WEBVTT

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At Free America, we've done
a listening and learning tour.

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We visited not only with prosecutors

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but with legislators,

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with inmates in our state
and local prisons.

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We've gone to immigration
detention centers.

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We've met a lot of people.

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And we've seen that redemption
and transformation can happen

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in our prisons, our jails
and our immigration detention centers,

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giving hope to those
who want to create a better life

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after serving their time.

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Imagine if we also considered
the front end of this prison pipeline.

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What would it look like
if we intervened,

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with rehabilitation as a core value --

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with love and compassion as core values?

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We would have a society that is safer,

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healthier

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and worthy of raising our children in.

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I want to introduce you to James Cavitt.

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James served 12 years
in the San Quentin State Prison

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and is being released in 18 months.

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Now James, like you and me,

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is more than the worst thing he's done.

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He is a father, a husband, a son, a poet.

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He committed a crime;

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he's paying his debt,

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and working hard to build the skills

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to make the transition back
to a productive life

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when he enters the civilian
population again.

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Now James, like millions
of people behind bars,

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is an example of what happens

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if we believe that our failings
don't define who we are,

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that we are all worthy of redemption

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and if we support those impacted
by mass incarceration,

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we can all heal together.

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I'd like to introduce you
to James right now,

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and he's going to share
his journey of redemption

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through spoken word.

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James Cavitt: Thanks, John.

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TED, welcome to San Quentin.

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The talent is abundant
behind prison walls.

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Future software engineers,

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entrepreneurs,

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craftsmen,

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musicians

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and artists.

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This piece is inspired
by all of the hard work

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that men and women are doing on the inside

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to create better lives
and futures for themselves

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after they serve their time.

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This piece is entitled, "Where I Live."

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I live in a world where most people
are too afraid to go.

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Surrounded by tall, concrete walls,

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steel bars,

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where razor wire have a way

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of cutting away at the hopes
for a brighter tomorrow.

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I live in a world

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that kill people who kill people

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in order to teach people

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that killing people is wrong.

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Imagine that.

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Better yet,

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imagine a world where healed people
helped hurt people heal

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and become strong.

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Maybe then we would all
be singin' "Redemption Song."

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I live in a world that
has been called "hell on Earth"

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by those trapped inside.

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But I've come to the stark realization

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that prison --

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it really is what you make it.

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You see, in spite
of the harshness of my reality,

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there is a silver lining.

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I knew that my freedom was gonna come,

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it was just a matter of time.

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And so I treated my first steps
as if they were my last mile,

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and I realized that you
don't have to be free

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in order to experience freedom.

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And just because you're free,

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doesn't mean that you have freedom.

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Many of us, for years,
have been battling our inner demons.

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We walk around smiling
when inside we're really screamin':

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freedom!

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Don't you get it?

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We're all serving time;

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we're just in different places.

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As for me,

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I choose to be free
from the prisons I've created.

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The key:

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forgiveness.

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Action's my witness.

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If we want freedom,

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then we gotta think different.

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Because freedom ...

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it isn't a place.

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It's a mind setting.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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(Piano)

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John Legend: Old pirates, yes, they rob I.

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Sold I to the merchant ships.

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Minutes after they took I

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from the bottomless pit.

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My hands were made strong

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by the hand of the almighty.

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We forward in this generation

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triumphantly.

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Won't you help to sing

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these songs of freedom?

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'Cause all I ever had --

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redemption songs.

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Redemption songs.

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Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.

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None but ourselves can free our minds.

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Have no fear for atomic energy

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'cause none of them can stop the time.

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How long shall they kill our prophets

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while we stand aside and look?

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Some say it's just a part of it,

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we've got to fulfill the book.

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Won't you help to sing

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these songs of freedom?

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'Cause all I ever had --

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redemption songs.

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Redemption songs.

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(Piano)

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Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.

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None but ourselves can free our minds.

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Have no fear for atomic energy

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'cause none of them can stop the time.

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How long shall they kill our prophets

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while we stand aside and look?

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Some say it's just a part of it,

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we've got to fulfill the book.

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Won't you help to sing

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these songs of freedom?

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'Cause all I ever had --

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redemption songs.

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Redemption songs.

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These songs of freedom.

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'Cause all I ever had --

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redemption songs.

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Redemption songs.

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Redemption songs.

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(Piano)

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)