All language subtitles for Stockton.On.My.Mind.2020.AMZN.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-NTG

(traffic noise)

-("God's Plan" by Drake playing)
-God's plan. God's plan.

♪ I can't do this on my own ♪

♪ Someone watching
this shit close ♪

♪ ♪

Michael Tubbs: I think
God's plan is something

you have a hint of, but you
can only see in hindsight.

There's no way
I could've scripted this.

I think the lyric
of the song says,

"I can't do this on my own."

It's like, "Someone must be
watching this close."

Particularly for me,
that's incredibly true.

(all cheering)

Anna Nti-Asare-Tubbs: The night that
Michael was elected mayor is the same nigt

that Donald Trump was elected.

And so, it was this
very direct conflict

in what they were
both running for.

This victory is yours.

If you look at this room,

this room is what
Stockton looks like.

(cheering and applause)

You're 26 years old.
The youngest and the first

African-American
mayor of Stockton...

Tubbs: Almost every interview
or conversation I have

begins with my age.

He is the 27-year-old
Democratic mayor...

Reporter 1:
You are 28 years old.

Reporter 2:
Stockton's 29-year-old mayor..

Tubbs:
I didn't just become this

because it's
the flavor of the month.

I've been talking about

this stuff since
I was in high school.

The message I received
a lot growing up was that

the options I had, that I was
in fact set up for two things.

Prison or death.

You know that saying,
"the personal is political"?

I really believe that.

♪ ♪

Growing up in Stockton,

I lived in four out of
the five areas that have

a lot of our city's
violent crime issues.

-Good morning. -So, my mom, she
had me when she was a teenager.

She was 16
when she was pregnant.

My father's
been incarcerated

for 25 out of the 27 years
I, I, I was... I've been alive.

Good morning, good morning.

Some of my best friends
that in fact today

are either in prison or dead,

and that was almost my end.

But luckily,
and thanks to God,

I was able to go to Stanford
on a full scholarship.

I was able to work
in the White House.

I was able to have lunch
with Oprah Winfrey.

And I don't say that to brag,

but I say that to say

all the quote, unquote,
"success"

has been motivated by
a central question.

How in the world did I make i?

And how do I empower
other people

from backgrounds like mine

to upset the set-up?

♪ ♪

Mike Fitzgerald:
Stockton is a fascinating cit.

There is no place
like this city.

I know you only hear
bad things about it.

Underneath the bad
things here, I should say

there's a wonderful community.

And what a community!

There are people here from
all points on the globe

to a much greater degree
than in other cities.

(crowd cheering)

In one quarter,

between 2007 and 2008,

the value of homes
here plummeted

by as much as 80%.

Reporter 1: Traders say
this is the craziest day

they have ever seen
in these markets...

Reporter 2: Foreclosures
are still climbing,

and Stockton has
the worst rate...

Reporter 3: Stockton is now
the nation's number one city

for foreclosure activity.

Fitzgerald: This was the
most foreclosed upon city

in the United States,

and it was real
economic carnage.

The only option was
municipal bankruptcy.

And Stockton became
the largest city,

up till that time
in American history,

to declare bankruptcy.

♪ ♪

Tubbs: My senior year
in high school in 2008,

we were foreclosure capital.

We were beginning the layoffs.

We were beginning to
lead to the issues

and the problems that
caused me to come back

and run for office in 2012.

In that backdrop, I decided
to run for city council.

What is that moment where
it clicks in and you say

"I'm running in 2012"?

I was at a community meeting

'cause there was
a spike in homicides.

And one of these
activists, organizers,

a dear friend of mine,
who I really look up to.

We were talking, said, "What are
you gonna do after graduation?"

I was like, "I don't know,
I'm still figuring it out."

He said, "Well, how many
more people have to die

before you feel
ready to come back?"

Interviewer: That's a lot
of guilt to put on you.

Lot of pressure to put
on a 21-year-old, right?

But, it worked!

Tubbs: You need
Band-Aids or anything?

Stockton's not
the only community

with a homelessness issue.

Stockton's not
the only community

with a violent crime issue.

Stockton's not the only
community with a poverty issu.

I'm tired of talking
about where we've been.

I'm more interested in
discussing where are we going

-and then how do we get there.
-(applause)

Thank you.

Daniel Lopez: Oh, I feel like this
is the beginning of a long week.

What's today, Monday?

Got a problem
with the printer.

It needs paper. (laughs)

See, around here,
we get things done.

All of the team
works right here,

so if one person gets sick,
we all get sick.

It just comes with
the territory.

The mayor's office
is right next door

where he works out of.

In 2016, Mayor Tubbs
gave me a call.

He had two positions,
so I said I'll think about it.

Before that, I had a really
good gig at the state capital.

I had a staff of
about 12 to 14.

I don't know,
so they convinced me

this was the right place,
right time.

Started pulling at
my heart, my hometown,

and the work that
could be done here.

I knew what I was
getting myself into.

Coming over here, if you want

a coffee, if you need
to send an email,

you gotta do everything.

You got to take out
the trash in Stockton.

♪ ♪

We're trying different things.

We've had the opportunity now

to bring in programs that are,
you know, unconventional.

We have a program
called Advance Peace.

The goal of this is
to reduce gun violence

and increase public safety.

We have a thing called
universal basic income,

or guaranteed income, and the
Stockton Scholars program

where we're giving young
people that scholarship

'cause we're hoping
that they go out,

get a degree, and then
come back to Stockton

and find ways to help the city.

That's a way of paying it forward
and then paying it back.

So, those are the solutions,

some of the bigger ones
that we're looking at.

And I think, for the most
part, people get it.

They're excited.

They've never had
a mayor like this before.

♪♪

Tubbs: For so long, the
narrative of Stockton

has just been all negative.

And now people
are looking to us

as a place that's happening,
that's moving.

There's something
happening here.

And people are trying to
figure out what that is.

You have something called
universal basic income that you...

It's a pilot
program, right?

UBI, they call it,
but it's basically,

it's a fancy way of saying
we're gonna give some people

-free money.
-Well, it's interesting...

-How's that working out? Do they
like free money? -(studio laughter)

♪ ♪

Tubbs: I knew it was a Stockton
issu, but I was really shocked

when I read that
one in two Americans

can't afford
one $400 emergency.

And I was shocked because that's
not just people in poverty.

That's a lot of people.

So, I sent my staff an email,

and I said, hey, you guys,
give me something

I haven't heard of, like,
what's the craziest thing

you can come back with?

Two days later, they came back

with you can just
give people money.

So, I said, that...
that, that's crazy.

I said, there's no way
a solution this complex

can be solved that simply.

We are testing a bold
social experiment

in poverty alleviation

in a space and a place that
really mirrors a lot of trends

that we see across the US.

Tubbs:
So, we're testing out

the Stockton Economic
Empowerment Demonstration,

known as SEED,
and we partnered with a group

called the Economic
Security Project

that gave us a million-dollar
grant to figure out

what would it look like
to provide the income floor

for people in the form
of a basic income.

So, $500 a month, no strings
attached, for 12 to 18 months,

depending on how much
more we're able to raise.

We're doing a calendar,
a schedule, figure out, okay,

when are we doing our
community engagement stuff,

when are we planning disbursement,
when are we gonna meet with people.

Lori Ospina: We will do
kind of a two-step process.

So, the first step is

we'll filter out all
of the neighborhoods

in the city of Stockton

where the area median
income is at or below

$46,000, and then we will

randomly choose addresses,

and we'll randomly
send mailers out

to potential recipients
across those neighborhoods.

Tubbs: What's exciting
about this project is that

it's giving us a chance
to really interrogate

our values as a country
and as a community.

Are those values
really put into action?

I don't wanna live
in a community

and I don't wanna live
in a nation where people

are working two jobs and
can't pay for rent. I don't.

Host 1:
It's a silly idea.

You never wanna
pay people not to work.

Host 2: It's like why a utopia
is never going to be possible.

The same reason why universal
basic income isn't going to work.

Host 3:
It's becoming an excuse

for companies to not pay

a living wage
to their workers.

Host 4: It's liberals that are
doing this, liberal management,

liberal, liberal cities
like Stockton.

Tubbs:
I was shocked at...

not even just
the amount of criticism,

but just how nonsensical.

Just like really not rooted

in anything true. And how...

personal the criticism.

Reporter: Twenty-three homicides
in Stockton so far this year,

three in the Weston Ranch
neighborhood alone.

The latest man shot dead
is 22-year-old Julius Batiste.

Batiste was gunned down
Friday evening.

Investigators for the Stockton
Police Department say...

Lopez: There is an area
called Weston Ranch

on the far south area of town.

(upbeat brass band playing)

They actually had a police
service station out there,

and then when
the budget cuts came,

bankruptcy, they closed down
that police service station,

and now, recently, they
had like three homicides.

So, we're planning for
this town hall tonight.

The mayor, the council member,
the police chief

will all go in there,
be on a panel,

and get questions
from the community.

You know, there's a lot of
emotions mixed out there.

-Okay, I'll have you go in and
then go in behind you. -Alright.

-Just follow Brian.
-Okay.

Woman: No idea is
stupid, silly, wrong.

Nothing's bad.

Anything that you think of
that comes to mind

that you talk yourself
out of saying

could have saved a life.

Resources for our kids
here in Weston Ranch.

Scholarship programs, okay.

Woman 1: Police presence
within the neighborhoods.

There's prostitution,
there's drug deals...

Robberies, people get
their purses snatched...

Woman 2:
Lack of employment...

We all need to do our part.

We cannot depend
on just one person

to come and save us all.

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Eight years ago,
my cousin was murdered

at Kelley Drive
at a house party.

So I was in
Palo Alto at the time,

and that's what
brought me back.

It was that feeling of pain,

of anger, of being really
upset and feeling powerless.

That's the reason why
I came back in 2012,

and why I still do
the work we do today.

Because the issues,
not just in Weston Ranch,

but in Stockton are
bigger than one town hall,

one tragedy, and one meeting,

but it's gonna take
continually meeting

like this all the time,
in good times and in bad times,

until we see some progress.

To make the choice to
take someone's life,

there has to be
a sense of nihilism.

