[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.86,0:00:05.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having spent 18 years as a child of the state
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.11,0:00:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in children's homes and foster care,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.42,0:00:10.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you could say that I'm an expert on the subject,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.46,0:00:14.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in being an expert, I want to let you know that
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.02,0:00:19.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being an expert does in no way make you right
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.63,0:00:22.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in light of the truth.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.63,0:00:26.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you're in care, legally the government is your
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.82,0:00:30.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,parent, loco parentis.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.54,0:00:34.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Margaret Thatcher was my mother. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.49,0:00:38.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's not talk about breastfeeding. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.14,0:00:41.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Harry Potter was a foster child.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.28,0:00:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pip from "Great Expectations" was adopted;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.32,0:00:49.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Superman was a foster child;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.40,0:00:52.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cinderella was a foster child;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.93,0:00:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.54,0:00:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was fostered and institutionalized;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.46,0:01:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Batman was orphaned;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.83,0:01:07.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman's "Northern Lights"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.53,0:01:09.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was fostered;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.22,0:01:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jane Eyre, adopted;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.96,0:01:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Roald Dahl's James from "James and the Giant Peach;"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.54,0:01:22.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Matilda; Moses -- Moses! (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.05,0:01:24.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Moses! (Laughter) --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.50,0:01:28.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the boys in Michael Morpurgo's "Friend or Foe;"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.99,0:01:32.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Alem in Benjamin Zephaniah's "Refugee Boy;"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.81,0:01:35.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Luke Skywalker --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.39,0:01:38.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Luke Skywalker! (Laughter) --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.26,0:01:40.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oliver Twist;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.55,0:01:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cassia in "The Concubine of Shanghai" by Hong Ying;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.76,0:01:48.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Celie in Alice Walker's "The Color Purple."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.12,0:01:52.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of these great fictional characters, all of them
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.73,0:01:56.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were hurt by their condition,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.73,0:02:01.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of them who spawned thousands of other books
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.38,0:02:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and other films, all of them
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.83,0:02:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were fostered, adopted or orphaned.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.98,0:02:13.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It seems that writers know that the child
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.55,0:02:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,outside of family reflects on what family truly is
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.70,0:02:24.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than what it promotes itself to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.29,0:02:29.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is, they also use extraordinary skills
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.26,0:02:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to deal with extraordinary situations on a daily basis.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.08,0:02:37.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How have we not made the connection?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.61,0:02:41.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And why have we not made the connection, between
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.64,0:02:43.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— How has that happened? —
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.84,0:02:47.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between these incredible characters of popular culture
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.41,0:02:52.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and religions, and the fostered, adopted or orphaned child
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.50,0:02:57.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in our midst? It's not our pity that they need.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.13,0:02:59.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's our respect.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.73,0:03:02.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know famous musicians,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.35,0:03:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know actors and film stars and millionaires and novelists
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.42,0:03:10.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and top lawyers and television executives
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.92,0:03:13.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and magazine editors and national journalists
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.37,0:03:16.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and dustbinmen and hairdressers, all who were
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.21,0:03:19.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looked after children, fostered, adopted or orphaned,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.75,0:03:22.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and many of them grow into their adult lives
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.42,0:03:26.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in fear of speaking of their background, as if it may
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.69,0:03:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somehow weaken their standing in the foreground,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.00,0:03:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if it were somehow Kryptonite, as if it were a time bomb
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.04,0:03:39.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strapped on the inside. Children in care,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.09,0:03:42.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who've had a life in care, deserve the right
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.22,0:03:48.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to own and live the memory of their own childhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.07,0:03:50.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is that simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.35,0:03:54.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My own mother — and I should say this here —
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.36,0:03:58.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she same to this country in the late '60s,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.21,0:04:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she was, you know, she found herself pregnant,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.98,0:04:04.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as women did in the late '60s. You know what I mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.07,0:04:06.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They found themselves pregnant.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.02,0:04:10.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she sort of, she had no idea of the context
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.70,0:04:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which she'd landed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.82,0:04:18.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1960s -- I should give you some context -- in the 1960s,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.66,0:04:22.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you were pregnant and you were single,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.01,0:04:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you were seen as a threat to the community.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.92,0:04:30.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You were separated from your family by the state.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.77,0:04:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You were separated from your family and placed into
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.48,0:04:35.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mother and baby homes.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.60,0:04:38.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You were appointed a social worker.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.74,0:04:41.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The adoptive parents were lined up.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.13,0:04:45.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was the primary purpose of the social worker, the aim,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.21,0:04:48.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get the woman at her most vulnerable time
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.56,0:04:53.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in her entire life, to sign the adoption papers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.91,0:04:55.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the adoption papers were signed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.79,0:04:59.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The mother and baby's homes were often run by nuns.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.36,0:05:02.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The adoption papers were signed,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.54,0:05:06.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the child was given to the adoptive parents, and the mother
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.24,0:05:08.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shipped back to her community
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.66,0:05:11.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to say that she'd been on a little break.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.65,0:05:14.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A little break.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.34,0:05:16.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A little break.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.01,0:05:19.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first secret of shame for a woman
