Because I was illiterate, I really didn't understand the process. Do you feel that you are simply a source to Maria, or is there something more? Acclaimed journalist Maria Hinojosa met Suave 27 years ago when she was invited to speak at a graduation ceremony at Graterford. And I was honored to be that source. He had heard Hinojosa on the radio and was intrigued because she was Latina. The story follows David Luis Suave Gonzalez from boy to man, exploring incarceration, redemption, and the often unusual relationship between a journalist and a source. Convicted of the first-degree murder of a. Youre a victim, so you victimize other people because youre hurt. On the first day of his release, after 31 years in prison, Luis "Suave" Gonzalez was determined to give back to the community. Suaves life shows the difference second chances can make. Suave was also a talented artist. Martinelli previously wrote for CBS-46 in Atlanta, the Gwinnett Daily Post, and the Atlanta Latino Newspaper. But in journalism, a source is somebody that could report what - the injustices taking place behind these prison walls that society don't know about. Send flowers, find service dates or offer condolences for the lives we have lost in new jersey. And he finds that there are still a few things he needs to do, so he asks Maria to join him. Support the work of PVS by sponsoring this event! Luis "Suave" Gonzalez was only 17 at the time, making him a juvenile, but he was tried as an adult and given a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of ever being released. The story leads us back to North Philadelphia in search of someone else who was present the night of the murder. As Suave adjusts to his new life on the outside, the challenges that come with his newfound freedom and the expectations from everyone around himhe ponders if things are too good to be true. Thank you so much for joining us, both of you. And then the Supreme Court says HINOJOSA: It's going to happen. She previously covered the criminal justice system, policing and immigration for Nashville Public Radio. Thats how you get the street credibility. What was it like to catch up with the world almost 30 years later? Thank you so much for joining us, both of you. CHANG: And Suave, can you take me back to that moment? In the nearly three decades that you've been watching the system evolve, can you just describe what has happened to get us to this point, with Suave released and no longer serving a life sentence? You had gone to prison when you were a teenager. The Courts analysis was rooted in a long-standing rule that the Eighth Amendment embodies evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.. Is there a part of you that believes Maria is on your side? At Graterford State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, Suave joined the largest population of juvenile lifers in the countrymen considered by the justice system to be irredeemable for acts committed when they were just teenagers. To quote her, How low this Courts respect for stare decisis has sunk., Youth supposedly mattered but the new majority in the U.S. Supreme Court regressed in its Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. 505 likes. While incarcerated, Gonzalez developed a decades-long friendship with journalist Maria Hinojosa. That means he was never going to get out. This week, a story three decades in the making. Martinelli previously wrote for CBS-46 in Atlanta, the Gwinnett Daily Post, and the Atlanta Latino Newspaper. I failed all that shit. I tried eight times before I passed it. During her eight years as CNNs urban affairs correspondent, Hinojosa often took viewers into communities rarely shown on television and continued that work longform on Now on PBS. I asked the teacher, What the heck is going on in there, a Klan meeting? She was like Nah, its a college program.. Suave, as he likes to be called, was. Its the account of one mans incarceration and redemption and an unusual relationship between a journalist and a man convicted of murder. They told me I couldnt get a degree, and I left there with two degrees. Suave returns to prison. Suave ponders what it truly means to be free. The story leads us back to North Philadelphia in search of someone else who was present the night of the murder. Suave, you just heard Maria say, he's not a friend. That moment sparked a transformation in the life of Suave. The two would later work together to document his time in prison and subsequent release, in 2017 after a Supreme Court decision that ruled automatic life sentences without parole for juveniles as unconstitutional, in an eponymous podcast, Suave, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize. And to me, it was just them simple words - you could be the voice for the voiceless - nothing else. You know, Im gonna be the baddest dude on the block.. Keep changing our world and spread kindness to all., Your email address will not be published. Im getting out of jail, and when I mean getting out, I mean mentally. And even though I've been home three years, I'm still lost, you know, because this world moved fast. CHANG: You know, Suave, it's really moving to listen to you talk about Maria the way you do and the role that she has played in your life. But over the years, they became close. When I met Maria, I was at a point that I wanted to commit suicide. This is a testament to never giving up on a story and to trusting your producers. You know, I took a computer class, but I know that its not the same in the street. Concord Monitor. