All Hands on Deck American High School


All Hands on Deck

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If I had to describe OW in one word - a real diamond.

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Mind-blowing.

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Surprising.

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Drama.

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Swag.

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Over the top.

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Just crazy.

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Oh, my God.

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-Problems.

-Discombobulated.

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This ain't no fairy tale high school.

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This ain't no fairy tale story.

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Everything is real here.

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2016!

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OW receives black people 98% of the time.

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You share pain, you share tears,

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we are lifelong friends forever.

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Teachers, please close all doors, we are in an active hall sweep.

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I'm a senior, and it's make or break time for me.

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I'm about to get ready to leave high school.

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Y'all going to jail, because y'all in a stolen car.

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Come on, Ry-Ry!

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Oh, I love you, man.

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I am so proud of you,

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because I know that you have overcome obstacles

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to make it to this day.

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CHEERING

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It is going to be a wild ride.

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So tell me, MacKenzie, what do you want at your party?

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Whoever took the phone, you're not a very good person.

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It's sad that her birthday party has to come to this.

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What if you had hit somebody?

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I was being careful.

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No, you wasn't, because you ran a red light.

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She put me out, but I understood why she put me out.

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This shower is about Harmoni.

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I appreciate everybody for coming today and everything.

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I appreciate you supporting us and everything.

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Oh, look, my baby's going back to school.

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I'm scared. I don't want to be a failure.

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In God's hands.

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Morning, ladies.

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Welcome back. Welcome back.

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We're back from spring break,

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and I was hoping you would have your pants up by now.

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Prom is the 23rd.

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April 23rd, yeah.

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Yeah, they're ordering clothes and stuff.

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It's going to be a big night.

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Yeah, it's going to be a big night.

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So today we kick off that last leg in this race.

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I've... I've often seen it written that the race to excellence

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has no finish line.

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But we have to have a finish line here this year.

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And we're about to cross that line for seniors.

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Let's go. Let's go, y'all.

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Morning. How you doing?

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How was your break?

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Good. Let's go, y'all.

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Good morning, faculty, staff and students.

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Welcome back from what I assume was a wonderful spring break.

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Reminder - vintage Hollywood. April 23rd, 2016

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at the cinema room here in Orangeburg.

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This is a prom to remember.

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So, pretty much, we know we want flashing lights.

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You know, we want vintage Hollywood.

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How are you going to put it?

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Flashing lights and vintage Hollywood?

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Should we order, question one,

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should we order the whole kit on page two and three?

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No.

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What's the price there?

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A big deal?

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Of course.

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Like, it's senior prom.

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Like, it's going to be lit.

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Oh, my God!

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I cannot wait.

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Vintage Hollywood - a glamorous affair?

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Y'all not feeling that? No?

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OK.

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I like the glamorous affair! Affair.

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No, I don't have a date, but that's fine.

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I'm still going to slay by myself.

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Hollywood is really for those who know what prom would look like.

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-Yeah.

-So you want the columns and...?

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I like the gold on page...

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I was mad at the fact that Breezy put me out.

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Because she knew that I didn't have nowhere else to go.

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And that's, like, hurting me a whole lot.

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That hurt me, and that's when I really knew, like,

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it was done.

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The support that I had was lost.

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And I just felt like I got a little too comfortable.

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And I felt like that's what messed everything up,

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when I got too comfortable.

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My father's been locked up for six or seven years.

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But he's got one or two more years,

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we're not really worrying about how long he's been in jail.

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I'm just ready for him to get out.

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I wish I was at school.

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School, school, school.

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Dear Miss Rodriguez, a hearing was scheduled

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on Thursday March 17th, 2016.

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As a result of the hearing,

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Anthony will attend Brother's Keeper Alternative School on Monday.

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It encourages that Anthony enrols in an anger management programme.

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Yeah.

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He will not be returning to OW.

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You can't go to college in these kind of programmes.

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A kid that's constantly in trouble.

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In away, I'm kind of upset by the decision, but I guess...

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I guess they knows better.

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I guess they know better.

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Only thing I'm scared of is being a failure.

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I do not want to be a failure.

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And that's probably it.

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That's my one thing - do not be a failure.

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All radio holders, 1083.

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All radio holders, 1083.

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All I did was defend myself.

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To the point where you're fighting, that's certainly not necessary.

