political book going up and this is before he became the speaker of the house. gives us a sense of what makes us republican come out of place works, some of the frustrations of division and extremism and anyway so, when i read something i really like i think this would be good for the staff but when a north dakota and writes a book, it is particularly important. >> booktv was know what you are reading. send us your summer reading list via twitter@booktv or instagram at bookótv or posted to our facebook page facebook.com/booktv. booktv on c-span2, television for serious readers. >> now on booktv, liza peterson

discusses her "all day: a year of love and survival teaching incarcerated kids at rikers island" this program contains language that some might find offensive. >> good evening folks. welcome to greenlight bookstore i am jessica bagnulo one of the owners. we are happy to host liza peterson. you can give her a round of applause now. [applause] >> her new book is "all day: a year of love and survival teaching incarcerated kids at rikers island". and she is going to be speaking tonight with flores forbes so you are in for an excellent evening. maybe another round of applause. [applause] >> before turn things over just a couple of housekeeping thing. if you have a cell phone or something that might make noise now is the time to turn it off work silence it.

there we have copies of liza peterson's book and flores forbes's book for sale. this will have flyers for upcoming events at the register. hope you can check those out to more great events in may. when you buy a bucket agreement you would not only get a great book by a great author please support your local independent bookstore and allow us to bring your free event like this so we appreciate that in advance. thank you. [applause] >> the interviewer this evening is flores forbes who is the associate vice president for strategic policy and program implementation at columbia university. a leader in the black panther party and served five years in prison before receiving a master's degree in urban planning from nyu. he is the author of two books, will you die with me my life in the black panther party and most recently "invisible man: a contemporary slave narrative in the era of mass incarceration". he will be speaking tonight with liza peterson who is a

freelance artist working in brooklyn. she works with the youth in different areas.her one-woman speech played a peculiar patriot and toward an and attenders across the country. the full production is scheduled to premiere in new york in the fall of this year. her new book, "all day: a year of love and survival teaching incarcerated kids at rikers island" recounts the air in her classroom at island academy. the high school for inmates detained at new york's rikers island. her narrative captures the prisoner hierarchies, under current violence in cousins that a potential rupture among inmates and their keepers. despite relentless antics of her students and maybe in part because of it, peterson becomes a fierce advocate for the young men she teaches not only to educate them but instill in them what sense of self worth has been long strip from their lives. -- they write liza peterson's all day is a must read.

for anyone that has ever inquired about young people. she brings amazing warmth, love and laughter to the devastating state of the juvenile justice system. in her abeled and gifted hands young people not soon forget. she has i am so glad the book is in the world. we feel the same way, we are glad she is with us tonight. she will be reading from her book 1st and then flores forbes will join her. you'll have a chance for questions asked that they please join me in welcoming to the stage, liza peterson. [applause] >> hi!thank you all for coming out. i'm happy to be here. i'm just going to jump right in. i am not going to get too much of an introduction. that was a lovely introduction. i'm going to read two short excerpts from the book. and just to put it in context, this was one year of the 18

years and this is one specific year that i was a full-time schoolteacher. which is very different from the other capacities that i worked in. i'm going to jump right in and read two short excerpts. is that cool? okay. this is my first rodeo golf. i'm a little nervous! christopher is a light-skinned kid with pink lips on his cheeks like terry lessons. the acne snitches in his youth holding space for a period that is not quite ready to grow. if it weren't for the missing bottom tooth in the front of his grill, he would have a big smile with perfectly straight milky white teeth. he is built like a gladiator. tall and muscular with broad shoulders and arms, chiseled for the gods. jailhouse guns. he walks with a bodybuilders

swagger and an arrogance that takes up too much space. this point irks me. he never does work and talks all day much like - barely moving his lips he makes a strong cultural noise with his throat that sounds like a mangled swamp frog. it is a stupid aggravating game he likes to play with his voice. a weirdo this kid. christopher! please stop making that noise, it is very annoying! i sternly demand. i got you miss a response. three minutes later i hear him making that ugly sound just to great my nerves and defined me. nasty girl taught me all the lingo my mama played bingo, she ride mandingo. all the kids are singing ll cool j's new song and keep repeating the words mandingo,

found that they learned a new word for - and getting a kick out of sync in front of me thinking i have no idea what it means. about the third time i hear it i have to let them know, i know what it means.and asked them to stop saying the word in front of me out of respect. telling them not to do something is of course, registering in their rug rat brains to do it. kristin -- christopher keeps saying it over and over again in that weird voice. pleading with the guys to tell what it means. they get a kick out of seeing a word he doesn't know the meaning of and making me mad for saying it. miss, what does that word mean? why you tripping over that word he asked? i hand him a dictionary and have them look it up. that what is in the dictionary? i thought it was slang he says.

