[MUSIC PLAYING]
SUSAN MOLINARI: Thank you.
And good afternoon.
So I have a surprise for you.
I'm not Kim Kardashian.
[LAUGHTER]
I have just totally embarrassed
my daughter to no end.
First of all, welcome.
And thank you all
for being here.
Today, we're all
here because we want
to celebrate the freedom
of an amazing woman who
has made me cry at least
seven times since I've
been given the gift
to get to know her
in a very short period of time.
And I can't wait for
all of you to get
to know Ms. Alice Johnson.
She is a gift from
heaven and to remind us
why we're all here on Earth.
Before I get any
further with the remarks
that I've prepared, which I'm
clearly not going to stick to,
I want to just say a big
thank you to the family here.
This is Ms. Alice
Johnson's family.
[APPLAUSE]
So let me cut to the
chase for just a second.
So to those of you
who don't know me,
my name is Susan Molinari.
I'm so beyond the
point of why we're
all here, except
I run government
affairs and public
policy here at Google.
And I've made some pretty
smart decisions in my life,
but one of my
smartest was to ask
a woman named Malika Saada Saar
to come work with us at Google.
[APPLAUSE]
And you're going to
be hearing from her.
She's a human rights lawyer.
And we got to know
each other when
she was working
on a group dealing
with underaged
sex-trafficked young women
here in the United States.
I convinced her to come and
have a bigger platform at Google
and help us make some really
important changes by using
the products, and the
people, and the heart
and soul of Google.
And she has gone a long way
to work with so many groups.
And at the end, I'm going
to thank them all-- but
our Everyone for Justice Group,
which is a bunch of volunteers
that helps out, our
dot-org people here,
with Jacquelline Fuller
and Justin Steele
and others who give up
their time and their money.
Andy's going to come up and talk
a little bit about all the work
that BrandLab has been
doing, a labor of love.
So I want to thank everybody
for helping us celebrate
Ms. Alice's freedom and to
say thank you to everybody
who made this freedom possible.
I never thought that
we'd have an opportunity
to say, in person, thank
you to Kim Kardashian
West for the fact
that she went to see
the President of
the United States
and asked him to look into
the situation of this woman,
this amazing woman
you're going to meet,
who ended up serving 21
years of a lifetime sentence
in jail for a first-time,
non-felony drug offense.
If she had committed that
crime today, few of us
doubt she would even
spent a day in jail.
But retroactivity
isn't part of the game.
So she kept herself together.
She kept her spirits together.
And again, her family kept that
hope alive so that she knew,
when she was coming home,
she was coming home to such
a loving and supportive family.
And what so many people
who are dealing in this
have told me is the difference
between those who make it
and those who don't are
the support structure
outside the jail.
So again, thank you
for keeping our star
together so that
she can continue
to shine a light on all of us.
So I've been asked,
just very briefly,
to set the stage for why Google
is involved in criminal justice
reform.
So working out of
Washington, DC, Malika and I
have recognized that
it is really one
of the few bipartisan issues--
House, Senate,
Republicans, Democrats,
governors throughout
the state, local leaders
who understand that
the Criminal Justice
Project that we have
in the United States--
our system is anything
but just and that it needs
a lot of-- as David Drummond
once said, if there's anything
that needs disrupting,
and we're disruptors, it's
the criminal justice system.
It is a system that works
for very few people.
And certainly, based on your
socioeconomics, your color,
and your gender, it's not
going to work for you at all.
And so what we started to do
was look into ways that we,
as Google, could help this.
So we walked the walk.
I think many of you know
Google bans the box where
we don't ask people if they've
served any jail on their job
applications.
We have banned bail bonds ads,
which keep many people together
and owe exorbitant
prices by promises.
And we didn't want to make money
off that in any way, shape,
or form at Google.
And then we decided that it
was time to do something more,
to take our products
to tell a story,
because we're convinced that
the people in this country
are good people and that, if
they knew the truth about what
goes on in our criminal
justice system,
they would be enraged
and demand change.
If they knew for a
fact that there's
over 30 states that
still allow women
to be shackled when
they're giving birth,
they would be angry.