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-I didn't want to fight her.

-Then why'd you get up first?

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I'm not a fighter. She stood up first, Miss Smalls.

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All I did was tell a boy not to let her get to him,

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because I wouldn't let her get to me,

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and she was standing targeting me too.

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She stood up at her chair, then she was about to come and fight me,

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so I stood up out my chair,

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because I didn't want to get beat in a chair.

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And everything happened so quick.

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What am I supposed to do?

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You know what the punishment is for fighting, correct?

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It was self-defence, though.

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Who hit who first?

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She got me on the ground, was kicking me.

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There's video, probably, somewhere.

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You can see how everything happened.

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Your version, is that the same version

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everyone else has in the room?

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There's video... Ask the teacher, how about that?

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-I did that.

-What did he say?

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That you were up first.

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That I stood up first?

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Mm-hm.

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Well, if that's really how it is,

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then I guess that's how it's meant to be.

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I guess that's how the world turns.

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I shouldn't get in trouble for just trying to do the right thing,

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I'm telling you.

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Dr Peters, you have a parent waiting for you at the front office.

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10-4.

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Hey, Ms Williams.

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How are you?

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Tell Miss Smalls that we'll be in my office, OK?

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If Mykenzie stood up

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because the girl is now in her personal space, and she's like,

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"I'm not going to sit here and get hit," that's one thing.

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But if she stands up to say, "You want to fight?"

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that's a trigger. And for these children,

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somebody standing up is a challenge.

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It says, "Come on, let's fight."

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Why should she be the one to have to back down from what is right?

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And allow what is wrong to continue?

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She's saying to herself, probably - now I'm thinking in her head -

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that, "I don't care if I'm a white girl in a black school.

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"I'm just going to be myself, and I should be allowed to be myself."

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And she's right.

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She's right. She should be allowed to be herself.

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-But there's rules.

-But is it smart?

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We - you and I and everybody in this school, and you at home -

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have to teach her how to read her environment.

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And to say that, "It's not going to be safe for me to jump into this."

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She's got consequences to face when she gets home for this, obviously.

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I am one of the only white people here at the school.

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And Mom knew that was going to be the case

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and I knew that was going to be the case.

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We chose to go to OW, because a lot of white parents

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are sending their kids off to private school

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and schools like that,

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so their kids don't have to be in an environment like this.

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When I first came here,

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I had positive energy and everybody was afraid.

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Now, it's like I don't trust anybody,

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you can't get to these kids,

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keep your mouth shut and stay as visible as possible.

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You still appear to be going right at her.

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Adrenaline. Adrenaline, was right there.

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You didn't see where she hit me first, Momma.

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See, she's hitting me.

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And I'm just trying to block my face.

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When somebody hits you,

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it's human nature.

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Had you ignored her, we wouldn't be having this situation.

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But, Momma, you gotta put yourself in my shoes

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as a student in that school.

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You said for me to put myself in your shoes as a parent,

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and I did that. And I can see where you're coming from.

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If my child got suspended for ten days at school,

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I'd automatically want to punish them too.

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But put yourself in my shoes as your daughter in a school like that.

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I'm not... That's not fair.

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OK, no, just listen to me, it is fair, Mommma, get out the gutter.

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It's fair. From your perspective, I see how it could be unfair.

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But from my perspective, being the person in the school, it's fair.

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Because you've got to put up with it, you can't speak up for yourself,

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you can't defend yourself all the time,

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or it's going to start something with somebody.

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You gotta just take it, every day.

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You gotta take it as it comes to you, and say,

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"I'm better than that."

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It's not a race thing, no, but it's a culture thing.

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It's a way of who you are, in that school.

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If you don't follow up with what they're doing

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and how they act and all that... Momma, you are singled out.

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Dr Peters was kind of saying the same thing.

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He was saying that, somehow or another, you are in a culture,

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and a world now that you don't understand.

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He says that we need to keep you safe

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and that you understand that people in this culture

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take things differently.

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And I really have to say, I thought that, on the way here,

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I thought I was going to say something totally different,

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and I'm going to tell you this, and I hope that, one day...

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..that I won't regret saying this.

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But I'm saying the opposite - be you.

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Take that for who you are.

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-Take that, and see the good in people.

-Thank you, Momma.

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You stick up for what you think is right,

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and the good Lord will protect you, and good will come out of it.

