Deborah Penberthy interview and Placer High students on bullying and homelessness

I found this letter, it was written 20 years ago Written by a girl, a girl whose face I know Still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought It said things of peace, things of beauty Things of love, they elude me But still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought But still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought But still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought But still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought But still I wonder, maybe I'm not as good as I thought Maybe I'm not, I'm not as good as I thought I thought I'd find when I said no On a clear day, branches of snow A window of white A window that I would know I thought I'd find when I said no On a clear day, branches of snow But first we have on the line Deborah Penberthy And she's going to talk about the song that opened the show I Dream of Peace Deborah, welcome to the Coombran Report Hi Melvin, hi Earlene, thanks so much for having me How are you doing? Oh, just fine Now can you talk a little about How did this song, Dream of Peace, come about? Well, I wrote it a couple years back When I was going through a really hard time And I'm a little bit older and hadn't gotten married I still haven't I hadn't found love or peace But I was still hoping for it And basically I needed hope that I would find love and peace And now I have found love So in some ways I think it was part of my journey to where I am today And I hope it'll help other people reject You know, that temptation to fall into bitterness Or thinking you'll never have the things that you hope for And hold out for love and peace Okay, now we will be playing your video at the end of the show But can you tell us about your upcoming event? On June the 27th, a Sirius Rabbit musical And the July 1st at the Vortex Yeah, so I've written a musical that's also a one-woman show It's a rock musical And it's 12 songs and monologues And it's called Sirius Rabbit So in the show I play a rabbit In a world where rabbits have institutions like universities and theaters You know, if you can visualize it's kind of like an animated film But it's a theater piece And this rabbit is a professor at WeHop University And in the story she starts out wanting to be a hero But she realizes she has to save herself first So it's about kind of how she figures out how to navigate that And I've done some previews of it And people feel like it's really touching and meaningful And it's funny And I hope your listeners can make it out It's just one show for now And it's this Saturday at 3 p.m. in Venice At Beyond Baroque And people can check my website under my stage name My stage name is Cicada Road So it's WWFBroad W-W-W dot Cicada Road And there they can hear the song that you're playing And if they sign up for my mailing list They can even get a download of it And they can find out all details of the piece So it's W-W-W dot C-I-C-A-D-A And then road, like a road or path And they can get all the details about it Mm-hmm And then you wanted me to talk about the July 1st event? Yes, the July, at the Vortex Yeah, so I understand that you have these monthly events Called the Tech Talk Retreats for Skid Row Studios Mm-hmm Yeah, and I'm going to be the featured singer at that And so that's Wednesday, July 1st From 5.30 to 7.30 at the Vortex On Olympic in L.A. And maybe you can fill people in on it About it, I've never had the pleasure of being at one of the events But I understand it's to help people understand How they can use the studios And build their technology and their businesses Okay, and we're looking forward We're looking forward to that And thank you very much, Deborah And we're going to play the video at the end of the show Wonderful, thank you so much, Melvin I really appreciate it I'm looking forward to seeing you soon Looking forward to it Okay, take care Deborah Penberthy Now, I'm delighted to have with us in the studio Pastor Brian And some students from Placer Union High School Mm-hmm Welcome to the Coombran Report Thank you very much Look, let's go around Let's go around Let's go around the table Introduce yourself Tell us what grade you're in Hi, I'm Brenna Bergen And I just graduated from high school And I'm 19 years old Awesome Hello, I'm Jack Chernhom I'm 17 years old And I also just graduated I'm Dante Fox I'm from Placer Union High School I'm from Placer Union High School I'm going to be a sophomore at Placer High School I'm Cody Hitchcock And I also just graduated I'm Alfonso Guido And I'm 18 And I just graduated Placer High School I'm Juan Rojas I'm 16 And I will be a junior next year I'm Pastor Casey Tennant And I'm leading this crazy crew My name's Jackson Charles And I'm a junior next year And I'm 16 And I'm going to be a senior next year at Placer High My name is Adrian Kendiis And I just graduated from Placer And I'm 18 I'm Emily Pruitt And I will be a junior in high school I'm Shelby Kendiis And I'm 15 And I'll be a sophomore Wow Don't they call it Placer Union High School anymore? Wow That long ago, huh? Okay Pastor Brian Eklund Just happy to be back again On the Goom Room Report Thank you so much for inviting us to be here Can you tell us a little about Our listening audience A little about the group And the program you run? Sure You know, this is the continuation For New City Parish The coalition of eight congregations That formed after the civil unrest in 1992 Of one of our really standards One of the We call it the four legs of our table And that is that we want to raise consciousness About our community From South Central down through downtown Skid Row To help others from outside As well as those who live here To understand more deeply Some of the issues that we face In our communities But also to see some of the