James Cavitt, an inmate at San Quentin State Prison says men and women behind bars are working hard to create better lives and futures for themselves after they serve their time.
This is from a piece he wrote: 'Where I live'
I live in a world where most people are too afraid to go. Surrounded by tall concrete walls, steel bars where razor wire have a way of cutting at the hopes for a brighter tomorrow. I live in a world that kill people who kill people in order to teach people to kill people is wrong. Imagine that. Better yet, imagine a world where healed people help hurt people heal and become strong. I live in a world that has been called hell on earth by those trapped inside, but I've come to the stark realization that prison is really what you make it. You see, in spite of the harshness of my reality there is a silver lining. I knew that my freedom was going to come. It was just a matter of time and so I treated my first steps as if they were my last mile and I realized that you don't have to be free in order to experience freedom. Just because you are free doesn't mean that you have freedom. Many of us for years have been battling our inner demons. We walk around smiling when inside we're really screaming 'freedom'. Don't you get it? We're all serving time. We're just in different places. As for me, I choose to be free from the prisons i've created. The key-forgiveness. Actions-my witness. If we want freedom, then we got to think different. Because freedom - it isn't a place. It's a mindset.
(http://www.ted.com/talks/john_legend_redemption_song?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread#t-212388)