discusses her journey from prisoner to advocate for juvenile sentencing reform and historian richard frank provides a history of the asia-pacific war from 1937 tonight. >> .. >> him welcome to this evenings -- welcome to this evenings screen showing. to this evenings tisch college speaker series featuring a conversation with cyntoia brown-long, and author, activist for criminal justice reform. i want to thank molly you just heard from. it was her suggestion we bring

cyntoia the campus. she was instrumental in developing the program and for two nights event. so thank you, molly. [applause] i also want to thank josh byrnes and all my colleagues for this work and some other events throughout the year. i'd like to acknowledge or that a dozen cosponsors of tonight event. there are too many toea name individual but i hope you saw them and recognize on the screen for we started. it's gratifying so many organizations from across the university joined us to support this event. it demonstrates the concern and commitment of summary students, faculty and staff issues will discuss with tonight guest. we understand these are challenging topics that touch on difficult personal experiences. i want to encourage you to support each other and to seek support from offices might care

and others at times who are well prepared and committed to dealing with these issues. as you saw in introductory video we are celebrating tisch college 20th anniversary. kish was foun in 2000 with the purpose of advancing tufts university commitment to civic life. our mission then and now is to ensure all tufts tubes across all schools and academic disciplines acquire the knowledge, skills and the values to v become leaders and problem solvers in their b communities near and far. tisch college begin with a single student program now known as the tisch scholars. are there any tisch scholars are tonight? give them a shout out. today we offer and support dozens of initiatives for students it at out of the classroom, on campus and around the world. we also are home to a nationally recognized research center that

studies use voting, civic education and other aspects of civic and democratic life. and our committee partnerships always a central element of our work has evolved and expanded to encompass more communities and broader impact. a distinguished speaker series began seven years ago with a visit by senator elizabeth warren. a bit of irony today. today other tisch college events have grown to match -- i didn't -- we we're honored to host her here. but today other tisch college events have grown to match the breadth ands scope of her worker were excited about this year's light up of visitors and guest speakers. we hosted a lunch about the black power movement with professor vonda williams emulated vichy will host congressman joe kennedy. congressman eric swalwell to talk about impeachment, veteran

journalist chris wallace, political strategist scott jennings and many other scholars and leaders whose work was for our views, child and some of our beliefs, and encourage participation in civic life. with this diversity speakers with what to highlight different ways by which people can impact the issues they care about and help build abo more just and equitable world. tonight guest personifies that idea and remindsin us that from humble beginnings, are outside the halls ofut power, all of us can learn from our lived experiences and use them to become a force for change. cyntoia brown-long is an author, activist and advocate for criminal justice reform and for victims of human trafficking. she was born to a young mother who struggled withgl alcohol abe and who is a victim of sex trafficking. as a teenager, cyntoia became a

victim of trafficking herself, and at 16 she was arrested for killing a man who solicited her for sex. victoria was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without parole. the trafficker was never arrested. in prison, since we experienced the profound personal and spiritual transformation. a documentary called me facing life, cyntoia's story, one of her experiences. as result many celebrities, clergy and other influential people begin advocating on her behalf. the hashtag free cyntoia went viral. eventually persons was commuted by then governor bill hassler of tennessee. on august of last year, after 15 years behind bars, cyntoia was released from prison. since then cyntoia has become a powerful advocate for criminal

justice reform, especially for women and children in american prisons. she published a memoir "free cyntoia: my search for redemption in the american prison system" in the american prison system which she wrote while she was incarcerated. she and her husband found the foundation for justice and freedom and mercy, and in january of this year the institute of justice recognized cyntoia as one of the best on justice reform honorees. she was also a 2020 nominee of the naacp literary image award. joining our guest on stage tonight is professor hilary binda, i tisch college senior fellow at the founding director of the tufts university prison initiative at tisch college. i mentioned earlier tisch college has expanded the scope of its educational programs, and it's one of our new initiative where spatial data. hilary manages the college

degree program at the t massachusetts correctional institute, institution in concord which is ahi partnership between tufts university and bunker hill community college to award an associate degree to group of incarcerated men in the program. and as part the prison initiative, hilary also runs an inside outside course at the maxim secreted prison in massachusetts the witch tufts tubes and incarcerated individuals take a course together. her currentre research is in the field of higher education and incarceration, she's a senior lecturer at tufts and she directs the program in women's gender and sexuality studies. hilary is a strong advocate for the importance of bringing higher education in the prison, and we're grateful she joins us tonight in conversation with our guest. please join me in welcoming professor hilary binda and our

distinguished speaker cyntoia brown-long. [applause] i want to start by thanking you again it is such an honor to be here with you in such honor to have you here and some first and have the first of many. hillary: i also want to thank you for your beautiful book and sharing your journey with us and educating us on his use of criminal justice system. in your particular journey and on face. i think for people who have a name yet read her book, i want to start by acknowledging have recently your free.

