:04:00
Yeah, I met 'em at an EPA in Brooklyn,
and, you know, they was doin' business.
:04:04
They brought me home and stuff,
and the rest is what happened, man.
:04:08
Yeah, that's when
my life changed, Rube.
:04:11
Just yanked a brother up and took him
up to Canada, just like that?
:04:14
No, no, they asked my folks.
:04:16
I see. So what do they do?
Are they a religious group...
:04:19
or, uh, hippies or a commune or--
:04:22
No, they fix up houses and sell 'em.
You know?
:04:24
- They'rejust people.
-Just people.
:04:27
Just workin', eatin',
livin' together?
:04:30
I don't know. This is what they do, man.
That's their thing.
:04:33
-What'd your folks say?
-Oh, well, my dad, you know, he's happy.
:04:37
- He's glad for me.
- Oh, good.
:04:39
You see 'em much,
your people, your folks?
:04:41
Yeah, but sometimes
it's hard though.
:04:43
Yeah, well--
:04:45
Yeah, it's hard.
:04:49
You give them hope.
:04:52
- Yeah, I guess.
- You do. You give 'em hope.
:04:56
Because you have transcended, Lesra.
:04:59
It is very important to transcend
the places that hold us.
:05:04
You know that? You've learned to read.
You've learned to write.
:05:08
Writing is-- it's magic.
:05:12
You feel that sometimes?
:05:16
- Yeah, I guess I do.
- Mm-hmm.
:05:19
When I started writing...
:05:23
I discovered that I was doing more
than just telling a story.
:05:27
See, writing is a weapon...
:05:29
and it's more powerful
than a fist can ever be.
:05:33
Every time I sat down to write, I could
rise above the walls of this prison.
:05:37
I could look out over the walls
all across the state of New Jersey.
:05:43
And I could see Nelson Mandela
in his cell writing his book.
:05:46
I could see Huey.
I could see Dostoyevsky.
:05:49
I could see Victor Hugo, Emile Zola,
and-- and they would say to me...
:05:53
"Rubin, what you doin' in there?"
:05:55
And I say,
"Hey, I know all you guys."