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Inspiring Comeback story Kandia Milton Dream.org · Nightmare Success In and Out

• 0:01
  What happens when your worst fear becomes your reality?
• 0:04
  Hi, I'm Brent Cassidy. Welcome to the Nightmare Success
• 0:07
  In and Out podcast, where we explore how to overcome your
• 0:10
  fears and nightmares that set yourself free.
• 0:13
  We're going to be exploring this topic with guys that was in
• 0:15
  Leavenworth with and others who survived their own nightmare.
• 0:20
  These stories can be inspiring, sometimes.
• 0:22
  Sad. There's some humor, but
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  hopefully you can come away with a nugget of something that'll
• 0:27
  help you knock down some of the prisons you built up in your own
• 0:31
  mind. All right, we're back.
• 0:35
  Nightmare, success. In and out, listeners.
• 0:37
  It's where you come. What happens when your worst
• 0:39
  fear becomes reality? How do you adapt, survive,
• 0:41
  overcome, set yourself free? Well, as you know, it seems to
• 0:47
  keep happening over and over. I've got just an incredible
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  guest. It's Candia Melton.
• 0:53
  You guys might have heard of him.
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  He's he's, he's, he's, he makes a statement that he doesn't know
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  a life without being involved in politics.
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  And when he listen to his story, you kind of get that.
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  But I want to give a shout out to Sabrina Morgan, because I
• 1:06
  wouldn't be connected with Candia, but for Sabrina, who's
• 1:13
  quite the Little Rock star in her own world in Kansas City,
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  doing some some incredible things.
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  But Candia was connected with me and I connected with Candia and
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  so excited about it, 'cause he's, he's his background when
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  he talked. He's born and raised in Detroit
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  and he has some incredible, you know, he, he's a guy of action.
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  He, you know, he was a deputy chief of staff in Detroit, then
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  he was the chief of staff and he's deputy mayor Detroit.
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  He was a mayor for a little while in Detroit, but he he
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  ended up serving some time over a land deal with the city.
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  And we were just talking about this.
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  He got an incredible opportunity.
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  But he was able to take advantage of that opportunity
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  when he got out to work in a congressional office of someone
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  who believed in him and believed in second chances but actually
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  you know put their money where their mouth was and gave him a
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  second chance, which was is is fantastic.
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  It's it's one of those things where you you so much appreciate
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  those opportunities that that come to you after you've
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  experienced being being locked away.
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  And one of the great things he's done is his passion has become
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  reforming the criminal justice system.
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  And you know, I always, you know, I have probably like a
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  broken record on this. Those people who have been in
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  the criminal justice system, they're the ones that need to
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  have their seat at the table because they actually know
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  what's broken and they can help the people who don't know what's
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  broken. But right now, Candia is the
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  policy director for dream.org, which is a fantastic
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  organization. If you can't don't know what it
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  is, you probably have heard of it.
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  But go to the website. It's unreal what this
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  organization is doing and how they're doing it.
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  But Candia is the policy director, or justice, charged
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  with working with state and federal officials to make policy
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  changes that will impact the criminal justice system.
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  I can't wait to unpack all this with Candia.
• 3:13
  Before we do that, I want to recognize our show sponsor, Auto
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• 4:01
  Auto Plaz Direct. Tell them that Brent from
• 4:03
  Nightmare Success sent you Candia Milton, Welcome in.
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  How you doing, my man? I'm doing well, Brent.
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  Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to our
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  discussion this morning. Well, I tell you I I have been
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  looking forward to this and we we were just talking about we've
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  we've got a few things in common.
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  You have you actually were better basketball player, 'cause
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  you actually played, you know in in college.
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  But we we have wives and three daughters.
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  So we we know the world of just being told where to go, what to
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  do and how to do it. Yeah, yeah.
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  And it's interesting. I'm looking at myself in the
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  picture here and I I see my head nodding yes.
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  I just think it's just a habit right now having three having
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  three daughters and and a wife is you know, whatever they say,
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  whatever they say. Tell me where I need to go.
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  I. Just I learned to say yes.
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  So I was watching. I I can't even remember what it
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  was. I there was a interview you did
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  and you you were talking about there in your life.
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  Candia, growing up as a kid, you didn't know anything around your
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  world but politics. I think your mom, I mean, right
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  after you were born, she was taking you out and putting you
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  on the hip of and signing up people and tell tell us a little
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  bit about growing up as Candia. Yeah, you.
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  It's interesting, Brett, because I do tell this story often, you
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  know, I don't know a life, as you mentioned, without without
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  politics. And my mom tells the story that,
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  you know I'm born July 24th, right?
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  1971 and and. The primaries are in early
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  August and she said, you know, we were right that out there on
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  a pole, you know, encouraging folks to vote for a particular
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  candidate. And so and ever since then I've
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  been in politics, we would, you know, I know politics, sports
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  and school. I mean that was you know that
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  was was my life growing up. Did you have Kandia?
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  Was was your life in with mom, dad, siblings, Like what?
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  What? How did that all work within
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  your world? Yeah.
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  So you know, my my mom and dad divorced early.
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  You know, certainly I was five years old when they divorced.
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  OK. So you know, my father though
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  was an actor, participant in my life.
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  But I always say I grew up in community.
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  Yes, I had, you know, a brother, 2 step brothers.
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  And and I can tell you the entire community was was my
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  family. In fact we all played on the
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  same baseball team, we all played on the same basketball
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  team, We all played on the same football teams and floor hockey
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  teams. And so we were, you know, it
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  was, you know, I grew up in community and as I, you know,
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  our summers, you know, we would have a, you know, we would have
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  our baseball game, right. Or we would have baseball
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  practice, and from the baseball diamond all the way back to to
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  our neighborhood, the entire team would go door to door for a
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  particular candidate, right? That's great and and and so we
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  were always trying to dodge it. But you know, it was inevitable
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  because we had to go back home, right?
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  So my mom would have us go door to door, you know, dropping
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  literature for for a candidate. So when I say I don't know a
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  life without. About politics and it being
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  intertwined in in my very fabric and being that was my life
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  growing up. And so it it stands.
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  The reason that I, you know, I continue to work in that space.
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  I'll I say that I work at the intersection of policy and
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  politics at this you know as as a career so true you you had to
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  be pretty good in the sport of basketball to go on and play in
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  in in the next level. Was that was that in your
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  family? Had anybody done that?
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  Yeah, you know, interestingly enough, my grandfather, you
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  know, played college basketball at what was then Wayne
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  University, now it's Wayne State University.
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  And he was, you know, he ought, he was a coach beyond that.
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  And in fact, he was the first he was coaching mentor.
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  He's in Wayne State University's Hall of Fame as a contributor.
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  So not only is he there for basketball, but he was the first
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  African American vice president of student affairs at the
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  university. But he, you know, he had a great
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  influence because he coached me when I was younger and sparked
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  an interest in me in in playing the game of basketball.
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  It's it's it opened up a number of doors, many doors that would
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  not have been open for me but for the fact that.
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  You know that I played basketball, but also but for the
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  fact that he helped me gain perspective beyond the game
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  itself. He helped me understand at a
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  very early age that. That this is an Ave. that can
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  open up doors and so we can make it about the game or we can make
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  it about life. And and certainly basketball has
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  taught me many lessons that I carry with me today.
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  I think there's so much to that. I I, you know, I played sports
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  all my life, but I I think, you know it teaches you so much.
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  I mean you and you know being able to just be able to walk in
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  and play a pickup game. You learn so much about you know
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  how people work together and if you're good you can stay on the
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  court and if it's you know nothing's given to you it's it's
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  there's so many life lessons with sports.
