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[children chattering]

-[child squeals]
-[chattering continues]

Well, shit,
so I was trying to figure out
somewhere to put the camera.

Hold on a minute.

Today is, um, July 23rd.

[baby cooing]

And, uh...

a lot of things have changed
since the beginning
of this tape.

Uh, my husband is in jail.

I’ve been out now
a week and a day...

after being locked up,
uh, since May 24th.

But I know that despite
how grim my circumstances
may look right now,

everything is gonna be okay.

We’ll come back.

[boy] A motorcycle.

We’ll come back.

Stronger than before.

I’m pregnant with twins.

Let me get a shot
of the twins.

Look there.

That’s the twins at 22 weeks.

Move. Laurence,
if you do not move...

[woman] Good morning...

six-year-old boy.

Good morning.

Today your first day
of school, buddy.

Hey. Hey. Hey.

Good morning, Robert.

Today is August 24,

Remington’s first day
of kindergarten.

What you gonna do
in kindergarten, Rem?

[Remington]
Do my alphabets,

then find me
all the girlfriends I want.

[woman laughing]

[crying]

Good morning, baby.

You can hear the ice falling.

And there are those ding-dongs
in the cold.

Hey, Ding-a-ling Two and One.

Hey. Hey!

It’s cold.

-[squealing, laughter]
-[woman laughing]

Go, Laurence!

-[screaming, chattering]
-[woman] It’s crazy, babe!

Oh, my goodness.
How much is that...

[laughing]

[woman] Okay.

-Planning on getting
married anytime soon?
-[woman] I am married.

Are you?
Mm-hmm.
To Remington’s father.

When?

We’ve been married
a year and a half now.

Almost a year and a half.

Where is he?

Uh, he’s-- he’s, uh,
out of town now.

And you know what,
I don’t want you up there

goofing off with
them other boys, okay?

Mm-hmm.
You pay attention.

Pay attention.
Center. Pay attention.

That’s your objective
for today.

[girl] Uh-huh.
Me and Jared don’t run.

[laughing]

Where my head at, Remington?

[Remington] There it is.

Boy, you better grow up
to be a man.

With your cute self.

[boy] Well, Dad,
this is the fall season.

[woman] Trees
starting to turn colors.

Today is October 18.

[boy] October 18
is today’s date.

I just want to show you
these houses, Dad.

[woman]
See which one we gonna get.

[boy 1] Yeah,
see which one we gonna get.

[woman] Damn, they nice.
They close together.

So, Pops, this is me.
This is myself.

Back to you.

It’s a beautiful day
today, baby.

I wish you could
enjoy it with me.

My passenger seat is vacant.

[chuckles]

Nigga, and just think,
I met your ass when I was 16.

Sixteen years old.

[chuckles]

Always knew there was
something about you.

Ooh, boy,
I love you, Robert.

I love me some Robert.
[chuckles]

Girl, you got
some kind of story.

Do you see this smile, Robert?

Do you know how hard I’m gonna
be smiling when you come home?

Nigga, oh... [laughs]

Nigga-- What? Smiling?

Me and all my children
are probably gonna walk
around like this all day.

Nigga’s jaw’s gonna be
hurtin’ all the time.

Say what?

Sibil Fox did what?

[sighs]

I feel like a champion.

Mm, I like.

They call it the Big Easy,
but truth be told,

without proper transportation,
she can--

You know, as we’re saying
"proper transportation,"

we’re zooming out, and then,
"She can be hard as hell."
Right.

And, um--
And then coming back to me

when I’m introducing
myself, um--

Peace and love, family.
I’m Fox Rich.

And as the wife
and mother of six boys, um...

I know the importance
of transportation.

As a wife and mother
of six boys...

I appreciate
the opportunity to serve

as your personal auto buyer
at Rich Motors of New Orleans.
Cool.

I know what it means to need
proper transportation

for you and your family
to get around in.

Listen, truth be told,

a car is more important
than a house, if you ask me.

’Cause-- [chuckles]
you can sleep in your car,

but, baby, you can’t drive
your house around.

[chuckles]
Um, so that’s-- that’s it.

Cool. So I think
what we’ll do is,

we’ll get a shot of you
saying all of that.

Okay.
And then we’ll also do--

And then you can even
look over my shoulder

and we can kind of do
the other stuff together
and make sure that’s right.

We can time it out--

What I wanted to do, too,
was just be able to see

what I look like, hair-wise,
lip-gloss-wise, um--

Yeah, sure,
we can do that, too.

And see what the shot
looks like real quick.

Yeah. It’s gonna
take me a second.

We’re just gonna get
the lights right for you.
Okay.

So I’m just gonna
take a look at what
we’re working with here.

They may call her the Big Easy,
but truth be told,

being in New Orleans
without transportation

can be hard as hell.

Awesome.
I think I need to roll
my shoulders back.

Let’s try it again.
All right,
do it one more time.

Or as many times
as you need, really.
Mm-hmm.

Step out
just a little more.

[Sibil] I was born
Sibil Verdette Fox

on August 18, 1971.

My mother was an educator,
and my grandmother

was the housekeeper
for Hank Williams’ mother.

I came from a people
who had a strong desire
to have something,

to make something
out of ourselves.

[lively chattering]

My mother...

she taught me
from a very young age

that the American Dream
was real.

And she would say, "Sibil,
you can make it if you try."

[cheering, applause]

And so, here I was,

a young girl
from the urban city,

and I was determined to try.

There’s the Rich family.
What you think about that?

I met my husband Robert
when I was 16 years old.

I had married
my high school sweetheart.

We had purchased
our first home,

put the deposit down
on our first business.

