A Week in Watts Page #8

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I really thought about it

when I came here.

Everything's not about football,

because what if something happens to you?

Then you need a backup plan.

So my backup plan...

I want to run businesses.

So right now, I'm thinking about

when I go to college,

do business management

because my brother did that.

My hopes for Robert is just to...

overcome everything,

see everything

from the right point of view

and handle it accordingly

because there's gonna be obstacles.

He just has to overcome them, go at it

with a full mind and stay focused.

- You look like a 6th grader.

- That's my daddy right there.

- Where?

- Over there. What's up?

- There's my daddy right there.

- That is your Dad.

In 2008,

we started a Randy Simmons

volunteer program

at 99th Street Elementary School,

and we started doing Muffins with Moms

and Donuts with Dads.

And so we asked the principal

to get a count

of how many Dads were in the homes

so we can do this Donuts with Dads event

and then tie it into

education and reading

and bringing the officers in

to read with the kids.

And so, we took a couple of weeks

to plan it and get it together

and then the principal called one of the

sergeants and says we have a problem.

A lot of the kids don't want

to participate in Donuts with Dads

because they don't have

a dad in the house.

And majority of the kids

either had a dad that was in prison

or had been murdered,

and they were embarrassed.

So we enlisted in the officers to come

to the school to be that father figure

and there were literally six to seven dads

that showed up for this event

and the rest

were police officers and firefighters.

I believe there's a lack of fathers

in the families

because one, we have

a criminal justice system that's broken.

Two, a lot of the fathers

in this community

grew up during the crack cocaine

epidemic, and we...

our answer, law enforcement's answer

was lock 'em up, put 'em away.

Let's not provide a resource.

Let's just put 'em behind bars.

At the same time, I see a lot of fathers

in this new generation

that want something different

for their children.

I can't speak for

everyone's situation,

but I believe that...

just a lot of fathers aren't doing

what they need to do...

and staying around for their kids

and just a lot of people

want to be in the streets

and live the street life

and don't know what's important,

which is family, the most important thing.

I mean...

I feel like if fathers would stay around

and experience what I experience

with my kids, they would get

an understanding of how great it is

and that the stuff out there

is not important at all.

It's great when I come home from work.

It's like they haven't seen me in years,

and I was just here eight hours ago,

and just seeing their eyes light up

when you do little things for them

that aren't really big

like going to the movies

or going to dinner or something like that,

it's just a wonderful feeling

just to take care of them.

Well, my mom, she's always there for me

if I go through bad times,

she's always there motivating me

and telling me I can do it.

Watching you on camera.

My dad, he's always there for me also.

He tells me just to do my best

and if I fail, we'll try again.

In this neighborhood,

and of course I'm generalizing,

it's difficult to see a community

be grateful

because a lot of things

are given to them.

Amir's step dad has taken

this scholarship that Amir has gotten,

and he's given it back twofold.

He's always helping Coach Maye coach.

I think he's taken over

the basketball team.

He's a great dad to all his kids.

He has a great relationship

with the officers.

Amir is a really smart girl,

both street and at school,

awesome personality.

I think the sky's the limit for her.

I like those flips.

Hey, look at those flip-flops.

What do they say?

OP.

I didn't even know we

had our own clothing line.

Right?

I think... unfortunately, I think maybe

the kids who grow up with single parents,

and if the mom's the only person

in the household

and she has that strong work ethic,

the strong family values,

where she wants to make sure

that her kids are doing well,

even though they don't have

a father figure in the family,

I think the kids will do well

because the kids going to see,

wow, my mom's struggling

so hard to give me a better life,

that I'm going to do whatever I can

to help my mom out.

My dad, he left a long time ago,

but I see him sometimes,

but my mom, I think she's my best friend.

And I think it's better with my mom,

because it's just me and her

and my siblings.

My mom, she's my super hero.

She raised my brother and I

as a single mother.

I grew up without a father

and I have never met him,

but still she has played

a double role in my life,

and that alone itself isn't an easy job,

but still she was able to persevere.

Jennifer is my inspiration.

She's my motivation.

She's my motive.

The mothers in this community

are so resilient,

and I'm so proud of them,

but I also hurt for them

because behind all of their efforts,

I know there's this nagging hurt and pain

that they carry with them

because every mom-

I'm a mom, I have six children total-

every parent wants something better

for their child than they had.

And when you have to try to parent

and be a mother in a community like this,

it's so heavy and hard and you have to

find your beacon of light and your hope.

You see moms coming in and out of

the Operation Progress office,

and they're smiling

and they're coming out proud

and they're picking up their daughter

from one of the classes,

and you can just feel that.

You feel it.

Then you can walk across a mom

in one of the housing developments...

both of her sons have been murdered,

and she's carrying something different.

And so, if we can plug these moms

into organizations or entities

that have resources and they feel like

someone else is supporting them,

then it's going to help them

in their effort of changing

and providing something

better for their child.

When I was a child, she used

to work all day just to provide for me.

She'd leave early in the morning before

dawn and then come back late at night.

She used to work at a sweatshop,

so I used to see how she would struggle

just to pay the bills.

While me and my sister were at home,

she would be working

in order to provide for us.

I look up to her because

I want to be hard working just like her.

OP is helping Watts,

because it's giving the kids

an opportunity

that some of the kids here don't have,

and sometimes the public schools

in this area are not the best.

When I was going to Grape Street,

I saw a lot of violence

and things that affected me,

and when I went

to St. Lawrence through OP,

it showed me better things

and I got a better education.

In public schools, the teachers...

they didn't really see

one to one to a person.

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