positive things That we're doing To turn those issues from negatives to positives Okay Now we know We're going to hear from some of the young voices On their thoughts on what it takes To achieve peace In this day and age Especially in light of what would make a young man Go into a church Bible study class And kill nine people And we know that's been on the national news Maybe I'm going to ask the pastor To tell us about that And then we get some comments From the students Yeah, so last Wednesday A pastor and congregants Were sitting together in Bible study African American congregation And a white man Young white man came in And sat down He was greeted He was welcomed And he said, I'm going to go to church Invited into the conversation They had a full conversation A full Bible study And at the end He pulled out a gun And started shooting And killed nine people And injured quite a few The interesting thing From the perspective of this group Is that the pastor of that congregation Was an alum of an ELCA seminary And the man who was shooting Was an ELCA member And so It hits the Lutheran ELCA Evangelical Lutheran Church of America And so It hits even closer for us As Lutherans As members of this body As we Begin to talk about race And begin to talk about issues Around this So that's amazing So Dylan Ruth He was also a member of the organization He was a Lutheran He was a Lutheran And I know the pastor Was also a state senator Yeah He was in the past of the church Now let me ask you this For the other pastors in the room Isn't it the responsibility Of the deacons According to the scripture To provide security In the churches Isn't that part of their responsibility According to the scripture That's laid out in the Bible It's interesting That's not something That we ever really considered In all my years of serving In a church in South Central Melbourne We were always just I guess we just had the kind of faith That everything was going to be alright Except for having our windows shot out On New Year's Eve When we were doing the New Year's Watch It was a pretty It was a pretty safe situation So it was not a consideration for us And I doubt that most of our churches Really would even think of something like that Possibly happening In their congregations Okay let's go around Some comments from the students Who want to start off talking about this Well It was a bit of a You know It was kind of like A situation like You hear a lot of Bad stuff around the world But you know When you hear about Like some random guy Coming right in You know Instantly welcome And then all of a sudden You know You think nothing of it You know He seems like a nice guy But then all of a sudden The whole mood changes When he takes out the gun And it really It kind of Hurts a lot You know To hear something like that Especially you know I You know I like people And And It hurts To hear something like that And the age range Because I think one of the ladies Was 87 Yeah And 74 Mm-hmm And I think it was Six females And three males I think that was Part of it Mm-hmm Any more comments What are your thoughts on it? Mm-hmm Pastor I just want to respond To what you were saying earlier And I I think that I won't do a lot of talking tonight Because preachers can preach Right? Mm-hmm But especially around this issue When we As you said earlier You know It's something we haven't thought about And I think especially As a pastor in the ELCA And as a youth pastor I mean this is an issue That at some level I don't think that We have thought about Right? We have sort of avoided it And played it out Nice And I think that That happens Culturally That And so This is an opportunity For us to really respond And say look Here's our chance To really talk about issues Because Lutherans Are predominantly I mean it's It's pretty white Right? And for this is a chance For us to come together And indeed To think about those issues To think about The level of security Of all of our brothers And sisters That's right And not only in parishes But how can we not think Of all the mosques Around the world In which this damage Is done on a daily basis That's right And more People are gathered For a funeral To say goodbye to someone And 80 people are blown up I mean it's really time For the faith community To take a deep look At who we are And what we believe And to adapt And make the kinds of changes We need to make To reach out to one another To lift each other up In the case of this young man Who seems to be a loner To look To look For ways That we can Outreach And help some of these youngsters And any more comments About it? About Because I want to talk About another issue We also train Military veterans In what we call The Anti-Violence Situation Coping Group And we just train A group of military veterans To go into the Miller School Which one? Los Angeles? Miller School? And they went in To train youngsters How to set up Anti-violence situation Coping groups As conflict resolution groups And we found out That one of the major problems In high school That go all the way back To the youngsters Is the whole concept Of bullying You know Especially A new element That came into play Is cyber bullying also But what are your thoughts On bullying in high school? The effects of bullying And all of that? Well, you know When you hear Like cyber bullying Is like the number one You know Cause of bullying And every time I see bullying It kind of You know Don't you know What that kid's going through? Like That kid's going to be like You know You know Grow up with You know You know Thoughts in his head That he's nothing And you know Come out with something That he's not And you know It's going to hurt him mentally And cause mentally Being mentally You know Bullied Is you know Way worse than just getting You know Beat up And so it's like Once you're You know You got all these