S2, E3: "From Our Cell to Your Block" (Ft. The JMC 300 Unit)

Lunchroom Cypher Podcast

On this episode of the Lunchroom Cypher, we have a rare opportunity to hear directly from young people at J. C. Montgomery High School - a juvenile court school in Kings County. For 8 weeks I met virtually the JCM principal, Elizabeth Norris, and a small-group of youth to write a Hip Hop song about a social justice issue they deemed relevant to their lives. Together the young people penned a song exploring inequities within the criminal justice system, and then chose to interview each other about their contributions. Their song was recorded during one of our sessions with the help of Josh “Optx” Levine (a local recording artist). On this episode you will hear a conversation between myself, Elizabeth, and Josh to set some context. Then you will hear a song created by young people, as well as a series of interview questions they asked each other. This is one of my favorite episodes yet! The youth also elected to write their own description for this episode, see here: "This episode features students producing a song and interviewing each other. Day to day real-life stories of the inmates of Kings County Juvenile Center. Real-life stories, it ain’t scripted." https://www.kingscoe.org/ https://www.instagram.com/optx/?hl=en