"My life doesn't matter,
your life doesn't matter,

"and nothing's gonna change it.
What do I have to lose?

"In a community where
everyone I know is broke,

"everyone's anxious,
people can't pay rent.

"Because of mistakes
I made in the past,

"I have a criminal record.
I can't really get a job.

Or if I do get a job, it's
going to be very difficult."

It's a lot.

♪ ♪

Kenny Guyton: A lot of those
kids is just living to die.

People are scared of 'em,
but we're not scared of 'em

because we look
at 'em as our kids,

our children,
people that's lost.

A lot of people look
at 'em as animals

-and threats to the public.
-Tubbs: Are they in school still?

Some of them in school,
but they don't participate.

They're straight-F students.
They go in there just for lunch.

Burnice Redil: We gotta figure out
something for them to do, man.

-They need to have some kind of
outlet, something. -Like what?

I mean, that's
not a question

that I can answer. I gotta ask
them, you know what I mean?

Basic strategy is to go into
neighborhoods and talk to people

that no one else has
been able to talk to.

Tubbs: I remember last time
we talked, you mentioned

kinda this area downtown being
kinda most area of interest.

Is that still the case?

All of the traditionally
troubled spots,

I think we've got people in all of
those places, it'd be safe to say.

No less than
15 gunplay engagements

were mediated within
the first 90 days.

Get a lot of stuff squashed that way, man.
Whole lot of stuff.

Nuri Muhammad:
Allow people to save face.

-(murmuring agreement)
-Redil: I can tell

the relief that both parties
had, you know?

Afterwards, they're...

"Oh, man, this ain't
trippin' on me no more.

Woo, I ain't gotta be
worried about it."

You know what I mean?
And another one, too.

"Oh man, look, man, yo, man, thank
you." You know what I mean?

So now y'all can ride in traffic
and can see each other,

and you ain't gotta
worry about it no more.

Y'all a stone's throw
away from each other.

You gonna see each
other eventually, you know.

But they happy
that it's over.

♪ ♪

Reporter 1: The program
is called Advance Peace.

It hires convicted felons

to court suspected criminals
with offers of cash.

Reporter 2: Participants who
reach certain benchmarks

will be paid up
to $1,000 a month.

Reporter 3: Criminals are paid not
to commit crime. I'm serious.

Lopez: When we first put
a tweet out about this,

the very next morning,
this guy,

he's in front of City Hall,
7:00 AM shot, and he's like,

"Find out why
the mayor of Stockton

wants to pay criminals money."
It's like, "Watch this."

So, everybody's upset,
and online, everyone's like,

"You're not gonna use my tax dollars.
Not my tax dollars."

-How many times... It's not tax dollars.
-Mm-hmm.

Jeez, it's, it's private
funds paying for this.

So, if you're
talking to a group,

and they say, "So, tell us
what is Advance Peace,"

you're gonna say the goal of it
is just to reduce gun violence.

At the bare minimum, this is
just how you talk about it.

And then how it's done,

daily check-ins,
internships, social services,

they have an elders circle,

transformative travel,
and stipends.

Basically, we're gonna get
the active shooters in Stockton.

That means less than
one percent of the population

is responsible for
the majority of the shootings.

And in a nutshell,

they're gonna be part of
an 18-month fellowship.

So, is it about 20 fellows
that'll be in there,

or is it just 20?

-Lopez: It's 25.
-Twenty-five.

Lopez: It's a tough job though.
Like they...

They got some real
serious dudes on that.

Teen: I don't know if you heard
about the murder right there

that happened at McDonald's.

-The murder from... Oh! -The
drive-thru, the drive-thru, yeah.

Raymond Aguilar:
So my name is Raymond Aguilar.

I'm 43 years old.

I just got through serving
a 26-year prison sentence.

I've been home two years now.

(train horn blaring)

Yeah, since high school.

I went to right here,
Franklin High School.

I didn't last too long.

Coincidentally, this is where
I committed my crime right here.

The victim robbed
my grandmother,

kicked the door down,
took the money that she had,

and her necklace
and other stuff that she had,

and he got out.
I confronted him. We talked.

He started walking down
this way, and I was on my bike.

I ended up shooting him,

and he fell dead right here.
This was a crime scene.

When I pulled that trigger,
it was like all in slow motio.

And I seen the bullet hit him.

I could see his body

hit and jerk until when he fell.

And when he fell in
slow motion and hit that ground,

and he looked at me,
and he was gasping for air.

♪ ♪

Twenty-six years ago,
but it doesn't seem that long.

You know, it almost seems
as though it was...

just the other day, you know?
But, uh...

The kid that I was
is still inside.

You know, he's still there.

But I'm now an adult,
and I'm able to see

all the trauma that
I grew up with.

-I used to make these go off.
-(tapping)

Stockton has a lot of
pain and a lot of hurt,

a lot of suffering.

But now, I come back,

and I'm trying to like heal.

It's a journey. A lifelong
journey, I gotta say.

Tubbs:
Good seeing you!

I respect you so much, brother.
Thank you. God bless, man.

You're doing God's work,
you know.

The Stockton story is
this idea of redemption.

Man:
Mr. Tubbs! How's it going?

-Tubbs: Great! -Nice to see
you, nice to see you...

Tubbs:
This idea of like redemption

and coming back
and taking what was bad

and trying to make it good.

It's profoundly spiritual
in many ways.

-Aguilar: And there he is. The man with
the message. -(scattered applause)

Alright. Give it up for my man, Mr.
Mayor, everybody.

(applause)

You guys can break the cycle

and be the change that you
wanna see in this world.

He's done it, and you guys
can all do this as well.

A lot of the individuals that I
work with, I did a lot of time

with a lot of these kids'
fathers. And so now,

I find myself, 26 years later,

coming home,
mentoring their kids.

-Go ahead, Peter. Give me one core value.
-Peter: I don't know exactly

what the word would be,
but like to be open.

-Student: Accountable?
-Accountable.

Being accountable
for your actions.

That's one of our
core principles

as an honorable person,
right?

Tubbs:
I met Raymond in 2016,

when I was running for mayor.

And the story is we're at this
meeting at Fathers and Family.

And at the time,
I began to have

just security concerns
in general.

So, we're at this meeting,
and Raymond just kept

touching me like he knew me.
He kept touching me,

and I don't like being touched
anyway, so I'm looking.

I said, "Bro, I'm sorry.
No disrespect.

"I'm on city council.
I know I'm running for mayor,

"but have we met?
'Cause you're acting like

we're real familiar." He was like, "Oh!
I'm so sorry."

I was like, "Yeah, everything cool?
I was like, you good?

I thought you were trying
to provoke me. We good?"

He's like, "No, I was your
dad's cell mate for 10 years."

I was like, "Oh, wait, what?"

Aguilar: And so, growing
up in South Stockton,

Central South Stockton,

I ran into Michael Tubbs.
He was a good homeboy of mine.

"Wack,"
they called him "Wack."

He's from South Mob,
you know, 2300 block.

He was a good kid just
like I was a good kid.

We just had a lot of trauma.

And I end up being cellies
with Michael Tubbs Sr.

And so now, coming home,

I seen all kinds of signs, "Elect
Mayor Michael Tubbs" or whatever.

I'm like, "What the fuck?
What Tubbs is this?"

I was just in the prison
system with Michael Tubbs.

I know he ain't beat
me outta here, you know?

-And I was like, wow, this is my boy's son.
-(crowd chanting)

I gotta support this cat,
you know what I mean?

Tubbs: I'm sure there's parts of
your story that are similar to mine.

I remember being hungry.

I remember having to hold
my mom while she cried.

I remember hearing
gunshots at night.

I remember all that stuff.

I remember how hard
it was to grow up.

I think that quote,
"Be the change

that you wish to
see in the world"

is super important

'cause I think, oftentimes,
people get scared to try

to make change because it's
like, what if it doesn't work?

What if I look stupid?

What if I sacrifice all this
stuff and nothing happens?

I think the bigger question is,

what happens if you
don't do anything?

A lot of people say, oh,
"Michael Tubbs the mayor

"is not from the neighborhood.

"He grew up privileged.
He has an education.

He doesn't have
those experiences."

Bullshit. His father
was a gang member,

and was out there
committing crimes.

He grew up without a father.

♪ ♪

(bell ringing)

Tubbs:

Gone was the mirage
of the invincible man.

The man who would protect
me once I found him.

At the age of 12,

I finally saw my father,

looking weak and vulnerable.

The conversation
with this stranger

was cordial, albeit distant.

Michael Tubbs Sr.:
Michael came to visit me.

Me and him, we walking
around, we talking,

and he asked me a question,

and it blew my mind. He said,
"How did you and my mom meet?"

I was like taken aback
because I'm figuring

like he should know
everything about me.

But it made me start reflecting
like, here's my son,

he don't even know
who I am, so.

I couldn't even give him the answer
'cause I didn't know who I was.

♪ ♪

Tubbs:
Before I ran for mayor,

I didn't tell anyone.
I just went to visit him,

just to talk for a little bit.

It was good.
I think the older I get,

the more I recognize, like,
you know, people are complex.

The choices people
make are complex.

Tubbs Sr.: It blew my mind the things
he accomplished at a young ag.

Like we wrote over the years,
we communicated,

but like it wasn't really
a connection there,

and it blew me away

'cause that's
a simple question.

"How did you and Mom meet?"

♪ ♪

Me and Racole met in 1989.

We were at the skate rink.
My cousin come up like,

"My girl wanna talk to you."

So, I call Coco up.
The next day,

I go meet her at
her mom's house and, uh,

at that time,
I was a gang member.

It was in the enemy
neighborhood,

so I was kinda afraid
to go over there.

I'm like, oh, it might be
a set-up or something.

But I went over there,
uh, we hooked up.

And then, we started... we started
messing around almost every day.

Racole Dixon: Me and Michael's father,
yeah, we were dating off and on,

but he was always
in and out of jail.

And that's my problem,
you know,

I'm a good girl.
I went to private school,

but I still wanted
that thug bad boy.

And of course, that was
Michael Tubbs' father.

