- As a kid, I was told, you're either gonna end up dead,
or in prison.
I feel like they jinxed me.
A lot of people kinda look at me as a statistic
because that's what I turned myself into,
but if you really hear what I got to say,
my story and stuff, then it'll speak values.
(upbeat music)
- This is my friend, JJ.
I met him while I was taking
Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, which is a college class
that allows students and incarcerated youth
to learn alongside each other.
This happens at the Green Hill School,
which is a juvenile detention facility for young men
in Chehalis, Washington.
JJ is currently in his third year of taking
the college class at Green Hill.
When he was 16, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years.
Today we talk to him on the four year anniversary
of his arrest.
- Yo, my name is JJ,
aka Baby Cowboy.
My dad the Big Cowboy, and then his little homie's,
Little Cowboy, and then I'm just Baby Cowboy.
I wanted to be like those people that got respect
from doing stuff in the streets.
So that was my idea of a perfect day.
If I got to smoke weed and pop this pills, and go
shoot people; 'cause that's what I grew up to idolize.
It's kinda messed up, huh?
Yeah.
When I was a baby, my dad was still involved
in the gang life, my mom was doing drugs,
in and out of jail, so I was raised by my great aunt,
and my grandparents.
And then both my great grandparents died.
My aunt asked me who I wanted to stay the night with,
and I said my dad, but that was after like,
right as my dad changed his life around.
And then in eighth grade, I came home from school one day,
and I found him dead in my bed, 'cause he had
this stomach problem, and so he died from dehydration.
I went to live with my mom, who just got out of prison.
It's my first time living with her too.
I wanted attention because I just lost my father and stuff,
so I acted out for attention.
And then my mom went to prison, and then I tried
to do good for her, because my father already passed away.
So I tried to do good, and then I got kicked out of school.
But my attendance record was so bad that when
I tried to get into the alternative school
that they denied me.
And then, yeah, the summer came.
I was just in the streets every day.
And so six months after she got locked up,
I got locked up.
- JJ's story is not uncommon.
It's been estimated that one in ten American children
have a parent that's either in prison,
or under supervision.
And if you have a parent that's locked up,
you're automatically at a higher risk for going to prison.
- A lot of people don't got family support.
Like, even though my family has been through
a lot of stuff, like, I got their support all the way.
A lot of people don't have that.
Like people in here get no visits, no phone calls,
no money on their books, no nothing.
So when they get out, they're gonna have nothing.
So those are the people that come back.
- Yeah. - So Thanksgiving of 2012
was the last time I seen all my family together.
- What do you miss the most about life on the outs?
- My mom.
Because she's had a hard life, and I kinda made it harder
because I'm not there for her.
But I be trying to, you know, like, motivate her,
tell her that you know, just because I'm here,
her life's not over.
I just miss being home with my family, period.
I wish I'd a been what people call a square or a nerd.
(laughs)
- You wish you would've been a nerd?
- Yeah. If I could go back.
Since I've been incarcerated, I realize that
my life wasn't over, and I got to step back and realize
where I was wrong at.
And you know, I wanna prove myself to my little siblings,
my little brother, and my little sisters, so that
they can do it too.
So that they can make something of themselves,
and don't end up in a situation like me.
That's really what motivates me.
So that's why my graduation ceremony, I told them
that, this is for you guys.
I did it for you guys.
I'm just not trying to go back to selling drugs,
and stealing, and doing stuff like that.
College class is something that motivates me
to do right in here.
Kinda blew my mind getting into science, and like
in depth about how everything in like, what is it,
the big bang theory, and all that stuff?
That stuff's crazy.
But I got through it.
I pushed myself.
You just gotta push yourself.
And I was reading this book about top 50 colleges
in the United States, and Evergreen was on there.
And I'm like, wow, I go there.
I'm trying to get out with my Bachelor's Degree,
so that way, you know, I can make something of myself.
Education is powerful.
It can take you far in life, regardless of your situation.
You just gotta use your mind.
That's the most powerful weapon.
More powerful than any gun, or any bazooka, anything.
- What do you wanna do once you get out?
- I got this Boys and Girls Club in my hood
that's closed down, and I wanna open it up.
'Cause you know, Boys and Girls Club, it teaches kids
like, how to play sports, and help them with their homework.
But I wanna let them know what they're gonna...
What they're gonna have to expect in life.
And to keep them out of my position.
I know that I got a voice.
I don't really care if it's really like, globally heard,
as long as people in my community can hear about it.
You know?
I got so much love for these negative people.
Like people who are doing negative, I just got like,
'cause you know, I know where they're coming from.
And the positive people.
I got respect for them, because I wanna be them.
Either you get right or you get left.
'Cause if you don't do right, then people leave you behind.
You know, you go astray.
And that's what happened to me.
And then sometimes you gotta sit down to stand back up.
So I'm trying to stand back up tall.
(upbeat music)