December 18, 2025 • 29 mins
Birmingham area Palestinian Christian Joseph Abbott talks about the plight of Palestinian Christians both in the middle east in our listening area around Christmas. Then Artie Gilbert with Urban Alchemy of Birmingham explains how their program gives jobs to the recently incarcerated and also seeks to find housing situations for the chronically homeless in our Community.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Merry Christmas and for some of you, happy Hanukah. This
is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John
Mount and today I have in studio to speak with me.
I guess who can answer many of the questions we
might ponder but don't have someone to ask, And today
I do Joseph Abbott here in Birmingham. He's a Birmingham
resident and he's a Palestinian Christian, and I want to
(00:22):
explain what that means and how that works into the holidays,
but I actually rather have you do it, Joe.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So good morning, Good morning John. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And understand anything I ask you today. This is not
done out of disrespect, genuine curiosity on my part and
also there's probably going to be a little ignorant, so
just take it with that.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
With that spirit a non taken, non taken John.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So, first of all, I wanted to ask you. When
we say Palestinian Christian, I understand, I think most people
understand Christian means you believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God and he died for the sins of
all men, and that's what you believe in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Right, Yes, So what are Palestinian Christians, right, and Palestinine
Christians are some of the original Christians, the original followers
of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. And we back
in the time when Christ came on the scene, right
(01:18):
about over two thousand years ago, there was in Palestine
there were Jews. Primarily it was the land of Canaan,
but there were Jews, Israelites, canaan Knites are all all
kinds of ethnic communities. And Christ was Jewish and the
Holy Family was Jewish, and so there was a certain
(01:38):
subset within Judaism that said, when Christ came on the scene,
they said, that's the Messiah. He's our teacher, he's our savior.
He's come here to save us.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So we talk about Jewish, we mean that he's lineage,
like he's from the House of David, the house of Abraham,
and that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Lineage lineage through Abraham exactly. And so there was a
certain subset within Judaism that said, you know what, this
is the Messiah, and a certain and the others said, no,
that's not the Messiah. And they still today reject that
he is the Messiah, and they're waiting for the Messiah. Now,
we as Christians. So we we we became christ followers,
(02:16):
ergo Christians or Semitic Christians. So we're actually the Semitic
Christians of the Holy Land, where a lot of people
don't know there are Semitic Christians. There are Semitic Muslims,
and certainly Semitic Jews. Not all Jews are Semitic, and
not all Muslims are Semitic, and not all Christians are Semitic.
But if you're if you're from the area, if you're Jewish,
(02:39):
if you're Christian, if you're Muslim from the area, you're
definitely Semitic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Okay. So and when we say Semitic, we mean that
you're of that lineage.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, some the children of Abraham, that same lineage gotcha.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So in other words, you you would trace back to however,
you're not you you you told me you're not Jewish
in I mean you like I said linear, Yes, but
you're not Jewish the religion.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
No, not the religion. We're Christians, were christ followers, and
we became we're the early Christians. We're the early Christians
because where did Christianity start but in the Holy Land.
So there were followers that started Christianity namely the Apostles, right,
and we are we are of our first apostle that
(03:23):
that we followed was Paul the Apostle, Paul, Saint Paul,
what we call Saint Paul as well.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Do you celebrate in the exact same way that say
somebody who well, let me ask you say Christian like church?
Why so it's a sect, I mean Baptist, Methodist.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Do you have a Catholic Catholic?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Okay, so you're Catholic, Yes, so it's so you would
worship better Catholic church and keep all the Catholic traditions.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's sort of thinking, well, we can go to any church,
we go to non denominational churches, we go to our
own Catholic churches. Yeah we can. We can because we're Christians.
We're just regular Christians.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
But at the same time, you do try to keep
some sort of connection with because you're Palestinian Christians, so
you do try and keep some sort of connection I
guess with the people that came before you in Palestine.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Right, we are strict on our Christian traditions and that's
that's where we that's the only place that we are
comfortable in.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
There's been a lot obviously going on in Palestine, especially
in the last three years, and we've we've talked about
that before. I don't want to go deep, super deep
into that the strife going on over there, But why
do you think that for the last two thousand years
that we've been fighting, how much longer do you think
it's going to last.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's a good question. That's a tough question to answer, certainly,
because you've got to be able to predict the future.
We do know that since Gaza, since the genocide, I
think it exposed a lot. It exposed some of the
issues within Christianity that some churches are silent about genocide,
(04:55):
and it exposed a lot of things within Judaism, split Judaism. Actually,
a lot of American Jews are saying, not in our name,
this is not our religion. That Israel's committing a genocide
in the name of our religion, and that's an anthema,
that's that's disgusting, deplorable, And so a lot of things
(05:18):
that have transpired since Gazan since the genocide is exposed.
If you're a Christian, what do you really stand for? Right?
Do you really stand for human rights? You still? Do
you stand for babies not being slaughtered. That's what Christians typically,
that's that's what we stand for. And it also exposed
(05:41):
Christian Zionism, and Christian Zionism is called sort of a
new theology. I don't I don't think it's a theology,
but they're calling an a theology. You might know it
as Judeo Christianity, and Judeo Christianity is not really a
religion because you're either Christian or you're Jewish. I think
that's the premise when you first started your question, Uh,
you can't be both. There are certain small sects se
(06:05):
cts sex that that claim to try both traditions. I
think they were the Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews, Yeah, but
that's completely different. They're small minority, they're sort of ineffectual,
but they are Christian. The Messianic Jews are actually Christian,
but they kept the Jewish traditions. But they're they're such
a small element that they're not really factor in anything.
(06:29):
Christians or a billion and a half. Judaism for the
most part is split into Orthodox into conservative and the
liberal Judaism, and there and Messionic Jews are not even Jewish.
They're Christian but they keep the Jewish.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Tradition, so they would be the ones who like might
celebrate both Hanukkah as well.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
As conceivably I don't know that for a fact, but conceivable.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yes, because because I because I guess you want to
stay grooted to your roots. But at the same time,
you know, Christianity did did and there was a lot
of things Jesus where he said that was the old way.
This is the new way. You know, we used to
you know, honor on Saturday, now on Sunday. You know,
things like that exactly. So this time of year, there's
there are a lot of people worshiping in their own way.