august right. 318 in the morning. so i'm wondering if you want to share with us a kind of first all of the first night you get to experience like that first meal. or something. cyntoia: everything is pretty much at first. my first meal actually is a can of ravioli. hillary: how was that. cyntoia: at 318 in the morning, great. hillary: said before we start talking about your story i wanted to ask you if you can reflect on what it's been like telling your story. i can only imagine going over some of the really difficult details can be hard where maybe

also very helpful noise. cyntoia: definitely been a blessing to be able to sit and talk about my story. coming from my background, phone a lot of us don't have a voice. our experiences, they don't count. sitting have the opportunity to sit and talk about that is incredible. and tell everyone, my testimony and what god did for me each and every time it's just a blessing. hilary: you talk about one point in your book about your trials and being kind of a battle, narrative of a not really about telling the truth. but he was telling the better story. i wonder if there is a way that you getting that kino kind of final word here shipping your story. cyntoia: i've come to find that out. a lot of times when you're in

the court system you think that i just explain this and let them know what happened, this will is what will take place. i just present this case law, to this court they will rule my favor. but that is not what happened. what happened was whoever has the best narrative, whoever can put in the best performance in the courtroom, that is who wins. nine times out of ten it will be the prosecution. so that was a very hard hurdle to overcome. select said, i serve a god who always has life. hilary: one of the things that you do so powerfully in the book is convey the sense of yourself as a child particularly in the early part of the book. and as a teenager, and someone who was left was living in searching for love and independence just like all teenagers do. as a job.

can you also talk about ways that he repeatedly were victimized and how long it took you, i think until 2017, ten years into your sentence, he had not really identified for your experience work as victimization. and as trafficking of the victim. rather than the teen prostitute that the media was presenting use that as. if you can talk about why you think it took so long. for you and so many women i imagine experience that horrible reality. he was in the same, about people of had their childhood taken away from them. cyntoia: i don't think we know the mainspring for me, i had several adults who i was ron who put me in this position.

i had grown women were teaching me that my body was a commodity. it was a means to get something for men and is completely unacceptable. and to expect in return for my companionship for something of that nature. an evolved around pleasing a man. i was 13 years old. that is really what started me on my trajectory to be more vulnerable to being exploited. i was told to be or these things were normal. so my world had be reshaped. this is how relationships work between men and girls. i was a little girl not a woman. but that's how the skills so that by the time met a man who convinced me that we were in a relationship, meant that i would go out and have with men for money and bring it back to him. i thought that was normal. in society that i was in at that

point, do not call me a trafficking. i was called teen prostitute. these were my choices made of my own and there was never any conversation about the adult that it taught me these things the world view that have been skewed to do these things and not from the people i was around, not from the court system. a long time for that understanding just might really have a lot of work now still. i cannot tell you just how many times i was told that i was bad. and that i was just hot instead of, the fact that i was a child. and i was being misled. hilary: the media trail of his early years and willing incarceration, was pretty horrific.

given since how the media might handle this situation better. it sounds like you do. but healthy or have things gotten better the last 15 years or so for ten years. you think. cyntoia: my particular case, they have definitely shifted. when i first was arrested, was painted as a monster. the media referred to me as a teen prostitute. and i think it was a dangerous individual and obviously now things have changed. some idiot refers to in some cases about child prostitution, and its sexual exploitation. it is changing but there is still work that needs to be done. in terms of the criminal justice