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez and journalist Maria Hinojosa about their podcast Suave by Futuro Media. GONZALEZ: What I do believe is that Maria is a journalist that wasn't trying to sensationalize my story, and she was telling it in an educational way where we could get people to understand that prison is not the rite of passage. Journalist Maria Hinojosa met David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez in 1993 while speaking at the Graterford State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania. Even the worst day that I have is good. Lance Reenstierna. That is until a Supreme Court ruling changes everythingand Suave suddenly gets a second chance to fight for his freedom. She is also a contributor to the long-running, award-winning news program CBS Sunday Morning and a frequent guest on MSNBC. If you ask me, go on the Internet and Google something, Id be lost. FPL Lessons: David Luiz wins out in Sarri shake-up. What gave you the motivation even to keep breathing, bro? It's ugly to say it, but Suave and I knew it, basically - Suave was going to come out in a box. If you're asking me today, yes, I consider Maria my friend. She teaches audio reporting at the NYU School of Journalism. Thats the way we change the world. Suave tells the story of what happens when your whole world is a prison cell, and you suddenly get a second chance at life. You could be the source - my source. Suave, as he likes to be called, was. Jones committed his horrible crime when he did not have access to medications he was taking for his mental health issues. That little place right here changed my whole life. Fifteen seconds. You have this dilemma with Suave - trying to keep some journalistic distance from him in the beginning, but then developing a genuine friendship with him, genuine affection. I feel like Im leaving my brothers behind.. This is what we do. Rahsaan New York Thomas reported this story for Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. And I felt like I was breaking that bond. This years awards honored work produced in 2021. At a Pennsylvania prison, Suave joined the largest population of juvenile lifers in the country. He taught other inmates how to paint watercolor. Career. When I came out, I had basically nobody. At Graterford State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, Suave joined the largest population of juvenile lifers in the country, young men considered by the U.S. justice system to be irredeemable. Then, in 2016, a Supreme Court decision changed everything. Rahsaan New York Thomas: What was the highest level of education you completed on the streets? At the start of 2020, there were 1,465 juvenile lifers nationally. They kept in touch over the decades by phone, letter, and occasional visits. Gavin Newsom earlier this year. In this episode, we follow Suave in his first year of freedom as he experiences countless firsts: leaving the halfway house for his first solo apartment, adopting a pet, finding a job and the start of a promising relationship with someone from his past. Theres no winners in this. Thats the way I was thinking because in PA, life without parole, means till you die. And I told him, When I get out, lmma get my GED. Then I got out of the hole [and] I took my GED. And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. As a Soros Justice Media Fellow, she spent 2019 documenting the human repercussions of changing legal policies along the U.S.-Mexico border. As a reporter for NPR, Hinojosa was among the first to report on youth violence in urban communities on a national scale. The Futuro Media Group is a non-profit 501(c)(3) funded by supporters like you. Please everyone share kindness. Now, Gonzalez is a support coach with I Am More, a reentry program for formerly incarcerated students at Philadelphia Community College. One of them was David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez, who entered prison at 17 expecting to leave in a coffin. I began reading every law book, I began learning their system, to the point where I could memorize all of the rules and regulations and pinpoint when they was violating my rights. He also co-hosts Death by Incarceration, which will be featuring episodes this fall focused on the various ways people in prison get an education. We had to fight DOC to create programs in order for us to have one chance to get in one class. But I always say that there's - lucky for me, I had someone that was there for me. If we would just stop our chaos and look at people individually! Suave, as he likes to be called, was serving a life sentence without parole for a crime he committed when he was 17 years old. We cant change the world fighting over whos right or wrong. Death by Incarceration. CHANG: Now that he has been released from prison, the two of them are sharing their story in a new Futuro Media podcast called "Suave.". You came out when you were in your mid-40s. I'm still trying to understand society for what it is. More at hsfoundation.org. So I was able to encourage them to go to school. Futuro Media also produces Peabody Award winning Latino USA, the longest running national Latino news and cultural public radio program; In The Thick, an award winning political podcast; and Latino Rebels, a pioneering digital news outlet founded by journalist Julio Ricardo Varela. In 2019, she was named the inaugural Distinguished Journalist in Residence at her alma mater, Barnard College. Everything - phones, computers. So like, wouldnt it have been easier if the system allowed colleges to flourish in all their prisons? And I was like, wow, somebody really cared because in street term, a source is a snitch. And then I started believing that maybe there's a possibility because I started seeing different cases happening across the United States dealing with juveniles. Writing for the majority, Justice Kagan emphasized that judges must be able to consider the characteristics of juvenile defendants in order to issue a fair and individualized sentence. We explore the tactics of ruthless prosecutors in the 80s, and how Pennsylvania became the state that sentenced the most juveniles in the country to life in prison without parole. He is also a