Why Should I Give A TED Talk?
Within the last decade, the United States Supreme Court has issued several rulings in reference to juvenile offenders under the age of eighteen and how the Cruel and Unusual protection clause of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution applies to them. In Roper v. Simmons the Court held that it is Cruel and Unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to the death penalty, in Graham v. Florida the Court ruled that it is Cruel and Unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to life without parole for non-homicide offenses, and in Miller v. Alabama the Court stated that it is Cruel and Unusual punishment to subject a juvenile to a mandatory life without parole sentencing scheme for a homicide offense without considering five sentencing factors.
This year in the upcoming fall calendar of the US Supreme Court, the nine justices will decide if their ruling in the case of Miller v. Alabama should be applied retroactively to similarly situated offenders that were given life without parole for homicide offenses committed before they were eighteen. The case, Montgomery v. Louisiana has the potential to impact the lives of thousands of prisoners who were convicted as teenagers and have spent 20, 30, 40, and even 50 years in prison for crimes that they committed while they were children.
Recently, President Obama has began an initiative to change policies and laws in the criminal justice system after his visit to a federal prison this year. Now that a lot of attention and emphasis in the media is being focused on prisoner overcrowding, changing sentencing schemes, and re-entry affairs of returning citizens, I think that it is an opportune time for inmates who are doing positive things for society while they are incarcerated to have a voice and a platform that extends to the citizens of our society so that some of the negative stereotypes and generalizations about prisoners can be corrected.
My name is Halim Flowers and I was charged and convicted as an aider and abettor to a felony murder at the age of 16 in the District of Columbia in the year of 1997. Even though I was not charged as the shooter in my case and the alleged gunman had the case dismissed against him, I was convicted under the accomplice liability doctrine of felony murder and sentenced to 30 years to life.
My experiences as a child housed at the notorious adult DC Jail was filmed by Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson of Blowback Productions in an Emmy award winning documentary titled “Thug Life In DC”.
During my 18 years of incarceration from a child to an adult, I have educated myself to learn about the ripple effects of crime and violence and the damaging ramifications that it has upon our society. Through my awareness, I wrote and self published 10 books to help enlighten at-risk youth about my personal story and the harms of criminal culture and the consequences of the prison industrial complex. My books are currently being utilized as curriculum for organizations such as Free Minds Bookclub in Washington, D.C. and Children Of Promise NYC in Brooklyn, New York to help break the school-to-prison pipeline that funnels thousands of troubled youth directly to a culture that perpetuates the mass incarceration of poor and minority children.
Earlier this year, I spoke with a class of Criminology students at Chico State University taught by Professor Dr. Nandi Crosby. After speaking to her students, Dr. Crosby informed me the next day that most of her pupils were surprised and even amazed at how I had articulated myself and that I knew Supreme Court cases and quoted Charles Dickens. If the future lawyers, judges, probation officers, correction officials, and law enforcement members already have a parochial perception about the limited intellectual capability of prisoners because they were imprisoned as minors, then this will lead our citizenry to favor the draconian laws that keep our children behind bars for decades because we believe that our delinquent children are not redeemable and unable to ever be rehabilitated.
I speak for the many Americans that have languished behind the walls of prison for decades that were under the age of eighteen when they entered the prison system. I live as a testament and proof that children can change, that the human spirit can be nurtured into something productive, and that to give up on our youth is to waste the human capital of entire generation. If I can develop myself with limited resources to publish 10 books that inspire people throughout our country and overseas in Europe to become better human beings, then with a more concentrated investment into the cultural capital of juvenile offenders they can utilize their lives to impact the entire globe. This is why I should give a TED Talk and if you agree then contact the TED organization to support this movement.
DOB- 09-01-80
Washington, D.C.
30 years to life
Contact Information-
Halim Flowers
#11967-007
Federal Correctional Institution Gilmer
P.O. Box 6000
Glennville, West Virginia 26351
My name is Halim Flowers and I am an author, poet, blogger(CriminalU.co), and at-risk youth advocate. I have been incarcerated for 18 years, since I was 16 years of age for aiding and abetting a felony murder in a case where I was not the shooter and the person charged as the gunman had his case dismissed and was never tried for this offense. I know it sounds crazy but it is my destiny for now and I embrace. My passion in life is learning and helping to enlighten and inspire others, especially helping to develop the character and lives of young men. I was featured in an Emmy award winning documentary about my experiences as a child at the adult D.C. Jail titled "Thug Life In DC"(See Thug Life In DC at YouTube) and I have authored nine books in the genres of self-help, prisoner reform, juvenile justice, memoir, and poetry(See Halim Flowers at Amazon.com). I very contrite for my past criminal offenses and seriously committed to helping our youth to understand "Victim's Impact" and breaking the "school-to-prison pipeline".