(07:12):
But also we want to try and come together. Why
is it that man has such a hard time coming together,
because it seems like we all have common goals, we
all want to live together in harmony, yet we're always
at each other's throats.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's funny that you mentioned that coming together, because we
actually started a new project and I think we talked
about that probably maybe futured in a future show, where
where as we started a panel where a Christian, a Jew,
and a Muslim speak with the same voice, one voice
because we're all we're all followers of the same God.
We're all the children part of the children of Abraham
(07:47):
and that same lineage in terms of our not ethnicity,
but certainly our belief system. And so so that's so
we all agree on almost everything. It's amazing that because
we're looking at it from a religious perspective. And if
you're looking at from religious perspective, you have to look
at it from a humanistic perspective, because you know what
(08:10):
God does not want you to murder, right the Ten Commandments,
Thou shall not kill. So that's our first starting point.
So back to Christian Zionism. Christian Zionists break five at
the Ten Commandments right out of the gate. So we
can't be anything like that. We have to be true Christians,
true Muslims, and true Jews. And if you're a true Jew,
(08:32):
you're against what's going on over there. You're against this genocide.
You're against the state of Israel because it's committing a
genocide in the name of Judaism, which is an anthema.
And if you're a Muslim, you're against killing. You're against killing,
and you're against because you believe in the Ten Commandments.
If you're a Muslim. If you're Jewish, you believe in them.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So Muslim people also believe I guess I didn't. Again,
this is agran So in the Muslim Bible or the Koran,
they believe that Moses climb mount Sinai and came back
down with the Ten Commandments.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Moses is a major prophet in Islam. Jesus is a
major prophet in Islam. Abraham is a major prophet in Islam.
And that's why we're all the same. That's why in
this panel we looked at our commonality that we're all
the same. We all want the same thing.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Everybody wants just a normal family. Educate your kids and
you know, see them grow and have families. We're not different.
The politics is the problem, and the racism and the
bigotry and the dehumanization that's the problem, not really the religion.
It's the abuse of religion.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It does seem that we do a lot of we
I mean society whole. There's a lot of othering of people.
You hang a mantle of this is us and that's them,
and we are people and they are not people or
less than us, and so that justifies anything you would
want to do So if you want to say, have
a like what happened in Australia, we're attacking those people,
(09:56):
those uish people, because we don't believe the way they believe.
That sort of thing. And I think anytime you dehumanize,
that's when it makes it okay to do things in
the name of a religion.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, that's exactly what's going on in Gaza. What's going
on Gaza is a million times worse, a million times worse,
because that's the other ink, because Palestinians, in the Israeli perspective,
are not human, We're not deservant of normal human values.
I mean they look at us as like animals. You're
looking I'm a Palestinian and I'm perceived by those Christian
(10:28):
Zionists as an animal, as subhuman. That's the other ink. So, yes,
we can talk about Australia, but there's a million Australias
every day.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And even you can go to you can take it
the other direction of what happened with Charlie Kirk. It
was kind of the same thing. He was practicing his religion,
he was going out there, he was spreading his faith,
and somebody had a problem with that. A lot of
people have problems. Somebody took it to the point of
I'm going to settle my argument as opposed to with words,
but with bullets.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
But that's criminal. We're talking about a criminality. Same thing.
What happened Australia, same thing. Gaza's criminal. The genocide is
a thousand percent criminal. I'm not the only one that
says it. Everybody's saying everybody that sees it. But the
problem is a lot of that's been hidden from the
news media, and so it was up to social media,
namely TikTok that actually exposed especially to a lot to Americans.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And that's one of the things that we have now
that we didn't used to have, is the way that
we can get videos so quickly and it can travel
around the world. People can see what's happening with their
own eyes.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
They know it's going to get out, but they don't
care because they control a lot of our politicians.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And there's you know, money, basically say control, you mean money,
because there's a lot of strings attached, money strings. And
we send a lot of money to Israel, right, we
send a lot of money ot Israel, and we expect,
among other things, them to be an ally and support
our causes over there. But then we turn around and
they expect a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So they have a lobby called the APAC, which is
America Israel Public Affairs Committee, And APAK comes to a politician, your,
your congressman, my congressman. They come to him and they said,
you have to sign this document and you have to
be pro Israel, and you have to sign that you're
going to send us money. If you don't, we'll take
you out next time, you in your next election. So
(12:13):
they have fear, so they take the money from APAK
and they get compromised. Now, over ninety five percent of
our elected officials take money from an organization that works
on behalf of a foreign entity, namely Israel, without being
registered as AH and a Foreign Registration Act. So so
(12:34):
it's still illegal. Even John Kennedy, you know, called him
out on it, and they were able to. Obviously he's
you know, he was murdered, and there's a lot of
controversy in that regard. But because he called them out
that if you want, if you're called the American Israel
that a public you have to register as a foreign agent.
They never did, so they they they're looked at as
(12:57):
an American organization when they're actually in his really organization.
Among other Israeli organizations working in this country, like the ADL,
the Anti Defamation League, is also an Israeli asset. And
what they do is they compromise your politicians and my
politicians to send them more money. So it's a scam.
It always it's a scam.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Money and politics always causes those sort of things because
we are expecting people to represent us, if we elect
them to represent us, and then they get there. But
in order to be elect it they got to get money,
and they get their money from not us very much.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
So, so they found a loophole, these scammers, namely these Zionists,
they found a loophole that you can buy the politician right,
and then he can send money to your entity, which
is Israel. It's a total scam. It's sad because we
the taxpayers, are paying for that. We're paying not only
for to educate Israeli students and give them health care
(13:50):
and give them bombs and anything they want. We do
that with our tax money. It's obscene.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
It's obscene, and it goes on all the time. Joe,
I don't and I don't want it. Like I said,
this is Christmas time. I didn't want to I didn't
want to take it and to make it a direction.
But I guess what my bottom line I just wanted
to highlight is the fact that people Christians from Palestine,
Christians here in America, Christians all over the world, and
for that may matter, Jewish people and Muslim people were
(14:17):
all celebrating this time of year. And we just we
need to do a better job of, I guess, respecting
each other, respecting life, absolutely, respecting viewpoints, and listening to
one another. I think too often we don't listen enough.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
That's exactly right, John, And that's why we started this
panel because we're actually we're we're all listening together, we're talking,
we're agreeing on a lot of things. It's shocking how
much we agree on. We agree in a lot of things,
and the divisions are minuscule in terms of what we
agree on they disagree on or disagree and I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And so next year I want to I want to
get you and your panelists in because that was one
of the things we want to try and do. We
just didn't have time for Christmas to get it in,
but we want to try and get everybody into our
studios here and have a conversation, open conversation, and let's
let's kick around the especially the those things we don't
don't agree on. Let's let's see if we can find
more agreement.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Absolutely, and that's what we're focused on. We're focused on.
