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WestportREADS: Anthony Ray Hinton in Conversation — Transcript

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0:04good evening
0:06i'm harold bailey chair of westport's
0:09team westport which is the town's
0:11diversity council
0:12and i'm pleased to welcome you to the uh
0:16to tonight's conversation between
0:18anthony ray hinton
0:20and trey ellis anthony ray hinton walked
0:23out of the jefferson county jail in
0:25birmingham alabama
0:27a free man for the first time in 30
0:29years at 9
0:3030 a.m on friday april 3rd 2015
0:35one of the longest-serving death row
0:36prisoners in alabama history and among
0:38the longest-serving condemned prisoners
0:41to be freed after presenting evidence of
0:43innocence
0:44mr hinton was the 152nd person
0:48exonerated from death row since 1983.
0:5330 years ago he was arrested and charged
0:55with two capital murders based solely on
0:58the assertion
0:58that a revolver taken from his mother's
1:01home was a gun used in both murders
1:03and in a third uncharged crime
1:07brian stevenson's equal justice
1:09initiative attorneys
1:11engaged three of the nation's top
1:13firearms examiners
1:15who had testified in 2002 that the
1:17revolver
1:18could not be matched to crime evidence
1:20state prosecutors
1:22never questioning the new findings
1:25nevertheless
1:26refused to re-examine the case to
1:28concede error
1:30after 12 more years of litigation the
1:33u.s supreme court reversed the lower
1:35courts
1:36and a new trial was granted that judge
1:39finally dismissed the charges after
1:41prosecutors
1:42said that scientists at the alabama
1:44department of forensic scientists
1:47had tested the evidence and confirmed
1:49that the crime bullets
1:51could not be matched to the hinton
1:53weapon
1:54so after 30 years in custody for crimes
1:57he did not commit
1:59mr hinton's release was bittersweet
2:04brian stevenson said that the refusal of
2:06state prosecutors to re-examine this
2:08case
2:09despite persuasive and reliable evidence
2:12of innocence
2:13was both disappointing and of course
2:15troubling
2:17today mr hinton is an equal justice
2:20initiative community educator and he's
2:23also a very riveting speaker
2:25and a relentlessly powerful advocate
2:29for the abolition of the death penalty
2:33trey ellis is an american book
2:36award-winning novelist
2:38an emmy and peabody winning filmmaker
2:42a playwright a novelist
2:45a professor of screening in the graduate
2:47school of film at columbia university he
2:50most recently was an executive producer
2:52interviewer and coal field producer
2:55excuse me director for the hbo
2:57documentary true justice
2:59which of course was brian stevenson's
3:01fight for equality
3:03he's also executive producer and
3:05interviewer for the previous king in the
3:07wilderness
3:08of course he won an emmy for both of
3:10those he is
3:12absolutely westport's renaissance man
3:15and i can tell you as i as i was talking
3:19to both and saying earlier
3:21um my wife and i went down to see the
3:25eji the equal justice initiative down in
3:27montgomery
3:28a few years ago shortly after it opened
3:31we were absolutely transformed by what
3:33we saw in the museum
3:35and by the memorial a few miles a couple
3:38of miles away up the hill there
3:40it just blew us away then we read the
3:43book
3:44by brian stevenson and were affected
3:46again
3:47and of course then we saw the movie um
3:50that that uh trey was involved in
3:53producing
3:54and and that did it again for us so
3:55there was a triple it i can tell you
3:58that with the work that went on i think
4:00with uh
4:01between trey and and brian stevenson
4:05and and mr hinton obviously there's a
4:07relationship built there
4:08we are blessed to be able to have them
4:11tonight
4:12to spend some time with us in
4:14conversation
4:16gentlemen thank you thank you thank you
4:18harold
4:19thank you and thank you for all the work
4:21you're doing and and i've got to shout
4:23before we start mr hinton
4:25um our town you know mr harold bailey
4:28and team westport we've been going
4:29through a lot here with
4:30the asian american hate crimes hates you
4:33know speech and
4:34hate catastrophes asian americans and
4:37and uh team westport and the community
4:40has been really
4:41uh they came out for black lives matter
4:43and now we're coming out for this next
4:44chapter so i'm really proud of my town
4:46and i'm proud to show
4:48i'm proud to introduce my town to you uh
4:50down there in
4:51in alabama where i i love looking at
4:54this background because i haven't seen
4:55you since uh interviewing you with the
4:57for the future and i got to tell people
5:00as well
5:00your book the sun does shine is just
5:03it's if you haven't read it yet
5:04buy it read it it's such a beautiful
5:06beautiful book it's an important read
5:08uh it's surprising and you really get a
5:10little taste
5:11tonight you'll get more of that in the
5:12book of mr hinton's really indomitable
5:15spirit
5:16uh that really it's it's you wouldn't
5:18think that a story like his would be as
5:20uplifting
5:21as it was but as we'll as we'll discuss
5:25um he managed to come out of prison
5:29uh not only not not a broken man at
5:31least on the outside like a really a
5:33positive spirit for change for all of us
5:35and really an inspiration
5:38so mr him we were before we got on here
5:41you're talking about how
5:43you know you know for 30 years in prison
5:46people say
5:46just as i'm saying from the outside uh
5:49you seem like
5:49you don't you don't wear that on your on
5:52your face let's say even compared to
5:54you know in our film we talked about
5:55walter mcmillan as well who
5:57who was not in as long but he seemed to
6:00um
6:01it seemed to break him a little you know
6:04and uh
6:05and you know if you see the uh if you
6:07see the brian if you see just mercy the
6:09movie with
6:09michael b jordan uh there's actually a
6:12character
6:13you know mr mr hinton is uh
6:16there's a character playing him um first
6:19let's just a trivia question what do you
6:21think about that actor and uh then let's
6:23talk about
6:24how you cope with getting out of it
6:25spending those 30 years in prison
6:27i think old shea jackson did a terrific
6:30job
6:32uh
6:34whoever decided to pick him to play the
6:37part
6:38uh did excellent and
6:41uh there's only one anthony ray hinton
6:43in the world so
6:44uh he did as best as he could uh and i
6:48was pleased with uh
6:50his performance uh you know you spoke
6:53uh earlier about walter mcmillan in fact
6:56walter macmillan and i
6:58live uh next door to each other
7:02and i got to know him very well and
7:07when you there for something that you
7:10know you didn't do
7:13it weighs on you more heavier
7:16than a person that did a crime
7:19and walt took hills
7:23for different than i did mine i realized
7:26earlier that in order for me to survive
7:29the hell
7:30that i was in i had to allow my mind
7:34to escape and i say that because earlier
7:37i told you
7:38my body went to prison but i didn't
7:40allow my mind to go to prison
7:42um i did that because
7:46i sit in jail for over a year and a half
7:49before i even went to trial
7:52and it gave me all the opportunity
7:56to take my mind in places
7:59uh that only you can do and only go
8:03and that helped you or do the time
8:06uh if you go and uh
8:10and lay out your mind to go with you
8:12you're thinking about
8:13everything you used to do uh believe it
8:16or not
8:18the second day that i was there i told
8:21my mind to
8:22erase everything that i once knew
8:26everything uh because you can't do time
8:29and
8:29then try to live the life that you once
8:31lived or there is no mcdonald's there is
8:34no movie there is no
8:36dressing up in nice cold there is no car
8:39to get in and go
8:40uh wherever you want to and come as you
8:43please
8:43so i think men's that try to
8:47[Music]
8:48that is in prison and try to live the
8:50life as
8:51though they was out they are headed for
8:54danger and so
8:55mines was totally optional i did some
8:58things
8:59uh for those who read the book i played
9:01baseball for the new york yankees in my
9:03mind
9:04or i played a tennis uh wilmington
9:08wanted five straight years in a row
9:10and i tell people to this day i i'm more
9:13upset about
9:15winning wilmington for five straight
9:17years and no one have sent me my rolex
9:19watch
9:20yet and every day i come from work i
9:22looking at mailbox
9:24thinking that my watch is in there but
9:26six years later it's not enough
9:28but you know i'm a person that believe
9:32you cannot worry about things that you
9:35have no control over you have to believe
9:38that
9:38it would get better and you have to
9:40believe that perhaps someone
9:44will come along that is able to take
9:47care of that word that you
9:48once had take it from you and there was
9:51no better case than
9:52brian stevenson came along uh one of the
9:56i called him guard number one lawyer uh
9:59came along and uh took up my case uh
10:02in 2005. uh all that other time i had
10:06went through
10:06three lawyers and one lawyer
10:09i have to say this one lawyer wanted me
10:12to plead guilty in order to get a life
10:14without parole
10:15i'm saying this tonight for those that
10:17find themselves perhaps in trouble
10:19if you haven't done anything don't plead
10:21guilty to something you haven't done
10:23yes i went to prison yes i was on death
10:25row but i was willing to die for what i
10:27believe in
10:28or i was not going to stand up and say i
10:31plead guilty
10:33uh when i hadn't done anything and so
10:36that lawyer i
10:37ended up getting rid of and not knowing
10:39where my next lawyer
10:40was going to come from but by getting
10:43rid of him
10:44i wrote mr stephenson and i thank him
10:47for sending the lawyer and i said
10:49uh miss stevenson
10:53i would love for you to become my lord
10:56but before you say yes or no all i ask
10:58is that you read my transcript
11:00and if you find one thing in my
11:01transcript point to my guilt
11:04don't worry about becoming my lawyer i
11:06am perfectly willing to die for
11:08something
11:09that i know i didn't do and god know i
11:10didn't do and so that's the type of
11:12person that i am
11:13i i love for people to stand up when
11:16rome
11:17is confronting us or what we see as you
11:20just mentioned about the asian community
11:22everybody that believes in right
11:24everybody that believes in
11:25uh equal opportunity everybody that has
11:29compassion and they should stand up for
11:31them they should say hey
11:32this is not going to tolerate here in
11:34connecticut it shouldn't tolerate
11:36nowhere
11:36but first you have to take care of your
11:38own little town and come out and give
11:40them your support
11:41and that's the type of person i believe
11:44that we need
11:45uh people that is willing to stand up
11:47when you're being told to sit down
11:49speak when you're being told to be quiet
11:51and i think
11:52that's why we find ourselves where we
11:54are today uh
11:55too many people have just sit back and
11:58said nothing done nothing
12:00knowing that it was wrong and i feel
12:03that
12:04had certain people got up said it was
12:07wrong
12:08i don't believe we will be in this
12:10predicament that we find ourselves
12:11in no absolutely
12:15yeah i mean that and for all of you who
12:17haven't read the the book is amazing and
12:19the stories that the coping mechanisms
12:21you treat like let's talk
12:23we didn't get to put this in the film
12:25but i really wanted to uh
12:26in in our film talk about the your
12:29relationship with the queen of england
12:31can you talk about that a little bit yes
12:33well you know
12:35even before i went to prison out i was
12:38fascinated how
12:43the queen per se
12:46when you think of england you think of
12:48jester queen
12:49of the royal family whereas in america
12:53we don't look at the president as being
12:55the only person alive
12:57and i've always wanted to meet the queen
13:00and so
13:01one day i was sitting there and i i say
13:03hey
13:04you know i might want to go in and close
13:07my eyes real
13:08tight as i could close them and imagine
13:11going to the palace and
13:12uh once i arrived there i told god that
13:15i was there to see the queen
13:17and i told him my name that goes in and
13:19they tell the queen that uh
13:21a gentleman is here to see you she
13:22invite me in i introduce myself to
13:25uh we talks about prince charles prince
13:27harris prince william
13:29and the tragedy of uh prince dye
13:32about 35 to 40 minutes in the
13:35conversation
13:37the queen just stands up and she looks
13:39at me and she said
13:41mr henton would you like some tang
13:44and i told the queen i would love some
13:46tea and she said
13:48why would you like in your tank and i
13:50told her spot a lemon
13:52she have the butter to go out and get
13:54this lemon and
13:55we i squeeze it in my tea we talked some
13:57more about
13:5945 minutes later i stands up and i tell
14:02the queen i must believe
14:04and the queen looks at me and she said
14:07mr hinton
14:08will you come back and once i realized
14:11then that i could go anywhere
14:13that i want to go i can talk to whoever
14:16i wanted to talk to dignitary the
14:18president
14:19queens uh i knew then that i was on my
14:22way
14:23of just doing time free and i
14:26i was free up here and i never met
14:30a more general nice person than uh
14:33queen elizabeth uh i did once i was free
14:37i did get the opportunity to meet i was
14:39invited
14:40back to england and i have a picture of
14:42me and the queen
14:43i tell people if you ever in alabama you
14:47ever stop by the house for some good
14:49barbecue
14:50you're welcome to look at your picture
14:51but you can't touch the picture it's
14:53just like
14:54a museum you can't touch it and so um
14:57that's the type of attitude i had that's
15:00the type
15:01of person i've always been i put myself
15:04in better uh predicament than the one
15:08that i'm
15:08in and again i i have to believe that
15:11somebody will
15:12come along and wha what i should be
15:15worried about
15:16i learned not to worry and somebody else
15:18will come along and
15:19take their words from me but uh of all
15:23the people that i ever met or queen
15:24elizabeth got to be right up here at the
15:26top
15:27or open as well i didn't know that
15:30secondly that you actually met her
15:32that's amazing that's
15:33so fantastic um this hopefully this
15:36doesn't appear too trivial
15:38but with you know having been freed and
15:40then now with covet and the
15:42lockdown for the last year and a half
15:44how was that
15:45was that especially hard for you or
15:48especially easy for like how how do you
15:50think
15:50you reacted differently than someone it
15:53was easy for me because
15:54or as you said you're talking to a man
15:56that was locked up 30 years
15:58or and i didn't have none of this stuff
16:01that i had
16:02to help me cope with being locked up i i
16:05have a tv
16:06i have a kitchen i can go in there and
16:09cook i can
