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At #FREEAMERICA 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
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that redemption and transformation
can happen in our prisons,
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our jails
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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
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if we intervened 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 [Cavett].
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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,
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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,
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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 [Cavett]: 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 of cutting
away at the hopes for a better 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,
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for years,
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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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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
from the bottomless pit.
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My hands were made strong
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
these songs of freedom?
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'Cause all I ever have --
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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 me to sing
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 yourself 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 non of them can stop the time.
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How long shall they kill our prophets
while we stand aside and look?
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Some say it's just a part it,
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we've got to fulfill the book.
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Won't you help to sing
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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redemptions 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.
closed TED