We're all the same. There's no difference between a Christian,
a Muslim, and a Jew. We're all the same. And
especially we all believe in the same God. We have
the same prophets in terms of Abraham Moses, with the
exception of Jesus, and Jews don't recognize Jesus. That's the
only exception.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
And and even that is something that you know, I
think we could still agree that murder is bad. That
that you know.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It's that simple, John, It's really that simple. How we
get That's how you got.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Your father and your mother all those things.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Is rocket science. It's really simple. That's how we get along,
as this panel of a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim.
That's how we get along. Because there's a lot of
things that we agree on, and it's glaring. What's wrong
in front what we see is glaring.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's glaring.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So bottom line, try and enjoy the season and try
and find love and understanding for your fellow man as
we go into Christmas, Hanukah Ramadan. Whatever it is you
celebrate this time or nothing. If you celebrate nothing, that's
okay too, but just still have that respect.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Certainly, certainly.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Joe Abbott, thank you so much for joining us this week.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Thank you and wishing everybody. I'm merry Christmas as well.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
And you are listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama
Radio Network in as the holidays draw close, this is
the time of year when a lot of us take
stock and look at all the blessings we have and
also think about those who are less fortunate than us.
There are many here in Birmingham who, for whatever reason,
they find themselves living on the streets. Many of these
people are what you might call chronically homeless, and we
(16:34):
see them living in public parks or hanging out on
the on rams asking for money. And the problem here
is twofold, because there's an impact on the quality of
life of all of our communities, but also there's a
person who needs help. Today I want to talk about
both of those things with Artie Gilbert. He is the
director of Birmingham operations with Urban Alchemy, Artie, welcome to Viewpoint, Alabama.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Thank you. It's not under pleasure, Arty.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I wanted to talk about Urban Alchemy because is is
this a new organization? I had not heard of it
before here in Birmingham.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Right in Birmingham. Yet it's new in Birmingham. However, we
the co founders, doctor LANDA. Miller and c O. Bay
Ron Wilson, co founded Urban Alchemy at twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And are you talking here in Birmingham or you mean
it's a national organization right right?
Speaker 5 (17:20):
It was derived in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, and
then it expanded from Los Angeles to Portland, to Austin,
to Birmingham, to Atlanta, Denver, as well as Santa Fe.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And we've one of the reasons why I came to
know about you in the organization specifically is because we've
been having a recent problem with I would call it
the chronically home was not somebody who say they're outside
for a night, but these are people who they are
on the streets for long periods of time, and a
lot of times they're camping out in some of our parks.
And that's causing problems, and I know mayor Woodfin is
(17:56):
trying to work on it. But at the same time,
it's not an easy problem to solve.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
No, it's not an easy problem to solve because one
of the primary things is have enough enough available beds.
The other agencies are supporting very well out here, Shelters,
first House Pathways, Jimmy Hale Mission and so on and
so forth have been very very supportive. But we can
get more beds right.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
We actually do a lot of work with the Jimmy
Hale Mission and as well as Jesse's place in some
of the other organizations like that, because there are women too,
it's not all men. What are some of the things
specifically in our community that we need. You see more beds,
but how do we get more beds? And I guess
more beds and places for those beds. How do we
get that right?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
A great question.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
We get more beds by creating more shelters as well
as microhomes or building that could be creating to a shelter,
and there we can have more available beds.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
And Ernie, that is a great point because I think
so often people they look at the immediate they think, well,
if we just give these people some money, it'll it'll
help them. But a lot of times it's not just
about just giving them money. It's about putting the money
in responsible hands to use the money responsibly to get
them back on their feet and out there. You know,
most people they want to have the dignity of providing
(19:13):
for themselves. And it's not just a handout, it's a
hand up.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Yeah, as you just stated, it was a great point.
The individuals that is out there experiencing homelessness that's been
chronically experiencing homelessness mentally, they have been lost and they
have to return and it's important to be patient to
walk them back through that process. Everyone don't need the
same needs, don't need the same assistance. Some need a
medical facility, emergency medical facility. Some need a drug treatment.
(19:38):
Some just need to get into place like a shelter
and just a safe haven to where they can get
them bearings back together so they can get back out
in society and get their IDs, get their soci security cards.
And that's the thing that individuals need because they have
to start working to be job readiness and all these
other different things, so they need vital documents.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So it takes a lot of time and patience to
work with them.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
You're right the document thing. I've heard that before that
a lot of people we don't think about these people.
They probably are in a position where they don't have
their birth certificate or their driver license. They might not
have ever even obtained a driver license. It's possible that
they don't have that because they've never had the ability
to get at social Security cards, and so are there
organizations that help obtaining those things for these people.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
We are like a bridge.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
We make the connections with the individual that's experience and
homelessness with any service provider that can help them with
their needs. So if they need the ID, they need
the Social Security card, we can go to East Lade,
we can go to different agencies that can help work
and support with that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm
speaking right now with Urban Alchemy's Alardi Gilbert. Already tell me,
because your organization, Urban Alchemy, you do a good job
of finding positions for people who might have also been
in a place like a lot of these people are.
Can you tell me some of your story.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
The organization Urban Alchemy, ninety six percent of our hire
employees even up to the executive level. I have been
formally incarcerated as well with lived experience me personally. I
spent twenty six years in prison. I went in when
I was nineteen and nineteen ninety I parode and twenty sixteen,
that's when I was introduced to the fabulous doctor Laana Miller,
(21:18):
CEO for Urban Alchemy. She brought me on board, mentored me,
and walked me through the process re entering and reacting
making back into society because it was a lot of
things that I missed throughout my youth.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Once she gave me a job.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
We first started off cleaning toilets and I did a
fabulous job. I looked that was my first job in
society I ever had in my life, so I took
care of it like it was a brand new car,
five star hotel.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So many you hear about this so often when people
go into incarceration a young age, and they basically they
never they don't they can't stay out because they don't
know anything but that life.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
How did you break out of that?
