The Voices from Behind the Wall video will be presented in its entirety at Teen Empowerment’s 16th annual Youth Peace Conference on May 10 at the Strand Theater. Darrell Jones, who helped mobilize the prisoners while serving life for murder, lost his own son to a shooting in Roslindale in January.
BOSTON. An inspiring connection between a gunman with a one-time penchant for pain and the sweet little girl that found it in her heart to forgive him has grown stronger.
The connection, as always, can be traced back to young Kai Leigh Harriot.
“She’s made me really take a look at myself,” said Anthony Warren in a taped apology from prison, where he is serving time for firing a bullet on a Dorchester street that pierced Harriot’s tiny body five years ago, leaving the then 3-year-old paralyzed. “She’s given me a second chance to make a difference.”
Harriot, who turns 8 next week, applauded the apology before any others had the chance. Perched in her wheelchair, she then brought her mother Tonya David to tears with a reaction beyond her years.
“It was really nice because somebody actually took what I said and is trying to make a difference for anybody else that does crime, and it can change people’s lives,” Harriot said of the taped apology.
It was a fitting way to kick off the second annual Peace Month, which begins today. Warren is one of nine prisoners sending messages from behind bars urging for youth to avoid the mistakes that sealed their fates.
Although many factors went into what landed the men in prison, their words could mean so much. Just in case, Harriot summed up the month’s message in such easy fashion.
“If someone doesn’t bother you, don’t bother them,” she said.