It Could Happen Here - It Was Never About Crime feat. Prop

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Okay, with all this talk about deploying troops in our cities, especially DC, it's very clear to me that that “crime” is just a means to remove black, brown, poor and unhoused people from your city. Because if you really cared about crime, there are proven interventions that actually work to reduce crime… and it happens to be Black mayors puttin' in the work. Sources: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-025-00534-6#Sec9  https://www.thebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/baltimore-homicides-drop-WTR3QQN7LRGFXOVCGAAMNYMUBE/  https://theconversation.com/data-driven-early-intervention-strategies-could-revolutionize-phillys-approach-to-crime-prevention-258756 https://genius.com/Freeway-what-we-do-lyrics https://www.baltimorepolice.org/about/baltimore-police-crime-plan https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/16/baltimore-violent-crime-trumpSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now.

Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate.

Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. That's comedian Phoebe Robinson. And yeah, those are the kinds of gems you'll only hear on my podcast, The Bright Side. I'm your host, Simone Boyce. I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week, we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. So join me every Monday, and let's find The Bright Side together.

Listen to The Bright Side on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When your car is making a strange noise, no matter what it is, you can't just pretend it's not happening. That's an interesting sound. It's like your mental health. If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed, it's important. to do something about it. It can be as simple as talking to someone or just taking a deep calming breath

to ground yourself. Because once you start to address the problem, you can go so much further. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have resources available for you at loveyourmindtay.org. Callsor Media.

What's up, y'all? It's your favorite cousin again. Prop is in the building. You know what I'm saying? Well, in your earbuds. or speakers, however the hell you listen to this, your favorite cousin is here. I am going to assume that that is the truth,

and since you can't answer me, we're just going to go with that. It's been a while since I tapped in with y'all. I ruined your music festivals and then told you about your municipalities and your waters. Somebody reached out to us who gestures wildly. We have not been able to give back to her,

but about how she was a part of an effort to non-privatize the water inside of her neighborhood and district, and they won. So shout out to you. We apologize if you've, you know, our job has not been boring since the start of 2025. But today I'm going to bring you some blackness, some genuine blackness, and then some, this has to be a black conversation because you motherfacca's a racist. I have to approach it like this because crime has become.

a color mute term in the era of Trump, it kind of always has been, but it's really obvious now. With the National Guard being unleashed onto the streets of Washington, D.C., there's this some sort of clearly obvious conflation between the houseless population, poverty, crime, black folks. Like, it's all kind of like one thing with this fool,

which is not rocket science for y'all. It's just, you know what he's talking about. You know how I know this, how he thinks, is because whenever he talks about black people supporting him, he talks about criminal reform. Because apparently that's what all black people care about only. Just like, you know, when he say immigration, he mean Latino. And the whole not feeling safe is just because, you know,

the crime that the houseless population of D.C. have is being ill. that's the crime because they no one has ever given me a legitimate reason as to why not having a place to stay as a crime hell you know marga killjoin them have this whole joint about loitering and loitering laws like truancies why i'm getting ahead of myself the point is the crime is that you exist so today i want to talk to y'all about something that y'all already know which is it's never been about the crime. All right. Now, first of all, some stuff that don't matter. Y'all still following Drake. I don't know if y'all like, okay, my crowd is following Drake. Let me stop making a difference between us. But listen, so you know Drake's suing a UMG and his label over, you know,

not like us and just proving that he's not like us. Anyway, the new thing in this man's lawsuit is he's demanding UMG bring evidence over to push the teeth thing. What do I mean by the push the teeth thing? When Push-a-Tee came at him, which we can all agree if you win the rap, he won. Also, shout-out the clips. So when you go back to the push-a-teeth time, this is the back-to-back, and I'm charged up that time, he was like, yo, I'm going to show y'all the emails, and y'all bring in the emails from when you guys were suppressing Push-a-T's stuff, when you guys were, like, making sure that, like, it got copyright claimed and stuff getting off the streamers and pulled down,