quickly flipping the dictionary to relieve his defense. the guys are cracking up as he spells the word aloud and searches the dictionary. man - dingo he says sounding it out. how do you spell dingo? they are all on the floor laughing. i say in my very ms. crabtree teacher like voice, i have to be extra critical with this slippery slope of jokes. i continue. that word has a historical meaning and a metaphorical meeting. so once christopher finds the meaning then i will tell you the slang meaning. i've christopher read aloud the dictionary definition for mandingo. a member of any of a number of

people forming an extensive linguistic group in west africa inhabiting a large area of the upper river valley. then i tell him how it is used as slang. to imply a man's large sized reproductive anatomy. i may have well said - the way they are snickering and carrying on as if they are 10 years old. now that you know what it means and how it has been used, please do not use the word around me again. okay, i got you miss p. he says leaning back in his desk nodding in agreement to get me out of his face. two seconds later when i turn my back i hear, mandingo and that frog voice that i hate again. he is testing me to see what i will do. he is challenging me to a duel. he is calling mama out for a fair one. he is rubbing the genie in my lamp. i feel her stirring.

i draw a line in the sand. christopher!i asked you not to say that. do not use that word around me it is vulgar and disrespectful. stop it right now. and stop doing that thing with your voice. it is crazy! he shakes his head and in a dismissive chin up not that reads you like - which makes me want to slap him. my chest rises and falls slowly with a long measured breath i take to keep my pressure from spiking. i turned my back to write on the board and i hear mandingo. i swing around in slow motion, neo in the matrix with my neck being the last thing to snap into a - alignment. it's a knee-jerk reflex that flings my mama jeannie and two full octave all up in your face

crazy woman purple theory. i am full throttle extremely loud, intense and temporarily unhinged. i'm sick and tired of your disrespect. i asked you five times christopher and i am not having this foolishness in my class. you haven't done any work since you came to my class. you run your mouth, making annoying noises like kermit the frog and now you're being totally disrespectful. you think you're slick and i'm stupid but do not get it twisted son. i am not stupid and i do not play games with kids. you got to go. you have got to get out of here i'm not having any of that. who, [bleep]! get him out of here! i am screaming like a wild banshee screaming over him like a giant possessed mother. he cowers in his seat stunned by my beast. he is the incredible shrinking cub. i am spraying him with electric shocks like. [bleep]! like image -- like a magician.

from next door they run into assist but when they see me standing over christopher with a wild look in my eye, he pauses to momentarily largely deliver this before swiftly removing christopher out of my class and from the jaws of her. another approach is me and asked if i need to take a minute, go to the bathroom and calm down. no, i don't need to go to the bathroom! i snapped. i'm still in my crazy thug mama trance. no filter. i shocked him and the shocked look on his face reels me back into my body as i dial it back quick. excuse me officer, i am good thank you. now that he is out of my class i am good.took it too far in a snap. i am okay now. honestly and truly. thank you. i am slightly out of breath but deliver my response honey toned with steam still sleeping from my nostrils.

and then, like a scene from sybil, without skipping a beat i continue teaching like nothing happened. i did a 180 degrees change of tone and went into my ms. crabtree. now, open your books to page 47. a verb as you remember joe's action or a state of being. i'm speaking just as calmly as can be. but my vibe is layered with hot ice. i walked the aisles making sure everyone is on task. as i walked past tae kwon do, and knows he is not on the correct page. sternly i demand through clenched teeth, turn to page 47. everyone should be on page 47. let's get this work and gentlemen that is what we are here for. quickly, tyquon tries to page 47 as he shakes his head with a perplexed look on his face and says in a whisper, miss p, you are extreme.

i never seen you got like that. your eyes got all big and crazy looking. you put on a show. i ain't messing with you! then tyquon turned to his buddy william. ms. p says turn to page 47. i am trying to page 47, you heard? 's comment draws some chuckles and some remarks like word, miss p is kind of mo, she turned it up. without turning i addressed him in his slow, low, monotone growl. there are no - in my class, thank you. maybe some fools, but no -. i'm still carrying the thug mama, don't mess with me today veneer and wielding it as i walked the aisles demanding work. my bad miss p. he says peered over exaggerating his compliance with in obedience.

