Jeremiah Bourgeois (J.J.), Criminal Legal System Consultant and Director of Beyond the Blindfold of Justice Project, described his childhood journey from private and boarding schools, to the streets, to life in prison without parole at age 14, and now a legal consultant and  a J.D candidate shaping the policies influencing the legal systems.

"At least with respect to shaping the African American experience, we grew up in a world where the educational system taught us about equality and liberty and upward mobility but a lot of our reality is something completely different. And it is that conflict between what we were told when we were children with what we're experiencing as adults that leads to that frustration" - Jeremiah (J.J.) Bourgeois