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- [00:19]
Vic Chopra
Welcome to Concrete Mama, the podcast coming to you from the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. I'm Vic Chopra, co founder of Unincarcerated Productions and your guide, as my friends and I take you on an odyssey to a world within our world.
- [00:42]
Damor Nelson
My name is Damor Nelson.
- [00:44]
Anthony Covert
My name is Anthony Cover.
- [00:45]
Steven Edwards
Hey, it's Red.
- [00:46]
Campbell
Hey, everybody. This is Campbell.
- [00:48]
Damor Nelson
I've been incarcerated since 2009. I'm getting into my 16th year on the inside.
- [00:53]
Anthony Covert
At 18 years old, I ended up going to prison for attempted murder.
- [00:56]
Steven Edwards
I've been incarcerated since 2013. Things didn't go the way I thought they were gonna.
- [01:00]
Vic Chopra
I'm.
- [01:00]
Campbell
I've been incarcerated since 2017 and I'm currently serving 31 years and two months.
- [01:08]
Vic Chopra
Growing up, I was always fascinated by fantasy stories, especially the Wonderful wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It was my absolute favorite. I loved the idea of being transported to another land or dimension like Oz, complete with its own heroes, unique characters, landscapes and adventures. And that's what I hope you'll feel listening and taking your own journey into the world of Concrete Mama. So think of yourself like Dorothy and take the first step with us down the yellow brick road. I was incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary for five years. And just like Dorothy, when I first entered prison, it felt like I had been sucked up into a tornado and dropped into a completely different universe, far removed from anything I had ever experienced before in my life. You see, growing up, I was always a smart kid, the honor student. I excelled in school and went straight to college at the University of Washington. After I graduated high school and after college, I immediately pursued a career in media, landing a position at the local PBS TV station in Seattle and was even on air talent and started working as an actor. But during this time, I was also hiding a dark secret. My partner and I had started down the path of opioid addiction. It started with pills, first Vicodin and Percocet, then escalated to daily OxyContin use. Before we knew it, our lives were spiraling out of control. I had partied in my teens and twenties, throughout high school and college. I realize now that I was self medicating the trauma of living in the closet and denying who I was until I came out when I was 24. But during these times, I had always been able to maintain my life. This time was different. OxyContin soon turned to smoking heroin and meth. And soon everything fell apart. I had gotten a dream job at a Seattle radio station called kexp. And because of my poor performance. I was laid off. My partner lost his job. We burned bridges with loved ones. We soon became homeless and moved up to an area of Washington called Snohomish County, A place where we were getting all of our drugs from. I was a shell of a human being. I was suicidal. I thought my life was over. Turning to a life of financial crimes to support our habit came easily at that point. And after a year and a half, I was ultimately arrested on March 28, 2013 in Mukiltea, Washington for multiple counts of identity theft and drug possession. This was the night that saved my life.
- [03:40]
Damor Nelson
In the year 2022. I came to Walla Walla from another prison after I got into some trouble and was transferred to wsp. Just to give you guys some context, Walla Walla State Penitentiary is in a remote location where it's difficult for families to visit loved ones. And it's known for its history, namely a history of violence. It can be tough to do time here if you're not respected or you lack independence. That is the ability to stand on your own without validation from politics or social influences. For most people, this becomes a downhill situation. Being sent here as someone doing time is the biggest setback you can experience when you're being shipped to another prison. But honestly, it ended up being filled with opportunities I couldn't have imagined. And it's where I met my brother Anthony.
- [04:27]
Anthony Covert
As a kid, I never took well to any advice people gave me until it was too late. And a 36 year sentence is proof of that. Even once in prison, I was still not learning the lessons life was providing me. It wasn't until my brother passed when I was 22 years old that I started to realize maybe I do need to start listening. What sparked that was the promise I made him before he died. His request to me was to find a way out of prison and to stay out of trouble once I did. This was the catalyst for me to start my journey of transformation. During this time, I met Damar and unbeknownst to me, we had deeply aligned values over our faith and all the things we wanted to make our life about.
- [05:06]
Damor Nelson
The relationship with Anthony was unique because it was rooted in positivity and trust. Relationships like that in a place like this is rare because trust isn't a virtue you can give to most men you meet in here. The best way to explain it is being in prison with people you don't know. Always feels like you're a foreigner to the facility you wake up in and estrange from the people you're around, it just doesn't feel natural.
- [05:28]
Vic Chopra
Jail and prison were completely foreign to me. But like the friends Dorothy met on the way to the Emerald City, I survived and thrived in prison with the help of some amazing friends. And I used the five years I was incarcerated to completely rebuild myself, mind, body and soul. I got and stayed sober, got physically fit and created a plan to start a production company and be a filmmaker.
- [05:49]
Anthony Covert
I went to school at Walla Walla Community College where I graduated with an AA degree. I joined Toastmasters International to get good at communicating my ideas. And I became an officer of the Black Prisoners Caucus, a 50 year old organization created to build positive communities both in the black community and with just as impacted people throughout the state of Washington. So some years later, I submitted a proposal to give the people inside prison an opportunity to be heard. It'd be a chance for them and me to share our stories. It took a few years to gain traction and find the right people within the Department of Corrections to support it. But finally it did.
- [06:29]
Damor Nelson
Years before arriving at this prison, I already had the experience of speaking and being a podcaster. And I found that using my voice has been liberating for me. It's helped me stay human. It's been my conduit to the world I left behind. It has also been the catalyst when it comes to keeping my marriage strong and a bond with my son. I left home when he was 1 years old.