and it was a show and that was my point, to go overboard and get crazy in the eyes. so they know i'm a little nuts and will flip on them. mission accomplished. this may have been the first proof i doled out albeit unsuccessful cupid even that can be matched by the one i just served. today will go down in the legend of ms. p. - [applause] >> i want to grab a quick thing of water and read one more excerpt and we can talk.

okay. are y'all all right? all right. to have once been a criminal is no disgrace. to remain a criminal is a disgrace. malcom x. every morning right on the corner of the board and asked students to give their thoughts on a daily inspirational quote. someone is a hearty discussion most mornings they grumbled graduate normally. too early for critical thinking. i get it. until this morning, i wasn't sure if the seeds of consciousness i was attempting to plan for even registering. i forgot to put the thought for the day on the board which a quiet student, easily overlooked quickly brings to my attention. ms. p. what's good?you forgot the quote - for the day.

i smiled saying that they are watching, they are taking in a just might be reaching them after all. you are so right! i got you. i pleasantly reply. and i write a new thought for the day in the corner of the board as he diligently copied into his notebook and grins. look at what you have been through and what you have survived. you are a walking, talking miracle. so much more than you have been told ms. p. the first week is totally a got getting to know the dramatic range of characters who i am working with all day every day all year. for some odd reason the alpha males have decided to sit in the front role right up in my face. the back roads normally withhold kids sit, reserved for talking and social land parlaying. but the kitchen is a space most comfortable for real conversation insulin talk.

later i would figure out that the leader of this alpha male crew has a crush on me. hence, the front row spotlight positioning. they call themselves the bosses. i called in the bosses of stink. not because they smoke would have stink attitudes always getting on my nerves. they are fly boys. sys one can be in jail. rocking fresh haircuts and new sneakers as they damn sure wouldn't be caught dead in pumpkin seeds. they thought those jailhouse bobos are for herbs. the bosses get barbershop time on a regular basis and clearly their housing area.they in - walked like kings with an air of confidence and subtle intimidation. getting a constant flow of salutation and fist pumps and handshakes from guys passing by the class. like little hoodlums. me and my crew chief girls group in high school thought we were awesome too. knowing the pecking order in this place is important. so is the og, who is in his crew, who is the dojo, who is

the dummy, who is a blood who is a crip and who's who.it is critical information to stay a step ahead of potential explosions that might arise. but most important is having peripheral vision. which is essential for classroom management. the process sit in the same seat every day immediately declaring their territory. they claim the front row seats on the left-hand side next to the door and the window that looks out into the hallway. guys who are on their team, which include that pop up dummies, sit close behind them. the neutrals are guys that save them size. they do not claim a gang or team and visit in the far back row. those desks are generally up for grabs since no one has a stronghold on that section. the harlem crew has plan for back proceeds in the far right next to the filthy windows that face another of the jails brick walls. nothing to see accept hardens pigeon poop, dirt and such on

the window. on the board i write, students will be able to discuss the five evolutions of malcom x and compare and contrast is evolution to their own. then i write, do now. write a five paragraph essay, reflecting upon and answering the following questions. what is your government name? name your mother gave you? were you in the street? your nickname and why? who are you in jail? your jailhouse nickname and why. finally, look into the future. what type of man do you see yourself evolving into? i asked the group, who knows the five names of malcom x? what are you talking about ms. p.? he was just malcom x. one of my more attentive but had worked at the students blurted out.

i said he had the name he was born with, a name he was called running the streets and malcom x was a hustler? he interrupts. he did time in prison!right ms. p.? one of the leader of the bosses interjects looking for approval. watch that word i said. but yes, he did time in prison. when he was in prison he was called something else. he later changed his name to malcom x. then after his trip to mecca, he would change it again. to something else. so malcom x at five names. what was his first name? what was his government legal name? what did his mother named him? i asked challenging them. oh shoot, i should know this! tyrone snapping his fingers trying to remember. spike lee did a movie on him. and that - i cocked my head to the side. after a moment he said i don't know ms. p., i cannot call it.

he gives up. i held the suspense long enough. you will never guess what i tell them. he was born malcolm little. and i write his first name on the board. so okay. when he was in the street hustling, getting paper what was the street name he went by i continued? stunned to learn that he had a dark past in the streets, one adds, he sold drugs for real? he did a little bit of everything. burglary, pimping, gambling, hustling, he was in the streets like you. so what was his hustling name i asked again? looking at the faces and shrugging shoulders i tried to give a little help. part of his name described the color of his hair. the other part was the name of the city where he was from. harlem! yells tyrone. confident he is right. harlem hey, others in the back say.