And a couple of months later,
Barbara, which is her mother,

called my mom, said she wanted
me and my mom to come over.

So, I was already scared.

My mom, she doesn't believe
in abortions.

She said, "Don't get an
abortion 'cause you don't know

"what you're carrying.

"You could be carrying
a lawyer, doctor,

mayor, you don't know
who you're killing."

Barbara Nicholson: I couldn't believe it.
I was really in shock,

disappointment...

angry. (laugh)

Because I'm really
involved in the church,

and it kind of happened

maybe a year or two
after I got a divorce.

When I received the divorce,

seemed like the family
started going haywire.

Tubbs Sr.: Once I ended up
in the youth authority,

my counselor's the one
actually telling me that

Coco had Michael.
She called me in the office.

She said, "You have a son
named Michael Derrick Tubbs.

You should be proud."
And I was like, "I am."

And it blew me away.
And I went back to my cell.

I never cried before in
prison or jail or anything.

I went back,
and I just really cried.

Like it was tears of joy though.

And I remember
he was like two weeks old

the first time
I got to see him.

It's a trip.
I'm looking at him.

He got a little mustache
already, little curly hair.

I'm like, "This is amazing.
Wow, this is my son."

I felt like I got
something to live for.

(birds chirping)

-Nti-Asare-Tubbs: Did you get your license?
-Tubbs: I have an appointment.

-You've been saying that for months.
-Yeah.

(laughs)
When are you going?

-The day of the appointment.
-When is that, Michael Tubbs?

-Soon.
-(opening envelope)

-Huh?
-What?

-You know we have to update
that for our insurance. -Yeah.

(paper crinkling)

Alright. We'll have the same
conversation next week then,

if that's what you'd like.

(running water)

Nti-Asare-Tubbs:
When we bought this house,

they told us that
they painted it red

'cause this is the room of love,

and you can never fight
in the room of love.

Right, Michael?
Mike, where you at?

I'm about to fight
in the room of love.

(laughs)
You're so weird.

So yeah. We never
fight in this room.

This is our wedding book.
This is my favorite picture

'cause Michael's crying.

You see that little tear?
They captured it.

Photoshop work
is lovely on that.

(laughs) You were crying
so hard, Michael.

So hard. And I remember
I said to you...

Remember I was like,
"You're gonna cry"?

And you were like,
"I'm definitely not crying."

-And I was like, you're for sure gonna cry.
-No way. No way.

-And then I walk out, and you were
boo-hooing. -I had allergies...

-You were crying so hard.
-It was the heat.

Nti-Asare-Tubbs: When Michael and
I met, we were in undergrad.

So I was a sophomore,

and he was a senior
at Stanford.

And I had never
heard of Stockton.

I didn't know anything
about Stockton.

This is Michael's favorite part

which is ironic 'cause he
doesn't know how to swim.

-I can't swim, but I love it out here.
-(laughs)

-This is my thing. It's my place.
-It is good.

I was born in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, but I left

when I was two years old.

And my mom, dad,
brother, sister, and I

moved to Dubai for four years.

And then we were in
Estonia for a year.

We were in Sweden
for a few months.

We were in Mexico,

Azerbaijan.

-What are we gonna do tonight?
-Watch a movie, eat.

-We're gonna go out to watch a movie?
-I don't know.

Nti-Asare-Tubbs: But when I decided
to move here, so many people,

unfortunately, said,
"Don't go to Stockton.

Why are you doing this? This is
gonna be the end of your career."

But, as you know,
when you meet Michael,

you're gonna fall in love with
Stockton, too. You have to.

(laughs)
If you're gonna love Michael,

you have to love Stockton.
It's a two-for-one kind of deal.

(light rain falling)

Lopez: Yeah, I'm here with
Mayor Tubbs for an event.

-He's speaking to some students.
-Guard: Oh, okay.

-Lopez: Can we park in here or...
-Yeah, you can park anywhere.

Lopez:
Okay, thank you.

-This high school looks just like
it did 20 years ago. -(chuckles)

(school chatter)

Tubbs:
So literally 10 years ago,

before I was mayor,

before I was a council member,
I was a senior

at Franklin High School.
Don't hate, don't hate.

(scattered laughter, jeers)

Listen.

I remember being stressed and
worried because I wasn't sure

if I could go to college

because I didn't know if we
could afford it. So the idea

behind this... Listen!

The idea behind this scholarship
program is that we want

you to know that your city
is investing money in you

-and your future. Listen!
-(light laughter)

And you don't have to...
it's not... Wait, wait, wait.

Why are we laughing?
What's funny?

So, I'ma tie them afterwards.
Is that funny?

-We're juniors. That's not funny.
-(indistinct)

All we're saying is
apply to college,

and you get
a guaranteed $500

or $1,000 for
four years, okay?

Cool. Any questions?

No questions?

-(chattering)
-Any other questions?

(silence)

Any other questions?

Tubbs: I was getting ready to strike.
I ain't coming back.

(laughing) He's like, okay.
If one more person

makes a noise,
no scholarships for anyone.

Tubbs: My senior year,
there's a "Record" article

that said lowest in literacy,
highest in crime.

And I remember reading
that and feeling

such a dislike for the city.

Like, really?
This is so embarrassing.

So, I remember that being
like more motivation.

"Oh, I'm gonna get educated.
I'm gonna get out of here."

Lange Luntao:
We know that many of you

living in Stockton,
going to school in Stockton,

are being raised in
conditions that are difficult.

So, we are here to inform you of
a gift that is waiting for you

at graduation. It's special
that we're talking to you all

as the class of 2019 because
you are the first entire

class that will
benefit from this gift.

So, I know I have a big check.
Where's my check?

-(cheering)
-Reporter: It's all thanks

to a $20 million
anonymous donation

secured by Stockton mayor
Michael Tubbs.

Tubbs: Evan Spiegel, he's
the founder of Snapchat.

We had gone to
Stanford together,

and we had tutored kids
in South Africa together.

So I was telling him, "Hey,

"I have this program
I really wanna do.

It costs $100 million.
What... can you help?"

Lopez: And then, he announces
that he has $20 million.

A donation that was given from
the private sector so students

in Stockton for like a generation
now will be able to get

about a $4,000
scholarship in total,

about $1,000 a year for
four years of college.

We are coming at you from the
South Stockton Education Hub,

where we're here about
to celebrate the first

Stockton Scholars college
admission of the year.

Stanford! Ah!

-(air horn blowing)
-Lopez: Yes!

-(laughing)
-All the hype, all the hype.

Luntao: So, there are a lot of
kids that are still gonna be

graduating this year, and
for some reason or another,

will not be going on to
something after high school.

And so now, my focus is how
do we reach all those kids?

In a place like Stockton,
where we still don't yet have

a public four-year
university in our community,

I think that this is exactly
where scholarship programs

like this need to,
need to take root.

Tubbs: Lange and I went
to Denver in 2015.

I was still on city council,
and we met with

the Denver Promise, which
is a very similar program.

And then Oakland announced
an Oakland Promise.

So since then,
I've been obsessed with

how do we make this
happen in Stockton?

Luntao: You may not know this,
but Mayor Tubbs has been out

on the road, talking to
people about Stockton.

Did you know that in Stockton,

only 17%

of the folks over the age
of 25 have a college degree?

We need to be better educated, right?
If we're gonna attract

businesses,
if we're gonna attract

the sort of investment
we want in our community...

Tubbs: If certain people
hadn't invested in me

and created opportunity
for me or mentored me,

I wouldn't be where I am,
and I get really excited

thinking about what if we did
that not just for one student

or two students,
but for a whole city?

(horn blaring)

(rap music playing)

Marc Levin: What do you
know about the mayor?

I was actually in some of his
programs for Stockton Scholars.

He was talking about how they
got a lot of scholarships

available for us, so,
yeah, I was volunteering

for a lot of his
things he was hosting.

Roscoe Brown: Yeah, Tubbs is
a good guy, man. Good guy.

Mike Marangu: And they say his dad
is locked up. He's in Folsom.

-He used to be on the block.
How... -Yeah...

-What's that like for you?
-Yeah, I...

I don't really know his... I don't
really know his dad like that,

but I heard a few things about
him, and he was really out here.

He was a monster,
you know what I mean?

That was the boogie man.
We all went through,

you know, the gang life
and the street life,

so our main focus is now

watching these kids
flourish in sports

and keeping them
out of trouble.

(rap continues)

Isaiah Evans: Now, I ain't
never had a childhood.

I never got the chance to...

play hide-and-go-seek,
or none of that type stuff.

I never did that.

It was always serious
in my childhood.

I grew up, I grew up,
in the streets.

-Levin: Have you lost friends?
-Yeah, I lost plenty of friends.

Most definitely.
I lost plenty of friends.

Look at that face!

Brown: I just hope he can go away
to college and make that change.

I mean, he's a good athlete.

He just gotta... I say he just gotta
get away from here and go to college.

I don't care where I go.
I just wanna go.

(crowd yelling)

-Student: Yeah, we in the building!
-Students: Woo!

-Yeah, we in the building!
-Woo!

(chanting continues)

(crowd cheering)

(chanting continues)

(music playing)

(crowd chatter)

(screaming)

(cheering continues)

Evans:
My first two years here,

I was super goofy.

I was just being myself.

The myself that
I ain't get to be

when I was younger.

That's why I'm, like,

hecka energized, goofy,
friendly right now

'cause I'm just being me, the
person that I've been wanting

to let out back then,
but I couldn't let it out

because of the type of
lifestyle I was living.

(crowd cheering)

Go, team, go!

Announcer: Number 10, Isaiah Evans,
catches the punt at his own 3.

He breaks a tackle.
Zay is turning on the jets.

He's at the 40, the 30,

cuts it back, 20, 10,

he's taking it all the way!
Touchdown!

Zay Money scores
a big-time return!

(crowd cheering)

Evans: I never really
grew up with a father.

Hey, Zay, good job!

Evans:
But then, when I had

Lavelle Hawkins
come into my life,

that just turned my whole

world of thinking
and everything different.

