And make this country a great place. To. Follow drama brick sit on aljazeera. I am here in the stream today rhythm adversative as im will discuss a new documentary showcasing how music can help the incarcerated adjust to life and out of jail share your thoughts tweet us at a. J. Stream or leave a comment on our live chat and you too can be in the stream. A new documentary 16 bars chronicles the lives of 4 inmates at the Richmond City jail in the u. S. State of virginia their stories and songs give the audience a raw look into americas criminal Justice System. Development going to be right some music. To. Go to. That are behind bars but they still have. To make it in this music is capturing this moment were. Here to discuss the film from los angeles grammy Award Winning rapper speech from the group of arrested development who you saw the trailer just now and in our studio it sound bath and Lynn Twyman Sam is the director of the film 16 bars and lynn is a regional coordinator for the documentary helping facilitate Community Discussions around the film welcome everyone to the show its so good to have you here. So im going to be talking with you its great to have you ill start with you speech in los angeles talk to us about the idea behind an album out of jail where did that come from. Well honestly music is my thing i wanted to do music in a jail when i saw a documentary on c. N. N. That had a daddy daughter dance and at the end of the day i was like wow who ever allowed for this daddy daughter dance to happen it was such a. Testimony of the humanity of the inmates that i was like we got to reach out to that particular jail in order to do this music so we started making calls and started trying to make some things happen and about 2 years later. We made it happen. And one of the people behind that daddy daughter dance at the sheriff at that jail but theres also someone else her name is dr sarah scar brushes the brains behind whats called the 2nd Chance Program and its featured in the film she was unable to join us today but she sent us a video comment about the impact of the program and how it all started to have a listen. Real life is a nonprofit that im the founder and director of as the Program Director in the jail for 5 years i was getting call after call after call for a minimum women in their program that had gone in just needed help there are just not enough resources that are out there folks are having to wait 4 to 6 weeks for follow up appointments whether it be Case ManagementMental Health im and a lot of these things would only end people back in the same situation so as a response i decided to start real life in the community is a way to just help men and women initially with Little Things like cell phones and bus tickets and real life just grew from there based upon the needs of the minimum and that we serve so now here we are a few years later our hobby of operation is the Real Life Community center which is where im sitting right now its a 5000. 00 square foot building thats designed to be a one stop shop for what somebody needs to overcome adversity is based on forming cursory sions him with miss e. And or the battle of addiction sam one of the things dr scott didnt mention there but showcases in the film is the Recording Studio that was in this jail talk to us about what that was like for you as a filmmaker to come up with that idea and then walking into the jail for the 1st time with your cameras sure you know i dont think we knew what film we were making when we came into the jail which is which is i think common and making a documentary. You know the experience of making a film in a jail its very constricting i mean you dont have these of movement the way you would expect to when youre normally moving around with cameras i mean you have to get permission to go through each door and the Recording Studio itself is a you know it by a white some at box so nothing about it necessarily. Was encouraging a whole lot of creativity but the guys that are in there that are writing. You know making this music didnt need much you know they just needed that by a white box and a microphone and they were they were ready to to be writing and recording and seaspray you just want to they got so im just going to say that they really just want to disappear to that you know they saw it as a window of opportunity just to express themselves to get their voices heard and that was powerful as they got a chance to do that and what was that like walking in for you emotionally whats going through your head because youre there to do a job youre also on camera and youd also have dont really know what you walking into. Not a doubt it was a lot of unknowns i was nervous you feel the weight of the system when you walk through each and every level or layer further further into the jail because even though i knew i could walk out at any point in this. Each huge metal door slams behind you do you feel the weight of the system and the helplessness that people feel who are locked into these situations and especially those who are there for nonviolent crimes or those that are innocent i cant even imagine the weight that crushing weight that they feel. I want to bring in this week we got from mark who says i work in a state prison and these programs succeed in changing men and womens lives and reducing recidivism and thats what based on the factual data these are the most Cost Effective programs to rehabilitate men and women in prison isnt that amazing so ill give this one to you lynn what were your thoughts upon watching the documentary because i know you watch that what were you thinking about the program and about what it represents well its absolutely important i mean programs like what was featured in the documentary. Are key to any individual coming home from jail detention or prison incarceration and i know this firsthand because im the child survivor of a parent who was incarcerated and when my father was incarcerated there were virtually no Reentry Services available whatsoever so when he was released from prison he was all his stuff was placed in a trash bag and they gave him a little bit of money and a one way bus ticket and said where do you want to go home and so he came home to the