thoughts In your head You're going to get like You know Some kind of Suicide thoughts And you know All kinds of stuff And you're going to be Mentally you know Damaged And as a matter of fact They had to study In England That just came out Maybe a couple months ago Where they determined That bullying Do more harm Than domestic violence And I was surprised To see that But they had all of the Results and stuff like that And one of the things That we discovered In our discussion Is that they put So much attention On the person That's doing the bullying And the person That being bullying And we found out That the most important Element Is that third segment That allow it to happen You know We can even Transition that To what we see In Skid Row You know Like L.A. It's a homeless capital But at the same time You probably got More millionaires Than anywhere else In the United States It's a real wealthy area But people Will drive through You know They stop at the light And they may look around They can't wait Until the light Turns green So they can continue To ride on through And we think It's the same thing With bullying The person That's doing the bullying Look at this And allow it to happen And feel that It's not part of Their job To do something about it Anybody else Want to comment On bullying What's that? So my freshman year I came out As gay And Um Okay It like It just Being on the other side Of being like Bullied and stuff It made me really Think about myself And if I was doing Something wrong Or if I was You know Not being where I was supposed to be Because of everyone You know Walking the other way Around me Or whispering As I walked by And so And what grade Are you at now? I'm I'll be a junior And how did you Deal with it? I found This group A support system Yeah Support system And These people really You know Accepted me And And made me You know Be more confident In myself To where I was Okay with it One Um I know how Like How Not how How the bullies Feel But how the people On the other side feel Cause Uh Elementary school All the way to About freshman year Um It's I've been on the Bullying side And It's It's not the greatest Feeling in the world Cause I'm not The biggest kid And so Um You know When Like you said With You know It's not just The bullying Person Or the person Who's being bullied It's people who allow it And You know That That um That right there The people who are Who are not acting up And And stepping forward You know They're just They're just As much of a bully As the person Who's doing the bullying Themselves you know So I feel like It's not just One person It's It's everybody That's around you know Whether you hear about it Or Or you see it You know You're You're part of it So Okay Anybody else Want to say anything About that Pastor Brian The pastors What What are some Of the solutions What do you suggest When um When a person Is dealing When a young person Is dealing with that Uh So One of the things That I always remind My young people Is that Hurt people Hurt people Uh That they're That the bullies Are um Are responding Out of their own Brokenness and hurt Um And it doesn't make it Better It doesn't make it right It doesn't justify The pain Um But for me When these young people Come into my office And talk about Um The things that are Happening in their life I try to remind them Um That First of all They have a safe place Right That they are safe here And they can come as they are That we're not gonna blink I think that's One of the big things Is for For a generation That has said Um That they are more connected Right through Facebook And Instagram And all of these things They're really They're They're not connected at all They don't know how to Interact socially together Um Without their phones Mm-hmm And so I have really worked hard To make it a safe place For them to be able to say Whatever they need to say And be right where they are And I I pray that it's working Mm-hmm Um And that when they do come in And they are being bullied I remind them that That person's working Out of their own pain And brokenness Right And so Um It doesn't permit the bullying But it says You're safe here And let's Let's think about Why these people are responding The way they're responding Mm-hmm And how can we together Support you To make it end Mm-hmm I really have to admire You know Pastor Casey too Up in Here's a church That's up in the In a more rural area And community In Northern California And And We We've found some connections With ourselves Because over the years It was exactly What we found Ourselves doing In the urban Urban core We We raised the question How can we Create a space That In which our young people Feel safe And in which they can Express themselves And be who they want to be The result of that Was an explosive flowering Uh Like the desert Blooms in the spring Mm-hmm Um And it was a wonderful thing To see our young people In In Moving forward With their lives Because they had a place That they could call home A place that was That they could just be Accepted as they were Mm-hmm So I think That's a critical Uh piece And And I really do translate That Melvin To the To the situation With our Our homeless population With Skid Row I just see the same thing That Um These are the The same people That walk by A bullying situation Or the people That are gonna drive Through Skid Row Without looking Mm-hmm And so So we have to just Continue to work With this whole We In Spanish We call the word Conciencia Or Consciousness raising Raising awareness Amongst one another So that we can see the light We can see the good We can see the blessings Around Around us And in other people Mm-hmm Uh what What do you think The responsibility Of the parents In relationship to Um Uh teaching their kids Uh How to deal with bullying And to Avoid being a bully I think the parents Excuse me Just