There’s one brother behind bars in particular that Suave can’t stop thinking about — Frank Ross, his longtime mentor. The man who taught him how to read and write on the inside. Serving a life sentence for more than half a century, the 93-year-old may have a speck of a chance to get out. That is, if he can convince the state to release him to die on the outside.Season 2 of Suave was made possible by The Mellon Foundation. Mellon makes grants to support the visionaries and communities that unlock the power of the arts and humanities to help connect us all. More at mellon.org. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peaks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Suave and all our podcasts. www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
Full Episode
Season two of Suave was made possible by the Mellon Foundation. Mellon makes grants to support visionaries and communities that unlock the power of the arts and humanities to help connect us all. More at Mellon.org.
Hey, Suave listeners, it's Julieta here. Are you tired of waiting each week for new episodes to come out? Well, you can listen to the whole season of Suave right now, plus exclusive bonus episodes by joining Futuro Plus. And you'll be helping support the independent journalism that we do here at Futuro. Join now at futuromediagroup.org backslash join plus. It's a hot summer day in New York.
And today, Suave is making a dream come true. He's been invited to read a poem on stage at an off-Broadway play. Though Suave is a published author, it's not actually his writing he'll be debuting. He's actually reading a poem by someone that's really special to him.
The piece that I'm reading, it was written by a gentleman called Frank Ross. Frank Ross is a lifer. They probably taught thousands and thousands of young guys in prison how to read and write, including me. Now I'm on stage in Broadway reading a piece from the guy that taught me how to read and write.
Suave remembers meeting Frank Ross in the early 90s. That was just a few years into Suave's lifetime prison sentence. Suave was in his early 20s then. He initially didn't pay much mind to Frank. Frank was in his late 50s, and Suave says he always used to carry a notebook around. But Suave did notice that no one ever really messed with Frank. Frank would go on to become really important to him.
that I'm paying honor to someone that made a difference in my life. I paid him back by coming to Broadway and re-winning his pieces.
Suave is one of a number of formerly incarcerated speakers reading at tonight's show. He's introduced to the stage by the show's producer, Kiara Alegría-Judis. She's a Pulitzer Prize-winning Philly native best known for writing the movie In the Heights.
So the next person I'm going to call to stage, Suave Gonzalez. Suave knew this next author, Frank Ross, while inside. So this piece is untitled by Frank Ross.
He was an old guy when I met him. I never knew his real name. Had an Indian nickname. Once in a while, I almost came up with it. It wasn't like Bray Warren or Running Bear. He was called after one of the tribes like Apache's. It's on the tip of my tongue.
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