all to say, man, you helped me suppress this man's music when Pusha T came after me. Why y'all don't do it? We're not like us. Which means, yo, corny ass, you just told on yourself, oh, so Pushit was right. So what you're saying is, and you trying to take down Kendrick, you done snitched on 2018 you, right? Okay, so, because you had to label interfere with this battle, fam now if you want to hear some more like real just rapping ass rappers there's this great battle that was going on between joey bad ass and ray von and then somehow it became a triple with this dude named daylight and this other brother named reason these were some really really dope bars now ab soul got into the middle of it but now absoll rap city and and joey are going on tour which sucks

because I'm on the same management team as all of them, and I ain't on that tour. I wish I was, though. It'd be a rapping, wrapping tour, but I definitely don't do the numbers they do. Anyway, today, you know, in light of, like I said, the feds in D.C., Trump keep claiming these emergency cases that gives him these powers to do these different things.

And as a side note, remember when J6 happened, and he was like, well, Nancy Pelosi should have called in the National Guard. she ain't calling in the National Guard? What was President Trump supposed to do? Well, I would think what he's doing now because they used to say these same people that was arguing

that Trump ain't had a power to stop it, meaning he didn't have the power to call in the National Guard, are also praising him right now for using his presidential power to call in the National Guard. Boy, I tell you, racism make you dumb as hell. But in light of this,

despite all evidence showing that the crime rate has dropped 30% in D.C. This man still keeps talking about the crime wave and the safety or the lack of safety that people feel in D.C. Now, I'm going to let Bridget do a full episode on really what's going on in Chocolate City. My mama from D.C., you know, my whole

mama side of the family is still out there, so I should spend every other summer in D.C. Now, don't get me wrong. being down 30% is absolutely a positive, but D.C. ain't safe. Now, it depends on what part you in. See, that's the thing about crime statistics. But before I get into crime statistics, I need to talk about the concept of crime, period. This will be no surprise to y'all because you listen to Cool Zone Media.

Crime is made up. Now, criminal crime. I think it's very important to understand that it is a social construct. Now, what do I mean by that? What I mean is it's situational, right? How the same act can mean two different things. Now, this is a conceptual thing that obviously our felt experience is a little more real. But let me give you an example.

Let a disaster hit, a hurricane, an earthquake, a flood. if I go into that grocery store and get some bread, am I looting or scavenging? Am I stealing or surviving? And the answer is, depends on what color you are. Crimes a social construct. Because if that's the case, how is George Zimmerman still walking? Having said that, one could take this argument and go super bonkers on it and say the same thing about pedophilia.

Like, who's to say that what Epstein did is a crime? because, like you said, crime is a social construct. Here's my answer to that. It's social because we live in a social society, fam. Although borders are made up, so is money, and so are driver's licenses. Of course, there's no force field at the 49th parallel that separates Canada from America. However, we have decided that before you get behind the wheel of a car, you better have passed some sort of examination for us to know that you're safe enough to drive behind this.

You could physically drive this car, but we live in a society that says, hey, homie, I need you to make sure we need to have some sort of due diligence. We have decided as a species that is self-aware that our children matter, their safety is important to us, the person standing next to you has the right to exist whether you like that person or not they have the right to exist you cannot hold them against a will that's habeas corpus apparently unbeknownst the christi gnome who clearly don't know what habeas corpus means as a whole other topic what is criminal and what is lawful is something that we've agreed upon in our social contract now we however live in a modern secular democracy which says that we have a say in what becomes laws or not. So, I ain't got to just lay down and let you just call stuff a crime that ain't a crime or that shouldn't be a crime. Now, speaking of what is and isn't a crime, here's a thing. Black people have been telling you the answer for a long time, specifically rappers.