If they knew that there are
women in this country who
have to deal with whether
they should make a phone
call to their family
or buy sanitary napkins
or tampons because they are
considered, by our prison
system, as non-essential,
every woman in this country
would be very mad.
If they knew that
the people at Rikers,
one of the worst
places in this country,
are consistent of 80% of
individuals who have not
seen trial yet, innocent until
proven guilty, but spending
years of their lives behind
bars because the only thing
they can be convicted
of at that point
is not having enough
money to make bail or get
a good lawyer--
so what we decided at Google
was the problem is nobody hears
them, nobody sees them, right?
We want to turn a blind eye
to all those injustices.
But we have the products at
Google, particularly YouTube,
that allows us to
crawl behind the wall
and get behind the prison gates
so that we can tell their story
and give them voice.
And that's what we did here and
what we're continuing to do.
So just very briefly, and
then I'm off the stage,
we went with YouTube, and
with the help of Andy,
to put together a video
where Ms. Alice spoke
behind bars and behind
glass on a phone
and talked about what 21
years away from her family,
her children, her grandchildren,
now her great-grandchildren,
have been for an offense
that she wished she never
made, but just wants to get out
of prison to be with her family
again.
She talked about all
the other inmates
that are in there in
the very same situation.
And then there was a group
called [INAUDIBLE] she
challenged everybody who
watched to go out there and tell
these stories to give
faces to the faceless,
to give voices to those people
who feel like no one else
cares.
And there was a
creator called mic.com,
who wrote an op-ed on behalf of
Ms. Alice with our Google team.
And that's what
Kim Kardashian saw
and what she took to the
President of the United States.
So Google, you helped do this.
You helped to free this woman
so that she can bear witness
to the stories that
need to be told.
So congratulations,
Google, first of all.
Yes, give everybody a
round of applause here.
[APPLAUSE]
In closing, just let me
say, today we celebrate,
but we acknowledge our work.
There's so much more to do.
There's so many more souls
who are waiting to be rescued.
And we know that when
we celebrate Ms. Johnson
and thank these advocacy
organizations, who are also
here, to whom we honor with
their presence, who have stood
fast behind individuals
like Ms. Alice
before Google ever got there
and kept their spirits up,
we're honored to be
here with all of you.
Thank you.
So clearly, there are
still too many women, men,
and children who are
made to feel powerless,
and then whose families are
scarred and scared, and then
whose neighborhoods are broken,
and then whose country is not
living up to its full destiny.
So with that, I want to
thank you all for being here
to allow us to tell this story.
And now I want to introduce
one of our partners, Andy
[? Berndt ?] who,
most of you know,
is from BrandLab, who has
sort of taken this up.
He has been to, I think, four
or five prisons already--
is going to San
Quentin next week--
has used his genius to help
tell this story and help
put together a lot
of what reached
the imagination of individuals
throughout this country
to help tell Ms. Alice's story
and so many others behind bars.
He has really been
instrumental at Google
in leading our
commitment to justice.
Andy?
[APPLAUSE]
[? ANDY BERNDT: ?] Good job.
Good job.
SUSAN MOLINARI: I give big hug.
[? ANDY BERNDT: ?]
How about that?
OK, still not Kim Kardashian.
[LAUGHTER]
Just to be clear.
So I'm only up here for
a few minutes, I promise.
What I wanted to
say, though, was
I would say about three years
ago, during a lot of the really
tough Black Lives
Matter moments,
we got together as
a team in New York.
And a lot of Googlers, a
lot of people on the team,
were feeling really
horrible, deeply horrible.
And through a lot
of conversations
what we realized was--
and maybe we knew
this a little bit,
but we didn't know it enough--
that we really didn't
have enough understanding
and empathy about the
way lots of people live.
And Google, at its best--
my favorite thing
about Google is
if you look around
hard enough, you
will find a genius in any field.
And they work
somewhere at Google.
And you have to get
[INAUDIBLE] troll
and all those sorts of things.
But you will find them.
And we were lucky enough that,
with the help of a few friends,
we we had families of
incarcerated people come in.
We had previously
incarcerated people come in.
We had all kinds of people
come in and just talk with us.
So we knew a lot of people
by first name from a world
that a lot of us didn't
really understand.
