Cyntoia Brown-Long's journey in life has traveled through every valley and mountain possible. But a fresh start following her prison release, has given her a redemption story for the ages.
Cyntoia visited the Breakfast Club, where she broke down the hardest parts of her life to her current status of strength. And there's nothing stronger than sharing her story with the public through her book, Free Cyntoia. Readers will dive straight into her story of living through sex trafficking, drug addiction and, eventually, murder. Though it's a draining story for the 31-year-old to relive interview-after-interview, it's a responsibility she's "called to do."
"It's a lot, but there's a purpose in it. I just continue to remind myself. Sometimes it's uncomfortable, but I'd rather help someone through what I have to say than hold it back because it feels uncomfortable."
There's also the harsh reality of recognizing how common police corruption is within the system. Cyntoia facing this from the beginning of her investigation sheds more light on an issue that has remained untouched for so many decades.
"I think it needs to be looked into. What's going on with the culture and these police stations with these departments? What's going on with the leaders? What are they putting out there to make these officers think, 'It's okay if I do this. This is cool, this is just part of the job. Yeah, I can lie and say I'm going to do this to her.' Somebody's training them to do these things Somebody's teaching them that this is okay."
A significant turn around in her life came about once she re-enrolled into school, found her faith and cameras entered the prison to help Cyntoia share her story. Social media took to her sensational documentary, which started campaigns for her freedom and even love!
Jaime Long offered the young felon a safe space to heal. He stepped up to the mic and admitted it was God who made him stop what he was doing to write her a letter of inspiration. From that moment, the rest was history.
Watch along as Cyntoia talks about self and victim-blaming in sex crimes, how more attention from her school could've helped her avoid the path she went down, and learning how having a relationship with God pushed her through the madness.