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  I even think it helps when you when you go away like like we
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  did Candia and you get locked up.
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  I think even playing sports and that mentality of walking into
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  an unknown world of now, how am I going to adapt to this is kind
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  of like the locker room and the and the and getting on the, you
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  know, in the game. It's it's there's a lot to it.
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  I I I would not argue one one bit with that I mean we you go
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  in you make you build relationship right you build
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  trust you know does that does does that guy have the IT factor
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  when he walks on the court right and see and so when you.
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  When I walked into Morgantown, WV, on that compound, you know,
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  it became very clear to me that I had to walk in there upright
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  with a level of of confidence, but also, you know, open to
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  building relationships, right? I mean that that's what happens
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  when you walk out on the court. And it's the same thing that
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  happens when you walk on a compound.
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  You know your those relationships are.
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  Are about your survival, right. And and your Peace of Mind.
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  And so that's, you know, we're social beings and that's, you
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  know having those relationships are are critical.
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  And I I would not have, in fact, I'm in this work today because
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  of those relationships. Yeah.
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  And I think I, you know, that's such a big statement, 'cause I I
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  sit here today because I, the thing I was the most surprised
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  about and and going to prison was is not judging a book by its
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  cover. I want to hear the story because
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  there's so many fascinating people that I had met and I
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  didn't even plan on meeting. You know, it was, you know, I
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  was standing at the gate thinking horrible things were
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  going to happen to me. And the biggest surprise in my
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  life was is that people were there to help me, you know, get
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  set up, you know, the next stage.
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  And yeah, I think you do find a different passion once you go
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  through that experience and and want to not waste the
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  experience. I guess it is to to if you can
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  use it to help people. I think that's that's a big and
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  that's what you're doing, Candia.
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  But I'm curious, when you went through your basketball in
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  college, were you thinking when you got out that that you were
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  going to go back and and live the life of of policy,
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  politician, guy, or were you thinking other things?
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  Yeah. Well you know when you are, when
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  you're that age and you're participating in sports, you
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  know at that level there's you're you're hopeful to be
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  playing basketball beyond. Exactly I.
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  Mean that that's the goal when you go in is to to to play
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  basketball professionally. And so I I didn't have any.
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  You know, I I didn't have a desire, although I had a backup
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  plan to to get immediately into politics and and work in the at
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  the intersection of policy and politics.
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  But reality sets in, right? And I can tell you in and about.
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  The beginning of my senior year is is when reality hit that you
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  know what I have to really make what was Plan B Plan A.
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  But it still wasn't politics. You know I I had anticipated
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  being in in the in the business world and then and I did.
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  I did just that while also. Helping candidates.
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  I was still working in the summer volunteering for with
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  campaigns when I came home from from college.
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  But I was you know I went right into sales right out of college.
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  And then my college coach, I was two time captain of of our
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  basketball team and so my college coach called me back to
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  yeah, to become an assistant with him in the program.
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  And what was interesting, I did go back.
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  In that very first year, we got fired.
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  How crazy is that? And and here's what's crazy
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  about it, Brent, is that we, the coach, had a 100% graduation
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  rate. But you know in in this, in the
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  game, it's about winning games, right?
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  And so we got fired. But I was fortunate enough to be
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  retained by the next coach that came in and in that very second
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  year, we. We came, I think it was second
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  place in the league. Oh, wow.
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  OK, we had a really successful year and he became, you know, a
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  legendary coach. But I can tell you what was
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  challenging is that I was on the road 100 days out of the year
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  between games and recruiting and having a young family, You know,
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  it was just tough and taxing. And so I got out of.
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  You know, I just, you know, I just felt it was important for
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  me to center family and and make that, you know, my priority, my
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  family my priority. And so I I had to you know, I I
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  had to step away from from it and and got back into sales.
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  And then it wasn't until two years after that that I got into
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  politics. Well, interesting.
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  So so you got into sales after the coaching and then what was
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  what was the opportunity that brought you back into politics?
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  Well, so interestingly enough, you know I I talked about these
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  campaigns that I worked on growing up.
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  Well, one of them was Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
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  Who was state Rep? I used to.
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  We used to work every one of her campaigns.
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  Carolyn Chiefs Kilpatrick is the mother of Kwame Kilpatrick.
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  So I actually grew up working in in politics, playing sports on
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  sports teams, Little League sports teams, whether it's
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  basketball, baseball, football teams with Kwame.
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  We had a relationship and a common interest in in politics
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  and when he was elected youngest mayor city of Detroit you know
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  he thought it was important to bring on a a team that was
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  reflective of of his energy and and values and so you know he
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  brought me. And at the time, as executive
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  assistant to the chief of staff for the City of Detroit, how how
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  old would you have been at that age when that happened?
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  So he was was. He was 31, so I was 30.
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  I'm a year younger than you were young.
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  Yeah, yeah. So I I was 30 and I can tell you
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  this is how crazy it was. We we we were, we would work in
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  the office till about 11:00 at night.
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  And the parking garage would close at 11, right.
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  We would run downstairs, move our, get our cars out of the
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  parking garage, park the cars on the street and go back upstairs
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  and work. Not that, that, not that, not
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  that. That was the mandate.
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  That was just the level of energy and enthusiasm we had for
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  what we were doing to to to solve a lot of the problems that
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  we were experiencing in the city at the time.
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  And so we were dedicated. Group of people who nobody knew
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  our name. We hadn't built the, you know,
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  the political cachet. You were the young guys, the
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  young kids on the block. Right.
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  And and so we were constantly, we had a chip on our shoulders
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  that we need to prove ourselves and we work every day to do just
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  that, to make changes. And so it was, you know, it was
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  a very, you know, exciting time, high energy.
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  We didn't know what stress looked like and we we were just
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  working, working our butts off and and enjoying, you know, the
• 18:27
  work that we were doing. I can imagine, you know, at that
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  age when you think you can just about accomplish anything and be
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  in a position like that where things that can actually get
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  accomplished has has got to be tons of tons of fun to be able
• 18:39
  to be in that position to do that.
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  Yeah, and and, you know, we. Yeah, it was Detroit hadn't seen
• 18:48
  a new hotel in 20 years. And then the time that that we
• 18:52
  were in office, we're talking 7 new hotel deals were closed in
• 18:57
  in that period in a in a 6 1/2 year period of time.
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  We had built out, you know, a community engagement and
• 19:05
  community development plan that engaged the community community
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  in a very specific way to have input on.
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  What they would like to see in their communities for the
• 19:17
  purposes of its growth and development.
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  And so we we were very, you know, active, you know our bus,
• 19:27
  our buses were old and decrepit and out of compliance with you
• 19:31
  know a was it ADA compliance, they were out of compliance
• 19:38
  there. And then we went to Congress and
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  got $82,000,000 to replace our bus fleet.
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  You know, national, we were in the post 911 era, right.
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  So, you know, we were able to go to Congress and get $40 million
• 19:55
  for Homeland Security infrastructure.
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  And so we we did, I think, a lot of things that that that really
• 20:04
  helped bring the city a long way.
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  Now we didn't complete the job, but I I would say that we, we
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  did make a great deal of progress and in the time that we
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  were there in in spite of the, you know the challenges at the
• 20:19
  end there. Well, let's let's talk about
• 20:21
  that because when you read through the the history of what
• 20:25
  was going on, you guys did accomplish a lot and you were
• 20:27
  giving people back what they were wanting into the community
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  and then you know there. As seems like it always
• 20:36
  sometimes happens is that you've got, you know, drama and
• 20:41
  craziness that that transpires. Did you know, Candia, when all
• 20:48
  this was going on, did you feel it that it was good that
• 20:51
  something was coming down the Pike, that 'cause it was kind of
• 20:55
  like one over here, one over here, one over here, and then
• 20:58
  and then you were left as kind of the person standing here and
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  then that. Ended up to be the crazy land
• 21:05
  deal thing. What did that feel like in the
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  in the world you were in? Yeah, I mean we it it was it was
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  very clear that there was a a an active investigation going on
• 21:21
  you know at the time that it was all happening.