harlem got the most snitches. from across the room. one sexist teeth as he shoots back, not as many as broken. i mean snitching. i don't give a - about snitches in brooklyn because i am not from brooklyn one response with a smile. knowing his comment will surely get a rise out of his buddy tyrone but from brooklyn. yoh, watch your mouth son he growls. phone right into the truck to stir up drama by any means necessary. another one of them sitting there tyrone chuckles like a muppet. i have to nip this in the butt. all right, all right every borough has snitches. let's get this in focus. being called a snitch is a disk. a dangerous dishonor like the mob calling you a rat. i immediately reengaged tyrone. you are on the right track, nothing did eventually hustle in harlem but he was not

originally from harlem. a good guess though. damn ms. p. i am stumped. i cannot call it. tyrone shakes his head. he was called detroit red for his reddish-brown hair.i would have never guessed that says tyrone. well, now you know. that is how you learn. i reassured him. tyrone's interest in the lesson seem to corral most of the class. he loves black history and nature to let me know. i like learning stuff like this. he says driving it on a sheet of paper. he nods his head and shoots me a friendly slightly flirty smile. his skin is the color of blackstrap molasses. and he has porcelain white teeth that shone like brand-new piano keys. another student is determined to be a pain in my butt today. hell-bent on being the bane of my existence. he gets out of his seat and i asked him to please take a

seat. ms. p., i don't care about no malcom x. what did he ever do for me? this boy makes my blood rice good i want to slap the taste out of his mouth for disrespecting my hero. one of the greatest, most courageous black leaders who i consider a divine miracle for black people. our black shining prince in this raggedy pipsqueak, this ignorant little chicken bone -- his life was spent in sacrifice trying to wake a sleeping giant to remember our greatness? oh hell to the no! you have to go. you take a walk i am not dealing with you today. i point to the door gesturing him for to get out he says ms. p. said for me to take a walk. and this is going to be more on

you. he is not a bad looking kid, he just needs to see the dentist and the wizard for a new attitude. [laughter] [applause] >> i guess we are going to have a little quick conversation and open the floor. just talk. >> do you all feel good? all right. >> anyway, i really enjoyed the book.

having been in prison, i never thought about somebody having another perspective. for one it was so funny. in terms of depicting the horror of confinement. so anyway, could you talk a little bit about how you got to this place and the work that you do? i know you are a performance artist and that's a good thing, can you expand on that and how you actually, you know, developed the documentation for the book? >> so, my source introduction to rikers island was in 1997 and 1998. about 18 years ago. i was hired as a teaching artist to do poetry workshops for the adolescents. when it was my first time at rikers island, my first time in jail, my first introduction to mass incarceration. and i was supposed to do three weeks.

then the nonprofit organization i work for it needed to send me to another school where it did another rotation of workshops. and around that all of the teachers at rikers island kept requesting me. so i wound up being a poet of residence every three years because they kept recycling over and over again in the same school.that was my first introduction to the population and had a really great connection with the kids. throughout the years i worked in reentry self i worked with organizations that help young people once they returned from rikers island.to help them not go back in. i would go back into recruiting and counseling. so i worked in so many capacities. one year, the principal of the school, he needs a substitute for the summer. he asked me what i substitute for a couple of weeks. because he knew me from being a teaching artist and i said

sure. it was the way to make steady income instead of constantly hustling with different gigs. and from the summer, he asked me to stay on for the fall semester for the one teacher. i needed the cash. >> right on. >> i took it on not having a clue of what i was really getting myself into. and when i was at rikers island during this period from 2008 through 2009 i did not, i never thought of a book. i was not thinking this would be a great book. all i could do when i came home was just download what had happened that day. it was just the creative marrow through my bones. literally just working in that environment. it was dealing with teenagers. i mean teenagers are insane! whether they are in jail or you

know, teenagers have temporary phase of insanity that they go through. all of them. so that was draining. and so it was like my journal. two years later i picked up my journal. just what i do to see where i was a few years ago. emotionally and what was going on in my head in spirit. and it picked up and i read one of the passages that i wrote when i was teaching. and it made me laugh. it kind of took me back. i kept turning the pages of my journal and it kept making me laugh. i was like oh my gosh and i realized i had chronicled my journey at rikers island. in my journal. >> okay. you know you use a lot of black history and other types of i guess, you know signage in terms of the black panther party, malcom x and you know you were talking about being on

a different team but the same page with people. i mean in the joint, the administrators, the guards. can you tell me about how you feel about it now actually written about it? and you don't go back, you still go back. >> well, yeah i was there last week and independently i'm not working with any organization might not. >> because you had an epiphany in there. in the chapter on the king is down. and things kind of changed in this big disruption like a mini riot. that sort of thing. obviously that did something to you so you can talk about how you feel about that today what kind of work that you're looking to do? yes. so, what really thrust me out was not the kids.

