This story aired in the March 20, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
Mentorship can take many forms. For Cisco Ragsdale, it’s a combination of two seemingly unrelated activities: boxing and art.
Cisco is a Sacramento-based youth mentor and community leader. And at his non-profits, “Camp Hardbody” and “Go Money Arts,” he’s giving kids in his community a path to self-discovery and resilience.
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Story Transcript:
Sound of punches on punching bag
Reporter: It’s a typical afternoon at Camp Hardbody. When I walk inside the gym, the sounds of hard work hits me: punches landing on bags, shoes squeaking on the floor, and Cisco Ragsdale’s voice calling out drills.
Sound of punching bags, Cisco giving instructions.
REPORTER: He moves between kids, correcting their form and pushing them harder.
CISCO RAGSDALE: Every time you stand up you lose power
Sound of Cisco correcting kids’ form
REPORTER: It’s intense but encouraging because Cisco isn’t just teaching kids to fight; he’s teaching them to focus, stay disciplined, and believe in themselves.
Sound of background music and trainers
REPORTER: That’s the mission behind Camp HardBody. It started as a small program for kids in a neighborhood in South Sacramento . It’s now expanded to something much larger. The programs are now open to anyone in the area.
CISCO: We will schedule like a day they can come in do a trial run. The group setting is free you just gotta pay the $100 registration. The $100 registration really just go to me being buy they gloves and buy the extra you know shirts and shorts so everybody can be uniformed
REPORTER: Cisco’s drive to mentor kids comes from his own story. He grew up in South Sacramento during the early 2000s. Money was a struggle.. Most of his Friends dropped out of school, got caught up in gangs, or ended up in jail..There weren’t many Boys & Girls Clubs or similar programs around, and without anybody to go to for support he felt like so many other kids that were trapped in the neighborhood.
CISCO: Like, I was one of them kids that got told no a lot. You feel me? Like, I want to do this. Like, I know I’m talented. We ain’t, whether we ain’t got the money, whether mom don’t want to take me, whatever it is, no. Start thinking like, well damn bro. Like, well, I’m gonna just go outside and thug.
REPORTER: Cisco was a natural born athlete. He was good at football… but it was pretty hard to find support there, too. Still, he managed to make it to college, playing ball.
CISCO: Once I got kicked out of college, I went to jail for a little bit. But when I came back from college, I automatically started doing the coaching.
REPORTER: It was actually his own son who helped him realize he wanted to be a coach and a mentor—he wanted to make sure his child didn’t go through the same thing he did.
CISCO: I used to go home, me and my son, he used to do extra practices, and the kids, they used to come knock on the door, you feel me? At first, they would just watch. Then I started seeing them on the side, doing the drills.
REPORTER: As the years went on, Cisco noticed how much the neighborhood kids loved boxing too.
CISCO: I’m like [‘oh y’all really like boxing, just come across the street.’ I thought it was going to be just a little three. I came to practice, it’s like 10, 12 kids out there that day. You don’t ever know your influence on people. Something small turned into something bigger than I set out to do.
REPORTER: Now he recruits kids from local schools and surrounding neighborhoods. And Cisco also saw that not every kid is into sports. So, he decided to use another one of his talents to reach them.
CISCO: And art, I think it’s more therapeutic. It’s about creativity. I’m able to paint pictures for the world to let you see what I got going on inside my head.
REPORTER: When the space ain’t set up as a boxing gym, Cisco flips it into a creative studio. Kids pull up to tap into their artistic side, where they can just sit back and vibe. The classes might be smaller, but the energy hits different—quieter, more chill, but still just as powerful.
CISCO: Like there’s, other artists that come from the hood just need to know, this is okay. It’s cool to paint. I know how I felt growing up as a kid—when your homies find out you can draw, it’s like, ‘That’s tight, but bro, you kinda weird.’ Not because they don’t like it, but because they can’t do it.
REPORTER: But Cisco knows it ain’t just about skills—it’s about belief. During an art session, he might ask a kid to close their eyes and imagine the most important thing in their life. Then he’ll tell them to paint what they feel.
CISCO: You see kids with a support system—they walk around different. But ‘il bruh’ down the street might be better than everybody, yet he didn’t eat this morning. His mom ain’t came to not one game. That lack of support breeds self-confidence issues.. You’re killing yourself at practice, and the world keeps showing you that you shouldn’t believe in yourself. That’s hard for a kid, bro.
REPORTER: Those words hit deep because they’re true. Talent without support is like a car without gas—it’s not going anywhere. But Cisco is determined to change that.
Sounds of punches on a punching bag
REPORTER: Back at the gym, the kids are still grinding. Sweat dripping, focus locked in. They ain’t stopping—every punch, every drill, they’re building more than just skills.
Sounds of punching bags, kids encouraging each other.
REPORTER: Cisco sees it as more than just training—he’s building future leaders.
CISCO: I got lil homies willing to go sit they life in prison because of their decisions. And they’re happy with it. I motivate them to look at life in a different way.”// If you come to practice and kill yourself every day, doing your homework don’t seem that bad. I see shifts in the kids’ demeanor. They don’t fight as much because they understand why it’s important to fight—not just ‘I’m angry now.
REPORTER: With every punch and every brush stroke, Cisco’s showing them there’s a better way to live, built on belief and a future they never thought possible.