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That's right. You always try to help people.

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And if bad things happen because of it, like a ten-day suspension,

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just compose yourself the best you can and...

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Know in myself I did the right thing.

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-That you...

-Tried.

-That you tried to do the right thing.

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Here we go.

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My father is in one of the best prisons in South Carolina.

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The other prisons in South Carolina,

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I heard that they have most African-Americans in there,

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and they have dangerous African-Americans.

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They be killing each other just to kill each other for fun.

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I'm glad that my father's in one of the jails

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with the old people and stuff.

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I'm nervous about telling my father I got kicked out of school.

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But if he in jail and I hide something behind his back,

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that'd be messed up.

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Look who come up.

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-Little dude from across the street!

-I love you.

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I love you more.

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How's school coming on?

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Good.

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-Good.

-What about them grades?

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-They was good.

-What you call good?

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As and Bs. And some Cs.

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What about that attitude I was telling you about?

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I don't know.

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-That flew out the window.

-The attitude?

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Nah, it ain't gone.

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What do you mean by that?

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You got in some trouble?

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-Not some trouble.

-What happened?

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-A lot of trouble.

-What happened?

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I got kicked out of school.

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-Really?

-I got kicked out of school.

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-For what?

-Punching someone in the nose.

-What happened?

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He said my momma was going to die.

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-Huh?

-He said my momma was going to die.

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I'll always be proud of you.

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My father being locked up...

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For one, they were saying,

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for two hours I was mad.

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I'll tell you why I was mad.

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Because that day before, I said, "Dad, don't do nothing stupid,

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"just stay home."

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Wake up in the newspaper,

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everybody crying. So I go get the newspaper,

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and I spaz out, punch a wall.

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That's when it started. I just realised something -

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that's where it started. That's where my anger started.

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That day I punched a wall.

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And ever since then, I started punching walls.

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I never started punching stuff.

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So that mean, with your father being in jail,

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you shouldn't use that as an excuse, just like I did.

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When your father be in jail, that should be, like,

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a motivation to you to, like,

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inspire you to be stronger and better than your father.

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Getting asked to leave OW wasn't a good thing.

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But I took advantage of it, I'm glad it happened.

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So I won't end up in jail or six feet down, like others.

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The majority of my friends, their fathers are

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either out of their lives or, you know,

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somehow in their lives, but not in the same household as them.

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Oh, my daddy!

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Daddy, daddy, daddy.

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Well...

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I really...

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He's just my daddy.

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Well, I consider him a sperm donor.

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It affects the school,

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because you can see the ones that don't have a father figure to go by.

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And there's the ones, you know, that are misbehaving,

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and really not doing what they're supposed to do.

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Who is this dude?

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Nobody don't know really who he is.

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Everybody know who Kordel Johnson is.

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And if you don't know, then you ain't somebody,

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that's all I gotta say.

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Like, if I call him asking for something,

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I know I can't depend on him,

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because my mother,

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she was basically my father and mother.

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The OW prom is not like what you see on TV.

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You don't have fairy-tale endings.

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You don't make up with the dude that was being a butthole

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the entire time you were preparing for prom.

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Prom is a very big deal for me.

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This is the mark.

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This is just one more step to...

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I'm out of there.

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You see Vernon?

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I saw him yesterday.

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No, I didn't speak.

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-You didn't?

-No.

-Why?

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-Erm...

-It's a long story?

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Yeah.

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He used to live with me.

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He used to be, like, my kid.

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A couple of occurrences happened,

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stuff I don't put up with with my kids,

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so I just had to let him go.

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She put me out. I'm now currently at my Aunt Rosa's house.

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It's a little hectic there, because of all the kids.

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This is, like, their fourth time doing that.

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But I'm sticking it out until graduation.

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It's my aunt's three kids,

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and then my Aunt Rosa has my other aunt's two kids.

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And she have me.

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And then there's my Aunt Rosa

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and her boyfriend. So there's eight people in the house.

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SCREAMING

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You crazy!

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Hey!

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The situation with me and Breezy...

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If she tell me to run around the school naked

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and she'll be friends with me, I would get butt-bone naked.

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She's Breanna, and she got a whole lot of pride in her.

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Yeah.

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I just want my friend back.

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That's all.

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SCHOOL BELL RINGS

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-Hello.

-Hello, how are you?