city i was residing in at the time and i was a teenager living with Family Members and i was totally displaced so when he came back home he came back to live in a homeless shelter and the family my family didnt know what to do because my father also has a Mental Illness also working in the space of a. As being the 1st we entered Program Administrator for one of the largest policing districts in the country formally my program helped to connect individuals with jobs housing job training Mental Health you name it Educational Services and over the course of 3 years over 400 people were placed in these various services and so a lot of times when people come home their relationships are destroyed pretty much and i mean even though a person serving time in jail for example is considered 12 months or last its a very short period of time but a lot can happen in those 12 months now imagine someone coming home from prison for example who has spent 2 years 5 years 15 years 20 years plus. Eventually over time those relationships become nonexistent so its important for the community as a whole programs formalize programs businesses religious institutions you name it to come together and provide a holistic approach to supporting the returning citizen both men women and the families that are still left to support them and when as you were talking i said yes we can see nodding vigorously so thinking when i was talking with teddy and one of the things that in these are 2 of the brothers that are in this film one of the things that they shared was that coming out its not just what lynn just brilliantly spoke about and its also things that we wouldnt actually think about which is the smells are different the smells are overwhelming the colors of vibrancy of just regular light is overwhelmingly just being able to feel the breeze or the sun and various things that we take for granted like as average people in society here we take all of this for granted for sure them a lot of these things are overwhelming and. It is so important for us. As a community to understand what people are walking into so we can have a better understanding of help them to readjust and to do well is the is the real approach their lives so yeah its a very intense thing one of the people you mention one of the inmates former inmates teddy came raps about the struggles in life that led many and still do many down the wrong path i want you to have a listen to him discuss how the experience of making music has helped him and could help others heres a clip. Now realize i got it. So. Maybe. To. Look at life. There you go one. Thing that is drip. Drip drip wish you. Had a job when. I was living. George no way is in. Prison awaiting. Its going to be stuck in my head it is though in fact i love it sam talk to us about the process of filming that and then what you learned what you took away from that all the process of filming it was it was pretty incredible to see the speech you know in this studio in this chair connecting with these guys and you know we were given a whole lot of access to hear their stories to sit alone and so in their cells with them. And i think that trust you know that was given to us was returned and. You know i. Watching these songs come together watching speech and these guys create this music was it was really inspiring and there are parts of the film that are really hard to watch bring out a lot of pain and a lot of. A lot of what these guys have been through and i think as a filmmaker what we were what i was trying to do what our whole team was trying to do is just tell the truth its a messy truth and that dissonance that people feel when they watch it is what should be what they should feel what you whether you have a Family Member whos been incarcerated or youve never thought about this issue at all the film is going to reach you and make you squirm and feel something and hopefully also take action i want to bring this in from twitter this is all a rooney who is answering a question we asked about how effective programs can be at reducing recidivism rates and owen says its obvious by the level of our set up as some of the actual lack of rehab programs in most states that its not that effective in his view he says we release people and we act surprised when they return to bad habits without proper support with the proper support but im focusing on here live what would look like so reentry rehabilitation and in many instances billets haitian starts from day one and so theres theres a dynamic thats taking place right now here in this country where in we have some urban areas that are really doing a great job of. This criminal justice transformation if you will and then you have some areas that are still really really like way behind the times and they need to get caught up and so i can value his opinion because ive seen both sides of the tracks working in the Nonprofit Sector and then also in the government sector with this issue so entry has to start from day one whether again youre in detention or youre incarceration programs need to be offered to the residents in those locations they need to be paired up with peer. Mentors and a peer mentor is someone ideally who has also been incarcerated or detained as well because what better way to be able to relate than someone who has been through it and has come out better on the other side right and so with that we have to have a holistic approach when we when we look at this and its time really for the Justice System to own the historical trauma that is connected with massive car situation here in this country i mean thats really what were talking about here in the United States we incarcerate more people per capita than any other country in the world and thats ridiculous were were supposedly so progressive yet were so far behind and. When we talk about the disproportionate numbers of people that come from various racial backgrounds and im going to just say it like this black and brown people in particular and then people come that come from low poverty areas and so we just have to turn this thing around altogether and stop looking at prisons and jails as a means to basically support industries that are on the stock market and start looking at people for who