a chance could be many things a chance
can help you realize your potential
possibilities and the sense of purpose
what’s the value of a chance when I was
14 years old I felt really good about
myself now I wasn’t conceited and have a
big head or anything like that
but I felt really good about myself
because someone gave me a chance I had a
summer job earn $400 every two weeks now
that doesn’t qualify me to be a baller
but for me in those days that was a ton
of money every payday during my lunch
break I would walk to know I’ve run to
the bank to deposit my check I would act
to tell it to withdraw the full amount
and to giving my money $20 bills on the
bus ride home I would sit in the back
I pull my money out hold you beneath the
seat in front of me I fanned the bills
count the money over and over again and
I think about all the things I wanted to
buy and do the money was well-earned I
spent summers involved in ecological
restoration work of course acres of
woodland in the Bronx New York I spent
my days outdoors surrounded by trees in
the forest I battled the Sun insects
poison ivy thorns and I tried to keep
him getting lost in the woods every day
I came home from head to toe covered in
dirt with small cuts and bruises but I
loved it having a job made me feel a
sense of pride and dignity it also made
my father feel proud he drove me to the
interview he made sure my hair was
brushed made sure that my shirt was
tucked in he helped me tie my necktie
made sure I arrived on time he also made
me feel very confident he made me feel
like I had a good chance to get hired
now although this was over 20 years ago
I still remember the woman who gave me
my first job interview
women who gave me a chance her name was
Wendy and Wendy loved to talk about
environmental issues and she loved to
give young people a chance she also
loved to eat granola and were hiking
boots and really thick socks in the
summer but that’s another thing Wendy
gave me a chance to learn the value of
hard work at an early age my parents
emigrated from Jamaica to America and
they took a chance they left behind
everything that they knew but when they
arrived in America someone gave them a
chance to start a new life
earn money and provide for their family
and because someone gave them a chance
they were able to model work ethic and
personal responsibility and by virtue of
example these things will become my
inheritance and so having that summer
job made me feel just like my parents
I’m sure they disagree with that just a
little bit each year over 600,000 people
migrate to communities across America in
search of a chance but they’re not
departed from distant shores like my
parents each year over 600,000 people
are released from federal and state
prisons and search for a chance now on
the statewide coordinator of initiative
called Project longevity and we focus on
reducing urban gun violence and also we
work with people who had just been
released from prison we call them
returning citizens they were citizens
before they went in they’re citizens
when they come out we try to get them
acclimated in their communities we try
to end their associations with violent
Street groups we try to give them a
chance sometimes that involves helping
them to get prepared for their first job
interview but it always involves
speaking to their potential and their
value to the families and their
communities there aren’t too many rich
people in prison most of the people that
we work with come from
poor communities and poor families and
when they’re released from prison they
return to poor communities and to poor
families now as a teenager I was a bit
rambunctious like many teenagers I
struggled with impulsive ‘ti social
anxiety peer pressure risk-taking
behavior and during that summer when I
was 14 years old I was outside and a
friend of mine was running full-speed
he was breathing heavily and when he got
to me he stopped and he pulled out a
small brown crumpled up paper bag and he
told me to take the bag and he said that
he’d come back for it later on
see he was running from the police I
told him I couldn’t take the bag and
employed it with me he offered me $200
not to think about that because $200
that’s a pair of Jordans but again I
told him that I couldn’t take the back
and no doubt I believe he thought I was
a disloyal friend and he ran off you see
having a job gave me a chance to earn
money legitimately so in that moment at
that time I wasn’t tempted by fast money
someone gave me a chance to work someone
else gave my friend a chance to sell
drugs a chance can be many things it can
help you realize your potential
possibilities and a sense of purpose but
certain chances can lead to your demise
see there was a silent covenant there
was a cold if I had taken that bag and
the police caught me with that bag I
couldn’t snitch that’s the chance that I
was going to take I risked incarceration
I risked my own freedom several years
later
when I was 17 years old a good friend of
mine Duane was shot and killed the way