-(whistles blowing)
-(field chatter)

Lavelle Hawkins: Isaiah has been a
guy that I brought into my home

'cause they said he was gang-
banging and all this stuff,

but I'm like, he don't
seem like a bad dude.

He just needs some attention.

-(field chatter)
-You know, Zay calls me Dad.

That's kinda weird to me,
but I accept it.

Blue 18!

Hawkins: Basically, man, Zay
came and spent the night

one night at my house,
and I feel like he never left.

I don't wanna put him out
'cause he was doing so well.

Teacher: Alright, just correct
it, just get that done.

Put your name on it
at least, Luis, please.

Put your name on it.

Evans: It's a big step
for me to graduate.

But, to be honest, it's a little step
for me 'cause I got bigger goals

than to graduate.
Graduating ain't nothing.

We're supposed to do that.

That's what I feel like
I'm supposed to do.

But college,
that's all I'm worried about.

That's the next step.
That's the next level.

♪ ♪

Tubbs:
High school was interesting.

I've never been
a real docile person.

I think now, as mayor,
that's cool and it's like,

"That's why we like him.
He's bold."

But as a teenager,

and particularly a high
schooler, it was all bad.

I was in the International
Baccalaureate program, the IB program.

Think I was one of two Black
males in the program my year.

I remember just feeling
a lot of tension.

I remember always
feeling I had to fight.

So, I would get papers back, and
I would have to make my teachers

regrade them 'cause I felt
I wasn't graded fairly.

And I would literally have to
go through and compare sort of

how they marked my papers
versus how they marked

some of my friends' papers
and find discrepancies.

Like, every single paper.

And it was like,
"He's disrespectful,

he's defiant,
he has an attitude."

I really just respond to

what I perceived as injustice

or, or tacit racism.

Nicholson:
There was certain injustice

that he just wouldn't tolerat,
so he would fight for.

He started out by being
a little activist.

He wanted everybody to know
in that class, you know?

Tubbs: I would do silly
things like purposely

sag my pants right before
I walked into class

'cause they'd talk about all
the "saggers," so I'd come in,

sag, and get the highest grade
with my pants halfway down.

Tubbs Sr.:
I was pretty good in school.

I didn't even go most of
the time, but I passed school.

I graduated on time.
I was pretty smart.

My favorite class was economics.

I played basketball a little bit, football.
I did sports,

but nothing held my
interest, really.

Back in the early, mid '80s,

crack cocaine,
that hit real big.

Stockton was the ideal spot for
bigger city people to come out.

Gangsters in LA started
migrating that way.

-The Crips had took over Stockton.
-(police siren blaring)

I joined a gang, really caught
myself having hometown pride.

Okay, they all Crips,
I'm gonna be a Blood.

I'ma do something
different than them.

(prison chatter)

Once I got involved in
the streets a little bit,

it kinda took over,
became my second home.

I created my own family
within the streets.

I was just lost for a minute.

♪ ♪

Jasmine Dellafosse: The Stockton
Economic Empowerment Demonstration

was leading a project to bring
three murals to the city.

An artist did a mural of me,

and his goal was just really o
do a person from the communit.

But no one told me I was
going on this big old wall.

My name is Jasmine Dellafosse,

and I'm with the Stockton
Schools Initiative.

My purpose and my calling
is doing youth justice work

to dismantle the school
to prison pipeline.

-Tubbs: Are you pushing that?
- Yeah.

-Have you guys been going
to board meetings? -Mm-hmm.

I have folders, folders

of just, like, kids.

These are all mostly
Black and Brown kids

who've just gone
under the radar,

who are all
failing like at least

five or more
of their classes,

and are not gonna
be ready for A to G

when it comes to
getting them to...

-Stockton Scholars.
-...Stockton Scholars.

We had 40 kids who tested
out using the app to do...

-To help them? -...just to
like identify where trauma is.

Our biggest goal is
telling kids like, "Hey,

"if you tell me you
want to go to college,

based off of this,
you're not gonna get there."

(indistinct chatter)

Tubbs: That group's probably
our most important investment,

that the kids who
are in the honors class

because it's important.
I want everyone to know that

Stockton Scholars
is for everybody,

and everyone includes them.

Michael.
Nice to meet you, man.

Michael, nice to meet you,
man.

(high school chatter)

Y'all good?

-Evans: Hey...
-Tubbs: What's up, man?

Evans:

Oh, it's probably be zero.

But if you haven't
filled out your FAFSA,

you gotta do that
FAFSA thing first.

That's the thing 'cause
you can't fill out

-the Stockton Scholars form till you do this
thing. -The thing with FAFSA though was

I wanted my mom to be here
because you know how you need

-the tax thing? -Yeah, you
gotta do it with your parents.

Yeah, we're not gonna be able
to fill it out, though.

-Are you emancipated? No?
-Evans: No.

Tubbs: My mom was a senior
when I was like one.

So when she was walking
across the stage,

her friend brought me over.

So, there's a picture of
me and my mom on stage.

Like she got her diploma,
then she got me.

-What's your baby's name?
Jeremiah. -Jeremiah.

Joy Almendarez:
Oh, Jeremooty!

Here you go. Here you go.

I found out, and I was
dating her at the time.

-Lemme see, I'm trying to look at
your face. -Oh yeah, yeah, yeah...

-Can't go too far into it.
-Ooh, ice cream.

Almendarez: I didn't tell her directly.
I was like,

there's something in my stomach.
Like, something you gotta know.

(indistinct)

-And I said, you pregnant?
Like... -(laughs)

I wasn't mad that she
was having a baby.

I was mad she cheated on me,
and now she having a baby.

-I was cheating on her or whatever.
-Right?

'Cause I'm not gay. I was
going through a little phase.

-(Banks mouthing)
-She was a little friend.

We still talk.
Not like talk like that.

-Not like that, you know.
-Yeah.

So...

This is his apples.
I got you some apples.

I got you some apples.
I was thinking about you.

Eugenia Nunez Coilton:
It was hard at first,

and it really hurt me on the
inside because she was young.

But I told her, I said your main
focus is to finish high school

and graduate,
and then after that,

we'll just roll
with the punches.

Almendarez: I just thought
my life was like over.

I didn't know how like
the home study stuff worked,

so I was like, am I gonna
keep going to school?

Then I told my mom.
She was really, really mad,

but she doesn't believe
in abortion, so.

She, like, told me to keep
it and everything... him.

(laughs) Keep him.

Crowd (singing):
Happy birthday to you!

♪ Happy birthday, dear Michael ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

-Yay, Michael!
-Blow out your candle!

Dixon: What made me continue
to go to school was because

I knew people were
talking about me.

Like, "Oh, she might
as well give up.

You know, she's pregnant,
so why go to school?"

So, when someone tell
me what I can't do,

that motivates me to do it,

so I had to prove
the world wrong.

Woman:
Come on, Michael.

-You know how to blow.
-I'm blowing!

Dixon: I thank God for my mom
and my sister because we have

different personalities.
I'm the strict one. My sister,

she's the nice one,
and Michael always goes to

when he wants something.

Man: They're restraining Michael.
He wants his birthday cake.

-(indistinct)
-This brother is ready to eat.

Tasha Dixon: So, I always
made sure we did fun things,

so we either went
to the library,

the student story times.

We'd go home and I'd read
to him all the time,

or I had the TV on
Learning Channel.

And I never forget this.
One time,

I had it on the Spanish channel

thinking that he was
gonna learn some Spanish.

I didn't know it, but I figured
the TV would teach him. (laugh)

But, I was trying
to raise him, too.

Just wanted to make sure that
they would be smart kids.

Nicholson: The three of
us that really kind of

brought him up.

I would be more of
the spiritual part.

When I came in
and gave advice,

I would always make sure
that they understood that

there is a God,
that he's alive,

and, you know,
what would God do.

♪ ♪

Dixon: When he was born, I'd just
see magazines and see TV shows,

and I'm like, "Why I can't
have a child like that?

"If they could do it,
why can't I do it?

Why can't I raise a child
to become someone great?"

Chanting:
'Cause I am somebody,

and I won't be
stopped by nobody.

I got my fist in the air,
movement in my feet.

I got love for my people,
and it starts with me.

Su voto!

(cars honking)

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Winning and losing
has real consequences.

Like, Hillary Clinton losing
means kids are in cages.

Or the Republicans
continuing to win seats

means that there's assault
rifles gonna be at the church

or at the mosque
or at the movie theater,

and have a tragedy happen.

So, I think the stakes are life
and death in many respects.

Samuel Nunez: This is the most
important midterm election

of our time right now.

We're gonna be choosing our
school board in a city that has

the lowest literacy
rate in the state,

the third worst in the nation,
and that's important.

And the stakes
are huge right now.

This is what democracy,
as they say, looks like.

Tubbs: When I go vote
in the ballot box,

I just remember
the scripture when

Jesus says, "When I was
hungry, did you feed me?

"When I was naked,
did you clothe me?

"When I was in jail,
did you visit me?

As you do to the least of
these, you do unto me."

What Jesus didn't say is, "You
have a preexisting condition,

so we're not gonna
give you health care."

He didn't say that, "You didn't
earn food, you didn't earn shelter,

you made too many
mistakes." He also said

how we treat the least of
these in our communities

are how we
literally treat him.

Today's not just about today.
It's really more about tomorrow,

what happens after.
If we do that,

we'll make this city continue
to come alive. So again,

thank you all for your
leadership and your work.

I'm looking forward to seeing
the results of it tonight.

(cheering and applause)

(TV chatter)

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Scott Walker's losing.
Hey-hey-hey! Turn it up.

How is Stacey Abrams doing?

Lopez: That was not
looking too good earlier,

but a lot of room to grow.

Tubbs: It shouldn't be this close.
People are crazy.

Reporter: Ted Cruz will remain in
the Senate for another six years.

-Lopez: Gross.
-Ugh!

Oh! I'm gonna cry!

I'm literally going to
cry if Andrew doesn't win!

Oh, I'm gonna cry!
Oh, that hurts.

I thought for sure
he was gonna win!

Lopez: They're calling it.
Democrats win House.

At least they don't have
the House and the Senate.

They used to have the House
and the damn Senate.

So look,
I'm counting my blessings.