Okay, now, I saw a TikTok about this, and it's very irresponsible of me that I can't remember little homie's name. And I can't, you know, you get the suggested. you know or yeah just stuff pop in like the for you i cannot find brad brus ticot black man super brilliant but he reminded me of some lyrics that freeway said that captures the point of what we're trying to make i love his dude's ticot man god i got to find it hopefully i'll find it and put it in the show notes but freeway's verse with a song with j z says we still hustle to the sun come up crack a 40 when the sun go down it's a cold winter y'all niggas better bundle up i bet it's a hot summer

grab an onion just to rock it down you hot now listen up follow me you don't know the cop's sole purpose is to lock us down throw away to key but without this drug shit your kids ain't got no way to eat huh we still trying to keep mom smiling because when her teeth stop showing and her stomach start growling, then the heat start flowing. If you from my hood, you know, you feel me, keep going. The sneaks start leaning and the heat stop working. Then my heat start working. I'm going to rob me a person.

Okay, now listen. These are the lyrics that Libra quoted in his TikTok. And the point he's making, which is the same point I'm making, is that he's talking about the solutions to crime. Like, he said it right there. Like, I just want my mom to smile. My kids don't have any other way to eat. And then he says, when the heat stop working,

then my heat start working. I'm going to rob me a person. It is resources. But, again, follow what this brother trying to tell you, is that you putting law enforcement in our neighborhood, doesn't fix anything. Does you father,

does what he's saying? He's like, no, you just want to lock us up. That is not solving the problem. The problem is I'm hungry. My mama's hungry. My kids are hungry. My sneaks start leaning.

What he's talking about is his tennis shoes, his sneakers are leaning. You know when you walk on your sneakers too much in the back, your shoes in the back, how I start running around the side, then it starts thinning out

so it's like the back of your shoe just looks uneven. that's when your sneaks are leaning. This is what he's trying to say. My stomach is rumbling. Had we had better funded schools, had we had more opportunities, he was like, I'm robbing this person because there is no other option. Now, are there other options?

Maybe. But if you're going to do the math, listen, this is simple economics. If you want to make $1,000 tonight because the rents do tomorrow, you go over to Spanish Jose's house. Spanish Jose say, hey, listen, you ain't got to do nothing. Just put this bag in your backseat and drive to park slope. Drop it off and come back. Or you can go work $20 an hour at McDonald's.

Ain't no uncles with endowments. And check this out. Let me push you even further. Even if you are smarty aunt, Nickle, even if you are smart one, the government just told Harvard that they can't recruit in my neighborhood. even if I got the grades for it because that's woke shit. So what you want,

what the fuck you want me to do? Now, here's the premise of what I'm talking about, which is we know the solutions. It's never been about crime, okay? But let me talk about some folks, some black folks who do care about the solution,

who do care about crime, because if we're talking about crime in our urban areas, who the fuck do you think the crimes are against? And see, that's the part that make me so mad when I be talking to these people. You think we don't care?

Because who are these crimes getting carried out against? You think we're happy to see all them police? One would think, if it worked, we would be happy to see all these police in our streets. But you know what? The shit don't help, okay? What I'm going to do in the rest of this show is prove to y'all, based on decades of research,

what does reduce crime? we're going to link all the things in the buyer I knew I had to come on my A game if I'm going on to it can happen here because these some of the smartest people like y'all listen did people on this show y'all be reads y'all is like real journalist

I'm just a rapper that knows how to explain shit so I needed to make sure that I had my ducks in a row so I'm about to show y'all a trillion examples of where if you really from these blocks if you really do care about the welfare of black people

then maybe you should listen to black people. See, and let me bring in my trans community here because they problem with you, this, to be honest with y'all, I'm going to be transparency with you. This is part of what radicalized me. Why I really started understanding the trans experience is because the shit they say about us

is the shit they say about you. Your crime is, we just don't like you around. At the end of the day, all these laws against trans people is really just because you just, think they gross. And so with us, it was just like, you like, what is redlining? Discriminatory practices in jobs. You just don't want us around. What is white flight? You just don't want us around. And your justification of this is this made-up ass word named crime. And that you care that crime matter,

but, nigga, you don't. Okay, I'm getting, getting ahead of myself. Let's take a break. My name is Ed. Everyone say, hello Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago.

I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. Onstage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app,

couple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend. friend's former professor and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him?

Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And here's Heather with the weather. Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car.

It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car. A message from Nitsa and the ad council. I just think the process and the journey is so delicious.

That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. It's scary putting yourself out there, especially when it's something you really care about and something that you hope is your passion in life and you want people to like it. Let's get delicious and put ourselves out there. I'm Simone Boyce, host of the Bright Side,

and those were my recent guests, comedian Phoebe Robinson and writer Aaron Foster. On this show, I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week, we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. It's not about being perfect. It's about going on a journey and discovering the bright side of becoming.

Few people know that better than soccer legend Ashlyn Harris. It's the journey. It's the people. It's the failures. It's the heartache. It's the little moment. These are our moments to laugh, learn, and exhale. So join me every Monday. And let's find the bright side together.

Listen to the bright side on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. all right here we go i've calmed down so the first thing you want to think about is how crime is reported right in the ways for which it's reported and then the geographical locations that we're talking about so when you say the crime in washington dc it's not like the crime happens in an evenly distributed thing. Like, it's not all of D.C., if you will. There's North East, northwest, South-South-Ease, and Southwest. Now, due to

gentrification, South East, which is where Anacostia is, and was at one time the sort of mecca of just, like, black D.C. of Chocolate City. The whole city was chocolate forever. Like, like I said, I noticed because I spent every other summer there and my mama from there. But, like,

South East D.C. is the last non-gentrified area. Now, do you think it's thugs sitting on the National Monument sipping 40 ounces? No, you out there with the tourists sipping macha. So in one sense is when you say crime has dropped 30%. It's like 30% since when. Okay. And is it averaged across all of D.C.? Or are you talking about in its areas? where things like carjackings, homicides, and stuff like that happened, right? Now, remember what I talked about a long time ago, at least on my show, hopefully y'all remember this, that the crime rates in America is always a weird situation because we don't live

in America, you live in your city. So maybe it's going crazy in your own local neighborhoods, so you feel like, damn, this place is wild. Or maybe, like I said, maybe you're in, like, northwest Portland. I'm saying, like, you know, over there off gleasing. You feel me? And like, it's nice. You know what I mean? Like, you don't never see a single, but if you live over there in Chinatown next to voodoo donuts, dog, you seem like you're walking over zombies. I don't know. What I'm trying to say is sometimes the statistics can be deceiving. Now, Granny and them, who, you know,

bought their house a long time ago, they see the graffiti on the wall and they think, you know, yada yada the boys like loitering outside how do you fix it well allow me to introduce it to philadelphia which coincidentally is where freeway is from so the data is pretty clear you know if you look at the violent crime reduction report it's literally it's at the department of justice you can read it yourself it tells you exactly what has worked to drop homicide violent crime carjacking, theft, it tells you what has worked, what has not worked. A simple Google, right? And the intro of this is, this is a violent crime reduction between 2021 and 2025.

And it says for the past three years, the Justice Department has been executing comprehensive strategies to reduce violent crime, rooted in local communities. And we're seeing trends in the form of crime. being prevented and lives saved. According to available data from 2023, murder, rape, robbery, and aggregated assault is in a considerable decline. In nearly 90 major cities across the country, violent crime has continued to drop during the last six months of this year compared to the same period last year, including a 17% decrease in homicides. This is the Deputy Attorney General Moncao on September 17th,

2012. Now, to keep it very real, again, violent crime rates being up and down are obviously relative. Now, one thing was, well, we were in a pandemic, so there's that, right? Another thing is it's almost like how everybody was complaining again that crime was up is like, y'all forgot the 90s existed. like I lived it and baby this ain't nothing you know the actual fear of pain and suffering this impales

in comparison we live in a great place in relation to what we went through in the 80s and 90s now again we're talking national trends right again in your local neighborhood it may be it may be a green light happening. I don't know. I'm just saying for you to say that our country's becoming a cesspool means you not reading the data. According to the conversation, it's like an independent journalist. This author, her name is Katarina G. Roman. She's a professor of criminal justice at Temple University. And as a side note at Temple University, my homie, Timothy, he's teaching a class on Kendrick Lamar and his lyrics and hip-hop and justice. I actually spoke at his class a couple times. So that was pretty dope to hear what he's doing. But now, check this out. According to her