really need to be there For the child Um I don't think there's much That they can do But if you have The support group Especially Your parents Who love you And who've raised you Or people you see As your parents I think That is the most Influential thing For anyone Going through bullying Mm-hmm Um Also Um You The parents just need to be aware That their child Is being bullied Because when I was Being bullied In elementary school And middle school My parents never really knew Because I never felt The point to tell them Because My parents were always At work And they were always doing stuff And they were always busy So You know I didn't have I didn't have someone To tell it to So They just have to make sure That the parents That they know What's going on In their child's life And then they know If the child Is being bullied or not Mm-hmm Why do you think You see so much bullying In the That's one of the things That surprised me To see so much bullying In the The early Ages Mm-hmm Like You know Being bullied Bullying happens Everywhere You know It doesn't matter Where you are You could be in a small town You could be in a big city It doesn't really matter It can happen anywhere And One thing I also noticed That The bully Is also being bullied By their Either their parents Or Their Or Their brothers You know And so They In their minds They think Oh I'm gonna Pick on this Other weaker person And cause you know Just to make himself Feel better Mm-hmm Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah! I'd also like to go back To what Brandon said And that the bullies Are being bullied And it's the It's the point That When kids are little They don't really Truly understand How people How other people feel And they don't have The whole concept Of like Everyone has their own mind And that everyone Is feeling stuff And what they say Actually matters To other people And so The point is Is that anyone Can say anything And it can affect anyone And that's how bullies Are created So when bullies Become bullies They don't They're not You know Totally self-conscious That they are bullies And so they just say stuff And it happens And it's an endless cycle Mm-hmm That's what I feel What's wrong With the problem Of cyberbullying A lot of the times That cyberbullying happens You don't even Know that You're doing it Which is the worst part Mm-hmm Can you talk about that A little bit more? Yeah Um If for instance If somebody Was Felt like Fell out of their chair In class And everybody Started talking about it Behind their back And this kid Was really self-conscious About anything That happened to him Or her Um They would feel really bad Because Everybody would be Talking about it And everybody Wouldn't even know That they were doing this It's Not something Everybody can control But you really have to Pay attention To what you're Doing or saying Because it could hurt people Mm-hmm What Go ahead Another thing About cyberbullying I'd like to add Is that The whole problem About it Is that It's literally everywhere And the internet Makes it so much more easier For it to happen And whenever you say something It just gets out there so fast That no one really knows That it's out there Like you could say something And the person You say something about Would not even know That it's out there And other people Can know that And the really One of the worst parts Is that A lot of things That you can say You can say anonymously On the internet So For instance There's a thing Called Ask.fm And it's It's basically You set up a profile And people ask you questions And for a while there They had a The option to ask anonymously And so people would ask Very You know Very rude Painful Personal questions Anonymously And then You know Sometimes they would say statements And that would hurt And they chose The They chose to take that option off Because of How many hurtful comments Were made Mm-hmm What do you think The steps When someone is being Um Uh! Especially a young person Experiencing cyber Bullying What's the first step You think they should take? Well I think the The first step They They should You know They need to tell their parents One thing Uh But if You don't have If you don't have You know If you can't tell your parents Or tell like a good friend Or tell a teacher Or Anybody that you trust You know Uncle It doesn't matter who it is You know If you trust that person You gotta You know You know Say something Mm-hmm Because you know If you keep it hidden It's gonna eat you alive Mm-hmm Okay Any more comments On uh Uh Another way to Sort of Cure yourself of it Is To just get rid of the social media That It's prevailing on So if you had You know Ask FM And You're getting all these Negative comments Get rid of The account And Then it goes Away Mm-hmm Okay You know I thought One of the most Amazing things That came out Of the tragic Situation Um Was the response Of the family members Who really Uh Um You know Examplified The concept Of forgiveness In terms of Um And And And They even Kind of saw This young man As a A victim Because I think It's plenty Little young men Out there like that That we need to reach We need to figure out Uh Why An individual Would feel A young man A lot of them Pretty close to your age That can feel That this He can find Hisself Uh Where he had to Take a tragic Situation like that Because his life Is basically Over For making Um He got a lot of time To think about this Now Um But let's go to The Other topic I want to talk about Something that you Experienced today And I want to get Your response from it And that's Skid Row The homeless Um Um It was great To see you come down And bring some Hygiene kits And interact With the Community members Down there But what are your Thoughts on Skid Row Anybody want to Pick that up Um First I'd like to just say That it's It was It was just It was just It was It