We were about to blow up.

[Sibil chuckling]

[Sibil] Getting close
to Aunt Sandra’s house.

And little does she know
what’s coming. [laughs]

[boy] Mama.

There they go right there.
[laughing]

-[excited chattering]
-[Sibil laughing]

Ah, Sibil!

[laughter,
excited chattering]

[Sibil] Surprise!

[laughing,
chattering continue]

[Sibil]
Little did I know,

my family already had
everything we needed.

We had each other.

Listen, my story is the story

of over two million people
in the United States of America

that are falling prey
to the incarceration

of poor people
and people of color.

So I’m asking you
to come out and join me.

And I had one other thing.
What was it?

Oh, we’re gonna be going live.
If you cannot make it tonight,

then I would ask that you catch
the live broadcast at 7:00 p.m.
on my Facebook page,

because we will be posting live
from the experience.

Listen, it’s more than
a conversation, y’all.

It is definitely the--
an experience,

and I hope you can
meet me there.

Tulane University,
7:00 p.m. tonight

at the Rogers Memorial Chapel.

Peace and love.

[steam hissing]

[Remington] Hey, you,
come here real quick.

This is supposed to
always line up.

Your belt is supposed
to always line up
with the seam of your shirt.

[Sibil]
Who pulled the clothes
out the dryer like that?

[people chattering]

[man] Ladies and gentlemen,
if you will please join me

in giving your warmest
Green Wave welcome

to my mother, your speaker
for this evening, Fox Rich.

[cheering, applause]

[Sibil] Let me get it clear
from the start.

I know I didn’t get away
with nothing but my life.

[camera clicks, whirs]

September 16, 1997,
my husband and I arrive

at Grambling Federal
Credit Union.

Dang-- That’s what I said.

Why the hell did I do that?
[laughter]

What in the world
was I thinking of?

Rob and I had a dream
to open Shreveport’s first
hip-hop clothing store.

But we were struggling
to make ends meet.

And what I remember during
that time more than anything

was not wanting to fail.

And we had become
desperate.

Desperate people
do desperate things.

It’s as simple as that.

When I dropped my husband
and his nephew off...

to rob a bank...

immediately after they got
out of the car, I knew.

We had entered
into a world...

that we...
would never forget.

At that time,

armed robbery carried
a five- to 99-year sentence.

And on June 15, 1999,

my husband was sentenced
to 60 years in prison

without the benefit
of probation,

parole or
suspension of sentence.

Sixty years...

of human life.

My mama said,
"Shit is easy to get into."

Mm. Mm.

Mm.

It’s been 20 years, y’all.

It’s been 20 years,
y’all.

It’s been two decades, y’all.

It’s been 20 long years.

It is hard to get out of.

It’s almost like slavery time.

Like the white man
keep you there until...

he figures it’s time
for you to get out.

And that’s what
this situation is.

A personal vendetta.

Personal vendetta. Yep.

And see, I told my child,
I said, "What you need to do...

is pin your hair up on your head

like you half crazy...

put you on a dress,

a pair of pants
and some flat shoes,

and go on down
to that courthouse, to court."

She pressed that hair out

and fling it all in them
white folks’ faces, okay?

I said, "You ought to not
go down there like that.

Them white folk
already don’t like you."

Wouldn’t listen.

I thought that my daughter
would marry a doctor,

a lawyer or Indian chief...

and that there’d be some things
she just wouldn’t do.

You don’t do that.
You don’t do that.

[sighs]

I’ve always been
a firm believer...

right don’t come to you
doing wrong.

Does it? No.

No. [sniffs]

And that’s--
that’s all of that.

[siren wailing]

[woman on phone]
I don’t have good credit,

so I was trying to see
how that would work.

[Sibil] Okay, Miss Kaylin.
And which one of our vehicles
were you looking at?

The, uh--
It was, uh, the white one.

It’s the Cadillac SRX 2008,
with a thousand to put down.

Oh, okay.

[static crackles]
[phone dings]

She got bad credit,
and the first thing
she want to do

is get the most expensive car
we got online.

Yes, ma’am, so do you want
to submit your application

so we can see if we can get you
enough on that particular car?

And if not,
then we can certainly get you

in a car
with a thousand dollars down.

Okay, that’s fine.

I was reflecting
with my husband last night.

It was March of 2013

when I made the decision
to move to New Orleans.

It was right after
March the 5th,
as a matter of fact.

We got a letter in the mail
from the last high-priced
lawyer we hired.

Spent 15 grand in cash...

up front to--

for him to send us
a letter

a few days before
he was supposed to file
paperwork on our behalf

saying that
there was nothing else
that they could do for us.

And so I opened the letter

and literally, um,
would not cry,

but when we looked
in the back of the car,
Robert was crying.

It was me,
Laurence, Freedom,
Justus and Robert.

And I think the rest of us,
we were so accustomed to the--
to the letdowns

that, you know, we just all
kind of sat in silence.

And then, when we looked up,
baby boy was boo-hooing.

You know, so he made us
tap back into the emotion

that we were all
trying not to feel.

And, uh, to have spent
all of that money

and still have
absolutely no results,

after I had expended all of
the family’s money again,

um, I knew that
if it was gonna be,

it was gonna be totally
up to me. [chuckles]

[Sibil]
Brother Ronnie.

[Ronald on speakerphone]
Yeah, tell me the story.

[Sibil] Ah, we got
a few more hours

before the judge
supposed to issue a ruling.

He said two days,
so today is day two.

[Ronald] Yeah, yeah.
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so that’s
what we’re working on.

That’s close.
This is as close
as you’ve ever been.

