Recently on The Debbie Nigro Show, we had a very special young guest: the fabulous Destiny Bella Kinsey, a talented 10-year-old from Yonkers, NY who is making a powerful impact with her anti-bullying video, “Rise and Stop Bullies”.
Destiny may be one of the youngest stars I’ve ever featured, but her story and vision are as impactful as they come!
Bullied herself in elementary school, Destiny took a difficult experience and turned it into a message of strength and hope for others. While no one was there to help her at first, once she was able to admit to her Mom what was troubling her so much, she decided to make a difference so that no other child would have to feel alone.
With the support of her film teacher, school friends, and her wonderful mom, Larnez Kinsey, Destiny crafted a moving short film showcasing how stepping up as a bystander can stop bullying in its tracks.
Her mom, Larnez, an inspiring powerhouse herself, has raised five daughters while working in New York State Corrections and running Black Gate Consulting Group, where she helps people access critical grants. Talk about a family of change-makers!
As Destiny confidently shared her vision in our studio, I couldn’t help but recognize her as a future superstar. She’s already got the spark, talent, and ambition to influence the world. Her filmmaking club at school is just the beginning!
So, whether you have kids in school or know someone who does, this video is a must-watch through this link: “Rise and Stop Bullies” is a heartfelt call for action, urging us all to step in and support one another. Sharing it could help spread awareness and, hopefully, make every school a safer place.
And hey, Destiny might be helping me out with TikTok soon—this girl knows how to keep things fresh!
Let’s amplify Destiny’s voice and celebrate her mission. More power to young heroes like her! And more power to everyone who supports the mission to ‘Rise and Stop Bullies!‘ Please watch and share to parents and kids alike.
Enjoy this podcast of our live in-studio conversation and stay tuned for more uplifting stories on The Debbie Nigro Show! I You’d rather read than listen the audio transcript is below.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
0:00:00
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro Show!
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0:00:03
I am blessed today to have some fabulous in-studio guests. To my right is a very talented young woman who’s 10 years old. I think you’re my youngest guest on the show. Really? Yeah. She is behind the scenes, having had produced something that I was just blown away with.
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0:01:08
It’s an anti-bullying video called Rise and Stop Bullying. And her name maybe is meaningful because her destiny is to be here talking about this on the radio today. And she’s going, I’m so nervous. Her name is Destiny Bella, beautiful, Kinsey. And hello and welcome to you, young lady.
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0:01:27
Hi. Hi, now we’ll introduce your mom because she’s over here. That’s why you’re here, Larnez Kinsey, who I met through Francine Kessler, who somebody I hadn’t seen in 20 years.
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0:01:37
Comes back in my life. She’s a psychic medium. She’s like, oh, you got to meet Larnez.
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I’m like, okay, okay, okay.
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0:01:41
So me and Larnez met at the diner and had a great meeting and I was very impressed with who you are and I know now you have a company called Black Gate Consulting Group which helps people get grants and we’ll talk about that before we leave, but we’re here because of
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0:01:55
your daughter.
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0:01:56
Welcome, Larnez. Thank you. It’s so nice to have you. Are you happy to be here? I’m grateful to be here. Oh, this is great.
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0:02:02
Okay, you’re the star of the show, Destiny. So this Rise and Stop Bullies video comes from your school, school 17.
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0:02:09
Tell everybody where the school is.
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0:02:11
I don’t know, like the street or whatever?
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0:02:13
No, what town?
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0:02:14
New York City?
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0:02:15
Yonkers. Yonkers, okay. So, what grade are you in? Fifth.
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0:02:20
Okay, have you seen bullying in your life in real time?
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0:02:23
Yeah, I did
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0:02:26
Have friends of yours been bullied. No, I actually have been bullied. You have been bullied Yeah, who would bully that sweet girl that you are look at you so so talk about The experience maybe a little bit, but then we’ll talk about this video
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0:02:39
All right, so it was like a couple of years ago when in that same school And I feel like it just touched my heart So I wanted to make a video about it because when like I was younger and I
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0:02:52
got bullied nobody was there to help me so I had to make a video so if other kids get bullied people are there to help them. Oh wow this is amazing. You did have somebody the second time around help you? Yeah my parents. Your parents did. Parents need to talk to their kids about what’s going on in school. Often, Lauren, as kids come home from school and don’t mention something, did you notice something was bothering her that
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0:03:21
led to the conversation about bullying? So actually, we were watching a movie and I believe I can’t recall the name, but it was about Girl Scouts and how a girl was being raised by her father. And her mom wasn’t there so she was kind of weird and she didn’t have any friends and she didn’t have a female figure so she was really masculine and
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0:03:46
rough and she went into this school she was in a Catholic school and they had like a reject Girl Scout team right and they empowered each other they empowered each other from their lack. So they became resilient because they felt like they were missing things. And then we watched that while she was getting her hair done. And when we came home, she was in her room by herself just crying.