I think James Carville
said it best when he said

anybody that was anticipating

a blue wave tonight's
not gonna get it.

Maybe you get a ripple,
but I certainly don't think

that there's a blue wave.

Tubbs: Election night, I was
filled with a lot of guilt.

I remember seeing
some of the results,

some of my council
candidates who lost.

But, if you look at
the vote totals,

it wasn't that many votes.
And I was like, man,

if I had hosted
three phone banks.

And then, nationally, good
friends like Stacey Abrams

and Andrew Gillum
not winning.

I just felt that maybe,
my read on the world

or society or the city
just wasn't really in line

with what people
were actually feeling.

♪ ♪

(clippers buzzing)

Barber 1: I've been cutting his
hair since he was a kid, right?

He used to come
and knock on the door.

We knew what time it was
and who it was.

Every time he came and knocked
on that door, I was like, man,

-it's this kid!
-(laughs)

This guy got his haircut,

and he'd just be
quiet the whole time!

Just quiet! I didn't know
he was just being quiet

because he was thinking.
I thought he was just quiet

'cause he was shy. (laughs)
You know what I mean?

So, one day, man, I was
thumbing through the internet,

and I was lookin',

and I seen him talking!

I said, man!

I feel cheated! (laughs)

Yeah, I was like, man,
I feel cheated, man,

because I found out that
you could talk like that

all of this time, man,
and knew what you were doing.

So, he was just sittin'
up there absorbing.

So, it really turns out that all
the time, he'd been listening.

-(buzzing)
-Barber 2:

Yeah. They can look and
see where he came from,

look at his background,

his father,
and stuff like that.

You can still do it. You know?

♪ ♪

Tubbs:
I remember being 12 and going.

I remember being on
the bus with all women

because always the women
who go to visit,

whether they're mothers
or girlfriends.

I remember the guards
looking at us

as if we had
committed a crime.

134!

(prison chatter)

But what I remember most like
leaving and just seeing how sad

everyone was. Like for 30
minutes, everybody was happy,

but then as we all left,

you hear the babies crying
and the girlfriends crying

and the men
are like really sad.

I just really told myself
that I didn't wanna go back,

not because I didn't
wanna see my father,

but I didn't wanna
put myself through...

It was like
a traumatic experience.

You have people
living in cages.

It's like a perverse
zoo in a way,

so that meeting stuck with me
because I vowed to myself.

I said, I will never...

put myself, or I'll do my
best not to put myself

in a situation where that
will also be my destiny.

♪ ♪

Tubbs Sr.:
So, he come to see me.

I'm at Mill Creek
State Prison at the time.

He's 12 years old.

He come in the visiting room.
We sit down.

I tell him, I said, "Look
around, tell me what you see."

And he said, "I see people
visiting they family,

their loved ones."
I told him, I said, "Well,

"me, I see, 'cause
the society tells me,

"that you gonna be my cellie
or somebody else's cellie

"because you're from
a single parent home,

"your dad's in prison,

you're Black, you know,"
I scared him, I said,

"The deck is really
stacked against you.

What you gonna do to
show 'em different?"

And he told me, "I ain't
never going to jail. Watch."

And every year since then, I got
every report card he ever had.

Straight A's, couple B's,

just real proud, so,
whatever, whatever,

whatever resonated
in that conversation

really stuck to him 'cause
he already made his mind up.

I don't if it was resentment
toward me for not being there

or whatever,
but he made his mind up

that he was never
comin' to prison.

Protester: From Palestine
to the Philippines...

Protesters:
Stop the US war machine!

Protester: From Palestine
to the Philippines...

Protesters:
Stop the US war machine!

Tubbs:
My freshman year in college,

I took a class on
the civil rights movement.

♪ ♪

And I was so moved
by the activists

and the way they
had sacrificed.

(cheering)

But they weren't necessarily
in the halls of power

to make the decision.

So, the activism was
dependent on someone

in office or with authority
to make the change.

I remember I told my friends,
I'ma take one for the team.

Brenda Vasquez:
Monies from undisclosed

contributors is going into
Mayor Tubbs' non-profit.

Woman:
I'm not paying all your taxes,

and I sure as hell
ain't paying it

for you kids to
get scholarships

to go to college.

Tubbs: Governing is different
because it's not as pretty,

it's not as fun,
it's not as flashy.

We gotta remember that
God knows every thought,

every act of every human.

(inhales) Suck it deep into
your lungs and hold it.

I wanna invite you to eliminate

pornography
from your lives.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion carried six to zero.

Move on to item 13.1.

Lopez: We try to capture a lot
of what the mayor's doing

through social media,
but it's a challenge right now,

especially with this Trump era.

Because the negative stuff
is just what gets the clicks,

gets the likes, gets the
shares, and the positive stuff

isn't all that
interesting sometimes.

So, it really is a struggle.

(shouting, arguing)

Ma'am, stop cussing
in my chambers.

(shouting continues)

Lopez:
Thinking back to when

Michael Tubbs
became Mayor Tubbs,

those first couple of council
meetings, they were ugly, man.

(indistinct shouting)

(shouting continues)

They were upset
with Mayor Tubbs

for two situations that
the cops had been involved in.

Well, both of those
cases happened

way before Mayor Tubbs
was even in office.

One speaker talked about,

"The haters are coming for you,"
speaking to me directly.

I didn't feel threatened,
but let's make no mistake.

-Threats were made. -Lopez:
And then when the protesters

stopped showing up,
the media stopped showing up

'cause there was
no story to tell.

But they made him look bad,
and that was the ultimate goa.

Do hereby intend to
recall Michael D. Tubbs

who has, and continues, to waste
city money and resources.

Lopez:
And then those same folks

come up with
another idea later on.

Let's have a recall campaign.

And they're supposed to
collect 15,000 signatures.

But when it came time to
turn in the signatures,

guess how many signatures
they turned in? Big fat zero.

I know when I'm on Fox News,
I get all these tweets from

bots and people with
zero followers about how

I'm ignorant and stupid
and scum and socialist.

I fundamentally do not care.
That stuff doesn't bother me.

I am incredibly inspired by
the turnout from the community

for our point-in-time count
of those who are homeless.

This count's important
because it will help us

create solutions to
the issue we have with

folks who can't afford housing
or on the streets, etc.

What I love is policy and problem
solving, and getting things done.

What's exciting, we have this
coming where we have a bunch

of minor league teams
here in downtown.

We have housing coming
online next year.

We have new microbreweries,
so downtown

is finally becoming a downtow,
slowly but surely.

(crowd cheering)

I think they only thing
bigger than my grin

and the grin of the council
members, is the Amazon logo.

People are looking at Stockton
not as a place to run from,

but a place to invest in
and partner with.

If someone came here with some
services, would you accept them?

Like if someone said, hey, I
could put you in a program here.

You will?

My mom just texted me
and said,

"You guys still need help
counting the homeless?

I can call in." (laughs)
It's like, no, Mom.

Good morning!

♪ ♪

The issues we're
trying to solve,

mainly violent crime, poverty,

and housing,
and homelessness,

is gonna take more creativity
and more collaboration.

And also more of a willingness
to take some risk.

Reporter: 1,200 letters going
out to Stockton homes offering

a chance at getting
500 bucks a month?

It's part of a universal
basic income study.

The guaranteed income
idea has its opponents.

Conservatives against
government handouts,

and labor unions
who want well-paid jobs,

not small payments with no
opportunity for advancement.

Tubbs: I'm gearing up for
disbursements in February.

-That's gonna be an interesting moment.
-Oh man.

First we gotta get there,
that's the interesting part.

They have some sort of
algorithm that's going to

actually send out letters, so
there's no application, thank God.

So, the computer
will spit out letters

-to 1,000 people.
-Andy Stern: Right.

They'll respond in kind,
and from that group,

they'll create a treatment
group and a control group,

um, and that should be done
by December, January?

So then February,
we can start

seeing what happens
and start raising the floor.

It's amazing how much
is happening here.

Tubbs: Slowly but surely, we're
trending in the right direction.

-Yeah, but you...
-Fast momentum.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

Tubbs:
To the students of the first

class of Stockton Scholars.
You guys represent

a $2 million investment
over four years.

You are truly your
ancestors' wildest dreams.

For some of you, your
parents left their homeland

and immigrated here and left
everything behind for this day.

For some of you
two, three generations,

your parents
toiled in the fields,

dealt with racism
and segregation

and being spat on and seeing
signs in the city that said,

"No Blacks, no dogs,
no Filipinos,"

but endured all that
for this day,

and not because
today is an ending,

but it's a beginning.

It's the acknowledgment
that your future

is incredibly bright,
and we cannot wait

to see what you do,

as you continue to grow
and plant more seeds,

so that 10 years from now,
20 years from now,

every single kid in
the city that you come from,

the city of Stockton,
knows what it means

to be a Stockton Scholar.
And is proud and says,

"Yes, I'm from Stockton."

And like a rose,
we all grow from concrete.

So, thank you Stockton
Scholars. I'm so proud.

-I'm looking forward to everything
you guys do. -(applause)

-Thank you so much, man. -Tubbs: What
are you gonna major in, graphic design?

-Photography.
-Photography, awesome.

I think my plan is
to go to photography,

and then get my credentials,
and then probably come back

to Edison
and teach photography.

-I'm in. Let me know how I can help.
-Yeah. For sure.

Enjoy your day, man.
Proud of you.

I'm speaking at your
graduation, too!

Rogelio Vivero:
Tubbs grew up in Stockton,

not always having money.
Money was hard to come around.

I can just relate
to that struggle.

♪ ♪

My mother and father
are both immigrants.

My dad is from Mexico, Mexico,

and my mom is from
Sinaloa, Mexico.

It's very hard for them
to make ends meet,

especially with my dad
working in the fields.

He works in different
fields in the mornings,

and then later, he goes
to the onions at night,

you know, essentially working
two jobs to make ends meet.

Stockton Scholars will
make a difference for me

because then I don't
have to worry

about my parents
trying to help fund me

to go to college.

How many of you, show of hand,
know what Stockton Scholars is

or have heard about it?

Basically, this scholarship
is waiting for you.

