We need to change the culture in our jails and prisons, especially for young inmates. New York state is one of only two in the U.S. that automatically arrests and tries 16- to 17-year-olds as adults. This culture of violence takes these young people and puts them in a hostile environment, and the correctional officers pretty much allow any and everything to go on. There's not really much for these young people to do to actually enhance their talent and actually rehabilitate them. Until we can raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18, we need to focus on changing the daily lives of these young people.
Spremeniti moramo kulturo v naših zaporih, še posebno za naše mlade zapornike. New York je ena izmed dveh držav v ZDA, ki 16- in 17-letnikom, ki jih aretira, avtomatsko sodi kot odraslim. Kultura nasilja zapelje mlade, jih postavi v nasilno okolje, pazniki pa nato dovoljujejo, da se v zaporih dogaja praktično karkoli. Ti mladostniki pa nimajo veliko možnosti s katerimi bi spodbujali svoj talent in se kasneje tudi rehabilitirali. Dokler ne zvišamo starostne meje za kazensko odgovornost na 18, se moramo posvetiti spreminjanju načina življenja teh mladostnikov.
I know firsthand. Before I ever turned 18, I spent approximately 400 days on Rikers Island, and to add to that I spent almost 300 days in solitary confinement, and let me tell you this: Screaming at the top of your lungs all day on your cell door or screaming at the top of your lungs out the window, it gets tiring. Since there's not much for you to do while you're in there, you start pacing back and forth in your cell, you start talking to yourself, your thoughts start running wild, and then your thoughts become your own worst enemy. Jails are actually supposed to rehabilitate a person, not cause him or her to become more angry, frustrated, and feel more hopeless. Since there's not a discharge plan put in place for these young people, they pretty much reenter society with nothing. And there's not really much for them to do to keep them from recidivating.
Govorim iz lastnih izkušenj. Preden sem dopolnil 18 let sem preživel približno 400 dni v Rikers Island zaporu, kjer sem, za nameček, skoraj 300 dni preživel v osamitvi in lahko vam povem sledeče: kričanje na ves glas, pri vratih svoje celice, ali kričanje na ves glas skozi okno le-te, sčasoma postane utrujajoče. Ker nimaš veliko izbire kaj bi počel, dokler si tam, začneš postopati naokrog po svoji celici, se začneš pogovarjati sam s seboj, misli v glavi podivjajo in nato postanejo tvoj najhujši sovražnik. Zapori so dejansko namenjeni temu, da rehabilitirajo človeka, ne pa, da ga naredijo še bolj jeznega, razočaranega in brez upanja. Glede na to da načrta, kaj storiti s tistimi, ki so izpuščeni, ni, mladostniki v družbo ponovno vstopijo praznih rok. In zato jim ne preostane drugega, kot da zaidejo na stara pota.
But it all starts with the C.O.s. It's very easy for some people to look at these correctional officers as the good guys and the inmates as the bad guys, or vice versa for some, but it's a little more than that. See, these C.O.s are normal, everyday people. They come from the same neighborhoods as the population they "serve." They're just normal people. They're not robots, and there's nothing special about them. They do pretty much everything anybody else in society does. The male C.O.s want to talk and flirt with the female C.O.s. They play the little high school kid games with each other. They politic with one another. And the female C.O.s gossip to each other.
A vse se začne s pazniki. Za določene ljudi je najlažje, da te paznike vidijo kot "dobre fante", zapornike pa kot "slabe", za nekatere mogoče ravno obratno, a za vsem tem se skriva veliko več. Ti pazniki so namreč normalni vsakdanji ljudje. Prihajajo iz iste soseske kot ljudje, ki jim "služijo". So popolnoma normalni ljudje. Niso roboti in nič posebnega ni na njih. Ukvarjajo se z istimi stvarmi kot ostali v družbi. Moški pazniki si želijo pogovora in flirtanja z ženskimi paznicami. Drug z drugim se gredo srednješolske igrice. Vedo, kako ravnati drug z drugim. Ženske paznice pa se med seboj opravljajo.
So I spent numerous amounts of time with numerous amounts of C.O.s, and let me tell you about this one in particular named Monroe. One day he pulled me in between the A and B doors which separate the north and south sides of our housing unit. He pulled me there because I had a physical altercation with another young man in my housing unit, and he felt, since there was a female officer working on the floor, that I violated his shift. So he punched me in my chest. He kind of knocked the wind out of me. I wasn't impulsive, I didn't react right away, because I know this is their house. I have no wins. All he has to do is pull his pin and backup will come immediately. So I just gave him a look in his eyes and I guess he saw the anger and frustration just burning, and he said to me, "Your eyes are going to get you in a lot of trouble, because you're looking like you want to fight." So he commenced to taking off his utility belt, he took off his shirt and his badge, and he said, "We could fight."
