 2301 Market St.
- April 25: Know Your Rights Seminar w/ PLSE (11AM–1PM) – 1425 Arch St.
- April 26: Expungement Clinic w/ PLSE & Enon Tabernacle (11AM–2PM) – 2800 W. Cheltenham Ave.
- April 30: Reentry Job Fair w/ Temple University (10AM–2PM) – 1900 N. 13th St., Student Activity Center
📸 Instagram: @reentryphila_
💼 LinkedIn: Office of Reentry Partnerships
📞 Office: 215-683-3770
As we mark National Second Chance Month, we're highlighting the return of Suave, the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast from Futuro Studios. Season 2 follows David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez—this time as both subject and co-executive producer—joined by Maria Hinojosa and host Julieta Martinelli. Together, they explore reentry, parole, and the emotional aftermath of incarceration in a deeply personal and powerful way.
🎧 Listen to Suave:
• Futuro Media: https://futurostudios.org/podcasts/suave/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/suave/id1548544921
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3O1Kh08wk4Owa6DbxX6l6P
• iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-suave-76112132/
🔗 Socials:
• Suave: IG @suavegonzalez215 | TikTok @counttimetv
• Maria Hinojosa: IG/Threads @maria_la_hinojosa | X @maria_hinojosa
• Julieta Martinelli: IG/Threads @jujuxwrites | X @itsjmartinelli
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballad Morrel. I'm excited to bring
you an interview about the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize
winning podcast Suave, which is the unique story of journalist
Maria Inajosa, who followed the journey of former juvenile lifers
Suave Gonzalez as he navigated decades behind the walls of
(00:21):
sci Graterford, incarcerated at seventeen, and then his life outside
after his release following a Supreme Court decision that freed
many juvenile lifers. The story continues in the podcast series
Suave Part two, but first.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
As Sasa Thomas, Executive Director for the Office of re
Entry Partnerships for the City of Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, thank you so much for joining us here today
and tell us about some very important events that are
coming up for those who are returning citizens.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Absolutely, we are excited to present some things happening, specifically
for National re Entry Month. We're having an invest A
fests on Friday, April twenty fifth, and that is for
justice impacted entrepreneurs, a place where they can showcase their
innovative business ideas in a Shark Tank like pitch competition.
(01:14):
We have and Know Your Rights seminar with POLS on
the twenty fifth where Post talks with justice impacted individuals
and their rights to employment while having a record, and
how to talk about that and explain that. We're having
an expungement clinic with Posts at Enon Tabernacle on Saturday,
April twenty six and we're having a re entry focused
(01:36):
job fare in partnership with Temple on Wednesday, April thirtieth,
and so excited about those additions to what we do
every day here at the Office of re Entry.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
In the Office of re Entry, I know you see
this time and time again, there are returning citizens who
really want to come back into society, be a productive citizen,
to earn a living wage. And I wonder if you
can talk very briefly about some of the major challenges
that still face those who are trying to get back
(02:08):
into the world.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
One of the things that is a challenge is that
when a person is released from incarceration, oftentimes the common theme,
particularly from law enforcement, that this person gets a job,
gets a job, gets a job, and that's the first
item of importance. But I will argue that we have
(02:29):
to deal with the person as a whole person, and
so that means getting the necessary supports mental health, physical
health that this person lives somewhere, and so we have
to deal with these other barriers before we can really
implore someone to get a job, a sustainable job, that
is to be able to turn their lives around. And
(02:50):
in fact, I often say that getting a person a
job is really low hanging food. We can get anybody
a job at McDonald's or Pope's or wherever, and those
jobs are okay. But when we're talking about this level
of sustainability so that a person doesn't recidivize and go
back to incarceration, we have to deal with the person
as an entire being and identify other barriers that could
(03:15):
possibly stop them from being successful at a job.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Right, and there's still a lot of stigma associated with
being a returning citizen. Now you're ready to get back,
but sometimes people don't understand that folks do need a
fresh start, they need a little bit of grace. So
tell us about some of the misconceptions that some employers
might have about people who are returning citizens.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Some of the misconceptions just first to piggyback off of
what you said, is that this stigma exists. That means
you're thinking about all of the worst things that you
can think about a person. They were incarcerated, they're criminals,
and so these words I think play often and what
that looks like, what a quote unquote I'm using air
quotes here criminal looks like. And so now that they're home,
(04:01):
how does that show up in my business or corporation?
And I would push back and say, persons who have
been incarcerated or in fact still behind the walls are
some of the most brilliant persons that I know personally.
And I would also say that given the opportunity to
prove themselves and to show themselves is what's necessary. At
(04:21):
the Office of re Entry, we provide these supports so
that we can be a liaison between the employer and
the person going for a job, to be able to
interact with both parties. How's it going, how can we
support you as the employer, and how we're supporting the employee.
So there are a lot of things that exist, there's
a gap between the employer and the employee, but there
(04:43):
should be this process that enables this connection so that
you're looking at a person as a whole person and
not looking at their record. Brian Stevens says, I am
more than the worst thing that I've done. And so
if you think about if persons are able to look
at it from that PERSPECTI it allows for humanity to happen,
It allows for empathy to happen, and to just really
(05:06):
change how people are viewing one who has been impacted.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
We talk about crime prevention and this is really the
best way to support that because you want people to
be able to have a living wage and to be
reintegrated into society, and this is what it's all about.