Now, all you just need
to do is just graduate.

Obviously,
that's a long time from now.

You guys are still in eighth grade.
You guys still haven't

made it to high school yet,
but you guys will be there.

Rogelio was here,

sitting in
the same spot here,

and now he's gonna
go off to college.

I want you to see him

and I want you
to believe in yourself

because this is you
four years from now.

(indistinct)

Vivero: It's crazy how I got
introducd into Stockton Scholars.

Two classes were chosen to go
to the launching of the event,

and my class happened
to be one of them,

and I actually
tweeted at Tubbs, like,

"I can't wait for
the event on the 16th,"

when they launched it.

And he DMed me
and he was like,

"That's a secret!"
And he followed me back,

-and I ended up getting in
touch with him. -(laughs)

And through that,
Lang reached out to me,

and he was like, "Tubbs
asked if you wanted to be

one of the students
on stage with the check."

And I was like, sure, why not?
And then just ever since then,

I've been more connected
with school than I ever have.

I'm holding you to that
becoming a boomerang,

staying and coming back,
getting your education,

coming back, and making
our place better.

Not only a better place,

but a better world
for our community.

Tubbs: I was in
eighth grade in 2004,

so that's only 14 years ago.

If you had told me when
I was an eighth grader

that in 14 years,
I would be mayor of Stockton,

I would say you were crazy.

If someone in this circle said,
"I'ma be mayor in 15 years,"

-would y'all believe that?
-Girl: No way.

Right? 'Cause it
seems like, how?

But you're looking at it.
It happened and I am

no different than each
and every one of you.

Oppression exists,
like things just

aren't fair,
things are unequal.

There's evil people in this
world, and all that's real.

But, what's also
just as real

is that your ancestors,

the folks that made
you who you are,

they conquered
all that and more.

And I think
it's our responsibility,

especially in
the next coming years,

to kind of live out their wildest
dreams and be unconquerable as well.

Anthony Rodriguez:
So if you have any question

you wanna ask the mayor of
our city at this point...

-Alright.
-(kids giggle)

Alright, um...

Can you ask the school board to
make the school lunch better?

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Yeah, eighth
grade was never my jam.

Chill in the stands!
Go to the stands!

Tubbs: It takes a special
individual to teach eighth grade.

Go to the stands.

Tubbs:
Anthony's a good friend.

I thought
he was from Stockton.

Can we wait until you get, like,
you're for sure in college,

-and my heart is okay?
-What do you mean for sure?

-I'm going to college!
-Thank you!

Tubbs: I said, wait, you're
not even from Stockton, bro?

He's like
"No, no, I'm staying

because I believe in
the vision. I'm here."

He's a real soldier.

And then I also realized that

particularly this first class
of Stockton Scholars,

a lot of them were in
his eighth grade class.

-(glasses clinking)
-Man: Cheers, guys.

Rodriguez: Here's a fun fact about me.
In Santa Barbara,

when I was 18 years old,
my friend just said,

"Hey, you wanna go skydiving
this weekend?" I was like...

sure.

She said, "I'll pay for it."
I was like, "Alright, let's go."

First time I got in the plane,
I jumped out the plane.

-I would never go skydiving. I promise you.
-Come on! Come on!

-I'll be down on the ground watching.
-I would be down...

Luntao: What adventure
thing would you do?

Live every day
in America.

I'm not kidding, bro.
I don't do none of that stuff.

-Wait, for sure?
-I do meetings.

That's my adventure
for the day.

I'm not...
No. Life is too hard.

We need to go
skiing some weekend.

Rodriguez: I think we just need
to do something real quick

'cause we're looking at
number two here, man,

so we're brewing.
We don't know, I don't wanna...

-Luntao: Let it be organic.
-Yes, so...

Well, quietly, me and Anna
are starting to try.

-Yeah?
-Yeah.

Okay!
Get it in before 30?

Tubbs:
That's beautiful.

Drinking to Hasan,
Martin, and me

being the most
attractive uncles

-in the world.
-(cheering)

And to some
great fathers!

Tubbs: As I think about
fatherhood and what that means.

I'm just even more impatient

with the way things are.

That's my wife.
"Really?" she said.

"She was so nice. She took
down my personal statement."

Aw, she's super sweet.

Tubbs:
We're in Washington DC,

and she wasn't feeling well.

And she was like,
"I think I might be pregnant."

I was like,
"Yo, it'd be cool

if we found that out on
Valentine's Day, right?"

She's like, yeah. It was like 10:30.
"Let's go to Walgreens."

So, I call an Uber
to Walgreens.

And it was funny 'cause
we were all super dressed

and buy a pregnancy test.

And I remember joking saying,

"At least we're adults
with jobs who planned this.

Like at least... "
'Cause it still felt weird.

But it's like, we're married.

This is a normal thing.
It's not like something

to be ashamed of or something
to be stressed about.

I was like, how'd y'all find
this green juice place?

I didn't cry till I saw the
ultrasound for the first time.

And then I was like bawling.

(crowd chatter)

Coach:
Walk it out, Joy!

They keep their momentum,
they could be good.

(chatter continues)

(whistle blows)

We're like, hey...

-Evans: I got a court date.
-Can the coaches do something...

I did something
back in the past

before I found myself,
and it caught back up with me.

(scoreboard buzzer)

The charges are
from a burglary.

-Levin: From how long ago?
-Uh...

was it...
probably like two years ago.

I thought I was living
my best life. (laughs)

I go to court, and they just
put the ankle monitor on me.

It's house arrest.

But, if I'm at school,
you know,

there's gotta be some
good in that, so. (laughs)

That's why I'm at
school 24/7 now.

Hawkins: But what happened
with the ankle bracelet?

Tell me about that.
How did that come about?

-Evans: Like, what's going on?
-Hawkins: Yeah.

-Is this old stuff you said?
-Evans: Yeah.

Hawkins: Old stuff? Like how
they gonna bring up old stuff

if you been doing
so well in school?

Evans: It's like them
getting like a tip.

Like, say out of nowhere,
somebody left outta town,

came back, and they gonna
give them a tip on something.

-Hawkins: So when is the court date?
-Evans: On Monday.

Hawkins: Oh.
Well, you already know, man.

Like I keep telling you
over and over and over.

It's your life,

but I think everything
gonna be alright.

Evans:
Yeah, I mean, the maximum

is 18 months,

but with that being said,

when it come down to it,
you ain't gonna...

pretty much you have
to do no time.

There gonna be a lot
of community service.

-But you don't wanna do none of that.
-I know. No, no, I don't...

You don't ever wanna be put on
any papers with these people,

'cause once that thing start,
it keep going. You feel me?

Dellafosse: Unfortunately, Isaiah
doesn't understand that he's facing

serious charges, and so...

as we're putting our
portfolio together,

um, I wanted to connect
with you all here.

Does he have any more
cases prior to this one?

-He had a prior. Armed robbery, too.
-Had a prior?

-Home invasion.
-Oh, so it's twice.

And then he also had
a gun charge in 2017.

-That's what's gonna be hard.
-2016.

-But that one was dropped. -Is
he looking at a life sentence?

-He's looking at a life sentence.
-Oh, wow.

-No one was killed though, right?
-No, just on a robbery.

-Home invasions carry...
-Kidnapping.

Kidnapping carries
a life sentence.

-That's what it was. -We were
talking about Michael Tubbs.

His dad didn't kill nobody.
He's got, uh,

robbery with kidnapping
or something.

And that's what he got,
a life sentence.

-It's crazy how it's like
very similar. -Yeah.

♪ ♪

Tubbs Sr.:
It was 1996.

I was doing a violation
at that time

for a drug-related violation.

My ex-wife at
the time was pregnant.

When my daughter was born,
Makayla was born

February 14th, '96.

They called me to
my counselor's office,

and they was like, "The
doctor wanna speak to you."

So I knew something
was wrong then. And, uh,

the doctor told me my daughter was
born with, uh, birth defects.

She was blind, deaf,
had a hole in her heart,

cleft palate, and he said that
she probably wouldn't make it.

And maybe a week later,
they end up

letting me out early
on an ankle monitor.

I wasn't working at the time.

Didn't have no
income whatsoever.

And, um, then one day,

like maybe almost a month later,
the doctor called.

Was like, um, "She's not gonna make it.
This is probably the last day.

We're gonna take her
off the machine."

So, I get there.
I wanted to take her outside.

She never left the hospital,
never had fresh air.

She was always
on the respirator.

So, I grabbed her
in my arms, me...

and my two little brothers,
we went outside.

And she died in my arms.

And, um, that night,
I cut the ankle monitor

'cause they let me out
on an ankle monitor.

I cut the ankle monitor
off my leg, and, um...

I needed some money to bury my
daughter, and I ended up...

some guys I knew that
was in the drug game.

I ended up robbing 'em.

I didn't know it
was a kidnap robbery.

We just moved them
from one spot to another

to get some money,
and I buried my daughter.

I ended up with
about maybe $3,700.

It was 13 days after
Mike's 5th birthday.

Coco didn't want him to go
to the funeral at first.

And I talked to him. I was like, "Do
you understand what's going on?"

And he did.
He was like, "Yeah.

My sister's going to Heaven.
I wanna go." And, uh,

when we rode in the limo,
he's sitting next to me

like a little man.
He had his little suit on.

He was like proud.
He cried. It like...

I was happy and sad that day.
I was proud of him for being

strong enough to know what was
going on and understand it,

and I was proud of him for
going with me, and I was sad

because I was
burying my daughter,

so it was like
a tough day for me.

And I've been in prison
ever since. That was '96.

Tubbs:
How's everything with you?

How's the youth
organizing stuff going?

What happened?

Who?

(somber music playing)

Isaiah.

Tubbs:

I know.

He was already
on probation.

-What were his priors?
-Gun charges.

That little boy?

What? He's the sweetest
little, he's...

When I came and spoke,

-he was like my little staffer!
-Dellafosse: I know.

-He's like a sweetheart.
-Yeah.

(sobs)

Bailiff: Be seated and come to order.
The court is now in session.

The Honorable
Gus Barrera presiding.

Alright, thank you.
Good morning, good morning.