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.58,0:05:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for being a woman, "a little break."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.66,0:05:27.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The adoption process took, like, a matter of months,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.75,0:05:31.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it was a closed shop, you know, sealed deal,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.63,0:05:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an industrious, utilitarian solution:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.13,0:05:41.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the government, the farmer,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.49,0:05:45.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the adopting parents, the consumer,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.34,0:05:50.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the mother, the earth, and the child, the crop.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.14,0:05:54.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's kind of easy to patronize the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.80,0:05:59.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to forego our responsibilities in the present.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.70,0:06:03.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What happened then is a direct reflection
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.55,0:06:08.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what is happening now. Everybody believed themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.80,0:06:13.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be doing the right thing by God and by the state
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.33,0:06:20.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the big society, fast-tracking adoption.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.22,0:06:25.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So anyway, she comes here, 1967, she's pregnant,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.41,0:06:30.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she comes from Ethiopia that was celebrating
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.49,0:06:33.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its own jubilee at the time
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.19,0:06:35.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,under the Emperor Haile Selassie,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.96,0:06:41.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she lands months before the Enoch Powell speech,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.08,0:06:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "Rivers of Blood" speech.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.20,0:06:47.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She lands months before the Beatles release "The White Album,"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.83,0:06:50.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,months before Martin Luther King was killed.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.51,0:06:52.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a summer of love if you were white.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.96,0:06:56.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you were black, it was a summer of hate.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.65,0:07:02.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So she goes from Oxford, she's sent to the north of England
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.30,0:07:06.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a mother and baby home, and appointed a social worker.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.66,0:07:10.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's her plan. You know, I have to say this in the Houses --
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.90,0:07:15.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's her plan to have me fostered for a short period of time
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.17,0:07:18.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while she studies. But the social worker,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.75,0:07:21.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he had a different agenda.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.74,0:07:25.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He found the foster parents, and he said to them,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.95,0:07:29.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Treat this as an adoption. He's yours forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.78,0:07:33.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His name is Norman." (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.23,0:07:35.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Norman! (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.57,0:07:38.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Norman!
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.28,0:07:44.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they took me. I was a message, they said.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.50,0:07:46.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a sign from God, they said.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.96,0:07:50.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was Norman Mark Greenwood.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.71,0:07:54.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, for the next 11 years, all I know is that this woman,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.13,0:07:56.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this birth woman, should have her eyes scratched out
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.71,0:07:59.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for not signing the adoption papers. She was an evil woman
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.72,0:08:02.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,too selfish to sign, so I spent those 11 years
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.79,0:08:05.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,kneeling and praying.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.55,0:08:08.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I tried praying. I swear I tried praying.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.67,0:08:12.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"God, can I have a bike for Christmas?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.48,0:08:16.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I would always answer myself, "Yes, of course you can."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.83,0:08:18.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.44,0:08:21.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I was supposed to determine whether that
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.18,0:08:24.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was the voice of God or it was the voice of the Devil.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.71,0:08:32.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it turns out I've got the Devil inside of me.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.07,0:08:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who knew? (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.48,0:08:37.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So anyway, two years sort of passed,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.37,0:08:39.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they had a child of their own,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.15,0:08:41.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then another two years passed, and they had another child of their own,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.61,0:08:43.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then another time passed
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.90,0:08:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they had another child that they called an accident,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.48,0:08:49.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which I thought was an unusual name. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.89,0:08:53.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was on the cusp of, sort of, adolescence,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.62,0:08:58.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I was starting to take biscuits from the tin without asking.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.02,0:09:01.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was starting to stay out a little bit late, etc., etc.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.80,0:09:05.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, in their religiosity, in their naivete,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.20,0:09:07.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my mom and dad, which I believed them to be forever,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.64,0:09:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they said they were, my mom and dad
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.91,0:09:17.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,conceived that I had the Devil inside of me.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.72,0:09:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what -- I should say this here, because this is how
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.78,0:09:21.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they engineered my leaving.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.74,0:09:25.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They sat me at a table, my foster mom, and she said to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.12,0:09:27.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You don't love us, do you?" At 11 years old.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.19,0:09:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They've had three other children. I'm the fourth. The third was an accident.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.70,0:09:34.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, "Yeah, of course I do." Because you do.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.75,0:09:36.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My foster mother asked me to go away to think about love
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.90,0:09:39.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what it is and to read the Scriptures and to come back tomorrow
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.74,0:09:42.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and give my most honest and truthful answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.68,0:09:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this was an opportunity. If they were asking me
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.52,0:09:47.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether I loved them or not, then I mustn't love them,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.86,0:09:50.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which led me to the miracle of thought that I thought they wanted me to get to.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.72,0:09:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I will ask God for forgiveness and His light will shine
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.40,0:09:57.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through me to them. How fantastic." This was an opportunity.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.16,0:09:59.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The theology was perfect, the timing unquestionable,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.95,0:10:02.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the answer as honest as a sinner could get.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.85,0:10:07.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I mustn't love you," I said to them. "But I will ask God for forgiveness."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.54,0:10:10.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Because you don't love us, Norman,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.09,0:10:12.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,clearly you've chosen your path."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.44,0:10:15.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Twenty-four hours later, my social worker,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.23,0:10:18.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this strange man who used to visit me every couple of months,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.28,0:10:21.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he's waiting for me in the car as I say goodbye to my parents.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.50,0:10:24.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't say goodbye to anybody, not my mother, my father,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.07,0:10:25.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my sisters, my brothers, my aunts, my uncles,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.90,0:10:29.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my cousins, my grandparents, nobody.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.53,0:10:33.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the way to the children's home, I started to ask myself,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.08,0:10:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"What's happened to me?"