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-Good, how are you?

-I'm fabulous.

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Through this little adventure I've been through with Mykenzie,

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as you know, and moving into Orangeburg,

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how do we get away from something's that's always been of...

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almost segregation, still, in our county?

0:23:040:23:08

Right. How do we create the conditions for students

0:23:080:23:12

to be able to get to know each other?

0:23:120:23:15

And to walk away with a perception,

0:23:150:23:18

whether it's positive or negative, at least we'll know.

0:23:180:23:22

If we can somehow combine the schools together,

0:23:220:23:25

try to get the community more...

0:23:250:23:29

..united. But how do we do that?

0:23:300:23:32

So we put together a breakfast...

0:23:320:23:34

Oh, good.

0:23:340:23:35

-Where is it?

-It's going to be at OP, at the cafeteria.

0:23:350:23:39

At OP, I'll be there.

0:23:390:23:41

In 2016,

0:23:450:23:47

we still have a white school and a black school in Orangeburg.

0:23:470:23:53

One is public and one is private.

0:23:530:23:56

We have an opportunity to go to OP.

0:23:560:23:59

What I want to do is facilitate conversation, right?

0:23:590:24:03

We probably have six white students, right?

0:24:030:24:08

Five or six. Give or take.

0:24:080:24:11

I could be on OP's Campus - Orangeburg Prep's campus -

0:24:110:24:14

probably within eight minutes.

0:24:140:24:16

I mean, we're that close.

0:24:160:24:18

But then, your perception of Orangeburg Prep is what?

0:24:180:24:23

-White...

-All right, all right.

0:24:230:24:26

-Orangeburg Prep?

-Uppity.

0:24:260:24:29

-Orangeburg Prep?

-White.

0:24:290:24:31

-Orangeburg Prep?

-High-class.

0:24:310:24:33

-Orangeburg Prep?

-Rich.

0:24:330:24:35

All right.

0:24:370:24:39

Why is OW a school that has 98.6% of our children African-American?

0:24:400:24:47

Don't we live under a rule of desegregation?

0:24:470:24:51

What's up, man? What's up? How you feeling?

0:24:580:25:02

Good. Yeah? You feeling some pressure?

0:25:020:25:04

Yeah, a little bit.

0:25:040:25:06

Wouldn't be normal if you weren't feeling that.

0:25:060:25:08

I'm almost relieved to hear you say you're feeling some pressure.

0:25:080:25:12

When is the baby due?

0:25:120:25:14

27th of April.

0:25:140:25:16

Of April. All right.

0:25:160:25:17

So, basically,

0:25:170:25:19

I want you to get to a point where you don't make decisions

0:25:190:25:22

that are detrimental to you, your family, your girlfriend,

0:25:220:25:26

and, now, your baby.

0:25:260:25:28

Because they're going to need you more than ever right now.

0:25:280:25:31

And a lot of times, you know, your girlfriend,

0:25:310:25:33

she's going to need your support and your presence.

0:25:330:25:37

You need to be there for her,

0:25:370:25:39

cos she's gotta be scared, she's young, man, you know?

0:25:390:25:43

It has become an accepted part of our culture

0:25:430:25:45

that black fathers not being in the homes,

0:25:450:25:48

that it's become normalcy.

0:25:480:25:50

I'm here to tell you, that's not normal.

0:25:500:25:53

And I don't want you to be a part of something that's not normal,

0:25:530:25:56

or an accepted practice.

0:25:560:25:58

I want you to be the exception, not the rule.

0:25:580:26:02

I know how important that is to see.

0:26:020:26:07

I see my sisters, and how they're close to my dad.

0:26:070:26:09

I want that to be your daughter with you.

0:26:090:26:12

All right? And I wanted to look back 20 years from now and remember

0:26:120:26:15

this conversation. Because you're going to make it.

0:26:150:26:17

I know you'll make it. As hard as it is.

0:26:170:26:19

All right? All right, brother.

0:26:190:26:23

I don't want to disappoint my family.

0:26:350:26:38

I still want to do this, I still want to play ball.

0:26:380:26:40

But I'm trying to face reality at the same time.

0:26:400:26:44

And I got a daughter over here, on the other side of my life,

0:26:440:26:47

I've got a daughter.

0:26:470:26:49

But I still want to go to school, so that's going to be out of state.