Speaker 3 (21:53):
I had to reach out for help.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
I started going to self help groups, anger management, victim
impact reallyunderstand how people are impacted by being victimized. I
took so many different classes. Then I started reading a
lot of books, self help group books.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I did a thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Day session with a clinician that helped me to walk
back through my life. That helped me to connect the
dots why I had went off course. So it took
a little time to make a transformation, not just a change,
because the change can go back, but to work through
the transformation.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
That's how development got here.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And not everyone is as fortunate as you to be
able to go through that. Is that just there's not
enough of that available resource wise? Or why doesn't everyone
do what you did?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Just what you just stated, not enough resource.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wise because without that, if you're released from jail at prison,
you're out on and you got because when you're released,
I have to admit I've not been through it, but
I've chet it on TV, and normally it looks like
you're basically dropped off with it. Here's what you came
in with, and here's a couple of blocks. Good luck,
and that's not very much the restart of life.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Right basically, that's what it is.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Fortunately for myself, in California, they have transitional homes available
so the transitional home, you can stay there for six
months and then you could reapply for another six months,
and that can help you to be stationary and stay
within your structure all the things you learned in prison
before you were parole. You have to do a breathalyzer
in and out, you have to clock in, you have
to come in at a certain time. You can't stay out,
(23:19):
or you can get rolled up. So it's a lot
of policies that keep your foundation and your structure. So
if we can have more available transitional homes when people
parole after being gone for so many years and not
be a burden paroleing back as an adult in their family,
they can get the adequate and the proper support through
certified counselors that can walk them through the process of
being back in society.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
You mentioned California. Do we have something like that here
in Alabama?
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Yeah, we have a few, but if we can work
to get a little more, get it more. But it's
a few.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Around because that seems like something that I know Governor
Ivy has been talking about how we need better facilities
and more facilities to house people. But I would think
another thing is we need more facilities to help transition
people because the ultimate goal in a lot of cases
is reform. I mean, you're a productive member of society now,
and it might not have gone that way for you
(24:08):
had you not had an opportunity like that.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Almost most definitely, hands down. If I wouldn't have had that,
it's no telling what would have happened. I was gone
since I was nineteen. I was in prison for nineteen
years old, and I paroled when I was forty six.
That's a big gap that's not guaranteed. Because I read
all the books, I became spiritually inclined. I saw the
clinician that didn't guarantee that I wouldn't go off course
(24:31):
being influenced, being triggered by some of the old things
that I'd done before I went to prison, Having a
transitional home, having people that's right there available who could
make sure that I show up the class day in
and day out. When you leave, you still got to
do a breath of liz or test when you come
back in.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
You have to do that.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
It's certain things that you have to do that kept
me in a form and a structure that I had
built through in that transformation in prison before I paroled.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So your work with Urban Alchimy, it's sort of a
labor of love because something that you feel you have
a heart for these people because in a lot of ways,
you can look at them and see how you were
kind of there and you could ended up there again.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Almost definitely, Urban Alchemy stands on our foundation of trauma care,
trauma informed care, and when we go into everything, we're
going in from a reflection of what we've been through.
That's why we're so high on emotional intelligence because when
we were in prison. Myself, when I was in prison,
it was a lot of things that I had to
learn and adopt and adapt in that type of environment,
(25:30):
you could lose your life, You could be stabbed, you
could be jumped on. So I had to be focused
and understanding that everything is a fine line. And going
through that it put my mind through some certain things.
So to be able to parole and to land right
in the hands of Urban Alchemy, Doctor Lanam Miller, it
was a very beneficial support system.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Ernie, how much of prison is about punishment? How much
of it is about reform? Because it seems like a
lot of it is just the punishment, and then we
don't realize that if these people, unless it's a life
without parole situation, they will at some time point come out.
And if they're not learning skills or other ways to
cope on the outside, then they're destined to end up
back there.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
I would take if I take a guess at it,
I say probably probably like sixty percent to eighty percent
is discipline and twenty percent forty percent is to reform.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
I think it should be flip the round.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And of course at one point they need safety not
only for the guards but also for the prisoners in there,
and so that's the reason why they have to keep
things tight and locked down. But if there's not opportunities
to be able to learn skills, because a lot of
people win it up there because they didn't learn skills
to begin with, dropped out of school, or maybe they
you know, did whatever it was. They didn't ever get
a skill that they could use to you know, be
(26:49):
a member of society, and so that's how they ended
up there. So that's why it's so important to be
able to go back and try and you know, help
people get on with their lives and or you know,
return to life whenever time comes.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Almost definitely helping individual We actually hired individuals. When we
open up new sites, they may activating a new location
under a new contract. We hire some of the individuals
that we had to communicate to help them to relocate
out of the alleys and off the street with tents,
and they were hired on with us working through the process.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Some of them directors now.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
Some of them supervisors now, and they're found within themselves
that they are still great. They just needed a path
and they needed to help and handle the support, and
they went back and helped the other ones that that
was in the tents to get up off their feet
and become a part of urban Alchemy.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
So if people are interested in want to find out
more about urban alchemy, you know, it's a hard phrase
to say, I keep messing about urban alchemy.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
They need to There's a website, right.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It's a website urban Dashalchemy dot us.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And specifically to get involved here in Birmingham. Do you
need I know you said you employ a lot of
people who are recently out of incarceration, but do you
have any people who volunteer just to you know, maybe
have a heart for that sort of thing, even if
they haven't been through the process.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
So right, so, right now, because of the structure, we
haven't really opened up into like the volunteering yet. However,
we don't know what the city will allow us eventually
to do or to be available a part.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Of heart and what we representing Birmingham. We don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
We just you know, hopefully and if people want to,
because I imagine it takes a lot of money to
run an operation like Urban Alchemy. Do you get funded
federally through state grants or through donations all the above?
Speaker 5 (28:35):
That question would be more for my co founders, my
co founders doctor LANDA.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Miller and bay Ron Wilson.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I was well, I was wondering, you know, if people
wanted to, like, say, contribute to the so.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
On the website, if they want to give a donation
that website I just gave, they can go to that
website and in a show where you could donate. Yeah, yeah,
we can receive a donation and we will be happy
to have that support.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
I've never known anyone to turn down money.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
So yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes we do. My
apologies I should have been a little more clear.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Okay, well, well, Ernie, thank you so much for enlightening
us on some of the things that Urban Alchemy is
doing in our community, and are there any plans for
expansion into other places in the state Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
Not at the moment, but we pray that it comes
soon because this is a state wide show, so there's
people listening all over the place, and I'm sure they
would be interested in trying to find programs like that
because there are people all over the state who could
definitely be helped by something like this, most definitely Urban Alchemy,
who got our hands up. We're here to help.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Ardie Gilbert, the director of the Birmingham operations with Urban Alchemy,
thank you so much for joining me this week.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
You're welcome and thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
The opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those
of the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
Merry Christmas and for some of you, happy Hanukah. This
is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John
Mount and today I have in studio to speak with me.
