We’ve all heard the stories from students that volunteer through Lipscomb’s LIFE program, but what about the inmates that are actually a part of the program?Cyntoia Brown was one of those inmates.
Last October, LU students watched the documentary “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” in Shamblin Theater. Students were left with many unanswered questions about the 16-year-old girl who committed murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Director and producer Dan Birman spent six years producing Cyntoia’s story. On Friday afternoon, Sept. 23, Birman returned to LU for an open Q&A session in the Andrew’s Civic Leadership Collaboratory.
In 2004 when Cyntoia Brown was arrested, she wasn’t alone; there were 2.3 million children under the age of 18 who were arrested for violent crime. This statistic attracted Birman, who says he’s always had an interest in juvenile violence and believed there was a bigger story to tell.
One student asked, “If there were 2.3 million stories out there concerning juvenile violence, why did you pick Cyntoia’s story?”
Birman explained that the simple answer was access, along with being in the right place at the right time. Birman gained access to the juvenile community in Nashville. After receiving a call from the public defender’s office about Cyntoia, Birman was on the next plane to Nashville.
“I don’t think anybody in America… I’ll just put it out on the table, would have given a damn about Cyntoia Brown for any reason whatsoever,” Birman answered. “She hit the press before I got to her as a young runaway on drugs in the middle of prostitution killing a man. For me to bother to tell that story, I am going to cause an audience to at least consider it.”
Another reason Birman chose Cyntoia was because of her natural curiosity, spirit and intelligence. Cyntoia was incredibly articulate, possessing an IQ of 140, which is considered near genius level. She even passed the bar exam with a 70 percent (at 16) without ever studying law.
Birman discovered that Cyntoia is a product of three generations of female violence. Her biological grandmother was brutally raped. Nine months later, Cyntoia’s mother, Georgina Mitchell, was born. Gina also became an alcoholic prostitute addicted to drugs,
eventually conceiving Cyntoia.
Cyntoia is 23 years-old now. Birman says she has transformed from a young cocky, manipulative girl into a gracious young woman with the help of Lipscomb’s LIFE program.
“I have sung the praises of Lipscomb countless number of times,” Birman said. “What Lipscomb has provided… even for an inmate has given her a chance to grow in a way no prison would have ever allowed. She has gained a new sense of herself and the changes are profound.”
Birman wanted to prove by his documentary that our observations in life are never as simple as we make them out to be.
“Things change and evolve as we learn more,” Birman said. “My main objective [in Cyntoia’s story] was to look beyond what I saw and answer the question—why?”
Thanks to Birman’s documentary, Cyntoia now has legal help she would have otherwise been unable to afford. Her legal team is looking into her case at factors that were overlooked, and her documentary is raising awareness about the criminal justice system.
But beyond the walls of legal offices, Cyntoia’s story is inspiring girls not much younger than she was at the time of her arrest. Girl Scout troops throughout Pennsylvania were so moved by the documentary that they’ve been writing Cyntoia letters.