was Really Really Really And, you know, just imagine that in just one little spot area of homeless people. And I really kind of broke my heart a little bit. You know, there's like these people really need help. You know, they need medical care or anything that they need. And, you know, it's kind of heartbroken that, you know, nobody's, you know, there's some people that are helping. But, you know, we need more, to be honest. Okay. Adding on to what Brandon said, I think a lot of the same things occur because coming from a town, a lot of people in this room came from a town of just 16,000 people. And going there where there's over around 25,000 homeless people, it's insane. You can't really take all that in at once. It's just crazy how much stuff can change over your life without even thinking about it. Mm-hmm. Okay. What are you, anybody else want to comment on what are your thoughts when you come down the skid row? I think the worst part was less than 30 minutes away, walking is one of the richest areas ever as well. Mm-hmm. And nothing's being done by them. You know, they have money to spare. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And do you know how much money the city put in? I went to the homeless last year, $118 million. That was the price tag on the homeless. And instead of a decrease, we had an increase. Yeah. Especially down in the skid row area in terms of encampments, in terms of the tents and stuff. They had an 85% increase on there. Yeah. And I always say that, you know, this is the community. This is the communities in the world that the young people is getting ready to experience. And they're getting ready to turn it over to you guys. What do you think are some of the solutions in terms of solving the homeless problem? I think Medicare is the big, you know, they need Medicare because some people, like, I saw, like, a few people, they have, like, mental illness, sickness, probably have cancer, too, also. Mm-hmm. And, you know, and there's no hospitals. And there's no hospitals around. And it's, you know, we need more hospitals because, you know, there's, you know, like, a hospital that, like, really far. Like, if you got, like, a, you know, a wounded arm or you have a heart attack coming in, you're pretty much, you're done. And, you know, your life is done. That's why the, you know, the age is, you know, you don't live very long. And it's sad. Okay. It's the reality, you know. You know. Adding on to what Brandon said, you always hear about a lot of other countries and their Medicare and how it's free. And, you know, whenever you talk to someone about that, they always say, oh, yeah, the taxes are higher, though. But it's just the fact that the Medicare is free. So, you know, we never consider these people, like, the homeless people, and they're going to need this Medicare. And if we, say, if we had free Medicare, they would be able to go in and they would be able to, you know, fix themselves and get fixed and, you know, get treated with sicknesses. So, we need to consider that. Mm-hmm. I'd also like to add on, too, like, I feel Medicare is a big problem for them. But I feel like if they had a solid structure over their head besides, you know, sleeping on the streets with a tent, you know, if they had a solid structure that they know that they could go to every single day, every night, any time, you know, like, not necessarily a house or an apartment. But just, you know, like, like. Even just a fort, you know. It'll give them time. It'll relieve stress off them, you know, because that's one less thing they got to worry about. And when you get a roof over somebody's head, you know, that gives them time to recollect. And they'll be able to get their life back on track from there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Anybody else want to? Yeah. Just to add on what Juan said, you know, yeah, that is also they need housing. And if they have housing and they're under the roof, they can, you know, you know, get their life back on. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They can, you know, you know, get their life back on, maybe get their life back on track if they want to, if they choose it. Mm-hmm. But, you know, they could, you know, get a job. You know, it might not be a good one, but, you know, you got a job that, you know, can help you a little bit, you know. And who knows, you might end up helping the community yourself. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, you got something. Well, how about the church responsibility? Because, you know, one of the, when the Messiah Jesus. You know, part of announcing his Messiahship, you know, he was quoting from the book of Isaiah. And he clearly mentioned the poor. He mentioned the people coming out of prison. You know, this was central to him. So I always felt that the church should be at the forefront of what's happening down here. And now, do you do have, I try to call the task of the Islamic organizations need to get more involved. Because mostly it's a lot of Christian organizations that's down in the Skid Row area trying to meet some of the needs. But what is the responsibility of the religious organization in terms of solving this problem? Especially, anybody want to pick up on that? So I think the religious organization should, you know, practice what they preach. It does say in the Bible to help the homeless feed the hungry. And, you know, it's heartbreaking to think that you can call yourself a Christian or any other religious group. And not help these social issues that you claim to help protect. We had a little experiment with our group yesterday, Sunday afternoon. We drove down through South Central LA, just on Vermont. From Martin Luther King Boulevard down to around Florence. To the heart of the civil unrest in 1992. And I asked some of the young people to count churches along the way. Do you remember what the count was, anybody? Over 100. 