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我們的監獄文化需要改變,尤其是針對少年犯。紐約州是美國僅有的兩個自動將16至17歲少年視為成人對待的地區之一,獄中的暴力文化將腐蝕這些年輕人,並將他們置於一個不友善的環境中,監獄管理員多半任由這一切發生。這些年輕人難以提升自己的才能、改造自我,除非我們將刑事責任年齡提高到18歲。我們需要致力於改善這些少年犯的日常生活,我對此有親身體會。
18歲之前,我在萊克斯島監獄待了約400天。補充說明一下,其中約有300天是單獨監禁。讓我說明一下情況:整天在囚室門邊大聲尖叫,或對著窗外大聲尖叫,這讓人疲倦,因為在囚室裡沒什麼事可做。你開始在囚室裡來回踱步,你開始自言自語,你的思緒開始天馬行空,然後你的思緒變成你最大的敵人。監獄應該是讓人洗心革面的地方,而不是讓人變得更憤怒、更沮喪、更絕望。因為我們沒有為這些年輕人制定出獄計畫,他們重返社會後幾乎身無所長,也沒有任何防止他們再犯的措施,但這一切都得從監獄管理員談起。
對某些人來說,很容易就將監獄管理員視為好人,將犯人視為壞人,或對一些人來說剛好相反,但事實不僅如此。監獄管理員不過是普通人,他們跟他們所「服務」的人來自相同社會,他們只是普通人,他們不是機器人,沒什麼特別之處,他們所做的事和一般人沒什麼差別。男監獄管理員想跟女監獄管理員聊天和調情,他們互相玩高中生的小把戲,他們互相算計,女監獄管理員互相八卦。因此我跟許多監獄管理員相處了不少時間。
我想跟各位談談一位名叫Monroe的監獄管理員。某天他把我拉到A和B兩扇門之間,這兩扇門分隔南北的囚室,他把我拉到那裡,因為我和另一位同室的年輕人發生肢體衝突,因為有一位女監獄管理員在這層工作,他認為我侵犯了他的職權,因此他一拳打在我的胸口,幾乎把我打得頭昏眼花。我沒有衝動,也沒有立刻還擊,因為我知道這是他們的地盤,我沒有勝算。他只要拉響警報,後援立刻就會出現。因此我只是看著他的眼睛,我想他看見我眼中燃燒的怒火和沮喪,他對我說:「你的眼神會帶給你不少麻煩,因為你看起來像是想打架。」因此他開始脫下裝備腰帶,脫下上衣和警徽,他說:「我們可以打一架。」因此我問他:「你會保密?」那是萊克斯島監獄的慣用語,意味著你不會向任何人透露,也不會上報。他說,「是的,我會保密。你也會保密?」我甚至不曾回應,我只是一拳打在他臉上,然後我們開始扭打。打架快結束時,他把我摔在牆上,儘管我們扭打成一團,他對我說:「你沒事吧?」彷彿他打敗了我,但我心知肚明,是我打敗了他,因此我趾高氣揚地回答:「喔,我好得很,你還好吧?」他說:「是的,我很好,我沒事。」我們停戰,他跟我握手,說他尊重我,給了我一支煙,然後送我回房。
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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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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信不信由你,在萊克斯島監獄你會遇見一些監獄管理員跟你單挑,他們認為他們瞭解監獄的生態,他們認為他們應該配合你的做法,因為這是犯人處理紛爭的方式。我們也可以用這種方式處理,我像男子漢一樣地離開,你也像男子漢一樣地離開,就這麼簡單。一些監獄管理員認為他們跟你一起蹲苦窯,這就是為何他們擁有這種心態和態度。他們遵循這種觀念,以某種程度來說,我們確實與監獄管理員共同生活,然而獄政機構必須給予這些監獄管理員適當的訓練,教導他們如何以適當的態度與少年犯打交道。獄政機構也需要給予監獄管理員適當的訓練,教導他們如何應對有心理問題的犯人。監獄管理員在少年犯的生活中扮演重要角色,持續一段時間,直到他們服刑完畢。因此為何不在這些年輕人服刑時給予他們一些指導?為何不試著給予他們一些改變自我的觀念,一旦他們重返社會,他們就能走上正途?