I guess who can answer many of the questions we
might ponder but don't have someone to ask, And today
I do Joseph Abbott here in Birmingham. He's a Birmingham
resident and he's a Palestinian Christian, and I want to
(00:22):
explain what that means and how that works into the holidays,
but I actually rather have you do it, Joe.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So good morning, Good morning John. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And understand anything I ask you today. This is not
done out of disrespect, genuine curiosity on my part and
also there's probably going to be a little ignorant, so
just take it with that.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
With that spirit a non taken, non taken John.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So, first of all, I wanted to ask you. When
we say Palestinian Christian, I understand, I think most people
understand Christian means you believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God and he died for the sins of
all men, and that's what you believe in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Right, Yes, So what are Palestinian Christians, right, and Palestinine
Christians are some of the original Christians, the original followers
of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. And we back
in the time when Christ came on the scene, right
(01:18):
about over two thousand years ago, there was in Palestine
there were Jews. Primarily it was the land of Canaan,
but there were Jews, Israelites, canaan Knites are all all
kinds of ethnic communities. And Christ was Jewish and the
Holy Family was Jewish, and so there was a certain
(01:38):
subset within Judaism that said, when Christ came on the scene,
they said, that's the Messiah. He's our teacher, he's our savior.
He's come here to save us.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So we talk about Jewish, we mean that he's lineage,
like he's from the House of David, the house of Abraham,
and that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Lineage lineage through Abraham exactly. And so there was a
certain subset within Judaism that said, you know what, this
is the Messiah, and a certain and the others said, no,
that's not the Messiah. And they still today reject that
he is the Messiah, and they're waiting for the Messiah. Now,
we as Christians. So we we we became christ followers,
(02:16):
ergo Christians or Semitic Christians. So we're actually the Semitic
Christians of the Holy Land, where a lot of people
don't know there are Semitic Christians. There are Semitic Muslims,
and certainly Semitic Jews. Not all Jews are Semitic, and
not all Muslims are Semitic, and not all Christians are Semitic.
But if you're if you're from the area, if you're Jewish,
(02:39):
if you're Christian, if you're Muslim from the area, you're
definitely Semitic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Okay. So and when we say Semitic, we mean that
you're of that lineage.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, some the children of Abraham, that same lineage gotcha.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So in other words, you you would trace back to however,
you're not you you you told me you're not Jewish
in I mean you like I said linear, Yes, but
you're not Jewish the religion.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
No, not the religion. We're Christians, were christ followers, and
we became we're the early Christians. We're the early Christians
because where did Christianity start but in the Holy Land.
So there were followers that started Christianity namely the Apostles, right,
and we are we are of our first apostle that
(03:23):
that we followed was Paul the Apostle, Paul, Saint Paul,
what we call Saint Paul as well.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Do you celebrate in the exact same way that say
somebody who well, let me ask you say Christian like church?
Why so it's a sect, I mean Baptist, Methodist.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Do you have a Catholic Catholic?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Okay, so you're Catholic, Yes, so it's so you would
worship better Catholic church and keep all the Catholic traditions.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's sort of thinking, well, we can go to any church,
we go to non denominational churches, we go to our
own Catholic churches. Yeah we can. We can because we're Christians.
We're just regular Christians.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
But at the same time, you do try to keep
some sort of connection with because you're Palestinian Christians, so
you do try and keep some sort of connection I
guess with the people that came before you in Palestine.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Right, we are strict on our Christian traditions and that's
that's where we that's the only place that we are
comfortable in.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
There's been a lot obviously going on in Palestine, especially
in the last three years, and we've we've talked about
that before. I don't want to go deep, super deep
into that the strife going on over there, But why
do you think that for the last two thousand years
that we've been fighting, how much longer do you think
it's going to last.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's a good question. That's a tough question to answer, certainly,
because you've got to be able to predict the future.
We do know that since Gaza, since the genocide, I
think it exposed a lot. It exposed some of the
issues within Christianity that some churches are silent about genocide,
(04:55):
and it exposed a lot of things within Judaism, split Judaism. Actually,
a lot of American Jews are saying, not in our name,
this is not our religion. That Israel's committing a genocide
in the name of our religion, and that's an anthema,
that's that's disgusting, deplorable, And so a lot of things
(05:18):
that have transpired since Gazan since the genocide is exposed.
If you're a Christian, what do you really stand for? Right?
Do you really stand for human rights? You still? Do
you stand for babies not being slaughtered. That's what Christians typically,
that's that's what we stand for. And it also exposed
(05:41):
Christian Zionism, and Christian Zionism is called sort of a
new theology. I don't I don't think it's a theology,
but they're calling an a theology. You might know it
as Judeo Christianity, and Judeo Christianity is not really a
religion because you're either Christian or you're Jewish. I think
that's the premise when you first started your question, Uh,
you can't be both. There are certain small sects se
(06:05):
cts sex that that claim to try both traditions. I
think they were the Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews, Yeah, but
that's completely different. They're small minority, they're sort of ineffectual,
but they are Christian. The Messianic Jews are actually Christian,
but they kept the Jewish traditions. But they're they're such
a small element that they're not really factor in anything.
(06:29):
Christians or a billion and a half. Judaism for the
most part is split into Orthodox into conservative and the
liberal Judaism, and there and Messionic Jews are not even Jewish.
They're Christian but they keep the Jewish.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Tradition, so they would be the ones who like might
celebrate both Hanukkah as well.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
As conceivably I don't know that for a fact, but conceivable.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yes, because because I because I guess you want to
stay grooted to your roots. But at the same time,
you know, Christianity did did and there was a lot
of things Jesus where he said that was the old way.
This is the new way. You know, we used to
you know, honor on Saturday, now on Sunday. You know,
things like that exactly. So this time of year, there's
there are a lot of people worshiping in their own way.
(07:12):
But also we want to try and come together. Why
is it that man has such a hard time coming together,
because it seems like we all have common goals, we
all want to live together in harmony, yet we're always
at each other's throats.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's funny that you mentioned that coming together, because we
actually started a new project and I think we talked
about that probably maybe futured in a future show, where
where as we started a panel where a Christian, a Jew,
and a Muslim speak with the same voice, one voice
because we're all we're all followers of the same God.