I was going explain how then
Malika came to the scene.
And I just asked
her, how did we meet?
And she said, well, you
were looking for a bathroom.
And you came in this conference
room, and you were like, what?
And that's how we met.
So that's not really
that great a story.
However, I must
say about Malika--
I think we've gone
to four prisons now--
Detroit, women's
prison in New Jersey.
We're going to San
Quentin next week.
Malika's a special person.
She is the kind of person that
you feel so lucky to know,
to meet, to have known,
to have worked with.
She will take you
under her spell,
and you will find
that you do things,
whether you want to
or not, because she's
told you to do them.
And she's amazing.
It makes me proud to work here
because I get to finally work
with people like Malika.
She's probably
embarrassed at this.
But tough, she deserves it.
My ability to get
my group involved
in things that are meaningful
to them, that are important,
that they feel are worth
everything they put into them,
even if they're a
2%, 3%, 5% effort,
makes all the difference.
And it's all informal.
It's all people
just meeting people.
If you want to get
involved, I think
Maab will talk about
how to do that.
But if you have
the ability to get
involved in any kind of
these efforts, just do.
Just get it started.
All it needs is a few friends
and someone who cares.
And people will back you up.
So I'm supposed to
also introduce a video
and mostly get off the stage.
You'll see a video
here that's kind of
made by a whole lot of
people, pieces from all over.
It's nice that it was
one of the things that
kicked this whole
thing into motion,
with a lot of other
elements that eventually
led to the amazing moment
of Ms. Alice leaving prison.
So I won't stand
in the way anymore.
We can play this video.
And then she'll
come out and chat.
Thanks.
[APPLAUSE]
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ALICE JOHNSON: In 1996, my life
drastically changed forever.
I was convicted as a first-time,
non-violent drug offender
and sentenced to life
in federal prison.
I'd always thought that only the
most heinous crimes warranted
a life without parole sentence.
I have the exact same
sentence as Charles Manson.
DAVID DRUMMOND: We like to
think of Google as a platform
for disruptive innovation.
And if there's anything that
needs to be disrupted today,
it's the system of
mass incarceration.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: This
issue is at the center
of all of our work, and
communities, and lives.
It is not marginal.
JOHN LEGEND: To end the
human suffering caused
by mass incarceration, we
have to make love the focus.
I am honored to present these
love letters from children
to their incarcerated fathers.
SPEAKER 1: Dear dad--
SPEAKER 2: It has been eight
years since I saw you last.
SPEAKER 3: I want to
express myself to you.
I haven't done it
in a long time.
SPEAKER 4: I just
wanted to tell you
how much I love and miss you.
SPEAKER 5: I want you to
see me graduate next year.
SPEAKER 6: Going to attend
college in the fall.
SPEAKER 7: Happy
Father's Day, dad.
SPEAKER 8: Happy
Father's Day, dad.
SPEAKER 9: Your one
and only baby girl.
ALICE JOHNSON: Google
is a company that
has been greatly blessed,
to whom much is given,
much is required.
When you use your
voice, people listen.
When you champion a cause,
our leadership listens.
You may say, am I my
brother's or sister's keeper?
And I say you today,
if not you, then who?
If not now, then when?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[END PLAYBACK]
AUDIENCE: Whoo!
[APPLAUSE]
[CHEERING]
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
Hey, everybody.
Welcome.
It's such a wonderful honor
to have all of you with us,
to have this moment with Ms.
Alice and Kim Kardashian.
I'm going to put my mom
hat on and first say,
we cannot have any video
or pictures going on.
And if you do it, security is
going to tell you to leave.
So understood.
With that, it is my absolute
honor, and privilege,
and pleasure, to introduce you
to Alice Marie Johnson and Kim
Kardashian.
Please?
[APPLAUSE]
[CHEERING]
Ms. Alice, I want
to start with you.
I want us to get grounded
in the hard part first.
Ms. Alice, when I first
saw you behind bars
to this moment here, you
have been unbowed, unbroken,
and mighty.
ALICE JOHNSON: Thank you.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
But most of us here,
we don't know what the inside
of a jail or prison looks like.
Most of us here,
we don't know what
it feels like to have a
loved one behind bars.