actually the kids kept me there longer than i probably would have been. i probably would've left a lot sooner. but i'd grown so attached to them and i felt so, i felt a sense of responsibility and attended just mother bear you know protective thing with my kids in the class. but it was the administration. and what the department of education this straitjacket and i talked about in the book. it's a go and attentive creativity i can bring to the classroom and i said i can't teach in this environment. i had to wake up at 430 in the morning to leave by 530 to take the bus by 7:30 a.m. because i don't have a car. it was a two hour commute so it was just a lot. and i'm an artist. i need to have that creative you know blood flowing and it was just constricting up. so that's really what led to this.

it really wasn't the jail environment because even after i left in 2009 i came back. i got a job working for a nonprofit that was the reentry stuff. they sent me back in. then i left and work for another nonprofit ending and they brought me back in.then i worked for the department of corrections as a program counselor. so i was working with them every day from 12 until 8:00 p.m. in a cell in another capacity. so i left and told them. even though i left as a full-time schoolteacher of still consistently back we engaging with the population. >> so you know there's a lot of talk now i guess de blasio came and said he was going to close rikers island behind the campaign of glenn martin and others and then cuomo says is going to make it three years.

obviously the biggest issue i think is the reentry. because there's no attention paid to reentry at all. millions of dollars invested so you see yourself as a reentry person, a black liberator, what kind of landing space do think that you would want to say carved out or you know young people in prison and they get out that would help them to basically reintegrate back into society trent great. >> i was fortunate enough to work for some pretty dynamic and successful with a call reentry organizations. that works specifically with adolescents coming home, there were two or work for and creating, providing educational services to help them take the ged and providing job training

services, counseling. but i think an important component that needs to be supported is there needs to be a connection with vein, with the club the old cheese that come home and having some kind of reconnection with these because you know, this romanticized idea of being against her having street credibility and think i spent a lot of time but they are coming home. so the young guys are looking up to them so there needs to be a dialogue and mentoring so the guys that have spent significant time upstate can come and mention them and kind of steer them from that trajectory that is not a badge of honor. >> well, it's interesting because when i was growing up none of us really knew that much about prison.

but we did know about other people coming up you know huey newton and that sort of thing and they promoted the fact that prison is a you know the 13th amendment. mass incarceration was created in 1865. i am wondering in terms of education.a program, what kind of program would you see for the mentoring piece? what kind of education, skills, maybe a network they would need in order to help them remove the external transport in terms of what you do as an artist when you combine black literature and music and lyrics of what people know that sort of thing. what program would you see

being developed that would educate young people? in terms of you know their journey on the outside. you know combining that. because he did inside. so how would he do when they're outside? >> instead of reinventing the wheel i would let my organizations that are already up and running bring - mo is going to bring the artistic expression and creativity is a major key for youth development. it helps them to develop, it helps them tap into their voice, it helps them to validate who they are. self-expression helps them validate each other. that creative piece for me with the writing in the music you know the visual art. that is a key component and there is no there is some organizations that i think -

organizations where the performance and is a great help kids develop. so there out there. we just do not know about them. their life operating in obscurity for their struggling for funding. struggling but i believe the larger pictures really also to reimagine you know, what does this society look like without mass incarceration? how do we address the bell system, how do you trust having a speedy trial, how do we you know support and take some of the weight off of legal aid? so they do not have 50 cases. you cannot get anything accomplished significantly. with that kind of workload.

