Summary: When KC was eleven her mother kicked her and one of her sisters out of the house. Forced to figure out how to survive on her own, she turned to drug dealing and prostitution. KC was incarcerated at the time of this production, so the only way to speak with her sisters was via phone.
This is a raw and powerful story, despite some flaws.
What hits me right away is the contrast between KC?s story and her voice. She talks about her extremely difficult life in a very high, sweet, matter-of fact tone. She sounds honest, young, and a little worn down. Some of her comments are surprising for their sarcasm. Of her mom, KC says: ?it didn?t help that she was on crack either.? Still in the same sweet voice.
Unlike Dmae, I didn?t have a problem with the telephone conversations. I think they highlight the distance between KC and her sisters.
The music is what gives this piece it?s ?dream-like? quality, as Dmae puts it. The song compliments the story well; the lyrics tell of life on the streets and a self-destructive cycle. I think it would sound great to end the story with some of those lyrics (only the instrumental part is in there now).
I did have some questions that went unanswered in the story: why was KC in jail? Why didn?t she go into foster care? Where was her dad? Since KUOW aired this as part of a special program we had time to research the answers (She was in jail several times, the last time for a drug offense; she did go to foster care but then her dad took custody; her dad was abusive and KC preferred to go to jail over living with him).
Like other youth radio stories, KC and Blunt would make stations lives easier by providing that information up front.
There are alot of homeless children all over the world.However what really captured my attention in the piece "The First Time I Left Home," was the age of the girls and the reason they were homeless. In this piece an eleven year old girl tells her stroy about, her sister and herself being kicked out of their homes at a tender age!The reason they were kicked out was because their mother, who was on crack, did not believe them when they told her that her boyfriend was molesting them.On the streets they struggled relentlessly,from drug addictions
to prostitution. Her younger sister stayed at home, she uses both her, and her other homeless sister to tell the story.
Since the narrator was the girl it was touching and gave me a real deep sense of pity, because I can actually hear the pain in her voice. At one point she said, "I did not know where to go or who to turn to, I had to make alot of decisions on my own."The sad music,which was used to transition into different clips also added a strong sense of sadness to the mood,which made me feel like crying. The piece paints a picture that gives me the feeling as if i'm walking through the cold,dark,lonely nights with these girls. The emotions were so deep, i'll remember the piece for many years to come.However i felt like the climax moment, towards the middle could have been better if there was more tension to hold my attention.
You can understand how much, being away from home, and not living an average life,affects her because in the outro, she compares what her life could have been like had she been able to stay at home. This story is brilliant i love the deep emotions and the butterflies I get after listening to the piece. Overall this is a really well done piece.
A very moody almost dream-like approach makes this piece stand out. Two sisters reveal how they both were kicked out of the house when they were kids because of abuse. It's a poignant and brutally honest piece and it really keeps your attention. What would have made this piece better is the use of the phone interviews. I realize the KC's sisters are far away so the phone had to be used. But they come on with statements rather than conversations with KC. I think this would have worked better if she had been recalling the horrible past with her sisters. Still this is a haunting and an unsual youth-produced piece.
Comments for The School of Hard Knocks
This piece belongs to the series "Incarcerated Youth Speak Out"
Produced by KC
Other pieces by Blunt Youth Radio Project
Rating Summary
3 comments
Jenny Asarnow
Posted on January 04, 2007 at 11:53 AM | Permalink
Review of The First Time I Left Home
This is a raw and powerful story, despite some flaws.
What hits me right away is the contrast between KC?s story and her voice. She talks about her extremely difficult life in a very high, sweet, matter-of fact tone. She sounds honest, young, and a little worn down. Some of her comments are surprising for their sarcasm. Of her mom, KC says: ?it didn?t help that she was on crack either.? Still in the same sweet voice.
Unlike Dmae, I didn?t have a problem with the telephone conversations. I think they highlight the distance between KC and her sisters.
The music is what gives this piece it?s ?dream-like? quality, as Dmae puts it. The song compliments the story well; the lyrics tell of life on the streets and a self-destructive cycle. I think it would sound great to end the story with some of those lyrics (only the instrumental part is in there now).
I did have some questions that went unanswered in the story: why was KC in jail? Why didn?t she go into foster care? Where was her dad? Since KUOW aired this as part of a special program we had time to research the answers (She was in jail several times, the last time for a drug offense; she did go to foster care but then her dad took custody; her dad was abusive and KC preferred to go to jail over living with him).
Like other youth radio stories, KC and Blunt would make stations lives easier by providing that information up front.
Kyra Joseph
Posted on October 24, 2006 at 07:06 AM | Permalink
Review of The First Time I Left Home
There are alot of homeless children all over the world.However what really captured my attention in the piece "The First Time I Left Home," was the age of the girls and the reason they were homeless. In this piece an eleven year old girl tells her stroy about, her sister and herself being kicked out of their homes at a tender age!The reason they were kicked out was because their mother, who was on crack, did not believe them when they told her that her boyfriend was molesting them.On the streets they struggled relentlessly,from drug addictions
to prostitution. Her younger sister stayed at home, she uses both her, and her other homeless sister to tell the story.
Since the narrator was the girl it was touching and gave me a real deep sense of pity, because I can actually hear the pain in her voice. At one point she said, "I did not know where to go or who to turn to, I had to make alot of decisions on my own."The sad music,which was used to transition into different clips also added a strong sense of sadness to the mood,which made me feel like crying. The piece paints a picture that gives me the feeling as if i'm walking through the cold,dark,lonely nights with these girls. The emotions were so deep, i'll remember the piece for many years to come.However i felt like the climax moment, towards the middle could have been better if there was more tension to hold my attention.
You can understand how much, being away from home, and not living an average life,affects her because in the outro, she compares what her life could have been like had she been able to stay at home. This story is brilliant i love the deep emotions and the butterflies I get after listening to the piece. Overall this is a really well done piece.
Dmae Lo Roberts
Posted on October 26, 2005 at 07:22 AM | Permalink
Review of The First Time I Left Home
A very moody almost dream-like approach makes this piece stand out. Two sisters reveal how they both were kicked out of the house when they were kids because of abuse. It's a poignant and brutally honest piece and it really keeps your attention. What would have made this piece better is the use of the phone interviews. I realize the KC's sisters are far away so the phone had to be used. But they come on with statements rather than conversations with KC. I think this would have worked better if she had been recalling the horrible past with her sisters. Still this is a haunting and an unsual youth-produced piece.