In a world of mostly strangers.
Chance encounters rarely make us stop
rise above the noise and listen. But
when they do fall, kid once
direction in life can change.
Bethany Lowe's direction first
changed when she moved to Greeley Co.
OK, so I'm from a little town
called prices were Kentucky.
Nothing. It's nothing.
There's like nothing there,
so I moved out here.
I remember June 22nd, 2017.
I remember that 'cause that's
my clean date and then I found
out I was pregnant with him.
August of 2017.
Bethany son was enough to keep her sober.
I see Bobby. She left drugs behind,
but other pieces of home still had a hold on
her, but I was just taught
that you don't mix races.
A white person should be with
a white person and that's all.
I guess people.
They just thought black people
were just like less than you know.
We learn from those we love the
old people who listen to us.
From the beginning,
girl forgot your apples.
Yes, she did. If we're lucky,
the ones we don't love listen to.
I worked at a gas station in Fort Collins.
I saw. This guy come in there.
She was standing behind me and
he was here. She just said,
hey Mr are you going to work out
and heard cool little country draw?
And I flipped around and I was
like why would you think that
and he was buying like them like
fit bars? You know what I mean?
Well you're buying a bar in one of
those drinks and you got them big
old muscles and I was like thank you.
Let's go Tuesday.
Stay busy, hands are up tennis top.
Joe Buckner works out a lot.
He owns this boxing gym.
Just listen to the soothing
sound of my voice.
The lessons this workout tends to bring.
1234 are not lost on him.
Think about what it took to get here.
Be in prison being homeless.
Being poor, most of my adult life,
like all the struggles that a lot
of people face about 15 years ago,
you stay busy.
Joe served time for dealing drugs.
Go **** **** **** but punching
the bag pushes him forward,
punching all the way through that
bag in the direction he always
saw his life going under a minute.
Let's go pick up the pace now, but I
had access to realize that there
was a different life out there.
Understanding can come from a
shared struggle because of his past.
Joe chose to be curious
instead of judgmental. I
just happen to be a person who goes
to the convenience store often.
And she worked there every day. You
know, I've never really like like connected
like this with like. A black person I
could tell we were extremely
different. Sometimes we exchanged a
few words with the people we pass by,
but when two people decide to keep
talking, they begin to understand.
We stand outside and just chat.
We would have like real conversations.
Simple questions had complicated answers
the way it all came up was I
asked her what her son's name was.
This is Aryan. But
we call him Bobby, me,
having been in the prison system
I said like Aryan Brotherhood
because it being all white.
You know we were all white.
The stupidest decision of my life.
Uhm? God, that's
the moment where you look
at someone and you say.
That's insane, or you say.
I'd love to learn more
about why you believe that.
Is that what birds do? What birds do?
Too many people are having conversations.
With the intention of changing someone's
mind instead of understanding their heart,
turns out understanding led to change anyway,
how they get racially profiled because
they might have their hoodie up or
something walking to the store,
but they might have that hoodie up
because it's it's freaking cold outside.
You know what I mean? They they won't.
They ain't got no muffins or something
they want to cover their ears.
When the George Floyd murder happened
in the Brianna Taylor murder happened.
I saw my friend Bethany,
who Pryor had proclaimed to
be somewhat white supremacist.
Posting things in support of these
black people whose lives were taken.
It's literally taught generate
it's generational, you know.
But the cycle breaks with me girl change
because one moment try to get multiplied. She
said it. One day we were standing outside
of the gas station stand outside and well,
I told him he's like my first black friend.
I said I love that you think we're friends
'cause I do too.
Another year later, and Bethany doesn't
work at that gas station anymore.
Man, I'm so happy to see you, I know,
but the friendship stayed the course.
Do we need forks or no?
Do you eat with forks?
Not just. I don't either.
Bethany noticed Joe,
that little bubble in Kentucky.
It's really not the real world.
Joe stopped and listened.
Had I responded how I normally responded,
we would have never had a
chance to be friends. Most
people who cross paths keep
going down the one they planned.
I had that experience and
that was my life experience.
But that's not me. Bethany,
now Bethany and Joe met in the middle.
What do you want to do?
Bethany Strangers who found a
direction to take together,
but we controlled what we could control,
which is sharing our story,
which I think will be
inspirational to some people.
And some people are going to hate it.
God bless him.
A little heart.