street artist, with his art mirroring his advocacy work: critical of injustice, but exploding with compassion for those forced to carry its burden.. On his way to court, Suave is surprised by the smell of fresh air as he boards a bus and leaves the prison grounds for the first time in decades. Suave also reckons with complicated emotions, wavering between the unparalleled joy of his upcoming release and the guilt of leaving behind the men hes considered his brothers for nearly three decades. I spent seven years there and in them seven years, another gentleman showed me how to read and write. You can avoid it by skipping between minute 4:45-6:45. At Futuro Media, Hinojosa continues to bring attention to experiences and points of view that are often overlooked or underreported in mainstream media, all while mentoring the next generation of diverse journalists to delve into authentic and nuanced stories. Futuro Media created a podcast about Gonzalez's life, called " Suave ," which recently won a Pulitzer Prize. Futuro Studios podcasts were recognized in many 2021 year-end lists, including four of our original series landing on The AtlanticsTop 50 podcasts of 2021. A Latino juvenile lifer, Suave had been on what he described as a suicide mission. But what I didnt know was that the college program was only part-time studies. In the corner of 8th and Somerset, Maria encourages Suave to talk about that night, which theyve never discussed in nearly three decades of friendship. When you first heard the news that juvenile life sentences were going to be reconsidered, how much of you actually believed that you would be released back then? What starts as a brief conversation leads to decades of communication between the two, walking the boundary between a journalist-source relationship and true friendship. All rights reserved. But as Suave readies for life on the outside, his excitement gives way to a never ending list of fears about what life outside of prison might be like. Graterford Prison, where Suave was incarcerated, on July 20, 2001. You know the same way we grind when we hustlin on the corners, the same way you gotta hustle when you in the prison system. Fifteen seconds changed my whole life.. You know, and I say all the time, in 2017 when I stepped out that prison, not my family, not my community, not my friends - it was Maria Hinojosa that was there waiting for me. Mike Levin/Getty Images David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he was 17. A Volunteer Visitation Program to Federal and Military Prisoners Throughout the United States, Gonzalez, though not visited by PVS, speaks powerfully about the importance of human connections during his time inside. CHANG: David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez is the focus of the new podcast "Suave." You have to say, you know what, I got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Stop the cancel culture and make yourself useful. One of them was David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez, who entered prison at 17 expecting to leave in a coffin. The Jones decision effectively closed the door of judicial review for many outstanding cases. Maria Hinojosa is the Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by PRX, as well as Co-Host of In The Thick, Futuro Medias award-winning political podcast, Hinojosa has informed millions about the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad. I went to college really like 25 years ago. He made his 9 million dollar fortune with Benfica, Chelsea, Paris Saint Germain & Brazil National Squad. Gonzalez said. For example, I dont know how to use a cell phone. Suave tells the story of what happens when your whole world is a . Like they think that they could incarcerate the way out of every problem in America and they cant. I like to say, I found a new habit. And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. He started painting watercolors when he was in prison. Suave, you just heard Maria say, he's not a friend. And the more she learns about Suaves crime, the more she comes to question the events that put Suave in prisonand the system that puts away children to life in the first place. They kept in touch over the decades by phone, letter, and occasional visits. And thats what we did: Im gonna create a program for yall and yall gonna let me in that program.. I don't know - because, Suave, we didn't even talk about it 'cause it's like you're in for life. His paintings are also on display at the Morton Contemporary Gallery. MARIA HINOJOSA: Thank you so much for having me. If you wait for the DOC to give you permission to do it, its never gonna get done. At Graterford State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, Suave joined the largest population of juvenile lifers in the countrymen considered by . Shes been invited to discuss her reporting on WBEZs Morning Shift, WAMUs 1A and NPRs Up First podcast. David Luis Suave Gonzalez: Tenth grade. So to me, education was about fighting the system and changing the law. When you first heard the news that juvenile life sentences were going to be reconsidered, how much of you actually believed that you would be released back then? Thomas and Gonzalez talk about fighting the system and the role of education in prison when you think youre never getting out. And he finds that there are still a few things he needs to do, so he asks Maria to join him. He taught other inmates to read. So I started visualizing and putting myself in places that Id never been before. Julieta Martinelli is an award-winning investigative reporter and currently a producer at Latino USA. I'm still trying to understand society for what it is. December 6, 1986. Suave moves to a transitional housing unit at SCI Graterford where he will spend the next few months as he waits for his parole hearing.
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