An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families
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0:01 - 0:02One evening,
-
0:02 - 0:07after watching the nightly news
with my then five-year-old son, -
0:07 - 0:11he asked me a question I thought
I would have a ton of time to answer. -
0:12 - 0:16I thought the complicated questions
typically came at eight or nine years old, -
0:17 - 0:21but my son looked me in the eyes
while I was tucking him in, -
0:21 - 0:24and with a very straight face he asked me,
-
0:24 - 0:27"Daddy, why did you go to jail?"
-
0:30 - 0:32My wife and I often
thought about this moment. -
0:32 - 0:35We knew this question was coming,
-
0:35 - 0:37and we wanted to handle it well.
-
0:38 - 0:40But that night,
I had a question to answer. -
0:41 - 0:46So I decided to tell my son
how I ended up going to prison -
0:46 - 0:49when I was just a 15-year-old kid.
-
0:51 - 0:53This picture was taken
when I was 14 years old. -
0:54 - 0:55That's my mom,
-
0:55 - 0:56my sister,
-
0:56 - 0:59and that cute little baby,
that's my niece. -
0:59 - 1:01She's 23 now,
-
1:01 - 1:05and it drives me crazy every time
I think about how old I'm getting. -
1:05 - 1:06(Laughter)
-
1:07 - 1:09This was the last photo that I took
-
1:09 - 1:13just a few weeks before I made
the worst decision of my life. -
1:15 - 1:16A friend of mine and I,
-
1:17 - 1:20we approached a man sleeping in his car,
-
1:20 - 1:22pulled out a gun,
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1:22 - 1:24demanded the keys to his car
-
1:24 - 1:25and sped off.
-
1:26 - 1:29That decision landed me
in front of a judge, -
1:29 - 1:33with my mom and my sister
standing just a few feet behind me, -
1:33 - 1:35as they listened to me get sentenced
-
1:35 - 1:39to eight years in adult
maximum security prison. -
1:41 - 1:44This is the next family photo
that I took with my mom. -
1:44 - 1:48But this time, it was taken
in the prison visiting room. -
1:49 - 1:51Now don't let the waterfalls and the trees
-
1:51 - 1:53and all that stuff
in the background fool you. -
1:53 - 1:54(Laughter)
-
1:54 - 1:57This was one of the hardest
times of my life. -
1:58 - 2:03In fact, for the first two years,
I battled depression -
2:03 - 2:06by living in denial
about my prison sentence. -
2:07 - 2:09I would commonly say things
to my mom like, -
2:09 - 2:11"I mean, Ma, I know you don't think
-
2:11 - 2:15that this judge is really
going to keep us here through Christmas." -
2:15 - 2:18And then, "... Valentine's Day."
-
2:18 - 2:20And then, "... the last day of school."
-
2:20 - 2:22And then, "... the first day of school."
-
2:23 - 2:25And on and on.
-
2:25 - 2:29I promised my mom that one day,
-
2:29 - 2:32someone would see
that I was drowning in those cells, -
2:32 - 2:37that someone would tell us
that we could breathe again -
2:37 - 2:40because they just wanted
to teach me a hard lesson. -
2:41 - 2:43But one day, as I'm walking around
the prison rec yard -
2:43 - 2:45with my friend Danny B,
-
2:45 - 2:48I asked him, "How long
have you been here?" -
2:48 - 2:52He told me that he had
already served 31 years. -
2:53 - 2:55My palms immediately got sweaty,
-
2:56 - 2:58heart dropped down to my toes,
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2:58 - 3:01and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
-
3:01 - 3:03Because that's the moment when I realized
-
3:03 - 3:06that I would have to serve
all eight of my years. -
3:07 - 3:12Now, the story of going
to prison as a teenager -
3:12 - 3:14is not an uncommon one.
-
3:14 - 3:16But for my family,
-
3:16 - 3:19this was the most tragic thing
that had happened in our lives. -
3:20 - 3:22I missed my family terribly.