writing, it says that the Pennsylvania spends roughly $200,000 a year for each juvenile it incarcerates. According to the 2021 report from a bipartisan Pennsylvania juvenile justice track force, that's 50 times the cost to deliver evidence-based family therapy that would prevent kids from going into the justice system in the first place. I'm going to tell you before I even read the rest of this, because I lived it, we just be bored. It ain't nothing to do. There are no opportunities. When the heat stopped working, then my heat start working.

In Philadelphia, juvenile incarceration involves the confinement in city ran Philadelphia juvenile services and other residential placements facilities. Young people leave these facilities with lower chances of graduating high school, afraid mental health and the higher likelihood of re-arrest or being shot. Can I again please speak from my own experience? When you go into these juvenile cases, you have to pick a location of people that you would be your protection, even if you don't run with them, even if you don't know them niggas outside of here. When y'all get outside, y'all may never talk again, but in here, even if you went in there over something stupid like shoplifting some damn spray paint, whatever the case may be,

You now got to run with the people that got your same skin tone and are from your part of town. You have to. Kids don't go in being members of gangs. You have to join one to stay alive. Now, check this out. When you get out, part of the terms of your probation is you can't be around certain criminal festivities or activities or people with criminal records. Where are you going to go? If I just happen to live on 60th Street next to my uncle, I just live here.

You mess around, go visit your granny house, and then it got a report to your PO, you've been fraternized with known gang members, you're probably going back. This shit don't work, y'all, but what does? Now, again, back to this article, drawing from about 35 years of work in Philadelphia and other cities to understand what makes neighborhood safer, I believe the surest returns home. from prevention strategies aimed at young people who are not yet immersed in robbery shootings and gun activities, right? So they give some examples of the things that they've done. First of it is a school-based case management in Barthrum High. Now, in Southwest Philly, John Bartham High School has a youth violence

reduction initiative that launched in 2023. It was designed by former school safety chief in Philadelphia, now Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, school safety off their programs manager Ken Rosa and criminal justice researcher, Brandy, Glasco, and this person that wrote the article. Students who have been involved in fights or show other risk factors of violence and street gang involvements are referred to this program.

The initiative's core idea is simple. Earned students trust through consistent credible mentorship and step in when needy. Stepping in means teaching conflict resolution skills, running engaging workshops, buying a meal, intervening when a fight is brewing, or a student is on the verge of being expelled. Each week, a team of administrators, counselors, school safety officers, and community outreach workers, most of whom are based in the school, reviewed the participant's progress. The tracks follow through referrals and coordinate communication with family, school, and staff. This is a tightly managed relationship-driven safety net that gives students quicker access to help make school climates calmer and safer.

It seems so obvious. You just need somebody you trust. Listen, one of the things even in my own house, my own life, was I knew my neighbors, and my neighbors knew me. And if they called me outside, standing with the wrong people, I knew they was going to tell my mom. sometimes since they're teenagers they don't have conflict resolution skills all they know is to pop off you ever been hangary you don't think kids be angry your teacher in there asking you

about your algebra homework your stomach rumbling i ain't got shit to say to her because i'm hungry and sometimes it's just a meal sometimes it's just knowing somebody cares sometimes it's just you feel like i know i've experienced this too i feel like it's not even they ain't even no reason to explain my position to you because you're not going to believe me or you just going to call the police. I taught a kid, I've said this story so many times who used to show up late in class when I used to teach. He'd show up late in class maybe three to four times a week. Always had his homework in his hand. You tardy that many times we're supposed to call the truancy officer. Ain't a way in the world I'm calling a truancy officer because that means they mama going to have

to pay a $2,500 fee, number one. And number two, now he got a record. All I did, guys, I just asked him, why are you late every day? He say, because he trusts me, my daddy be drinking too much a night so he can't get up and take us to school. So I take my brother to school first and then come here. And this is just the time I get here. I never marked him tardy since. All you do is ask, right? Which leads me to the second thing.

the power of credible caring adults. It's real simple. You got people that care. You got food programs. All right. Let me nerd it up again. Now, according to the youth justice services, relationships, rehabilitation, and the reality of young people involved, a metasynthesis of qualitative literature.