aspect of it. i don't see much has changed. me personally, it is change for think a lot of times young kids, the pictures are posted up on the news and they are painted as is horrible individual. maybe some of the circumstances that they may have been involved in at the time, it's a rush to judgment. i think that is unfortunate. we limit country where we are supposed to be innocent until we are proven guilty. hilary: i'm not sure any of us expected but in theory, one is incarcerated or entered into the system and the rehabilitation begins. cyntoia: sounds good. hilary: it was wondering if you could talk about the reality. in the traumatizing effect of getting caught in the web of the

system and whether there are specific ways and how that impacted your self and your ethic and to see. cyntoia: the reality was that from the time that we set foot into the facility, we were treated as we are there to be warehoused. when a nurse embedded strict control, roles everything a day. the only time our rehabilitation was an issue, was when there was a federal grant at stake some kind of funding that was going to human but as part of receiving the funding there had to be certain programs in place. even then, is how much was ever necessary to get by and to comply with whatever standards that they had set for that grant. we definitely need to work more on treating people from the time they walk into the door as we need to be focused on how we get

them to the other side of this. and to become the best self. what can we do to make sure that this person has a successful reentry into society. hilary: as we talk about the processes going through the multiple trials in preparation for various trials, you also described you are working with light red to was really on your side and try to help splitting and in that case, did not want you to tell your story and was essentially silencing you. that really struck me is not really personal, is something systemic about entering the system and been kind of obliterated. cyntoia: the entire nature of the court proceedings, trial proceedings, so adversarial and it's all about strategy and it's all about this is what they have and

this is how we're going to spend it. yes, i understand that this is what the truth is and this is what's happened. george is going to go with this. and doesn't always happen with the defendant, happens a lot with the victims pretty soon of victims who both of the process and at the end they think they are going to get some sort of closure, some sense of vengeance and they're left with the defendant in the game. there is no real restoration, note the building of what has been done. hilary: just so much, your stories thriving against all odds pretty can you turn to some of the more positive things that happened once you were in the system. specifically thinking about your college experience. i was telling you earlier, very moving for me and i think many of us on involved in that work is tough. to hear you talk about with the

role in the university program was in your life. can you share some of that in the students with the rules and the students will they like. cyntoia: absolutely. those inside out program. hilary: you are working with a lot of university students. cyntoia: is part of their salt. which is serving and learning together. so does the program initiative and i was four years and to starting my sentence when the opportunity presented itself to be part of the program. and to jump through a lot of hurdles. i'm so glad that in it. i was expecting the bible further my education and get something that will look good like a before the court and before the governor and really looks good on paper but once i got into the class, what i realized as i had been into another community. i was in a place that all throughout my early life in

public school, my own community, and always been made to feel that because of things that i had through, because of things that i had done, i was just written off. i was no good. the court process, just amplified that some for me to just be welcomed into this community of people they didn't see any of that. they just on me. they loved me. that was redeeming beyond anything that experience. they saw something in me that was was worth salvaging and investing in. it helped me to believe in myself and i started excelling in everything that i put my mind to. i ended up getting a four-point oh every single class. [applause]. four . oh. all away. [applause]. and prior to be in the program, the highest level of education

was seventh grade. hilary: what you think the students, he talked about being accepted for those interactions like. i don't know if there's a specific example of a moment when they treated you a certain way. so the university itself. cyntoia: a lot of affluent people send their children there. [laughter]. lot of these kids compared very privileged backgrounds. although they were the same age as me, they were completely different from my own. you go into it thinking you're going to expect one thing but what i found was we had more in common than i had ever thought.

it was really cool to be able to sit and have these conversations, tennessee that they were interested in learning how life was for my perspective. how can they be more respectful of that of my experience. how can they be more helpful of changing the prison system. and whenever they walked out of there, they left knowing that this could happen to me too. so those that much more invested try to change things. hilary: do you see as a result of that experience or you see a role without a new future. cyntoia: i thought about law school. when will i have time for it. let's come out and speaking with people. i love education.

it is very rewarding. hilary: you are educating and arguing already. i wanted to ask you also about the really powerful role as you quite in the booklet you are your adopted mom, in your life and in your journey. i wonder if you could talk about that. how was she part of it. cyntoia: so my mother adopted me when i was just eight months old. the only mother i had ever known. i always thought to really just giving the life of any mom would want to give a child. even when i struggle, she was always there. try to figure out how can i help. she would always ask me what to do. and obviously the gave her no answers that were helpful. but she tried. she tried very hard. and she was there. so when i was arrested, and it

so that all of the people that i was hanging around and teaching me all of these things that now 16 -year-old girl should never learn. they were nowhere to be found. the only person left standing was a mother. she been my best friend from that moment. she came to visit me every other week in prison and we are still close. her and my husband, on the closest things to me. hilary: she got to know your husband before you got out i was very struck by but everything goes wrong in their life, their mother may not even know what about it. and you just at least at this point, and as you read the book, have such a loving relationship with your mom.