-
3:23 - 3:25And just like every other teenager,
-
3:25 - 3:28I just wanted to open up gifts
on Christmas morning -
3:28 - 3:31and graduate from high school
with my friends. -
3:33 - 3:36And because of the intense
security in prisons, -
3:36 - 3:37internet access is limited.
-
3:38 - 3:40There's no easy emailing,
-
3:40 - 3:42no texting
-
3:42 - 3:44and definitely no social media.
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3:45 - 3:52This means that the meaningful moments
like prom night or college graduation -
3:52 - 3:56or the tons of free content
that you and I digest every day -
3:56 - 4:03very seldom gets shared with the cousin,
sibling or best friend in prison. -
4:05 - 4:06I became very dark.
-
4:08 - 4:11My childhood and the dreams of it,
they disappeared. -
4:13 - 4:17And those slamming steel doors
clanking shut every night -
4:17 - 4:19in the prison housing unit,
-
4:19 - 4:21they forced me to grow up fast.
-
4:23 - 4:25I can tell you firsthand
-
4:25 - 4:28that there is something
about the violent cards of prison -
4:28 - 4:30that completely cripple hope.
-
4:31 - 4:34I even tried to push my mom away,
-
4:34 - 4:38because I didn't want her to be subject
to the collect calls -
4:38 - 4:41or the eight-hour drives
for the one-hour visits, -
4:41 - 4:43those horrible body cavity searches
-
4:43 - 4:46that she would experience
coming into the prison visiting room. -
4:47 - 4:51But as many of you parents
here know tonight, -
4:51 - 4:54you can't stop a mother's love.
-
4:54 - 4:56(Laughter)
-
4:56 - 4:57So what did my mom do?
-
4:58 - 5:01She made a promise while sitting
in a prison visiting room. -
5:02 - 5:06She promised she would write me a letter
-
5:06 - 5:07or send me a picture
-
5:07 - 5:12every day from that day forward
until I came home. -
5:13 - 5:17I had six years left to do on a sentence,
-
5:17 - 5:20our lives were completely
crumbling around us, -
5:20 - 5:23and here comes this happy-go-lucky lady
-
5:23 - 5:26prancing into a prison visiting room
like I'm in summer camp, -
5:26 - 5:29with a new plan to send me
a bunch of pictures. -
5:29 - 5:30(Laughter)
-
5:32 - 5:33Such an interesting time.
-
5:35 - 5:37Little did I know,
-
5:37 - 5:40it would be my mom's letters
that saved my life. -
5:41 - 5:45My mom would take pictures
of a cheeseburger -
5:45 - 5:47or a mattress at a department store --
-
5:47 - 5:50(Laughter)
-
5:50 - 5:52and she would send them
to me along with a letter -
5:52 - 5:57with a promise that one day
I would enjoy a fat, juicy burger -
5:57 - 5:59or sleep on a comfortable bed.
-
5:59 - 6:02My mom assured me
that there was life after prison. -
6:04 - 6:09In fact, my best friends
began living vicariously -
6:09 - 6:11through my mom's letters and photos --
-
6:11 - 6:13(Laughter)
-
6:13 - 6:18giving an entire prison unit a glimpse
into what was happening in the world. -
6:19 - 6:24After eight years of nightmares
of prison never ending, -
6:26 - 6:28being dehumanized,
-
6:28 - 6:30strip-searched,
-
6:30 - 6:35watching people get wheeled
down the prison walkway in body bags, -
6:35 - 6:37I was finally released.
-
6:38 - 6:40And I bet you can't guess
-
6:40 - 6:44who was there to pick me up
that cold morning in February. -
6:44 - 6:46(Laughter)
-
6:46 - 6:47OK, you guessed it --
-
6:47 - 6:48(Laughter)
-
6:48 - 6:50my sister and my mom.
-
6:52 - 6:56The years that we prayed for
were finally in front of us, -
6:57 - 7:00and the pain of living
behind bars was behind us. -
7:01 - 7:03Or so we thought.