Čeprav sem preživel ogromno časa z različnimi pazniki, bi vam rad povedal o enem izmed njih, ime mu je Monroe. Nekega dne me je potegnil med vrata A in B, ki so ločevala severno in južno stran naše bivalne enote. To je storil, ker sem se zapletel v pretep z drugim mladeničem v moji bivalni enoti in čutil je, ker je v istem nadstropju delala tudi ženska paznica, da sem nekako prekršil njegovo izmeno. Zato me je udaril v prsni koš. Za trenutek sem ostal brez zraka. Nisem bil impulziven, nisem takoj odreagiral, ker sem vedel, da je to njihov teritorij. Tu ne morem zmagati. Vse kar mora storiti je, da povzdigne glas in okrepitev bo prišla takoj. Zato sem mu namenil samo pogled in očitno je v njem videl jezo in frustracijo, ki sem ju čutil in rekel mi je: "Ta tvoj pogled te bo spravil v težave, ker gledaš, kot da se želiš boriti." In začel si je odpenjati pas na hlačah, slekel si je srajco in snel značko, nato pa rekel: "Lahko se boriva".
So I asked him, "You gonna hold it down?" Now, that's a term that's commonly used on Rikers Island meaning that you're not going to say anything to anybody, and you're not going to report it. He said, "Yeah, I'm gonna hold it down. You gonna hold it down?" I didn't even respond. I just punched him right in his face, and we began fighting right then and there.
Zato sem ga vprašal: "Bo ostalo pri tem?" To je izraz, ki se pogosto uporablja tu, pomeni, da o dogodku ne boš nikomur govoril in ga nikomur ne boš prijavil. Rekel je: "Kar se mene tiče, bo. Pa pri tebi?" Nisem mu niti odgovoril. Samo udaril sem ga naravnost v obraz in začela sva se pretepati.
Towards the end of the fight, he slammed me up against the wall, so while we were tussled up, he said to me, "You good?" as if he got the best of me, but in my mind, I know I got the best of him, so I replied very cocky, "Oh, I'm good, you good?" He said, "Yeah, I'm good, I'm good." We let go, he shook my hand, said he gave me my respect, gave me a cigarette and sent me on my way.
Proti koncu pretepa me je pribil k steni in me med prerivanjem vprašal: "Si bolje?" kot, da bi me premagal, čeprav sem bil mnenja, da sem ga premagal jaz, zato sem vzvišeno odgovoril: "Seveda sem bolje, si ti?" In rekel je: "Se razume, sem bolje." Izpustila sva se, segel mi je v roko in rekel, da mi je vrnil samospoštovanje, mi dal cigareto in mi dovolil, da odidem.
Believe it or not, you come across some C.O.s on Rikers Island that'll fight you one-on-one. They feel that they understand how it is, and they feel that I'm going to meet you where you're at. Since this is how you commonly handle your disputes, we can handle it in that manner. I walk away from it like a man, you walk away from it like a man, and that's it. Some C.O.s feel that they're jailing with you. This is why they have that mentality and that attitude and they go by that concept. In some instances, we're in it together with the C.O.s. However, institutions need to give these correctional officers proper trainings on how to properly deal with the adolescent population, and they also need to give them proper trainings on how to deal with the mental health population as well. These C.O.s play a big factor in these young people's lives for x amount of time until a disposition is reached on their case. So why not try to mentor these young people while they're there? Why not try to give them some type of insight to make a change, so once they reenter back into society, they're doing something positive?
Verjeli ali ne, v Rikers zaporu naletiš na paznike, ki se bodo ena-na-ena borili s tabo. Mislijo, da razumejo, kako se počutiš, in da se tako spustijo na tvoj nivo. Ker tako ponavadi rešuješ svoje prepire, jih lahko rešujemo na tak način. Oba nato odideva od tega kot moška in to je vse. Določeni se počutijo, kot da so zaprti s tabo. Zato imajo tako mnenje in tak odnos in sledijo temu konceptu. Vsi smo na istem. A paznikom bi morali nuditi izobraževanja o delu z najstniki in jim nuditi primerne treninge o tem, kako rokovati s tistimi, ki imajo težave z duševnim zdravjem. Igrajo namreč pomembno vlogo v življenju tistih, ki čakajo na podano sodbo. Zakaj torej ne bi poskušali usmeriti teh mladostnikov, dokler so tam? Zakaj jim ne bi poskusili dati vpogleda v to, kako narediti spremembo, da bodo ob ponovni vključitvi v družbo lahko naredili nekaj pozitivnega?
A second big thing to help our teens in jails is better programming. When I was on Rikers Island, the huge thing was solitary confinement. Solitary confinement was originally designed to break a person mentally, physically and emotionally. That's what it was designed for. The U.S. Attorney General recently released a report stating that they're going to ban solitary confinement in New York state for teens.