So I want you to ground
us in and start us out
by talking about what it's like
to be in a human cage, what
it's like to be there for
two decades, as a mother,
and as a grandmother.
ALICE JOHNSON: As a
mother, as a grandmother,
a great-grandmother, a
sister, a daughter, an aunt,
if any of you can just imagine
having your mother away from
you for almost 22 years,
what that would feel like,
to have the person
who is truly--
we, as mothers, know that a
mother is really the nucleus,
not downplaying any role
that a man does in the home.
But to have your mother, the
one who kisses the boo-boos
and gives you the little
comfort that you need--
to be separated from my children
was an ache that I cannot even
describe to you.
I look at pictures--
coming back home after
this time in prison,
I look at pictures
that I'm missing from.
I look at moments
that my children
have to share with
me that I've missed.
One thing that I
did not ever do--
and I never stopped being
mama to my children.
And I tried to be
there for them.
They still depended
upon me for advice.
And they shared moments.
But just not physically
being there--
there's nothing that I can
describe to you that pain.
And also, one of the things
that my children and my family
never knew--
they never knew
how heartbreaking.
It was heartbreaking
for them when
I'd call home on a holiday.
And I'd have to let tears
fall, talking to them,
but keep a smile in my voice
so that they wouldn't be sad.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
And Kim, you first
found out about Ms. Alice
because of this digital op-ed
that she did that went viral.
Can you talk about what that was
like to see that image of her?
And also, why did you
decide to take action?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST:
Seeing that video
that you guys saw a clip
of, that's what I saw.
And someone that I follow
on Twitter posted it.
And I happened to be on my
phone at that exact moment.
So I always say,
Ms. Alice found me.
And I just connected
with who I saw, and not
even having to meet her.
I come from a big family.
And hearing about her
family, I thought, well,
what wouldn't my mom have
done to feed her children?
Now, me being a mom, I would do
anything to feed my children.
So I know that in
a case like that,
we're all just a
bad decision away
from maybe being in a
position like Alice was in.
And to hear her say--
what was so clear to me is she
got the same exact sentence
as Charles Manson--
that's insanity.
That's just our
system failing us.
So if I felt like I had the
power to make a phone call
and I can possibly
change someone's life,
I was going to try.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: And you
talked about, sometimes,
that's an issue of courage.
So where did you find that
courage to take that act?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Honestly,
for me, it was just something
that I felt I had to do.
I feel like the courageous
part might have been more
my husband speaking out.
I think his support kind
of opened the door for me
to be able for them to
really answer my call
and get me through the door.
So I'm really well
aware of that.
And it wasn't even a question.
It was just I felt like
I had that connection,
and I was going to try.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
So my understanding
is that you were
the first person
to tell Ms. Alice that she
had been granted clemency.
Is that right?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Yes, it is.
And I thought she
knew already because I
had told her attorneys.
So when they connected
us on the phone,
I was in the middle
of a photo shoot.
And I--
[LAUGHTER]
--a nude shoot.
It will probably be my last one.
But it kind of shook me
up that I got the call
from the president.
I had to grab a robe--
[LAUGHTER]
--and then call Ms. Alice.
Luckily, we were
filming my show.
So we'll see that
really special moment.
But I was kind of shocked
because I thought she knew.
And so when I got on the
phone, she was so calm.
And I think she thought it
was a regular check-in call
with her attorneys.
And then I said, Ms.
Alice, you don't know?
You're free.
You're going home.
And it was screaming and
crying for maybe three minutes
straight.
And I was trying to
not cry my makeup off
because I had spent
three hours in makeup.
[LAUGHTER]
It's true.
It sounds crazy.
ALICE JOHNSON: I went crazy.
[LAUGHTER]
I think I was jumping so high,
I almost hit that tall ceiling.
[LAUGHTER]
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Usually,
in clemency situations,
there is a period of
time between when you've
been granted the clemency
and then when you
are able to walk out of prison.
But you walked out within
hours of finding out.
ALICE JOHNSON: Uh-huh.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
You told me the story
of what it was like to
walk out of that prison.
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Can
you share that with us?
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
When I walked out of prison,
it sounded like an earthquake.