and I were the same age the way was
smart funny he was a student athlete he
was very charismatic at his funeral I
put my hand on his body and it was cold
and stiff my heart beat like a drum and
it felt like it was on fire I saw myself
in his casket at 17 I was confronted
with my own mortality I no longer felt
like I had a chance I no longer thought
about my potential the possibilities are
my sense of purpose
Duane’s chance at life was stolen from
him what about his murderer
what led him to the point where he would
take someone’s life what are we to make
of this cycle of incarceration and
violence for me this was a very
traumatic experience now with 17 years
old so some would consider that an early
childhood or a childhood traumatic
experience there are over one point five
million people in federal and state
prisons and many of them have been
exposed to trauma before they were
incarcerated or during their
incarceration
the reality is is that when they come
out of prison and they’re seeking a
second chance they’re actually seeking
their first chance you see when you feel
like there’s a good chance that you’ll
be incarcerated or shot it’s easy to
believe to think that you will never
have a chance it makes you want to stop
investing in your future
sometimes we shut down and the way we
view our chances are going to guide our
decisions in life years later
how do little hair on my face well here
in my chest either daughter I was
working for Internet company accom we
called it back in those days but that
company shortly thereafter went bankrupt
and I found myself unemployed I spent
months searching for a new job and as
time went on I grew desperate and as a
young father I contemplated selling
drugs but for many reasons I’m very
happy I didn’t take that chance because
as a black male I’m 12 times more likely
to be sentenced to prison for a drug
offense although white males sell drugs
at almost the same rate so if I had
taken that risk what were my chances
finally I got a job interview someone
gave me a chance that man his name was
Paul and Paul like my parents immigrated
to America from Jamaica and Paul valued
given people who were sincere in their
desire for an opportunity a chance to
prove their worth
after months of hardship and rejection I
was now a young father who was employed
full time perhaps if I weren’t given
that chance I would have been a young
father who was incarcerated and
separated from his child
there are 1.5 million children who have
a parent who’s incarcerated now that’s
700 thousand fathers and 60,000 mothers
and when they’ve paid their debt to
society when they returned to their
communities and their families they need
a chance they need a second chance so
that their children will have a chance
given that chance they’ll be able to
model work ethic and resilience and just
like my parents did for me that would
become their children’s inheritance it’s
a way for us to break the cycle now
long-term unemployment isn’t uncommon
but for returning citizens people who
have been released from prison it’s even
deeper than that because they have the
stigma of a felony conviction which
leads them crystalized in their past
like fossils and amber during that time
another friend of mine named Stephen
also became a victim to gun violence
I knew Stephen Stiles four years old and
Stephen like the Wayne is handsome smart
self-assured and a very loyal friend
many of my friends vowed retaliation if
we found that who shot Stephen I felt
the same rage they felt I thought
intently about what I do if I had the
chance to confront Stephens murderer how
would I respond what I retaliate
I also thought about my young daughter I
thought about the new job I thought
about the chance Paul had given me I
thought about how proud my father was I
couldn’t afford to throw those things
away I couldn’t afford to lose my chance
you see
it’s important that as a society as a
community we support second chances
because those social connections help to
reduce recidivism amongst returning
citizens you see what someone’s
connected to their family to their
community to a job when they feel a
sense of value we decrease the chances
of them returning to a life of crime we
have to support second chances
here’s later I was now in my early 30s
you guys are probably wondering how old
is he but I was coming home from work
and I had just gotten off the subway
train and as I was walking across the
street I noticed a guy who was stopping
pedestrians and panhandling he was
begging for money and as I got closer we
locked eyes and when we looked at each
other he asked me to help him with train
fare he told me that he had just been
released from prison and that he needed
the money so that he could travel to a
family member’s house who had agreed to
take him in because since being released
from prison he was count surfing I
recognized and instantly but he didn’t
have a clue who I was I told him I’d be
right back I walked to a nearby atm
I withdrew several $20 bills I walked
back to him and before I gave him the