[laughs]
Yeah, don’t remind me.

This is the closest
I’ve ever been.
[Ronald laughs]

Just waiting on--
At least waiting on an answer.

Yeah, we might as well be
praying and be patient.

Yeah. Yeah.
You know, like...

Yeah,
send the Holy Ghost.

Yeah.
Send the Holy Ghost.

So...
Uh...

All right, uh...

we’re taking it
step by step.

Uh...

Well, by 5:00
I oughta know something.

I’ll either know
it wasn’t answered today,

or I’ll know, um--
What the answer is.

What the answer is.
[laughs]

We’ll know what
the answer is.

Really by 4:00, ’cause,
you know, they, um--

I think the clerk of courts
closes about 4:00.

So I’m gonna call after lunch
and see if it has come down,

if it has been issued,
and, um, take it from there.

I’ll keep you
posted, though.
Yeah.

All right,
keep me posted.
All right.

Take care. Bye.
Bye-bye.

[line clicks]

[phone: line ringing]

[line continues ringing]

[receptionist]
Judge’s office.

Yes, I was trying to reach
Miss Sandra.

Just a minute.

No, it’s for Sandr--
[line cuts off]

[on phone]
♪ Birds flying-- ♪

[faint chattering]
[line goes silent]

[receptionist]
Sandra’s on her phone.

I’m trying to wait
for her to get off.

I appreciate that.
Do you want
to continue to hold?

Yes, ma’am,
if you’d be so kind.

Okay.
[line goes silent]

Sandra.
Hey, Miss Sandra.

This is
Sibil Richardson again.
Hi.

Mm-hmm.
Were you able--

No, we don’t
have anything.

You have to check with us
on Monday.

Yes, ma’am.
Thank you so much.

Okay. All right.
Have a good weekend.

Bye-bye.
All right. You, too.

[line clicks]
[sighs]

All right, it is, um,

I think, probably about...

2:20 in the morning.

It is October 20th,
and we are on our way--

uh, today is the 21st--

on our way down
to go see my husband.

Big Rob, it’s time to
go see your daddy, man.

[reporter on TV]
Twenty-year-old Marcus Taylor,
18-year-old Jesse Stewart

and 22-year-old
Joseph Kennedy Junior

were charged with
the first-degree murder
of Lottie Myers.

It’s day three
of jury selection
in the Virginia trial

of sniper suspect
John Muhammad.

[Sibil] At the beginning
of every year,

every New Year’s Eve
for the past 20 years,

we have always started
the new year

knowing that this was
gonna be the year

that my husband
was coming home.

And if you haven’t done
something in the courts
by Thanksgiving,

then you know that you’re
about to end the year

and you’re still
gonna be incarcerated.

The hope that you’ve given
yourself all year long or the--

truth be told,
the lie you’ve given yourself
all year long--

you have to accept that maybe
this just wasn’t the year.

But next year is the year.

[woman] When I would see Rob,
they’d be coming or going.

So, I got nothing
against him.

I just don’t know him.

Now, they did do it.

Now, if...

he had gone in there
and accepted the plea bargain,

which was 12 years,
he’d have been on the ground.

Sibil went in there,
she accepted her 12 years.

She on the ground,
ain’t she?

Okay.

Life goes on.

And keep hope alive.

Ain’t that what
Jesse Jackson say?
Keep hope alive.

Keep hoping that
one of these days,

when you walk up
in that courtroom,
that this is it.

What tenacity, what fortitude,
what hope, what faith

to sit there
and a lawyer tell you

that you looking at
300 years in prison,

and you have the gird

to stand before your wife
and say to her,

"We gonna be all right."

He said, "God looks after
the sparrows, Sibil.

I know he gonna take care of us.

God watches over the sparrows.

I know God will watch us."

My son, Remington,
he was the eldest at the time,

and I said to him, uh...

"They are requiring me
to go to prison.

And I’m gonna
have to leave you,

and I am going to need you
to help your grandmother

with your brothers."

He broke out crying.

Screaming and howling.

"I thought you said
you wasn’t gonna have to go."

And I’m crying,
and I’m saying, "I know.

I didn’t think
they were gonna make me go,

but they are,
and so I have to.

And I’m gonna need you
to go on, cry,

and wipe your eyes
and come over here,

and let’s start counting down
to when I leave."

"Well, why we gotta count down
to when you leave, Mama?"

I said, "Because
the sooner I can leave,

the sooner I can
get back home."

[Sibil] What I’m gonna do
with a big boy like you?

And I will say ma--
you will say,

"Man, I don’t--
You gonna pick that up."

And I’m gonna say, "Mama,
you don’t need to hold that.
Let me carry it."

Yeah?
’Cause I’m
your kindergartener.

Yeah.
My kindergartener.

And then you put it in my hand,
I get ready to carry it.

All right.
I carry it wherever
you tell me to take it.

All right.

[faint chattering]

What?

[no audible dialogue]

Yeah, you should.

But this how we--
this how we are in class.

This how they lined us up
yesterday.

Bonita, Maggie, me, Regan.

All right.
Wait, so over here?

Yeah, so you’re in front
of Maggie, right?

[man] What, perhaps,
is most impressive

are the things
you decided not to do.

You decided not to be defined
by your limitations,

not to be held captive
by the opinions of others,

not to follow the crowd.

In fact, you have chosen
not to be limited

to the most common pitfalls
of our very generation.

And your families,
they probably don’t
understand it,

and your friends,
they probably can’t explain it,

and you probably
can’t explain it yourself.

But it’s only
by the grace of God
that you are here today.

[woman] Amen.
[applause]

[Remington] Through dentistry,
you get the image
of who somebody is,

from the first impression.