so i think that closing rikers island would now draw attention to the other tentacles that support what we know as rikers island and mass incarceration. so there are other components and how we can dismantle them. and rebuild the community. that supports young people and adults. who have been trapped in a system. >> i want to ask you about which character did you really enjoy writing about? and then there is one young man named charles. he wrote an essay on the miseducation of black people. and you felt like he had promised. can you talk about - patrols he thought he was going to make it. because i think he was going upstate. >> yes he was. >> have you heard anything

about him? >> no. i did run into - >> on the outside? >> no he got transferred to the adult facility and rikers island. a couple of years later and has all first and last name. we laughed in the hallway. he is home now. >> okay. >> he was my, you know any educators and who you know that you have that one student who makes you earn your teacher stripes. because they make you go through hell. it like that one person you think about before you go out the door that had to deal with this. he was that kid. when i open up my journal he is

one that made me laugh. >> okay.so what effects the hope that your book will have on other people that follow the same path in terms of these programs and prison advocacy? >> humanizing chosen. the children, children.and humanize, humanize black and latino adolescents.because we see them or society sees them as adults. as older than their youth and children. and while science has proven that their prefrontal cortex is still developing so they are going to be reckless, they are going to be of noxious, they will be narcissistic, they will be loud, ill get on your nerves and they are going to push boundaries, they are going to test of 30. like every other adolescent. if you are white, black, asian, it is a natural stage

development. like the terrible twos. which is called separation individuation. that is when a two-year-old is trying to establish their independence.and they are walking with her mommy and having tantrums. the second stage of that development is when they are teenagers. select the terrible twos, you have the terrible teens. so we really need to wrap our minds around this date temporary insanity stage and national development that they will grow out of. maybe we can humanize them instead of criminalizing them. >> right. i should have done this in the beginning. [applause] can you tell us where you came from, how you got here? you know, what do you see in the future? >> well, i was born and raised in philadelphia. you know, i just want to thank the rockefeller grant my one woman show. [applause]

>> it addresses mass incarceration and is being produced and will be premiering in september. look out for that. i'm just really, the book was released last week so i am enjoying what this is. it is a new rodeo for me. i am on stage performing and now i'm an author. like, what is this? i am kind of getting used to this. and i have another book that is rumbling in me. it is gnawing at me. i don't know! >> what will that be about? >> i don't know. left not just you know - >> okay, okay. >> that kids, the children.>> is probably the last question i will ask you and then we will take questions out there. you know there is a guess, some of the work i am doing at

columbia university. we are developing a campaign to amend the punishment clause of the 13th amendment. basically make sure that when you go to prison, hopefully that will begin the conversation to really look at real reentry. because there is no reentry really at this time. when i got out of prison in california under $200. and a bus ticket. in new york i think get $40. >> yes, on a metro card. >> dispense -- they spend 60 or $70,000 to keep you in prison. -- thinking about a campaign that highlights not just mass incarceration but reentry. because they rate 70 percent. so the 30 percent that make it out here, nobody ever really

cares about it. some of them. i mean i've been out of prison 30 years. >> god bless. [laughter] >> can you talk about i guess, in theater form, what kind of campaign when you see if you were performing a piece on stage. how would you frame that? i so you do a visiting room. >> that is the show being produced. >> i saw you do the visiting room at the citizens. >> that's right. >> so just briefly kind of talk about how you might get something like that out with regards to highlighting mass incarceration, reentry, 70 percent recidivism, 30 percent that do not go back. >> you know, what really is important for me is again coming giving back to the

humanity of the people who are behind the walls. because we see the headlines or we see the case number and we see the statistics. so we see the numbers but we do not see the people. we do not connect the numbers to actual human beings. a mother, father, daughter, son, sister, uncle or grandfather. we don't connect those statistics to people. so as an artist i try, my intention is to humanize those statistics. because if you can, these people, art if you can reach people's hearts through art then you can begin to change people's perspective. and you know, it's not, there's no one single answer. >> right. >> there are so many layers. jobs in counseling and you have posttraumatic stress for a soldier. you have a saying people coming home from prison, it is posttraumatic prison system or

slave syndrome as they call it. so there needs to be a whole rethinking or reimagining of how we can be more healing in our approach. to dealing with this diabolical system that is just showing up families and communities and children. >> that is deep. >> give her a round of applause. [applause] i guess we are opening up to questions. >> what are some of the elements or skills that you took from that and were able to harness and really bring to the classroom? >> my theater voice. i give them theater!