Druga stvar, ki bi pomagala najstnikom v priporu je boljši program. Ko sem bil zaprt, je bila osamitev pomembna stvar. Osamitev je bil prvotno zasnovana, da bi človeka zlomila mentalno, psihično in čustveno. To je razlog za njen nastanek. Generalni državni tožilec v ZDA je pred kratkim objavil, da bodo prepovedali osamitev najstnikov v zaporih, v državi New York.
One thing that kept me sane while I was in solitary confinement was reading. I tried to educate myself as much as possible. I read any and everything I could get my hands on. And aside from that, I wrote music and short stories. Some programs that I feel would benefit our young people are art therapy programs for the kids that like to draw and have that talent, and what about the young individuals that are musically inclined? How about a music program for them that actually teaches them how to write and make music? Just a thought.
Mene je pri pameti ohranjalo samo branje. Poskusil sem se čim bolj izobraziti. Prebral sem vse, kar sem lahko. Pisal pa sem še glasbo in krajše zgodbe. Mislim, da bi mladim lahko pomagali programi učenja umetnosti, tistim, ki želijo risati in imajo talent; kaj pa tistim, ki so naklonjeni glasbi? Kaj če bi imeli glasbeni program, ki bi jih naučil kako pisati in ustvarjati glasbo? Samo v razmislek.
When adolescents come to Rikers Island, C74, RNDC is the building that they're housed in. That's nicknamed "gladiator school," because you have a young individual coming in from the street thinking that they're tough, being surrounded by a bunch of other young individuals from all of the five boroughs, and everybody feels that they're tough. So now you have a bunch of young gentlemen poking their chests out feeling that I have to prove I'm equally as tough as you or I'm tougher than you, you and you. But let's be honest: That culture is very dangerous and damaging to our young people. We need to help institutions and these teens realize that they don't have to lead the previous lifestyle that they led when they were on the street, that they can actually make a change.
Ko mladostniki pridejo na Rikers, so nameščeni v stavbi C74 ali RNDC. Stavbi, poimenovani "šola gladiatorjev", ker so v njih mladostniki z ulic, ki mislijo, da so vsemogočni in so obkroženi z drugimi mladostniki iz različnih okrožij in vsi mislijo, da so vsemogočni. In tako imaš polno mladih, napihnjenih gospodov, ki imajo občutek, da se morajo dokazati oziroma pokazati, da so močnejši. Ampak, roko na srce: taka kultura je zelo nevarna in uničujoča. Pomagati jim moramo uvideti, da se jim ni potrebno vrniti na stara pota in da lahko tudi oni naredijo razliko.
It's sad to report that while I was in prison, I used to hear dudes talking about when they get released from prison, what type of crimes they're going to commit when they get back in the street. The conversations used to sound something like this: "Oh, when I hit the street, my brother got this connection for this, that and the third," or, "My man over here got this connection for the low price. Let's exchange information," and, "When we hit the town, we're going to do it real big." I used to hear these conversations and think to myself, "Wow, these dudes are really talking about going back in the street and committing future crimes." So I came up with a name for that: I called it a go-back-to-jail-quick scheme because really, how long is that going to last? You get a retirement plan with that? Nice little pension? 401(k)? 403(b)? You get health insurance? Dental? (Laughter)
Žalostno je, da sem v zaporu večkrat slišal, kako se zaporniki pogovarjajo o tem, kakšne zločine bodo storili, ko bodo izpuščeni. Pogovori so zveneli nekako tako: "Ko bom zunaj, moj brat ima veze za eno, drugo ali tretje," ali: "Moj prijatelj ima veze za zelo nizko ceno. Dajva si izmenjat info." In: "Ko udarimo, bomo to storili močno." Poslušal sem in si mislil: "Ti fantje resnično načrtujejo, kakšne zločine bodo storili." Zato sem si izmislil ime za te pogovore: načrt kako-hitro-spet-v-ječo, prav dolgo tako ne bi ostali zunaj. Mar ob tem dobiš tudi upokojitveni plan? Zadovoljivo pokojnino? Plan 401(k)? 403(b)? (Ameriški pokojninski sistem) Osnovno in dodatno zavarovanje? (Smeh)
But I will tell you this: Being in jail and being in prison, I came across some of the most intelligent, brilliant, and talented people that I would ever meet. I've seen individuals take a potato chip bag and turn it into the most beautiful picture frame. I've seen individuals take the state soap that's provided for free and turn them into the most beautiful sculptures that would make Michelangelo look like a kindergartner made it.