0:26:490:26:52

You feel me? So it's like...

0:27:030:27:05

I got a lot going on right now.

0:27:050:27:07

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...

0:27:180:27:21

Straight to the point, we need a plan.

0:27:230:27:26

Yeah. Parents need to be a part of what we do in here,

0:27:260:27:30

seven, eight, nine hours a day.

0:27:300:27:32

What parents have done is they've done drive-bys on us.

0:27:320:27:35

They've driven by and dropped their kids off on us.

0:27:350:27:38

And all of the problems that their children have, we now have.

0:27:380:27:42

But this is the diagram.

0:27:420:27:44

This night, Thursday night,

0:27:440:27:47

I'm going to challenge them to become partners with schools

0:27:470:27:50

instead of consumers. And it's going to require all hands on deck.

0:27:500:27:54

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

0:27:560:27:58

All right, be safe, man.

0:27:580:28:00

All right, brother, you too now.

0:28:000:28:03

The parents of our successful students are engaged,

0:28:040:28:08

and the parents of our students who are not engaged are not active.

0:28:080:28:14

You want us to educate and help train your children,

0:28:140:28:18

then you best come up here and be involved in the process.

0:28:180:28:22

OW has taught me this year there's only one me, and I can't do it all.

0:28:220:28:27

-What's wrong?

-No, no - thank you for my change.

0:28:270:28:30

OK.

0:28:300:28:31

I care about you, bro.

0:28:310:28:33

All right. What you doing,

0:28:330:28:36

getting ready to fight this morning?

0:28:360:28:37

I feel like opportunity depends on your circumstance.

0:29:040:29:10

You probably have more opportunities if you go to the private school

0:29:120:29:15

than you do if you go to OW.

0:29:150:29:17

The town is split in half.

0:29:200:29:22

Where Walgreens at, if you live on the left side, that's the hood.

0:29:220:29:27

That's like, the dark side of town.

0:29:270:29:29

But if you live on the right side,

0:29:290:29:32

that's where a bunch of businesses are.

0:29:320:29:36

They come pick your trash up there.

0:29:360:29:38

There's a lot of stuff.

0:29:380:29:40

I feel like it's crazy how we are separate, but that's just how it is.

0:29:500:29:56

So, listen, we are excited this morning to be a part of,

0:30:070:30:10

I think, history, in Orangeburg County.

0:30:100:30:13

Where we come together, transcending race,

0:30:130:30:16

thinking and discussing the things that you should be leading

0:30:160:30:21

the conversation on.

0:30:210:30:22

In certain areas of America, yes, I fear for black men.

0:30:220:30:26

I might walk into somewhere right now,

0:30:260:30:28

and they see all these tattoos on me, and they're like,

0:30:280:30:30

"Oh, yes, he an inmate, he a failure."

0:30:300:30:33

Anything, you never know, anything.

0:30:330:30:35

OW has a reputation.

0:30:350:30:38

That reputation has been what, about OW?

0:30:380:30:41

Just, it...seems ghetto...

0:30:410:30:45

Right. So, as a ghetto school...

0:30:450:30:47

We just, like, hear stuff, like, through talk of other people.

0:30:470:30:52

Doesn't always mean it's true,

0:30:520:30:54

but it's what you think of when people tell you all that stuff.

0:30:540:30:57

We don't mingle. I wouldn't see none of y'all on a regular basis,

0:30:570:31:02

on the weekends. No times.

0:31:020:31:04

The only people I really know that's Caucasian...

0:31:040:31:09

..I can count how many people.

0:31:100:31:12

My orthodontist.

0:31:120:31:14

You know?

0:31:140:31:17

We went on a tour, for a college tour,

0:31:170:31:21

I was shellshocked. There was white people everywhere.

0:31:210:31:25

I didn't know what to say to them, I didn't know what to do.

0:31:250:31:28

I was just, like, you know?

0:31:280:31:29

I don't know how to talk to them, I didn't know how to approach them.

0:31:290:31:32

It was like a glass of milk, and I was like a pepper.

0:31:320:31:35

That's how I felt, that's how I felt!

0:31:350:31:39

Nobody in my family is racist,

0:31:390:31:42

but I don't know what they would say if I brought a white girl home,

0:31:420:31:46

you know what I'm saying?

0:31:460:31:48

Yeah, they'd probably, like, "Hold on now..."