16:10eat whatever i want i can watch movies
16:13if i wanna
16:14uh i have a game that i can play some
16:16games or
16:17i can sit at this desk and uh write
16:21things that happened in my life years
16:23and years ago
16:24um have this computer uh that i
16:28was able to learn how to work a little
16:30bit and so
16:31i could go on here and watch youtube and
16:33a whole
16:34bunch of stuff that i couldn't do uh in
16:37prison but
16:39i would call people and spend time with
16:42them on the phone
16:44because i realized that this was an
16:47opportunity
16:48for families to reconnect with one
16:50another and really get to know one
16:52another
16:52um you can ask mr bailey anything pretty
16:55much about me he could give you
16:57the correct answer that's because we
16:59talk to one another
17:01and i wanted uh people to put the phones
17:04down
17:05and really connect since you had to be
17:08there with each other
17:09why don't you just get to really know
17:11each other and say
17:12hey talk to me tell me what's what's on
17:16your mind what's
17:17what you think about this what you think
17:18about that and then
17:20uh when you know anything
17:24five hours six hours eight hours on path
17:26and you
17:27enjoying this conversation so you even
17:30talk until later the night
17:31and you say well we'll pick it up
17:32tomorrow i went since i've been home
17:35i realized something i watch
17:38young people especially uh i have the
17:42privilege to go to a lot of colleges
17:44and we always sit down and have a dinner
17:46with a lot of the honorable student
17:49but what i noticed they would be eating
17:51on the phone at the same time
17:53texting at the same time and so uh
17:56i started making one request
18:00that at the dinner table no one would be
18:02allowed
18:03to be on their phone i was there to get
18:06to know you and i wanted you to get to
18:08know me
18:08and you can't do that when you occupied
18:10with a telephone
18:12and so uh even to this thing my best
18:15friend and i we go
18:16get haircuts every two weeks once we get
18:19our hair cut we stop
18:20either we get breakfast or we get lunch
18:22or we get dinner
18:24we put our phone we cut them out and
18:27here we've been knowing each other now
18:28uh over 60 years and guess what
18:32we still talk to one another face to
18:34face or we look each other in the eye
18:36and i think
18:37uh america need to get back to
18:40fundamentals where you sit down and
18:42really try to get to know one another
18:45absolutely and now let's let's talk
18:46about mr ms your best friend lester
18:48bailey and how
18:49how he besides your own brain power
18:53taking you out of prison how that
18:55friendship
18:56helped help you as well can we talk a
18:58little bit about it absolutely well you
19:00know
19:00uh he came to my trial every day
19:04or left and went to work uh
19:08mr bailey is the type of friend that
19:12i don't think they come like him anymore
19:15or
19:16he was four and i was six and we uh just
19:19hit it off we became
19:20best of friend we lived in the same
19:22neighborhood we worked in the same
19:24uh like coal mine uh and so we got to
19:28really know one another
19:29uh through our mother who was best of
19:32friend
19:33uh but society
19:36condemned me and throwed me away and
19:38said this would be a better world if you
19:40wasn't in it
19:42uh mr bailey never did think like that
19:45regardless of what society said he was
19:48still my friend or mr bailey never did
19:52ask me did i do it because mr bailey
19:54knew
19:55me uh and he know that it's not my
19:58character
19:59and so mr bailey came to see me
20:03ten thousand nine and 999 visit
20:07never did miss a week uh coming to see
20:10me uh he would get off on friday morning
20:12and drive over 300 miles
20:14uh and be there by nine o'clock uh for
20:17the visit
20:18and so we would sit there and talk we
20:20never did talk about the case we just
20:22talked about
20:23life oh we never did talk in the past we
20:26always talked in the present
20:28or when you get home this is what we're
20:30gonna do uh
20:31you know you're gonna have to learn how
20:32to drive all over again and i told him i
20:35said no
20:35i'm driving in my shell i take my hand
20:38in my cell and i drive all the time and
20:40so
20:40uh he would laugh at me and so
20:44whatever i could have he made it
20:48plain do not ask anyone call and ask me
20:52whatever i can do for you i'm gonna be
20:54here for you
20:55i'm gonna be here until the end and
20:59i just thank god for putting him in my
21:02life
21:02we live 30 yards away from each other or
21:06we can i go on the back and i call him
21:08we just holler through the woods we
21:10don't talk on the phone that much
21:12we just talk to each other on the back
21:14back porch uh
21:16if i'm at work my grass need couldn't i
21:18come home
21:19he already don't cut my grass he don't
21:22retire and
21:23and i tell him he ain't got nothing else
21:24to do so you might wish to cut the grant
21:26i said but uh and tomorrow if you don't
21:28mind won't you just
21:30wash the car and so you know me and him
21:33have that
21:34relationship i appreciate him when i
21:36tell you
21:37a friend uh the bible say uh
21:40when a man finds a friend he is closer
21:43to you than a brother
21:44or i looks at him like a brother i
21:46respect him
21:47i honor him and i just thank god every
21:50day for
21:51putting him in my life there's no better
21:54person
21:54and i just wish every person could be so
21:57lucky
21:58i'll be so blessed to have a friend like
22:00i have
22:01yeah it's just incredible i was so
22:03pleased to meet him when he when he was
22:05interviewed and you could for us
22:07my whole crew um do you get so
22:11people that don't know when you get down
22:12there to to
22:14uh eji to montgomery to the museum um
22:17mr hinton that is actually a part of the
22:19exhibit there's a
22:20someone can there's a sort of a
22:22fictional uh
22:24prison uh guest area like a
22:27visitors section where you can actually
22:29have you've actually recorded something
22:31so do you get uh do you get recognized
22:33now and are you do you feel like uh do
22:35you walk down the street some people
22:36know who you are
22:36is there i do i i do uh this you're the
22:39guy that was in
22:41on death row for 30 uh yes oh can i take
22:44a picture or can i have your autograph
22:46and to me it's uh uh
22:50it's nice to be recognized but i hate
22:52that i'm recognized
22:54uh for that but i take it and i try my
22:57best to
22:58or uplift people and they say you know
23:00often tell me
23:02or you have the best attitude that i
23:03ever seen for someone that been through
23:05what you went through
23:07uh and i just try to take time and no
23:09matter how
23:11uh let me use the word success or bless
23:13that i feel that
23:14i am i i don't never want to be too
23:17blessed that i don't have time for
23:20people i want to explain to people what
23:22happened i want people to realize that
23:24or you cannot live in a world of hatred
23:27i want people to realize that
23:29i forgave the people that did this to me
23:31i if they got the time i make the time
23:34for them
23:34and a lot of time uh a group would come
23:37to
23:38eji and they would say uh is there any
23:40way
23:41uh mr hinton can be there or can he sign
23:43some books for
23:44and mr stephenson asked me do i want to
23:47be
23:48of course i want to be there i want
23:50everyone to know my story i want people
23:52to learn from it
23:53and hopefully we won't make their
23:55mistake again