-
7:04 - 7:08Like me, most people in prison
are coming home one day. -
7:08 - 7:10And unlike me,
-
7:10 - 7:16many don't have the consistent support
during and after incarceration that I had. -
7:17 - 7:19The struggle is real,
-
7:19 - 7:23and even I struggled to find a job
when I came home. -
7:24 - 7:27Each application that I filled out --
-
7:27 - 7:33from grocery stores to mortgage companies
to fashion retail -- -
7:33 - 7:36they all included the same question,
-
7:38 - 7:40glowing, pulsating,
-
7:40 - 7:42waiting for me to add my check:
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7:43 - 7:46"Have you ever been
convicted of a felony?" -
7:47 - 7:50Now, to be honest,
-
7:50 - 7:52I knew that this moment was coming.
-
7:52 - 7:54I knew I would have to face this issue.
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7:55 - 7:59So I leveraged the mental toughness
that I built while going through prison. -
8:00 - 8:04But after being declined for over 40 jobs,
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8:04 - 8:06even I began to feel deflated.
-
8:07 - 8:10I thought that I would get my life back
-
8:11 - 8:14and that all those things were behind me
and things would start looking up. -
8:15 - 8:19But that decision that I made
when I was a 15-year-old kid -
8:19 - 8:23continued to haunt me
even up until that moment. -
8:24 - 8:25But while on a job hunt,
-
8:26 - 8:31one day, I ran across an application
that asked the question, -
8:32 - 8:35but this time it was worded
a little differently. -
8:36 - 8:38This time, the question asked:
-
8:38 - 8:42"Have you been convicted of a felony
within the last seven years?" -
8:43 - 8:46Now, after doing an eight-year
prison sentence -- -
8:46 - 8:48(Laughter)
-
8:48 - 8:53I could honestly say that my conviction
was over seven years ago. -
8:54 - 8:58I was able to answer that question
with an honest "no," -
8:59 - 9:02and finally, I landed my first job.
-
9:03 - 9:07(Applause)
-
9:08 - 9:11I was the guy who mixed paint
at the paint store. -
9:12 - 9:14And eventually, customers
would come into the store, -
9:14 - 9:16and they would ask me,
-
9:16 - 9:19"Hey Marcus, how much do you charge
to paint my kitchen?" -
9:20 - 9:24"Well, Ms. Johnson,
we don't paint kitchens, -
9:24 - 9:27we sell you the paint
so you can paint your own kitchen." -
9:27 - 9:28(Laughter)
-
9:29 - 9:32A light bulb went off,
and I launched a painting company -
9:32 - 9:37that became the conduit
between the customers in the paint store -
9:37 - 9:39and the painters
who needed consistent work. -
9:41 - 9:43After a year or so,
-
9:43 - 9:46I left that paint store,
-
9:47 - 9:49we grew our contracting company,
-
9:49 - 9:54and since then, I have hired
tons of other returning citizens. -
9:54 - 9:58(Applause)
-
10:01 - 10:03I stand today with a felony,
-
10:04 - 10:08and just like millions of others
around the country -
10:08 - 10:12who also have that "F" on their chest
that represents felony, -
10:14 - 10:18just as my mom promised me many years ago,
-
10:18 - 10:21I wanted to show them
that there was still life after prison. -
10:23 - 10:25I started living my best life,
-
10:27 - 10:29and I couldn't believe
that I was living on a cloud. -
10:30 - 10:34But my friends, the same ones
I grew up with in those cells, -
10:34 - 10:39they would call me and constantly ask for
pictures of this new life I was living. -
10:40 - 10:42If I traveled, they wanted pictures.
-
10:43 - 10:46When I got married, they wanted pictures.
-
10:46 - 10:51But I didn't have the time
or the bandwidth to sit and write a letter -
10:51 - 10:53or print pictures from my phone.
-
10:54 - 10:56I would commonly tell them,
-
10:56 - 11:00"Dude, if I could just text you,
my life would be so much easier." -
11:02 - 11:06And after searching the app stores
for a solution to this problem -
11:06 - 11:08and not being able to find one,
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11:08 - 11:10we launched Flikshop.