[LAUGHTER]
The women there-- there are
three buildings with four
different housing units,
so you've got 12 units--
every single woman--
I'm going to say
every single woman--
was at the window, or trying
to climb over someone.
They were beating
the window with cups.
They were screaming.
They were shouting for me.
All you could hear was this
huge sound, this big sound.
And as we drove out,
the women at the camp--
they weren't in the
building, locked down.
But the women at the
camp were all lined up.
They were all lined
up, all of the campers.
There were officers lined up.
People were screaming.
They were crying.
They were waving.
It was the most
incredible going out.
It was the most
incredible experience,
looking at all of the support
that I had from the women
who were still incarcerated.
And that's one image, Malika,
that is still stuck in my mind,
in my mind's eye--
the faces of those women
who have been left behind.
And that is one of the
reasons that you will see me
on any platform
that they will allow
me to use my voice to champion
this cause of criminal justice
reform.
[APPLAUSE]
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Because you
talk about the joy of freedom--
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: --of being
reconnected to your family.
But you also talk about
how you are haunted
by the women you left behind.
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
I told them when I left--
I left a letter for them.
I scribbled a quick
letter to tell them
that I would never
forget them, I
would never stop
fighting for them,
because they have been
tattooed on my heart.
And I cannot forget them
because it's bigger than me.
And when I speak, I
humanize the issue.
It's easy to read about someone
and just think about, well,
that was a sad story,
and forget them.
But when you see my face,
you see their faces.
And it's pretty hard
to forget someone
who has experienced what I've
experienced and to see me.
My family is here today.
All of my children are here.
You hear the little
babies over there?
Those are my grand-twins.
My two sisters are here.
This is a moment that they
never expected to see,
something like this
happening for me.
And to have them share in this
moment with me means so much.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Yes.
So Kim, Ms. Alice's freedom is
not the end of your efforts,
right?
You have raised up the
story of Cyntoia Brown.
And if I could
just, for a moment,
talk about Cyntoia Brown,
who was bought and sold
for sex as a child
in this country
and, out of
self-defense, killed one
of the men who purchased her and
is now serving a life sentence.
And she is representative
of so many girls, especially
our black and brown girls,
who are bought and sold
for sex and criminalized,
instead of seen as victims
of commercial serial rape.
You have talked about her.
You have talked
about Chris Young,
who is serving a life
sentence for a drug felony.
Can you tell us more about--
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST:
A minor drug felony.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: A minor--
that's right.
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST:
Marijuana and a half
of a gram of cocaine.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: So talk
to us about these individuals
and why you are seeking
clemency for them.
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST:
Just meeting Alice
and knowing that
she just represented
the fact that there are
thousands of women and men
like Alice that--
it's just the system
is completely broken.
And knowing that I was
able to make a change,
but also seeing the
president maybe a week
before I went in, say
something horrific, like--
I don't even know
what the quote was,
but something that he would--
being super hard
on crime and drugs
and thinking that
there was no hope.
And then going there and
having him hear Alice's story
and completely hear
me and understand
that there was a big, big
problem in the system,
and then talking
to Jared so much,
who I have a really
good relationship with
and who has really been pushing
this whole thing, and prison
reform, and the FIRST STEP Act--
and everyone's really
getting behind it.
And that's our goal, is to pass
bills and get the president
to endorse these bills that will
change so many people's lives.
So I just felt like I saw
hope when I went in there.
And I feel like
what I had to say
and what our team of
attorneys that we've
been working with that really
helped me with the messaging--
I couldn't do it without
Brittany, who's here,
and cut50, and everyone
that I work with--
I saw hope in the
White House, that they
wanted to make a change.
It just really made me feel
like I couldn't stop and that,
if I had a voice and
we were able to do
what we did with
Alice, that I just
want to encourage everyone.
You know, I always say this.
And Van Jones and I talk
about this all the time.
For people that don't want
to go to the White House,
I completely understand if you
don't agree with the policies,
like myself.
I might not agree with
everything that goes on,
but I couldn't wait four more
years or eight more years
to help save Alice
or the people inside.
And if you ask Alice or
if you ask anybody inside
if they care who
the president is,
or if they want you to wait four
more years or eight more years,
I guarantee you they
would all say no.
