In this talk Kempis Songster, known as Ghani, discusses perspective reform on incarceration, which he considers essential for the advancement of the United States towards a violence free culture. In 1987, at the age of 15, Kempis Songster was imprisoned for homicide. Despite his age, he was certified as an adult, convicted of first degree murder, and given a mandatory life sentence without parole, or what is increasingly known today as death by incarceration. Thus, he became one of America’s many juvenile lifers/condemned children. While in prison, he developed and facilitated programs to help people behind the walls with him, as well as programs to help people on the outside. He also co-founded outside organizations such as The Redemption Project and Ubuntu Philadelphia; and is a founding member of Right To Redemption (R2R), which helped launch Philadelphia’s Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration (CADBI) (The Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration|Decarcerate PADecarcerate PA › CADBI). After 30 years of incarceration, Kempis was released from prison, at the age of 45. Since his release, he has joined the staff at the Amistad Law Project (Amistad Law ProjectAmistad Law Project › home), a grassroots abolitionist law collective working for the release of others, as they fight to end the sentencing of human beings to life without parole/death by incarceration and abolish prison industrial complex. He has also joined the membership of Ecosocialist Horizons. Kempis, or who a lot of us in the movement affectionately know as “Ghani,” continues to organize actively for healing justice and a more livable planet. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx