SUMMIT WARNS, EMPOWERS YOUTHS TO AVOID STREET CRIME

EAST PALO ALTO - Close to 80 youths listened closely as four men
described how their lives of violence, drug dealing and other crime
came to an end when they all - for different reasons - decided they'd
had enough.

Eddy Pratt, who wore a dark T-shirt and short dreadlocks, emotionally
described the 20 months he spent in prison for dealing drugs in his
late 20s.

"It was horrible," he said emphatically. "I wouldn't wish it on my
worst enemy."

"If I go to prison again for crack (dealing), it will be five years
and I can't take that," Pratt said.

Another panelist, 28-year-old Bandaide, who declined to give a last
name, also spent five years in prison for drug dealing. He recounted
for the captivated audience his shock when prison officials asked him
where he wanted to be buried if he didn't survive the violence of
prison life.

"I didn't know if I was getting out of there alive," he
said.

And then there were the showers.

"You got to take showers with 100 other men," Bandaide said,
describing the sexual come-ons from other inmates during the daily
routine. "I was like 'Wow, this is what you got to go through?'"

The men told their stories as part of growing number of programs in
East Palo Alto to scare young people straight by sharing the
unvarnished truth about a life of crime, and the prison sentences that
invariably follow.

Saturday's event, held at Costano Elementary School, was called the
"Goin' Smart Youth Summit." The summit was organized by One East Palo
Alto and the East Palo Alto Police Department, and was supported with
funding by numerous organizations, including the Silicon Valley
Community Foundation, the San Mateo County Health and Human Services
Agency and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

City leaders increasingly are offering similar programs to address the
root causes of the violence and crime that still captures a large
segment of the city's youths before they leave high school. More than
60 "youth-empowerment" non-profits operate in the city, according to
One East Palo Alto, which provides grants to other non-profits in East
Palo Alto.

A common theme that resounded through the workshops - including the
"Get Out of the Game" seminar with the four former drug dealers - was
how the lack of a male role model led to an aching chasm in men's
lives as they grew up.

"I didn't have no role model," said Bandaide, who grew up in East Palo
Alto. "It was these dudes I was looking up to in the streets. The
street life was something I loved. It was like family to me."

"Maybe if I had a male figure in my life," Bandaide said, "he'd say,
'you're messing up, you should be rapping,'" referring to his work
writing and singing rap music.

Hundreds of youths attended the daylong event. After a free lunch of
sandwiches, participants were urged to attend a listening panel in the
school's auditorium. Panelists included a range of civic leaders
including San Jose Police Chief Ron Davis, County Supervisor Rose
Jacobs Gibson and Steve Wagstaff, San Mateo County's assistant
district attorney.

The panelists answered questions from participants, who lined up
behind a microphone to ask about improving environmental conditions in
East Palo and increasing the racial diversity of school teachers.

Above all, the summit stated as its purpose the goal of showing the
city's youths that there are options beyond street life to make money
and earn respect.

"I never thought I'd be able to stop selling drugs," said Pratt, the
former inmate who sat on a panel. "I know if I can do it, everyone can
do it."