money I told him that I knew exactly who
he was and I called him by street name
he looks stunned as if his past had once
again caught up to him indeed it did see
when I was a teenager I almost got into
a real serious fistfight and although I
was being pushed and provoked I refused
to fight I also knew I had a good chance
to win but I didn’t want to fight
someone intervened that someone had a
significant amount of street credibility
for selling drugs and armed robberies
that someone broke up the fight
now he didn’t have to intervene he could
have let us go it was very common during
my time as it is today in some
communities for people to egg you want
to instigate to push you to fight but
that someone stepped in that someone
gave me a chance to be a kid to go home
that day without having a physical
altercation that someone was now
standing in front of me
I shared this story with him and as I
started to tear up and so did mines and
I felt so grateful in that moment that I
because I have been given so many
chances I now had a chance to make him
feel like he was worthy of a chance
there’s a lot that we can do there’s a
lot that we can do to give people second
chances for one we can push our policy
leaders our legislators to promote laws
that ban the box you know on a job
application or an actually if you’ve
ever been convicted of a felony by
removing that box from a job application
we give someone a fair chance a chance
to get a job interview and to prove
their worth like Paul allowed me to do
we could push our local governments our
towns and our cities to offer young
people an opportunity to work to get a
summer job or a job after school see
working at a young age gave me a sense
of value it’s also a protective factor
because it it allows me to see the
differences between fast money and
working hard and earning your money we
can also push our local governments to
create a jobs pipeline you see whenever
you see construction going on in your
community or roadwork those are jobs
those are opportunities for people to
get a second chance we can also push the
businesses in our community who make
money in our community to hire from our
community and that includes returning
citizens and finally
we should encourage social
entrepreneurship and valuable ideas to
create an extension a continuum of
second chances
we all need a chance a chance can be
many things it can help you realize your
potential possibilities and sense of
purpose what’s the value of a chance
[Applause]
can help you realize your potential
possibilities and the sense of purpose
what’s the value of a chance when I was
14 years old I felt really good about
myself now I wasn’t conceited and have a
big head or anything like that
but I felt really good about myself
because someone gave me a chance I had a
summer job earn $400 every two weeks now
that doesn’t qualify me to be a baller
but for me in those days that was a ton
of money every payday during my lunch
break I would walk to know I’ve run to
the bank to deposit my check I would act
to tell it to withdraw the full amount
and to giving my money $20 bills on the
bus ride home I would sit in the back
I pull my money out hold you beneath the
seat in front of me I fanned the bills
count the money over and over again and
I think about all the things I wanted to
buy and do the money was well-earned I
spent summers involved in ecological
restoration work of course acres of
woodland in the Bronx New York I spent
my days outdoors surrounded by trees in
the forest I battled the Sun insects
poison ivy thorns and I tried to keep
him getting lost in the woods every day
I came home from head to toe covered in
dirt with small cuts and bruises but I
loved it having a job made me feel a
sense of pride and dignity it also made
my father feel proud he drove me to the
interview he made sure my hair was
brushed made sure that my shirt was
tucked in he helped me tie my necktie
made sure I arrived on time he also made
me feel very confident he made me feel
like I had a good chance to get hired
now although this was over 20 years ago
I still remember the woman who gave me
my first job interview
women who gave me a chance her name was
Wendy and Wendy loved to talk about
environmental issues and she loved to
give young people a chance she also
loved to eat granola and were hiking
boots and really thick socks in the
summer but that’s another thing Wendy
gave me a chance to learn the value of
hard work at an early age my parents
emigrated from Jamaica to America and
they took a chance they left behind
everything that they knew but when they
arrived in America someone gave them a
chance to start a new life
earn money and provide for their family
and because someone gave them a chance
they were able to model work ethic and
personal responsibility and by virtue of
example these things will become my
inheritance and so having that summer
job made me feel just like my parents
I’m sure they disagree with that just a
little bit each year over 600,000 people