We're all the children part of the children of Abraham
(07:47):
and that same lineage in terms of our not ethnicity,
but certainly our belief system. And so so that's so
we all agree on almost everything. It's amazing that because
we're looking at it from a religious perspective. And if
you're looking at from religious perspective, you have to look
at it from a humanistic perspective, because you know what
(08:10):
God does not want you to murder, right the Ten Commandments,
Thou shall not kill. So that's our first starting point.
So back to Christian Zionism. Christian Zionists break five at
the Ten Commandments right out of the gate. So we
can't be anything like that. We have to be true Christians,
true Muslims, and true Jews. And if you're a true Jew,
(08:32):
you're against what's going on over there. You're against this genocide.
You're against the state of Israel because it's committing a
genocide in the name of Judaism, which is an anthema.
And if you're a Muslim, you're against killing. You're against killing,
and you're against because you believe in the Ten Commandments.
If you're a Muslim. If you're Jewish, you believe in them.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So Muslim people also believe I guess I didn't. Again,
this is agran So in the Muslim Bible or the Koran,
they believe that Moses climb mount Sinai and came back
down with the Ten Commandments.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Moses is a major prophet in Islam. Jesus is a
major prophet in Islam. Abraham is a major prophet in Islam.
And that's why we're all the same. That's why in
this panel we looked at our commonality that we're all
the same. We all want the same thing.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Everybody wants just a normal family. Educate your kids and
you know, see them grow and have families. We're not different.
The politics is the problem, and the racism and the
bigotry and the dehumanization that's the problem, not really the religion.
It's the abuse of religion.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It does seem that we do a lot of we
I mean society whole. There's a lot of othering of people.
You hang a mantle of this is us and that's them,
and we are people and they are not people or
less than us, and so that justifies anything you would
want to do So if you want to say, have
a like what happened in Australia, we're attacking those people,
(09:56):
those uish people, because we don't believe the way they believe.
That sort of thing. And I think anytime you dehumanize,
that's when it makes it okay to do things in
the name of a religion.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, that's exactly what's going on in Gaza. What's going
on Gaza is a million times worse, a million times worse,
because that's the other ink, because Palestinians, in the Israeli perspective,
are not human, We're not deservant of normal human values.
I mean they look at us as like animals. You're
looking I'm a Palestinian and I'm perceived by those Christian
(10:28):
Zionists as an animal, as subhuman. That's the other ink. So, yes,
we can talk about Australia, but there's a million Australias
every day.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And even you can go to you can take it
the other direction of what happened with Charlie Kirk. It
was kind of the same thing. He was practicing his religion,
he was going out there, he was spreading his faith,
and somebody had a problem with that. A lot of
people have problems. Somebody took it to the point of
I'm going to settle my argument as opposed to with words,
but with bullets.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
But that's criminal. We're talking about a criminality. Same thing.
What happened Australia, same thing. Gaza's criminal. The genocide is
a thousand percent criminal. I'm not the only one that
says it. Everybody's saying everybody that sees it. But the
problem is a lot of that's been hidden from the
news media, and so it was up to social media,
namely TikTok that actually exposed especially to a lot to Americans.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And that's one of the things that we have now
that we didn't used to have, is the way that
we can get videos so quickly and it can travel
around the world. People can see what's happening with their
own eyes.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
They know it's going to get out, but they don't
care because they control a lot of our politicians.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And there's you know, money, basically say control, you mean money,
because there's a lot of strings attached, money strings. And
we send a lot of money to Israel, right, we
send a lot of money ot Israel, and we expect,
among other things, them to be an ally and support
our causes over there. But then we turn around and
they expect a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So they have a lobby called the APAC, which is
America Israel Public Affairs Committee, And APAK comes to a politician, your,
your congressman, my congressman. They come to him and they said,
you have to sign this document and you have to
be pro Israel, and you have to sign that you're
going to send us money. If you don't, we'll take
you out next time, you in your next election. So
(12:13):
they have fear, so they take the money from APAK
and they get compromised. Now, over ninety five percent of
our elected officials take money from an organization that works
on behalf of a foreign entity, namely Israel, without being
registered as AH and a Foreign Registration Act. So so
(12:34):
it's still illegal. Even John Kennedy, you know, called him
out on it, and they were able to. Obviously he's
you know, he was murdered, and there's a lot of
controversy in that regard. But because he called them out
that if you want, if you're called the American Israel
that a public you have to register as a foreign agent.
They never did, so they they they're looked at as
(12:57):
an American organization when they're actually in his really organization.
Among other Israeli organizations working in this country, like the ADL,
the Anti Defamation League, is also an Israeli asset. And
what they do is they compromise your politicians and my
politicians to send them more money. So it's a scam.
It always it's a scam.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Money and politics always causes those sort of things because
we are expecting people to represent us, if we elect
them to represent us, and then they get there. But
in order to be elect it they got to get money,
and they get their money from not us very much.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
So, so they found a loophole, these scammers, namely these Zionists,
they found a loophole that you can buy the politician right,
and then he can send money to your entity, which
is Israel. It's a total scam. It's sad because we
the taxpayers, are paying for that. We're paying not only
for to educate Israeli students and give them health care
(13:50):
and give them bombs and anything they want. We do
that with our tax money. It's obscene.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
It's obscene, and it goes on all the time. Joe,
I don't and I don't want it. Like I said,
this is Christmas time. I didn't want to I didn't
want to take it and to make it a direction.
But I guess what my bottom line I just wanted
to highlight is the fact that people Christians from Palestine,
Christians here in America, Christians all over the world, and
for that may matter, Jewish people and Muslim people were
(14:17):
all celebrating this time of year. And we just we
need to do a better job of, I guess, respecting
each other, respecting life, absolutely, respecting viewpoints, and listening to
one another. I think too often we don't listen enough.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
That's exactly right, John, And that's why we started this
panel because we're actually we're we're all listening together, we're talking,
we're agreeing on a lot of things. It's shocking how
much we agree on. We agree in a lot of things,
and the divisions are minuscule in terms of what we
agree on they disagree on or disagree and I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And so next year I want to I want to
get you and your panelists in because that was one
of the things we want to try and do. We
just didn't have time for Christmas to get it in,
but we want to try and get everybody into our
studios here and have a conversation, open conversation, and let's
let's kick around the especially the those things we don't
don't agree on. Let's let's see if we can find
more agreement.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Absolutely, and that's what we're focused on. We're focused on.