So I just want to be the voice
to encourage other people
to step up and other
people to use their voice
to speak to the White
House and make changes.
And our voices are powerful.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: And this is
a hard time for criminal justice
reform because we do have an AG,
we do have Jeff Sessions, who
does believe in
mandatory minimums
and who has not been
an advocate of reform.
But part of what
you are able to do,
because of your following
on social media,
because of your presence
in popular culture,
is to raise awareness,
is to name the issue
of mass incarceration.
Can you just tell us a little
bit more about Chris Young
and allow us to understand why
his life is important to know,
and what has happened to him,
as well as Cyntoia Brown?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Yeah.
So Chris Young has been in
prison for almost nine years.
And he is 30 years old.
He made bad choices--
low-level drug offender.
He had marijuana.
On the floor of his car, he
had, like, crumbs of cocaine.
And so they couldn't
even measure it,
so they just said
it was half a gram.
And he had two previous
really low-level charges,
like the one that
he was charged with.
And so they gave him life.
And he has sickle cell anemia.
He's been in and
out of hospitals--
two hip replacements.
And even just what Alice said--
Chris has the same
sentence as Charles Manson.
That just, to me,
sounds so insane.
So anyone that I
can bring light to,
just to share how
he's in-- because
of mandatory minimums, the
judge sentenced him to life.
And since then, the
judge has resigned.
And the judge came with
me to the White House
to talk to the president
about how he could not
live with himself having
to sentence these young men
and women for life over
really low-level drug crimes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: That's right.
That's right.
Ms. Alice, you are free now.
And it's only been
four months, right?
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
So can you talk to us
about what is the
work for you in trying
to fight mass
incarceration, in trying
to talk about the ways in which
our families, our communities,
have been broken because of the
very real costs of this type
of over-criminalization?
ALICE JOHNSON: The main thing--
I believe the main
purpose that I'm
serving in lifting up
my voice and showing you
my face is to
humanize this issue.
Someone has to humanize
this issue so that you just
don't read about
a person, you just
don't see some
numbers or a profile
that someone has fed you about
a person, that you see me.
You see my family.
You see my friends.
You see others when you see me.
And I must continue to
fight for this issue
because, as I asked Google, and
you came up to the challenge,
if not you, then who?
If not me, then who?
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: That's right.
That's right.
So Kim, how do we get more
celebrities and influencers
to do the activist work, to try
to disrupt mass incarceration
the way you are doing?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Well, I
do see people like John Legend
and Common are very
vocal and do speak up
about mass incarceration
all the time.
I've visited a
prison with Common.
I know they're very passionate
about the same thing.
My husband is going to
the White House tomorrow.
And I know he's bringing
up the topic as well.
And it's something he's
really passionate about.
So I personally just
urge people to--
it's a tough situation because
the president has said,
if anyone wants to talk
to me about clemencies
and they want to talk to me
about prison reform, I'm here.
Come and talk to me.
So for me, I've seen that
that has become a reality.
And like I mentioned earlier,
I don't think the people inside
want to wait those years.
ALICE JOHNSON: No.
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST:
So I just would
urge people to talk
to the president,
to talk to Jared Kushner,
to continue to speak out
through social media.
Share stories.
If I hadn't been
on social media,
I wouldn't have
seen Alice's story.
So even people just
passing along stories--
reach out to me.
I'm not afraid to go
to the White House.
Let me know.
I'll take a story there.
ALICE JOHNSON: I just
want to say this, too,
is it took a lot of
courage on the part of Kim
to go to the White House.
It takes courage
to do something.
It takes courage to act.
To be an activist means
that you've got to act.
You've got to do something.
You just can't turn your
head, as Kim said, and wait
another four years,
or six years,
or eight years until you
do something about this.
As I've said before,
you've got to be
willing to sit down
with the person
with the power of the pen.
If you had a
life-threatening disease,
you would not care who the
doctor was who saved your life.
And I don't care who it
was who brought me out,
who signed my papers.
I don't care.
I'm so thankful to be
sitting here looking out
at this audience today.
And I hope that others will get
the courage to do something,
to act, and to
take this cause up,
because people very lives
are dependent upon them
and are dependent upon you.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Absolutely.
