MultimediaJust Words
"Just Words," a production of the Center for Emerging Media broadcast on National Public Radio affiliate WYPR (88.1 FM), features the unheard stories of people you see every day in the Baltimore community. The series probes the lives of the area's most underprivileged citizens as they grapple with a variety of issues, allowing listeners to hear about their challenges and struggles first-hand. "Just Words" is supported by a grant from the Open Society Institute–Baltimore.
Episode 1: Lucille Robinson, a 69-year-old grandmother who is the sole caregiver to six grandchildren, tells the story of how she came to be in such dire circumstances.
Episode 2: Lucille describes how, against all odds, she manages to support her family on only $700 a month. She shares her concerns about her inability to afford Christmas presents or food.
Episode 3: Lucille shares her belief that many children are lured by the promise of making money on the street corner selling drugs as a direct result of the unwillingness of the local, state, and federal government to provide support to the children's caretakers. She describes the kind of support and recognition she wants from the government.
Episode 4: Jacquetta Lyles, a mother of four and a day laborer at the downtown sports stadiums, describes the conditions she works under, and how she is paid with a money card that charges her each time she uses it.
Episode 5: Jacquetta describes how she is dependent on the assistance and shelter provided by her mother and great-uncle, without which she would be in a shelter. She also shares how she tries to provide her children with a happy childhood, despite the worries that plague her.
Episode 6: Jacquetta tells how she came to become involved in the United Workers Association, and makes a passionate plea for people to stand behind her efforts to make a better life for herself.
Episode 7: Gloria Knight is a state-contracted daycare provider who is unable to afford health insurance. A bicycle accident left her with a $50,00 hospital bill.
Episode 8: Gloria discusses the social fallout that would ensue if daycare providers looked for alternative employment that provided benefits. She also shares her personal connection with a special child, a connection that encourages here to stay in child care.
Episode 9: Gloria discusses the benefits she thinks would stem from unionizing child care providers in Maryland.
Episode 10: Walker Gladden is a fomer prisoner who has devoted his life to saving young men and women in Baltimore. He speaks about the gulf that separates boys and girls in the 'hood from the rest of the world.
Episode 11: Marc speaks with community activists about the tremendous gulf that exists between their perception of the world and how they are seen by outsiders.
Episode 12: Could love have the power to transform the lives of children in inner-city communities? Ray Cooke, an ex-offender who runs the program On Our Shoulders in West Baltimore, speaks about his belief that love can be a powerful agent of change.
Episode 13: The home of Nargas Hyman is also the home of B Spirit, a homework and tutoring center for inner-city youth. But it's more than that: it is a bunker of hope in one of the cities most drug-ridden areas.
Episode 14: Taveon "Bill" Nash works two jobs, 7 days a week in order to provide for his 2-year-old son. He works hard, serves as a youth mentor, and is an example of how youth in Park Heights can succeed if given encouragement and support. But he also illustrates the lengths that many working people must go to in order to keep everything together.
Episode 15: This is the story of how 20-year-old Cierra has managed to rise above the cycle of violence and defeat in her Park Heights neighborhood.
Episode 16: 39-year-old Robert shares his thoughts on how the day laborer industry in Baltimore City is exploitative, and how he hopes to help reform it.
Episode 17: Becca is a waitress, a mother, a grandmother, and a student. How does she juggle it all? What does it take to attain the American dream?
Episode 18: Terry is an ex-felon trying to live a new, positive life on the outside. But, he's still haunted by things that happened to him while he was in prison.
Episode 19: When Terry left prison to serve his last 18 months on home detention, he didn't expect to fall in love—but he did. He also didn't expect to be taken back to prison—but he was.
Episode 20: Terry reveals that he is HIV positive. He shares how he thinks he contracted the disease, and what he thinks it means for his future.
Episode 21: Terry is doing everything he can to defy Maryland's recidivism rate. But things are hard in the job market for a man with a record.
Episode 22: Sheila Christian-Canon has been living in a nightmare since her 14 year old daughter was caught in the crossfire of a possible gang turf battle.
Episode 23: What would happen to your family if your paychecks went missing for three months? Annette Scary, a child care worker in Baltimore County, describes how this happened to her.