23:56and so to me it's flattering that you
23:58get recognized from people
24:00and i have people uh that's him that's
24:03him
24:04and you know it's like uh
24:07i kind of understand what a lot of the
24:10movie stars or
24:11famous people say but i just want to
24:13stay humble
24:14and i give people hugs i give them
24:17conversation
24:18i sit down and they got time uh
24:20depending on what time of day it is
24:22or if you got time let's get a cup of
24:24coffee let's talk
24:26or what's on your mind what you want to
24:28know i just try to be
24:30uh who brian stephenson hired me to be
24:32the educator
24:33and that means not just uh at eji but
24:37outside of bj i i still have to teach
24:40and try to get people to understand
24:42uh this system that we have excellent
24:45can you talk a little bit about your
24:47work now at egi that you do now
24:49oh yes i am uh
24:52educated on more of the judicial side i
24:56don't get off into the
24:57the law of it because i'm not a lawyer i
25:00tell
25:01what happened to me and i tell what i've
25:03learned over the years that
25:05we have a system that most people would
25:07believe that is broken
25:09the system in my honest opinion is not
25:11broken
25:12it worked exactly the way that it was
25:15designed to work
25:16or i don't debate people or about that
25:20or i know for a fact that if you read my
25:23case
25:24only a system that is designed to do
25:27what it do
25:28could have put me on death row for 30
25:30years
25:31any other system that wasn't designed
25:33like that
25:34i would never been charged and so i go
25:37out
25:38uh if companies send for me if college
25:40is send for me
25:42i tell my story i answer questions best
25:44of my
25:45ability uh i never forget one of the
25:48questions
25:48that would always uh stay in my mind was
25:52i was in
25:53uh nyu and one of the young
25:56uh law student asked me
26:00uh mr hinton did you file the same
26:03brief to the united states supreme court
26:08that you did in alabama
26:09and i said yes and she said well
26:13the united states supreme court ruled in
26:15your favor
26:16my question is why didn't
26:20the judges in alabama rule in your favor
26:23are the
26:24judges on the united states supreme
26:25court smarter
26:27than the judges in alabama and i had to
26:31think for a moment and then i
26:33told her i said i'm going to tell you
26:36what i believe
26:37is the truth the judges in alabama
26:40have to be elected and
26:44there is no way you would be reelected
26:46if you ruled in favor
26:48of a death penalty inmate if you rule
26:51that
26:52this person should be set free there's
26:54no way you're going to win an election
26:56uh when your terms up whereas the
27:00judges on the united states supreme
27:01court don't have to worry about
27:04being reelected because they are
27:06appointed lifetime
27:08and i got to thinking even after i told
27:11her that
27:13perhaps we need to look into each
27:16governor
27:17pouring judges to the bench or where
27:20they
27:20maybe sit on there only for six years 12
27:23years
27:24and they appoint not they point people
27:27of all
27:27different race to be on the bench and
27:29perhaps we could
27:30solve a lot of problems where
27:34a judge that got to run for re-election
27:36won't have to worry about
27:38well if i do the right thing i won't be
27:40a judge and alone
27:41if i do the wrong thing i can run again
27:44just to be a ju
27:45i don't think that was fair to me i
27:47think when you take an oath to
27:49uphold the constitution uphold of the
27:51laws
27:52every judge in alabama should be ashamed
27:55that they allowed me to sit on that
27:58death row for all of those years and not
28:00do what was right but
28:01it is what it is all but
28:04i just think it's something that maybe
28:07uh need to be
28:08uh talked about perhaps every state
28:10should
28:11uh consider maybe reporting judges are
28:14still to run because
28:15that's that conflict of interest if i do
28:18the right thing
28:19i won't have a job once my term is up
28:22if i do the wrong thing i can run again
28:25and perhaps i can win
28:26uh that does justice no good at all
28:30absolutely has uh at the time of our
28:33filming the state of alabama had never
28:35apologized to you have you gotten any
28:37apologies yet from the state
28:39no sir i have saturday was six
28:42years of my freedom
28:46the state of alabama have yet to
28:48apologize to state of alabama
28:50have yet to give me one penny
28:53the state of alabama have yet to say do
28:56you need to
28:58see a psychiatrist or psychology or
29:01you know when men's go to war they come
29:04back with a problematic syndrome
29:06or you can't tell me sitting in a a
29:09sale solitary confinement for 30 years
29:13uh that i don't need to talk someone and
29:16this
29:16is how i call it this is my third
29:20procession by
29:21just being able to talk about it i
29:24believe that
29:25if you don't let it out it stays in you
29:28and it'll destroy you
29:29and so every opportunity that i get to
29:32talk about it i
29:33guess i give myself my own therapy which
29:36i
29:36uh feel that the state of alabama calls
29:39this on me
29:40or they should be responsible for uh
29:44setting up appointment for me to go and
29:46talk to someone but
29:47i didn't but i'm trying to do the best
29:49that i can
29:50uh six years i won't sit here and tell
29:53you that every day
29:54have been a day of sunshine i have some
29:57moments
29:58uh being here by myself i have some
30:02really dark moments that i have to fight
30:04to get through but
30:05by the grace of god you have allowed me
30:09uh six years to continue to fight and so
30:12i try to focus more on being a voice for
30:16those that don't have a voice
30:19fighting for those that can't fight for
30:21themselves because i once
30:23couldn't fight for myself and i once
30:26couldn't have a voice for myself
30:27somebody else had to do that for me and
30:30i just feel for me
30:31uh to be out i have to fight for those
30:35that can't fight for themselves
30:38no i'm so i'm so glad you're doing that
30:40yeah i think about that we
30:41you know we try to touch on this in the
30:43film um but i wish we did more of it
30:45this is
30:46as a nation that that it says it's the
30:49land of liberty
30:50for these for especially black men
30:53in incarceration that take there's no
30:56penalty for taking away people's liberty
30:58even when they knowingly made these
31:00mistakes which bring i was going to ask
31:02you about
31:02uh to forest johnson uh who's now who's
31:05now cur his case currently has come back
31:07around and unlike your case
31:09um maybe thanks to your case and in in
31:12uh
31:13walter mcmillan's there's some ex the
31:16ex-supreme court of chief
31:18justice of the alabama supreme court and
31:19these some white prosecutors have come
31:21up
31:22actually in defense of this man to force
31:25kelly if you don't know
31:26deforest johnson i'm sorry um to uh if
31:29you don't know it
31:30in the audience that who's who's been on
31:32uh who's
31:33again like uh doing time for a crime
31:36that doesn't seem like he committed
31:38yes well you know uh i
31:41let me say in pittsburgh i don't care
31:43what part of the country the state of
31:46alabama
31:47represents you and when i say that
31:51they execute you in the name of justice
31:54and the government represents you
31:57uh and they have a role to play and they
32:00will have you to believe
32:01that tonight we executed uh
32:04this person in the name of justice and
32:06that is for
32:08all of america now my question to