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  And I can tell you from me personally when that
• 21:30
  investigation had happened, I had already made my bad decision
• 21:36
  well before the these investigations had manifested
• 21:40
  themselves. I would imagine before we knew
• 21:42
  it, these investigations were happening and so you could feel
• 21:50
  the the walls sort of caving in on you at the time.
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  And for for me, the story for me was, you know, it's one of those
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  things that what happens in the dark will manifest itself in the
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  light. Because, you know, I had built a
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  a reputation, if you would, of, you know, one of integrity in
• 22:18
  spite of what folks felt about, you know, the mayor, Bonnie
• 22:23
  Kilpatrick or the administration.
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  You know folks hit folks sort of separated me and said but that
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  candy a guy. He's a go to guy that tells it
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  like it is. Yeah.
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  And and and and you know that guy.
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  And that's not just coming from you, Candy.
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  That that is if you read about you that that's part of.
• 22:44
  Yeah. And and and I will state that
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  you know the the sort of sort of Shakespearean comedy of it all
• 22:54
  is that you know I under I played on that.
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  Right and and betrayed the trust of of of the hard working folks
• 23:06
  who at the city trying to keep the lights on and and do a you
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  know bring it you know a hard day's work with integrity for
• 23:14
  the pay that they were earning. I betrayed their trust as well
• 23:17
  as the citizens and everybody that I work with every day.
• 23:21
  And so I I, you know I had to come to grips with that and and
• 23:28
  and and having betrayed their trust, you know, trust that they
• 23:32
  often put in me and I that that I don't take lightly.
• 23:36
  Yeah. And I mean, it's, you know, I
• 23:38
  had a situation where it was the company and we were a national
• 23:41
  company and you could feel, you know, the every day you could
• 23:45
  feel that you were under siege and you didn't know.
• 23:50
  You fought and you knew that, you know, probably wasn't going
• 23:53
  to be enough. But you felt thinking that there
• 23:55
  was going to be something that could be worked out.
• 23:57
  Figured out. Yeah.
• 23:59
  And everybody always said, you know I'm I'm, they're waiting
• 24:01
  for the shoe, another shoe to drop.
• 24:04
  And and it it just seemed that whether it was at the City
• 24:07
  Council level or or in a department or in the
• 24:11
  administration, as we say, the 11th floor, that's where the
• 24:14
  mayor's office was on the 11th floor.
• 24:17
  I mean everyone was just waiting for A to drop because I mean if
• 24:22
  you, if you were to take it, take a look at the history and
• 24:27
  put it all on the timeline, I mean it was happening one after
• 24:31
  the other. Well, that's what it looks like.
• 24:33
  That's how it reads. And for you personally, Candia,
• 24:36
  what was the timeline, what was the investigation timeline that
• 24:39
  you were going through? And I'm sure you know, I don't
• 24:42
  know how old your kids were at the time.
• 24:45
  You know, mine were teenagers. I don't know how old your
• 24:47
  daughters were, but how did, how were you?
• 24:50
  How did you cope with all that? Yeah.
• 24:52
  So my my daughters I had in in in an infant at the time and
• 24:58
  then one was in just out both and then two were in middle
• 25:04
  school at the time that this this all was happening and and
• 25:11
  So what was interesting is the bad decision I made around this
• 25:18
  land deal happened in 2006. They came knocking on the doors.
• 25:26
  The beds came knocking on the door in 2009.
• 25:32
  So three years had passed, right?
• 25:34
  Three years had passed. And quite frankly, you know, I
• 25:38
  had, I had, I thought I had. Moved past that.
• 25:42
  Know what I I I won't do that one again, right?
• 25:46
  Did you know I could see I could see all of this this in 2009 and
• 25:51
  so 2000 as, as you know 2008. The mayor resigned from office
• 25:59
  in in the summer of 2008. So this happened in 2009.
• 26:03
  I was I called myself trying to move on only to have that past
• 26:09
  catch up to me and interestingly enough I was out.
• 26:15
  It was 8 in the morning. I was sitting with a person who
• 26:21
  was contemplating running for office for City Council.
• 26:27
  And my wife calls me and I'm like, she's calling me.
• 26:30
  She knows I'm in a meeting, right?
• 26:32
  And so I I hit, you know, I denied the call.
• 26:35
  And then she calls me right back and then calls me right back
• 26:39
  again. I said, well, let me step aside
• 26:41
  and take this call. And so she when I take the call
• 26:46
  she says Candia what in the heck did you do now Brett she didn't
• 26:51
  use heck I'm just yeah I know the family show.
• 26:54
  So I I won't I won't use the words that she.
• 26:57
  So she's you know so she questions me I said what are you
• 27:01
  talking about. She says you know the FBI just
• 27:03
  showed up at the door here. I says well what happened?
• 27:08
  She said I told him to get the the heck out of here again.
• 27:12
  She didn't use heck. I said I I got nothing for you
• 27:16
  get the but what in the heck. She said she she said you need
• 27:19
  to come home. And so, you know, I wrapped up
• 27:23
  the the conversation I was having with the prospective
• 27:27
  candidate and then came home and then we, you know, they had
• 27:32
  called my attorney from there and and and so we began, you
• 27:36
  know, the process of me accepting responsibility for the
• 27:39
  bad decision I made. Yeah.
• 27:42
  And that's how that starts with, did you immediately, Candia,
• 27:51
  feel like it you were going to, you know fall on the sword and
• 27:55
  and do a plea bark and I were you?
• 27:58
  How where were you in your mind without all that going on?
• 28:01
  Yeah. So you know, I I didn't really.
• 28:04
  So I guess Fall on the sword would would would assume that
• 28:09
  I'm taking right it for someone else.
• 28:13
  And I can tell you my my thing was what I did was not connected
• 28:21
  to what anybody else was doing. Right, right.
• 28:24
  It was your thing. I felt like I was even in the
• 28:28
  moment doing something and sneaking behind everybody else's
• 28:31
  back and nobody else would, nobody would investigate me
• 28:35
  because I'm quote UN quote the guy that folks like, right?
• 28:40
  When I say Brent, I played on that, I really did.
• 28:43
  And so mine, I saw mine individually.
• 28:47
  I saw mine as being separate. Now I do believe that.
• 28:52
  Well, given the questions that they asked that I had no answers
• 28:56
  for, they thought that this was all a part of a larger.
• 29:01
  Larger thing, yeah, yeah. They want to connect the dots to
• 29:06
  everybody, right. Yeah.
• 29:07
  And and and so mine was was was not at all that it was a
• 29:11
  separate And so that's how my my attorney and I approached it And
• 29:18
  so I accepted responsibility for my action.
• 29:22
  I don't. I think it's got nothing to do
• 29:24
  with it, but anybody else has done this is Candia saying, I
• 29:29
  did it with the intentions of putting this behind me as
• 29:34
  quickly as I can so that I can move forward.
• 29:38
  How quickly did that happen? Like when you said with your
• 29:42
  attorney, hey, we're going to, we're going to accept
• 29:45
  responsibility. How long did it take you to get
• 29:48
  to the point where you're standing at the gates of
• 29:51
  wherever? What was the time period of
• 29:56
  that? Yeah, so that.