We're all the same. There's no difference between a Christian,
a Muslim, and a Jew. We're all the same. And
especially we all believe in the same God. We have
the same prophets in terms of Abraham Moses, with the
exception of Jesus, and Jews don't recognize Jesus. That's the
only exception.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
And and even that is something that you know, I
think we could still agree that murder is bad. That
that you know.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It's that simple, John, It's really that simple. How we
get That's how you got.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Your father and your mother all those things.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Is rocket science. It's really simple. That's how we get along,
as this panel of a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim.
That's how we get along. Because there's a lot of
things that we agree on, and it's glaring. What's wrong
in front what we see is glaring.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's glaring.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So bottom line, try and enjoy the season and try
and find love and understanding for your fellow man as
we go into Christmas, Hanukah Ramadan. Whatever it is you
celebrate this time or nothing. If you celebrate nothing, that's
okay too, but just still have that respect.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Certainly, certainly.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Joe Abbott, thank you so much for joining us this week.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Thank you and wishing everybody. I'm merry Christmas as well.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
And you are listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama
Radio Network in as the holidays draw close, this is
the time of year when a lot of us take
stock and look at all the blessings we have and
also think about those who are less fortunate than us.
There are many here in Birmingham who, for whatever reason,
they find themselves living on the streets. Many of these
people are what you might call chronically homeless, and we
(16:34):
see them living in public parks or hanging out on
the on rams asking for money. And the problem here
is twofold, because there's an impact on the quality of
life of all of our communities, but also there's a
person who needs help. Today I want to talk about
both of those things with Artie Gilbert. He is the
director of Birmingham operations with Urban Alchemy, Artie, welcome to Viewpoint, Alabama.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Thank you. It's not under pleasure, Arty.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I wanted to talk about Urban Alchemy because is is
this a new organization? I had not heard of it
before here in Birmingham.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Right in Birmingham. Yet it's new in Birmingham. However, we
the co founders, doctor LANDA. Miller and c O. Bay
Ron Wilson, co founded Urban Alchemy at twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And are you talking here in Birmingham or you mean
it's a national organization right right?
Speaker 5 (17:20):
It was derived in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, and
then it expanded from Los Angeles to Portland, to Austin,
to Birmingham, to Atlanta, Denver, as well as Santa Fe.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And we've one of the reasons why I came to
know about you in the organization specifically is because we've
been having a recent problem with I would call it
the chronically home was not somebody who say they're outside
for a night, but these are people who they are
on the streets for long periods of time, and a
lot of times they're camping out in some of our parks.
And that's causing problems, and I know mayor Woodfin is
(17:56):
trying to work on it. But at the same time,
it's not an easy problem to solve.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
No, it's not an easy problem to solve because one
of the primary things is have enough enough available beds.
The other agencies are supporting very well out here, Shelters,
first House Pathways, Jimmy Hale Mission and so on and
so forth have been very very supportive. But we can
get more beds right.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
We actually do a lot of work with the Jimmy
Hale Mission and as well as Jesse's place in some
of the other organizations like that, because there are women too,
it's not all men. What are some of the things
specifically in our community that we need. You see more beds,
but how do we get more beds? And I guess
more beds and places for those beds. How do we
get that right?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
A great question.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
We get more beds by creating more shelters as well
as microhomes or building that could be creating to a shelter,
and there we can have more available beds.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
And Ernie, that is a great point because I think
so often people they look at the immediate they think, well,
if we just give these people some money, it'll it'll
help them. But a lot of times it's not just
about just giving them money. It's about putting the money
in responsible hands to use the money responsibly to get
them back on their feet and out there. You know,
most people they want to have the dignity of providing
(19:13):
for themselves. And it's not just a handout, it's a
hand up.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Yeah, as you just stated, it was a great point.
The individuals that is out there experiencing homelessness that's been
chronically experiencing homelessness mentally, they have been lost and they
have to return and it's important to be patient to
walk them back through that process. Everyone don't need the
same needs, don't need the same assistance. Some need a
medical facility, emergency medical facility. Some need a drug treatment.
(19:38):
Some just need to get into place like a shelter
and just a safe haven to where they can get
them bearings back together so they can get back out
in society and get their IDs, get their soci security cards.
And that's the thing that individuals need because they have
to start working to be job readiness and all these
other different things, so they need vital documents.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So it takes a lot of time and patience to
work with them.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
You're right the document thing. I've heard that before that
a lot of people we don't think about these people.
They probably are in a position where they don't have
their birth certificate or their driver license. They might not
have ever even obtained a driver license. It's possible that
they don't have that because they've never had the ability
to get at social Security cards, and so are there
organizations that help obtaining those things for these people.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
We are like a bridge.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
We make the connections with the individual that's experience and
homelessness with any service provider that can help them with
their needs. So if they need the ID, they need
the Social Security card, we can go to East Lade,
we can go to different agencies that can help work
and support with that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm
speaking right now with Urban Alchemy's Alardi Gilbert. Already tell me,
because your organization, Urban Alchemy, you do a good job
of finding positions for people who might have also been
in a place like a lot of these people are.
Can you tell me some of your story.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
The organization Urban Alchemy, ninety six percent of our hire
employees even up to the executive level. I have been
formally incarcerated as well with lived experience me personally. I
spent twenty six years in prison. I went in when
I was nineteen and nineteen ninety I parode and twenty sixteen,
that's when I was introduced to the fabulous doctor Laana Miller,
(21:18):
CEO for Urban Alchemy. She brought me on board, mentored me,
and walked me through the process re entering and reacting
making back into society because it was a lot of
things that I missed throughout my youth.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Once she gave me a job.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
We first started off cleaning toilets and I did a
fabulous job. I looked that was my first job in
society I ever had in my life, so I took
care of it like it was a brand new car,
five star hotel.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So many you hear about this so often when people
go into incarceration a young age, and they basically they
never they don't they can't stay out because they don't
know anything but that life.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
How did you break out of that?