Let's go ahead and call
the matter of Isaiah Evans.

Isaiah is present
before the court.

Council, Mr. Hillenbrand,

Council for the people
and probation.

This matter is open to
the public pursuant...

Dellafosse: What's at stake is
that life for a young person,

they get out at 25.

Life for an adult,
like, is life.

Like you're there forever.

Tubbs: What's interesting
about Isaiah's case

is it's the same DA's office
that prosecuted Isaiah

also prosecuted
my father and my uncles.

Just fascinating how,
29 years later,

you got
the same DA's office,

similar circumstances.

Judge Barrera: Gonna come back
on Wednesday and coordinate

with the co-responsible's
attorney and then

figure out where we're going.

Tubbs: It's also interesting
'cause my dad was

in that facility
when I was born.

So, it's also like
kinda time travel,

going back
and like talking to him,

even though it's not really
him, if that makes sense.

If you look at the folks
who are in our prisons,

most of them come from povert.

Most of them come from
neighborhoods with bad school.

There's a bunch of
things that correlate

to them individually
being incarcerated.

I think the biggest challenge
is that as a society,

we have to understand that
people make individual choices,

for sure, and people
should be held accountable

for their actions.
But, at the same time,

we also need to be held
accountable as a community

for the policy choices
we make that create such

unequal neighborhoods
and unequal inputs for people.

But that's much more difficult
than locking somebody up...

-Thank you. -and locking them away
so we don't have to see them.

Half those men
in there have kids,

and they're all 19, 20, 21.
Their kids are 2, 3, 4, 5.

So that was like, wow.

The cycle continues.

-(siren blaring)
-(police radio chatter)

Reporter:
Glass shattered,

three lives taken
after gunfire

on Finland Avenue and F Street
shortly after midnight.

Two people were
dead inside the car:

18-year-old Tiffany Connary
and her brother,

19-year-old David Connary.
A third victim,

a close friend
of the siblings,

18-year-old Remilio Castillo,

was transported to
a hospital, but died.

Tubbs:
Remilio was actually a student

in the Summer Success
and Leadership Academy,

a program
I co-founded at UOP.

So, I had lived with him
for a week on campus.

This is deeply personal,

which is why I'm a little
bit crazy about it

because it's like these
aren't just random people

or random people's kids.

These are kids I grew
up with or I taught.

Woman:
How do you actually defuse

the violence and deescalate
the violence?

Because I have never seen
a community this stressed.

Eric Jones:
We've got two very acute

paths we're on on this.
One, solve the case.

The other one is
preventing retaliation.

We don't want any more.

Christian Clegg:
Peacekeepers and Advance Peace

have been all hands on deck,

and it's a hair-width
away from retaliation...

-Tubbs: Hmm, yeah. -...some
of the time and these...

these great... these great
outreach workers are just

holding the line.

(siren blaring)

Aguilar: We're really trying
to save our community,

and how we do that is reaching
out to our young ones

that are losing their lives.
How old are you right now?

-Man: 20.
-He's 20 years old,

seeing a young homie that just
lost his life was 18 years old.

I got people calling me from
prison, from youth authority.

I got at-risk kids, and I
take them to Advance Peace,

and we get
information from them

like what's going on
in the streets.

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Stockton's much
more than tragedy.

And I think what makes
Stockton so great

is that even when
bad things happen,

we always find
a way to rebound,

whether it's going from
bankruptcy to being

the second most
fiscally healthy city.

Whether it's having
more homicides per capita

than Chicago and Afghanistan.

We always bounce back.

Aguilar:
Stockton has been a victim

far too long
of gun violence.

You know, a lot of us
have lost loved ones

and family members
and friends.

Thank you for the people that
are being brave in coming here.

Some of us have just
lost family members.

It's hard to have
this conversation.

Rodriguez:
Give me a situation,

especially to young
teenagers here in Stockton,

that leave us
shocked, okay? Mia.

-Mia: Death.
-Rodriguez: Death.

I think us understanding
that shocked

is something for us
to really dig deep with

because of this whole
thing with teens dying.

I've lost three kids
this year,

and just thinking
that one of them

was in my class,

hearing these lessons,
sitting in my circles,

met Mr. Tubbs when
he was a council member.

And now just really
understanding that these things

really could happen to them.

Dellafosse: I think this is
why we do this work, right?

Um... aaah!

I wasn't expecting to see
Remy's mom here today.

What a tragic
yet very sad thing

to happen in our community.

(chattering in Spanish)

And I when I think about Remy,
I think about his resilience

and his amazing
character that he had

and that he showed
in our program.

And we were very
honored to have him.

(chatter continues)

It's gonna take more than
just elected officials.

It's gonna take all of us

to really change what is
happening in our community.

(train crossing bell ringing)

Aguilar: Back in the late
'80s and the early '90s,

Stockton was at
a very low point,

and we had
contributed to that.

Now, we're in our 40s
coming home

after 20-something years
in the prison system,

and little or nothing
has changed,

and even now
the violence has gone up.

How can we now
make a difference

and try to like really
let our community know

that we're not here
to cause destruction?

We're here to cause healing.

(indistinct chatter)

Iyanla Vanzant: The trauma that
we are experiencing is genetic.

It's historic.

It's ancestral.

And it's coming up to be healed.

So, I'm happy to be

in a government office that uses

the word "healing,"

-as opposed to "fix," "change," you know.
-(murmured agreement)

It really is about healing
to make whole again.

Woman:
Our city is running rampant.

-Our children are running rampant,
like you said... -Vanzant: No.

-Let's re-language that.
-Okay.

Vanzant:
You are now becoming aware

-of where healing is required.
-(murmured agreement)

-That's what you're seeing.
-Okay.

Vanzant: So, we see the need
for our children's healing,

and... (chuckles)

And we see...

the absence of
our Black fathers

and our Brown fathers.

What do you have
for your matriarchs?

What can... What wisdom
can you leave us?

It looks like
the men are absent,

but at the same time,

their absence is causing
the women to rise.

-A man is who his mother makes him.
-(snapping)

A man is who his
mother makes him.

Because her heartbeat,
her voice,

is the first
sound he hears.

(murmuring)

So, it starts
from womb time,

her being able to

plant seeds that
ultimately grow.

Yeah. So, don't...
don't despair.

Don't despair.

Nti-Asare-Tubbs: We put out a
160-page report last year.

It was the first ever report on
the status of women in Stockton.

So that we know exactly
how women are doing

compared to the rest of
the women in the county,

the rest of the women
in our state,

and the rest of
the women in our country.

-(laughs)
-You just blessed me.

Nti-Asare-Tubbs:
There's huge intersections

between the SEED program
and gender equity.

And when we think
about single mothers

not having access to
affordable childcare,

they might use that $500
for something like that.

And when we think about

victims of domestic violence

and their inability to
leave an abusive partner,

$500 a month can really
make a difference for them.

The biggest thing that I think
Michael has said quite often

with SEED is
the reason there's not

a training around what they
need to do with the $500

is because we trust that they
know what they need to do

to make their lives better
or feel more secure

or reach for whatever
goal or dream they have.

And I think especially in women's
stories, we're gonna see that.

Reporter 1: We're getting
the first batch of data

on a free money
program in Stockton.

It started earlier this year,
providing low-income residents

with $500 a month...

Reporter 2: According to
the first data released,

40% went to food,
25% to merchandise,

and another 12%
to pay utility bills.

Recipient 1: I paid down some credit
card debt, got rid of a couple.

Recipient 2: It helps me
get diapers, baby wipes.

Recipient 3: Paid all my bills.
That was the biggest stress relief.

Recipient 4:
Get a battery for my car.

Recipient 5: My son wanted
to go to a football camp.

Recipient 6: I saved most of it,
trying to find a good use for it.

Recipient 7: I can pay, finally,
for my books that I need.

Recipient 8:
I have a sick sister in Orego,

and I can't afford to
always go to see her.

Recipient 9:
Insurance won't cover it.

It's a huge burden off
of our shoulders.

Recipient 9: My daughter's
birthday just passed,

and it felt so nice
to ask her what she wanted.

Magdalena Taitano:
I saw it on TV,

and then I read it
in the newspaper.

And we got this

letter and I looked at it,

and I said, "Oh my God.

Of all people in Stockton,
they have my name."

(laughs)

I called them up and I said,
"Is this real?" You know?

This is not
the time for me to...

to refuse.

(voice breaking):
My husband recently...

became disabled,

and... I'm sorry.

And he cannot remember anything.

And he's...

you know, so right now,
SEED is a big, big help

for me, for my...
for my everything.

♪ ♪

Tubbs: I think I really enjoy
having Stockton be centered

and ground zero
for a discussion

that's not rooted in
bankruptcy or foreclosures,

but it's rooted in
like what could

a future social
contract look like.

And then when that data's don,
for the rest of history,

Stockton will be part
of that conversation.

Whether you disagree or agree,

you're gonna have to cite
the findings from Stockton,

the stories and people
of Stockton.

Stockton's gonna help
inform national thinking

about how do we create
a fair economy.

Vivero: I'll be at San
Joaquin Delta College,

majoring in photography.

I gotta do this for my family

because not only is
it important to me,

but it's important to them.

Especially for my dad,
who didn't finish high school,

and my mom as well.

(speaking Spanish)

Sí.

♪ ♪

Almendarez: I'm going to
MJC, which is in Modesto,

so I'm just gonna do
two years there, and then,

after those two years,
go to a university.

♪ ♪

I think I'm gonna
major in kinesiology

to be an athletic trainer
or probably a PE teacher.

I think I will settle in Stockton
'cause I don't wanna leave my mom.

♪ ♪

Hawkins: Isaiah was here, I
wanna say, for about a year,

about a year and a half.

I had no problems. Zay'd go
to school, went to practice,

and did what he was supposed to
do, and everything was fine.

I mean all I know is
it's pretty serious,

and I heard some
things about them

trying to charge
him as an adult.

Zay has been in some trouble,

but we gotta be honest
about the situation.

As a young Black man,

I don't wanna say... to use
the word "war," but, dude,

it's tough out here for us.