32:11american is when we realize that we got
32:15it wrong
32:17i would love for someone tonight to tell
32:19me where's my justice
32:22or where do i go to get justice or
32:25i am so thankful that i wasn't executed
32:28because once you take a human being life
32:31and you find out that they was
32:33innocent the next day you can't bring
32:35them back
32:36and that's why i'm so admirable against
32:39the death penalty
32:40uh to forrest johnson cases a textbook
32:43case where people
32:44somebody got lied for five thousand
32:47dollars
32:48and put him on death row my case was
32:50similar the same
32:51somebody lied for five thousand dollars
32:54and
32:55gave them my name and that was all it
32:58was and so
32:58we have a system that uh will pay
33:01someone to allow
33:02you in order to get a conviction and
33:06the citizen don't seem to be upset about
33:09this
33:10i mean how many people do we need to uh
33:13be
33:13exonerated in this country before the
33:15whole country is up in armed
33:17and saying hey we don't want no death
33:19penalty in my state we don't want no
33:21death penalty
33:22in this country i mean as brian
33:25stevenson put it so elegant
33:27if we had a 160 plane that was falling
33:30out of the sky
33:31for every 10 plane that went up in one
33:34fell
33:35we would ground that airline implemented
33:37until we found out the problem
33:39why is we not doing that about the death
33:41penalty
33:43absolutely i know in alabama it's one
33:45out of seven people
33:47right or been exonerated exonerated like
33:49not like
33:50unjustly accused and they're they're on
33:52death row
33:53that's just it's just incredible odds um
33:58well you know it is to me
34:02uh a judge will have you believe and
34:05know that
34:06ignorance is no excuse when it comes to
34:08the law
34:09and i think with all the modern
34:11technology that we have
34:13um now there's no excuse for
34:16ordinary citizen to get on the computer
34:19and read as much as they can about the
34:21depth on the
34:23invite uh some of your senators invite
34:26your
34:27your governor invites the men's and
34:29women that make these decisions
34:31and ask them the tough question uh
34:34you know invite uh
34:38men's and women that been on death row
34:40and say
34:41well in alabama they said anthony ray
34:44hinton was
34:45a murderer they kept him for 30 years
34:47tomorrow
34:48i know for a fact they executed uh
34:51nathan wood and he didn't have a gun he
34:55was just in the house
34:57where the killing took place but he lost
34:59his life with it
35:00uh so i think citizens need to
35:04stand up more and say hey uh
35:08we don't want a death penalty in this
35:09state uh and
35:11you just chop it down by every state
35:13because at the end of the day
35:15it ain't like a person is gonna get out
35:17what's wrong with life without parole
35:19or uh but once you kill someone
35:23that's the end of it and i truly hope
35:26before
35:26we sign off tonight somebody would be
35:29smart enough brave enough
35:31to really give me an answer where's my
35:34justice
35:34and i'm sure today tafaris get out he
35:38don't want to know where is his justice
35:40or we have a system as i said
35:44earlier and this system is designed to
35:46send millions of color
35:48to death row we have a pipeline that
35:51runs from neighborhoods to prison
35:53we have a pipeline that runs even from
35:55college to prison
35:56and this system was designed to
35:59put millions of color on death row as
36:02well as in prison
36:04and i think it's time that we are put up
36:07into this uh pipeline and let's do what
36:10is right on america let's have a
36:12system that all of us can live with and
36:15be fair with one another
36:16that's how i stand and how i feel about
36:18it
36:20how do you feel about virginia now oh i
36:22love virginia i think virginia made the
36:24right
36:25uh move i think uh you know
36:29politician would have the victim family
36:32to believe that
36:33the death penalty is a way of closure
36:36i can't tell you in the six years that
36:38i've been free
36:40that people uh have come up to me and
36:43said
36:43mr hinton my name is such and such uh
36:46this inmate was on alabama death row he
36:48was executed
36:50i am the daughter of the person that he
36:52killed uh and i said well i'm sorry for
36:54your loss
36:55but then say mr hinton the reason i
36:58wanted to ask you
36:59this been six years 20 years 10 years
37:0215 years and i still don't have any
37:05closure
37:06and i looked at him and i said well let
37:07me first say i'm sorry
37:09about that but i know the prosecutor
37:11told you that
37:13executing him or her would bring you
37:14closer you only get closure from god
37:17and god is not a revenge for god or
37:20i truly believe that you get closer when
37:23you treat a person
37:25better than what they treated you and
37:27that's the way i try to live my life and
37:30uh i'm here to tell you i feel
37:33fresh i feel free because i try to be a
37:37step above
37:39those men that got together conspired
37:42because they had the power
37:44to do what they did and they did
37:47it i just thank god that they didn't get
37:50away with executing me for crime i
37:52didn't commit
37:53or do i hold in the grudges against them
37:56no
37:56uh i believe that every man and every
37:58woman will have to give an account
38:00for their own doing and i want my
38:03countries to be clean i want my hand
38:05to be clean and that's the way i try to
38:08live every day and so i just want
38:11the system uh that's listening the
38:14united states to realize that
38:16uh this system is it's not broken this
38:20system
38:20and the only way that i think we can
38:23begin to make this system
38:25uh better is that we got to take out
38:29the old i call them the old heads that
38:33think
38:33only one way and put on put in new
38:36uh people and i say young people that
38:39think different
38:40or see things different and let's make
38:43this what all of us
38:44can live with this system and all of us
38:47can be
38:48fair and judge failure that's what i
38:50want more than anything
38:52no thank you that's beautiful i want to
38:55get to a couple of the questions which
38:56which is talk about exactly what you're
38:58talking about as we
39:00mentioned in the movie and especially
39:02law professor steve bright talks about
39:04this and you talk about this as well
39:06the idea that and this goes to the
39:07museum uh
39:09in montgomery it's a museum from slavery
39:11to mass incarceration but it's also
39:14this memorial to the victims of lynching
39:17and can you talk a little bit about how
39:19you feel that your case
39:21was sort of an outgrowth of the first
39:24quest this is
39:25to this first question of this history
39:27of lynching of extra extrajudicial
39:29killings that the the killings then
39:31killings became a matter of the state
39:33but it still
39:34has its roots in in in lynching
39:37absolutely well you know i say that
39:41uh they got smart they brought
39:44the trees from the outside trees that
39:46they once used to
39:48put a rope around and lit you from that
39:50tree uh they decided to cut that tree
39:52down and bring it in and make
39:54uh as they call it a nice or gurney
39:58uh so that you can stretch your arms out
40:00and where they can put the poison in
40:01your
40:02are you still using the tree or lynching
40:05by any other name is still lynching
40:07and so i still believe that uh the death
40:09penalty is a former legend
40:11uh and it don't seem to
40:16ever lynch anyone but people come and so
