I never imagined myself facing the gates
of prison by the age of 17 in the summer
of last year I stood alongside a
convicted murderer as we stare into the
San Quentin prison yard looking at the
stretch of neglect the grass my mind
went blank my vision blurred and all my
energy escaped to my tiding spine and
tingling fingers but I was not a
prisoner I was working for the last mile
an organization they created the first
computer coding curriculum in a US
prison aimed to rehabilitate prisoners I
was in Table Mountain
completing the the Freedom Trail a
celebratory hike and rite of passage for
men who have recently been released from
prison alongside a group of former
inmates we walked up Mount Tam she’s a
very meaningful place for them because
when they were inside San Quentin
they would look up from the prison yard
and see this mountain now on the outside
you get to walk to the top of this trail
and look back into a place they once
lived
I remember seeing a group of men former
inmates look into the yard with a scope
looking to see if they could spot their
friends still on the inside they looked
keenly for one thing when they knew ran
laps from the track every morning around
this time on top of this mountain and
throughout my time with these returned
citizens
I spoke with men who shattered every
preconception I had about prisoners and
challenged my own sense of justice and
compassion I like to share the story of
one of the men who I worked with who
gave me permission to tell it to you
today Vinnie is a Vietnamese immigrants
who fled to America and he was eight
years old he was born just after the
Vietnam War because his father fought
with the Americans
his family was labeled as traitors and I
were constantly threatened and beaten
his situation got so poor that Vinnie
started selling hot tea on the corner
because he thought that if he made some
money maybe his mom could stop working
20 hours a day and he might get this
year after
while the situation became unlivable so
his mom brought his family to America
Vineet told me his first three months in
the u.s. were like paradise he finally
found out what a real education was like
and you didn’t realized that he was
pretty good at math but he was also a
very vulnerable target for bullies at
the age of 12 he was roughly 3-1 and
spoke no English the first time he was
jumped he came back to his mom and
showed her the bruises and she asked him
what he did and suggested he must have
given someone a bad look people don’t
just hit you for no reason she said well
then he didn’t know the reason and he
didn’t think he did anything but the
next day at school he kept his head down
the entire day didn’t look at anyone and
still he was sought out and beat up so
he went back to his mom and she
maintained that there must have been a
reason well soon enough he found out
what this reason was he was different he
looked different spoke different behaved
different and he couldn’t escape that
eventually is getting beat up so
constantly they would stop coming home
to show his mother because he couldn’t
bear to see her cry and look at her face
of hopelessness all the bullying got so
severe that he moved schools every time
you walked out the door he felt like his
life was in danger and at the new school
nothing changed this school wouldn’t
help the police wouldn’t help and a deep
anger began to fester inside Vinnie he
felt isolated and helpless did he have
any help did he have any real outlet of
course not
so sophomore year he drops out of school
one day at the age of 16 vanina’s friend
are coming back from the gym they’re
hanging out in the friend’s driveway now
Vinnie’s bully at the time was having a
bad day when he saw his victim he pushed
Vinnie into the friend’s house and
started punching him now this bully was
a big guy he knocked Vinnie ah – welcome
back up with his punches Benny didn’t
know why was happening
then the guy left so Vinnie lit ball cut
takes off his shirt
wiped the blood off his face turns to
his friend and says it’s okay let it go
then the bully comes back this time with
more aggression the first time he starts
pummeling him yelling racial slurs at
him dehumanizing him reminding him of
all the times ever been tortured and
harassed Vidya proms himself along the
go they never wanted to feel like this
again he remembered mine clouded with
anger that his friends uncle was a
hunter who kept his guard in the house
he ran to the house still in a fit of
rage ran down his bully with a gun and
shot him a dark cloud fell over Vinnie
on the one hand he knew he would never
have to go through this again and then
reality set in and he realized the
horrible thing he had done is our
essence defined by the worst thing we’ve
ever done
when Vinnie told me his story he started
by telling me I’m better than that
second in my life I’m better than that
poor decision at the age of 16 Vinnie
was tried as an adult and sentenced to
29 years to life in prison well inside
prison Vinnie realized that he couldn’t
do anything they learned English so we
learned the language put himself through
the college inside president got his GED
start a support and political group for
prisoners were sentenced as children
start reading a letter a date of local
legislators and got one big law and many
too concerning criminal justice for
youth he went through the program of the
company where I was where I work at the
time was an entrepreneurship program
Critias owned business marked out the
business plan and pitched it he
rehabilitated himself he became a new
person
after 20 years inside prison he was let
out on account of good behavior and his
accomplishments now on the outside he
mentors the youth and
suddenly bad past he is a great job at a
Silicon Valley tech accelerator he
spends time that he missed with his
family and he connects with people
sharing his story and helping anyone in
any way that he can I can’t really do it
justice and explain how good and kind of
a person he is how much he has to give
and how much he wants to give one thing
Vinnie taught me is to judge the person
not just their history when we reduced
prisoners to their crimes or to numbers
they become insulated from the real
effects on real people by dismissing the
humanity in these people we allow
ourselves to ignore the systemic
problems that cause crime in order to
tackle a big issue like mass
incarceration we must begin with
fundamental compassion in a willingness
not to see these prisoners as just
prisoners there’s people with a story as
loved ones family members fathers sons
mothers daughters people who matter
there’s a great human potential that is
being locked up and we are doing a
global disservice by neglecting to
nurturing these former prisoners have
been turned away at every corner in
their lives and died like each of you
have a choice to break this cycle
we must find and celebrate the humanity
and everyone that we meet thank you
[Applause]