• 29:57
  So 2009 is when that process started.
• 30:02
  I think it was about 2010. Yeah, it was 2010 when I was,
• 30:08
  you know, and this was crazy to me, Brent to self report.
• 30:12
  Right. Oh, it's weird.
• 30:14
  It's one of the weirdest things I got, I got, I got to take
• 30:17
  myself to to to prison. Yeah, I'm going to prison today,
• 30:21
  right? That was crazy, right?
• 30:25
  And so it was it was 2010 that I.
• 30:29
  In fact, it was the fall of 2010, late summer, early fall of
• 30:33
  2010 that I reported to Morgantown.
• 30:37
  Tell me about it, Candia, because everybody's got a
• 30:39
  different type of experience. But you're going in there you're
• 30:42
  you're a guy that has been in the in the know of of politics
• 30:47
  and. You're walking now into a
• 30:51
  federal prison. What?
• 30:52
  What's going through your mind Yeah I can tell you it's it's a
• 30:57
  surreal experience. You know I I you're going in and
• 31:05
  at that check in point and it feeling very invasive violating.
• 31:11
  I mean it was it's almost it was like the when you take a look
• 31:17
  back at it it was an indoctrination.
• 31:20
  Well did you know that this is really what this is going to be
• 31:23
  about You got no power. I don't care where you came from
• 31:26
  there, there's no power. You can almost feel like like
• 31:29
  coming off your skin like they prisonized you and it feels like
• 31:32
  your your freedom's just falling off of you, right?
• 31:35
  Right. And then they give you the these
• 31:37
  khakis with these flat shoes, flat sheet shoes that you, you,
• 31:43
  you throw on. No way to look good in those,
• 31:48
  right? And then you know all the rest
• 31:52
  of your your gear with the big orange hat that that goes, that
• 31:58
  goes along with it and and the bro games and so and then you
• 32:04
  walk across the compound, you know with folks, it's feeling
• 32:09
  like folks looking at you. OK, well.
• 32:10
  They are. I mean, that's one thing you
• 32:12
  figure out, cuz once I was there, I when somebody came in.
• 32:16
  Yeah. Who's the new guy?
• 32:18
  What's he look like? He's he's entering our world.
• 32:22
  And I just got to be there for a day.
• 32:23
  This guy's coming in for a while and and and both sides you up on
• 32:28
  on multiple levels. So through the compound.
• 32:31
  And So what I noticed is that see Morgantown, WV they had an
• 32:35
  indoor basketball court right? Indoor gym facility.
• 32:38
  So I I walked through there of course to check it out and see
• 32:42
  see what the competition was going to look like for me and
• 32:46
  and folks were sizing you up then.
• 32:48
  OK this guy's 6/4 got a little bit of a walk to him.
• 32:53
  He might he might not be bad so they would pass you the ball so
• 32:57
  so that you could shoot it and then they can size up.
• 33:01
  OK is this guy OK? He he might not be too bad
• 33:04
  because it was just around basketball season that that I
• 33:08
  that I got there and so they're sizing you up at at there and
• 33:12
  then when you get to your bunk they're sizing you up when you
• 33:17
  you know you're walking through you know you know over to to and
• 33:22
  ours was I don't know about where you were and and where you
• 33:25
  in Levenworth. Yeah, it was just like a big
• 33:28
  open. Yeah, it's like army.
• 33:30
  Barracks. Yeah, right.
• 33:32
  With with a bunch of bunk beds. And bunk beds.
• 33:34
  And yeah, so they're walking. They're they're they're checking
• 33:37
  you out as you're walking over to your bunk.
• 33:40
  And even your bunkie is trying to get a sense of who is this
• 33:43
  guy now invading my space? It And then you have these these
• 33:49
  rules. I can tell you the common
• 33:52
  courtesy is is very important in that space.
• 33:58
  You mean people don't realize even if you're chewing with your
• 34:01
  mouth open, it's an expression of disrespect?
• 34:03
  Yes, respect is such a big deal. And you know it's you get they
• 34:08
  give you the thing of the prison rules but you've got to learn
• 34:11
  the unwritten prison rules to survive in what that world is
• 34:15
  right. And and if if you are
• 34:16
  automatically going into a a minimum and you didn't work your
• 34:21
  way down then then they really get upset with you.
• 34:25
  You know you come in here you don't know the rules like how am
• 34:28
  I supposed to know the rules. I didn't work my get help help a
• 34:30
  brother out. But but I will stay.
• 34:36
  Some of the most thoughtful and kindest and most intelligent and
• 34:43
  most creative people I've ever met in my life were in prison.
• 34:49
  So agree with you and and what what I learned is that you know,
• 34:53
  these guys, no matter what, they're what led them to their
• 34:56
  incarceration. Everybody wants the same thing
• 35:02
  that that everybody outside those walls want for their
• 35:05
  lives. You know it it's just a matter
• 35:09
  of their exposure in life on how to get to that that place and
• 35:17
  and so so often people are not exposed to the same
• 35:21
  opportunities that others have had in their lives.
• 35:23
  And so they go down the road that they know and it's survival
• 35:30
  for a lot of folks. But at the end of the day what
• 35:32
  folks really want it's the same thing they they want they want
• 35:37
  some security. They they want financial, you
• 35:43
  know, integrity. They they want to be able to pay
• 35:45
  their bills. They want to support their
• 35:47
  families. You know they they want to live
• 35:51
  in community and in relationship with with people and and that
• 35:57
  that's really it it. That's so true, candy and and
• 36:02
  you find that out by you're living in close quarters with
• 36:05
  these people and. And then you do find stories of,
• 36:10
  you know, you wonder how in the world that person survived to
• 36:13
  this point, you know and and you know how they didn't have any
• 36:17
  opportunities. I I think some people, maybe it
• 36:22
  was Glenn Martin that said that or maybe it's Louis Reed who was
• 36:25
  talking and he said, you know, to give somebody a second
• 36:29
  chance, maybe they didn't even get a first chance in the 1st
• 36:31
  place. Exactly.
• 36:33
  They're just looking for a fair chance.
• 36:36
  But yeah, it sounds like a Lewis Reed ISM.
• 36:41
  I think it is that. Yeah that.
• 36:44
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 36:45
  Yeah that that that sounds like my brother there.
• 36:48
  Yeah. So and and and he's right.
• 36:50
  He's right. And I, you know, I talked about
• 36:53
  the relationships that I built with folks while in prison that
• 36:57
  has me in this work. And I what you just, you know,
• 37:03
  you stated about second chances versus a fair chance reminds me
• 37:08
  of one of the guys that really inspired me to be here.
• 37:12
  And you know we were in the visiting room and his family,
• 37:19
  including his young kids had come to visit and he was, you
• 37:24
  know, he was a tough guy. You know this is this was the
• 37:27
  second bit and his family, his boys, two young boys were just
• 37:31
  jumping all over him, playing with him and he was, he was just
• 37:34
  having a ball. You know you didn't see that on
• 37:37
  the compound. This was a very different guy.
• 37:39
  That toughness it was had gone away.
• 37:43
  He was loving on these kids hugging them.
• 37:45
  I mean they were jumping. I mean they were just that they
• 37:47
  had, they had the, the visiting room it was their playground and
• 37:53
  and he was, he was enjoying himself and at the end of the
• 37:57
  visitation he, you know, we're all standing in the line there.
• 38:03
  We all have to line up to go back to to to the compound.
• 38:08
  Makes you feel kind of prisoner, too, that that whole thing.
• 38:11
  Yeah. Pardon.