40:20i i just feel that
40:23we need to examine why
40:26this is still going on and i still
40:28believe to this day
40:30we are where we are today because we
40:33have not
40:33been a country that is willing to stand
40:38up
40:39and have a open and honest
40:42conversation uh when brian stevenson
40:46thought of the idea of bringing uh the
40:48lynching museum
40:50to montgomery and the museum to
40:52montgomery
40:53it was not disturbed old wounds it it it
40:56was
40:57in my opinion it was there for two
40:59reasons first the victims that was
41:01lynched for another reason
41:03that uh they was born black and poor or
41:06this is the only closure that they would
41:08ever get uh their family would ever get
41:11uh second is because we haven't
41:16told the truth about lynch we haven't
41:19told the truth
41:20about uh segregation in this country
41:23and when you come there i've seen
41:27young white kids i've seen young black
41:29kids look and amazed
41:31like are this is this real is this true
41:34and what i love about it everything
41:38in the museum everything in the memorial
41:40all that is true
41:42and because we go out and we do our
41:44homework we go to
41:46every county we dig up as much
41:48information
41:49or news articles that we can and to
41:52present
41:53a true history to all those that are
41:56willing to come to montgomery
41:58and learn about it and i just think if
42:01we could somehow
42:04build up the strength to build up the
42:06courage
42:07to have an open and honest conversation
42:09i truly believe that
42:11we agree on more than we disagree
42:15but everybody seems to be afraid uh to
42:18bring up
42:19the past and i'm one that believe that
42:22if you don't know your
42:23your past there's no way you would know
42:24your future and we bring up
42:27a a generation of younger people that
42:30don't have a clue
42:31about their past history of the history
42:34that
42:34went on in america and i think it's time
42:37that
42:38every state every college every
42:41community
42:41somehow get on buses get in cars
42:45however you get to montgomery get there
42:47and give your
42:48kids in your community uh an education
42:52right there at the museum and in the
42:54memorial and something that they will
42:56never forget
42:57and i think it will open up a dialogue
43:01and say hey let's talk about it let's
43:04tell me what did you see what did you
43:06think
43:06and let's do one thing
43:10if we don't learn to learn from our past
43:13mistake
43:14we are bound to make that mistake again
43:16and whether you believe this or not
43:19we are almost on the verge of having
43:22a race war in this country and it can be
43:26prevented
43:27if only we could build up the courage to
43:30have
43:30a conversation i agree
43:34brian talks about this as well this he's
43:36so inspired by the truth and
43:38reconciliation commissions in south
43:39africa but we as americans
43:41have never had this truth so we wanted
43:44to skip right to reconciliation
43:46so there's expensive sweeping things
43:47under the rug so in fact that's what
43:49when
43:50you know for hatred against black people
43:51this this again we talked we began
43:54by talking about this anti-asian and
43:56pacific
43:57islander hatred that's coming out now
43:59and so many people were surprised
44:01because they knew nothing about the
44:02anti-chinese immigration laws or the or
44:04the internment camps or
44:06that these these things have come in
44:08cycles
44:09so we people of color uh aren't so
44:12surprised when these things come back
44:13around
44:14absolutely you know uh since we own that
44:16you know in my book i
44:18uh befriended a ku klux klansman while i
44:21was on
44:22different and this young man had been
44:25taught hate from the day he was
44:28conceived
44:29and uh to make a long story short but
44:34he came to denver at the order of his
44:36father his father was the grand wizard
44:39of the ku klux klan uh in alabama
44:43and his father gave him a command to go
44:46out and kill the first
44:48african-american male that he came
44:51across
44:51now you didn't hear me say he told him
44:54to go out and
44:55uh revenge or kill him or go out and or
44:58kill someone that had did something
45:00he just told him to go out and kill the
45:01first african-american male
45:03he came across uh so him and two other
45:06clans when got in the car
45:08was driving down the streets of mobile
45:10alabama came across a 19 year old mental
45:14black male
45:16they befriended him got him in the car
45:18stabbed him over 65 time
45:21um my friend that i called my friend
45:23today
45:24henry got out throw the rope over the
45:26power line
45:27hung him right there in the middle of
45:30the street
45:31that didn't satisfy him he went in his
45:33pocket got out of
45:34his pocket knife cut off the black male
45:36genitals
45:37and then put it in the black male pocket
45:40that seemed to satisfy him
45:42but you know we live in a country that
45:44we say it takes a village
45:46to raise a child and my question is what
45:48was that village when this young boy was
45:50being
45:50talked to hate uh then nobody called
45:53child protective servant
45:55and say the discharge is being mental
45:57abused
45:58and therefore we feel that this child
46:00should be taken out of that home
46:01but as i got to talk to him once
46:05this village came together and tried him
46:08and convicted me and sentenced him
46:09to death and said uh this word would be
46:12a better word if she wasn't in it
46:14they sent him to death row uh
46:17i got the chance to talk to him over the
46:20course of 15 years
46:22and over the course of 15 years or let
46:25me first say
46:26for the first time in his life when he
46:28came to death row
46:29he was finally set free because he
46:31couldn't do anything
46:33other than what his mother his father
46:35and his community
46:36told him to do so in a way coming to
46:38death row freed him
46:40now to think for himself to do for
46:43himself
46:44and so over the course of years i
46:45allowed him to
46:47say how he felt and i never will forget
46:49i asked him i said
46:50henry why do you hate me and henry's
46:54response was
46:55well black people as i didn't ask you
46:57then about black people
46:58i asked you why do you hate me
47:02and henry said well black people i say
47:03henry do you know the difference between
47:06me and black people me being single me
47:09being warned by myself
47:11why do you hate me and henry responds
47:14was
47:16i don't even know you and i said my
47:19point exactly you don't know me to hate
47:22me
47:23and from that day to up to the time he
47:26got
47:26ready to execute him and i became best
47:29friend he and
47:30uh introduced me to his father as his
47:32friend uh
47:33he said dad i want you to meet my friend
47:35ray and
47:38when we got ready to go back later that
47:40evening he was looking all sad and i see
47:41him
47:42what's wrong and he said nothing i said
47:44hit me what's wrong man something wrong
47:46he said well my daddy told me don't ever
47:49invite another to his table when
47:52he come to see me
47:53and i said henry that's your daddy
47:56cancer
47:57if your father want to die with that
47:59hate cancer let him die with that hate
48:01counts
48:02but you don't have to henry you don't
48:05have to have that
48:06hate cancer in you and so
48:09here and i went back that evening and i
48:11tried to cheer him up and i told him to
48:13forget about that i said
48:14henry i want to answer to who i am and
48:18his mother came uh year 13.