of prison by the age of 17 in the summer
of last year I stood alongside a
convicted murderer as we stare into the
San Quentin prison yard looking at the
stretch of neglect the grass my mind
went blank my vision blurred and all my
energy escaped to my tiding spine and
tingling fingers but I was not a
prisoner I was working for the last mile
an organization they created the first
computer coding curriculum in a US
prison aimed to rehabilitate prisoners I
was in Table Mountain
completing the the Freedom Trail a
celebratory hike and rite of passage for
men who have recently been released from
prison alongside a group of former
inmates we walked up Mount Tam she’s a
very meaningful place for them because
when they were inside San Quentin
they would look up from the prison yard
and see this mountain now on the outside
you get to walk to the top of this trail
and look back into a place they once
lived
I remember seeing a group of men former
inmates look into the yard with a scope
looking to see if they could spot their
friends still on the inside they looked
keenly for one thing when they knew ran
laps from the track every morning around
this time on top of this mountain and
throughout my time with these returned
citizens
I spoke with men who shattered every
preconception I had about prisoners and
challenged my own sense of justice and
compassion I like to share the story of
one of the men who I worked with who
gave me permission to tell it to you
today Vinnie is a Vietnamese immigrants
who fled to America and he was eight
years old he was born just after the
Vietnam War because his father fought
with the Americans
his family was labeled as traitors and I
were constantly threatened and beaten
his situation got so poor that Vinnie
started selling hot tea on the corner
because he thought that if he made some
money maybe his mom could stop working
20 hours a day and he might get this
year after
while the situation became unlivable so
his mom brought his family to America
Vineet told me his first three months in
the u.s. were like paradise he finally
found out what a real education was like
and you didn’t realized that he was
pretty good at math but he was also a
very vulnerable target for bullies at
the age of 12 he was roughly 3-1 and
spoke no English the first time he was
jumped he came back to his mom and
showed her the bruises and she asked him
what he did and suggested he must have
given someone a bad look people don’t
just hit you for no reason she said well
then he didn’t know the reason and he
didn’t think he did anything but the
next day at school he kept his head down
the entire day didn’t look at anyone and
still he was sought out and beat up so
he went back to his mom and she
maintained that there must have been a
reason well soon enough he found out
what this reason was he was different he
looked different spoke different behaved
different and he couldn’t escape that
eventually is getting beat up so
constantly they would stop coming home
to show his mother because he couldn’t
bear to see her cry and look at her face
of hopelessness all the bullying got so
severe that he moved schools every time
you walked out the door he felt like his
life was in danger and at the new school
nothing changed this school wouldn’t
help the police wouldn’t help and a deep
anger began to fester inside Vinnie he
felt isolated and helpless did he have
any help did he have any real outlet of
course not
so sophomore year he drops out of school
one day at the age of 16 vanina’s friend
are coming back from the gym they’re
hanging out in the friend’s driveway now
Vinnie’s bully at the time was having a
bad day when he saw his victim he pushed
Vinnie into the friend’s house and
started punching him now this bully was
a big guy he knocked Vinnie ah – welcome
back up with his punches Benny didn’t
know why was happening
then the guy left so Vinnie lit ball cut
takes off his shirt
wiped the blood off his face turns to
his friend and says it’s okay let it go
then the bully comes back this time with
more aggression the first time he starts
pummeling him yelling racial slurs at
him dehumanizing him reminding him of
all the times ever been tortured and
harassed Vidya proms himself along the
go they never wanted to feel like this
again he remembered mine clouded with
anger that his friends uncle was a
hunter who kept his guard in the house
he ran to the house still in a fit of
rage ran down his bully with a gun and
shot him a dark cloud fell over Vinnie
on the one hand he knew he would never
have to go through this again and then
reality set in and he realized the
horrible thing he had done is our
essence defined by the worst thing we’ve
ever done
when Vinnie told me his story he started
by telling me I’m better than that
second in my life I’m better than that
poor decision at the age of 16 Vinnie
was tried as an adult and sentenced to
29 years to life in prison well inside
prison Vinnie realized that he couldn’t
do anything they learned English so we
learned the language put himself through
the college inside president got his GED
start a support and political group for
prisoners were sentenced as children
start reading a letter a date of local
legislators and got one big law and many
too concerning criminal justice for
youth he went through the program of the
company where I was where I work at the
time was an entrepreneurship program
Critias owned business marked out the
business plan and pitched it he
rehabilitated himself he became a new
person
after 20 years inside prison he was let
out on account of good behavior and his
accomplishments now on the outside he
mentors the youth and
suddenly bad past he is a great job at a
Silicon Valley tech accelerator he
spends time that he missed with his
family and he connects with people
sharing his story and helping anyone in
any way that he can I can’t really do it
justice and explain how good and kind of
a person he is how much he has to give
and how much he wants to give one thing
Vinnie taught me is to judge the person
not just their history when we reduced
prisoners to their crimes or to numbers
they become insulated from the real
effects on real people by dismissing the
humanity in these people we allow
ourselves to ignore the systemic
problems that cause crime in order to
tackle a big issue like mass
incarceration we must begin with
fundamental compassion in a willingness
not to see these prisoners as just
prisoners there’s people with a story as
loved ones family members fathers sons
mothers daughters people who matter
there’s a great human potential that is
being locked up and we are doing a
global disservice by neglecting to
nurturing these former prisoners have
been turned away at every corner in
their lives and died like each of you
have a choice to break this cycle
we must find and celebrate the humanity
and everyone that we meet thank you
[Applause]
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