In this limited series, Pay Love Back: Cops, Robbers, andRappers, we focus on the interconnected story of leadership, mentorship, and redemption surrounding a young man and ex-gang member named Koa Hutchinson.

Three men, Officer Brett Hilde, Coal Hill, also known as KillaC, and myself, have each invested in Koa in very different ways.  Part Two is with Coul Hill, aka Killa C, a juggalo and shock horror rapper who gained national notoriety after the Insane ClownPosse was officially declared a gang by the FBI.  The Rolling Stone ran a piece on this declaration, and Coul’s picture was featured on the cover, leading me to hum the song “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” every time I see him.  Both his career in the music industry, and his involvement in organized crime, led Coul down a dark path towards an inevitable outcome, either death or incarceration.  Instead, Coul found Jesus.  His conversion to a life of faith is nothing short of astounding, demonstrating that salvation and redemption do not exclude those we counted out.  Author of the book from Crime to Christ and nearly a dozen albums, featuring artists like Grave Plot and Tech 9, Coul has since dedicated his life to serving others and bringing his gifts to the places and communities where he once, like Koa,caused harm.  Coul is a force of nature, and once he repurposed his gifts for Christ, he has been an unstoppable force.  He has received a doctoral degree in education and is now serving as a principle in an alternative school for youth on their last chance.  Because of his background and life experience, Coul is able to reach the kinds of kids that others simply cannot, kids just like Koa.  Like officer Hilde, Coul has done more to prevent gang violence in our community than anyone I know.        

When I think of Coul, Brett, and Koa, I think of a seminal pieceof longitudinal research by Faith Scanlon and her fellow researchers on social support and protective factors.  Scanlonlooked at youth with high ACE Scores in the criminal justice system, examining those who were able to get out and go on to live meaningful and productive lives verses those who went on to recitivize.  The single common denominator the study identified was that all of those who made it out could cite a single thing.  They all had someone in their life who believed in them, saw the good in them even when they fell down, and cared enough to stay in the fight.  Coul, Brett, and myself have all done that for Koa.    

I do not want to pretend for a second that this is a story witha happy ending.  What happens next in Koa’s life is unknown.  It is a battle between those who believe in him, his innate capacity for good, and the forces that would drag him back down.  Life isnever straightforward.  It exists in the interconnected spaces of impact, love, and redemption, made up of those of us who grieve and bleed and hurt, but choose to stand up and fight for what is good regardless. 

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The world needs more mentors, and Pay Love Forward intends to tell their stories.