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11:12 - 11:16(Applause)
-
11:18 - 11:20I kid you not --
-
11:20 - 11:25did you know that
the prison phone business -
11:25 - 11:28created a billion-dollar industry?
-
11:29 - 11:31Some of these businesses are predatory,
-
11:31 - 11:36and so we knew we had to figure out
how to disrupt this space. -
11:37 - 11:43Flikshop allows our family members
to take a picture, add some quick text, -
11:44 - 11:46press send, and for 99 cents,
-
11:46 - 11:49we print that picture and text
on a real, tangible postcard -
11:50 - 11:55and mail it directly to any person,
in any cell, anywhere in the country. -
11:56 - 12:02(Applause)
-
12:03 - 12:07There are millions of families
that are becoming torn apart, -
12:07 - 12:11simply because they don't have
the time to write a letter, -
12:12 - 12:14figure out how to print
a photo from their phone, -
12:14 - 12:18make a store run to go buy
a box of envelopes -
12:18 - 12:21and then to the post office
to go buy stamps. -
12:21 - 12:24We started by connecting 50 families.
-
12:25 - 12:27And then 100 families.
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12:28 - 12:31And then 500 families.
-
12:31 - 12:34And now, today, I am proud to say
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12:34 - 12:39that we've connected over 140,000 families
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12:39 - 12:40around the country.
-
12:40 - 12:45(Applause)
-
12:47 - 12:51We even commonly receive mail
in my office overflowing my desk -
12:51 - 12:53from people in prison
-
12:54 - 12:55like Jason.
-
12:56 - 13:00Jason says, "I got about
15 postcards last night -
13:00 - 13:02of so many words of motivation
-
13:02 - 13:05that I had to write to you
and just say thank you." -
13:06 - 13:08Or George, who writes,
-
13:08 - 13:12"Today I received about six postcards
with so much love ... -
13:12 - 13:15I do not know where this roof
of love has come from." -
13:16 - 13:18I cannot believe how blessed I am
-
13:19 - 13:21to sometimes be able to meet a child
-
13:22 - 13:25who sends Flikshop postcards
to their incarcerated parents. -
13:26 - 13:31Sometimes, I'm able to even
go to the White House -
13:31 - 13:36and address the nation and talk about
the need for criminal justice reform. -
13:37 - 13:42And this story is just incredible for me,
because this wasn't always my life. -
13:44 - 13:50I remember very vividly living
in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell -
13:50 - 13:57with a man that was 22 years old
and there to serve life plus 43 years, -
13:57 - 14:00and thinking in my head
while I'm sitting in that bunk -
14:00 - 14:04that together, we probably
would die in those cells. -
14:05 - 14:10Well, I know that our era
of mass incarceration -
14:10 - 14:14and the things that we see on the news
dealing with people going to prison -
14:14 - 14:16is a huge societal issue
-
14:16 - 14:19that we all have
to band together to help solve. -
14:19 - 14:21But I am confident
-
14:21 - 14:27that if we're very intentional
about building family connections -
14:27 - 14:29in environments where
they're needed the most, -
14:29 - 14:33then this is a big step
in the right direction. -
14:34 - 14:37I absolutely love this stage of my life,
-
14:37 - 14:40this chapter, where
I'm standing right now. -
14:41 - 14:45But you know who's having
way more fun than me at this stage? -
14:46 - 14:47My mom.
-
14:47 - 14:48(Laughter)
-
14:48 - 14:50I love you, Ma. Thank you.
-
14:50 - 14:53(Applause)
- Title:
- An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families
- Speaker:
- Marcus Bullock
- Description:
-
Over his eight-year prison sentence, Marcus Bullock was sustained by his mother's love -- and by the daily letters and photos she sent of life on the outside. Years later, as an entrepreneur, Bullock asked himself: How can I make it easier for all families to stay connected during incarceration? Enter FlikShop: an app he developed that lets families send quick postcards to loved ones in prison and help keep open a critical line of support.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 15:06
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for An app that helps incarcerated people stay connected to their families |