Victim and perpetrator: The two gunshots that changed my life

Mexican American Obed Silva is an English professor with a tangled past, and a mother whose devotion led to him swapping a prison cell for a lecture theatre.

Obed Silva has an extraordinary story of transformation: from a teenager drowning in gang life, to an adult succeeding in the arts. Today Obed is an English professor, but his route to the lecture hall has been via prison and a hospital operating theatre. Obed was born in Mexico but his mum took him to America when he was a baby to escape his father, for reasons he would only discover when he was much older. Her steadfast devotion to him has contributed to Obed's success. He has written a memoir called: The Death of My Father The Pope.

Please be aware that this episode contains descriptions of sexual violence. You can access support at the BBC Action Line https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Deiniol Buxton

(Photo: Obed Silva. Credit: Dario Debora)

Show less

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Fri 6 Jan 202303:06GMT

BBC World Service except South Asia

More episodes

How the Spice Girls saved my life

'A little bit Indiana Jones'

See all episodes from Outlook

Thu 5 Jan 202312:06GMT
BBC World Service
Thu 5 Jan 202318:06GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
Thu 5 Jan 202323:06GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
Fri 6 Jan 202300:06GMT
BBC World Service South Asia
Fri 6 Jan 202303:06GMT
BBC World Service except South Asia