48:22uh she died right there on the vision
48:24yard of a mass heart attack
48:26or two months later his father came he
48:29died
48:29on the vision yard of a mass heart
48:31attack so both of his parents died right
48:33there on death row
48:35of a man's heart attack and so they set
48:38him uh
48:38execution day about a year later and he
48:42uh petitioned the warden and told the
48:44warden that
48:45he didn't have any more family would he
48:48honor
48:48his request by letting me sit with him
48:50all day the one did that and so
48:53that night about nine o'clock they come
48:55and got me and say
48:57you got to say you goodbye we hugged
48:59each other i told him
49:00that for the last 15 years it's been a
49:02pleasure to get to know him
49:04i do believe that one day we will see
49:06each other again
49:07i am proud to call you my friend henry
49:10huggman told me
49:12basically the same thing they took him
49:14around there and they put him in that
49:15lecture chair
49:16and they actually didn't have any final
49:18words and henry said
49:21all of my life i was taught to hate
49:25the very people that i was taught to
49:27hate for the last 15 years
49:30have shown me nothing but love and
49:33tonight as i leave
49:34this world i leave this world now
49:37knowing
49:38what love feel like and they executed my
49:41friend
49:43and i tell that story because i know
49:48when you have that open and honest
49:50conversation with one another
49:51when you make one another feel that your
49:54worries
49:55is meaningful my words are meaningful
49:58let's see what we can agree and let's
50:00see what we disagree
50:01and then let's work on those things you
50:04know i started my own book club on death
50:06row
50:07the first book that i had hearing to
50:10read was james baldwin
50:11go tell it on the mountain uh some
50:13people say you had a ku klux klan
50:16reading a black author i said well see
50:19henry was open now to learn whatever he
50:22could
50:23and sometimes we got to look at those
50:26that think they hate
50:27they just following what they've been
50:29taught
50:30and that's why i really feel while
50:33america are afraid
50:35to have that open and honest
50:36conversation because america might wake
50:38up and
50:39realize i'm not as hateful as i thought
50:42i was
50:43this has been an hour it was for henry
50:46and i'm just stupid enough
50:48to believe that it could be for a lot of
50:50more people
50:52well wow that's incredible thank you so
50:54much um
50:55we have uh another question um
50:59someone is saying it's very difficult to
51:02find mr hinton's speaking appearances
51:03online
51:04uh do you have a
51:08are you gonna be making speaking
51:09appearances in the future and how can
51:10they how can we see you like once we
51:12once it's in once it's in person again
51:14how can we i know where you're gonna be
51:16you can um i have a lot of them on
51:19social media i mean at youtube
51:21uh as i say uh like this
51:24the night a lot of colleges or they pull
51:27them out uh you can
51:28uh google in the college of mostly every
51:31college i
51:32in the united states i've been to i
51:34tried to
51:35uh honor every request that or someone
51:39asked me
51:40because i truly believe is someone in
51:43the audience
51:44need to hear this story i believe that
51:46someone tonight will
51:48leave this thinking and action
51:52themselves
51:54what can i do or someone will leave this
51:57tonight and saying wow
51:59i had no idea that the system
52:02was like that i had no idea that this
52:04man had spent 30 years
52:07in solitary confinement for a crime he
52:09didn't commit
52:10and here i was for the death penalty i
52:13didn't even realize we was
52:15housing innocent millions and women on
52:17different in this country
52:19so uh by accepting invitation
52:22my job is to try and teach and try to
52:24open up
52:25uh eyes that was closed try to open up
52:28ears that was close
52:30and try to show people that uh
52:33the system is not what you think it is
52:35and it
52:38discriminates whether we want to believe
52:41it or not
52:42particularly on brown and black people
52:46absolutely and because it's in alabama i
52:49think
52:49us in the north it was easier for us to
52:51think that that's where all those
52:52miscarriages of justice take place
52:54and then when you think about the
52:55central park five we see that it can
52:58happen anywhere
52:59absolutely uh to me one of the most
53:02deliberate state it is california
53:04full of uh death row and made over 700
53:07uh
53:07you cannot make me believe that there is
53:09not some innocent people
53:11are now as long as we have racism in
53:14this country
53:15as long as we have judges and
53:17prosecutors who will use
53:19uh the death penalty as a way to clam
53:22the ladder
53:23we are all in dangerous and i tell
53:26people this and mr stevenson
53:28uh says all the time don't let
53:32your job your education or where you
53:34live
53:35uh fool you as though you are exempt
53:39as a black man for being pulled over and
53:42find yourself in a whole lot of trouble
53:45uh but in the south we love to say a
53:47whole heap
53:48of trouble and so you can find yourself
53:50like that
53:51but you know it's i truly believe and i
53:55have this
53:56thing and me call hope that
53:59we can make a difference i truly believe
54:01because i've seen
54:03what hope have done right here in the
54:05state of alabama
54:07uh there was a time that i could not
54:10go in the front door and order a
54:12hamburger
54:13there was a time i could not sit in the
54:15front of the bus
54:17there was a time i could not drink out
54:18of the same water fountain
54:20as a white person or and the list go on
54:23and on
54:24but i am so proud that through hoping
54:27through
54:27doing the right thing now not only can i
54:31walk in the front door of a restaurant i
54:33can own that restaurant if i have the
54:35finance
54:36uh to own it i can not only sit in the
54:39front of the bus i can drive the bus
54:41and i can own the bus and so there was a
54:45time
54:45right here in alabama i couldn't marry
54:49outside of my race but today i can marry
54:52whoever i fall in love with
54:54and so that's what i try my best to uh
54:57give the truth and i try to instill in
54:59young people
55:01uh hang on to hope i think when we don't
55:04have hope
55:05we already have committed a disaster i
55:08call it
55:09doom we do and so tonight i i live on
55:12hope
55:13tonight i believe in hope and i just
55:15believe that
55:16it's going to take young people
55:21to take us where we need to go my
55:23generation in the generation behind us
55:26failed miserable and it's time for us to
55:29get back and let the young people
55:31do what i know they're capable of doing
55:33and that is to take us
55:34real off into the 21st century where all
55:37of us can feel better as a human being
55:40absolutely amen we um i have two last
55:44questions for you
55:45one um but thank you first for your time
55:48and just being able to spend some more
55:49time with you
55:50uh it's a pleasure i'm i'm sad that i
55:52can't eat your barbecue and
55:55chocolate cake i keep hearing about but
55:57yes
55:58you i promise you the next time you come
56:01down if you
56:02uh let mr stevenson know i have your
56:05nice chocolate cake
56:06and some of the best ribs uh waiting on
56:08you what you can eat in private
56:11and just enjoy yourself no i can't
56:14wait um uh someone uh
56:17uh one of the uh someone in the audience
56:19is asking about
56:20restorative justice what do you think
56:22that looks like uh
56:24restored justice yes is there a place
56:28for restorative justice in the criminal
56:29justice system
56:32i i think it looked like
56:36a justice that would be colorblind
56:39or i think it would be a justice that
56:43all of the antique is moved
56:47and put in a different room a restored
56:50adjuster would mean to mean
56:52that when a person of color going to the
56:56courtroom
56:57he will and she will see someone
57:00on the bench that looked like them they
57:03would be
57:04prosecuted by someone who looked like
57:06them
57:07the jury would look like them to mean
57:10that would be restorative justice and i
57:12think if we ever can get there
57:14or i believe we are on our way to a
57:17better
57:17a better place i totally agree
57:21said you're putting in people in prison
57:22for you know if you steal obviously if
57:24people steal
57:26tens of millions of dollars they rarely
57:27do any any jail time you spend
57:29you steal ten dollars you're you're you
57:31have jobs
57:32we we practice restorative justice on
