just stating that i was gonna make the see 21, the hours get dressed and all red ride the bus to the he'll just walk around and wait for a group of blues to approach 1st, i would try to fight it. tag it nicely. i walk in the middle and then i pull out that day and watch him scatter. when i lose, you know, watch was like roaches. then i got addicted to be and fees. my mom was here trying to be the disciplinary and, and the bread went. but she didn't have no help, i rebuild. it gives her what it wasn't her fault. we were in this together. and

that's why i should have known the, the, my mom was my 1st love up until the mid eighty's when crack became the reason to be for her. it was okay. but she had an addiction and it grew monstrous. her addiction to crap superseded everything, her dignity, her ability to reason her desire to be a mother. that was one of the things i broke from me. i didn't like the life that i was living, but somehow i felt helpless to change it. i felt like i was just being carried on this wave of circumstance, not being able to have a job of not being able to be the person that i saw that i could be i just couldn't

seem to get to her. i remember a few days before being incarcerated, crying out to god and knowing how trapped i felt knowing how limited my options were. and i just wanted out of that life. i didn't stand on the corner. i didn't do drive by, but i had a boyfriend that did and i had fooled myself in this thinking that if i just stayed on the fringes of that lifestyle, that i couldn't get caught up. that wasn't true when they started around and not single suspects. and i was on my boyfriend, was one of my photo stations of innocence or just fell on deaf ears. there must be no doubt about who side were on people who commit crimes should be called convicted and punished. the savings will be used to put

a 100000 police officers on the street. a 20 percent increase. it will be used to build prisoners to keep a 100000 violent criminals off the street. you will be put away and for what for good 3 strikes, menu bar, 9093, washington state was the 1st state in the nation to implement the 3 strikes policy and make it okay to put people in prison and throw away the key. there are many people who have rehabilitated their lives, who could be contributing to our young people, to our families, and that door has been slam set in washington state. we are still one of the only 16 states that does not have the parole system. what's interesting about washington state is really reflective of what's interesting about the whole country. this country is based on fear. when you have a country that is based on or that has grown out of colonization and slavery,

people know rest easy. that's why everyone needs to be armed in this country to protect what they have. because what they have was stolen in that talk about it may not admit it, but it's there whether you are on the read or on the blue. whatever side it is, no one fleece easily in this country. mister speaker, i simply want to say legislators have on inherent conflict of interest. the number one objective in the legislature is to get re elected the also, how do you get re elected? it's really easy ponder podium exam, tough on crime that the children who have been killed. the victims of bias, the public is better, and that means more prison todd. we have a greater percentage of our population in prison right now in any society, in the history of western civilization. and we have this high and mighty attitude

about ourselves. i want you to imagine that as much as $60.00 to $0.70 out of every tax dollar in my county, it goes toward criminal justice. it is a horrendous waste of resources. if you don't care about people, it's a horrendous waste of resources on a private and washing. it's very, very easy to instigate dear. that's what happened with 3 strikes. because the base of the threat then became young, black and brown. man, we need to take these people on. they are often connected to big drug cartels. they are not just gangs of kids anymore. they are often the kinds of kids that are called super predatory is no conscience, no empathy. we can talk about why they ended up that way, but 1st we have to bring them to here in the present. it is asked the f b i to launch a very concerted effort against games everywhere. john and i were to go to the f. b, i task for saver for me to task for. so we're gaggs,

we now with the drugs are privately, i should go around the country, see communities everywhere. people who are no longer going to hide their houses. this is our hill. all we wanted to know is go by your drugs and p while for lake we don't come here. you got to take us there, but are willing with leadership and with involvement from police directions. police . but what i take to the streets, you want to know while we're having success with our federal task force, because it set them up out of the country and not all of them kicking like we were in the wanted to know why john and i knew the game members from work on the street . and so we kind of knew who they should be targeting the, the place started doing more sweep so they would just get the kids and bound them up for whatever little reason they could if they could get them