36. Yeah, 36. One car got 36. And another car, they got 30. So we know that there are churches all over the place in Los Angeles. In fact, it seemed to me that I remember a count that we talked about. Melvin, there were like 800 religious institutions or churches. No, was it 80,000, excuse me. 80,000 religious institutions in our city-wide area. And what would it be like if every church would actually adopt a homeless? One person. One person, one family. And say, we're going to take total responsibility. And that's the piece that I find is missing. It's nice that we have church groups down here feeding people. And doing some good things for folks. But really, for folks to get out of this situation, there have to be some really serious case study works. One-to-one case study. In essence, everybody needs a person or some people that they can relate to. Or as this youth group has said, what they have in there, they have a community that they can depend on. And it seems to me that every homeless person deserves and merits a community that's stable and solid that can be for them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And to be able to be with them in the hard times, the good times and the bad times. To help them work their way through that process of moving from homelessness to reintegrating back into society as best they possibly can. For all kinds of reasons, some will struggle and not be able to do that. But I think given that kind of a community, given that kind of help, and that is a place the church can absolutely be there, we could start to see a difference. Yeah, because I remember when Pastor Murray was here to speak to us. Exactly. Exactly. He asked him that question, and he said that he thought that every church should have a homeless component to their organizational structure. And if you notice, there was another elephant in the room. Oh, go ahead. I just want to add, there were so many liquor stores, I noticed, too. And to be honest, like, do you really need that much liquor, you know, or liquor stores? Like, it's pretty much there just, you know, to, you know, have people kill themselves. And I remember Casey told me there was a story that, you know, they, some people, a group of community went up to and said, you know, try to fight, you know, say, hey, we don't want, you know, any more liquor stores. But they kind of turned them down and left wondering. And, well, I don't know if that's. Well, it went. I don't really know the full story. Yeah, because we were talking about drugs just a minute ago. And see, one of the paradox in the Skid Row area is the fact that people concentrate on the drugs that they see on the street. Like somebody might be selling some crack or some marijuana or whatever like that. But the biggest drug dealers is the pharmaceutical companies. Because, see, they use heroin. And they get, what is it called, the drugs? The generic drugs. Free. See, and the reason they do that is because they have a controlled population where they can test. Where they can test these particular drugs over a period of time. And then you see a lot of these mentally ill people that might be on three or four different kinds of medication. And they would study the medication. They would study one medication. For the side effects. But they very seldom studied the combination of the side effects. Let me ask you this. Because if you notice, a big elephant in the room down in the Skid Row area, in the conversation that a lot of people want to talk about. And this will lead us into our discussion about race. It's a fact that about 85 or 90%. Of the population that you see in Skid Row. It's African Americans. Now, African Americans make up probably, what, 9, 10% of the population of Los Angeles. That's right. So it should always, why do we have 85% African Americans living down there in the tents and in the Skid Row areas? And also the prison population. But I want to lead into, what are your thoughts? On the racial problem. And I know the dynamics is probably different up north. You know, in the high school in Auburn, in Woodland, you know, Sacramento areas like that. Sacramento probably have a different kind of racial mix up. What are your thoughts on the racial problems or race in America? Anybody want to pick up on that? Well, it's really hard for. This group to really understand any racial tensions. The city of Auburn, the demographics is less than 1% African American. And it's just something we don't see. It's a very, very white town. You see, I think our high school is 20% Mexican American. And the rest is white Europeans. So it's really hard for this group to really. To really get a grasp on any racial tensions that exist in America. Because we're just secluded from it. Great point. I want to add what Cody said. You know, yeah, it is true that we, you know, we don't understand this, you know, kind of thing, you know. And it's, you know, it's tough to grasp, you know, the whole situation of seeing so many African Americans, you know, just laying down on the streets. And, you know, and what really bothers me. Is that, you know, like there's rich people too that can, you know, you know, can, you know, they can pitch in a couple bucks, you know, just, you know, help them. You know, it's, it's hard, you know, it's kind of hard to, you know, grasp the whole thing. Mm hmm. Going back to what Cody said about, you know, people in Auburn, not exactly feeling. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. You know, each, each neighborhood in Sacramento that I've lived in, it's, it's been different. Like I've lived in, in ones that are dominantly Mexicans and then I, or Latinos. And then I've lived in some where, you know, it's, it's African Americans. And, and it's not necessarily where there's still racial issues. It's just, it's more prejudice problems going on. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's not like it's still out there and it's still big. But it's, it's, I mean, it's, it's, and it's a problem that is still happening here in 2015. You know, you would think that everything would be under control or at least, you know, on a settled agreement. But, you know, it's, it's, it's still hard and not, and not necessarily just for the blacks or just for, you know, the, the Mexicans. You know, there's other cultures out there that are, that are, you know, feeling the same thing too. So it's not, it's not just a single. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. It's not just a single race out there. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. It's, it's everyone together, you know. Okay. Yeah. And I just want to add, you know, I, I don't want to, I, I don't want to imagine this, but, you know, like, you know, kids, you know, I saw like schools, they were being barred. You know, they're barred. It's kind of like living in a prison kind of. Mm hmm. It's not, it's not like that up in, you know, Arnold. No, it's not. God, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We talk about that all the time. Yeah. All the time. Mm hmm. Yeah. It's, yeah, I, it's kind of like living in prison, you know. I just saw it and, and I, I don't want to imagine just every day living in fear, like, hey, you know, this could be my last day to, you know, to live or, you know, I'm afraid to go outside and, you know, like, could be, you know, somebody coming right at me or, or anything can happen. It's kind of like living in a battleground. It's kind of like living in a battlefield, kind of. What, what, how about the gang situation up there in, in Auburn? What gang? What gang? Yeah, what gang? Oh, really? Yeah, there's. I really want to, I want to, this is a good teaching moment. Mm hmm. For me to say, Cody, you said, you know, we don't feel those racial tensions. But you can say that as a, as a white young man, right? I mean, but if you ask your Latino friends or, or your Asian friends, they're not going to be your friends. They will tell you something probably completely different. And I think that that and, and we, and I even as someone who grew up in a predominantly Latino community and living closer to Auburn and working there, I mean, when you talk to people it's, oh, we're not racist here. We're not racist. But it's easy to say that when you live in a community that predominantly is white. And so I think that the assumption, right? I mean, when we talk about the shooting. I think that the, my young people are appalled because that's not the world, sadly, that they live in. They, they have blinders on. And so a part of being here and a part of helping them have these experiences is so that they can, their, these blinders and lenses can be removed. Mm hmm. And that they can see the world more clearly and more directly to, so that they can have these sorts of conversations. And to begin to deconstruct in their, back in Auburn. And hopefully in the rest of their lives. Deconstruct some of this. I mean, I think that is my hope. And that's what we should continue to do is to show up and to say, these are the harsh realities for people of color. This is disproportionately what is happening in our country. And this is our, and we are, we are a part of that. And how do we deconstruct that? And so, I mean, that's. Beautiful. So. Mm hmm. You watch. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. But when you go back down to the Auburn Greens, there's predominantly Mexican. And I used to live out in the Greens for a couple years, and there was talk that there was a gang. I don't know. I don't know, but they said there was some shooting. There was helicopters sometimes going around my neighborhood. Or graffiti on the playgrounds. I don't know. I'm not a big old expert on it. But there is some Mexicans that are out there, but I don't think they're out there anymore because of the whole ICE thing. I think it was about summers ago. There used to be an undercover black cop car, and they would know that, oh, it's summertime, so this is going to be a good day to get Mexicans and deport them or ask them for their papers and all that stuff. And a lot of people knew that they had to stay inside. So it was really quiet. The parks were all empty, almost empty. They were always inside. And this was like a call like, oh, we don't think we should hang out at this time because, oh, they must be looking around the neighborhood to get whoever is, or if they're Mexican, we're just going to be like, hey, do you have papers? And if they don't respond in English or whatever, they'll just take them on the spot. Yeah, and that's one of the major problems down here is families dealing with that whole immigration issue. Mm-hmm. Okay. I was going to add on to the gang thing, too. Back then, too, like back in the 70s and 80s, you know, there was really only, there wasn't as many gangs as there are now. And that's what I feel like with now. It's more of a problem with like wondering what gangs are out there because there's gangs no one's ever heard of. But they're, you know, and those are the ones we should fear the most because, you know, you don't know what they look like, who they are, what kind of race they're coming from. You know? So, you know, the ones that, you know, are just being formed or are recently new, you know, that aren't primarily known in areas like L.A. or Sacramento or any major gang capital of the world, you know, it's different. You know, like in Salinas back when my dad was growing up, you know, that was the number one murder capital in the U.S. And, you know, it was primarily two gangs, you know. And now it's completely different if you go back down there, you know. I mean, it's