welcome to pathways and jenny hearts are in your host and i'm really excited to bring back a woman who i first interviewed in august two thousand and thirteen she is someone who beat the system she would grow up and had an advantage to go to you know and i really school first came back and now it's been teaching the underserved communities that she grew up in film dance drama and i'm really thrilled to bring her back and have her talk about what she's got coming up so welcome petrus do so start off is that what i found so interesting about you and why you came on my show at the beginning when i heard about this woman it was through the pub program went away first came back to travel and i had a lot of respect for people who choose to come back to  circum unity which they grew up in instead of taking advantages of maybe an easier life maybe a life without struggle you had it already but what made you come back to trend that's kind of i mean i'm interested in why you did that well was that under served only under served when you think about things like resources right so yes when it's three three and can see when years ago and now it was an obligation it is an obligation to go back to a city that birth emoted me whether it was for the better or the worse in my case it was a better to create the change or be the change that i wanted to be or see and that's not a that is not a new concept that is an authentic age or concept that i just wanted i wanted to do i wanted to illustrate for not only myself but again for the people who care love my or appreciate the arts and believe in it enough to know that it can transform their lives and somebody around their lives around them their lives so is it something that you actually had a turning point where you said here i am graduating did you always know you're going to try oh when i was and that's the weight force i knew that i was coming back to train and that's the only i knew not that i was i knew that i was also going around the world job in not telling people about things that i do so just like you said you know that a lot of people don't know and so when i mean by that i do a great job it at even keeping both hands on  obama will accomplish you know woman in for all of my life i've learned to conceal those things out of fear of boasting or being too i want to show off  on these accomplishments because they're not going to do anything other than that was done now what you have to do to continue and what you have to do to be better and better someone else ok so you're just a lot of people are going to show you're too damn busy making things happen and it's people like me you come along and say give this girl a voice because she is somebody that other people can aspire to but that's not where you're headed you're moving forward let's get the film to be exact to be done ok so you went from the boys and girls club when you're somebody i we're the cause of the jersey and is not even and is not in that is not a thing of comparison but more so i think a freedom i was fortunate enough to meet i had to be careful with this information but i was fortunate enough to meet one of the brilliant big heart you get to do all of what equipment do you have there well when i was first when i first got the west with both hands was initially founded i received grants to get computer supplies cameras so you brought all that over there yes so you're fully equipped fully girls well it's a lot different now because we want to expose the young people to things outside of trenton believe it or not a lot of them have not been to a college campus is right around the corner family now right so even exposing them to a college campus huge put them on top of that expose them to a white college student who know meth who knows nothing about their background and they know nothing about their background so putting them in the same space sharing their space sharing that  their stories and backgrounds in bouts of mental health without them even understanding the conversation the mental health the understanding by how much they're affected with mental health issues that is how it changes because then it becomes a conversation where place in the room together i think what you're saying is these kids had familiar backgrounds whereas when they were going to art was it called again i want to make sure we both hands you know you both ends of your group but now you're in the building with a friend works at work i've seen that when you come in  soft spots and not be apprehensive or frayed or embarrassed to do so because a lot of the times like they'll come into a space that they haven't been before and then feel like they are or hear those words like under certain under privilege or all of these things and they feel like they're less than i can not step up or say certain things because they'll be looked down upon and identified as certain no word is this badge of disgrace and no be proud of you so you're back you have this fabulous space and are you teaching the same program the same house the program change just briefly the curriculum has developed their teaching tell us what you're doing teacher we're teaching poetess thing the same groundwork poetry grace they need an opportunity and they look like bad kids because even some trouble coming into your world and getting an opportunity a program they can identify was something and they go forward and there's nothing that we're going to weave our magic while you're going to become this new person is going to take is understanding what it feels like for my lights in my lecture to be off for days at a time and then having to conceal that at my school so nobody will look down at me that to me is pretty because i gives me a story and it gives me a fight and a reason blessings so what's the response so a lot of the times resonates very well when you're working with and again that was when i was like four years later or three years later what i'm used to is getting those kids who are out there interested in the arts they love  a little bit longer but so you think you know that i've been successful that grabbing kids and that are not on the right path but found them and they are you working with them is there any difference in their approach you're they just jumping on the same way it's a big difference how's it  i'm not necessarily playing a convincing game but they don't make human knowledge is an artist but sometimes when you're not paying attention to the artistic aspect the new human eye you're just looking at the entertainment facet so i don't want to say takes longer because longer is not a bad thing but more creativity and more relevant content is what i found myself needing to construct vers need to stand focus so these kids i'm still not clear so that you speak in such poetic language and i can't are you actually successful of going out and getting kids that are really living on the streets or don't have a track and didn't have a track or that track was to jail and you retrieve them brought them in your program do you have a story i mean there are stories or anybody that started and doing well that you want you will see yes and i will speak about  a has a description of meets the description of a young person who will not be classically successful ok so let's take maybe early on and instill we've got something pretty exciting july fourth fourteenth ok july fourteenth there is a documentary and i'm not going to tend to describe it so what is it about why is it something that what something like the arts can do in a place like trenton when it is audaciously pursued and authentically pursued and not exploited in not taking put anything of what it is so this is  what i want to what the hell you're talking about but if this will be this this exact thing can possibly be featured in that film to authenticate your search for your search the search must search for years and years a show about or searching for her search yeah and then who the film without them even being conscious of it so documentaries do it all the time with handheld techniques subtly oh ok now isn't there something new york times gave the glasses about this little lens and you're literally you can touch you feel as if you can touch pandarus as you're walking down the street is that some technique that you can use absolutely yes another part of breaking down a fourth layer so a part of the storytelling is not just about again this is a this is mom you told me she was from liberia i think your mother your father one of your parents came here was homeless for a period of time and we were talking about but that you're getting old and so sweet is that an emotional moment he says i mean told you my show's about you know ordinary people do extraordinary things and and i know you talked about humility but how is it different for you having had this experience and living in this world at wake forest and then coming about the trenton and having gone from trenton to this experience traveling and then coming back to trenton i mean do you feel that you're really in a position to really do some changes in niger that experience or it makes me well traveled and articulate and able to understand my privilege able to understand what i was blessed to have the opportunity to do every time i travel it wasn't i wasn't traveling with a lot of money in my  this is your opportunity you can promote or you can tell us about life in trenton about a student about your parents whatever you do you got a minute go ok well i want to one invite people into this experience is a it's a multilateral experience one given gauge with was going on with both hands getting this was going to work become which is more than just a fashion line i think what it's become become is the belief that you need to be working young people are actually going to be like very instrumental in all of this coming to life and you know what if someone wants to join your forces for and they have they're not living and yes absolutely you can check out the website can anybody volunteer you can absolutely volunteer there a community people all arts focus in all heart well not so on that note i'm going to tell you i got it i want to tell you that really happy you came and i want everyone to watch because we're going to and pick up pink actually makes her nauseous when deconstructing the anatomy of poppy was far more interesting in playing with her and then eventually finding a barbie to play with wasn't such a terrible idea e