you know. select the scene with christopher. i mean, i came for my diaphragm and it just shook the walls. i was like okay! and so, that was something i use. also, i used creative writing. and poetry was a way to really get them engaged and with each other. i would take some of their, one of the things i love to do is take some of their writing and i would read it and because i am a performer, i knew how to make it sound really fly, and so the kids say who is that? that stove, who was that? the kids would be like i wrote that! and so now you have them affirming each other. and you say okay, this is a thing. so i would use my poetry skills to make their poetry sound

super fly. [inaudible question] do you know of any former students have been able to read this and have any feedback? >> i have a couple of people that - of course all of the names have been changed in the book but i'm in contact with one or two. i will let them know. >> great. [inaudible question] >> what you think is the best outcome that i can get for once a week? it's an area called second

chance. i think it might be in place of - >> solitary. >> yes. there is a lot of stuff going on there and there is a certain amount of turnover. kind of like every day is a new day. sometimes you know there is always someone have to reintroduce myself. i've done some teaching in the board of education. not a lot. more artists and school type of stuff. i cannot even really give them a book to write. i mean it gives them little pieces of looseleaf. there is no kind of like get the ball rolling in a big way. but some days are good. people are engaged. and i feel good.

one young man -- what do you think when you're in a situation? >> i was in that situation most recently. i was working doing a program and in that environment and what helped in that situation because there is high turnover in a lot of distraction, the ones who had could get to right, i would go home and type up their poems and just typing it up and putting it on a piece of paper making it look official will reengage them. then they take it they show the co's. something like that makes it official. >> i'm excited to read the

book. phenomenal. we talked about reentry a lot. where was talk about reentry in any type of service, how about free entry? working with kids that i see in the jails. talk about what they feel about the situation they are in. what you think in working with many of those kids, what do they say about what led them the environment they are in in jail? >> their environment, you know, cash money, wanting to be cool and i think pre-entry which is a great thing to think about, is like they have organizations like they have something called giant step.

and they are ex-offenders and ex-gang leaders in the coming to rikers island. sos. having them go to the schools and talk to the kids who are you know, flirting with gangs are in gangs and having that interaction, that dialogue before they do something that will land them behind the wall. so, yeah. with some prominent figures to have - what is a plan of action for people he jeff sessions in the future? anything? [laughter] >> they are evil. instead of focusing on that we

have to focus on community. because if we focus on them that they suck our energy so how can you focus on community and do what we do in our community and reinvest in our community? because jeff sessions, you know, a snake is going to be a snake. the devil will operate like the devil operates.i'm not going to fight the devil and go to focus on my community, my children, my kids. that is where and go to focus my energy and building that because that will be the i think, i was think of the white supremacy so focus on our community, focus on each other, that becomes the inoculation for the disease that is racism. so we can -- >> i have a question. full disclosure, [inaudible]

i want to hear what your experience was. it is difficult as a person of color and is a prosecutor. like you said, you want to humanize and that is something i'm very mindful of. a lot of my defendants are 15, 16 or 17. it is very difficult. and my question to you is that you talk about this system that we now have in place, what would you say to somebody who is in law enforcement to get that started? because it starts, it is one thing to see a defense attorney. but it is nothing to actually have the power to say i don't want the kids to go to jail, i wanted to go to a program. what would you say to someone to get that started? >> you know, i do not know what i would say. i just know that there are some things that are in place that

are working. there is, i think it is called community justice? where it is like, restorative justice. yes, restorative justice. where the person who committed the crime and the person who was the victim of the crime, they get together. of course, monitored and there is this healing process. and so there are ways to begin. i do not have the answer. and i even said that in the book. i do not have the answers but i know that just being here and just having that consciousness is a way that you are working with the kids or you know, putting them away, right? so i know it is hard but i had a conversation last week with an assistant district attorney. i was able to get an audience for one of my kids.

and i talked to her. she wanted to give him 15 years and it was kind of insane. and we were trying to - but i understand why. and so, in that conversation she was able to, i was able to because i knew him and had a personal relationship with him being a program counselor. she saw a little bit. so the needle moved a little bit.she said okay, i'm open to second chances. close enough but no cigar. so i don't know. i do not know what could be said. i just know that the conversations need to start. and thank you for coming. yeah, thank you. that is huge. a couple more? this gentleman. >> in prison there are programs

for college education and that kind of thing. but in general i am guessing there are a lot more turnover waiting for hearings and trials. so did that affect the situation in the classroom? in other words someone could be here today and gone tomorrow. >> yes. definitely being in the gel environment it is transiently got a lot of turnover. it made it hard. it was a challenge. you do your best every day. new kid comes in, he might be there for a day or a week or three months. so sometimes i had to repeat. but repetition is good with adolescents. any type of repetition for the kid that had the first time it's new to them or sinks in deeper self repetition is a good thing. [inaudible] >> absolutely.