on a sentence, they give them a loan. so it keeps them from ever coming that is to plant built on these keys, playgrounds on these gates, chickens doors and they get the search warrant later i got you got you down in a damn bay in the day. they got you. one of them lives all by yourself, and if it costs you by yourself, going to jail may not have them even been a criminal activity. they just because they were out there, they'd get them just unload hearing files, walk into the corner store and i and i saw a house little further up that i thought look nice. so i want it to walk by and the police saw me. they would say to me, what you do on here, you only around here the the narrative that we keep hearing is that there are people are entitled to be here . even though folks know that this is not anybody's, it's not their land. so that narrative of being entitled and really protecting that

is really what drives a lot, but we as a country don't want to uncover that to pain given a race based country such as we are the people that really are impacted by the poor us. and the black is the looking back. now i'm able to see everything that happy. i wasn't able to see it. the so wasn't able to avoid the trash that were set for me. a lot of us weren't. i don't wanna excuse any of the crimes that were committed because they were crimes committee, but some people didn't commit crimes and were just caught up in the furnace that they chose. and it wasn't even the friends that they chose. the principal they grew up with this has been able to do, they need, these are the kids you went to school with these, these 2 people who's on the house and went to eat sunday dinner. and most of us didn't just wake up and say, i want to be a game. remember, this is what i'm going to be in life, which is good. we went through that because this will expose to it. and then

the last part of my career, i have the best job i had ultimate freedom to set my own targets in my own investigation. as long as i was producing they left me alone. so do you have a lot of supervision by the late ninety's at the hilltop area was pretty much cleaned up the american j aggravated murder. the drama aggravated murder is the highest crime in washington. they changed some law in a hard time for on crime and 1994 that says if

a murder occurs during the discharge of a fire or from a motor vehicle, then you can be subject to the death penalty or life in prison. if i would have got the sensors to 1st to be murder, i probably would have had 27 years since the murder occurred during the discharge of a file from a motor vehicle on that $77070.00. the reason that the judge did not have the ability to give them the sentence of less than life without parole, is that the legislature made it an aggravating circumstance to do a drive by shooting. because he shot impulsively without knowing who was in the other car, but out of a car, only one punishment was appropriate. that law was passed because mostly white

legislators viewed it as words for gang members to shoot from a car. it was a clear reaction to the fear, black and hispanic individuals, a weapon of the commission of the crime. the promise of the criminal justice system is that he rises above the race. will be the title of the when i work in washington state, it's a state that is overwhelmingly that's not true when i go into a prison. the criminal justice system remains broken by the influence of race, the release of russian states. never as one of the most sense community

best most i'll send send up the same assistance, must be the one else holes. question about this, even though we will then in the european union, the kremlin media mission, the state on process routing and supports the r t. suppose next, even our video agency, roughly all the band on youtube, the payment services for the question, did you say stephen twist, which is the, on the slow level that he's got to see what we can connect to

the most signal slides. but the task ok, do you guys do you guys look to see the postal study a little quick look at just a sub you know more than enough so total on that i have to put up on the 15. yeah. well, the other stuff, and i do see there that there's reasoning, they don't really mean you know, well those are just like that i feel or the the in the

privacy over surrounded by the feel like cattle. you feel like something's not real. the nation down in search of all the cost on your emotional wellbeing. did you put in a sale 8 by 10. so with people that you don't know you never been. you don't know

what they're there for. what the bell is a deprivation to your sanchez or to explain you're away from everything that you know. i could not conceive of my life taking place within the walls that i saw around me. we're going to give you 3 meals a day. we don't give us the minutes lab for us to go slab to sleep on. and that's basically yet. there is no rehabilitation. there's no repair present as a socializing force and total institution does it work by and large, now people learn to become anti social. it's not designed to help anybody grow officers and make sure that you understand that you are a prisoner. when you find yourself in contact with them, they tend to look down as