• 38:12
  That whole thing. Kind of makes you feel like
• 38:13
  you're OK. I I've enjoyed my wife and kids
• 38:16
  and now I'm lining up as a prisoner to head back in to
• 38:19
  March in as a prisoner And so the family is still there,
• 38:22
  right? And so they're watching you line
• 38:24
  up and the kid had kids, had had experienced this before So dad
• 38:29
  is now about to leave and they're bawling and they're
• 38:33
  grabbing him at his ankles as he's as he's standing there and
• 38:36
  lying. I mean it just took all he could
• 38:38
  could to not cry and and and and and you I can see a teardrop,
• 38:45
  right? And him wipe his turn his head
• 38:47
  to wipe his eyes. And so we get back and we're in
• 38:52
  the same unit and for like 2 weeks he's in this self-imposed
• 39:00
  isolation. You know, he's only going to eat
• 39:04
  and coming back. And so I walk over to him.
• 39:06
  I said, you know man, his name was Herb.
• 39:08
  I said Herb man, this has got to be it for you.
• 39:12
  I mean you you can't come back. And those kids, they really
• 39:15
  depend. They're dependent on you and
• 39:17
  they they really love you This, this you can't come back here
• 39:20
  again. And so then he he looks up at
• 39:23
  me. He says, you know Milt, they go
• 39:27
  by last names by the way, they everybody has they go by your,
• 39:30
  you know, Milt, I'm going, I'm going to do my best.
• 39:35
  But I can't promise you nothing. I said, well, what do you mean?
• 39:38
  How can you not make that promise?
• 39:40
  I he said, well, he said the first time I got out, I had
• 39:46
  committed to never coming back here and it was OK for me to
• 39:49
  work those janitorial jobs. But you know, I while I get on
• 39:53
  my feet, he said. But every job I applied for, I
• 39:56
  got turned down. Nobody would hire me, he said.
• 40:00
  So I had to go back to do what I knew how to do, because that
• 40:04
  janitorial job wasn't paying the bills.
• 40:06
  He said. Listen, milk my uncles, they
• 40:10
  hustled my mother, she hustled my cousins, they all hustled.
• 40:15
  And he said, if I knew my father.
• 40:18
  I'm sure he was a hustler, but I I never knew him, he said.
• 40:22
  The only hustle he did was get get out.
• 40:24
  Of Town. And I mean that's those are his
• 40:27
  words. And so I went back to my bunk
• 40:31
  and I was mad. I'm like, he can't do these kids
• 40:34
  like that. And so then I came home and I
• 40:39
  put, you know, I served my time. I'm ready to get back into
• 40:42
  society. I pulled out my notepad of all
• 40:45
  the people who said when you return home, give me a call.
• 40:48
  That was about 25 people. So I made all those calls.
• 40:53
  I applied for 50 jobs online. I didn't get one call back for
• 41:00
  an interview, right? That was sobering.
• 41:04
  Of the 25 calls that I made of all the 25 people while I was
• 41:13
  liaison, the City Council, deputy mayor, chief of staff
• 41:18
  helped all of these people move projects that they wanted
• 41:22
  through the city government. That was important to them
• 41:25
  exactly. And only two callbacks. 2
• 41:29
  callbacks. One of those callbacks
• 41:34
  ultimately led to the relationship that I built with
• 41:38
  then Congressman Gary Peters. But as much as I didn't think
• 41:46
  her herb had understood or that Herb was out of touch, it was
• 41:51
  that experience that helped me to learn that I was out of
• 41:55
  touch. And there's a there's a group of
• 41:59
  people who could utilize the experience that I've had in
• 42:04
  government, working at the intersection of policy and
• 42:07
  politics to move the kind of policies that will make their
• 42:11
  lives better and make for a successful transition.
• 42:15
  Should we do all that we need to do make for a successful
• 42:19
  transition back into society for them?
• 42:23
  That's such a great story, Candia, that you just shared the
• 42:26
  whole scope there because I think that's you, you you nailed
• 42:29
  it. It it's, it's when you're in.
• 42:33
  I and I was going to ask you like, what your strategies while
• 42:35
  you're in. What did you do while you were
• 42:37
  in? Did you 'cause you?
• 42:40
  I can't remember the time that you had.
• 42:42
  Was it less than three years? Three years since?
• 42:45
  Yeah. My, my, my story internally was
• 42:48
  was not really sensational. I mean that it it was it it
• 42:52
  well. That's a good thing.
• 42:54
  Yeah. I mean, exactly.
• 42:56
  You know, so it wasn't, it wasn't so much my story, my
• 43:01
  personal experience that that drove me to be in this work.
• 43:06
  It it was the the men that I. Yeah, well, I I think, I think
• 43:11
  what you just said though, put so much emphasis on how hard it
• 43:16
  is. For those who really are trying,
• 43:18
  and you said most everyone wants the same thing, it's can they
• 43:23
  grit it out enough to stay with it?
• 43:26
  Because that janitorial job and getting another janitorial job
• 43:30
  and and then looking at where you were and what you were doing
• 43:35
  and the and the running things, running cities of things, and
• 43:41
  you're just desperately trying to get somebody to call you
• 43:44
  back, right? Or a job interview, right.
• 43:49
  Yeah, But but. And yeah, and then that was
• 43:51
  that's why. And I just felt like if I could
• 43:53
  just get two of these interviews, I could, you know, I
• 43:58
  can. I can make the kind of
• 44:00
  impression that that makes it difficult for them to say no to
• 44:04
  me, right. I mean it to me, it's out being
• 44:07
  in sales. It's easy to say no to the
• 44:11
  company, but it was always my confidence that it's it's tough
• 44:14
  to say no to Candia. If I get, if I get in front of
• 44:17
  you and we have this conversation, I'm going to make
• 44:19
  it tough for you to say no to me.
• 44:21
  You can say no to the product when when we send all the bells
• 44:24
  and whistles of the product to you.
• 44:26
  But it's going to be hard to say no to me.
• 44:29
  So but but I just couldn't. I couldn't get there.
• 44:34
  You know I just couldn't get to that point.
• 44:36
  But but you asked the question, you know the things that I did
• 44:39
  while incarcerated, right. I work with a lot of folk on
• 44:46
  their business plans. You know a lot of guys had hopes
• 44:49
  and dreams. So when they got out of what
• 44:52
  they were going to do. And so you know, I help guys
• 44:56
  build out their business plans. You know, I help, you know
• 45:02
  people understand the importance of conflict resolution versus
• 45:07
  you know, the knee jerk reaction to, to and and we all often want
• 45:12
  to react, right? Even when today when I'm
• 45:14
  driving, I feel like lashing out at some folk.
• 45:17
  My wife's good at that. It turns out.
• 45:19
  That different person, it always is.
• 45:21
  So my wife does the same Britt, and I say, listen, that person
• 45:24
  is gone. They ain't even thinking about
• 45:26
  you. But here you are mad and and
• 45:28
  ready to, you know, go crazy. Why don't we just keep it moving
• 45:31
  here But but you know, you know helping with conflict
• 45:36
  resolutions. I didn't.
• 45:40
  I didn't so much build curricula for classes but I would you
• 45:43
  know, I I, you know, I was often the guest lecture on for some of
• 45:47
  the classes which let me just say there's such a hunger for
• 45:53
  growth and development for people who are incarcerated that
• 45:56
  in the absence of the BOP bringing classes.
• 46:00
  Yeah, we were in there building curricula for classes.