And at the same time, I don't
wanna feel sorry for us neither,

but that's why we gotta be

on top of our stuff
twice as better.

And that's what I try
to get Zay to understand is,

you got so many people
that care about you.

It's not just me,
you know.

It's a lot of people,
from the principal

at Edison High School,
the counselors,

to the people in the community
and all the stuff.

And I've always
told Zay, "Dude...

this is bigger than just you."

♪ ♪

(cheering and applause)

Tubbs: I was first introduced
to some of you guys

in eighth grade at
Marshall Elementary School.

This year, I met some
of you on Twitter.

And I am so incredibly proud.

I'm proud because
I know for many of you,

you're the first one in your
family to graduate high schoo,

much less college.

I'm incredibly proud
because for many of you,

you've overcome
poverty and obstacles

to get to where you are today.

(cheering)

I'll leave you with my
favorite quote, and it's this.

"They tried to bury us,

but they didn't
know we were seeds."

When I think of that quote,

I think of students
like Emily and Joy,

who, in high school,
made the tough decision

to have a child like my mothe,

and today,
are walking this stage

as proud parents
and proud graduates

on their way to
higher education.

Emily and Joy,
they tried to bury you,

but they didn't know
that you were seeds.

And for every single
graduate in this class,

growing up in
South Stockton, know this.

They tried to bury you,

but they didn't
know you were seeds.

Act like you know that.

Everywhere you walk
belongs to you.

It's your house. We need
you, and I expect to see

great things from you all,
and congratulations.

(applause)

-Principal: Joy Almendarez.
-(cheering)

♪ ♪

Almendarez: The mayor's mom, you
know, she had him at a young age,

and she walked
the stage with him,

and he's like
doing big things.

So, what I want for my son

is for him to
get an education

because he's gonna be a young Black
child growing up in Stockton.

Principal:
Rogelio Vivero.

(cheering)

-Rihanna Vontealtine.
-(cheering)

Clinton James Washington.

-(cheering continues)
-Desiree...

Vivero: My parents had
a lot of euphoria.

They were just glad.

They just wanted to
see me walk that stage

'cause walking that stage
is a big accomplishment,

and especially with all these
killings, you know, the homicides.

You know,
I lost some people, too.

And just to be able to walk that
stage along with my friends

who I've known that
lost people, too.

You know, it was
just a great feeling.

(crowd chatter)

♪ ♪

Dellafosse: Isaiah's
name was in the program.

-(inaudible)
- To know that

he wasn't physically there
was a little overwhelming,

but I was cheering him on in spirit.
He was in my heart.

(quiet chatter)

Tubbs Sr.:
I dedicate this

to all the women who
helped shape my life.

Without you, I would be lost.

My two boys, Michael Derrick
Tubbs and Anthony Tubbs,

this is something for you
so you will know

who your dad really
is as a person.

The book I'm writing
is called "Truth Be Told."

It's really a memoir to my sons.

It's my truth,
and I gotta tell my son,

gotta let him know who I am.

When Audri came into my life,
she was the one

who made me really see
myself for who I really was

and not what I thought I was.

So then when Mike first
got married, my wife said,

"You're gonna be a granddaddy
soon." I was like, nah. I said,

"He got a plan right now.
He's sticking to his plan."

She's like, "You gonna be
a granddaddy soon."

So, it's happening.
I'm proud. I'm glad.

That's what I'm looking
most forward to,

meeting my grandchild.

I'm hoping I'll be able
to go visit them.

(indistinct chatter)

Tubbs: I would rather
the conversation happen

not in a prison, frankly.

But as I think about
starting my own family,

having some sort of, like,

restart of a relationship,
now that I'm a, I'm a man,

would probably be helpful.

I'm sure my child will
realize that his grandfather

is in jail,
but my hope for him

is that he's able
to meet the person

behind the caricature
or the character,

and have a relationship that's
different than the relationshp

I had where that's
just his granddad.

Dixon: I'm just so proud
of my son Michael

and I'm so proud of Anna

that she's carrying
my grandchild.

I know for a fact that

-my grandchild gonna be smart.
-(laughter)

I'm just happy.
And, you know,

with you carrying my baby, it
makes me more connected to you...

-I mean my grand baby. (laughs)
-(laughter)

(applause)

♪ ♪

Tubbs: Being a father has
been incredibly humanizing

in helping me understand
both of my parents, actually.

Fosters a deep, deep,
deep appreciation

for the work, particularly
my mom being single,

and how hard it
had to have been.

For my dad, just how
difficult it must've been

to be like away
from your son.

I don't like it when I'm on a
business trip for three days,

much less 25, 26 years.

I'm sure that must've
been terrible.

♪ ♪

Evans:
I've been stressed out so muc,

so much put on my shoulders
that I just gotta deal with.

You know, a lot of kids,
they got so much anger

built inside, especially
when you lock down.

When you lock down,
so much anger.

♪ ♪

It's not nothing
to bring me down.

It's just gonna
make me work harder.

Like, I really wanna be
a big help in my city,

and I'm saying this is, this is,
this is a real story for me.

Dellafosse: For Isaiah, what we're
hoping is that he goes to counseling.

He's still eligible
for Stockton Scholars,

which means he can
still obtain the $500.

He's eligible for Delta classes,

and we're enrolling him
as we speak.

Evans: I love Jasmine on
a whole 'nother level.

A lot of people, they done
turned their back on me,

but Jasmine, no matter what,
she was here for me

every step of the way.

Dellafosse:
When Iyanla came to Stockton,

someone asked a question about how
do you know when the work is done,

and she said,
"When you die."

Regardless of
who's gonna be here

in two years or four years,

that this work
will still continue

because we're putting
things in place

for folks to
continue this work.

Nunez: Can we just hear
it for Common real quick?

Show some
Stockton love to Common?

(applause)

Common: This is inspiring
for me to be here.

Like I really wanna
say salutations to Stockton.

'Cause this is a
good example of what

a city, um, maybe,
hopefully, a state

and a nation, can be.

I come to communities
and try to listen.

There is this
school-to-prison pipeline

that exists in Stockton,
and there have been

many people at the table
who've been working to really

fight to dismantle
that work,

and we're looking to shut down
youth prisons across the state.

Aguilar: You know, I've always
wanted to love this city,

Stockton. I love the city.

-And-and the city didn't love me back.
-Common: Mm.

You know, as a kid, at 8 years
old, I was already inside

foster care and
the juvenile hall system.

By the time I was 15,
I was already being tried

as an adult
and sent to prison.

I ended up spending
26 years in the penitentiary.

And so, the system raised me when
I wanted my city to love me.

Common: It wasn't on our minds
to know to go to Stockton.

I'm just being real with you.
It wasn't on our minds

until they pulled our
coattails and said,

yo, we gotta
hit these places,

and there's stuff
going on here.

This place
is being overlooked,

but it's issues,
and it just

makes me know that
like the leadership

can come from anywhere.

Y'all are really showing

a transformation
on a holistic level.

-Photographer: Two, three, say Stockton.
-All: Stockton!

("The People" by Common playing)

Tubbs: The phrase "upset the
set-up" I stole from a friend.

I remember texting her like, "Yo,
I'ma steal that for a speech."

It's an interesting
play on the words.

It acknowledges that there is
a set-up, there is a system,

there is a way
things are designed.

But it's not fatalistic.
It's not saying,

"Because of that,
you can't do anything,"

or, "Because of that,
we're stuck."

As Jasmine said,
the work we'll be doing

for the rest of
our lives, really,

is how do
we upset the set-up?

We'll continue
to push for a world

that gives
everyone a chance.

-(crowd cheering, applause)
-(indistinct)

...for everybody.
For trans people,

for gay people,
for straight people,

for Muslim people, for Sikh
people, for Indian people,

for Black people, for white
people, for Latinos, for Asians,

for every single
person in this city.

We don't believe,
but we demand justice,

and for that,
tonight, we party.

(crowd cheering)

♪ This is street radio
for unsung heroes ♪

♪ Riding in the regal,
trying to stay legal ♪

♪ My daughter found Nemo,
I found the new primo ♪

♪ Yeah, you know how we do,
we do it for the people ♪

♪ And the struggle of
the brothers and the folks ♪

♪ With lovers under dope,
experiment to discover hopes ♪

♪ Scuffle for notes,
the rougher I wrote ♪

♪ Times was harder ♪

♪ Went from rocky starter
to the voice of a martyr ♪

♪ Why white folks focus
on dogs and yoga ♪

♪ While people on the low end
trying to ball and get over ♪

♪ Lyrics are like liquor
for the fallen soldier ♪

♪ From the bounce
to the ounce ♪

♪ It's all our culture,
every day we hustlin' ♪

♪ Trying to get
them custom rims ♪

♪ Law we ain't trusting them,
thick broads we lust in them ♪

♪ Sick and tired
of punching it ♪

♪ I look on the bus at them ♪

♪ When I see them struggling,
I think how I'm touching them♪

♪ The days ♪

♪ Have come ♪

♪ Now we ♪

♪ Are one ♪

♪ Just take ♪

♪ Your time ♪

♪ And then ♪

♪ You'll find ♪

♪ This is street radio
for unsung heroes ♪

♪ Riding in the regal,
trying to stay legal ♪

♪ My daughter found Nemo,
I found a new primo ♪

♪ Yeah, you know how we do,
we do it for the people ♪

♪ The people said that I was
sharp on TV at the Grammys ♪

♪ Though they tried
to India.Arie me ♪

♪ Got backstage
and I bumped into Stevie ♪

♪ He said no matter what,
the people gon' see me ♪

♪ Can't leave rap alone,
the streets need me ♪

♪ Hunger in they eyes
is what seem to feed me ♪

♪ Inside peace mixed with
beast seemed to breed me ♪

♪ Nobody believe
until I believe me ♪

♪ Now I'm on the rise,
doing business with my guys ♪

♪ Visions realize,
music affected lives ♪

♪ A gift from the skies
to be recognized ♪

♪ I'm keeping my eyes on
the people, that's the prize ♪

♪ The days ♪

♪ Have come ♪

♪ Now we ♪

♪ Are one ♪

♪ Just take your time... ♪