Damaged petals | Bertrand Thompson | TEDxIronwoodStatePrison 2014

Bertrand Thompson's poem explores how underdeveloped minds plagued by the effects of abnormal conditioning can create a lapse in reasoning, which gives rise to the alarming rates of juvenile and adolescent incarceration. Like a lot of our youth, Bertrand Thompson was once caught up in the gravitational pull of the streets. He got involved with drugs, alcohol and associated himself with like mentalities. For years he cultivated the kind of behavior that served as and contributed to the perplexing problems plaguing our neighborhoods. These days in his striving, he utilizes his experience and knowledge to conduct the kind of consciousness that demonstrates beneficial change as he strives to regain the trust of our communities and help bridge the social gap between the incarcerated and society.