migrate to communities across America in
search of a chance but they’re not
departed from distant shores like my
parents each year over 600,000 people
are released from federal and state
prisons and search for a chance now on
the statewide coordinator of initiative
called Project longevity and we focus on
reducing urban gun violence and also we
work with people who had just been
released from prison we call them
returning citizens they were citizens
before they went in they’re citizens
when they come out we try to get them
acclimated in their communities we try
to end their associations with violent
Street groups we try to give them a
chance sometimes that involves helping
them to get prepared for their first job
interview but it always involves
speaking to their potential and their
value to the families and their
communities there aren’t too many rich
people in prison most of the people that
we work with come from
poor communities and poor families and
when they’re released from prison they
return to poor communities and to poor
families now as a teenager I was a bit
rambunctious like many teenagers I
struggled with impulsive ‘ti social
anxiety peer pressure risk-taking
behavior and during that summer when I
was 14 years old I was outside and a
friend of mine was running full-speed
he was breathing heavily and when he got
to me he stopped and he pulled out a
small brown crumpled up paper bag and he
told me to take the bag and he said that
he’d come back for it later on
see he was running from the police I
told him I couldn’t take the bag and
employed it with me he offered me $200
not to think about that because $200
that’s a pair of Jordans but again I
told him that I couldn’t take the back
and no doubt I believe he thought I was
a disloyal friend and he ran off you see
having a job gave me a chance to earn
money legitimately so in that moment at
that time I wasn’t tempted by fast money
someone gave me a chance to work someone
else gave my friend a chance to sell
drugs a chance can be many things it can
help you realize your potential
possibilities and a sense of purpose but
certain chances can lead to your demise
see there was a silent covenant there
was a cold if I had taken that bag and
the police caught me with that bag I
couldn’t snitch that’s the chance that I
was going to take I risked incarceration
I risked my own freedom several years
later
when I was 17 years old a good friend of
mine Duane was shot and killed the way
and I were the same age the way was
smart funny he was a student athlete he
was very charismatic at his funeral I
put my hand on his body and it was cold
and stiff my heart beat like a drum and
it felt like it was on fire I saw myself
in his casket at 17 I was confronted
with my own mortality I no longer felt
like I had a chance I no longer thought
about my potential the possibilities are
my sense of purpose
Duane’s chance at life was stolen from
him what about his murderer
what led him to the point where he would
take someone’s life what are we to make
of this cycle of incarceration and
violence for me this was a very
traumatic experience now with 17 years
old so some would consider that an early
childhood or a childhood traumatic
experience there are over one point five
million people in federal and state
prisons and many of them have been
exposed to trauma before they were
incarcerated or during their
incarceration
the reality is is that when they come
out of prison and they’re seeking a
second chance they’re actually seeking
their first chance you see when you feel
like there’s a good chance that you’ll
be incarcerated or shot it’s easy to
believe to think that you will never
have a chance it makes you want to stop
investing in your future
sometimes we shut down and the way we
view our chances are going to guide our
decisions in life years later
how do little hair on my face well here
in my chest either daughter I was
working for Internet company accom we
called it back in those days but that
company shortly thereafter went bankrupt
and I found myself unemployed I spent
months searching for a new job and as
time went on I grew desperate and as a
young father I contemplated selling
drugs but for many reasons I’m very
happy I didn’t take that chance because
as a black male I’m 12 times more likely
to be sentenced to prison for a drug
offense although white males sell drugs
at almost the same rate so if I had
taken that risk what were my chances
finally I got a job interview someone
gave me a chance that man his name was
Paul and Paul like my parents immigrated
to America from Jamaica and Paul valued
given people who were sincere in their
desire for an opportunity a chance to
prove their worth
after months of hardship and rejection I
was now a young father who was employed
full time perhaps if I weren’t given
that chance I would have been a young
father who was incarcerated and
separated from his child
there are 1.5 million children who have
a parent who’s incarcerated now that’s
700 thousand fathers and 60,000 mothers