there was very powerful moments when your talk about when he to the max and you were behind plexiglas and he felt not angry the guilty. i don't know. you were an incredible child and you are an incredible person. cyntoia: always. [laughter]. went through a lot of those things, i think everybody in their fields like that. your parents don't understand. i thought my mom was ancient. she could not understand what life in school was like for me when i told her things that i was going through. i felt like she was really not listening to what i was saying. soy started keeping things from her. she really couldn't be there is always needed to be. that positive role model in my

life. so i spent time in my life pushing her away. but as a time when is there sitting in jail, and indent everything under the sun to try to push my self for their way for my mother but there she was still standing and she was the one who was there for me. and that made me realize that, well, i have this wrong. hilary: is it fair to say that not all women serving time have a person like that in their life. cyntoia: that is very fair. a lot of people in prison, they do have any family, or children, it is very hard to maintain a relationship. you pretty much have a relationship over a paid phone call when you can afford it. it is very hard to parent or play a role in your family over telephone friday that's a lot of

people's experience. it very hard for a lot of families to be able to afford to do you can drive up to the prison. if you don't get hassled and somehow future visitations, the restricted by the administration so there are a lot of barriers. and they serve to break up families when it comes to the prison system. many women do not have that, and especially as long as my mom there for me. hilary: decreasing number of visitors. i was wondering if you would share a little bit, i will say just working in prison for the last seven years or so, has brought me to question like nothing else in life up to this point and know that has been in norma's part of your journey.

and i wonder if you could talk about the role of faith in your journey. cyntoia: toy speaking with a group of students earlier and i was asked that same question. psychical them, faith is the only reason that i am sitting here with y'all today. i've tried everything one is trying to get out of prison. but my faith and my attorneys. very experienced attorneys and each time, that failed. i look back i thought i'm must have lost faith in man. and then i met my husband who told me hudson you are getting out of prison. this is a time when all of my prayers had been denied. he said are you going to trust what man says that god says. i said you know what, i'm going to try trusting in what god says pretty introduced me to jesus.

as introduced me because although i had been told about jesus, i've been told about someone who died on the cross and if i believed in him, i would have life. i never really knew him. i never really got to know him. i never knew what having a relationship with him meant. i never really understood his own journey as he went through things. and it really got to know him from a whole different perspective and it changed everything. having a relationship was different about anything else even growing up in a baptist church about faith. as i said that is been my faith was truly born was then. hilary: and as a christian, christian university). cyntoia: i went to christian university, any talk about god, i was so

angry at that point. i spent so much time praying to god to free me from prison and a southerner was still sitting there and i had prayed that in not given life in prison but i was. but i was kindness as an adult i can praying. and i kept thinking god is not real. there is no one who is listening to me. and i went around and until that to anyone who would listen. the cub was not real. but i was proven wrong. i saw that just because we think things are supposed to go a certain way, some things that we see, do not lineup. it does not mean that he does not have a plan. he always has a plan, a plan for each and every one of our lives. you can't see florida's leading us but i promise you implants for good. the role for our lives is good

pretty made a believer out of me. hilary: we talked about seeing god's community. talk a little bit about that. cyntoia: this is an attorney, so when i talk about my faith. it has not always been that way. gives a long searching process. and it can thinking this must be what this is. but when i was really got into the community of believers, the first time that had really had an interaction with people who professed to believe in jesus where my experience was completely different. but they look to me, how jesus walked around and look at people. they were considered to be the lowest of the low. and that's who he wanted to talk with and have dinner with.

you're no different than this guy over here. like i love you just the same and they treated me that way. it was a completely different experience to see that, i do belong to a community. i am not an outcast. i don't need to be thrown away. that was powerful. hilary: you kind of alluded to this earlier but it seemed like your personal growth, your relationship to love, particularly romantic love in your relationship with your faith into god. they were all kind of intertwined. as a moment when in the book where you describe something into her husband jamie said and you describe it as, do not put me on a pedestal.