And in our society,
image is everything.

My family has
a very strong image,

but hiding behind that
is a lot of hurt.

Lot of pain.

[cheering, shouting]

[Remington]
Time is influenced
by our emotions.

It’s influenced
by our actions.

[Sibil]
Time is when
you look at pictures

from when your babies
were small, and...

then you look at them
and you see

that they have
mustaches and beards,

and that the biggest hope
that you had

was that before
they turned into men,

they would have a chance
to be with their father.

[children laughing, chattering]

[Sibil] Today is
July the 3rd.

Oh, you see me!

And I am recording
Freedom and Justus.

[laughter]

You Mama.

Ha!
What’s your name?

"Justice."
Justus what?

"Justice" Freedom.

Your name is not Justice.
It’s Just-us.

Justus. Oh.

[Sibil] Freedom won
the student of the month award

at Our Lady Blessed Sacrament.
[woman cheering, clapping]

Everybody,
give Freedom a hand.
Give Freedom a hand.

[Sibil] Did JJ get
a trophy of the month?

No.
He wasn’t a student
of the month?

No!
Why?

He didn’t work hard.
JJ.

So you’re not the--
You didn’t get an award

for being student
of the month?
Let me see.

No, I said, "You didn’t
get an award for being
student of the month?"

Uh-uh.
You didn’t?

Why you didn’t get one?

[audio fades]

[Justus] When my mother
and father were arrested

for robbing a bank,

she ended up having a--
a set of twins,

one of them being myself

and the other being
my twin brother Freedom.

She named me Justus because,
during that time,

in the early stages,

it was just my mother
and my father.

So she named me Justus without
any spacing in the middle.

Time is what you make of it.

Time is unbiased.

Time is lost. Time flies.

[chattering]

This situation
has just been...

a long time.

A really long time.

[Sibil] Here, Freedom.
You want to keep the key?

[bell tolling]

Y’all don’t have
no Bible, huh?

[Freedom]
I have a mobile app.

[Sibil scoffs]
[car door closes]

Okay.
You good?

Good morning.

Y’all sent him
an e-mail?

[chattering]

-[Sibil] Where is he?
-Up front, in the,
uh, plaid shirt.

Hmm.

How you doing?
Happy Father’s Day.

[man] Fox.
[Sibil] Yes, sir!

I can’t even begin
to tell you how much
you blessed my life.

When you talked about
what a real husband does.

Um, Pastor, my husband
has been gone for
19 and a half years.

September will make
20 years for us.

And what’s
your husband’s name?

Robert...

Richardson.

Okay.
Yeah?

And he’s on
the West Yard, too?
Mm-hmm. He is.

He’s, um,
in Walnut Four.

Walnut Four.
You know what?
Mm-hmm.

I, um-- I try to visit
on Fridays whenever I can

because
Saturdays and Sundays
are so crowded.

But I went last week,
and I went back-to-back,

’cause I told him,
"I’m not coming up here
Father’s Day.

It’s gonna be packed
in here."

I wouldn’t never tell him
I’m gonna be here
Father’s Day.

"You know I love you,
but I’ll see you
the week after."

And mine was, I just,
uh, probably anger.

They didn’t have power
all week, so they didn’t
have any visits on Friday.

So, you know...
Right, yeah.
It is gonna be busy, huh?

I didn’t go because
it was gonna be busy.

I just didn’t go
because I just couldn’t
take it today.

Yeah, it’s hard.
Not today. Yeah.

You know, it’s like,
I can’t even believe
we’re still here,

so today not to go
is just like...

But, you know,
I be praying every year
that they cut their budget.

Their budget needs to be cut,
so they have to release them.

They cut everything. I mean,
we said that during Katrina.

We said that during
the last great flood.

We said that before Katrina,

um, when the--
when oil and gas plummeted.

My husband and I,
you know, been saying,

"Oh, this is gonna be the year
they’re gonna have to..."

And, baby,
they will cut from education,
they will cut from health care,

but they will not
cut that budget.

They will not cut that budget.

I think they went back
and fully funded it.

[chattering, fades]

[Freedom]
Statistics say that children
of incarcerated parents

aren’t even supposed to
graduate from high school.

So the fact that I can
graduate from high school
two years early

and then be at a prestigious
university like this
just speaks volumes.

It’s like
everything that I do--

And that’s why I always
talk to a lot of people.

What’s your major?
My major’s poli sci.

So political science.

And so my whole thing is,
if we are to transform
the criminal justice system

in order to make it more
a forgiving system,

uh, then you have to understand
how it operates.

And so, my whole thing is,
as soon as I learn how it is
that it operates,

uh, then being able to be
some kind of policy advocate

or even a maker,

uh, being able to reform
those policies

that have targeted
communities of color.

[applause, cheering]

Thank you so much.
Hey, man, best of luck to you.

[woman]
I have a question.

[man] For the Senate
here at large?
Yeah.

Um, two of them have never
served on Senate before.

Except for Kirsten.

I’m sorry.
I’ve actually--

You’ve been in FYC.

Well, well-- Thank you.
Uh, so I did--

I’m so sorry to cut you off,
but I do feel like experience
is extremely important to have.

Something that I’ve done,
though I am a sophomore,

I have served
on the first-year council,

so I know where to find
the bathroom,

and I know what
the legislative processes are

and how to go about doing them.

Did you know
that the board,

whatever you’re talking about,
already exists on OrgSync?

Every piece of legislation
is uploaded on OrgSync.

I’m--
Anybody that wants
to see legislation

that’s being worked on
in Senate can sign in
to OrgSync.