they are which are human people make mistakes and jails long term prison sentences are really for those that are violent offenders but people that have Mental Health issues a majority of people that are incarcerated have Mental Health issues my father was one of them United States veteran he did not deserve to be in prison for the time that he was there because you have the hospitals you have other mechanisms that are available so we really have to look at it twofold we have to reform the criminal Justice System we have to come together as a community to provide holistic support for this population and the Family Members and the children that are left behind and. And then of course you know prisons need to start changing their approach and see their role in terms of how billeted as opposed to just locking people up like animals. You know yeah one of the things that cher c. T. Woody who was the brother that helped us to get into this jail in the 1st place who had the vision to lead us in he said something that stuck with me and that was 95 percent of those that are in jail or prison will be coming out at some point and we as a society have a choice as to whether they come out as better criminals or better citizens and if we do the right thing like living with say on day one and helping to reform and ability a sauna so forth then we have better citizens coming out as opposed to better criminals this is someone watching this conversation live on you tube brian who says we need a release relocation you support systems new culture exposure Affordable Access to housing Jobs Education welfare Programs Community support and trust a laundry list of things that really echo many of the things you were saying lynn but i want to direct us to a video comment we got from someone whos who is tied to this issue an educator in atlanta sorry you heres her comment. You know we usually view people whove been incarcerated only through their deficits we see their criminal history or their addictions and this deficit mindset causes us to really overlook their humanity and i think the power of this program is that it gives these incredibly talented people who have gone through some really dark days the space and the opportunity to actually cultivate their talents and use their talents and as an educator watching this film i couldnt help but wonder if the trajectory of their lives would have been different if we approach schools through these strength based programs i think thats something we need to consider Public Education and light of this film. Really think you know one of our 1st questions going in and one of speeches questions when he met these guys was why are you here and the answer in our film was never their charges and i think that was part of what we were trying to do in the making of the film and what speech was doing in the making of this album. Was to answer that question more deeply and to talk about peoples humanity and you know our film does not assume back and have these kind of conversations that are happening even in the studio about the sort of larger issues its really a microscopic look at these 4 guys in this jail during this period of time but again it was made so that we could so that you could just know who these people are and we had a screening in l. A. The other night and this guy said before i came into this room i didnt know anyone who had ever been in jail and now i know a girl and divine a man anthony and teddy teddy you know so i mean that is what the film is trying to do it really does allow you to really take away you feel a personal connection after watching the film you want to say speech. Based on what youre just saying exactly we set out to make a human still and less of an issue film we had the choice of doing either or but we felt that thing that was most needed was a human shield that made people feel their humanity made people feel like you just better for men that you never knew before and that to us was a way to get people mostly and again this issue. This reminds me of a tweet we saw floating around circulating this is tony who says this is a powerful experience watching this film a study in reconsidering the purpose and structure of prison as a means of investing time and energy into people each of whom is inherently worth the investment so with that in mind speech i dont want to give too much weight because i want people to go out and see the film but there are mixed outcomes for some of the men featured what do you take away from that and their experience going in and out of the system. I think that i take away a few things one is that the trauma is very real you know trauma is deep it takes time to unravel and to even be able to sometimes just move ahead and trauma is very real a lot of these men in this film. Talk about their personal traumas from not just being imprisoned for a lot of their life which most of these men were but also in their own just traumas from their family and then we have to talk about the cultural traumas in this country which i think someone touched on during the show which is historical trouble not just in a car separation but. The way this country was based on race and and the traumas that happened to slavery and jim crow and civil rights i mean these things are all interrelated and so i think one of the things that you realize is that this is deep it deserves it needs to be talked about and dealt with and as a community who probably everyone would love to get past some of the hardships that this nation has faced in regards to race and incarceration and things of this nature and this is the way we deal with it we have to jump on it and this film is just 11 of those means to do that i think your words are so important especially given the viewpoint of people like this is and then ill share this with you lenny and watching live on you tube and says we need to talk about personal responsibility and there are lots who who believe like him doesnt think that theres not enough focus on that what would you say to them so i would say its too full families and in particular parents have a responsibility to teach their children the reality of what its like to be an american since were talking about. Folks in america right now through