WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.548 align:middle line:90% OK, now here's another one. 00:00:01.548 --> 00:00:03.090 align:middle line:84% This young woman on the street corner 00:00:03.090 --> 00:00:04.298 align:middle line:90% is a little bit more radical. 00:00:04.298 --> 00:00:08.520 align:middle line:90% 00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:10.860 align:middle line:84% That was a young woman who was signing to her husband 00:00:10.860 --> 00:00:11.970 align:middle line:90% all with fingers. 00:00:11.970 --> 00:00:12.840 align:middle line:90% This is another one. 00:00:12.840 --> 00:00:15.215 align:middle line:84% I actually went out with James and talked to these women, 00:00:15.215 --> 00:00:16.530 align:middle line:90% and said, what are you saying? 00:00:16.530 --> 00:00:18.912 align:middle line:84% Because I was in prison, and I was illiterate in prison, 00:00:18.912 --> 00:00:20.370 align:middle line:84% and I'm still illiterate with that. 00:00:20.370 --> 00:00:21.662 align:middle line:90% And I didn't know how to do it. 00:00:21.662 --> 00:00:23.955 align:middle line:84% I was like, I didn't know how to ask for myself 00:00:23.955 --> 00:00:26.130 align:middle line:90% for a cup of clothes soap. 00:00:26.130 --> 00:00:27.678 align:middle line:90% I'd be like, soap? 00:00:27.678 --> 00:00:29.970 align:middle line:84% And they'd be like, saying all these incredible things. 00:00:29.970 --> 00:00:31.053 align:middle line:90% And I would be like, soap. 00:00:31.053 --> 00:00:33.000 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:34.740 align:middle line:90% And then I knew one sign. 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:36.060 align:middle line:90% You're an idiot, Jimmy. 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:37.350 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:37.350 --> 00:00:40.020 align:middle line:90% You're like, yeah. 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:45.510 align:middle line:84% "You signed checks and I signed love. 00:00:45.510 --> 00:00:48.360 align:middle line:84% You signal for waiters, and I signal warning the dealers. 00:00:48.360 --> 00:00:50.370 align:middle line:84% You raise your hands to heaven, and I 00:00:50.370 --> 00:00:52.050 align:middle line:90% raise in the block the blows. 00:00:52.050 --> 00:00:56.170 align:middle line:84% And you use yours to embrace, and I use mine to push away. 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:58.000 align:middle line:84% Yours are to turn the book pages, 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.760 align:middle line:84% and mine are to count the end of the day earnings. 00:01:00.760 --> 00:01:03.350 align:middle line:84% Gas up, grub down, hit the streets again. 00:01:03.350 --> 00:01:05.600 align:middle line:90% So I'm going to take it to you. 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:08.990 align:middle line:84% Because there's a war going on in the streets, in the jails, 00:01:08.990 --> 00:01:11.000 align:middle line:90% beyond the Barrio-- 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.190 align:middle line:84% everywhere where the enemies live. 00:01:13.190 --> 00:01:18.140 align:middle line:84% Angry, pissed off, hating, lonely, vengeful, hurt, 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:20.930 align:middle line:84% unloved, despised-- you're damn right I am! 00:01:20.930 --> 00:01:23.300 align:middle line:84% So clear off the streets when the sun goes down, 00:01:23.300 --> 00:01:25.610 align:middle line:84% because darkness has always been mine. 00:01:25.610 --> 00:01:27.527 align:middle line:84% That's where I've lived all my life. 00:01:27.527 --> 00:01:28.610 align:middle line:90% And I can see in the dark. 00:01:28.610 --> 00:01:29.390 align:middle line:90% I cry in the dark. 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:30.890 align:middle line:84% I eat and love and hurt in the dark. 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:33.560 align:middle line:84% It's mine and it's all that you ever gave me. 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:35.960 align:middle line:84% So when I catch you there in it, I 00:01:35.960 --> 00:01:38.090 align:middle line:84% don't give a shit who you are, what color you 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:39.680 align:middle line:84% are, I'm going to bring it to you, 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:41.330 align:middle line:84% make you feel a little of the darkness 00:01:41.330 --> 00:01:42.980 align:middle line:84% that I've been given all my life. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:47.048 align:middle line:84% And you can be sentimental about rehabilitating me, 00:01:47.048 --> 00:01:48.590 align:middle line:84% about flattering yourselves, thinking 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:50.780 align:middle line:84% that you're going to change me one day with all these bullshit 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:51.280 align:middle line:90% programs. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.030 align:middle line:84% You can send all your goodwill counselors, 00:01:53.030 --> 00:01:54.800 align:middle line:84% or your face-polished probation officers. 00:01:54.800 --> 00:01:57.800 align:middle line:84% I ain't changing shit, because it's all based on a lie. 00:01:57.800 --> 00:02:00.670 align:middle line:90% A motherfucking lie. 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:05.485 align:middle line:84% Telling me that I'm supposed to be poor. 00:02:05.485 --> 00:02:07.860 align:middle line:84% Telling me that justice is only for the rich that live up 00:02:07.860 --> 00:02:11.610 align:middle line:84% on the hill, and that them jail cells ain't for the privileged. 00:02:11.610 --> 00:02:13.260 align:middle line:90% I know-- you know what? 00:02:13.260 --> 00:02:15.330 align:middle line:84% I may not be able to read, but I know 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:18.960 align:middle line:84% when you take away every chance and opportunity I got, even 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:21.120 align:middle line:84% before I'm born, when you put me in a statistic 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:22.890 align:middle line:84% because my mama was a crack addict, 00:02:22.890 --> 00:02:26.190 align:middle line:84% and that cell was made for me even though I'm not even born. 00:02:26.190 --> 00:02:29.430 align:middle line:84% I know when you predict that I'm going to be a criminal, 00:02:29.430 --> 00:02:34.180 align:middle line:84% and you take away the essential need to communicate. 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:37.270 align:middle line:84% When you take away the slightest chance I have, 00:02:37.270 --> 00:02:39.490 align:middle line:84% scraping crumbs of dignity off the table, 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:44.420 align:middle line:84% and you devise ways to make me feel like shit, 00:02:44.420 --> 00:02:48.540 align:middle line:84% make me feel different and more unacceptable than other people. 00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:51.650 align:middle line:84% And when you call me spic, and nigger, and white trash, 00:02:51.650 --> 00:02:55.886 align:middle line:84% and you expect me to be your servant in the garden. 00:02:55.886 --> 00:03:01.660 align:middle line:84% Motherfucker, I need to communicate 00:03:01.660 --> 00:03:02.960 align:middle line:90% to another human being. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.800 align:middle line:84% I got to, in some way, feel that I'm human. 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:07.930 align:middle line:84% Or else I'm going to act inhuman. 00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:10.610 align:middle line:90% 00:03:10.610 --> 00:03:13.640 align:middle line:84% And the only thing I got now that makes me human 00:03:13.640 --> 00:03:16.970 align:middle line:84% is my hand flashing signs on the street corner, 00:03:16.970 --> 00:03:19.130 align:middle line:84% like a woman lost at sea flagging down a ship-- 00:03:19.130 --> 00:03:22.070 align:middle line:90% save me, save me, baby. 00:03:22.070 --> 00:03:25.560 align:middle line:84% But the only ones who stop are the cops. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:26.970 align:middle line:90% Don't you understand? 00:03:26.970 --> 00:03:29.670 align:middle line:84% Don't you get it, with all your doctor's degrees, 00:03:29.670 --> 00:03:33.630 align:middle line:90% and your MAs and your BAs? 00:03:33.630 --> 00:03:40.160 align:middle line:84% Don't you get it that I'm going to come knocking at your door? 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:44.450 align:middle line:90% And what since you've ignored-- 00:03:44.450 --> 00:03:51.310 align:middle line:84% your sons, and daughters, and grandkids are going to pay. 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:54.250 align:middle line:84% Don't you understand that you've got 00:03:54.250 --> 00:03:59.670 align:middle line:84% to pay the bill, in the form of blood on the blade, 00:03:59.670 --> 00:04:03.060 align:middle line:84% because you never wanted to communicate? 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:06.420 align:middle line:84% I got so many things to tell you, 00:04:06.420 --> 00:04:10.270 align:middle line:84% so many things I'm willing to try. 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.880 align:middle line:84% But the only time you ask questions, you don't-- 00:04:12.880 --> 00:04:14.920 align:middle line:84% the only time you really give a damn is 00:04:14.920 --> 00:04:17.529 align:middle line:84% when I'm in front of the judge asking me how I plead, 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:20.019 align:middle line:84% or cops asking me what I'm doing, or enemies charging me, 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:22.840 align:middle line:84% or teachers accusing me, counselors profiling me, 00:04:22.840 --> 00:04:25.240 align:middle line:84% priests condemning me, citizens like 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:30.720 align:middle line:84% you cursing at me, because your lives don't line up 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.410 align:middle line:90% to the bankbook fantasy anymore. 