Rhonda, let’s be truthful here.
When we’re talking
about transparency--

And I appreciate you
confronting me on this issue,

because it’s something
that every student
needs to have access to

and something that
every student should know.

Whenever we’re
navigating OrgSync,

you know darn well
that students on our campus,

particularly
first-year students,

do not navigate OrgSync
easily.

It is a personal issue
because when I wanted to
first get involved,

I had to look around
every bathroom

and every flyer
that was posted, uh...
[chuckles]

necessarily, uh, in Monroe,
the second floor,

or even the fourth floor,
in order to get involved.

SGA has to play
a more active role

and a more personalized role
in confronting students
so that we play a more--

[Rhonda]
I’m not disagreeing with you.
I’m saying it already exists.

[man] Let’s let
Richard respond
to the question.

Of course, and I’d love to
talk to you about that
after the debate.

[rhythmic clanking]

[sighs]

Come on, Lord.

Let this be the day.

[line beeps, clicks]
This is Marcy.

Hi, Miss Marcy.
How you doing?
I’m good. How are you?

Good. Thank you so much
for asking.

I hear you have the pleasure
of being Judge Rogers’,
um, secretary.

Is that the right word?
I am.

[chuckles]
Okay, wonderful.

My name is, um,
Sibil Richardson,

and, um, my family,
the Richardson family,

is waiting on a ruling
from Judge Rogers,

um, regarding
my husband’s matter.

And I know he had said
in open court

that he would, um, have it out
in a couple of days.

I was just wondering if
you might have any information

on an update on it,
if it’s not asking too much?

I do not. I have
not typed any rulings.

I was out of the office
on Friday, but I didn’t
type any on Thursday.

Okay. Okay.
All right, then.
Okay?

Yes, ma’am. Thank you
so much for your time.

You’re welcome.
Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.
[line clicks]

[sighs] So she’s the one.

I call back and ask for her.
She’ll know when it’s typed up.

She gotta type it.

Maybe he wrote it today.
Maybe he gonna give it to her
tomorrow to type.

[line rings, clicks]

[woman] Good afternoon.

[Sibil] Hey, this is,
um, Sibil again.

Did you-- Were you able
to get that message to Val?

Uh, he just got off the phone,
and I’ve got it up there
waiting on him.

Okay. Um... all right.

So, as soon as he gets--
Hold on just a minute.

Sibil?
Yes, ma’am.

Uh, he said he has
not heard anything,

and as soon as
he does hear something,

he will definitely
let you know.

Yeah, I just know
the judge had said two days.

I guess maybe
he changed his mind and took
a little bit longer, huh?

Oh. [scoffs]
Judges’ll lie.

No, they don’t
intentionally, but--
Yeah.

I’m sure he intended,
you know...
Yeah.

Um, but I guess,
like everybody else,

you never know
what’s gonna come up.

Yeah. Yeah.

Um... all righty,
thank you so much.

Okay, hon.
Bye-bye.
[line clicks]

[sighs]

[grunting, exhaling]

I’ve been home from prison
for 15 years now.

[applause]

You ain’t never lie.

Yeah, give me mine.
Give me a little bit more
of that. Yeah.

I appreciate you.
[applause continues]

Because one of the things
that I committed to was

that they would never, ever,
ever, ever, ever, ever, ever,

ever, ever, ever, ever,
ever, ever, ever, ever...

and ever get me
like that again.

Would never give up my freedom.

Would never let myself
be subjugated

to such inhumane treatment.

Ain’t touched my husband.
Can’t sleep in the bed with him.
Can’t hold him.

And by law,
he belongs to me.

Had to raise my children
by myself.

When I was in prison,
I had to bend over and cough

and allow somebody
to look up my rectal cavity.

At a whim, tell me
to take off all my clothes

’cause they want to see.

Can only visit my family
when they say I can
visit my family.

I get to visit my husband
two times a month.

The state is only committed
to giving us two visits a month.

And they are only
required by law

to allow us to visit
for two hours.

You raise a family
for 20 years behind bars.

You keep a family together

for two decades
in this institution.

You hold on to your loved ones
and your sanity

in the midst of this cruel
and unusual punishment.

Then you can talk to me.

Then you can tell me,

if I do the crime,
I should do the time.

[children, woman singing,
faint]

[singing continues]

[man] Amen! Amen!
[song ends]

[cheering, applause]

I hadn’t taken this chair
since I was four years old.

[laughs]
[man] Amen.

I, um, had to share with
my church family on, um--

Most of you, well--
This September
will make seven years

since my husband and I
robbed a bank.

And, uh, last week,
God made it possible for me

to meet with two of the,
uh, women from the bank.

I never understood how
the choices we can make

affect the people around us.

Before this happened,
thought I was an island,

that what I do is just me
and it doesn’t bother
anybody else.

But I saw the rippling effect
that the choice that I made

not only had on my own family,

but I can only imagine
the effect that it had

on all of those women
that were in the bank

the day that we went in there.

And one of the women
said to me,

as I was asking
for their forgiveness,

she said,
"Well, the choices
that you make--"

I said, "I saw how
it affected my family."

She says, "Well, did you
apologize to your family?

Did you apologize
to your mother?"

And I said...

"You know, I know that
I told my mother I loved her.

I know that I told my mother
I appreciate her.

But I cannot recall

asking my mama
to forgive me...

[congregation murmuring]
...for the choices I made."

And so the lady goes on,
and I say,

"I’m gonna go home today
and I’m gonna do that.

I’m gonna go home right
when this meeting is over

and ask and beg
her forgiveness."

And she says, "No, you don’t
just do it like that.