0:31:480:31:51

you know what're saying?

0:31:510:31:52

It's not the fact that my family's racist,

0:31:520:31:55

it would just be weird. I would feel weird bringing...

0:31:550:31:59

You know what I'm saying?

0:31:590:32:00

I don't think my parents would like it,

0:32:000:32:02

because they're born in a different time, or whatever?

0:32:020:32:05

But I don't think it should be that way.

0:32:050:32:08

What's next? Do you walk away and say,

0:32:080:32:10

"OK, we had a good experience with those black kids from OW?

0:32:100:32:14

"They're not that bad!"

0:32:140:32:17

You know, you go home and say, "Mom, guess what?

0:32:170:32:20

"I met this guy, Kordel, he was cool!"

0:32:200:32:22

You know? I mean, "He didn't try to beat me up!

0:32:220:32:26

"Or take my pocketbook!"

0:32:260:32:28

You might find something like, "Hey, let's go meet up somewhere."

0:32:280:32:32

-You know?

-Honestly, like, we're not going to see each other,

0:32:320:32:38

and that's the truth.

0:32:380:32:40

Orangeburg is segregated.

0:32:400:32:43

I think that breakfast allowed OP and OW students

0:32:430:32:48

to say their views,

0:32:480:32:51

but I knew for sure we weren't going to change the world

0:32:510:32:54

with that conversation.

0:32:540:32:55

We wasn't going to change Orangeburg with that conversation.

0:32:550:32:58

All right, my brother, what we got going?

0:33:260:33:28

OK, I don't know if I should... OK...

0:33:280:33:31

Me and Breanna, like, I feel like it's not going to happen.

0:33:360:33:41

Like, we're not going to be friends.

0:33:410:33:43

Vernon came up with this?

0:33:500:33:52

-Mm-hm.

-Wow!

0:33:520:33:53

I'm impressed.

0:33:530:33:55

We did have a friendship.

0:33:550:33:57

I'm not really...

0:33:570:33:58

ready to talk to him.

0:33:580:34:00

Or be buddy-buddy, like we once were.

0:34:000:34:04

I honestly don't think that it'll ever get like that again.

0:34:040:34:07

Like, once you make her mad, it's...

0:34:080:34:10

It's not over with.

0:34:100:34:12

Pretty much.

0:34:120:34:14

Hi, this is my baby.

0:34:220:34:23

-Look at my baby.

-Cheeks, squeeze.

0:34:230:34:26

Don't mess up the make-up!

0:34:280:34:29

Whoo!

0:34:290:34:31

Gotta go get it. Ain't nobody going to give you nothing.

0:34:410:34:44

You weren't born into money, the money ain't going to come to you.

0:34:440:34:48

So you gotta go get it.

0:34:480:34:51

# So long, so long

0:34:510:34:54

# Jesus walk with me

0:34:540:34:57

# To the hustlers, killers murderers, drug dealers

0:34:580:35:02

-# Even the scrippers

-Jesus walks for them

0:35:020:35:04

# To the victims of welfare for we livin' in Hell here,

0:35:040:35:07

-# Hell, yeah

-Jesus walks for them

0:35:070:35:09

# Now, hear ye, hear ye Want to see Thee more clearly

0:35:090:35:12

# I know He hear me when my feet get weary

0:35:120:35:15

# Cos we're the almost nearly extinct

0:35:150:35:18

# We rappers is role models We rap, we don't think

0:35:180:35:21

# I ain't here to argue about his facial features

0:35:210:35:24

# Or here to convert atheists into believers

0:35:240:35:26

# I'm just tryna say the way school need teachers

0:35:260:35:29

# The way Kathie Lee needed Regis That's the way I need Jesus... #

0:35:290:35:33

Where's Breanna?

0:35:330:35:35

I don't know where our relationship stands exactly.

0:35:400:35:44

But I don't know...

0:35:440:35:46

No, I haven't spoken to Vernon.

0:35:510:35:54

We'll start off with our welcome to prom.

0:35:580:36:00

What's up, OW? CHEERING

0:36:000:36:03

MUSIC STARTS

0:36:030:36:05

So, all of the candidates for prom king need to come towards the front.

0:36:100:36:14

Prom kings have been chosen.