and when they’ve paid their debt to
society when they returned to their
communities and their families they need
a chance they need a second chance so
that their children will have a chance
given that chance they’ll be able to
model work ethic and resilience and just
like my parents did for me that would
become their children’s inheritance it’s
a way for us to break the cycle now
long-term unemployment isn’t uncommon
but for returning citizens people who
have been released from prison it’s even
deeper than that because they have the
stigma of a felony conviction which
leads them crystalized in their past
like fossils and amber during that time
another friend of mine named Stephen
also became a victim to gun violence
I knew Stephen Stiles four years old and
Stephen like the Wayne is handsome smart
self-assured and a very loyal friend
many of my friends vowed retaliation if
we found that who shot Stephen I felt
the same rage they felt I thought
intently about what I do if I had the
chance to confront Stephens murderer how
would I respond what I retaliate
I also thought about my young daughter I
thought about the new job I thought
about the chance Paul had given me I
thought about how proud my father was I
couldn’t afford to throw those things
away I couldn’t afford to lose my chance
you see
it’s important that as a society as a
community we support second chances
because those social connections help to
reduce recidivism amongst returning
citizens you see what someone’s
connected to their family to their
community to a job when they feel a
sense of value we decrease the chances
of them returning to a life of crime we
have to support second chances
here’s later I was now in my early 30s
you guys are probably wondering how old
is he but I was coming home from work
and I had just gotten off the subway
train and as I was walking across the
street I noticed a guy who was stopping
pedestrians and panhandling he was
begging for money and as I got closer we
locked eyes and when we looked at each
other he asked me to help him with train
fare he told me that he had just been
released from prison and that he needed
the money so that he could travel to a
family member’s house who had agreed to
take him in because since being released
from prison he was count surfing I
recognized and instantly but he didn’t
have a clue who I was I told him I’d be
right back I walked to a nearby atm
I withdrew several $20 bills I walked
back to him and before I gave him the
money I told him that I knew exactly who
he was and I called him by street name
he looks stunned as if his past had once
again caught up to him indeed it did see
when I was a teenager I almost got into
a real serious fistfight and although I
was being pushed and provoked I refused
to fight I also knew I had a good chance
to win but I didn’t want to fight
someone intervened that someone had a
significant amount of street credibility
for selling drugs and armed robberies
that someone broke up the fight
now he didn’t have to intervene he could
have let us go it was very common during
my time as it is today in some
communities for people to egg you want
to instigate to push you to fight but
that someone stepped in that someone
gave me a chance to be a kid to go home
that day without having a physical
altercation that someone was now
standing in front of me
I shared this story with him and as I
started to tear up and so did mines and
I felt so grateful in that moment that I
because I have been given so many
chances I now had a chance to make him
feel like he was worthy of a chance
there’s a lot that we can do there’s a
lot that we can do to give people second
chances for one we can push our policy
leaders our legislators to promote laws
that ban the box you know on a job
application or an actually if you’ve
ever been convicted of a felony by
removing that box from a job application
we give someone a fair chance a chance
to get a job interview and to prove
their worth like Paul allowed me to do
we could push our local governments our
towns and our cities to offer young
people an opportunity to work to get a
summer job or a job after school see
working at a young age gave me a sense
of value it’s also a protective factor
because it it allows me to see the
differences between fast money and
working hard and earning your money we
can also push our local governments to
create a jobs pipeline you see whenever
you see construction going on in your
community or roadwork those are jobs
those are opportunities for people to
get a second chance we can also push the
businesses in our community who make
money in our community to hire from our
community and that includes returning
citizens and finally
we should encourage social
entrepreneurship and valuable ideas to
create an extension a continuum of
second chances
we all need a chance a chance can be
many things it can help you realize your
potential possibilities and sense of
purpose what’s the value of a chance
[Applause]
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