57:34different for different people all the
57:36time yes and you know
57:37uh mr stevenson always say that we have
57:40a system that treats you better if
57:42you're guilty
57:43and rich opposed to if you're poor and
57:46innocent
57:46and so uh i've witnessed that myself in
57:51the years that i've been here and now
57:52that i
57:54look at the system in a different way i
57:56try my best to
57:58look at it from every angle and i just
58:02shakes my head at how is it that
58:05certain people can do some of the worst
58:09thing but get away with it and it seems
58:10like
58:12american is okay with it depending on
58:14who it is
58:15or and i'm not going to uh waste any one
58:19time but
58:20we all know there were some things that
58:22have went on in the last four years
58:24or had it been you mean had it been
58:26barack obama
58:27he would have been ousted from office he
58:30would have been perhaps
58:31uh in jail uh wayne trial on bonds or
58:35something
58:36but you know this is what i'm talking
58:37about we got to
58:40clean up what's been messed up and we
58:44got to make this
58:45where i can never use race as an excuse
58:51because we need a system that is going
58:54to treat
58:54every individual fair and honest
58:58and i do believe we can we have the
59:00power to do that
59:01but we just got to somehow get together
59:06and decide this is what we want if we
59:08don't we're going to stay where we are
59:10and nothing good is going to come out of
59:12what we are right now
59:14absolutely um before we get to our last
59:16question i wanted to just talk about
59:18i was i read i was so happy to see that
59:20you got your voting rights back so you
59:22got to vote
59:23you've voted in a couple of elections
59:25already yes sir
59:26i i've been bold ever since well 2015 i
59:30didn't get a chance to vote
59:31and and this is my first president-elect
59:34but i
59:35am proud to say that the day that i came
59:38uh was set free i pulled mr stevenson
59:41aside and i said
59:43i would like for you to do two things
59:45for me
59:46and he said what is it i said i would
59:48love for you if you could
59:50uh get me my voting rights back
59:54and i realized when i was sitting that
59:56five by seven
59:58that the fact that i didn't vote
1:00:02was a reason why i was where i was
1:00:04because
1:00:05when you don't vote you allow those
1:00:09people to get in office and
1:00:12they gonna show you exactly how much
1:00:14they appreciate you not voting
1:00:16and that's why we are where we are today
1:00:18that they're trying to make it harder
1:00:19for you not to vote
1:00:20and so i know what voting can do uh
1:00:23second thing i asked him i said there's
1:00:25any way you can
1:00:27arrange is where i can tell the world my
1:00:30story
1:00:31and so i have not missed a vote yet
1:00:35uh i don't care if in my little town
1:00:39someone is running for a dog catcher job
1:00:43i want to know what particular dogs are
1:00:45you trying to catch
1:00:46i want to know why you want to catch
1:00:48that particular dog
1:00:50and if you're not trying to catch all
1:00:52stray dogs
1:00:53then you won't get my vote so i take it
1:00:56very seriously
1:00:57i appreciate it and i thank uh
1:01:01god for first giving me the opportunity
1:01:04to get a chance to vote again
1:01:06and i don't care who and i don't vote on
1:01:09racist
1:01:10line i don't vote on democrat line i
1:01:12vote as an independent faker
1:01:15and i try my best to google i
1:01:18try to catch you at a rally i want to be
1:01:21able to ask you the hard question
1:01:23and that's how i determine who i'm gonna
1:01:26vote for
1:01:26uh so i use mines and i appreciate the
1:01:29opportunity and i
1:01:31would love to ask everybody if you're
1:01:33not registered to go and register to
1:01:35vote
1:01:36or don't care if it's raining snow
1:01:38whatever stand in line
1:01:40and vote casual vote if you don't vote
1:01:43you don't have a right
1:01:44to complain about anything absolutely
1:01:47thank you
1:01:48so the final question um is uh
1:01:52asking him do you still have a book club
1:01:55and uh
1:01:56and and uh and what are you reading
1:01:59these days
1:02:00i haven't uh got a book club i work
1:02:03for eji five days a week or my little
1:02:07nephew then play
1:02:09uh bald and i know what it's feel like
1:02:12to
1:02:13have support in the stands uh
1:02:16for you uh but i had just mentioned
1:02:19about a week ago
1:02:20that i was going to once this uh
1:02:22pandemic is over
1:02:24uh i'm going to try to start up a book
1:02:26club right there at eji
1:02:28and uh when we have some down time we
1:02:32can read it and we can discuss the books
1:02:34right there
1:02:34and so i think that's a wonderful thing
1:02:36but uh
1:02:38the last great book
1:02:41i read which i wrote was the sony notes
1:02:44second best book ever been written
1:02:46uh the third best book ever been written
1:02:48was just mercy
1:02:50and uh i read a book by sharon uh
1:02:53davis uh how to catch a warlord uh was
1:02:57pretty
1:02:58interesting or how they was over in
1:03:00south africa and so
1:03:02uh i have tons of books that some people
1:03:05send me
1:03:06and uh i won't say you know i want to
1:03:09tell people
1:03:10when i was in prison i had nothing but
1:03:12time to read a book
1:03:14when you have a job and uh i drive
1:03:17two hours one way and two hours back or
1:03:20when i get home
1:03:21it's time to take a shower and go to bed
1:03:24and get up
1:03:24again at 4am but i'm not going to uh
1:03:27make that an excuse i read uh
1:03:31a books but i read them slower than i
1:03:33did when i was in prison
1:03:35or i i don't care how the book is
1:03:37written who is written by
1:03:39i think when i read a book i can learn
1:03:42something from that author and i can try
1:03:45to
1:03:46uh get in that off the head and i might
1:03:48be wrong i said well this is what she
1:03:50meant this is what she was talking about
1:03:52it's just like when i did my book in on
1:03:54death row i told everybody
1:03:57it's no wrong with no right answer or
1:03:59every one of us can read the same book
1:04:01and every one of us gonna walk away with
1:04:03a different opinion
1:04:04and so when you make people feel
1:04:06comfortable uh
1:04:08by reading books or you'll be surprised
1:04:11how that mind just opened up and or you
1:04:14just feel
1:04:15smarter you feel wiser when you read
1:04:17books and so
1:04:18i'm going to uh soon as this pandemic
1:04:21where we can get on the group i'm going
1:04:23to start my book club back
1:04:25because that is one thing that i do miss
1:04:27and that is one thing that i
1:04:29love to do is just listen that people
1:04:31tell me
1:04:32uh i love the tip i read your book mr
1:04:34hinton
1:04:35i wanted to say you was a lady man at
1:04:37one time too wasn't it
1:04:39and i was well i was real young and you
1:04:41know so
1:04:42uh it has i i it has some things that i
1:04:46wanted people to understand
1:04:47and let me say this for i go of course
1:04:50for those who read my book and you see
1:04:52uh only part of the ladies men i put
1:04:55that
1:04:56uh part in there because i wanted people
1:04:58to realize
1:04:59we make decision as children
1:05:02[Music]
1:05:04where we wouldn't make that decision at
1:05:06the age of 30 and 40.
1:05:08a 16 year old would never think
1:05:11like a 30 year old you got to wait till
1:05:13you progress
1:05:14get there and so i was telling mr
1:05:16stephen when i put
1:05:17a certain parts in the book i wanted
1:05:20people to understand
1:05:21that's why i'm against sending children
1:05:23to death row
1:05:25uh they don't think like an adult and we
1:05:27need to start
1:05:28realizing that a child don't have their
1:05:31brains
1:05:32of an adult and while we try now
1:05:36simply because they went out and did
1:05:37some heinous why do now we want to treat
1:05:40them like a little duck
1:05:41i'm against that and i'm gonna fight
1:05:43against dead until the day i can't fight
1:05:45anymore
1:05:46no thank you for that eji has been
1:05:47really at the forefront of all that
1:05:49i just want to tell please say hello to
1:05:51everybody down there
1:05:52you know um mr bailey and
1:05:55and sia and sonia and everybody and of
1:05:57course brian everybody you see down
1:05:59there i miss you all and um
1:06:01it's just to be able to show you off to
1:06:03my town here has been really a treat
1:06:05thank you we will do that and i tell
1:06:08them the first thing tomorrow
1:06:09all right thank you so much yes sir
1:06:11bye-bye bye-bye

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