• 46:04
  That's that's such a great point, such a great point
• 46:07
  because I I know one of the things you've talked about is is
• 46:10
  the first step act that you were very involved in in helping get
• 46:13
  that done. Now it's all in place, but we
• 46:16
  can't get it staffed can't get the things that are supposed to
• 46:18
  be done to get the people to get their credits and all those
• 46:21
  things. So, so much of that if you know
• 46:24
  they even talk about staffing, well why not take some of the
• 46:27
  people that that the Candias of the world?
• 46:30
  And and let them teach the curriculum that will help these
• 46:34
  people get the credits they need to get through the first step
• 46:37
  Act. Those are, I mean those we have
• 46:40
  it staffed. They're not going anywhere,
• 46:44
  right? And yeah.
• 46:46
  And what Well, what's interesting is even before the
• 46:51
  First Step Act, right, these classes were happening and now
• 46:56
  they're being forced to accept because of the staffing issue
• 46:59
  and the demand for implementation of the First Step
• 47:04
  Act is that they're now allowing for these classes, you know,
• 47:09
  certain classes that meet the criteria to, you know, make
• 47:13
  allowances for credits. So the the good thing is that
• 47:19
  that that is starting to happen more and more because of the,
• 47:24
  well what I would call chronic staffing shortages.
• 47:28
  You know, that not only put folk at at risk of, you know, for not
• 47:34
  having opportunity, but it's it's really a a a safety risk,
• 47:40
  you know, not having the, the staffing levels there.
• 47:44
  Yeah. Well, you candy when 'cause when
• 47:49
  you got out, and then you finally get this opportunity.
• 47:52
  Can you, can you walk us through that?
• 47:54
  How you felt about that, what it was, how it happened, you know,
• 47:57
  because that really kind of sets you in play back into your
• 48:02
  world. But you had a different passion.
• 48:04
  You know, you you're you, you had this inner feeling that I'm
• 48:07
  going to do some things and change some things.
• 48:09
  That was a little bit different than before you went in.
• 48:12
  Yeah. You know and and I can tell you
• 48:14
  man this is when I came out, you know, I, I, I had no thought
• 48:26
  about going back into politics to be honest with you.
• 48:31
  And the the two people that I referenced that that that
• 48:35
  actually answered the phone and were active participants had
• 48:39
  presented opportunities to me that you know I wasn't ready for
• 48:47
  and and was still punishing myself for the bad decision and
• 48:53
  feeling bad for myself and feeling like in in in some of
• 48:58
  these cases not worthy. Kind of like the imposter
• 49:01
  syndrome. And I'm.
• 49:02
  I'm not supposed to be here. Yeah.
• 49:04
  And and it was something when when I look back at it, didn't
• 49:07
  even recognize myself. Because, you know, being born
• 49:11
  and raised in Detroit where you see, unlike a lot of cities, you
• 49:19
  see examples of what black leadership can look like and
• 49:24
  your role and responsibility and the opportunities you have for
• 49:28
  you to. When you see a Coleman Young or
• 49:31
  Clyde Cleveland who's a Councilman or a a a Charles
• 49:35
  Diggs who was a congressman or a John Conyers who's a
• 49:40
  congressman. When you're seeing those folks
• 49:42
  and attorneys you know, who are multiple, you know, types of
• 49:49
  practices, you know, from defense to to municipal bonds to
• 49:55
  general practitioners. I mean, when you, when you see
• 49:57
  that every day you feel a sense of belonging no matter where you
• 50:02
  are. And so to be in this space where
• 50:07
  now you don't feel worthy or you have this, this, this, you know,
• 50:14
  imposter syndrome. And it happened in a way, Brent,
• 50:19
  that I didn't even recognize it when I was in that space.
• 50:24
  But you know, I I just kept thinking, OK, I'm not worthy of
• 50:27
  these opportunities. And So what happened was I was
• 50:32
  sitting on the porch, and the gentleman that I used to work
• 50:38
  with at the city who didn't get in the kind of trouble that I
• 50:45
  got in, had built his This was it.
• 50:53
  Call it a political, you know, he's a political consultant, but
• 50:57
  he does more than that. So he's communications
• 50:59
  consultant, political consultant.
• 51:00
  He like builds out campaigns. And I was sitting there on the
• 51:04
  porch and and he also lived up the street from me.
• 51:08
  So he, he saw me. He said, man, I keep driving by
• 51:11
  here and I'm seeing you on the porch and this is a waste.
• 51:16
  It's a waste of your talents for you to just be sitting on the
• 51:18
  porch and you know we need you in the game.
• 51:24
  And then one day he called and said, hey, listen, I got this
• 51:27
  charity thing that I'm doing downtown and I need your help as
• 51:33
  a bartender. I've never been a bartender, but
• 51:36
  I he and he and he brought me a black vest.
• 51:39
  He said all you need is some slacks.
• 51:40
  Now you some black slacks, but here's the vest I need you to
• 51:44
  wear. So I go and I show up and you
• 51:51
  know, the folks who came in from the chair for the charity event
• 51:54
  were staffers for the Gary Peters campaign for Congress.
• 52:00
  And and out of that, you know, they asked him some questions,
• 52:05
  OK, who is that guy? And then as they started to see
• 52:08
  who that guy was, and as he started to tell him the story of
• 52:10
  the guy, they were like, oh, that that guy's kind of, that
• 52:14
  guy's kind of mysterious. But then he seems to be a pretty
• 52:17
  nice. Guy.
• 52:18
  Yeah. Well, they then invited me to
• 52:21
  work for the campaign. Wow, right.
• 52:25
  And so, but I would put my toe in the water and then I would
• 52:30
  step back, put my toe in the water.
• 52:32
  I would step back and at a point the campaign manager said, hey,
• 52:34
  listen, you either have to show up and we can depend on you or,
• 52:41
  you know, we can't have you on the books as being hired because
• 52:46
  we really need we we we need you to be an active participant in
• 52:50
  this campaign, if that's what you're going to be.
• 52:54
  And so I did make the full-fledged commitment, but it
• 52:59
  was not easy because it was starting over.
• 53:02
  I didn't come in as the political advisor, I didn't come
• 53:06
  in as the policy advisor, I didn't come in as the deputy
• 53:10
  campaign manager or campaign manager.
• 53:12
  I came in as a canvasser, so here I am took.
• 53:19
  You all the way back to your baseball days, starting exactly
• 53:23
  right. Back to where I started, right.
• 53:26
  And. And so every day that I would go
• 53:29
  to the territory that I was assigned to Brent.
• 53:32
  I would sit in the car for 20 minutes agonizing about what I
• 53:40
  had in front of me. And then 32nd pep talk.
• 53:47
  You know get your you know get yourself together and get out
• 53:51
  here and do this. You know, this isn't just about
• 53:55
  the canvassing. This is about, you know who you.
• 53:57
  And every day I would have, I would do that and I would go
• 54:01
  door to door. And even though I was 20 to 30
• 54:05
  minutes behind the other person starting every day, my numbers
• 54:10
  were higher than everybody else who were out there canvassing.
• 54:15
  And the feedback was, you know, that I was inputting was more
• 54:19
  substantial than than everybody else who was out there
• 54:23
  canvassing with me at the same time.
• 54:26
  And after he won office, you know, he asked me if I would be
• 54:33
  interested in in working in his, his official office.
• 54:39
  Just huge yeah. And and I will tell you one of
• 54:42
  the conditions was a need for you to be out in community
• 54:50
  sharing your story. Also encouraging the the the
• 54:57
  young kids to, you know, avoid the pitfalls that that lead to
• 55:02
  incarceration. And that was hard because it
• 55:06
  took me about 3 months of being on staff before I did my first
• 55:13
  meeting. And every time the congressman
• 55:17
  would come back to the district he would say have you been out
• 55:22
  there yet? Have you been out there yet?