And if we help these individuals, then they won't go
back to prison. So if people want more information about
(05:32):
all the great things that you're doing, not only the
series of events it's happening, but also the great services
that you do provide in the Office of re Entry Partnerships,
how do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Absolutely, you can walk in at fourteen twenty five Arch Streets,
Lord number one. You can call at two one five
six eight three three three seven zero. You can email
at orp at Pilla dot com and our websites Philla
dot gov, Forward Slash, re Entry, Instagram, re Entry Philla, Underscore,
(06:09):
and our LinkedIn is Office of re Entry Partnerships, so
we have plenty of ways to get connected to our office.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Asatatanas, who directs the Office of re Entry Partnerships, thank
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Thank you, it was my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Philadelphia's Office of re Entry Partnerships is proud to bring
you events during April National Second Chance Month. Attend a
record clearing clinic, No You're Rights a seminar, or the
re Entry Focused Hiring Fair with Temple University Wednesday, April
thirtieth at ten am. Reset with the Office of re
Entry Partnerships. Your partner in re Entry to register called
(06:48):
two one five six eight three three three seven. Oh
that's two one five, six, eight, three three three seven
Oh you're listening to Insight. Suave is back with season two.
The Pulitzer Prize winning podcast from Futuro Studios returns with
a deeply personal and unflinching look at life after incarceration.
(07:13):
This season, we followed David Luis Suave Gonzalez not just
as the subject, but also as co executive producer, alongside
award winning journalist Maria Ina Josa and host Julieta Mardinelli. Together,
they unpacked the complexities of freedom, parole, and mental health
after decades inside the criminal justice system. As we mark
(07:33):
National Second Chance Month, Suave reminds us that freedom is
just the beginning of another journey. Suave Season two brings
us into your life post release. What did freedom actually
feel like after being incarcerated for so long and how
is your definition of it changed.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
My definition of free to change went off when I
realized that I'm really not free, when I realized that
I'm just living life on borrow time from the doc
in the Department of Correction. Because free to me means
that I'm able to do what I want to do.
I'm able to travel where I want to travel. I'm
able to work where I want to work. I'm able
to move where I want to move when I want
(08:12):
to move. Currently, I can't do that because I'm under
the supervisional parole State Parole, which unknown notoriously known for
violating people for petty stuff. So you know, I live
with that fear every day. Every day I get up,
I'm asking myself if today's going to be the debt
that they going to violate me? Because I'm talking to
Lorraine Vallemore about how they treat people. It's today going
(08:35):
to be the day where I'm going to be calling
and get pissed tests even though I don't do drugs
or drink or anything like that, but it's just the
stress of knowing that someone else control your life.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Adiah, you and Suave have known each other for decades.
How did your relationship evolve from journalists and source to
co executive producers? And what made this season so different
to report?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Wow? Well, you know, after I binged on season two,
I called up Suave and I said thank you, because
Suave is an incredible source in the sense of a
journalist having somebody who is going to be your first
hand source who's going to tell you what the experience
is of trying to live free when you're on lifetime
(09:21):
parole after having been out for seven years. So it
is a great feat of journalism that Julieta has produced
and our associate producer Lily Lily Reese. Because it is
all fact based. Okay, I'm going to be very honest
with you.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
It is.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
It feels like a telenovela, it really does, but it's
all fact based. It is it is journalism investigative work
to the highest degree because Suave and I and Julieta
are one hundred honest in everything that's happening. And I
think that that is one of the things that will
mark this podcast. When people hear, they're going to be like,
oh my god, these people are so honest, like they're
(09:57):
showing us everything. It's like uncomfortable, but we feel so
committed to the work, to doing the social justice work,
as Suave always points out as our executive producer, and
I think what was different, it was totally different. I mean,
to be honest with you, Swave and I this is
in terms of my relationship with him. We have been
through a roller coaster. It is now thirty years right
(10:20):
since Swave and I more thirty two years since Suave
and I have known each other. Thirty two years. That's
a long time. The podcast just kind of captures the question,
one of the questions that we ask, which is can
you actually be friends with somebody if you've been in
for thirty one years? And one of my favorite moments
actually is when Suaves says, and I just love this
(10:42):
and it makes so much sense, is when Suave says,
I don't remember if it was in relation to lovers
or friends, but Suave is like, look, in prison, you
don't let it get along with a cellmate. He's out.
What therapy, what conversation? What let's deal with this?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
No?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
No, I want you out and I don't want to
see you again. Like that's how you deal with friendship
in the prison. It's like bye, over and out. And
of course on the outside it's more complicated than that.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, and you met over thirty years ago when you
visited the prison. Greater for it at that time, sci
greater for it, and you spoke in. Suave took a
leap of faith and saw to you and found you.
And then from that little spark of connection came this
decades long friendship that eventually evolved into a podcast. And
(11:28):
we'll return to that in just a second. But I
would like to turn to Julieta because you are the
new host, and I wonder if you could just share
with us the most surprising or challenging moments for you
in documenting Suave's integration and the trauma of post prison life,
because it's one thing to be behind the walls, but
getting back into the world is a whole different story,
(11:48):
so tell us more.
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Yeah, I think for me, there definitely have been a
lot of changes, as there were for Maria, because it's
only natural that as you know someone for a longer
period of time, your relationship change. Just your professional relationship changes,
but also your personal relationship. I will say that, you know,
I was the co producer of season one, I wrote
the first season, so for me, not very much changed
(12:11):
on a work front. The only difference is now that
my voice is sort of out there right, so like
conversations that I was having with Swave privately before as
a producer were also suddenly being recorded and part of
the process. But I will say one thing that I
have tremendous respect for Suave as well as Maria in
(12:32):
this process. It's a challenging position to be in when
you are producing the show, reporting the show, right hosting
the show, but also the people that you're writing about,
the people whose lives you're documenting, are the executive producers
of the show. But in no occasion, and I do
feel really grateful for this, but I can't tell you
(12:54):
a single time while working on this season over four
or five years that Maria or Swab it pulled me
aside and said, you can't put this in there, you know,
or this this is an issue for me, like having
that independence of being able to say, you live your life,
and I'm going to create something out of this that's honest,
that's real. Documentary is hard, you know, Like documentary is
(13:17):
difficult because of course I wish that I could end
an episode a certain way or end the show a
certain way. But Maria and Swab or individuals right like this,
As Maria said, this is very honest, and so the
challenge is for me more than anything, where like I
guess a greater sense of responsibility that I don't have
a co producer to share this with, right, I kind
of have to make these decisions. But Maria and Swabi were, oh,
(13:39):
I mean the entire time there. I can't tell you
a single time where I was told like this can't
be on the show. And We've had to have really
difficult conversations. It's part of creating something like this. But
I will say that I feel a great sense of
pride that I can stand behind the work and say
this is honest, this is really what happened.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
This is a question for all three of you. But
I'll start with you. Season two arrives during National Second
Chance Month. What do you want people to understand about
the reality of second chances in America?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Now?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You have been put in a very unique position. You're
a juvenile lifer, and as a result of a Supreme
Court decision, juvenile life as many of them, were released
back into the world. And for someone who's spent most
of their adult life behind the walls making that transition
on the other side, what are some of the things
that you feel that people need to know about second
(14:30):
chances and about that transition and how challenging it can be.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yes, I realized that I'm in a type position because
a lot of people look towards me as an example,
which I really hate. And I'm gonna tell you why.
