WEBVTT

NOTE
Spoken testimonials from USP Coleman. Lightly edited for readability.
Background music and separate on-screen lyrics are omitted.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBELME-gcz8

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Hello, Mr. Michael Santos. First, I want to
thank you for this program and the opportunity
that you've given every man in here,

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the inspiration that you gave us. You showed us
a way when we were hopeless and we didn't see a
way

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to possibly show others who we had become. All
they've seen is our criminal history and our
records.

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But your program has been like the Underground
Railroad and Harriet Tubman. You've shown us a
way.

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You used this system and fashioned and molded
yourself in the likeness of the person that you
wanted to be

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and that you desired yourself to be, through
hard work and a strong work ethic.

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And you inspired us and gave us that seed as
well, and it planted in our life and has brought
forth a mighty harvest.

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And we just want to say thank you for it. We're
going to continue to keep up the good work and
pass on the seed,

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and hopefully it brings back the harvest thirty
and sixty and ninetyfold in other people's
lives.

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God bless you and thank you.

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Thank you, Michael Santos, for bringing the
light to this darkness.

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Thank you for everything you have put up. Thank
you for the platform that you put up

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and to be able to follow your step. Thank you
for the work, and thank you from the bottom of
my heart.

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Thank you, Mr. Santos, for bringing this program
here.

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Prison Professors, we want to thank you for
everything you've done for us,

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for creating this class and making it beneficial
for us to have hope in here, in Coleman II.

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Without hope, we really were down and out, so
you brought that back.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Thank you, Michael Santos, for your help and
inspiration.

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You spoke to me a few times, and I told you I
was borderline illiterate.

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And the first thing you said was, 'That's going
to make for a great story.'

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You told me about the dictionary. You said
everything I need is in the dictionary.

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And I take that to heart. I've been doing it.
I've been doing the fight, doing the struggle.

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Thank you so much. We appreciate you.

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Michael Santos, I would like to say first and
foremost, thank you. From the bottom of my
heart,

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I appreciate everything that you have brought to
Coleman II.

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Thank you for the knowledge that we gained.

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And I want to say thank you very much for being
here and showing us a lot of things.

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Mr. Santos, we really appreciate everything that
you have done.

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This whole Prison Professors program has just
taken root here at the Coleman II facility.

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It's making a difference in a lot of people's
lives, including mine.

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We want to thank you for everything that you've
done and your willingness to come back for those
behind you.

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Michael Santos, to me, you mean everything.

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You're a mentor. You're a positive role model,

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and you're someone who has helped myself and
many others through difficult times.

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You have provided hope, structure, and a way to
achieve success beyond prison.

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As someone who has been in twenty-six years with
a ninety-five-year sentence,

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for the first time I feel that I have the
roadmap,

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a way to get out of prison, a way to succeed
after prison.

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And it is all because of you.

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On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank
you for your continued support and your
continued work.

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I want to thank you for the time that you're
putting into this whole project, because time

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is a gift that you give to someone that you can
never take back. It's like a part of your life.

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So thank you for sharing that with us.

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Thank you for creating a way for us to advocate
for ourselves through our works.

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Thank you for bringing hope to this prison.

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You brought hope here in a hopeless place.

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This little Prison Professors thing, along with
Project Impact, you brought hope to this
environment.

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You brought hope to the hopeless.

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Being that you were on this side, it says a lot.

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And it also shows us that if you can do it, we
can do it.

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So thank you for paving the way and showing us
that good can come out of a bad thing.