still high up there with the murder rate. But, you know, everything's changing, you know, as we advance and everything that we do now, you know, it's, you know, so does everybody else. And so I think the ones that we don't see out there are the ones that we should fear the most. Yeah, and we're dealing with, as a matter of fact, we got a program tomorrow up in Pasadena. We got this piece called If the Shoe Fits. And it's about solitary confinement. It's about a lot of little young gang members. Who went in during the 90s and now they're 45 and 50s. And most of them that go through there end up in solitary confinement because of the gang thing. And it's a lot of stress, drive most of them crazy. But what I want to get into, we're starting to go around. I'm interested, especially hearing from a couple more of the young ladies over here. I want to know what are your future plans? You know, what do you got lined up for the future? You want to start over here? What do you got planned for the future? What do you want to be? Student? Yeah, what do you want to be? Doctor? Lawyer? Actor? Radio announcers? No. I plan to be a physical therapist. I want to go to school because I went through a lot of physical therapy with, like, my legs and stuff. And so I think physical therapy would be an amazing thing to be able to help people. Great. How about you? Oh, um, okay. So I've always wanted to be, like, a teacher because, like, I have so many little siblings. And I just love teaching them about, like, what I'm going through or, like, how middle school or elementary school is so much different from high school or, like, college or something like that. Or, like, the grown-ups that I've grown up with. And then, like, my dad recently got his two kids. And so I've had to teach them about, like, what school is and, like, how to read and, like, that's just, like, something that I love doing. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, what are your future plans? What are you... Well, I am a... I know I'm going to school and that's, like, where I'll figure everything out. But I've always had, like, interests in music and sciences and things like that. Mm-hmm. So I don't really... You a musician already? I play a little. Tarzan. That's about it. Mm-hmm. Okay. I see the pink floor. I got you. Cool. Right now, I have plans for college and therefore after. But basically, I don't know what I want to get into, but something that has to do with math and sciences. Mm-hmm. My future plans is to be like Pastor Brian. Okay. Yes. Detroit. I plan on getting out of high school, graduating high school, first of all. And then... Okay. And then going straight to a four-year university. And try to stay in California. If not, you know, do what I got to do. But I'm trying to go into, like, a recreational type area. Like a recreational park ranger, you know? A fishing game warden. That's primarily what I'm trying to be. You know, out there more hands-on. I'm not trying to be, like, stuck behind a desk, you know, working eight to five. So I'd rather be out there with the program. So... I'm... Okay. Okay. Graduated high school. Okay. College. What I'm focusing on is psychology and sociology. Psychology mostly for adolescent, the adolescent mind. And sociology because I like to help people. And... Good for you. Okay. And vocal performance because I like to sing because I was in choir in high school. Okay. So I want to be a videographer and create films sort of exposing some of the stuff that we saw today. So you want to be a filmmaker? Yeah. Wonderful. What I want to do is I want to go to Sierra College. They have a really good RN program there. And before I get into any RN programs, I'd want to go into an EMT program. Because I feel like that would be what would be my... That's not suited for me. Okay. Wonderful. Right now, I'm looking into going into a computer science program. But that's pretty flexible. I'm not super committed. Pretty much anything with math is what I'm looking at. But... Okay. And we're winding down. We've got a little over a minute. Well, right now, I'm kind of debating either photography or music. I love photography. I like making captions and, you know, seeing... You know, the view of the world. And you're a musician, too? Yes, I'm a musician. And I also sang with Alfonso. We sang together. Yeah. Yeah. And I am looking forward to music. I'm planning on going to Sierra College. Well, I'm not going to choir music because I heard it's not that good. Okay. Look, we don't want... We got about 30 seconds to go. Professor Brian, can I get you to say about 10 seconds? 10 seconds worth. 10 seconds worth. I just wanted to comment on how interesting it is to see this theme of bullying that you brought up, Melvin, as these young people are experiencing it here, but also tied in with racism. Because isn't it the same thing? People who don't feel good about themselves are putting down other people because of their race. And so it's really another style of bullying. And it's something that we need to really be conscious of in our culture. Okay. Thank you very much. We could have went on for another hour here. Thank you. I would like to extend a special thanks to Pastor Brian from New City, Paris, and the students from Placer High School. Please listen to past shows of the Qumran Report by Googling in Qumran Report. Thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Report. And from your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, co-host Earlene Anthony, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with the video, I Dream of Peace, by Deborah Penberti. Thank you. It said things of peace, things of beauty, things of love, they elude me. Maybe I'm not, I'm not as good as I thought. I'm not as good as I thought. But maybe I'm not as good as I thought. But maybe I'm not as good as I thought. Thank you.