a way of not giving you eye contact for a lot of prisoners, a kind of makes them internalized that you're nobody i don't think that as prisoners were treated as people now i'm able to handle values all over a like minded slavery, you know, mean it and get out of that guy is guy just so i used to be a young though sitting in his room and i used to be talking about stuff that i didn't have no clue about you know, i'm saying politics, policies, legislators, nice to hear people speak about these different things. i use it. i hate not knowing that i used to hate watching cnn. see these guys talking about politics and have no clue about what they was talking about. but knowing that these decisions were affecting my life somehow. and i will say that

that is kind of one of the things that sent me on my quest. i wanted to learn. i think that the opportunities with the black prisoners caucus, with my interaction with free people, i'm able to really internalize that i'm not an offender. i'm not a prisoner. i'm just a man who happens to be in prison. one of the things that the black prisoners call to says is that they may be absent from community, but they're still a part of community. see other people come from the outside every single week who cared about us and understand a let us know that we were still part of the community. i always remember, mary. she said, if we planned on returning back to the community, how we came in here, then we might as well stay in here. i was the president of the black caucus at monroe. i went to the home for a class, a fraction, possession of a cell phone,

because i was life without. it didn't grant me the opportunity to stay at my gosh, have to call him back. the office was especially a large part of every day. this was going on, but when i got here that was enough, i basically just reached out to ministration. and it was kind of hesitating on allowing us to be able to have the name, black prisoners congress. it was too radical for them. my favorite for something to have black in the just reinforced the platforms is called as, as a loan for doctors, history within the department of corrections the . and so eventually it was

never been able to to really get going. and so, you know, as we started to have some of our 1st meetings, the idea was now what is it that we want to see, right? what are the opportunities that we need in order for us to, you know, really stay committed on improving self. you'll begin to meet people who's been there longer than you've been a lot. people want them since the sevens and so you'll realize that they're really not letting people in the

site. not only do you have to make a commitment, but you have to make a choice. if i still want to continue live in the life that got me here, or i want to try and live in a better way. we can never become somebody different, but we a better version of the almost immediately upon add to my column bay, i found out that a few guys had just started a program and they called teach and just uh for taking education and creating has to me and come on and call it, i've been known him since with his kids in the same place. he was on the east side . i was on the heel down. so we was really rivals back in when he kind of gave, when he came here say, and he was and he was involved a, b, b, c. and he won a started, he's program, they came up with the idea. we was like, okay,

let's do it. there was several of us or a column bay who had a lot of time to do and present and we weren't being allowed to attain education class. the priority for our education department is those individuals with 7 years or less on their sense. so if you have more than 7 years, which a lot of people do, you don't get a chance to get an education. we want it to get professors to be able to come out here, but we was too far. so the next thing was, do we either let each program go to waste or do we figure out a way to make it flow? so the way that we came up with was, we'll just teach the class, work backwards from here, we know that we could teach math. we knew that we could teach writing as why it was more about the skill sets that we already had and being able to just really nurture those and provide those in a classroom setting. so why equals for the negative and

a negative is positive. we reached out to a lot of prisoners, right guys, we have degrees and all types of but then we also just quickly came to the realization just because you have a degree doesn't mean that you can teach. eventually we begin to 5 guys who teach him was something that was a lateral thompson. we set about creating all the syllabus isn't on curriculum. it's regional classes started changing and shaping people's thinking. and from there, the worst rate when i got here and was working on the school floor blue by the teach classroom. and it was the 1st time i ever seen a classroom being taught without an officer and it was prisoners lift enough prisoners. and so when i seen these guys doing and stuff, i had to be part of the half, 2 hours within

a day. and we decided to diversify our board. this way we can attract more students, but also we can understand each other more. so is reaching all corners is present part of me coming on board with this, we're seeing what you guys were doing and, and wanting to get behind there. i was, i guess, finally an opportunity for me to go and do something productive. that was it provided before that inmates create. we've created a support group for, for positivity and the most on life of environments. we've been committed against one another for so long. it literally allows a prison to run itself. as long as they stay separated, we're not to worry about them coming together, becoming knowledgeable, fixing the social issue, that end up landing them in prison in the 1st place. the more then we begin to educate ourselves, the more empowered we become, the less manipulating we can be,