Speaker 3 (21:53):
I had to reach out for help.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
I started going to self help groups, anger management, victim
impact reallyunderstand how people are impacted by being victimized. I
took so many different classes. Then I started reading a
lot of books, self help group books.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I did a thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Day session with a clinician that helped me to walk
back through my life. That helped me to connect the
dots why I had went off course. So it took
a little time to make a transformation, not just a change,
because the change can go back, but to work through
the transformation.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
That's how development got here.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And not everyone is as fortunate as you to be
able to go through that. Is that just there's not
enough of that available resource wise? Or why doesn't everyone
do what you did?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Just what you just stated, not enough resource.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wise because without that, if you're released from jail at prison,
you're out on and you got because when you're released,
I have to admit I've not been through it, but
I've chet it on TV, and normally it looks like
you're basically dropped off with it. Here's what you came
in with, and here's a couple of blocks. Good luck,
and that's not very much the restart of life.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Right basically, that's what it is.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Fortunately for myself, in California, they have transitional homes available
so the transitional home, you can stay there for six
months and then you could reapply for another six months,
and that can help you to be stationary and stay
within your structure all the things you learned in prison
before you were parole. You have to do a breathalyzer
in and out, you have to clock in, you have
to come in at a certain time. You can't stay out,
(23:19):
or you can get rolled up. So it's a lot
of policies that keep your foundation and your structure. So
if we can have more available transitional homes when people
parole after being gone for so many years and not
be a burden paroleing back as an adult in their family,
they can get the adequate and the proper support through
certified counselors that can walk them through the process of
being back in society.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
You mentioned California. Do we have something like that here
in Alabama?
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Yeah, we have a few, but if we can work
to get a little more, get it more. But it's
a few.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Around because that seems like something that I know Governor
Ivy has been talking about how we need better facilities
and more facilities to house people. But I would think
another thing is we need more facilities to help transition
people because the ultimate goal in a lot of cases
is reform. I mean, you're a productive member of society now,
and it might not have gone that way for you
(24:08):
had you not had an opportunity like that.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Almost most definitely, hands down. If I wouldn't have had that,
it's no telling what would have happened. I was gone
since I was nineteen. I was in prison for nineteen
years old, and I paroled when I was forty six.
That's a big gap that's not guaranteed. Because I read
all the books, I became spiritually inclined. I saw the
clinician that didn't guarantee that I wouldn't go off course
(24:31):
being influenced, being triggered by some of the old things
that I'd done before I went to prison, Having a
transitional home, having people that's right there available who could
make sure that I show up the class day in
and day out. When you leave, you still got to
do a breath of liz or test when you come
back in.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
You have to do that.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
It's certain things that you have to do that kept
me in a form and a structure that I had
built through in that transformation in prison before I paroled.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So your work with Urban Alchimy, it's sort of a
labor of love because something that you feel you have
a heart for these people because in a lot of ways,
you can look at them and see how you were
kind of there and you could ended up there again.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Almost definitely, Urban Alchemy stands on our foundation of trauma care,
trauma informed care, and when we go into everything, we're
going in from a reflection of what we've been through.
That's why we're so high on emotional intelligence because when
we were in prison. Myself, when I was in prison,
it was a lot of things that I had to
learn and adopt and adapt in that type of environment,
(25:30):
you could lose your life, You could be stabbed, you
could be jumped on. So I had to be focused
and understanding that everything is a fine line. And going
through that it put my mind through some certain things.
So to be able to parole and to land right
in the hands of Urban Alchemy, Doctor Lanam Miller, it
was a very beneficial support system.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Ernie, how much of prison is about punishment? How much
of it is about reform? Because it seems like a
lot of it is just the punishment, and then we
don't realize that if these people, unless it's a life
without parole situation, they will at some time point come out.
And if they're not learning skills or other ways to
cope on the outside, then they're destined to end up
back there.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
I would take if I take a guess at it,
I say probably probably like sixty percent to eighty percent
is discipline and twenty percent forty percent is to reform.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
I think it should be flip the round.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And of course at one point they need safety not
only for the guards but also for the prisoners in there,
and so that's the reason why they have to keep
things tight and locked down. But if there's not opportunities
to be able to learn skills, because a lot of
people win it up there because they didn't learn skills
to begin with, dropped out of school, or maybe they
you know, did whatever it was. They didn't ever get
a skill that they could use to you know, be
(26:49):
a member of society, and so that's how they ended
up there. So that's why it's so important to be
able to go back and try and you know, help
people get on with their lives and or you know,
return to life whenever time comes.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Almost definitely helping individual We actually hired individuals. When we
open up new sites, they may activating a new location
under a new contract. We hire some of the individuals
that we had to communicate to help them to relocate
out of the alleys and off the street with tents,
and they were hired on with us working through the process.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Some of them directors now.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
Some of them supervisors now, and they're found within themselves
that they are still great. They just needed a path
and they needed to help and handle the support, and
they went back and helped the other ones that that
was in the tents to get up off their feet
and become a part of urban Alchemy.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
So if people are interested in want to find out
more about urban alchemy, you know, it's a hard phrase
to say, I keep messing about urban alchemy.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
They need to There's a website, right.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It's a website urban Dashalchemy dot us.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And specifically to get involved here in Birmingham. Do you
need I know you said you employ a lot of
people who are recently out of incarceration, but do you
have any people who volunteer just to you know, maybe
have a heart for that sort of thing, even if
they haven't been through the process.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
So right, so, right now, because of the structure, we
haven't really opened up into like the volunteering yet. However,
we don't know what the city will allow us eventually
to do or to be available a part.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Of heart and what we representing Birmingham. We don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
We just you know, hopefully and if people want to,
because I imagine it takes a lot of money to
run an operation like Urban Alchemy. Do you get funded
federally through state grants or through donations all the above?
Speaker 5 (28:35):
That question would be more for my co founders, my
co founders doctor LANDA.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Miller and bay Ron Wilson.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I was well, I was wondering, you know, if people
wanted to, like, say, contribute to the so.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
On the website, if they want to give a donation
that website I just gave, they can go to that
website and in a show where you could donate. Yeah, yeah,
we can receive a donation and we will be happy
to have that support.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
I've never known anyone to turn down money.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
So yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes we do. My
apologies I should have been a little more clear.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Okay, well, well, Ernie, thank you so much for enlightening
us on some of the things that Urban Alchemy is
doing in our community, and are there any plans for
expansion into other places in the state Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
Not at the moment, but we pray that it comes
soon because this is a state wide show, so there's
people listening all over the place, and I'm sure they
would be interested in trying to find programs like that
because there are people all over the state who could
definitely be helped by something like this, most definitely Urban Alchemy,
who got our hands up. We're here to help.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Ardie Gilbert, the director of the Birmingham operations with Urban Alchemy,
thank you so much for joining me this week.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
You're welcome and thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
The opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those
of the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
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