Ideas worth spreading

Am I not human? A call for criminal justice reform

1,264,090 views |

Marlon Peterson |

TED Residency

• December 2016

For a crime he committed in his early twenties, the courts sentenced Marlon Peterson to 10 years in prison -- and, as he says, a lifetime of irrelevance. While behind bars, Peterson found redemption through a penpal mentorship program with students from Brooklyn. In this brave talk, he reminds us why we should invest in the humanity of those people society would like to disregard and discard.

For a crime he committed in his early twenties, the courts sentenced Marlon Peterson to 10 years in prison -- and, as he says, a lifetime of irrelevance. While behind bars, Peterson found redemption through a penpal mentorship program with students from Brooklyn. In this brave talk, he reminds us why we should invest in the humanity of those people society would like to disregard and discard.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Marlon Peterson

Marlon Peterson

Human justice advocate

See speaker profile

Marlon Peterson is a writer, youth development expert and human justice advocate.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.