I want you to remember
that moment when
you apologize to her,

just like you’ll remember
this moment

when you’re sitting here
at the table with us."

And so, as I’m going through
and I’m trying to figure out,

Lord,
how am I gonna do this?

You know, I can’t just,
you know-- [laughs]

get my ego out of the way
and bow down
and just let her--

I know I feel it, but,
you know, just getting
those words out.

"Please forgive me,
’cause I know my choice

was not a good choice
and I know I hurt you."

And so, um,
I thought to myself,
"What better way than--"

Because not only did I need
to ask for forgiveness
from my mother.

I need to ask for forgiveness
from my children.

And I need to ask
for forgiveness
from my pastor.

And I need to ask
for forgiveness
from my church family.

Because all of you
helped raise me.

So, to all of you, I ask
that you please forgive me...

[congregation] Amen.
...for the choice I made.

[applause]

[Sibil] While incarcerated,

my prayer was that,
upon my release from prison,

God would allow me
to use my voice
for the voiceless.

Because what
I clearly understood

was that our prison system
is nothing more than slavery.

And I see myself
as an abolitionist.

That power operating
inside of you--
You remember the pulse?

When we could feel
our power?

That same power got you
through those storms,

that same power will get you
through the next one.

And this one,
if you’re going through one.

I’m here to tell you,
great ones, it ain’t
what you go through.

It’s how you choose to grow
as a person through it.

Anybody in here want
a little bit more?
[applause, shouting]

I mean, a project
and a welfare check

just ain’t gonna
cut it for you.

Anybody in here want
a little bit more?
[cheering]

Let me
hear you say it.
"It’s my power."

[all] It’s my power.
And I’m taking it back.

I won’t quit.
[all] I won’t quit.

Because I’m too rich.
Because I’m too rich.

I’m Fox Rich.
Fox Rich.

I won’t quit.
I won’t quit.

Because I’m too rich.
Because I’m too rich.

Oh, say it like
you mean it.

You Fox Rich?
Fox Rich!

I won’t quit.
I won’t quit.

Fox Rich.
Fox Rich.

I got the power.
I got the power.

The power’s in me.
The power’s in me.

And as long as you don’t quit
in this life,

anything that
your heart desires,

I’m telling y’all,
you can have.

No matter
what your obstacle is,

all you got to do
is just believe and keep
putting one, one, one,

one foot in front
of the other foot

and one foot in front
of the other foot,

and you keep walking
up here to class,

and I promise you, great ones,
life can get better.

But you gotta believe.

You only need to let those
enter into the gates of heaven

that you can look at and say,
"If I were a man...

that’s the type of man
I would be."

The men that we date
are supposed to be

a reflection of
our masculine energy.

[applause, chattering]

Say, "If I were a man...

if this energy was embodied
in the male species,

that is the type of man
I would be."

[siren wailing in distance]

[man] We are three weeks out
from Robert’s parole hearing.

Game plan is different
from the last time.

Instead of Jim going
to the parole board with you,

I’m gonna accompany you
to the parole board.

And I believe your mother
is gonna be with us as well.

[Sibil] Yes.
[Robert] Okay.

[man 2] I really think
they very much resent

that, um-- that you all are
coming from a place of power

and assertion
of your rights,

as opposed to
soliciting a favor.

But the impact that
you have together as parents

on the growth
of these young men

and to who they are

is-- is such a strong point
that, um...

I thought it was great that,
just on the fly...

[voice fades]

[siren wailing
in distance]

[boy] Mom, so this is
what happened to the guy,
the coach.

He said that I can’t play
on that team.

-He said I’m too advanced
for the team.
-[Sibil] Aw.

So I was playing ’cause
I’m 11 years old, so...

the rest of the kids
on there are, like,
nine and ten.

Oh.
And so he told--
So he recommended me

to the coach for the,
um, elite team.

Mm-hmm.
Chicago Fire.

And so I’m gonna call--
So he told me to
call them tomorrow

and set up an appointment
or trial date.

[phone: ringtone]
Yeah.

[automated voice] This is
a prepaid collect call from...

[Robert]
Rob.

[automated voice]
An inmate at the Louisiana
State Penitentiary.

This call is subject to
recording and monitoring.

This is a call
from an offender

at a Louisiana Department
of Corrections facility.

To accept charges, press one.
To refuse charges, press...

Thank you
for using Securus.

You may start
the conversation now.

[Robert] Hey, girlie.
Hey.

How you doing?

Good.
What took you so long?

Uh, I don’t know.
Just, uh, giving you, um...

Now you getting short and--
you getting short and shitty.

You’re acting all funny
’cause you’re about to go home.

No, no, no, no, no.
And you’re taking
your time calling.

That’s how they get
when they get short.

Uh-uh. That’s why I’ve been
e-mailing you in between,
trying to pick up.

Oh, boy, you ain’t
e-mailed me in hours.

What? Yeah.

I did e-mail you,

uh, once--
no, twice.

Robert all at the bathroom
trying to talk to you.

Tell him I said hey.
Hey.

[Robert]
What he up to over there?

He need to be
up to that shower

that he got running,
wasting my water.

I thought water was free.
[Robert] All right.

I don’t care if water--
Water ain’t free.
[laughing]

Tell me he thought
water was free.

[Robert laughs]
Uh-huh.

I got a manicure
and a pedicure.

Oh!

And I got my hair done.

Whoa.

[laughing]
Yeah. What?

I got my hair straight,
just like you like it.

And I went to a Dominican
hair shop and got it done.

And when I tell you
they know how to straighten...

What’s the first thing
you’re gonna do when you
come home, Mr. Richardson?