And it's not just about
the White House, right?
ALICE JOHNSON: No, it's not.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: It
really is about how
part of the war on
drugs was dehumanizing.
ALICE JOHNSON: It was.
It was demonized.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Demonized
and dehumanizing, right?
ALICE JOHNSON: Dehumanized.
That's right.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: And we
had certain individuals,
and communities,
and families seen
as predators and given
sentences that were
disproportional and unjust.
And it seems like
so much of the work
is also about changing
popular culture.
ALICE JOHNSON: It has.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Reframing
what the war on drugs
really was about.
ALICE JOHNSON: That's true.
I believe that there should
be punishment for crime.
There should be punishment.
And as I've said this before,
people are quick to say,
you do the crime,
you do the time.
Don't cry now.
But that time should
also be fair and just,
based on the crime, not unjust.
[APPLAUSE]
So I don't believe that
the communities were
safer because I spent
almost 22 years of my life
behind bars-- a first-time,
non-violent offender,
no criminal history, no
convictions, no trials, nothing
of any kind, was a
productive member of society
until that one mistake.
A bad call on my part,
but it should not
have cost me my life.
And if it had not been
for someone having
the courage, who's sitting
on my right hand right now,
Kim Kardashian, to
take up my cause
and go to the White House--
[APPLAUSE]
But I also want you to know
that, behind Kim, there
is a group of advocates who are
out here today to support me.
It takes that.
It took them also--
every little piece of every
little thing that was done
was building up to what Kim
was able to go in and do.
This didn't just start.
People have been
fighting for me.
So they're here today.
Many of them are
here today, not all.
So thank you, too, advocates.
Thank you.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Yes.
Yes.
ALICE JOHNSON:
Thank you, Google.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR:
Well, a lot of what
we were able to do, we could not
have done without Topeka Sam,
because part of--
[APPLAUSE]
Part of what we were able
to do at that YouTube summit
was to use a YouTube
platform that Topeka
figured out and taught us
how to use to bring you
in from behind bars.
And there was that power of
seeing you, not just hearing
about your story in words, but
actually bearing witness to you
in the prison jumpsuit, on
the phone, speaking to us,
that was transformational.
And I think for you, as well,
if her story, if Ms. Alice's
story, were a written op-ed
about her life, as opposed
to a digital one, it might
not have had the same impact.
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Seeing
her face, seeing her emotions,
hearing her voice--
just, I remember
when Shawn Holley
wrote me and had her first
phone conversation with you.
She just said, you have
to hear her sweet voice.
I can't wait for you to have
a phone conversation with her.
And it's true.
Just seeing that, seeing
your emotions just really
connected with me.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: I
always talk about--
I'm a human rights lawyer.
And part of what you get
trained in human rights law
is to document the story.
You document the story of
abuse so that the world
may bear witness.
And part of what Topeka helped
us to do with our technology
was to be able to
scale that prison
wall so that we
could bear witness
to what you were suffering.
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
My voice was free,
my face was free,
my image was free
before I was free.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: That's right.
AUDIENCE: Wow.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: That's right.
[APPLAUSE]
So we've recognized
how Google has
played a small, but important
role in your freedom.
But Ms. Alice, you called
on us from behind bars.
You called on us, as a
company, to take action
and to take responsibility.
ALICE JOHNSON: Yes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Right?
And you said to us, to whom
much is given, much is required.
And Kim, you are living
out that notion of to whom
much is given, much is
required in your activism
for justice reform.
I want to know from
both of you, what more
can tech do around the
issue of justice reform?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: Just
seeing videos like that
and putting it out
there on social media--
I mean, I do get
how social media
can be very mentally
challenging at times
when you see a
lot of negativity.
But if I were to take
in all the negativity
that I've received over
the decade of me being
in the business to that moment
where I saw Alice's video,
it's all worth it.
So I think, you know, it's true.
[APPLAUSE]
I think social
media's very powerful.
And it's just like anything.
If you take it in doses and if
you use it in the right way--
I've been able to connect
with so many people
over social media.
And I'm so grateful for it.