Because I'm a human being. I make mistakes, and I'm
learning how to live my life as a human being,
not as a pull, as a price winner, not as
an idea of a war winner. As a human being.
(14:55):
I'm human and I make mistakes. I'm learning how to live.
I went to prison as a child. I went to prison.
My mother paid the bills, my mother did the cooking,
my mother did the clanning.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I live with my mother. I came home. I had
to do all this for myself.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
People should know that people coming home need help, and
not the kind of help that we are used to having.
And I don't mean let's have a party, let's celebrate
you coming home home. That don't mean nothing to me
if I can't pick up that phone at one o'clock
in the morning and let you know, like yo, I
get emotional because it bothers me that people automatic assume you.
(15:34):
All right, I'm no different than nobody else. I'm just
the guy that was in a position and I'm taking
advantage of it. Right And in the process, I'm learning
that freedom is not coming home and having a party.
Freedom to me means that I'm able to make my
own decisions. I can't do that today.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
You know. I would love to say, yeah, I could
make decisions for myself. I can't. Even from work in school.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I had to ask my parole agent for permission, and
some of them was even saying, oh, you're making too
much money.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
That might not be healthy right now. You know.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
It's that type of decisions that to meet tells me
I'm not really free. People need to know that we
are human being we just asking that as taxpayers, did
we demand that the department or correction provides some type
of therapy for people coming home before they come home
to allow some of us we live experiences, to go
(16:30):
in and let the brothers and sisters know, like, yo,
when you come home, this is what you're going to confront.
So we might as deal with that now in here,
because sometimes people go into the prison system and we
make it sound like a fairy tale. Oh, when you
come home, I could get you housing. When you come home,
I could get you a job. But what they don't
tell you is andable for you to get good housing,
(16:52):
you need credit. If you've been going as a juvenile,
you don't have a body of credit, so you.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Can't get nowhere.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I want to go back live in the same neighborhood
they've caught you to be incarcerated in the first place.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Let me talk to Maria because you have experienced Suave
behind the walls and outside of the walls, and based
on the first season of Suave, it tells the story
of how challenging it was, how difficult it was for
Suave to come on the outside. But for you, as
a mentor friend co conspirator and all of this, your
(17:29):
journey was parallel to his. So I was wondering if
you could talk a little more about what your experience
of observing him going through his struggles was like for you.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Well, Hm, you know, Swave and I actually talk about
this quite a bit, and I think that is, in fact,
what makes our podcast pretty unique. We focus on Suave,
but it's not just Suave as a standalone. It's Suave
in relation to me in this case, in the relation
to Julieta, who are part of We're all part of
Utuu Media, which is the nonprofit tiny media company that
(18:04):
made this whole dream come true. When I think back
about Suave in the way early years, because if you remember,
in season one, we actually hear Suave's voice from when
I interviewed him in the year nineteen ninety three nineteen
ninety four and put him on All Things Considered. You
hear his voice and he was a really young man
who had a lot of dreams. And then behind bars
(18:26):
I get a chance to witness on the phone how
he was making all of this happen over year after year,
I mean, because he was in for so long, right,
so it really was an entire life that he was
able to take the GED seven times, take sixteen years
to get his bachelor's degree. I think Suave is pointing out,
and I think that that is going to be one
of the takeaways from the podcast, is that he's really
(18:47):
posing a question, which is what is society's responsibility for
what happens when you spend thirty one years in prison,
seven of them in solitary confinement, and you are not
offered or required to do any kind of therapy. Watching
Swave on the outside, it's very intense. I don't want
to reveal too many things from the podcast, but I
(19:07):
just finished binging on it again for the second time.
Literally this morning. I was texting Suave. I don't think
I texted who do he at that? But I was like,
oh my god, I'm listening to episode five and I'm
in tears. Or it was episode six, I can't remember.
I'm like weeping, weeping and weeping. As Swave says, it
is not easy to be outside. When you're inside, you
kind of know what the parameters are when you get
(19:28):
outside to the big prison where we're all, you know,
dealing with like philosophical issues of who is really free?
And Swave is dealing with like legal issues of who's
really free. Actually, the entirety of season two is about
Suave on the outside and learning how to manage when
he has no experience in doing it. And that's why, again,
why I think Swave because it's not it's not often
(19:50):
that you're going to find a human being who is
has the capacity to be really entirely vulnerable and honest
and transparent. And it's not often that you have journalists
the as a producer, myself, as somebody who's known Swab
for decades, who are prepared to be really honest and transparent.
But that is just the ethos of the Suavit podcast,
and I think that's why people love it. That's why
(20:11):
people just click and they're like, oh my god, I've
never heard anything like this before. I've got to keep
on listening.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I wonder if Julieta, if you could talk about what
you think resonated the most with listeners and what you
hope sticks with them in season two.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Yeah. I think my feeling is that what resonated is
kind of what resonated for me and made me want
to spend the last seven years working on this project.
