Time in space | Bobby Gonz | TEDxSanQuentin 2022
Recorded live from S.I.R. Studios in Hollywood, listen to the incredibly talented Bobby Gonz's spoken word representation of the current and formally incarcerated community and how their worth can crumble concrete. Born in San Jose, California, Bobby has developed a raw style of songwriting while serving a life sentence since age 16. His songz reflect remorse, accountability, and the unlearning of distorted beliefs that raised him in the alleys of Silicon Valley. In 2018, in a pre-concert sharing circle with Hollywood producer Scott Budnick, hiphop legend Common, and several incarcerated individuals, Bobby poured his heart out by speaking his truth and performing an original song with only the pounding of his fist and the snapping of his fingers. Bobby then was invited on stage alongside Common and live band that very night and rocked 4,000 of his peers. Governor Brown commended Bobby for his rehabilitative efforts leading up to this night and decided to commute his life sentence! Now he is waving the flag of creative sovereignty and ownership as well as setting precedents for current/formally incarcerated artists being given a second chance today.
Soundtrack of your life | Ira "S.C. Prince" Perry | TEDxSanQuentin 2016
Listen to Prince's spoken word performance celebrating his life - and our lives - through popular songs. Ira Perry (also known as "S.C. Prince") was born in 1966 to Arlee and Ola Mae Perry in South Central, Los Angeles. He grew up in a two-parent household, went to college, and has always shown an interest in acting and performing. Ira is also a prime example of how growing up in a gang, crime, and drug infested neighborhood can eventually lead to bad decisions. He is now serving a 50 year-to-life sentence and has been incarcerated since 1994.
No one to love me | Ryu Paul Snyder | TEDxChesterStatePrison 2016
Poetry and music in this presentation combining spoken word and singing. Originally from Florida, Ryu Paul Snyder, 29, is involved in Christian Ministry, loves the outdoors, almost all sports, plus poetry and music. The son of incarcerated parents, Snyder describes himself as a new man with a heart to help others.
Lyrics from lockdown | Bryonn Bain | TEDxIronwoodStatePrison 2014
Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn's own prison activist, actor, hip hop theater innovator, and spoken word poetry champion. Wrongfully incarcerated during his second year at Harvard Law School, Bain was featured on 60 Minutes after writing "Walking While Black: The Bill of Rights for Black Men," which received the largest reader response in the history of The Village Voice. Currently an artist in residence and visiting scholar at NYU, Bain has taught courses on hip hop, spoken word, and the prison crisis at Harvard, Columbia, and Riker's Island. Executive produced by Harry Belafonte and directed by Gina Belafonte, Lyrics from Lockdown is a multimedia, hip hop theater production based on Bain's experience of wrongful imprisonment. Bain's latest project, Life after Lockdown: The Digital Mixtape is executive produced by the legendary first Hip Hop DJ Kool Herc. Working in collaboration with the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions in Brooklyn and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Los Angeles, the LAL Mixtape includes music and videos inspired by Lyrics from Lockdown and provides resources for people returning home from prison.