So I think if people could
just share more and share
their stories more--
even seeing in the video
that you guys posted of
the love letters, I think,
that John Legend
was sharing, was so
touching because so many
people are affected by it,
people that you
wouldn't even imagine.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Mm-hm.
That's so True.
ALICE JOHNSON: I don't think
Googlers who are here today
really realize the role
that this company played
in my freedom.
Are they aware of the
role that they played?
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: You
talk more about it.
ALICE JOHNSON: OK.
[LAUGHTER]
The Google event that I spoke
at that was Skyped out--
a person who was sitting
in the audience saw me.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: I have to
say we did it on a YouTube
platform, because I'll
get in trouble if I
allow you to say "Skype."
ALICE JOHNSON: OK.
OK.
[LAUGHTER]
Anyway, I just want you
to know that Google--
[LAUGHTER]
I just want you to know
that Google did play a role
as a catalyst for my freedom.
So thank you.
You've welcomed me here today.
But I want to tell you,
Google, I love you, Google.
I love you, Googlers.
I think it's OK to say that.
[APPLAUSE]
Without telling the
whole story, just
know that you were a catalyst.
You played a role in my freedom.
And today, I was
able to meet some
of the behind-the-scene people
at Google who played a role
and give them a hug.
And I want to give all
of you a virtual hug now.
Those who I have
not seen, some--
I know this has
been live-streamed--
I'm very grateful to the
role that Google played
in my being a free woman today.
And technology is so-- to
get back to what you said--
technology-- had that
technology been in place--
it was my timing.
It was the exact time.
When I went into prison,
there was no social media.
There was no Facebook.
There was no internet.
So my understanding
now of just how big
this is, to have all
of these followers--
I have some
followers myself now.
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
To understand how this works--
and one follower can have--
just one follower can
have a lot of followers,
who have a lot of followers,
who can get this message out.
So technology
plays a huge role--
now that I know something
about technology--
it plays a huge role in
getting the message out.
It played a role in my freedom.
And it's going to play,
it is going to play,
a big role in the
freedom of others.
AUDIENCE: Right.
ALICE JOHNSON: Right.
AUDIENCE: Right.
[APPLAUSE]
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Are there
any other parting words
of wisdom that you
want to give us?
You, Kim?
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST: No.
I'm just-- I'm grateful for the
opportunity to be here today
and to sit next to Ms. Alice.
It's always so amazing
to get to see her family.
And that's what we're fighting
for-- is for more people
to get the opportunities
to see, and touch, and be
with their loved ones again.
ALICE JOHNSON: Mm-hm.
Absolutely.
ALICE JOHNSON: My parting
words to the audience
here is that one person
can make a difference.
That one person could be you.
AUDIENCE: Yes.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: Thank you.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
Well, I want to
end with gratitude.
I'm so grateful to
you for showing us
the best of who we
are, as a company
I'm so grateful for how
you have been through hell
and back and always insisted
on dignity and grace.
I am grateful to you
for that example.
ALICE JOHNSON:
Thank you, Malika.
MALIKA SAADA SAAR: And I
am grateful to you, Kim,
for your courage
to be an activist,
to be able to be a voice
against the over-criminalization
of our families and
our communities.
Thank you.
It is an example that you set
that we all have to adhere to
and recognize.
And I also want to
express gratitude
not only to this remarkable
community of Googlers
that I'm honored to be part of,
but some particular Googlers
who are part of the Justice
for Everyone team that helped
make this day happen.
And a special shout-out
and love to Charniece Huff,
who pulls together this team.
[APPLAUSE]
For those of you who
want to help us continue
the work around insisting on
justice reform and Google's
role towards that, I
hope that you will be
part of Justice for Everyone.
I'm going to ask Maab Ibrahim
from .org to come up here.
And as she comes up here, I want
us to also recognize that part
of the work that we have done
at Google to disrupt the human
costs of mass incarceration
is also the work of .org,
and the leadership of
Jacquelline Fuller,
and Justin Steele
to be able to--
[APPLAUSE]
--commit to $35 million in
funding to justice reform
organizations, and
also to make clear
that this is part of
who we are at Google.
So I want to thank them,
as part of my gratitude
for your leadership as well.
With that, thank you, everyone.
And Maab, if you can come join?
[APPLAUSE]
