REMARKS
Council Member Christopher Marte's Explains His Vote to Overturn Mayor's Veto
0:20:59
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77 sec
Council Member Christopher Marte shares a poignant personal story about his brother's distressing experiences with solitary confinement, underscoring the lasting psychological impacts it can have.
He extends gratitude towards colleagues and advocates like Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Chair Sandy Nurse, and former chair Carolina Herrera for their roles in the movement to abolish solitary confinement.
Speaker 6
0:20:59
Marte.
Speaker 7
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Permission to explain my vote.
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As everyone has mentioned not just today, but honestly for the years of fighting to end solitary confinement.
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Solidary confinement is not a time and place.
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It's not a week in the whole.
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It's not a month in the box.
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It's a state of mind.
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My brother was in the box.
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On Rykers, on Kosaki, and through 6 different juvenile complexes in New York State.
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When he got out his last time, he slept on my couch to get back on his feet.
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For years, I'll hear him wake up in the middle of the night, scream, a grown man cry in the middle of the night.
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Even till today, as my brother is considered a success story, someone that created a business that are helping other people get off their feet.
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When I talk to his wife, she still hears the same noises that I heard almost a decade ago.
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This has to end.
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And I want to thank the public advocate.
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I want to thank our chairs, Sandy Nurse, our former chair, Carolina Herrera, and all the advocates so we can finally put an end to this.
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Thank you, and I go, I.