This is a scholarly literature reviewed results that says that just having, an adult who, you know, cares. Just having one that care. Changes significantly the chances of a student getting into a life of crime. But just knowing somebody care. I'm going to link again into these show notes, all of the data, all the stuff I've been looking at so you can check it out yourself. I know it seems like a gross oversimplification by the way that I'm just saying it right now. Usually, you know what I'm saying. If we was doing the It Can Happen Here thing,

I got to be able to read this stuff out to you. But I can read a part of it. It says that the themes that broke out after interviewing 150 kids is that young people reported first being pessimistic about entering these services and their past experiences impacted their ability to trust

and were initially cautious of professionals. But, watch this. These were the themes and sub-themes. they felt valued and finding worth within their system. The reciprocal nature of understanding and respect. These kids felt respected. The importance of having one good person, creating a secure base for exploration and development,

and then showing a genuine care by going above and beyond. So basically just be kind, and it helps a student succeed. ain't that crazy but at the end of the day homicides in Philadelphia are at the lowest level they've been in 25 years

how it's long time and it takes effort but next I want to talk about the city of Baltimore boy this new mayor up there cooking all right next my name is Ed

and say hello Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not, like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015. A 23-year-old man had killed his family.

And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious.

Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy?

That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When your car is making a strange noise, no matter what it is, you can't just pretend it's not happening. That's an interesting sound.

It's like your mental health. If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed, it's important to do something about it. It can be as simple as talking to someone or just taking a deep, calming breath to ground yourself. Because once you start to address the problem, you can go so much further. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council

have resources available for you at loveyourmind today.org. I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. It's scary putting yourself out there, when it's something you really care about and something that you hope is your passion in life and you want people to like it. Let's get delicious and put ourselves out there. I'm Simone Boyce, host of The Bright Side, and those were my recent guests, comedian Phoebe Robinson and writer

Aaron Foster. On this show, I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week, we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. It's not about being perfect. It's about going on a journey and discovering the bright side of becoming. Few people know that better than soccer legend Ashlyn Harris. It's the journey. It's the people. It's the failures. It's the heartache. It's the little moments. These are our moments to laugh, learn, and exhale. So join me every Monday. And let's find the Bright Side together. Listen to the Bright Side on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we bike. Now, Baltimore, I don't know if you know this, which I love about it.

And of course, you probably don't know about it because a black man did this. Baltimore's homicide rate has fallen 40%. Now, Baltimore, you understand this where the wire took place. Don't get me wrong about Baltimore. Baltimore active. Murder capital of the doggone. Listen, Baltimore was active. Now, according to The Guardian, violent crime in America's big cities has been receding since the pandemic for about two years. But even in comparisons, Baltimore improvement is breathtaking. Fewer people have been killed in the city over the last seven months than any other particular period for 50 years.

Here's the funny part. Mississippi talking about sending a National Guard up to D.C. to help with the crime in D.C. Meanwhile, Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi got a high. murder rate than D.C. right now. Y'all people is weird. It's never been about crime. Now, back to Guardian. As of 15 August, the running 365 day total for murders in Baltimore stood at 165 dead. Assuming the city remains at this pace, the murder rate will finish below 30 per 10,000 residents for the first time since 1986. If it remains on pace since the

The 1st of January, it would have finished 2025 at 143 murders, a rate of about 25 per 100,000, the last scene in Baltimore since 1978. Now, check this out. Y'all may not remember this, but y'all remember Freddie Gray, the boy that got killed in the back of the police holding tank? See, that's what happens when you just bring cops into a place. It ain't about the crime, no. Back to the Guardian.