0:36:140:36:17

Vernon. CHEERING

0:36:170:36:20

Rendull Middleton. CHEERING

0:36:200:36:22

INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT

0:36:230:36:25

We're going to announce the winner. And our prom king is...

0:36:300:36:34

Rendull Middleton. CHEERING

0:36:340:36:37

MUSIC: Can't Do Without You by Caribou

0:36:370:36:39

I feel I was already prom king.

0:36:590:37:01

I'm the prince of the city. This is how I imagined it.

0:37:010:37:05

Seeing here, prom king... OK!

0:37:050:37:10

What's the plan? That's just the only question right now.

0:37:170:37:20

What has God got planned?

0:37:200:37:22

He done got you through elementary, middle and high school,

0:37:220:37:25

so what's the plan?

0:37:250:37:27

# I can't do without you

0:37:270:37:28

# I can't do without you

0:37:300:37:32

# I can't do without you

0:37:340:37:35

# I can't do without you... #

0:37:380:37:39

College... College is not for everybody. You know?

0:37:410:37:44

Not for everybody.

0:37:440:37:47

# Can't do without, can't do without

0:37:470:37:49

# Can't do without, can't do without, can't do without... #

0:37:490:37:54

I feel excited, you know?

0:37:540:37:55

I know where I'm going to college, I know I'm going to State

0:37:550:37:59

and I know I'm going to play football.

0:37:590:38:01

Everything is basically laid out.

0:38:010:38:03

It's like a brick road. All I have to do is follow the brick road.

0:38:030:38:08

# I can't do without you... #

0:38:080:38:10

I have sort of a naive approach.

0:38:110:38:16

I honestly do not know that much about the world.

0:38:160:38:19

And I'm about to step into it.

0:38:200:38:23

It's best to keep your hope alive

0:38:230:38:25

and never to give up and to stay positive.

0:38:250:38:30

# I can't do without you... #

0:38:300:38:32

I just can't wait to get out of this high school,

0:38:320:38:34

get out of this home city that I'm in right now.

0:38:340:38:37

Like, there's more than Orangeburg out here in this world,

0:38:370:38:42

and I'm trying to go see the world.

0:38:420:38:44

# Can't do without, can't do without, can't do without

0:38:440:38:49

# Can't do without, can't do without, can't do without... #

0:38:490:38:52

You know what I mean? Just...Hollywood.

0:38:560:38:59

Vintage Hollywood. It's unfortunate,

0:38:590:39:02

it's so much like a Cinderella story that, for a night,

0:39:020:39:05

they get to really come out and...

0:39:050:39:07

..and lose the cares and troubles that they have in their real world.

0:39:080:39:14

I just wish it could be like that for them every day.

0:39:140:39:16

# Can't do without you

0:39:160:39:18

# And you're the only thing I think about

0:39:180:39:22

# It's all that I can stand Can't do without you

0:39:220:39:25

# And you know you're the one I dream about

0:39:250:39:29

# I couldn't do without you. #

0:39:290:39:32

She should probably be kicking me that I never got that interview.

0:40:010:40:05

For real.

0:40:060:40:08

QUIET CONVERSATION

0:40:080:40:11

She going to be... She going to be...

0:40:110:40:13

That's crazy, though, boy.

0:40:210:40:25

Just put it on her head.

0:40:330:40:35

You better rub the head.

0:40:370:40:39

I'm brown-skinned. She dark brown. I'm dark brown. You brown-skinned.

0:40:430:40:49

I'm black!

0:40:490:40:51

That's all there is to it.

0:40:550:40:57

He gotta do stuff for his daughter, that's all.

0:40:570:41:01

He gotta do stuff for his daughter. There's certain things he can't do

0:41:010:41:04

no more, like go out, things like that.

0:41:040:41:06

And think about what you gotta do now, that's all.

0:41:080:41:11

I'd say you gotta step up, be a man.

0:41:110:41:14

We ain't young no more. I've been telling him now that...

0:41:140:41:17

Although he have a child, he still is going to go to college.

0:41:220:41:26

And I don't want him or they to feel like, just because they got a baby,

0:41:260:41:29

they can't accomplish what they want to accomplish.

0:41:290:41:33

I don't mean to cry, y'all, but I'm sorry...

0:41:330:41:35

SHE SOBS

0:41:350:41:37

I don't mean to cry, for real, but that mean everything to me.