I think while Swavis's story is the story of so
many juvenile life first told through one person, I think
there's a lot in suaviss story that resonates for many
(20:48):
of us that maybe didn't have the same outcome as Swab.
But for example, you know, we talk about systemic inequity,
we talk about the way that the public school system
failed Swab, talk about racism, We talk about, you know,
the way young Latino and black kids are given this
low IQs. Right, They're taking these tests that are not
(21:09):
culturally competent. You're given a rating, and then you spend
the rest of your life in a class with a
teacher that doesn't have any expectations for you, doesn't want
you to learn. I think a lot of us can
relate to growing up in places like that. There's a
moment in the first season that made me convinced that
I wanted to keep working on the second season, which
is when Suave is having a really difficult time with
(21:32):
getting out of prison. He has been looking forward to
this moment forever and suddenly he's almost at the halfway house,
he's getting ready to leave, and he feels this immense
amount of shame and guilt and I would call it,
I guess survivors remorse. Right, he's getting out, and I
think for me, like I felt like a tremendous amount
of empathy. You can't compare the struggles, but I think
(21:56):
if you are someone that can pinpoint the emotion behind
Suavi's particular struggle, you can apply it to something in
your life. And I think I felt an immense amount
of shame and guilt when I got my papers, and
I felt like I didn't do enough for my family,
for my community. And I had never been able to
talk about that with anyone because it felt very like, Wow,
(22:17):
you're complaining about something that other people wish they had.
And so when Suave put that towards, I had never
heard anyone put what I was feeling towards until we
had that conversation. And so I think there's a lot
of that in this season as well. Save is struggling
with love, with the desire to fall in love and
trust someone, but the trauma of his past makes it
(22:38):
very difficult, and so he wants to have a forge
a strong friendship, but he struggles when his friends need
things from him. Right, Like, all these things are so
relatable to any one of us that is walking around
with any kind of trauma, and so much more elevated
obviously when you think about the intense amount of institutionalization
(22:59):
and trying with that someone in prison and a max
security prison experiences. So I think that's what really touches
our audience. As Maria said, I could never be as
open and vulnerable as Suave is. I've learned so much
about myself just by working with Swave, his ability to
talk about things that not only does he not want
(23:22):
to talk about at times, but also you know, Suave
is very open about the fact that as a man,
he was raised not to talk about his feelings, not
to talk about his emotions. You take it to the
chin and you keep going. You're not allowed to cry,
You're not allowed to be sad, You're not allowed to
want these things that you do want inside. And so
for me, that's the magic of this show. Suaves vulnerability,
(23:44):
Maria's vulnerability. For me, it's just been probably the hardest
thing I've ever had to do in my life, but
also I think the most rewarding to be able to
learn from Suave as a person.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I do want to tell people how to find Suave too.
Save how do we find the second season of Suave?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
You can find Swaben on all your major platforms, Apple,
i HA, wherever you hear your podcast, and if you're
in Philadelphia, you can find me at community College.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
That's right. And you're helping other returning citizens reintegrate and
get their feedback on the ground, which is a wonderful thing.
It's it's fantastic.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
And Madia, thanks thanks to Gilbert Gonzales that was on
me for about a year to apply for this job.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, that's great and Gilbert full disclosure, Gilbert is my husband.
But uh, and Maria, what's what's next? Or you're not
even thinking that far?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
No, no, no, no. You know what's really funny is
that Swave and I and I think that's also what's
really cool in terms of swab and I is that
we actually have multiple levels of the relationship that we have.
We use the F word as in family friends, but
also we are co workers, co executive producers Suave and I.
I know who already knows is but we've already been
(25:01):
talking and we have a file for season three and
I actually know what I want season three to be about.
I want it to be about a lot of joy
because season one and two is hard Swave. And we
keep on recording our phone calls because that's just part
of the weird way in which we relate. We record,
you know, ninety eight percent of our phone calls. As producers,
we're thinking about that. We have some other things up
(25:21):
our sleeve which we really can't talk about now. And
I think the reason why we feel this way is
because we know we have a really unique journalistic experience
in front of us. Again, it's rare to find a
source who is I'm down for this, I'm really available.
It's very rare to find somebody who's prepared to do
(25:42):
that for years and years and years and years and
years and years and years. But you know, we also
have Futuro Media, which is the company that I started.
It's a nonprofit and so when we feel committed to
a story, we make it happen. And I'm very committed
to telling the story of Swavid journalistically. I think we
are doing in journalistic work. Yes, Rob and I we
(26:02):
know we're gonna keep on recording. I'm not recording this
because you're recording this.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
You know what the Lane the brothers in sci Phoenix
man I always want to say this to the brothers
in Sci Phoenix. I'm not gonna literate him to Magic,
Freddie Fox, Frank Rass, the person that showed me how
to read ninety two years old. Listen, I hope I'm
making y'all proud, right, Do not wait for me because
I'm not going to prison. That was just something I
(26:28):
was going through. Don't believe the height. I hope I'm
making y'all proud because y'all also deserve a second chance.
And second chance mother to me, is not just highlighting
the people that I wire here. It's also highlighting the
brothers and they doing magnificent work for the community, such
as Freddie Rodriguez, Frank Ross, Magic, I lead the whole
you can and la sall group up there.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Y'all know. I love y'all.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Man.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Just want to add one last thing for the audience.
You know, I think I've been doing criminal justice for
a long time, and I think I've heard every criticism
I could possibly hear about focusing, you know, on this
type of work. But I think our audience should remember
that when people come home, it benefits all of us
if they have opportunities to start a new life. We
want rehabilitation. We want people to redeem themselves, but in
(27:15):
order to do so, we have to give them the
programs that they need. We have to give them an
opportunity to do so. And at the end of the day,
we all win. We all benefit when we can lower residivism,
when we can keep people employed out of prison, and
so I think that's that's the biggest thing for us
with this show is we want to remind people that yes,
people can do bad things, but people can also change,
(27:35):
people can grow, and it benefits all of us if
they have an opportunity to do well when we get out.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Beautifully.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Sua is real. Trauma is real, Trauma is real. Nobody
should feel a shamed to ask for help. I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Oh goody, thank you so much, all of you. Sabe.