Vam pa povem sledeče: v času, ko sem bil zaprt sem spoznal bolj inteligentne, briljantne in talentirane ljudi, kot bi jih sicer. Videl sem, kako je nekdo vzel vrečko čipsa in jo spremenil v najlepši okvir za slike. Videl sem nekoga, ki je milo spremenil v najlepši kipec, ki bi prekosil še Michelangelovega.
At the age of 21, I was in a maximum-security prison called Elmira Correctional Facility. I just came out of the weight shack from working out, and I saw an older gentleman that I knew standing in the middle of the yard just looking up at the sky. Mind you, this older gentlemen was serving a 33-and-a-third-to-life sentence in which he already had served 20 years of that sentence.
Pri 21-ih sem bil v strogo varovanem popravnem zaporu, Elmira. Vračal sem se s telovadbe, in na dvorišču videl gospoda, ki je samo gledal v nebo. Služil 33-letno kazen, 20 jih je že odslužil.
So I walk up to him and I said, "O.G., what's going on, man, you good?"
Stopil sem do njega in ga vprašal: "O.G., kaj se dogaja, si v redu?"
He looked at me, and he said, "Yeah, I'm good, young blood."
Rekel mi je: "Sem, mlada kri, sem."
I'm like, "So what are you looking up at the sky for, man? What's so fascinating up there?"
Začuden vprašam: "Zakaj gledaš v nebo? Kaj je tako fascinantnega na njem?"
He said, "You look up and you tell me what you see."
"Poglej še ti in povej, kaj vidiš," reče.
"Clouds." (Laughter)
"Oblake." (smeh)
He said, "All right. What else do you see?" At that time, it was a plane passing by.
Reče: "V redu. Kaj še?" V tistem trenutku, mimo prileti letalo.
I said, "All right, I see an airplane."
Rečem: "Ok, vidim tudi letalo."
He said, "Exactly, and what's on that airplane?" "People." "Exactly. Now where's that plane and those people going?"
In pravi: "Točno. In kdo je na letalu?" "Ljudje." "Natanko tako. In, kam ti ljudje gredo?"
"I don't know. You know? Please let me know if you do. Then let me get some lottery numbers."
"Nimam pojma. Veš ti? Če veš, povej. Zatem bom igral loterijo."
He said, "You're missing the big picture, young blood. That plane with those people is going somewhere, while we're here stuck. The big picture is this: That plane with those people going somewhere, that's life passing us by while we behind these walls, stuck."
"Zamujaš, kar se zares dogaja. Letalo s potniki resda potuje nekam, medtem, ko smo mi obtičali tu. Kar se zares dogaja je: letalo, ki z ljudmi nekam potuje, to je življenje, ki ga zamujamo."
Ever since that day, that sparked something in my mind and made me know I had to make a change. Growing up, I was always a good, smart kid. Some people would say I was a little too smart for my own good. I had dreams of becoming an architect or an archaeologist.
Od tistega dne naprej sem vedel, da se moram spremeniti. Kot otrok sem bil dober in pameten. Nekateri bi rekli, da celo malo preveč pameten. Sanjal sem, da bi postal arhitekt ali arheolog.
Currently, I'm working at the Fortune Society, which is a reentry program, and I work with people as a case manager that are at high risk for recidivism. So I connect them with the services that they need once they're released from jail and prison so they can make a positive transition back into society. If I was to see my 15-year-old self today, I would sit down and talk to him and try to educate him and I would let him know, "Listen, this is me. I'm you. This is us. We are one. Everything that you're about to do, I know what you're gonna do before you do it because I already did it, and I would encourage him not to hang out with x, y and z people. I would tell him not to be in such-and-such place. I would tell him, keep your behind in school, man, because that's where you need to be, because that's what's going to get you somewhere in life. This is the message that we should be sharing with our young men and young women. We shouldn't be treating them as adults and putting them in cultures of violence that are nearly impossible for them to escape.
Trenutno delam pri Fortune Society, ki je program za rehabilitacijo in pomagam tistim, ki jim le-ta ne uspeva. Pomagam jim, da dobijo tisto, kar potrebujejo, ko so izpuščeni, zato, da je njihov prehod v družbo pozitiven. Če bi sedaj srečal sebe pri 15-ih, bi se z njim usedel in pogovoril, ga izobrazil in mu dal vedeti: "To sem jaz. Jaz sem ti. To sva midva. Midva sva eno. Vse kar nameravaš storiti... Vedel bom, vse sem namreč že storil. In spodbujal bi ga, da naj se izogiba določenih ljudi. Povedal bi mu, naj ne obiskuje določenih krajev, naj ostane v šoli, ker mora tam biti, ker bo samo z izobrazbo nekaj dosegel v življenju. To je sporočilo, ki bi ga morali deliti z našimi mladostniki. Ne smemo jih postavljati v situacije iz katerih je nemogoče pobegniti.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(aplavz)