Oh, shit.
I don’t know.

Gonna pack up
and go to Disney World.

Ooh, ooh, that sound good.

That’s what they say after
they win the championship.

Every time they win
the championship,
they be like, "So what’s next?"

They say-- Yeah.
Disney World.

[laughter]

Are you excited?
Um, am I excited?

I guess I should be,
but I guess I’m spoiled.

I’m Robert’s mama,
so I’m tired of, you know,

looking for the little lining
at the end of the road.

The little nugget.

Well, we didn’t get
everything we wanted,
but we got a little something.

We a little further along
than we were last time.

I want my man. [scoffs]

[laughs] All right.

And there ain’t nothing else
pacifying me.

Ain’t no
"further on up the road."

Ain’t no
"I think y’all are wonderful.

Y’all are doing a great job."

I want my family home.
I want my family together.

I want my children
to have their daddy.

And I want him before my--
my-- my twins turn 18.

And we have
the possibility to do it.

And you got the possibility
to get it done.

Uh-huh.

What’s Robert doing?
[Sibil] He left out.

He just wanted
to hear your voice.
I think he getting excited.

Gonna come sit in here
by me to hear you talk.
[chuckles]

Yeah. [laughs]

Boy, I looked up
at the clouds today.

You know,
those big old fluffy clouds.

Like I could just jump
from one to the other one.

They have the,
um, pecan orchard
that they have right there.

And I’m looking
and thinking, like, wow,
they planted those trees

20 years ago
when I first got here.
Really?

Yeah.
[rapid beeping
over phone]

[automated voice]
Thank you for
using Securus.

Goodbye.

[Sibil] My twins
will be 18 next month.

18 years old.

When their daddy got sentenced,
I was three months’ pregnant.

They have absolutely...

no idea about what it means

to have a father in their house.

What fathers even do.

[Sibil] Justus, can you
bring me the hammer?

[Justus] Sure.

Thank you.

[Robert Jr.]
Where is it?

[Justus] Throw it away.

Oh, Justus,
you taller than me.

-Fit it into
that hole right there?
-Mm-hmm.

Thank you. You the man.
I appreciate you.
[Justus] I try to be.

[Sibil]
Whose birthday is it?

Me.
Freedom.

[Sibil] It’s Freedom’s
birthday today, Mama.

[woman] Yeah.

Yes, yes, yes.

[Sibil]
And JJ’s birthday.

Happy birthday, JJ.

Hold on. Here,
come talk to your daddy.

[chattering]

[Sibil] Hey, Miss Moore.
Peace and love to you.

[Miss Moore] How are you?
And peace and love
to you also.

[Sibil]
I’m sorry I’m late.

[children chattering]

We understand,
because you’re a busy lady.

[boy] Hi.

[Sibil] Hi. How you doing?
[children] Hi.

Hi.

You want to talk
to Daddy?

[Sibil] No, he wanted
to talk to you.

If you’re through talking,
give me the phone.

No. I’m talking.
Yeah, here you go.

Get that from him.
It’s my daddy.

Here you go.
Thank you.

Okay.

[woman] It seems like
there is some kind of a need

or a compulsion that we feel
as individuals

to rank people, right?

To come up with
a ranking system.

And so that is
the question that, uh,

we are trying to
make sense of,

is that,
is it an inevitable feature

of human, uh, society?

Even within a prison system,
among prisoners,

where everybody is equal

in the sense of that they
have committed a crime,

we nevertheless see there’s
a stratification system
that comes into place.

[automated voice]
Quatre-vingt-douze.

[slowly]
Quatre-vingt-douze.

[regular speed]
Quatre-vingt-douze.

Quatre-vingt-treize.

[Sibil] It’s Thursday.

His brother and his, um,
sister-in-law called last night

and said that they had
some plumbing issue

at their house this week
and their house flooded

and that they were not gonna
be able to make it down.

Uh, and I don’t have enough
people at Angola with him.

Is that, like,
pushing you too far

to ask for you
to be with him at Angola?

Yes, sir.
You can make that one?

Praise God.

Praise God.
You’re gonna make me shout.

Thank you.

[automated voice]
Quatre-vingt-quatorze.

Quatre-vingt-quinze.

Quatre-vingt-seize.

"Je t’en prie."

[Justus]
"Je t’en prie"?

Uh, it means
"you’re welcome."

-Mm, you’re doing good.
-But informal.

[Sibil]
"Comment ça s’éscrit?"

"Comment ça s’éscrit?"
Uh, "how do you spell it?"

"Comment ça s’éscrit?"

Mm-hmm.
"Comment ça s’éscrit?"

"Ça va?"

"How is it going?"

Okay, so this one is:
"Ça va."

And then this one is,
"Comment ça va?"

The thing about French
is how you say it.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
So "ça va,"

in the question form, is,
"How are you doing?"

But if you say,
like, "ça va,"
like, as a statement,

it just means "good."

So, like, if I was like,
"Ça va?"

And you’d be like, "Ça va."

Or you could say, uh...
"Good." Like, "You good"?

Yeah, or you could say,
"Ça va bien. Et toi?"

Like, "Doing well. And you?"

Boy, you learning
something.

Let me see.
Say that again.
I’m trying.

Say that again.
That’s sexy, boy.

Ça va bien. Et toi?

Ooh, you get to talking
like that, J,

you gonna have
all the girls.

Freedom ain’t gonna have
nothing on you.

We got a lot more
cards to go.

[laughs]
"Bonjour, madame."

Uh, "Good morning,
ma’am, madam."

"Bonjour, madame."

[woman] Kids are resilient.