It's back with season two. The Politzer Prize winning podcast
from for Tutor Studios returns with a deeply personal and
unflinching look at life after incarceration. We have been speaking
with David Luis Suave Gonzalez not just the subject, but
also co executive producer, alongside award winning journalist Maria Ina
(28:11):
Jussa and host Julietta Martinelli. Thank you all for joining
us today.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app ye Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard MOREL and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(28:39):
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballad Morrel. I'm excited to bring
you an interview about the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize
winning podcast Suave, which is the unique story of journalist
Maria Inajosa, who followed the journey of former juvenile lifers
Suave Gonzalez as he navigated decades behind the walls of
(00:21):
sci Graterford, incarcerated at seventeen, and then his life outside
after his release following a Supreme Court decision that freed
many juvenile lifers. The story continues in the podcast series
Suave Part two, but first.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
As Sasa Thomas, Executive Director for the Office of re
Entry Partnerships for the City of Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, thank you so much for joining us here today
and tell us about some very important events that are
coming up for those who are returning citizens.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Absolutely, we are excited to present some things happening, specifically
for National re Entry Month. We're having an invest A
fests on Friday, April twenty fifth, and that is for
justice impacted entrepreneurs, a place where they can showcase their
innovative business ideas in a Shark Tank like pitch competition.
(01:14):
We have and Know Your Rights seminar with POLS on
the twenty fifth where Post talks with justice impacted individuals
and their rights to employment while having a record, and
how to talk about that and explain that. We're having
an expungement clinic with Posts at Enon Tabernacle on Saturday,
April twenty six and we're having a re entry focused
(01:36):
job fare in partnership with Temple on Wednesday, April thirtieth,
and so excited about those additions to what we do
every day here at the Office of re Entry.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
In the Office of re Entry, I know you see
this time and time again, there are returning citizens who
really want to come back into society, be a productive citizen,
to earn a living wage. And I wonder if you
can talk very briefly about some of the major challenges
that still face those who are trying to get back
(02:08):
into the world.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
One of the things that is a challenge is that
when a person is released from incarceration, oftentimes the common theme,
particularly from law enforcement, that this person gets a job,
gets a job, gets a job, and that's the first
item of importance. But I will argue that we have
(02:29):
to deal with the person as a whole person, and
so that means getting the necessary supports mental health, physical
health that this person lives somewhere, and so we have
to deal with these other barriers before we can really
implore someone to get a job, a sustainable job, that
is to be able to turn their lives around. And
(02:50):
in fact, I often say that getting a person a
job is really low hanging food. We can get anybody
a job at McDonald's or Pope's or wherever, and those
jobs are okay. But when we're talking about this level
of sustainability so that a person doesn't recidivize and go
back to incarceration, we have to deal with the person
as an entire being and identify other barriers that could
(03:15):
possibly stop them from being successful at a job.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Right, and there's still a lot of stigma associated with
being a returning citizen. Now you're ready to get back,
but sometimes people don't understand that folks do need a
fresh start, they need a little bit of grace. So
tell us about some of the misconceptions that some employers
might have about people who are returning citizens.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Some of the misconceptions just first to piggyback off of
what you said, is that this stigma exists. That means
you're thinking about all of the worst things that you
can think about a person. They were incarcerated, they're criminals,
and so these words I think play often and what
that looks like, what a quote unquote I'm using air
quotes here criminal looks like. And so now that they're home,
(04:01):
how does that show up in my business or corporation?
And I would push back and say, persons who have
been incarcerated or in fact still behind the walls are
some of the most brilliant persons that I know personally.
And I would also say that given the opportunity to
prove themselves and to show themselves is what's necessary. At
(04:21):
the Office of re Entry, we provide these supports so
that we can be a liaison between the employer and
the person going for a job, to be able to
interact with both parties. How's it going, how can we
support you as the employer, and how we're supporting the employee.
So there are a lot of things that exist, there's
a gap between the employer and the employee, but there
(04:43):
should be this process that enables this connection so that
you're looking at a person as a whole person and
not looking at their record. Brian Stevens says, I am
more than the worst thing that I've done. And so
if you think about if persons are able to look
at it from that PERSPECTI it allows for humanity to happen,
It allows for empathy to happen, and to just really
(05:06):
change how people are viewing one who has been impacted.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
We talk about crime prevention and this is really the
best way to support that because you want people to
be able to have a living wage and to be
reintegrated into society, and this is what it's all about.
And if we help these individuals, then they won't go
back to prison. So if people want more information about
(05:32):
all the great things that you're doing, not only the
series of events it's happening, but also the great services
that you do provide in the Office of re Entry Partnerships,
how do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Absolutely, you can walk in at fourteen twenty five Arch Streets,
Lord number one. You can call at two one five
six eight three three three seven zero. You can email
at orp at Pilla dot com and our websites Philla
dot gov, Forward Slash, re Entry, Instagram, re Entry Philla, Underscore,
(06:09):
and our LinkedIn is Office of re Entry Partnerships, so
we have plenty of ways to get connected to our office.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Asatatanas, who directs the Office of re Entry Partnerships, thank
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Thank you, it was my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Philadelphia's Office of re Entry Partnerships is proud to bring
you events during April National Second Chance Month. Attend a
record clearing clinic, No You're Rights a seminar, or the
re Entry Focused Hiring Fair with Temple University Wednesday, April
thirtieth at ten am. Reset with the Office of re
Entry Partnerships. Your partner in re Entry to register called
(06:48):
two one five six eight three three three seven. Oh
that's two one five, six, eight, three three three seven
Oh you're listening to Insight. Suave is back with season two.
