claudette colvin was the star witness in the federal court case.t case had went to the supreme -- that case went to the supreme court. [inaudible] the rest is history. [applause] >> ok, i would like to bring to the stage our honored guest. i'm going to introduce him, and if you and mrs. colvin could make your way. described as an artist who speaks the truth we desperately need to hear, is a harvard law graduate, prison activist, hip- hop artist, grand slam poetry champion, actor, author, and educator. his new book, "the ugly side of beautiful: rethinking race in prisons in america" will be published later this year. the start of the off-broadway hip-hop theater production, he has lectured and performed at over 100 colleges and correctional facilities in the united states, africa, asia, latin america, and europe. he has released two albums to critical acclaim, taught at brooklyn college, new york university, the new school in columbia university, and is now touring lyrics for lockdown. one of those is sponsored by the naacp. i learned that he is beg

. >> this is for one of my heroes, claudette colvin. and a local hero of mine, because we have freedom fighters right here in our midst, and we do not always celebrate them. francisca sanchez, who is seriously about her business about getting the shackles off. i want to do this to honor them, and to thank you for being here. give yourselves a big round of applause. [applause] all i've got is some fish and a few loaves of bread. and a whole lot of folks have got to get fed. but seven seats were made in under seven days, the first man was forgiven when he missed the hague, the branch was taken by a dove to a book that was built before a flood, if a rainbow sent out a sign, if someone was told to sacrifice his own son and told to hold up before he was done, then the fish and bread that i just said is all that i've got, is all that i need for me to get fed and for me to feed a whole lot of folks in need because they set me on fire. when they look back, i was chilling. i had to fight like 10 older brothers, and because i had this dream, so t

public schools are designed -- if you have any spirit, the spirit of a claudette colvin, they do not want to adapt to you. folks always ask, where are our leaders? they are in rikers island, san quentin, some of the greatest minds which had not found a space to tap into their genius. that is a big part of what has happened. not talking about the prison industrial complex as well as the military industrial complex. rikers island has 1400 people -- 14,000 people. i worked at a high-school that had a mural on the wall. there was a figure, a man dressed in green, split in two. the front have has a gun, a rifle in his hand, military fatigues. the back half has the prison inmate uniform. on top it says choose your dream. so those are your options. we have seen it hurts our families apart. women are the fastest growing population to be incarcerated. we see women's prisons, men's prisons, teenagers -- they have a baby prison for the babies. they build a prison every year based on third and fourth great test scores in black and latino communities around the country. that is a fact. i can give