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.830 align:middle line:84% Don't you understand that I'm part of you 00:04:37.830 --> 00:04:39.990 align:middle line:90% and you're part of me? 00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:44.560 align:middle line:84% And no wall is going to make a difference. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.890 align:middle line:84% Can you hear my voice over the wall, yelling, 00:04:46.890 --> 00:04:49.760 align:middle line:90% how are you doing? 00:04:49.760 --> 00:04:51.710 align:middle line:90% You can't talk through a wall. 00:04:51.710 --> 00:04:53.930 align:middle line:84% I can't come over to your house through a wall. 00:04:53.930 --> 00:04:57.500 align:middle line:84% You can't meet my family through a wall. 00:04:57.500 --> 00:05:00.800 align:middle line:84% We can't play ball through a wall. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.620 align:middle line:84% I can't help you fix something wrong at your house 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.090 align:middle line:90% through a wall. 00:05:05.090 --> 00:05:09.870 align:middle line:84% I can't make you tortillas through a wall. 00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:12.750 align:middle line:84% You just trying to cover up our opportunity to talk. 00:05:12.750 --> 00:05:15.700 align:middle line:90% 00:05:15.700 --> 00:05:19.210 align:middle line:84% You're trying to deafen yourself to my cry, asking, 00:05:19.210 --> 00:05:22.750 align:middle line:90% do you need anything? 00:05:22.750 --> 00:05:24.310 align:middle line:90% Maybe I can help you. 00:05:24.310 --> 00:05:27.300 align:middle line:90% 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:32.510 align:middle line:84% Or me hearing you say, I'll go talk to the judge for you. 00:05:32.510 --> 00:05:37.140 align:middle line:84% Or me hearing you say, sure you can come on over. 00:05:37.140 --> 00:05:40.350 align:middle line:84% Not just to work in the garden, or clean my sheets, 00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:43.080 align:middle line:90% but to sit and talk. 00:05:43.080 --> 00:05:44.950 align:middle line:90% But it ain't like that, is it? 00:05:44.950 --> 00:05:47.490 align:middle line:84% Instead it's all, she ain't nothing but a criminal. 00:05:47.490 --> 00:05:49.590 align:middle line:84% She ought to be locked up and put in a cell. 00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:53.190 align:middle line:84% Don't you understand that I need to communicate 00:05:53.190 --> 00:06:00.320 align:middle line:84% to someone about who I am before I am no one? 00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:02.630 align:middle line:84% I've got to tell you the dreams I've had, 00:06:02.630 --> 00:06:08.210 align:middle line:84% and tell you that I've been there, that I know who you are. 00:06:08.210 --> 00:06:10.940 align:middle line:84% But you won't let me communicate that with you. 00:06:10.940 --> 00:06:13.820 align:middle line:84% You just want me off the face of the Earth. 00:06:13.820 --> 00:06:14.930 align:middle line:90% Never see me. 00:06:14.930 --> 00:06:16.220 align:middle line:90% Never been born. 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:17.510 align:middle line:90% Never had a name. 00:06:17.510 --> 00:06:19.160 align:middle line:90% Never even hear my song. 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.575 align:middle line:84% No culture, no parents, no friends. 00:06:21.575 --> 00:06:24.290 align:middle line:90% 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:28.980 align:middle line:84% Didn't I tell you, we need to communicate?" 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.160 align:middle line:90% That's it. 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.555 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:06:34.555 --> 00:06:43.290 align:middle line:90% 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:44.760 align:middle line:90% I'll read you one more, OK? 00:06:44.760 --> 00:06:47.280 align:middle line:84% Then we'll have questions and answers. 00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:49.480 align:middle line:84% And then who's buying tequilas now? 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:51.440 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:53.260 align:middle line:84% Listen, I got to tell you something. 00:06:53.260 --> 00:06:55.000 align:middle line:84% I really do love the people in Tucson. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.280 align:middle line:84% You guys are-- you're like suited gypsies, or hiking 00:06:59.280 --> 00:07:00.980 align:middle line:90% gypsies, or something.