The Pulitzer Prize winning podcast from Futuro Studios returns with
a deeply personal and unflinching look at life after incarceration.
(07:13):
This season, we followed David Luis Suave Gonzalez not just
as the subject, but also as co executive producer, alongside
award winning journalist Maria Ina Josa and host Julieta Mardinelli. Together,
they unpacked the complexities of freedom, parole, and mental health
after decades inside the criminal justice system. As we mark
(07:33):
National Second Chance Month, Suave reminds us that freedom is
just the beginning of another journey. Suave Season two brings
us into your life post release. What did freedom actually
feel like after being incarcerated for so long and how
is your definition of it changed.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
My definition of free to change went off when I
realized that I'm really not free, when I realized that
I'm just living life on borrow time from the doc
in the Department of Correction. Because free to me means
that I'm able to do what I want to do.
I'm able to travel where I want to travel. I'm
able to work where I want to work. I'm able
to move where I want to move when I want
(08:12):
to move. Currently, I can't do that because I'm under
the supervisional parole State Parole, which unknown notoriously known for
violating people for petty stuff. So you know, I live
with that fear every day. Every day I get up,
I'm asking myself if today's going to be the debt
that they going to violate me? Because I'm talking to
Lorraine Vallemore about how they treat people. It's today going
(08:35):
to be the day where I'm going to be calling
and get pissed tests even though I don't do drugs
or drink or anything like that, but it's just the
stress of knowing that someone else control your life.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Adiah, you and Suave have known each other for decades.
How did your relationship evolve from journalists and source to
co executive producers? And what made this season so different
to report?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Wow? Well, you know, after I binged on season two,
I called up Suave and I said thank you, because
Suave is an incredible source in the sense of a
journalist having somebody who is going to be your first
hand source who's going to tell you what the experience
is of trying to live free when you're on lifetime
(09:21):
parole after having been out for seven years. So it
is a great feat of journalism that Julieta has produced
and our associate producer Lily Lily Reese. Because it is
all fact based. Okay, I'm going to be very honest
with you.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
It is.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
It feels like a telenovela, it really does, but it's
all fact based. It is it is journalism investigative work
to the highest degree because Suave and I and Julieta
are one hundred honest in everything that's happening. And I
think that that is one of the things that will
mark this podcast. When people hear, they're going to be like,
oh my god, these people are so honest, like they're
(09:57):
showing us everything. It's like uncomfortable, but we feel so
committed to the work, to doing the social justice work,
as Suave always points out as our executive producer, and
I think what was different, it was totally different. I mean,
to be honest with you, Swave and I this is
in terms of my relationship with him. We have been
through a roller coaster. It is now thirty years right
(10:20):
since Swave and I more thirty two years since Suave
and I have known each other. Thirty two years. That's
a long time. The podcast just kind of captures the question,
one of the questions that we ask, which is can
you actually be friends with somebody if you've been in
for thirty one years? And one of my favorite moments
actually is when Suaves says, and I just love this
(10:42):
and it makes so much sense, is when Suave says,
I don't remember if it was in relation to lovers
or friends, but Suave is like, look, in prison, you
don't let it get along with a cellmate. He's out.
What therapy, what conversation? What let's deal with this?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
No?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
No, I want you out and I don't want to
see you again. Like that's how you deal with friendship
in the prison. It's like bye, over and out. And
of course on the outside it's more complicated than that.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, and you met over thirty years ago when you
visited the prison. Greater for it at that time, sci
greater for it, and you spoke in. Suave took a
leap of faith and saw to you and found you.
And then from that little spark of connection came this
decades long friendship that eventually evolved into a podcast. And
(11:28):
we'll return to that in just a second. But I
would like to turn to Julieta because you are the
new host, and I wonder if you could just share
with us the most surprising or challenging moments for you
in documenting Suave's integration and the trauma of post prison life,
because it's one thing to be behind the walls, but
getting back into the world is a whole different story,
(11:48):
so tell us more.
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Yeah, I think for me, there definitely have been a
lot of changes, as there were for Maria, because it's
only natural that as you know someone for a longer
period of time, your relationship change. Just your professional relationship changes,
but also your personal relationship. I will say that, you know,
I was the co producer of season one, I wrote
the first season, so for me, not very much changed
(12:11):
on a work front. The only difference is now that
my voice is sort of out there right, so like
conversations that I was having with Swave privately before as
a producer were also suddenly being recorded and part of
the process. But I will say one thing that I
have tremendous respect for Suave as well as Maria in
(12:32):
this process. It's a challenging position to be in when
you are producing the show, reporting the show, right hosting
the show, but also the people that you're writing about,
the people whose lives you're documenting, are the executive producers
of the show. But in no occasion, and I do
feel really grateful for this, but I can't tell you
(12:54):
a single time while working on this season over four
or five years that Maria or Swab it pulled me
aside and said, you can't put this in there, you know,
or this this is an issue for me, like having
that independence of being able to say, you live your life,
and I'm going to create something out of this that's honest,
that's real. Documentary is hard, you know, Like documentary is
(13:17):
difficult because of course I wish that I could end
an episode a certain way or end the show a
certain way. But Maria and Swab or individuals right like this,
As Maria said, this is very honest, and so the
challenge is for me more than anything, where like I
guess a greater sense of responsibility that I don't have
a co producer to share this with, right, I kind
of have to make these decisions. But Maria and Swabi were, oh,
(13:39):
I mean the entire time there. I can't tell you
a single time where I was told like this can't
be on the show. And We've had to have really
difficult conversations. It's part of creating something like this. But
I will say that I feel a great sense of
pride that I can stand behind the work and say
this is honest, this is really what happened.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
This is a question for all three of you. But
I'll start with you. Season two arrives during National Second
Chance Month. What do you want people to understand about
the reality of second chances in America?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Now?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You have been put in a very unique position. You're
a juvenile lifer, and as a result of a Supreme
Court decision, juvenile life as many of them, were released
back into the world. And for someone who's spent most
of their adult life behind the walls making that transition
on the other side, what are some of the things
that you feel that people need to know about second
(14:30):
chances and about that transition and how challenging it can be.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yes, I realized that I'm in a type position because
a lot of people look towards me as an example,
which I really hate. And I'm gonna tell you why.