it is not me who should be on a pedestal. cyntoia: in very different version of love than what you had experienced as a child. hilary: you talk about the intertwining of love and god printed. cyntoia: speaking earlier about how i was told that everything about my existing was involved to please a man. and i was supposed to put them in their needs on the pedestals. i was always taught that that was not what i was supposed to do as a woman. and then i met jamie. and he said wait a minute. that's not what this is. you don't live your life for me, you live your life for christ. and thought wow. that is completely different. he showed me the difference of being with someone was led by their own ambitions was led by how they feel they should treat

other people and being with someone is live led by their love for christ. it is completely different. that is what really showed me that god but this man in my life. all the time i was looking for a man, i was looking for my on ideas about what relationship was but he gave me the person who was created for me. and it was completely different than anything that i have ever encountered. some with my best friend and partner rated this is my husband, he is everything. it's awesome. any here. hilary: i wonder if you could talk a little bit about what you are doing now. you did a lot of work as you sort of in some instance that your vendor freedom before you were released. i even knew you were going to be free. and you started working on

juvenile sentencing's laws, a reform bill into the safe and having passed the first time, the baby continued that. the design is juvenile facilities, really thinking about the protocols about how to work with juveniles who get caught in the system. he also talked about your project for experience is developing glitter, gosh. i think i am forgetting something. cyntoia: exploitation. hilary: did you hear that. i am wondering if you could talk about the importance of your speaking. and sort of how you see your role as an advocate, and activist, and the world going forward. it's only been a few months but

you're already involved. so like you said, the begin wave in prison. cyntoia: i went to the life program, and they help me to understand that this is that is given this in life in prison it does not mean that my life is over. i can choose how i would live my life rated for me, i wanted my life to have meaning. i did not want to just lay there and be done. so when i saw that there was things needed to be changed, i wanted to see what i can do about it. and so that's what i started doing. i started having conversations with people on the next you know i'm sitting in the prison with a state rep. talking about a bill that is going to present on my behalf. to change the sentencing law to juveniles. i was in tennessee. very conservative state.

not very keen on reform. as yet to pass. we are still working and is been five years in the making. so many opportunities like that, design and redesign the juvenile facility for davidson county has yet to be built in it will be built soon. being able to put myself out there and being or feeling empowered. i have a voice and what i have to say matters. i can have a seat at the table two. is made all of the difference. hilary: thank you for all of that. i have so many questions and was just signaled though that that was the last. so i will open it now to the audience. i will ask people to be sure you're asking a question, not repeat questions and be concise. if you would just raise your

hand, will have a microphone brought to you. guest: first, thank you for coming here. it is wonderful all you've done. you have gone through quite a transformation that happened. with their help along the way to address what that would look like. if you have spiritual advice. was it something that just happened without it. how did that understanding come about. the understanding of god for you. cyntoia: this really good question.

in my own encounter. i didn't know what it was. i had these dreams i started having. prophetic dreams where i would dream something it would happen i cannot explain that with my usual explanations that this is not real. this does not exist and there is nothing going on here. so i spent a lot of time thinking, weight minute. and that really just sort of planted the seed. a lot of seeds were planted. god has taken me through a lot of processes for those seeds to grow. a sentiment husband along to moderate. it really helped my faith to be born but it was definitely a long process in a long drawn out process. we all have our own journeys. now go through phases. we may be trying to figure out, who is god. is god real. in some of us struggle with

getting angry. i struggled with being angry. he definitely has a plan when i had the opportunity to sit and be still. and really focus my eyes on him, he will speak to you. he spoke to me and he will speak to you too. [background sounds]. guest: firstly, thank you for sharing your story. and the transformational work you're doing in saving the community. i briefly introduce the house present initiative offering an associate degree for 21 men in the security prison. it is now working to offer a bachelors degree. when the major civic studies in

arts and sciences. our students want to have a positive impact on their communities while there still incarcerated and is the released in this major gives them the tools to do that. the mission statement says that the dedicated to the application knowledge providing transformative information and increases collaborative environment. having heard this and having done education prison, and the profound impact of this can have on someone. what about a role in upholding the mission statement or in general. cyntoia: i think that every university in essex to try to better their community. the try to equip young people to be successful. you have to acknowledge in the