this film. And being an american is a very very its a dynamic experience. Theres a lot of contradictions with being american we talk about criminal justice and we talk about. The scales of justice and justice for all. And yet we have a system that was designed and developed for only a. Few people and left a majority of individuals out of the picture so thats one and and so being able to teach our children that listen if. If youre going out of your home for example at a certain time of night when you look a certain way you might want to take some precautions to make sure that. If you get stopped by the police for example. That you know youre responding to the officer respectfully i mean Different Things like that because thats one aspect of this and this conversation unfortunately. And then the other aspect is ok yes there are people that they they break the law and they do need to be corrected they do need to serve some time in jail or some time in prison but then we also have to look at you know what what is the right type of sentence or penalty for that you know people who are going to have been incarcerated for years for simple possession. I mean its absolutely ridiculous and i just have to throw this in there i mean were talking about now nationally the legalization of marijuana for example but on the flip side you have corporations that are already ready making millions of dollars before the legalization and these corporations represent individuals that are not black and brown people so again its its a 2 full conversation that we have to continuously have and when we have this conversation has to be into wow and im very thankful for sam for example because i mean hes an ally in this fight and im so very grateful to along with speech of course and the heart of the conversation like and say oh god no i like to say too that you know i totally agree with what that person said on twitter where it was it was like an intentional responsibility is is always incredible however i think most of the time when people use those types of terms theyre really pointing only at the president and so personal responsibility when its done needs to be done across the board no favoritism so yesterday there was need to be thinking about it but so does the system need to be thinking about it those that are it was that are involved in getting people locked up need to be thinking about it personal responsibility goes across the board yes and i think that person would would be interested to see this film because this program is asking these guys to look at themselves to really be introspective and right and bring that to the music and be accountable to the other men that are in that room that are dealing with some of the same issues and that work is happening you know in this program in others we can say what we want to about it from the outside but thats another reason attack so they watch the movie and see what these guys have to say about why theyre there sam battle in 2000 men and speech thank you so much for adam time but it thank you for joining us on this this journey this discussion for more on the dock you can check out the website 16 bars the film dot com all right ill leave you now with a little more music from the film heres garland carr and the real program chorus well. Next time you know when to do. Serious news no. Leave her there. 30. 30. The british iraqi journalist whos visualizing complex statistics and a simple. I think. 2 teams to break apart from the systems of power and to collect in a way that represents Different Community challenging mainstream misconceptions and hope that by crates and control ministrations it doesnt alienate people just like people im not smart enough to sign this truth is that anyway. Every war makes a devastating impact on. The frys explores some of the efforts to recover what was lost from the syrian scientists safeguarding one of our most valuable resources these are important south poles that we have to make sure there are surviving to the refugees striving to coexist with nature ok so whats going on there simulating what happens when an elephant thomas life up to conflict on aljazeera. Driven by outrage and spanning generations the real hinge of demonstrators gathered on the very day a widely criticized repatriation agreement between the governments of bangladesh and me and more was to begin the anger was all too apparent and the fear was palpable if you dont like was so afraid that if they send one of us back to myanmar today tomorrow theyll send back 10 and the day after tomorrow theyll send back 20 idea if we were given citizenship in myanmar then there would be no need to take us back there we would go back on our own we must remember the rancho among the most persecuted minorities in the world. What kind of care does that provide and is anyone willing to pick up the cost we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in so is it possible for trump to actually obliterate the economy counting the cost on aljazeera. Weve now declared that settlements are not per se illegal under International Law. Condemnation from palestine as washington reverses a decades old u. S. Policy on israeli settlements. And im daryn jordan this is not just iraq live from doha also coming up. Protesters moved to prevent politicians and entering Lebanons Parliament amid tight security. Has made a just protesters still barricaded inside a university to leave peacefully as Police Continue to surround the campus. And as west africas largest mosque opens in senegal find out about the path of the Biggest Group behind. The u. S. Is abandoned its long standing position on israeli settlements in the occupied west bank saying it will no longer consider them illegal this latest progress rail move puts the u. S. In odds with most of the International Community and the Un Security Council reports from washington d. C. For 41 years the u. S. Has called israeli settlements built in the occupied west bank illegal under International Law that u. S. Policy changed on monday calling the establishing of civilian settlements inconsistent with International Law hasnt worked it hasnt invents the cause of peace this is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians pompei