Since 2015, there has been here in Baltimore, this acknowledgment that the equity needs to be the priority, right? Mayor Brown said. The riots were as much about the conditions of poverty as it was about Gray's death. I hope you're hearing that. People losing their homes and foreclosures to water bills, for example, as they were about police brutality. But the heavy-handed response to the cops to the protests failed to hold the police. accountable for misconduct, right, eviscerating the relationship between the Baltimore police and the public. Baltimore state attorney Marion Mosley laid murder charges on the officers involved, and Baltimore's police union closed ranks in response, eviscerating the relationship between

the police and politicians, and serious scandals at the city hall and the state's attorney offers and the failure of Mosley's charges to result in convictions. violence skyrocketed. But here come this young brother, Brandon Scott, young black man, right? He's a former city council member, right? He's been a long observer of the violence, you know what I'm saying? And before he became the mayor in 2020. Then he implemented what he's calling a comprehensive three-pillar approach, right?

The first pillar is called public health approach to violence, right? The second pillar is community engagement and interagency coordination, right? The third pillar is evaluation and accountability, right? So like I said in the beginning, it starts with the community. All right, so check this out. Again, from The Guardian, against Baltimore's police budget, topping a half a billion dollars, the largest police budget per capita of any large city in the USA. The political establishment gave its new millennial mayor room to experiment with $50 million

of Washington's money. So they took that budget that was a half a billion, gave him 50 million, right? And since trust was like so low, the first step was to get everybody aboard. So he took that money. The cops, the hospitals, the jails, the school, the social services, the state department, the feds. And he appointed this dude named Richard Worley, who was the city police commissioner in June 2023. Wasley was a lifelong Baltimore officer picked in part to bring the rank and five. in line with Scott's anti-violence program. Scott emphasizes partnerships as an important part of the process.

Now, he took other federal grants and he gave the money to the people that actually do the services. He ain't just keep it for them. Now, here's the thing, cuts my mouth to say it, but if you are going to stop violence in the situation that we live in,

the cops got to be involved. Because most of the time, the cops are the problem. It's always punishment in prison with them. They only come with a stick when something already happened. So you got to get them on the table

and you got to get them at the table with somebody that's going to be willing to be held accountable. And remember, that's pillar three. Now, far be it for me because I don't live in Baltimore would I ever shield for an old mayor like this. I'm just telling you what the data says.

And I got family in Baltimore. Now, what Scott said is, again, we focus on the individuals and groups that are most likely to be the victim or perpetrator of violence. We go to them. Listen, they knock on doors. There's a social worker that comes to the door

with a letter from the mayor that says, yo, you're trying to be a part of this, and they're only targeting kids or families that they know got low poverty rates and high chances of crime. You're looking for the people who are most likely going to fall a victim to perpetuating it or receiving it.

Because remember how we started this whole thing before. You think we don't care about crime? We don't want that it's happening too. So he says, quote, Curtis Palomero, who runs the youth violence prevention nonprofit Raqa in Baltimore.

It says, we're talking about young people with the elevated risk. We're not talking about the young person that says, F you to his teacher or tells his mom and dad or grandpa, he don't want to do X, Y, Z. We're talking about kids who have literally probably have two tracks.

in death. He knocks on the door while a cop is carrying the mayor's letter. And as often as not, he has to knock on a dozen doors before he gets a chance. Why? Because niggas don't trust the cops, right? Why would they? But since there's no single thing that is preventative, trust must be built, right? Moving on in this article, there are two types of people that are most vulnerable, NASA, the people in their early 20s who are feuding over trivial matters, someone looked at me wrong, somebody bumped in to somebody, right? Or other people who are in the drug game. More around the violence that has to do with other criminal enterprises

are so much more calculated. Critically, it's not every young person with Instagram beef and not every stand-down neighborhood street dealer that rises to their attention. The risk factors creates a reasonable, articulatable, legally defensible basis for contact, which means you're not being hunted by the cops. Do you understand the piece I would have felt