population. you have to acknowledge population of people for their part of your community as well. what about them. i know my own experience, the small group of people who are actually in a fight for it. they currently don't receive any funding from the university that will go a long way. to stand up and say we know that there's these conversations going on about reform and reentry. you know that equipping people and giving them the tools they need to succeed is good for all of society. it touches them and we want to be a part of the solution. so actually going to go into the business and educate these people i'm going to help. i think that goes along way. i think it's absolutely in keeping with the mission statement. so the question is, how committed to the statement are

they. [applause]. guest: i've been so completely engrossed in your story on twitter. it's nice to meet you in person in a just kind of wanted to know historically maybe in a different way in american, there's an additional question of black men and women who are in prison compared to whiteman and women. i just wanted you a thought your experience was. how do you think like influence in the relationship you had with your attorneys, and the judges in general. cyntoia: i came to see that it was not just what race you are. whether you have the money to pay for things. it mattered who you know. it came from and so many

different factors that were used to degrade people in the lower/printed so classes of individuals. i saw them a lot. a lot of the women in the hispanic population was in prison. they did not get access to educational services. they were just expected to learn english. and they're not given any kind of resources. no translators for medical services. the list goes on and on. there were still white women came from situations who had abusive husband. and their stories were never told and they were given life sentences for defending themselves. i think with a woman, so many different factors are used. to put people down and undeserving of justice. that's unfortunate.

everybody's life matters, everybody's voice matters. it is ridiculous, justice and for all. guest: thank you so much for coming tonight sharing your story. the question is asked about the mission statement. in regards to the bachelor degree at the prison in massachusetts. faculty across the university to try to answer and figure out some of the questions that they might have been doing this potential expansion of the program. and although the main kara content and social changes in an abstract way. what about the ability imagine the academic. [inaudible]. having been a teacher's associate at this program, i see

they often surpass what might non- incarcerated classmates can do. so at the intersection of education and incarceration, how do you think the experiences of our students and those who have similar stories backgrounds would further their academic abilities. cyntoia: like you said, the professors would all say, they saw that we were working harder than some of the outside students. maybe just enough to get by. a lot of them, i only want to do this because my parents want to do and i feel like i have to do it. i would rather party for those of us who had been denied it. and we had no kind of

stimulation in prison. this was just really hard focus to do something more. a lot of the programs, there were the first ones in the family had ever gone to college. they were always told it was not for them. it is never an option. the more hungry for it. we could encourage the outside students. like i took this for granted. in the learning experience, having that real world experience. same things from beyond the textbooks in the lectures. it was far more rewarding for them. i love what you are doing. if all of you could go out and advocate for the program, just how you're doing. speaking the truth. continue to call it out.

guest: thank you so much for sharing your testimony. the boldness and the bravery that you have. thank you for sharing that. i wanted to ask a question, one of the systems of trafficking. you mentioned that your trafficker wasn't rested not arrested. can you give us a little bit more. and trafficking giving that this billion dollar industry there's a lot going on there. and operates the business. so what if your are thinking about in terms of partnering with organizations and solutions. the trafficker and from the top down. what does that look like. what are some ways that support and help in a way that we can decrease the demand.

and really work through this broken world. see how to restore it. cyntoia: when you said supply and demand, there's a lot of talk about decriminalizing the buying of. and whatever it open season like that yes even more people being motivated to exploit young girls. it is definitely not supporting that. it is definitely not single were not going to punish the people who are purchasing. they are part of the problem. supply and demand. a lot of people don't know is under federal statute, not only people who are encouraged young girls, to go out and selling bodies, but to people who purchase them for. there legally traffickers as well. john's, they are traffickers. educating people on that, then

something i am personally committed to. in the glitter project, is on trafficking and exploitation and rape. it committed to dialogue that talks about that. that is all correlation between a lot of the things that we understand that is normal and okay. and the social norm that i grew up with that i see now. i contributed to my understanding of what it was like to me as a young girl to be with men. it's a that we need to be having. they glorify the commodification of women's bodies. that is a conversation that we need to have. guest: is glitter a tennessee-based at this point can we talk about your expanding it in some way. cyntoia: it is definitely going to be expanded. were actually working on that. glitter, as the grass roots initiative.