0:41:400:41:45

That mean everything to me, I swear.

0:41:450:41:48

I know, I have friends who have lost two kids, like, back-to-back.

0:41:480:41:52

You know?

0:41:520:41:54

I don't understand. Like, it's hard out here.

0:41:540:41:57

It's hard out here for our kids.

0:41:570:41:59

And just to see your kid walk on the stage and graduate,

0:41:590:42:02

that's everything to me.

0:42:020:42:03

That's everything to me, just waking up,

0:42:030:42:05

knowing that my child is still in the house with me.

0:42:050:42:09

He has no time to lose.

0:42:090:42:11

Even with Harmoni, he's gotta be the best daddy,

0:42:110:42:14

he's gotta be the best father for her.

0:42:140:42:16

He gotta show Harmoni, "Daddy got you."

0:42:160:42:19

Little Harmoni.

0:42:230:42:25

You gotta do right by your kids, be a good father, I know that much.

0:42:270:42:31

Seeing what the next step is in life.

0:42:390:42:41

For the better of her life.

0:42:420:42:44

That's the next step for me.

0:42:460:42:48

Contemplate my next move.

0:42:520:42:55

We are having a Parent-Teacher-Student Association

0:43:110:43:14

spaghetti dinner,

0:43:140:43:15

feeling like if, we feed our parents and community, they'll come out.

0:43:150:43:20

And while they're here, we have a theme for the night -

0:43:200:43:23

All Hands On Deck.

0:43:230:43:24

Ending a school year, we want our parents

0:43:240:43:27

to really understand the need for parental involvement

0:43:270:43:31

and support.

0:43:310:43:32

HE HUMS A TUNE

0:43:320:43:34

'So we're expecting a good turnout.'

0:43:340:43:37

Ready?

0:43:370:43:38

I've been sitting here thinking that the majority of people that are

0:43:440:43:48

here tonight are our staff.

0:43:480:43:50

We certainly should have more parents here,

0:43:500:43:53

because it's their children that we're educating.

0:43:530:43:55

So my comments tonight are really not reflected to you,

0:43:550:44:00

because you are the ones who get it.

0:44:000:44:02

Looking at our children, coming into the prom,

0:44:020:44:05

which had to be the best prom ever in the history of high schools,

0:44:050:44:09

they looked like millions of dollars.

0:44:090:44:13

You see, for our children, looking good is a priority.

0:44:130:44:15

Whether they had food Sunday...

0:44:180:44:20

..is a different story.

0:44:210:44:23

But they looked good Saturday night.

0:44:230:44:25

We've got to get to a point where we align our schools to the harsh

0:44:260:44:30

realities our children and families face.

0:44:300:44:34

But first, they must trust. And I think that is a word

0:44:340:44:37

that is missing from our children's vocabulary -

0:44:370:44:41

trust - because adults in their lives have let them down so many times

0:44:410:44:47

in their young lives.

0:44:470:44:49

Somebody has to stand up in Orangeburg...

0:44:490:44:53

..and say...

0:44:540:44:56

.."This is not right."

0:44:580:45:00

Somebody.

0:45:010:45:03

I end tonight disappointed, as you might see on my face,

0:45:050:45:10

by the empty seats in our auditorium.

0:45:100:45:13

And I'm looking at the same people I've been looking at since August.

0:45:130:45:17

The same people.

0:45:170:45:18

1,200 students, and we had six parents attend.

0:45:240:45:28

It made me sick to my stomach.

0:45:280:45:32

We are asked, as educators, to not only teach their children,

0:45:330:45:37

but we are asked to help raise their children.

0:45:370:45:39

And so it's frustrating. It makes me angry.

0:45:410:45:44

Very few things make me angry.

0:45:440:45:46

That's one thing that makes me angry.

0:45:460:45:48

And I can't do it all.

0:45:490:45:51

The best I can do for y'all today is to keep y'all from going to jail.

0:46:150:46:19

I have to do four to six weeks' worth of work in two hours.

0:46:190:46:24

If he fails that class, he doesn't graduate.

0:46:240:46:26

-Correct.

-Wow!

-This our graduation, too.

0:46:260:46:28

Y'all chose to make a dumb decision, so y'all need to make it right.

0:46:280:46:32

I've never written a speech before.

0:46:320:46:34

I want to write something inspirational.

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This is a picture of my mother.

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