>> thank you so much for this wonderful book. i think it's important to people that don't work and the criminal justice department and it demonstrates how this works especially with education. so i guess i would wish everyone to be this but if you could choose a specific section of the population to say this is mandatory reading, where do you think that the biggest impact could be made?

>> and i'm here for the conversation, and i'm part of a hip-hop theater company that does work -- [inaudible] and my brother just actually got home from reicher's on -- liker's on march 3rd and wasn't actually told when he was going to leave. i guess i just want to say we are actually doing a play next week on the stories that we collected from my family. and so i wanted to, i guess, put out there, like, what do you think about -- because i hear you in part saying you have to

kind of find the young people who are in relationship to the book, so what do you feel like you want to tell them about -- [inaudible] like, how do you think you can transition and say this is -- i hear your story, i shared your story, and this is what i want to leave you with. what are some sentiments you want to leave with them be they might not read this book? >> i ran into one about a month, two months ago on court street. and the book wasn't out yet. it was being published, but it wasn't physically out. and i told him, i said, you know, you're one of the main -- i wrote a book, and you're one of the main characters. he just blushed, you know? [laughter] so i would just tell them, you know, they're important, their stories, they have a voice. and if i wrote a book, they could write a book. i always encourage my kids, i say, write a book, you know? you have a voice, you know?

>> girl. >> you know, the whole hip-hop industry is based on their voice. >> yeah. >> so it doesn't have to be a rap, it could be a story. and i have some of them who actually started writing a book, like danny gunns, and i talk about them in the book. danny -- [inaudible] >> i recently started working in the jails and muchappreciate your book and have been learning a lot. thank you much. >> thank you. >> my question is the plan to close liker's island -- ryker's island, plans to cut the population in half, it also calls for cutting the -- [inaudible] by half and increasing the ratios of civilian staff including program -- [inaudible] so i'm wondering if you have thoughts on kind of what the program looks like. like, i think, you know, we have this idea that programs, civilian staff need to be a more important part of jail culture and what's happening in the jails. i guess if you have any thoughts

on what that looks like, what is an effective program going to be to engage these communities. >> i'm so glad you asked that, but because i just came out of working for the department of corrections as a program counselor. so they got rid of solitary confinement for all 16 or 17-year-olds, and then -- >> and 18 through 21 is. >> well, that was the first phase, 16 and 17. that was the first year. then the second stage was 18-21, the young adults. so they didn't have anything in place. so in comes me and 0 of my cowork -- 20 of my coworkers parachuting in -- [laughter] with programs to do something, something different. so i have a lot to say about that. that was -- and that's part of my second book. [laughter] [applause] yes. >> thank you so much. you probably -- you won't

realize for a while the impact that you're having. as someone who did crimes and was saved because my godmother -- [inaudible] which had a very similar skill set to as to what you were doing at ryker's. you said someone write a book, obviously, boom, someone did those things. you realized as a kid what you were doing was crazing city, and -- crazy, and you realize i was going to ask you, how do you plan on maintaining relationships? because that can be a a lot. someone who tries to work with the youth, how to be attached and make myself intact. you can be so involved, you can kind of lose yourself, and i've seen -- >> uh-huh. >> i got lucky because my family was, okay, we're going to get you out of this and put you in this. how do you plan on maintaining yourself while still trying to maintain others?

>> i don't know -- >> that's important. >> it is important, it's very important. >> thank you. >> and thank you for asking that question. i had that realization today, because this morning i was in court, supreme court advocating for another kid. then i had to to type up a letter for another kid, and i e-mailed it to the lawyer, but i wasn't, you know, sure that the lawyer would bring it to court, so i made essure i printed out a -- made sure i printed out a copy and met his mother on flushing avenue to give her the copy, and now i'm here. i haven't figured out the balance. i just know that -- >> [inaudible] >> -- my spirit has to say to stay connected to the kids in some way. it's a spiritual kind of thing, you know, whether it's one or two or five or ten. i'm going to always be connected. i don't know how to balance it. i haven't figured that out yet. i would like to, you know, be able to create system kind of -- some kind of, you know, let's

say my book becomes a tv show. [laughter] then i would like to create some work for my kids to be involved in the industry. >> right on. >> i'd like to bring them along with me. okay, come on. you're going to intern with me. uh-huh, don't steal nothing. [laughter] >> want to wrap it up there? >> okay. yeah, y'all been great. [cheers and applause] >> thank you guys for coming out -- [inaudible] [cheers and applause] >> booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> well, i'm reading a few ok