• 55:26
  And then at one point, he said, Candia, these kids absolutely
• 55:33
  need you. And the very first time that I
• 55:38
  went out there, Brent, I had a canned sort of story to tell and
• 55:47
  it, you know, it was one of those if I could just reach one
• 55:50
  of you. I've done my job type stories.
• 55:53
  But when those kids walk into that auditorium, man and I, I I
• 55:58
  could see little mini Me's coming into that auditorium.
• 56:01
  I mean, just something transpired and the very thing
• 56:04
  that I prepared, I didn't utter one word of that.
• 56:08
  That's. Incredible, right?
• 56:11
  Because because I I had avoided, because in all that I prepared,
• 56:14
  I had avoided the story. But it included not only the
• 56:20
  story but it all. It also opened up with if I miss
• 56:25
  any one of you, then I failed you, all right?
• 56:30
  And and because it it's crazy to me when we were growing up
• 56:33
  right, if I could just reach 1. Sure.
• 56:35
  Well, is that ever a success? What?
• 56:37
  Has some person ever just simply done their job if they reached
• 56:40
  one? Right, right, right.
• 56:43
  Even baseball has a higher You know, you know your batting
• 56:47
  average is. 302 hundred, right? You?
• 56:50
  If you hit it three times out of 10, then that's a good batting
• 56:52
  average, right? But but if if you have 45 kids
• 56:56
  and you only reach one, right, then you've done your job.
• 56:59
  No, I I think you ought to be fired at that point.
• 57:01
  You need to reach a few more, right?
• 57:05
  So yeah. And so and and it started with
• 57:08
  that and and me being open and candid about not just the, you
• 57:15
  know, the the, the, the bad decision, but all the things
• 57:19
  that led to the bad decision, right.
• 57:21
  Dying into you're the greatest dying into this notion that, you
• 57:27
  know, nobody has ever done it as well as you, you know, leaning
• 57:32
  in on reputation as opposed to leaning in on character.
• 57:37
  Right. And so, you know, it was all the
• 57:41
  things. So I didn't just talk about the
• 57:43
  bad decisions, but it was the things that led up to the bad
• 57:46
  decisions. You know, a steak dinner wasn't
• 57:49
  illegal. You know, concert tickets
• 57:51
  weren't illegal, but they. It was priming me, right, for
• 57:57
  that ultimate. Hey, would you, would you take
• 58:01
  this money in exchange for this? Right.
• 58:06
  And so all of that led to the bad decision that I made.
• 58:12
  That's so great though, that you had somebody that's almost like
• 58:14
  an accountability guy that's just, hey, have you been out
• 58:18
  there yet? Have you.
• 58:19
  And then when you went out there, candy, you loved it and
• 58:23
  and you know, I can see just you talking about it now, you know,
• 58:27
  I like to go and do that. I I was just doing it the other
• 58:30
  night to Fordham University. It was it on a virtual call, but
• 58:34
  it was. I love that moment.
• 58:37
  It almost feels like sports when you're taking the, you know, the
• 58:40
  court, you get that adrenaline flow and and then you get the
• 58:44
  Q&A and and you feel like you're you've connected.
• 58:47
  But being able to use your experience, you know, like I,
• 58:51
  when I talk, talk about the moment, you know if I could have
• 58:54
  this moment back and then this moment was another moment and
• 58:56
  then this moment. So when you get into these
• 58:59
  moments, think about them. Don't just walk over them, but
• 59:04
  that's. And I can tell you just talking
• 59:07
  about that it, it heals you therapeutically to go out and do
• 59:12
  that, which is a big deal because you're in now you're in
• 59:15
  a world, Candia, where thank God you're in the position you're
• 59:20
  in. I mean, how inspired Sabrina was
• 59:23
  that you took the time to come and see her in Kansas City and
• 59:27
  she's, I mean, all about this halfway house there and you
• 59:31
  know, but. You're in a position where you
• 59:34
  can inspire people to take action and you know that's in
• 59:40
  this world that we live in with. You know we say that we're
• 59:42
  branded for life as ex felons. We are.
• 59:46
  But I think the more that we band together as a group to
• 59:50
  create a bigger voice for change is what you know needs to be
• 59:56
  done and and you know with what you're doing and and.
• 1:00:00
  It's just the fact that you're we're going out and speaking to
• 1:00:03
  kids and getting that back and forth and and creating maybe a
• 1:00:07
  different generation of what people are thinking when they go
• 1:00:10
  into it, that's that's a huge deal, huge deal and.
• 1:00:14
  It it it's it was very healing you know, I I I felt a, you know
• 1:00:21
  a big weight fall off of my shoulders and and I I will tell
• 1:00:24
  you I'm not here today. But for that experience not just
• 1:00:29
  that I can say that I work for Congressman Gary Peters and and
• 1:00:33
  thus can can be a government affairs director now, right.
• 1:00:37
  I mean because that's usually the the, the path for someone
• 1:00:40
  who works for a congressman as they go with become a lobbyist
• 1:00:43
  government affairs they become a policy.
• 1:00:45
  So but it it was that that. As we talked about earlier, that
• 1:00:52
  controlling the narrative is part of it, but the other part
• 1:00:57
  is showing up and being genuine about who you are and what you
• 1:01:03
  your life experience is. But utilizing that and seeing
• 1:01:07
  the light bulb go off in these kids, like I was expected.
• 1:01:11
  I tell the story being at at the school, right?
• 1:01:13
  So I was expected on a career day to be there for, you know?
• 1:01:19
  Two hours. I didn't get out of there until
• 1:01:22
  4:00, the end of the school day. They kept asking me to go to
• 1:01:25
  this next class and go to that next class and go to that next
• 1:01:27
  class. But you also said something
• 1:01:30
  important here. And that is, you know, there
• 1:01:35
  being a community of incarcerated people working
• 1:01:38
  together, right? To make change.
• 1:01:43
  Every time someone says that, I'm reminded of the Neo song,
• 1:01:47
  right? I'm a movement by myself, but
• 1:01:50
  I'm a force when we're together. You make me better, You make me
• 1:01:57
  better. So being in community is is what
• 1:02:03
  makes us a force, right? It's the relationships that
• 1:02:07
  you're building that matters. It I I can't.
• 1:02:13
  We can't get any of this done with without.
• 1:02:17
  Being in community without building the kind of power that
• 1:02:21
  forces people to to to to bring us to the table.
• 1:02:29
  We're not just simply being invited to the table.
• 1:02:31
  Power doesn't invite Powerless to the table.
• 1:02:34
  It's because we're in community and you're seen as a force.
• 1:02:40
  That's how you get that invitation to the table.
• 1:02:44
  It's because man, this this person's powerful.
• 1:02:47
  He's got the backing of all of these people and you don't, you
• 1:02:50
  know, you're not going to build it on your own.
• 1:02:51
  It's you build it in community. And so, you know, Sabrina and I
• 1:02:57
  having a conversation about the need for a halfway house Kansas
• 1:03:02
  City, which is ridiculous. How do you not have a halfway
• 1:03:04
  house? It doesn't make any sense.
• 1:03:07
  A major driving to Topeka KS to right and and so you you're
• 1:03:12
  you're trying you're saying you want to set people up for a
• 1:03:15
  successful transition back in society.
• 1:03:18
  But yet you have to drive, you know an hour, hour and a half to
• 1:03:22
  the nearest halfway house for reporting.
• 1:03:27
  And so now you're what if you don't have a vehicle?