Because I'm a human being. I make mistakes, and I'm
learning how to live my life as a human being,
not as a pull, as a price winner, not as
an idea of a war winner. As a human being.
(14:55):
I'm human and I make mistakes. I'm learning how to live.
I went to prison as a child. I went to prison.
My mother paid the bills, my mother did the cooking,
my mother did the clanning.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I live with my mother. I came home. I had
to do all this for myself.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
People should know that people coming home need help, and
not the kind of help that we are used to having.
And I don't mean let's have a party, let's celebrate
you coming home home. That don't mean nothing to me
if I can't pick up that phone at one o'clock
in the morning and let you know, like yo, I
get emotional because it bothers me that people automatic assume you.
(15:34):
All right, I'm no different than nobody else. I'm just
the guy that was in a position and I'm taking
advantage of it. Right And in the process, I'm learning
that freedom is not coming home and having a party.
Freedom to me means that I'm able to make my
own decisions. I can't do that today.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
You know. I would love to say, yeah, I could
make decisions for myself. I can't. Even from work in school.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I had to ask my parole agent for permission, and
some of them was even saying, oh, you're making too
much money.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
That might not be healthy right now. You know.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
It's that type of decisions that to meet tells me
I'm not really free. People need to know that we
are human being we just asking that as taxpayers, did
we demand that the department or correction provides some type
of therapy for people coming home before they come home
to allow some of us we live experiences, to go
(16:30):
in and let the brothers and sisters know, like, yo,
when you come home, this is what you're going to confront.
So we might as deal with that now in here,
because sometimes people go into the prison system and we
make it sound like a fairy tale. Oh, when you
come home, I could get you housing. When you come home,
I could get you a job. But what they don't
tell you is andable for you to get good housing,
(16:52):
you need credit. If you've been going as a juvenile,
you don't have a body of credit, so you.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Can't get nowhere.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I want to go back live in the same neighborhood
they've caught you to be incarcerated in the first place.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Let me talk to Maria because you have experienced Suave
behind the walls and outside of the walls, and based
on the first season of Suave, it tells the story
of how challenging it was, how difficult it was for
Suave to come on the outside. But for you, as
a mentor friend co conspirator and all of this, your
(17:29):
journey was parallel to his. So I was wondering if
you could talk a little more about what your experience
of observing him going through his struggles was like for you.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Well, Hm, you know, Swave and I actually talk about
this quite a bit, and I think that is, in fact,
what makes our podcast pretty unique. We focus on Suave,
but it's not just Suave as a standalone. It's Suave
in relation to me in this case, in the relation
to Julieta, who are part of We're all part of
Utuu Media, which is the nonprofit tiny media company that
(18:04):
made this whole dream come true. When I think back
about Suave in the way early years, because if you remember,
in season one, we actually hear Suave's voice from when
I interviewed him in the year nineteen ninety three nineteen
ninety four and put him on All Things Considered. You
hear his voice and he was a really young man
who had a lot of dreams. And then behind bars
(18:26):
I get a chance to witness on the phone how
he was making all of this happen over year after year,
I mean, because he was in for so long, right,
so it really was an entire life that he was
able to take the GED seven times, take sixteen years
to get his bachelor's degree. I think Suave is pointing out,
and I think that that is going to be one
of the takeaways from the podcast, is that he's really
(18:47):
posing a question, which is what is society's responsibility for
what happens when you spend thirty one years in prison,
seven of them in solitary confinement, and you are not
offered or required to do any kind of therapy. Watching
Swave on the outside, it's very intense. I don't want
to reveal too many things from the podcast, but I
(19:07):
just finished binging on it again for the second time.
Literally this morning. I was texting Suave. I don't think
I texted who do he at that? But I was like,
oh my god, I'm listening to episode five and I'm
in tears. Or it was episode six, I can't remember.
I'm like weeping, weeping and weeping. As Swave says, it
is not easy to be outside. When you're inside, you
kind of know what the parameters are when you get
(19:28):
outside to the big prison where we're all, you know,
dealing with like philosophical issues of who is really free?
And Swave is dealing with like legal issues of who's
really free. Actually, the entirety of season two is about
Suave on the outside and learning how to manage when
he has no experience in doing it. And that's why, again,
why I think Swave because it's not it's not often
(19:50):
that you're going to find a human being who is
has the capacity to be really entirely vulnerable and honest
and transparent. And it's not often that you have journalists
the as a producer, myself, as somebody who's known Swab
for decades, who are prepared to be really honest and transparent.
But that is just the ethos of the Suavit podcast,
and I think that's why people love it. That's why
(20:11):
people just click and they're like, oh my god, I've
never heard anything like this before. I've got to keep
on listening.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I wonder if Julieta, if you could talk about what
you think resonated the most with listeners and what you
hope sticks with them in season two.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Yeah. I think my feeling is that what resonated is
kind of what resonated for me and made me want
to spend the last seven years working on this project.
I think while Swavis's story is the story of so
many juvenile life first told through one person, I think
there's a lot in suaviss story that resonates for many
(20:48):
of us that maybe didn't have the same outcome as Swab.
