I am overwhelmed by the irony that I see in the events of the past few days. While Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and five police officers in Dallas were killed at least in some significant part, due to race; I was at SCRIPT, an event that highlights the ways in which people, regardless of race can join in a spirit of love and compassion to solve society’s problems together.
One of the features that makes SCRIPT special is the diversity of its participants. Our panel discussions often include gang intervention workers (usually former gang members, themselves) seated alongside senior law enforcement officials and representatives from the mayor’s office. People of all races, from every walk of life come together at SCRIPT to work on the real issues plaguing our communities on a daily basis.
A particular story from this year’s SCRIPT conference stands out to me as an example of how compassion can transcend race. Matt Sandusky was one of our featured speakers at SCRIPT this year. Matt’s adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky is the former Penn State assistant football coach who was convicted of sexually abusing ten boys (though there were likely many more) during his years with the university. Ensuing investigations into Penn State’s handling of Jerry Sandusky’s behaviors inspired the NCAA to discipline the school with the toughest penalties ever imposed by the organization and substantially damaged the reputation of legendary Head Coach, Joe Paterno.
Matt was also molested by Jerry Sandusky. He published a book about his experience and today makes dozens of public appearances each year yet he kindly donated his time and flew across country for SCRIPT.
Prior to the conference, Matt expressed concerns that someone might try to disrupt his presentation. A man who is apparently upset over the NCAA’s treatment of Penn State and Joe Paterno has inexplicably chosen to focus his anger on Matt. This man, who happens to live in Los Angeles, was recently arrested for disrupting one of Matt’s appearances in Pennsylvania. Matt didn’t want his presence to attract trouble for SCRIPT. So conference staff members and key community partners were alerted to the possibility that this person might try to interfere with Matt’s presentation. This is where the irony comes in to the story.
When the gang intervention workers from PCITI learned of the potential for trouble, they eagerly volunteered their help. You see, Matt is a white guy from a small town in Pennsylvania but when a group composed of people of color from LA heard that he might need to be protected, they were the first to step up. They willingly served as the eyes and ears of the conference, looking closely for anyone who might be behaving suspiciously. The men and women of PCITI engaged in a well-disciplined, coordinated surveillance effort to ensure the safety of all who attended SCRIPT.
Fortunately Matt’s heckler never showed up but if he had, conference staff would have been able to alert law enforcement immediately thanks to the vigilance of a group of former gang members who are committed to making Los Angeles a safe place for everyone. After the conference, Matt said he has never felt so well protected anywhere. All we need to do now is spread the spirit of SCRIPT across the whole country.