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0:04:14
And I’m like, what’s going on? And she was like, Oh, I don’t want to go to school because the teacher yells too much. And she was just making excuses. It wasn’t making sense. So I was like, I can’t help you unless I know what’s going on. And if you’re crying, it’s because something hurts you.
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0:04:32
I need to know what’s hurting you so we can fix it. And that’s where it came out. Oh, wow. That is so loud. And I just heard a recent story similar where the child was saying something else was bothering them and crying, but it wasn’t the reason. So thank you for pointing that out.
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0:04:45
Back to you, young lady, Destiny. So you got through that. You’re 10 years old now. You like making film and you decided what to make a film to share with other kids to see what it’s like to be bullied and then to show what it would be like if someone interfered and solved it and kind of stepped up and you said it’s up to you bullying stops when bystanders take action.
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0:05:07
So how did you orchestrate this? Did you write this? Did you tell me about this video? It’s amazing.
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0:05:14
Alright, so I would say my, like, film teacher helped me, like, record and everything, but some of the ideas, like the tossing with the plushie, was my idea.
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0:05:25
Well, there are a lot of good ideas in here.
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0:05:26
And the kids who chose to be in the video, you know them all from school?
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0:05:30
Yeah. They’re all in my same grade.
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0:05:32
They’re all in your same grade. And were they all proud to be part of this? Yeah. Amazing. So, this should get, like, an award, like a film this should be in a film festival for an award I’m gonna submit you because that’s how you really touched me, and I felt it I think every kid should see this don’t you yeah, cuz I don’t want people to like
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0:05:48
experience bully
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0:05:50
Like I did You feel better about yourself now. Yeah, and are you happy to be here today knowing that you’re making a difference. Yeah, it’s amazing That’s the best thing you can do in life, right? Learn from something that you’ve experienced and figure out how to use that experience to help somebody else. And you’ve done that like you’re 25 or 35, 10 years old. My gosh. So you said, mom, you said she’s been making films and she’s four years old. What do you tell me about that?
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0:06:18
So she started with a TikTok account and I saw that she liked recording her own shows and she wanted to be on YouTube. So she was just going through the practices of it and she has some amazing work. When I see it, I’m like, oh my goodness, I can’t believe that this is you. Ten-year-olds are gonna be running the world soon because nobody older than you knows how to use TikTok and that’s why I actually invited you here so we could stay friends. You could help me stay on top of the relevant. No, I’m half kidding. But you realize generationally, you have access to a lot of people that your mom’s generation, my generation did not have. You
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0:06:57
can influence a lot of people with this. Is this your first time that somebody in the media is talking to you about this? Yeah. Oh, gosh, aren’t I smart? I’m always, I always spot a star early. And I’m going to tell you something. People who I’ve had on my show who had a song, and I was the first one to interview them They went on to have a hit song people had a product and I was the first one to catch it went on to have a Successful product. I’m a good picker
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0:07:21
You’re here for a reason today young lady because this is the beginning and I like to let people feel the experience Before they go off and they forget that I even exist because they’re too famous So that’s why you’re here today. You’ve got this going on. Are you feeling more comfortable as you’re sitting here talking to me? Yeah, okay. We’re good, right? Yeah. You could do this. Look, you made a whole movie, a whole video. How long is the video all together?
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0:07:44
It’s like a couple of minutes. Yeah, a couple of minutes. It’s all it will take. It’s called
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0:07:48
Rise and Stop Bullies. It’s up to you. Bullying stops when bystanders take action. If you’re just tuning in, the young lady to my right is 10 years old. Her name is Destiny. Her destiny was to be here today to talk to you guys about this amazing video that I Think is so powerful that every school kid should be made to watch it and I think every parent should be made to watch it with their children and Lornez let’s talk about you a little bit girlfriend
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0:08:14
You raised a great daughter, so you must be a very proactive terrific mom, and I mean when I sat I don’t know how much of your life you want to tell people, but I find you like incredible Like you want to tell everybody I know you have black a consulting group talk about that first and then No, no Tell everybody what who you are for your whole life and how that came to be now that you’re entrepreneurial and blah blah blah Mother how many kids what you did for a living what you do for a living? Come on. It’s it’s incredible
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0:08:39
Okay. Well, I have five daughters a destiny is the youngest of my five daughters My nine to five I’m in New York State Corrections, I I work in Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center for the Criminally Insane. I had 19 years of service there. Unfortunately, because of lack of staff, last year I had two attempts on my life, and from that, Blackgate was birthed, right?
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0:09:07
I had the momentum to move forward and realize that I’m not just a number, and I was capping myself. I am still in New York State Corrections. Still a part of it. It’s still a part of me. It’s still a piece of me. But in this I discovered that over the past 10 years I’ve touched 680,000 individuals with my crisis management skills. Wow. Right. Say that number again. 680,000. You were meant to do that because that’s a very brave thing for a woman to take on as a job and an exposure to an environment
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0:09:45
You know, yeah, like like if you were to take a friend to work day, I would say no Thank you like that. I don’t think so Did you know take your daughter to work? Did you ever do that at that place? No, you just can’t Destiny thinks that I’m crazy that I work there. Anyway, yeah, it’s scary. It’s scary stuff Your mother’s the bravest woman I ever met, let me tell you right now. But then tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial side.