• 1:03:32
  Easily could happen. It's very hard to get credit
• 1:03:35
  when you get out of prison just to go get a car.
• 1:03:38
  Exactly. And so as much as you know,
• 1:03:45
  connecting with Sabrina was, you know was was a good initial
• 1:03:53
  step, I can tell you. She's reached out to the to
• 1:03:58
  labor unions. She's reached out to judges.
• 1:04:01
  She's reached out to halfway house operators.
• 1:04:03
  She's reached out to harm reduction centers.
• 1:04:06
  I mean she is exactly and and and and in building community
• 1:04:12
  she's building power to make change to have an impact on on
• 1:04:17
  in you know within within her, her domain and that that that
• 1:04:23
  really is. Like I say it it it generally
• 1:04:26
  isn't about me. It's about the relationships I
• 1:04:28
  build that that really drives me to to be in this work.
• 1:04:33
  It's great work though. It's great work.
• 1:04:35
  Candy, I I always ask this to people you know at the end of
• 1:04:38
  the show and and you've got such an interesting journey that
• 1:04:43
  you've been on. Are we at the end already?
• 1:04:46
  Oh, I'm. Sorry, go ahead.
• 1:04:51
  We're not at the end of the journey, no.
• 1:04:54
  No, I'm saying the end of the show.
• 1:04:55
  End of the show. At the end of the show already.
• 1:04:58
  But what do you think's your What do you think's your
• 1:05:01
  greatest take away through all of everything you've been
• 1:05:03
  through? My greatest take away because
• 1:05:15
  you've been through a lot. Yeah.
• 1:05:17
  So here is what I I've I've come to to realize in in this work is
• 1:05:24
  that there is a you know this is this is hard work and I I will
• 1:05:32
  state that as a as a person of faith this is sacred work and I
• 1:05:40
  don't take the responsibility. In being in this work lightly
• 1:05:46
  and thus I share a sacred trust with those who have gone before
• 1:05:50
  me, and pursuant to that sacred trust, I share sacred trust with
• 1:05:56
  those who will come after me. And so it's it's important for
• 1:06:03
  me to build on what those who have gone before me have have
• 1:06:08
  built, right? Recognizing that I might not.
• 1:06:13
  Quote UN quote. Get to the promised land as
• 1:06:15
  Moses didn't get to the promised land.
• 1:06:18
  But if I can get us closer, then I can pass it on to the next
• 1:06:22
  generation, right? That will take it to where to?
• 1:06:28
  To that promised land. And so I just recognize that for
• 1:06:34
  as long as I'm in this work, I may not see all the benefits of
• 1:06:39
  it. You know I can change.
• 1:06:43
  As hard as it is to change laws, it's even tougher to change the
• 1:06:46
  culture, right? I can change 20 laws today, but
• 1:06:50
  until we change the culture, that's a longer protractic
• 1:06:55
  struggle that, quite frankly, I recognize that I might have to
• 1:06:59
  pass on to the next generation in my lifetime.
• 1:07:02
  I love that for so many layers of reasons.
• 1:07:05
  Because, you know, taking something from one step and
• 1:07:09
  building up to the next step for the next person to take it.
• 1:07:13
  If you don't have that happening, it all falls down
• 1:07:16
  like a House of Cards. Everybody's got to keep building
• 1:07:18
  on it. Candy.
• 1:07:20
  If somebody wants to get a hold of you, what's what's the best
• 1:07:25
  way to reach out? Is it?
• 1:07:26
  Is it through dream.org? Yeah, they they can My my e-mail
• 1:07:30
  is candiakandia@dream.org. I don't know if they can see it
• 1:07:38
  on the screen here, prominently displayed, but it's Candia at
• 1:07:41
  dream.org. I'll put it in the show notes
• 1:07:44
  too, yeah. Yeah, that that's the the
• 1:07:48
  quickest way to reach out. You know, at the center of all
• 1:07:52
  of our campaigns are people who are directly impacted.
• 1:07:56
  We do everything from engaged engage our empathy network,
• 1:08:01
  which is again a community of impacted.
• 1:08:03
  Leaders engage them in cohort trainings.
• 1:08:08
  Then we have in fact, I have a training this evening with
• 1:08:12
  people who are getting ready for their their local or state
• 1:08:16
  campaigns. Everything from policy trainings
• 1:08:20
  to telling your story to organizing.
• 1:08:26
  We have a a whole curricula curriculum on on.
• 1:08:31
  You know, for for people who are impacted by our criminal legal
• 1:08:35
  system, directly impacted by our criminal legal system, I mean
• 1:08:38
  we're all impacted by it. But those who are considered
• 1:08:41
  directly impacted by our criminal legal system.
• 1:08:43
  So again at the center of all of our campaigns are people who are
• 1:08:47
  are directly impacted which is is such a needed thing and and
• 1:08:53
  so important. And I think that's why dream.org
• 1:08:55
  organization is just one of the best out there doing what needs
• 1:09:00
  to be done. And Candia man, keep doing what
• 1:09:03
  you're doing. I you're such a great voice to
• 1:09:05
  have. You know you talk about a
• 1:09:08
  village and a movement and a community and and having you
• 1:09:11
  with your experience using everything in your brain to to
• 1:09:15
  get to the next step is such a big deal for people like me and
• 1:09:20
  Sabrina and everybody else that's in this big world of
• 1:09:22
  ours. So hope you keep doing
• 1:09:25
  everything you're doing, man. Well, Brent, I want to thank you
• 1:09:28
  for for not just having me, but for lifting up these stories.
• 1:09:34
  And and they're not just simply stories, but there are
• 1:09:37
  opportunities for us, for us all, those certainly
• 1:09:42
  opportunities for you and I, meaning us to engage in this
• 1:09:46
  work, but also for others to see what's going on and and get
• 1:09:50
  engaged in the work because it really is going to take all of
• 1:09:54
  us. Moving in the same direction and
• 1:09:58
  in unison to make the change here, we want to see and quite
• 1:10:02
  frankly, this country needs to see.
• 1:10:05
  Oh, man, for sure. For anybody out there, I
• 1:10:09
  appreciate that, Candia. By the way, if you want to get a
• 1:10:12
  hold of me, it's brentcassidy.com, it's with ATY,
• 1:10:15
  not ADY, even though I'd like to be Sean and David Cassidy.
• 1:10:18
  It's just spelled wrong. If and and guys, I really
• 1:10:23
  appreciate you everybody. There's been a surge of reviews
• 1:10:27
  on Apple that is great because for some reason that just
• 1:10:30
  affects the algorithm and puts the show on steroids.
• 1:10:32
  So thank you so much for taking the time to do that, 'cause I
• 1:10:35
  know it's kind of a hassle to do and click through all that and
• 1:10:38
  do that. So I appreciate it.
• 1:10:40
  If you're looking for a book out there, hey, it's Christmas time.
• 1:10:43
  Well, it's really Thanksgiving, but Christmas is coming.
• 1:10:46
  Go to Amazon.com. Get nightmare success.
• 1:10:50
  And as I used to say when I was writing my emails back and forth
• 1:10:53
  from Leavenworth, stay strong. I'll do the same.
• 1:10:56
  Candia Milton man, appreciate you so much.
• 1:10:59
  Appreciate you. Thank you, Brent.
• 1:11:01
  Appreciate this conversation. I I look forward to us having a
• 1:11:06
  a relationship beyond this this, this discussion absolutely
• 1:11:12
  continue the great work in lifting up stories of folks who
• 1:11:16
  are. Directly impacted by our
• 1:11:19
  criminal legal system. That'll do it for today.
• 1:11:23
  Dimer success in and out.