But for example, you know, we talk about systemic inequity,
we talk about the way that the public school system
failed Swab, talk about racism, We talk about, you know,
the way young Latino and black kids are given this
low IQs. Right, They're taking these tests that are not
(21:09):
culturally competent. You're given a rating, and then you spend
the rest of your life in a class with a
teacher that doesn't have any expectations for you, doesn't want
you to learn. I think a lot of us can
relate to growing up in places like that. There's a
moment in the first season that made me convinced that
I wanted to keep working on the second season, which
is when Suave is having a really difficult time with
(21:32):
getting out of prison. He has been looking forward to
this moment forever and suddenly he's almost at the halfway house,
he's getting ready to leave, and he feels this immense
amount of shame and guilt and I would call it,
I guess survivors remorse. Right, he's getting out, and I
think for me, like I felt like a tremendous amount
of empathy. You can't compare the struggles, but I think
(21:56):
if you are someone that can pinpoint the emotion behind
Suavi's particular struggle, you can apply it to something in
your life. And I think I felt an immense amount
of shame and guilt when I got my papers, and
I felt like I didn't do enough for my family,
for my community. And I had never been able to
talk about that with anyone because it felt very like, Wow,
(22:17):
you're complaining about something that other people wish they had.
And so when Suave put that towards, I had never
heard anyone put what I was feeling towards until we
had that conversation. And so I think there's a lot
of that in this season as well. Save is struggling
with love, with the desire to fall in love and
trust someone, but the trauma of his past makes it
(22:38):
very difficult, and so he wants to have a forge
a strong friendship, but he struggles when his friends need
things from him. Right, Like, all these things are so
relatable to any one of us that is walking around
with any kind of trauma, and so much more elevated
obviously when you think about the intense amount of institutionalization
(22:59):
and trying with that someone in prison and a max
security prison experiences. So I think that's what really touches
our audience. As Maria said, I could never be as
open and vulnerable as Suave is. I've learned so much
about myself just by working with Swave, his ability to
talk about things that not only does he not want
(23:22):
to talk about at times, but also you know, Suave
is very open about the fact that as a man,
he was raised not to talk about his feelings, not
to talk about his emotions. You take it to the
chin and you keep going. You're not allowed to cry,
You're not allowed to be sad, You're not allowed to
want these things that you do want inside. And so
for me, that's the magic of this show. Suaves vulnerability,
(23:44):
Maria's vulnerability. For me, it's just been probably the hardest
thing I've ever had to do in my life, but
also I think the most rewarding to be able to
learn from Suave as a person.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I do want to tell people how to find Suave too.
Save how do we find the second season of Suave?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
You can find Swaben on all your major platforms, Apple,
i HA, wherever you hear your podcast, and if you're
in Philadelphia, you can find me at community College.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
That's right. And you're helping other returning citizens reintegrate and
get their feedback on the ground, which is a wonderful thing.
It's it's fantastic.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
And Madia, thanks thanks to Gilbert Gonzales that was on
me for about a year to apply for this job.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, that's great and Gilbert full disclosure, Gilbert is my husband.
But uh, and Maria, what's what's next? Or you're not
even thinking that far?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
No, no, no, no. You know what's really funny is
that Swave and I and I think that's also what's
really cool in terms of swab and I is that
we actually have multiple levels of the relationship that we have.
We use the F word as in family friends, but
also we are co workers, co executive producers Suave and I.
I know who already knows is but we've already been
(25:01):
talking and we have a file for season three and
I actually know what I want season three to be about.
I want it to be about a lot of joy
because season one and two is hard Swave. And we
keep on recording our phone calls because that's just part
of the weird way in which we relate. We record,
you know, ninety eight percent of our phone calls. As producers,
we're thinking about that. We have some other things up
(25:21):
our sleeve which we really can't talk about now. And
I think the reason why we feel this way is
because we know we have a really unique journalistic experience
in front of us. Again, it's rare to find a
source who is I'm down for this, I'm really available.
It's very rare to find somebody who's prepared to do
(25:42):
that for years and years and years and years and
years and years and years. But you know, we also
have Futuro Media, which is the company that I started.
It's a nonprofit and so when we feel committed to
a story, we make it happen. And I'm very committed
to telling the story of Swavid journalistically. I think we
are doing in journalistic work. Yes, Rob and I we
(26:02):
know we're gonna keep on recording. I'm not recording this
because you're recording this.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
You know what the Lane the brothers in sci Phoenix
man I always want to say this to the brothers
in Sci Phoenix. I'm not gonna literate him to Magic,
Freddie Fox, Frank Rass, the person that showed me how
to read ninety two years old. Listen, I hope I'm
making y'all proud, right, Do not wait for me because
I'm not going to prison. That was just something I
(26:28):
was going through. Don't believe the height. I hope I'm
making y'all proud because y'all also deserve a second chance.
And second chance mother to me, is not just highlighting
the people that I wire here. It's also highlighting the
brothers and they doing magnificent work for the community, such
as Freddie Rodriguez, Frank Ross, Magic, I lead the whole
you can and la sall group up there.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Y'all know. I love y'all.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Man.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Just want to add one last thing for the audience.
You know, I think I've been doing criminal justice for
a long time, and I think I've heard every criticism
I could possibly hear about focusing, you know, on this
type of work. But I think our audience should remember
that when people come home, it benefits all of us
if they have opportunities to start a new life. We
want rehabilitation. We want people to redeem themselves, but in
(27:15):
order to do so, we have to give them the
programs that they need. We have to give them an
opportunity to do so. And at the end of the day,
we all win. We all benefit when we can lower residivism,
when we can keep people employed out of prison, and
so I think that's that's the biggest thing for us
with this show is we want to remind people that yes,
people can do bad things, but people can also change,
(27:35):
people can grow, and it benefits all of us if
they have an opportunity to do well when we get out.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Beautifully.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Sua is real. Trauma is real, Trauma is real. Nobody
should feel a shamed to ask for help. I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Oh goody, thank you so much, all of you. Sabe.
It's back with season two. The Politzer Prize winning podcast
from for Tutor Studios returns with a deeply personal and
unflinching look at life after incarceration. We have been speaking
with David Luis Suave Gonzalez not just the subject, but
also co executive producer, alongside award winning journalist Maria Ina
(28:11):
Jussa and host Julietta Martinelli. Thank you all for joining
us today.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app ye Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard MOREL and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(28:39):
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
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