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0:10:07
You and I met because you’re changing and you’re very smart and figuring new things out and now you have a very unique expertise with helping people get grants. Specifically you can describe what that’s for. So what I have is a fund development company and I discover, and it’s really not discovering, it’s just identifying all the resources that exist around you and that’s RFPs and that’s grants and private funders and individuals that want to do the work that you’re doing, that want to support what you’re doing.
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0:10:38
There’s an economic development organization. They fund people who give people in the community jobs. There’s grants for that. But if you don’t know the processes and you don’t know that you have to fill out an application, you don’t know the money sits there. Right, a lot of money that we don’t know is available for things people want to do and
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0:10:54
that there’s people who know, so Lauren Nez would be one of your people. I’ll put your information up for sure. Thank you. Young lady, back to you, star of the show today. What a name, Destiny Bella Kinsey, age 10, film producer. What is your aspiration in life?
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0:11:10
You want to go on to be a famous filmmaker? You think this is the launching pad for you?
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0:11:14
It’s kind of like a mix up because I draw and do a whole bunch of other things on the side. But I feel like filming is like, I’m like kind of really, really into filming. So I might do that when I’m older.
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0:11:28
And your teachers you said helped you edit this. What kind of class you take that has this kind of an instruction and interesting agenda? It’s like a club. So after school, it’s like this whole organization. We have our own room at the bottom of the school. And then there’s we use iPads, cameras, green screens, like all that type of stuff. Oh my gosh, you may have to produce my next show. This is too cool. Very cool. So again, I’m excited to have you here. This is a big moment
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0:11:58
for you. I know. And I am really will do everything I can to help you get this to other people. Where do you think this should be shown? In every school in the country?
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0:12:08
Yeah.
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0:12:09
Is there any attempt to have that happen? Have your teachers been talking to you about what they want to do with this?
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0:12:14
Not really, but I’m going to start talking to them because it was because it like got out a couple of weeks ago.
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0:12:20
So it’s brand new, right?
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0:12:22
Yeah.
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0:12:23
Yeah.
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0:12:24
Want me to help you talk to them?
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0:12:25
Yeah.
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0:12:26
All right. Your mother might know where the grants are, but I know where the words are to get people to pay attention to something for sure. And it’ll make the school look amazing, but you’re going to have to do more of this because everybody’s going to want to talk to you. So, you know, you got outfits because you’re going to have to keep getting dressed up.
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0:12:39
We need some outfits to get going. And that’s TV stations will love interviewing you. This isn’t easy. This is radio. No one’s looking at you right now, but we are going to video some of this. Mom, did you video some of this?
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0:12:50
I didn’t. Oh, you can. That’s right. And we’re going to take pictures and put it up on social media. Where should we put this? Right on TikTok, do you think?
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0:12:58
If you have a TikTok account.
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0:13:00
Yeah, don’t laugh at me. I have a TikTok. I just don’t know what to do with it. Maybe you’ll help me a little bit. All right, I’ll give you my password, and you figure out how to make a cool video, a snapshot of this
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0:13:09
and put it up. Oh, actually, we’ll work on it together, because I’m going to learn from you. I think that the future of good stuff in the world is when people who are wise, I call them seasons like me, and young bright stars like you collaborate together.
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0:13:23
Thank you.
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0:13:24
Isn’t that a good idea? Yeah. All right, so how many kids are in this video? It’s only a couple of minutes long. Rise and stop bullies. It’s up to you.
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0:13:33
Bullying stops when bystanders take action. How many kids are in this video? Do you remember? There’s boys and girls of all nationalities. It was great. Terrific. I’m just proud to know you. What else is going on in a 10-year-old’s life, just in case I want to know? I try and stay relevant here, but it’s hard.
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0:13:52
It’s like a mid type of situation. What is the coolest outfit you would wear if you were on television right now? What’s in fashion-wise? Maybe like streetwear and stuff. Okay, that means cool sneakers, sweatshirt, something comfortable. Yeah, baggy pants, baggy pants, baggy shirts, baggy, everything’s baggy. That works for me. I’m a car lover. All right. Hey, was this fun? It was fun. Yeah, it was fun. You’re great. Great
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0:14:19
having you in the studio. Thank you so much for bringing your daughter here and allowing this moment. Destiny, thank you so much for taking your time today and debuting on my show, You Young Star You. Destiny, of course, is behind Rise and Stop Bullies, the video I’m going to be sharing and hope you share and hope everybody around you has children in school or is around children in school shares this incredible anti-bullying video. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen, honestly.
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0:14:43
Not that it says I’m home watching anti-bullying videos all day long, but it’s got my attention and I applaud you, young lady. All right, more to come here on the Debbie Nigro Show. Don’t go away.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
