Why I’m building libraries inside prisons | Reginald Dwayne Betts
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How did Reginald Dwayne Betts turn a prison experience into a mission to bring books inside?
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Lawyer and poet Reginald Duane Betts ate his first mango in solitary confinement. He thought it was an apple until he bit in and the juice ran down his hands. At the time, he was 16, staring down a nine-year sentence and teaching himself to juggle to keep himself. From losing his mind. But that mango became the seed of an idea that would shape the rest of his life.
That's how prison taught me, that you find what you look for. Who would expect to hear a story about prison that
includes a mango? In his talk, he describes what he chose to focus on in that cell and the people he found around him. A boxer who taught him discipline, a man who argued law with him for an hour, the friends he made. He walked out of prison and became a writer and then a lawyer and then went back again and again for the people still inside.
We put millions of people in prison. I will put millions of books inside. When she asked me how I say one library
at a time. Dwayne has since opened more than 600 freedom libraries inside prisons across the country, putting the books he once dreamed of reading into other people's hands. And some of the men who taught him how to hope are now handing it out themselves. That's coming up right after a short break.
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And now our TED talk of the day.
What did a mango teach Betts about hope and survival in solitary confinement?
А ітма ферс ма. In a hole. What some call the shoe the box ass egg lock up. But no matter what you call solitary confinement. No one expects it to be where you eat your first mango. Емі I thought the oval shaped fruit that came with lunch that day was an apple. I've been teaching myself to juggle to keep from losing my mind. Imagine that I could manage my troubles. If I could flow apples into a orbit of my creation. When I sink my teeth into the unfamiliar fragrant fruit. Juices ran down my fingertips. А ей чип та тут. Scrapin' it. Along the mango sea. I never saw another mango in prison. And I only learned the name of the fruit. When I was home and in my mother's kitchen. Before I started juggling, I trashed the mostly riding apples without a second glance.
Then juggling transformed the apples into my way of escape. That's how prison taught me. Тачу фанчук фор. Who would expect to hear a story about prison that includes a mango?
How did a 16-year-old Betts find hope while facing a nine-year prison sentence?
I got locked up in 1996. I was 16 years old, 5'5, and 125 pounds. I hadn't won a fight since the second grade. Becoming a brawler overnight Wasn't in the cards for me. That's why people often ask me how I survived. What if I say I survived prison because I believe you find what you look for. Because of what it means to notice the mango. To commit yourself to the possibility of a miracle even without a name for the wonder. I should thank my judge. After I pled guilty to carjacking and he sentenced me to nine years in prison. I was certain that I was going home. I waited for him to tell me it was all a dream. Then he confirmed my intuition. I don't have any illusion that sending you to the penitentiary is going to help.
Do you know what the cruelest word in the English language is? The preposition buts. Ти же But You can go down there. And you can make the best of it. Or not. I figured the judge. We saying That I could choose what I looked for in no sales. Becoming a computer engineer was now out of the question. Earning a college degree from prison. Воз част аз улякли. But because of what the judge said. А то нали о вот ауди.
How did books and fellow inmates shape Betts’s life and choices in prison?
I was sixteen years old planning who I would be when I left.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Reginald Dwayne Betts turn a prison experience into a mission to bring books inside?
0:03–2:16
2
What did a mango teach Betts about hope and survival in solitary confinement?
2:16–3:47
3
How did a 16-year-old Betts find hope while facing a nine-year prison sentence?
3:47–5:39
4
How did books and fellow inmates shape Betts’s life and choices in prison?
5:39–7:33
5
How did a prison book inspire Betts to study law and stand up for himself?
7:33–9:18
6
How did Betts rebuild his life after prison and become a lawyer?
9:18–12:09
7
Why did Betts return to prison to help former cellmates and create Freedom Libraries?
12:09–13:18
8
How do Freedom Libraries bring hope to incarcerated readers across the United States?
13:18–16:03
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from TED Talks Daily
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