the less oppressed we can be. now what we're beginning to realize is that we can get more accomplished together then we can apply the, you know, because it can take an assessment at 1st. i really didn't want to lead column by because of the things that we were doing up there that were so powerful and the relationships that we have with administration. i didn't think that we're going to be able to duplicate some of those things. so i thought to stay there in my comfort zone, i can see you in a view tomorrow was coming up for his time and leave also, 2 more settings. mine are shown. and i went to my review right after that, where i spoke to my counselor and they asked me, where did i want to go when it came time to transfer and they told me shout, so i was happy. i sent word to them morning i was coming and he sent word to say good, i'm glad because i mean having some problems with trying to get to pbc store to you . most of the people that live in this county were this prince. this is not

a diverse community. the most diversity they have is behind these barbed wire fences. some days they have a challenge accepting me. so i can only imagine what the challenges would be around a black christmas car. the fear that i here is all you know, the name is the black prisoner's caucus it's, it's a black thing. we should be fearful of the people who are ignorant, short sighted opinions about things like that. having taken the opportunity to participate and learn really what is going on there, washing correction center, thank you for being here today. i attended the you summit and i was speechless. i listen to the stories that were being told, the things that i had to say really resonated with me and drew me on the things

that we have been through and things that we have been around. i would worry what others would think and would i think i go saw that was my concern. i used to think that not the gang bang was assigned a week. i only intended to be there for a few minutes to kind of check in doing introduction. see what it was about, and when i sat down, i didn't want to get back up. you have to help young people away making some of the same bad decisions that we may also, we hope to be able to reach young people themselves. we believe in them and expect them to influence and add to the world. once we solidified the bbc here, we wanted to move on to the next thing and start to teach program because this present as far as prisoners is, is kind of the america of prisons in our state. this is where every person 1st comes to an issue. every person, if you're transferred from one prison to another prison, you have to come through here. so as we in inmates who is going to be here for awhile, we see everybody in the state. they have to cross our pass. i see young guys all

the time, come to here whose life i've influence negative. that's something that i've had to live with, working towards having a positive influence on those generations. now, it gives me a way to undo some of the wrongs that i've done in the past. the, in the year of 1954, the united states of america engaged in warfare against the people of vietnam. the white house supported the corrupt public governments of southern vietnam. in 1965 americans began their invasion following the aim to defeat. the forces of vietnamese patriots. defended gone, was confident that the victory would be on the american side,

due to its military superiority. however, the enemies during this war into total health for the occupants. unable to cope with the guerrillas, the american army started blanket bombing alongside using chemical weapons and naples, which burned all alive. the village of my lay, where he 1969 american soldiers killed 504 civilians, including 210 children, became a tragic symbol of this war. all involved during the whole period of this conflict, the usa dropped on vietnam more than $6000000.00 tons of bonds, which is 2 and a half times as much as on germany during the 2nd world war. in 1973, the american army under the pressure of the rebels, withdrew from vietnam, and only 2 years later did the puppet regime. and so i got involved. however,

the vietnamese paid a high price for their freedom. more than 1000000 vietnamese people became the victims of america in aggressors. the if you think about russia, what is your mind to picture the landscapes open up before your eyes? the last one does, can you imagine the, the discounts dodge the journey? the, the,

you ready to come along the referenced escalation for us. that's one of the factors that we always consider, but it's certainly not the only factor, but us. the secretary of state arriving in t a with its british count them entitled to me blinking, commenting on the possible use of western long range missiles to strive russia. despite the clear and present danger, cottage and gaza, the 18 people are killed including children and united nation workers. as the idea of strikes, a shelter for the attack is swiftly condemned by the un secretary general. all that remains over the entire is trained of palestinian homes, years of time, money and care turned into rooms and dozens of public opinion. families finding themselves on the streets with nothing.