[sighs] I think the old--

They’re getting
a little older now.

And I’m thinking that they
understand life a little more.

Uh, that they want to grab

a piece of life--

positive life--
for themselves.

[chattering, faint]

And I think it’s all
because of Sibil.

I think she set the tone.

[applause on TV]

And I have always known
black women who rock.

I was raised
by black women who rock.

My mother is
a black woman who rocks.

My sisters
are black women who rock.

And it’s taken me a while

for me to realize
that I rock.

It took me a long time
to get here, to stand here.

[audience cheering]
As a black woman,

it is so, so hard
out here for us.

And it means so much to me

for the world to see
black girls rocking together.

Thank you so much.

Good night.
[audience cheering]

Thank you. Thank you.

Dear God, it’s just
so overwhelming, brother,

to be able to...
as early as tomorrow,

to be able to hold you
in my arms.

Whew.

To be sitting here
recording with you

this time tomorrow night.

[woman]
♪ I’ve been going through ♪

[woman continues singing]

Oh, baby.

If I could come home
to you... [laughs]

[woman, faint]
♪ Since we were
Very young... ♪

[exhales slowly]

[siren blaring]

[woman on phone]
Hello.

Hey, Miss Judy.
Hey.

Did you get any word from
over at the big house today?

No, not anything yet.

Nothing yet?
No.

Okay. You got a chance
to call today?

I have not.
No? Okay.

All right, then.
I appreciate you.

All right, thank you.
[line clicks]

How the hell she gonna
sit there and say

she ain’t got nothing today
and she ain’t even call?

[laughing]

Man, these people
have no respect for
other human beings’ lives.

I mean, that just
drives you crazy.

No matter how sane
or how cognizant

or understanding
you try to be,

it just will make you lose
your absolute mind.

I’m not gonna do it.
I’m just freaking
not gon’ do it.

Success is
the best revenge.

Success is the best revenge.

See, I’m like one of those
little retarded children.

Success is the best revenge.
You gon’ get ’em, Fox.
You gon’ get ’em.

You gon’ show ’em
that they can’t treat
human life this way.

Success is the best revenge.
Just hang in there,
’cause when you get him home,

they gon’ pay,
they gon’ pay, they gon’ pay.

They gon’--
They gon’ fucking pay!

Goddamn! He could’ve been home,
been home with his family.

Just ’cause they bullshitting.

Ain’t no hurry.

"Oh, just some more niggas
trying to get home
from the penitentiary.

All of them will be trying
to come out.

If I rehear one sentence,

then the rest of them
will be trying to
come out of there."

Do you know that’s what
they told our lawyer?

Don’t you want anybody
out of the system

that ain’t supposed
to be there?

[sighs] You know,
"I open this matter up,

then they’ll all be
trying to come in here
and get resentenced."

Bless me, Lord.

All right, what we got next?

I need to--
So, you putting, um...

[man]
Jonathan on it.

...Jonathan on the system,
and then can you...

[voice fades]

[Sibil] By the time
that little Robert is 18...

I want to be as far away
from this level of pain

for my whole family
as I can be.

So far away that
I don’t even remember

how bad it really hurt.

[rattling]

[dog barking in distance]

[woman] In the name of
all that is holy,
we salute you, sister.

In the name of
all that is holy,

we give thanks
for your spirit,
for your Ori,

the spirit guides
that guide you.

Thank you.

And I give thanks
for your whole family.

Then we say, "Ase."

Ase.

[bell dings]

We give thanks
from the north.

[dings]

We give thanks
from the west.

[bell dings]

[bell dinging repeatedly]

East.

South.

Thank you for giving
your husband the endurance

to stand the test of time.

[bell dings]

[traffic passing]

[Sibil] Curtis Ray.

Angola just called me, baby,

said that they gonna have his
paperwork done in 30 minutes,

so they’ll have him free
before I get there.

But the limo is already
on its way.

You may not have
butterflies, but I do.

[Sibil laughs]

[yelling]

Boy, you better come here!
You better come here, Robert!

[Sibil yelling]

[laughing]

[both yell]

[laughing]

[no audible dialogue]

[no audible dialogue]

[Remington]
I’ve been riding around
with you all day,

and it still
don’t feel real.
[laughter]

It’s all right, baby.
It’s okay.

God is good. God is good.
[clapping]

[people chattering]

[Robert] I love you, man.
[Remington] I love you, too.

[Remington]
And, um, from here on out,

I just want you to love
that woman.

That’s right.
Yes.

[chattering continues]

And we gonna have
a great rest of this life.

[laughter]

[clapping]

When they speak about love,

you spoke about the fact that
before God created the church,
he created the family.

But before he created family,
he created what I believe to be

the most powerful force
in the universe,

and that is,
is when he created love.

If it could be an acronym,

it would be
"life’s only valid expression."

There were about four things
that I went into prison
understanding,

and I got these
from my Uncle Vernon.

I said that
once I went to prison,
I would stand like a man,

that I would speak truth
to falsehoods,

that I would finish strong.

And God knows
I’d never give up.

Because y’all are worth
fighting for.

[laughs] I love you.
[clapping]

It’s always good
to see you. Yeah.

[women chattering, faint]

[woman] Remy,
get out of her shoes.

[chattering continues]

In somebody else shoes.
Calvin Kleins!

[chattering continues]

[Remington]
Calvin Kleins!

[Sibil] I thank God that
I am surrounded by fighters.

[woman] Mm-hmm.

I’m thankful for
a community of people
that are willing to love us...

[woman] Yes.
...through it all.

[woman 2]
Through it all.

And through it all
is how we get there.

[crying]

[screaming, squealing]