it I known that since I wasn't involved in none of this shit, they may not be coming up to me. You've already calmed my nervous system down, right? There's another story about a young man who was recovering after a gunshot and in this life coach, nigga from a youth advocate program approached him. And Jalen said, this is this man said,

he just had been in the wrong part of West Baltimore at the wrong time. Now, most of us who grew up like this, that's true. He wasn't especially receptive to this first life coach at all. He said, I thought there was a catch. I thought I'd have to pay them back in the future because when the police do it to you,

that's exactly what it is. You've got to pay them back later. But this person is funded by the city to just be a life coach. I ain't asking you to snitch on nobody. I ain't asking you to make yourself, put yourself in danger outside. is somebody who understands what it's like to live out here.

This life coach says it's about follow-up. Today, they might say, get the fuck out of here. Tomorrow they might be wanting some services. It might be something tragic that happens and they need change. Like I said, my mother's not smiling no more. I need a way to pay my mama's light bill. Can you help me with that? Here's what's crazy.

Yes, I can help you with that. We have services. Why? Because I'm talking to the other departments. Right? On the law side, here's the prevention. They dismissed 34% of nonviolent charges. I was a nonviolent offender. It was graffiti. Just make me pay the fine. Like it's fine. I'll pay the fine. I don't care. Right? You have like a nickel bag of weed in your pocket. You're looking at five years. The shit is not working. That's over policing. But if the district attorney look at you and say, niggins some weed. man, get the fuck out of here. Go take care of your mama. Matter of fact, I want you to talk to this brother over here.

He's going to help get your plumber's license. Oh, so there's job placement, right? There's all that. And then finally, evaluation. Listen, you got a caring adult. You got services available to you. And you know if somebody in this program, if any of these law enforcement, these city people act to fuck up,

there are consequences. That is pillar three. I'm going to link all this stuff. to you. There's a four-year evaluation and you will get fucking fired. If I know that if you treat me right, something going to happen to you, I might think a little different. Listen, the heat stopped working, so my heat start working. But if my stomach is full and the bills are paid and there's after school programs that go to and I know these old people around me, I'm going to trust me when I tell them stuff when I'm dealing with situations that may and may not be out of my control when I

got big homies pressing me to do this and there's somebody I could trust that I could talk to that's not going to turn me into a snitch because you ain't telling the cops just to get them to give me information about a crime that happened over there that's not what's happening to right now you are trying to prevent the violence you're not trying to catch a criminal you're trying to prevent criminality and it's at a 50 year low but sure go and send a national guard. Now listen, obviously, this ain't the system I won't, but it's the system we got. This is not ideal. You would never see me shill for no police department or mayor. But cities like Philly in Baltimore are proven, nigga, if you just care and you spend money on trusted sources and provide

resources. The crime, it drops itself. Seems so simple. But you know, what do we know? We're just black people. And all this tells me what we already knew. It was never about crime, ever, because there's research that shows what actually works in reducing crime. What this about, you just think we're you. And you're a white supremacist. You just want a white world and you think it's cool to have military in our streets. Don't get me wrong. You didn't invent that. You was in Trump.

You know how I know you ain't invent that? Because there's an amendment in the Constitution that says that we don't want to live in a world where the military is on every corner. But apparently you do. It's clearly not about crime. It could happen here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, Coolzonemedia.com,

or check us out on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can now find sources for It Could Happen here listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story.

It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor.

a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. That's comedian Phoebe Robinson. And yeah, those are the kinds of gems you'll only here on my podcast, The Bright Side. I'm your host, Simone Boyce.

I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week, we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. So join me every Monday, and let's find the Bright Side together. Listen to The Bright Side on the IHeart Radio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When your car is making a strange noise, no matter what it is, you can't just pretend it's not happening. That's an interesting sound. It's like your mental health. If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed,

it's important to do something about it. It can be as simple as talking to someone or just taking a deep, calming breath to ground yourself. Because once you start to address the problem, you can go so much further. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have resources available for you at loveyourmind today.org. This is an iHeart podcast.