180º ishmael beah, “boy soldier”. t. j. leyden became a racist skinhead when he was 15
TRANSCRIPT
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180ºIshmael Beah, “Boy Soldier”
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T. J. Leyden became a racist skinhead when he was 15.
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He took part in about 200 fights, got Nazi tattoos inked into his skin …
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… and recruited hundreds of kids into the skinhead movement.
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Then he saw his three-year-old son trying to be just like his dad—
and decided it was time to set a different example.
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Now Leyden teaches tolerance to kids and helps police monitor the criminals he used to hang out with.
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“I ruined a lot of lives. I don’t forgive myself. Only my victims can forgive me.”
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Emmanuel Jal left his home in Sudan at age eight.Rebel soldiers told him he was going to school.
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But instead of reading and writing, Jal and other child soldiers learned to shoot AK-47 assault rifles.
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After about four years, Jal escaped the rebel army with 400 other boys.
Fewer than 20 of them survived.
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Jal was one of the lucky ones.
He went to school,became a hip-hop star, and uses his money to give kids in Sudan a real education.
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“Hatred and revenge are feelings I have to constantly fight. But now I fight them through my music. That’s my weapon of choice.”
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Shawn Benner was a teenager when he joined a gang in Virginia.
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He got busted for assault, car theft, drugs, and armed robbery.
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He watched his best friend die in a hail of bullets.
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Now, Benner has had enough. He got a job and had his gang tattoos burned off.It felt like hot grease on his skin. But to him, it was worth it.
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"I'm still young. But everybody I knew [in the gang] is either locked up or dead. Not one of them is gangbanging…. It was a waste of my life.”
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REDEMPTIONPeople seldom change.
A very few make a complete 180º.
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When individuals change, what
happens to the world around them?
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What would you do differently if you were given the chance? • transformation •
Who do you know who has turned his or her life around? • do-over • Have you
made a mistake in the past that still affects your life today? • rehabilitation • Have
you made a change in your life that has affected other people? • reformation •
What is redemption? • conversion • Can people who have done terrible things
redeem themselves? • regeneration • Does everyone deserve a second chance?
• redemption • What would you do differently if you were given the chance? •
transformation • Who do you know who has turned his or her life around? • do-
over • Have you made a mistake in the past that still affects your life today? •
rehabilitation • Have you made a change in your life that has affected other
people? • reformation • What is redemption? • conversion • Can people who
have done terrible things redeem themselves? • regeneration • Does everyone
deserve a second chance? • redemption • What would you do differently if you
were given the chance? • transformation • Who do you know who has turned his
or her life around? • do-over • Have you made a mistake in the past that still
affects your life today? • rehabilitation • Have you made a change in your life that
has affected other people? • reformation • What is redemption? • conversion •
Can people who have done terrible things redeem themselves? • regeneration •
Does everyone deserve a second chance? • redemption • What would you do
differently
put your voice on recordRAWWRITE
When individuals change, what
happens to the world around them?