you can leave here tonight and you can talk to somebody about something that you've learned. you can read this book and talk about something they learned is how it is about educating one another. the only way we can change and reprogram the understanding of what they are saying in our society. i came across a study the sender that 57 percent of men thought that certain girls prostitute themselves. and if these are people on the frontline of defending young girls from being exploited, like that is a problem. that is an issue. that is really what my advice or what i would like to be change. we have to start talking about what the issues are. guest: high in thank you for coming tonight. i'm sure they talked about how social media really major story

go viral. want to know how to do feel to get out and see your story being told to social media. what is the level of accuracy during how you start was cold. in the future for advocacy. cyntoia: social media is not always accurate i think we all know that. [laughter]. but for me, what was important was there were people having the conversations. and it was nothing me and about me personally. but i thought about all of the young girls who were currently going through it when i went through. i think the women were still imprisoned, people forget about them. and he was just right those experiences also would never assault somebody talking my own situation, i said well, they're shedding light for them. so that has the potential to create change.

but you have to take a step further than just having a conversation redirected as the second question which is what can i do to help. and then you actually do it. for me it was really promising and is really helpful. and i really hope that there a lot of the things that we see these people going off about on social media when it comes to the system. when it comes to individual faces, it translates into changes in the law. the changes in the individual cases, it translates into changes in the law, and changes in the practices that can benefit the people who don't necessarily see their names. >> last question. >> i was going too follow up but is a some else -- great. >> i have been following your story for like years, but i can't even imagine the devastation i would feel receiving a life sentence in prison. i was wondering how did you not

fall into a cycle of bitterness and how did you not feel like getting up and how did you turn this horrible situation into advocacy for yourself and for other people? >> that's a a great question. it was devastating. it was devastating to be told my life was going over before i would ever have driver's license. i had never been to a prompt or homecoming and all of a sudden they are telling me my life was done. simply devastating. there was something inhe me that was defiant that said i'm not about to allow these people to tell me my life is over. i'm not done. i'm not done. i'm going to continue fighting and a going to keep fighting. so definitely that resilience. that comes from the lord, like i did note at the time but that was the lord pushing the on and keeping me going, but it was definitely a because when i look back i can tell you how i i consider in the i of sound mind and be able to just not have

that bitterness. it's nothing but him. him and forgiveness. >> your very generous about women i mean come in your acknowledgmentss you and by god, but before god you name some of the people who were your community insight in sight andl inside i assume. i'm wondering if you can say something about the complexity of freedom, given that? >> for me, a lot of people only talk about being free when i was beinged a costly. they talked about what they're going to do the things they wanted to do. i felt a sense of responsibility, if this is something that god has led p meo do 50 is put the indisposition to to help them, to shed a light. i feel like i'm kidding you this. when you looks. me up what you o think of other people have been written off, who people think

that they've done this and they need to be sent away for x amount of years, there's nothing that could beg done for them. no, god canan turn anyone around at these are peoples mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, and they can be sitting here having the same conversation with you just as i am. it's just putting a face to them and a face to the experience because i think a lot of times what we've seen is they had been demonized. they have t been painted in the worst possible light. at the end of the day, they are people just like me and you. if you ever get the opportunity to go in to the prison program, i highly advise it because it will completely change your life. i'm not saying that because of bias. that's what i've been told time and time again by students with come to the prison, by judges who sat on appellate courts, by mclellan former district attorney. there's something that completely changes when you're able to put a face to someone and just really received the cy in them.

>> thank you so much, cyntoia, for being here, for sharing your story with us, for your beautiful book which thank everybody here for coming out, and hope you will read cyntoia's book. >> its world t book day. >> world but they come so good day to do it. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> tonight on booktv in prime time we opened up our archives to take a look at author programs about technology, followed by an encore episode of

afterwards with former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe who discusses his career and his firing. also michael details this economic struggles with student loan debt, former secretary of state and the george w. bush did administration condeleezza rice talks about the national security threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic. find more information on your program guide or online at booktv.org. >> here are some of the current best-selling nonfiction books according to vroman's bookstore in pasadena, california.

>> some of these authors have appeared on booktv and you can watch them online at booktv.org. .. >> good evening, everyone, i'm dr. rob citino, the senior historian nationalec