Ben Owen

I wouldn't make eye contact with anybody. I felt substandard to literally anyone. I felt so insignificant and worthless. And I came real close to ending it more than once on purpose. I tried more than once. Do you have conversations with these guys? Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to talk to them about their hopes and dreams.

I want to talk to them about where their life diverged from the one they had always envisioned. And the sad part is that in a lot of these cases, you find out it didn't. They're living the life they envisioned because that's all they're ever taught. It's all they're ever shown. It was all that was ever modeled for them.

I want to talk to them about where their life diverged from the one they had always envisioned. And the sad part is that in a lot of these cases, you find out it didn't. They're living the life they envisioned because that's all they're ever taught. It's all they're ever shown. It was all that was ever modeled for them.

I want to talk to them about where their life diverged from the one they had always envisioned. And the sad part is that in a lot of these cases, you find out it didn't. They're living the life they envisioned because that's all they're ever taught. It's all they're ever shown. It was all that was ever modeled for them.

You have like generational legacies of dope dealing in some of these neighborhoods.

You have like generational legacies of dope dealing in some of these neighborhoods.

You have like generational legacies of dope dealing in some of these neighborhoods.

I didn't want to try to make a comparison between soft guys and dope boys, but I was thinking about that when you were saying it. Because their identity is completely wrapped up in that. Completely. It is their whole sense of worth and value. is wrapped up in the fact that they're a dope boy and they got money and they have control, they have power.

I didn't want to try to make a comparison between soft guys and dope boys, but I was thinking about that when you were saying it. Because their identity is completely wrapped up in that. Completely. It is their whole sense of worth and value. is wrapped up in the fact that they're a dope boy and they got money and they have control, they have power.

I didn't want to try to make a comparison between soft guys and dope boys, but I was thinking about that when you were saying it. Because their identity is completely wrapped up in that. Completely. It is their whole sense of worth and value. is wrapped up in the fact that they're a dope boy and they got money and they have control, they have power.

Because the reality is, especially when we're talking on the trafficked women's side of it, if you've got that sack of dope, you have whatever you want. You can get whatever you want out there. No questions asked. And that is a hard thing for some of you guys to let go.

Because the reality is, especially when we're talking on the trafficked women's side of it, if you've got that sack of dope, you have whatever you want. You can get whatever you want out there. No questions asked. And that is a hard thing for some of you guys to let go.

Because the reality is, especially when we're talking on the trafficked women's side of it, if you've got that sack of dope, you have whatever you want. You can get whatever you want out there. No questions asked. And that is a hard thing for some of you guys to let go.

When they start seeing it happen to somebody they love, though, their sister, their child, their baby mama, their cousin, their mom, their eyes open up a little bit and you've got a window of time to make some impact there. Young kids getting shot out there, that happens all the time too and it breaks everybody's heart. Nobody wants to see that shit.

When they start seeing it happen to somebody they love, though, their sister, their child, their baby mama, their cousin, their mom, their eyes open up a little bit and you've got a window of time to make some impact there. Young kids getting shot out there, that happens all the time too and it breaks everybody's heart. Nobody wants to see that shit.

When they start seeing it happen to somebody they love, though, their sister, their child, their baby mama, their cousin, their mom, their eyes open up a little bit and you've got a window of time to make some impact there. Young kids getting shot out there, that happens all the time too and it breaks everybody's heart. Nobody wants to see that shit.

And those are opportunities to go in there and have conversations. They all know and accept that their means of earning income is not sustainable and that it will send them to prison. And so trying to break it down to these guys that prison is not a normal part of life. Don't have that on your 5, 10, 20-year plan. Don't put prison as something that's going to happen.

And those are opportunities to go in there and have conversations. They all know and accept that their means of earning income is not sustainable and that it will send them to prison. And so trying to break it down to these guys that prison is not a normal part of life. Don't have that on your 5, 10, 20-year plan. Don't put prison as something that's going to happen.

And those are opportunities to go in there and have conversations. They all know and accept that their means of earning income is not sustainable and that it will send them to prison. And so trying to break it down to these guys that prison is not a normal part of life. Don't have that on your 5, 10, 20-year plan. Don't put prison as something that's going to happen.

You can actually control whether or not you ever go to prison. That's like a revelation to some of these guys.