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.05,0:10:39.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not that I'd had the rug pulled from beneath me
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.20,0:10:44.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as much as the entire floor had been taken away.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.02,0:10:47.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I got to the —
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.82,0:10:52.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the next four, five years,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.20,0:10:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was held in four different children's homes.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.05,0:11:00.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the third children's home, at 15,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.33,0:11:03.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started to rebel, and what I did was,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.50,0:11:07.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I got three tins of paint, Airfix paint that you use for models,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.83,0:11:11.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was -- it was a big children's home, big Victorian children's home --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.66,0:11:13.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was in a little turret at the top of it,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.50,0:11:16.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I poured them, red, yellow and green,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.80,0:11:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the colors of Africa, down the tiles.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.84,0:11:24.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You couldn't see it from the street, because the home
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.35,0:11:26.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was surrounded by beech trees.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.80,0:11:31.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For doing this, I was incarcerated for a year
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.75,0:11:34.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in an assessment center which was actually
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.74,0:11:39.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a remand center. It was a virtual prison
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.46,0:11:43.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for young people.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.36,0:11:45.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the way, years later, my social worker said
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.41,0:11:46.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I should never have been put in there.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:46.87,0:11:49.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wasn't charged for anything. I hadn't done anything wrong.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.52,0:11:54.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But because I had no family to inquire about me,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.25,0:11:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they could do anything to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.00,0:12:02.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm 17 years old, and
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.36,0:12:05.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they had a padded cell.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.100,0:12:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They would march me down corridors in last-size order.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.96,0:12:14.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They -- I was put in a dormitory
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.22,0:12:18.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a confirmed Nazi sympathizer.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:18.14,0:12:21.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of the staff were ex-police -- interesting --
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.46,0:12:23.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ex-probation officers.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.48,0:12:27.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The man who ran it was an ex-army officer.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.54,0:12:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every time I had a visit by a person who I did not know
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.70,0:12:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who would feed me grapes, once every three months,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.43,0:12:36.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was strip-searched.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.64,0:12:39.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That home was full of young boys who were on remand
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.90,0:12:45.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for things like murder.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.17,0:12:49.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this was the preparation that I was being given
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.20,0:12:55.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after 17 years as a child of the state.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:55.25,0:12:57.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have to tell this story.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:57.83,0:13:00.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have to tell it, because there was no one
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.10,0:13:03.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to put two and two together.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.06,0:13:06.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I slowly became aware that I knew nobody
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.08,0:13:09.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that knew me for longer than a year.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.58,0:13:12.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, that's what family does.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.42,0:13:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It gives you reference points.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.82,0:13:17.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not defining a good family from a bad family.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.30,0:13:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm just saying that you know when your birthday is
Dialogue: 0,0:13:19.12,0:13:21.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by virtue of the fact that somebody tells you when your birthday is,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.78,0:13:23.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, an aunt, an uncle,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.72,0:13:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a cousin, a grandparent. It matters to someone,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.73,0:13:28.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and therefore it matters to you. Understand,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:28.02,0:13:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was 14 years old, tucked away in myself, into myself,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:32.25,0:13:37.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I wasn't touched either, physically touched.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:37.03,0:13:45.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm reporting back. I'm reporting back simply to say that
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.16,0:13:48.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I left the children's home I had two things
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.37,0:13:52.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I wanted to do. One was to find my family,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:52.17,0:13:53.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the other was to write poetry.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.70,0:13:56.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In creativity I saw light.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.25,0:14:01.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the imagination I saw the endless possibility of life,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:01.41,0:14:07.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the endless truth, the permanent creation of reality,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.31,0:14:13.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the place where anger was an expression
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.78,0:14:17.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the search for love, a place where dysfunction
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.52,0:14:22.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a true reaction to untruth.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.24,0:14:25.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've just got to say it to you all: I found all of my family
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.79,0:14:29.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in my adult life. I spent all of my adult life finding them,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.15,0:14:33.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I've now got a fully dysfunctional family just like everybody else.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:33.17,0:14:36.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'm reporting back to you to say quite simply
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.91,0:14:42.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you can define how strong a democracy is
Dialogue: 0,0:14:42.42,0:14:47.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by how its government treats its child.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.65,0:14:49.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't mean children. I mean the child of the state.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:49.71,0:14:54.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks very much. It's been an honor. (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:14:54.67,0:14:57.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)