- [06:48]
Vic Chopra
I was released from prison on January 25, 2018. And I've spent the past seven years creating an amazing life for myself as a working director, producer, writer, writer and actor living in Los Angeles. This includes co founding Unincarcerated Productions and championing its mission to humanize the justice impacted community through storytelling. Which brings us back to the Washington State Penitentiary. I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the prisoner graduation ceremonies a few years ago. And it was here that I was not only asked about starting a podcast program, but I met one of our hosts.
- [07:18]
Damor Nelson
Demar Nelson Bick spoke about his journey of being formerly incarcerated at Walla Walla. His and how he grew and allowed himself to transcend. While he was speaking in my head, I was thinking to myself, this is the mentor you need to keep your dream alive. Damar. After Vic spoke, I asked, could we talk? And we sat down during the graduation ceremony. And I expressed how inspired I was by what he was doing. And I also told him how me and Anthony had been working to try and create a podcast here at this prison.
- [07:45]
Anthony Covert
One day, Demar returned to our cell from an event, telling me that he had spoken to Vic. Soon, the discussion grew to his whole unincarcerated productions team in partnership with Doc. We quickly realized that we needed to grow our team on the inside for this amazing new venture. For us, the obvious partners to bring in on our team were Red and Cambo.
- [08:07]
Steven Edwards
To my family, I'm Steven Edwards, but to the prison population of Washington State, I'm known as Red. Now, the last nine years, I've been here at Walla Walla, working in the sustainable practices building basically the whole time. And this is where I met Anthony Covert, and we became fast friends.
- [08:22]
Campbell
When my brother Demar asked me to be a part of the team, my family circle also grew.
- [08:27]
Steven Edwards
I'm the lead in the metal shop where we made a sawmill out of a vertical band, saw an electric cultivator out of a treadmill, and all kinds of metal art projects that go for charity auctions to help people in the community. Just how we want other people in society to give us a second chance at life. We try to give this material a second chance at being something useful as well. Makes us feel like we're not just doing time, we're doing something with our time.
- [08:47]
Campbell
It's always been a concern of mine that we see other individuals, we automatically alienate them, or we judge them before we even know their names, let alone giving them a chance to hear their story or say their piece. And I'm guilty of it. But I try not to do this because like everybody else, I. I want a chance.
- [09:04]
Steven Edwards
So Anthony and Demar Nelson came to me a year or so ago and said they were looking for someone they could trust and that there was a possibility they could start a podcast here at Split. They said Campbell and I would be a good fit. But I had never thought about doing something like this before. Man, I really just wanted to help out. These guys I consider brothers now accomplish their goals. But I soon found out that I love podcasting.
- [09:23]
Campbell
This allowed me the privilege and opportunity to not just listen to people's stories, but share them as well, including my own. For me, when my days are rough, I say my son's name under my breast. I'm definitely proud to have him as my son. I want him to think of me and be proud that I'm his dad. I. I also want him to know that I was a part of something bigger than myself and that I did do my part in helping. Being a person of change.
- [09:46]
Steven Edwards
I want to get out so I can be there for my family. When they need me. My nieces and nephews need me while they're still young. And there's a lot of mistakes that I made that they don't have to. A lot of life lessons I can share with them. You know, my parents need me now more than ever because they're getting older. They've been here throughout this whole prison sentence with me, and I need to be there for them, too.
- [10:07]
Vic Chopra
I think it was fate that brought me into the prison that day, because after meeting Demar and then the rest of our amazing hosts, Anthony, Red and Cambo, my life has never been the.
- [10:17]
Damor Nelson
Same till this day. I look at that moment as divine. I mean, it couldn't have been accidental, namely because I almost didn't go to that graduation that day. Not meeting Vic would have been a missed opportunity I would have never discovered. And I honestly don't believe we would be where we are now.
- [10:38]
Vic Chopra
So now that you've met Demar, Anthony Red, Cambo, and myself, I invite you to stay tuned, stay engaged, and stay on this journey with us into concrete Mama. We have an incredible first season prepared for you, starting with episode one next week, get ready for a truly unique experience inside the world of prison in the United States. All through the eyes of us, your hosts. My hope is that you'll come away from each episode with a new perspective, a changed position, or have felt a personal connection to the vulnerable and real stories being told. You know, I was recently told that it's vulnerability, not love, like I've so often heard, that has the highest vibrational frequency. Because when we are truly vulnerable and reveal the most tender and true parts of ourselves, we show others that it's okay to do the same. And when we are vulnerable, we heal. We transmute shame and guilt, and that is a spark of true transformation. There is so much strength and vulnerability, and I promise you that we, your hosts, will be as raw and vulnerable as some of us have ever been in our lives.
- [11:39]
Damor Nelson
This podcast has sentimental values to my life. It has ignited hope in who I can reach. It means I can give back. It has allowed me to see people differently while listening to their stories. It means the world can get facts about the human beings in here and what they experience versus popular perceptions. It means my dream of speaking to the world is slowly materializing.
- [11:59]
Steven Edwards
You can imagine the wild stuff that's gone on here over the years. And these walls can't talk, but we're going to talk for them.
- [12:05]
Campbell
I hope whatever you guys hear, you know, resonates with you and you feel the need to take action, or maybe even help you yourself be more proactive in your own personal life. Either way, we found a way in this isolated place, so I do have faith that you all can as well.
- [12:23]
Vic Chopra
So here we go. Walk with us down this yellow brick road. Or perhaps it's more like a tumble down the rabbit hole. To you, our listener. I say welcome to Concrete Mama, the podcast.