We recently connected with Kimi Lent and have shared our conversation below.
Kimi, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
I think like a child. I tune everyone out and focus on the reason I am there.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m currently focused on The Big Dogg Academy, After working for thirty years with youth impacted by our Criminal Justice system and those at-risk, and also working as a Gang Specialist for the Los Angeles Superior Courts, I learned how the school-to-jail railroad was affecting black and brown youth in our underserved communities. There is a large learning gap where schools, environments, home, detention centers, foster care and so on, do not educate our youth about essential life skills, trauma healing, or knowledge about how our Criminal Justice system actually works and affects their lives, often forever. When a child grows up in a impoverished, dysfunctional, violent, environment one cannot expect them to become functional, harmonious, contributors to society on their own. But that is what our systems that be have done. We’ve left them completely on their own to fill this gap. The results, youth failing in school and having behavior problems will go to jail, absent any preventative services and programs what-so-ever.
This travesty is why I created the Big Dogg Academy. Here we work to fill the gap with the necessary tools and knowledge that helps fill the gap. We offer Social, Emotional learning, Coping and Resilience Skills, Criminal Justice Education, Trauma healing skills, Sports and positive activities, and lots of love and care. We use a team and family approach that provides a true sense of belonging.
The Big Dogg Academy is a missing piece in underserved communities. It has proven to be successful by witnessing hundreds of youth achieve in life and remain free from incarceration.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Building relationships with the people in the community. Remaining humble and understanding.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Stay focused on the mission.
Get out of your comfort zone and be fearless. You have to be fearless when you’re on a mission.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The most unlikely of people have taught and embraced me and my calling. The most helpful have been the gang members in the community, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, and the Youth. If it were not for them I could not have succeeded. They educated me, gave me passes, allowed me in their circles, and embraced me. One particularly notorious gang member at that time was known as Monster Kody. He wrote a best selling autobiography, called MONSTER. Kody Scott was the first gang member from the community I met. He became my ongoing mentor from the SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison. The most daunting place I had ever seen! After his release he came to help at my Academy that was located in his neighborhood. Monster was the most influential of all. R.I.P. Kody Scott!
The gang members taught me so much about the gangs and their community that I was appointed on the Superior Courts, Panel of Experts. This experience broaden my horizons as I came to realise what the Criminal Justice system actually was, how it worked, and who it was for. This secondary journey was the most challenging and disheartening.
Contact Info:
- Website: bigdogggangprevention.com
- Other: [email protected]