第二項能協助少年犯的重要作法就是更好的培育計畫。當我在萊克斯島監獄時,主要的生活就是單獨監禁。單獨監禁原本是為了從心理、生理和情感上擊垮一個人,這就是設計這項方案的初衷。美國總檢察長最近發表一篇報告,聲稱他們將禁止紐約州少年犯的單獨監禁。當我單獨監禁時,使我保持心智健全的方法之一就是讀書。我儘可能多自學,我閱讀所有能獲得的書籍,除此之外,我還會寫歌和短篇故事。我認為能使年輕人受益的課程是藝術治療,專為喜愛繪畫且擁有才能的孩子所設計。那麼對音樂有興趣的年輕人呢?教育他們如何創作音樂的課程如何?這只是一個想法。
當少年犯來到萊克斯島監獄,C74, RNDC大樓是他們所住的地方,它有個別名叫「格鬥者學校」,因為有個混跡街頭的年輕人進來了,自認是難惹的角色,被一群來自紐約五個區的年輕人簇擁著,大家都認為他們不好惹,因此另一群年輕人挺身而出,認為必須證明我跟你們一樣不好惹,或者我比你們任何人更不好惹。但坦白說這種文化非常危險,會對年輕人造成傷害。我們必須讓獄政機構和這些年輕人瞭解,他們不需再過之前混跡街頭時的生活,他們可以有所改變。令人遺憾的是,當我在獄中時,經常聽見獄友談論當他們出獄後、回到街頭時打算犯什麼案子,他們的對話聽起來類似這樣:「喔,當我回到街頭,我的兄弟就能搞到這個、這個、還有這個關係。」或是:「我的人用很低的價格搞到這個關係,我們不妨交換一下資訊。」或是:「我們回到城裡後就大幹一票。」我經常聽見像這樣的對話,然後心想:「哇,這些傢伙真的在談回到街頭,然後繼續犯案。」因此我想到一個適用於這種現象的名稱,我稱之為「快速回籠計畫」。因為說真的,這種生活將持續多久?有退休計畫嗎?合理的退休金?401(k)還是403(b)(美國退休福利計畫)?有健康保險嗎?包括牙醫?(笑聲)
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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?
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.
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.
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.
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)
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但我想告訴各位:在服刑期間,我遇見一些我見過最聰明、最傑出、最有才華的人。我見過有人把薯片包裝袋變成最美的畫框,我見過有人把免費的肥皂變成最美的雕刻作品,讓米開朗基羅的作品看起來就像幼稚園生的創作。21歲時,我在一間最高安全級別監獄,名叫愛米拉矯正所。我剛結束繁重的戶外勞動,我看見一位我認識的老人站在院子中央,不斷仰望天空。說明一下,這個老人的刑期長達33年,相當於三分之一的人生。他已服刑20年,因此我走到他面前說:「天哪,怎麼了,老兄?你還好吧?」他看著我說:「是的,我很好,年輕人。」我說:「你盯著天空做什麼,老兄?有什麼好看東西嗎?」他說:「你向上看,告訴我你看見什麼?」「雲。」(笑聲)他說:「好,你還看見什麼?」那時有架飛機飛過,我說:「好,我看見一架飛機。」他說:「是的,飛機上有什麼?」「人」「是的,飛機和那些人要去哪裡?」「我不知道,你知道嗎?如果知道請告訴我,我好去買樂透。」他說,「你錯過了一幅大風景,年輕人。」
飛機載著那些人飛向某個地方,我們卻困在這裡。大風景是這樣的:飛機載著那些人飛向某個地方,當我們困在高牆後時,生命正悄悄流逝。從那天起,我腦海裡突然閃現一些想法,讓我知道我需要做出改變。成長過程中我一直是個聰明的好孩子,有些人說我有點太自作聰明了。我的夢想是成為建築師或考古學家,目前我在財富社區(Fortune Society)工作,這是一項更生計畫,我身為專案經理,跟具有高再犯風險的更生人一起工作。因此我替他們安排需要的服務,一旦他們出獄,就能做出正面改變,回歸社會。
如果我能與15歲的自己相遇,我會坐下來跟他談話,試著教育他,我會讓他知道:「聽著,這是我,我就是你,這是我們,我們是一體。」我知道你打算做的每件事,因為我都做過了。我會鼓勵他,不要跟甲乙丙等人鬼混,我會告訴他不要去這樣或那樣的地方,我會告訴他好好上學,因為那才是你該待的地方,因為那會讓你擁有未來。這是我們應該與年輕男女分享的資訊,我們不該視他們為成年人,將他們置於幾乎不可避免的暴力文化中,謝謝。(掌聲)
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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.
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.
So I walk up to him and I said, "O.G., what's going on, man, you good?" He looked at me, and he said, "Yeah, I'm good, young blood." I'm like, "So what are you looking up at the sky for, man? What's so fascinating up there?" He said, "You look up and you tell me what you see." "Clouds." (Laughter)
He said, "All right. What else do you see?" At that time, it was a plane passing by. I said, "All right, I see an airplane." He said, "Exactly, and what's on that airplane?" "People." "Exactly. Now where's that plane and those people going?" "I don't know. You know? Please let me know if you do. Then let me get some lottery numbers." 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."
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. 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.
Thank you.
(Applause)