in prison I’m standing in line there’s
like 50 men in line with me and we’re
all going through an intake process at
grade four state prison in Pennsylvania
we’re instructed to take our clothes off
and go to a shower on the other side of
the shower is a correctional officer and
the correction officer hands every one
of us a paper and on top of the paper
has a has a number at the top of the
paper um you know fresh into the jail
so I’m I have a bravado so I’m not going
to act like I’m the one that’s gonna
follow the rules right so I’m standing
there he hands me a paper and my first
thought is to kind of bone a paper up
and throw it I got her but then I notice
in front of me there’s a older gentleman
on older inmate that is saying something
to his older gentleman is assisting in
the intake process and he’s instructing
the guy couple guys in front of me
something about the paper and I don’t
know what he’s saying
so they got closer I kinda stay back
from my bravado and asked him say excuse
me but what’s up with the number well on
the paper he says you got to remember it
I said why and he whispered to me says
typical my upbringing was typical to me
it’s typical to poor communities
throughout you guess every mailed my
family on both sides were incarcerated
there was drugs and guns readily
available in my community I had a single
family household drop down school in
eighth grade at 16 I had a son and at 17
cents to 8 to 20 years in prison
when I got to prison
it was weird angle I mean that’s obvious
right but we all heard a prison before
so we all know what we know I came in
with the same thoughts there was nothing
that could prepare me for it it was
aggressive people were angry depressed
it was violent I seen people commit
suicide I had friends that were stabbed
and killed
I myself was stabbed there was a time in
prison that I literally thought that I
was never coming home again there was an
opportunity to learn video or get on his
video crew that they had in the prison
and I had no ambitions of doing video or
film or anything like that but I had a
kind of a secret agenda that I would get
on the crew just to be able to learn
video to video myself so I could send a
videotape of myself home to my son so he
would learn who I was just in case I
would never get a chance to tell him
myself or see him if I over eight years
after eight years I was preparing to go
home if I admitted or not I trusted the
system i trusting the Phoebe keep me
warm
sometimes protect me I trusted the
system so I trusted that when I went
home I was prepared to go home their
programs they knew what I needed to do
to go home and stay home they know I
don’t know
so I’m 25 years old preparing to go home
and I took every program they had this
is an example of a program that they
gave me what’s going on here what are
you doing home what do you think you’re
doing you supposed to work tonight we’re
not doing anything we’re just hanging
out
I can’t believe I ever trusted you feel
hot all over and my muscles are tight
she’s not gonna get away with this she
is disrespecting me by doing drugs in my
silly right it’s funny laugh is silly
especially for somebody like me that
just came from an environment like that
in prison this is gonna prepare me to go
but this is my tool to go home and this
is real but when I went home this is the
environment I’m going home to this is
what I seen this was my reality or where
I was going to and nothing in prison no
program I took prepared me for this do
the whole time of Trent you know trying
to prepare to go home it’s it’s it’s
they make you very aware of the stats
the stats are there’s 700,000 people
every year in the United States that
come home from prison 700,000 people
that come home from prison and of that
700,000 people to come home two-thirds
of them go back to prison five hundred
and twenty-five thousand people go back
within the first three years no I never
had it got a high school diploma I never
had a job before I’m expected to come
home gained employment somehow and you
know feed myself and my son with those
stats looming besides the fact that if
you’re african-american in in the u.s.
one out of three go to prison anyway so
we’re trying and on top of those stats
and on top of seeing this these images
and haven’t given been given the
programming that was totally and
relevant to our the position I was in on
top of all that when I first come home
and I walked to a door I stopped and
paused because I didn’t even know what
to do with the door there’s no doorknobs
in prison
there’s no doorknobs as the toilets
don’t look the same I didn’t know about
keys cash none of that we hadn’t
expected to succeed or make a plan for
the future but what I did have I had
amazing friends and families mentors
that ensured my success they made it
their business that they loved the human
in me enough that they refused to see me
fail still to today do those networks I
was able to start to use my skills to
actually teach kids so I started
teaching video so teaching video all
around I started setting up media labs
media programs started making films
I had a unlikely I was I was
commissioned by the US Attorney’s Office
which is the Department of Justice the
US Department of Justice to make films
for them it was always been my vision to
use my skills and my experience to help
someone that found themselves in the
same situation I was in when it was
somebody man or woman that were in
prison for you know X amount of years
that’s prepared to go home I can show
them through film what home looks like I
can show a lawmaker or a you know
prosecutor what the home looks like in
living conditions look like
the people that they serve do my time in
prison and since I’ve been home even now
today I see people go back and forth to
prison it’s like they go back and forth
so regular it’s like a change of address
to me the way I explain it as if it’s
like second nature or if its nature like
you know and and and as natural as as a
forces of gravity with support from the
Department of Justice I was able to
create a film called pull of gravity
that focuses on those specific
environments and those pools that pull
someone back into those life that
lifestyle we created this film pull of
gravity we shattered over a year period
of time we followed three individuals I
was one of them we used a film as a tool
we screen it hundreds of time all of
hundreds of times all over the country
from prisons and colleges federal
departments whatever from on a Monday I
could be with judges a conference of
judges three hundred some judges and
afterwards as always always one judge
afterwards that I’m in the hallway of
components I said you’ll out come here
come here come and there’s a judge you
know listen listen I’ve been unjust for
thirty years and I was never told to
consider at all the environment people
read that are coming home to or reentry
as a whole or that same week I would be
in a federal prison screening for prison
officials staff and the population
Demi’s and I would have an inmate
without fails I would have an MA stand
up every time and say I thought I was
prepared to go home now I’m scared to go
home
scared to go home last August I was
asked I was invited to meet with
President Barack Obama to meet and
discuss his criminal justice
reform initiative and I remember vividly
two two rules they gave me they said you
know stand up on the time I met him
right so I’m nervous right I’m like all
standing there sweaty and nervous this
is big right so meeting the president so
I’m standing there they told me two
rules they said when he comes in stand
up and you greet him as mr. president
some of the guy I got this I got two
rules like cool I can work with that so
I stood up I heard his motorcade come in
her screeching is impressive he gets out
the car and I’m like standing there and
he walks up and I says mr. president yes
sir hello mr. president he grabs my hand
he says mister L saw your wonderful to
meet you
right at that moment I found myself
flashing back to holding that paper in
my hand with the number across the top
an older gentleman telling me to
remember the number because now that’s
my name from now on but I’m not a number
I have a name
thank you so much [Applause]