Episode 24: The distance from living at home to living on the street wasn’t very far for Beth. An unexpected pregnancy was the beginning.
Episode 25: More on Beth, who lost her job due to an unexpected pregnancy and began using drugs. This is the story of her journey through homelessness and rehab.
Episode 26: Beth has survived through depression, homelessness, and rehab. What comes next? She shares her dreams for the future.
Episode 27: Less than two months ago, Keonya was fighting for her life in Shock Trauma after being shot in the abdomen. Today, she reaches a milestone that many had feared she wouldn’t achieve.
Episode 28: Dante Wilson had devoted his life to trying to save kids from lives of violence and crime. We take a walk with him in his west Baltimore neighborhood.
Episode 29: The voices of the young children that live in battered neighborhoods in Baltimore are full of optimism and hope, but also a chilling awareness of the fear and violence all around them.
Episode 30: This is the story of Darryl’s journey into corner life.
Episode 31: Six years of incarceration inspired Darryl to evolve in surprising way.
Episode 32: Being a good father has become the most important thing in Darryl's life since being released from prison.
Episode 33: Darryl is using his own experiences and his talent at connecting with young people to try and save the lives of boys and girls in the hood.
Episode 34: Carla and Donny have each had to live in the woods because they had nowhere else to turn. Their stories challenge stereotypes about how and why people become homeless.
Episode 35: Carla describes how she has opened her home to the homeless. She often has several people living in her house or on her land. Why does she do this?
Episode 36: Carla talks about the mental and physical health problems that result from a lack of services for the homeless. She also discusses the recent ACLU lawsuit against the town of Elkton.
Episode 37: Rose Menustik will be going on a hunger strike to protest working and payment conditions for the cleaners at Camden Yards. She talks about her experience as a day laborer in Baltimore.
Episode 38: Why are the people who clean Camden Yards going on a hunger strike? Why did negotiations break down? Rose Menustik tells her side of the story.
Episode 39: Has the death of a young black man in Baltimore become irrelevant? This is the story of one mother, Lorraine Mackey, whose son was lost to gang violence.
Episode 40: Lorraine Mackey is trying to make sense of the world in which her son was murdered at eighteen. Lorraine shares her thoughts on who is to blame.
Episode 41: Lorraine shares her ideas for systematic changes she thinks could help other people avoid meeting the same fate as her son.
Episode 42: The lives of homeless people who suffer from addiction and mental illness can be grim, especially when state resources are scarce. A young, pregnant woman tells her story.
Episode 43: Omar is a young black man who narrowly avoided doing years in prison after committing armed robbery. He talks about why he committed this crime and the kind of person he was when he did it.
Episode 44: The birth of his son on New Year’s Eve inspired Omar to make a resolution to change his life. But how? He had no idea which way to turn, until he chanced upon a brochure.
Episode 45: Omar talks about the delicate process of charting a path away from gang life, and shares his first tentative dreams for the future.
Episode 46: Donny was only 14 when he started selling drugs in Baltimore. This is the story of how he became a drug dealer.
Episode 47: A few years after he became a drug dealer, Donny was incarcerated in the juvenile system. He talks about his experience in the system and how it changed his relationship with his mother.
Episode 48: Donny talks about a program that helped him begin to change his stubborn and angry attitude, and tells a story that inspired him to approach life in a different way.
Episode 49: Donny shares his dreams and hopes, and tells the story of how he came to have a future in the culinary arts.
Episode 50: Corrine is a young mother of two who struggles to make ends meet everyday. She talks about the experience of raising her children on a low hourly wage.
Episode 51: Last May, Beth told the story of how she ended up homeless and addicted to drugs, and her fight to get back a normal life. Today, she gives an update on her life.
Episode 52: This series began with the story of Lucille Robinson, a grandmother responsible for the sole care of several grandchildren. A year later, how is Lucille doing?
Episode 53: An update with Robert, to find out whether cleaners at Camden Yards were able to secure a living wage.
Episode 54: Terry, the ex-convict who shared his story in episodes 18-21, talks about his the difficult time he is having finding a job.
Episode 55: Terry expresses the feelings of hopelessness he feels when he thinks about the future.
