Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Summit warns, empowers youths
to avoid street crime

By Suzanne Bohan

EAST PALO ALTO - Close to 80 youths listened closely as four men described how their lives of violence, drug dealing and other crime came to an end when they all - for different reasons - decided they'd had enough.

Eddy Pratt, who wore a dark T-shirt and short dreadlocks, emotionally described the 20 months he spent in prison for dealing drugs in his late 20s.

"It was horrible," he said emphatically. "I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

"If I go to prison again for crack (dealing), it will be five years and I can't take that," Pratt said.

Another panelist, 28-year-old Bandaide, who declined to give a last name, also spent five years in prison for drug dealing. He recounted for the captivated audience his shock when prison officials asked him where he wanted to be buried if he didn't survive the violence of prison life.

"I didn't know if I was getting out of there alive," he said.

And then there were the showers.

"You got to take showers with 100 other men," Bandaide said, describing the sexual come-ons from other inmates during the daily routine. "I was like `Wow, this is what you got to go through?"

The men told their stories as part of growing number of programs in East Palo Alto to scare young people straight by sharing the unvarnished truth about a life of crime, and the prison sentences that invariably follow.

Saturday's event, held at Costano Elementary School, was called the "Goin' Smart Youth Summit." The summit was organized by One East Palo Alto and the East Palo Alto Police Department, and was supported with funding by numerous organizations, including the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the San Mateo County Health and Human Services Agency and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

City leaders increasingly are offering similar programs to address the root causes of the violence and crime that still captures a large segment of the city's youths before they leave high school. More than 60 "youth-empowerment" non-profits operate in the city, according to One East Palo Alto, which provides grants to other non-profits in East Palo Alto.

A common theme that resounded through the workshops - including the "Get Out of the Game" seminar with the four former drug dealers - was how the lack of a male role model led to an aching chasm in men's lives as they grew up.

"I didn't have no role model," said Bandaide, who grew up in East Palo Alto. "It was these dudes I was looking up to in the streets. The street life was something I loved. It was like family to me."

"Maybe if I had a male figure in my life," Bandaide said, "he'd say, `you're messing up, you should be rapping,'" referring to his work writing and singing rap music.

Hundreds of youths attended the daylong event. After a free lunch of sandwiches, participants were urged to attend a listening panel in the school's auditorium. Panelists included a range of civic leaders including San José Police Chief Ron Davis, County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson and Steve Wagstaff, San Mateo County's assistant district attorney.

The panelists answered questions from participants, who lined up behind a microphone to ask about improving environmental conditions in East Palo and increasing the racial diversity of school teachers.

Above all, the summit stated as its purpose the goal of showing the city's youths that there are options beyond street life to make money and earn respect.

"I never thought I'd be able to stop selling drugs," said Pratt, the former inmate who sat on a panel. " I know if I can do it, everyone can do it."

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