Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll: How I learned to read -- and trade stocks -- in prison
Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll: Come ho imparato a leggere -- e a investire in azioni -- in carcere
Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll overcame poverty, illiteracy, incarceration and a lack of outside support to become a stock investor, creator and teacher of his own financial literacy philosophy. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
da un videogioco,
per il braccio e io scappai.
and I jumped on top of a fence.
e mi arrampicai su uno steccato.
in my book bag
mi fece cadere a terra.
was standing on top of me,
la guardia, sopra di me, diceva:
steal something you can carry."
che puoi trascinare, piccolo teppista".
into the custody of my mother,
in custodia a mia madre,
"How'd you get caught?"
"Come ti hanno beccato?"
to take all the quarters."
quei quarti di dollaro", rispose,
What am I supposed to do?"
cosa avrei dovuto fare?"
to burglarize another arcade game.
a svaligiare un altro videogioco.
per tornare a casa.
a Oakland,
of my immediate family
of living with family, friends,
era formato da famiglia, amici,
in breadlines and soup kitchens.
in mense e cucine per i poveri.
or the good guy.
o dai bravi ragazzi".
that I was told that I had potential
mi disse che avevo il potenziale
che potevo diventare
that I could be a lawyer,
I couldn't read, write or spell.
Non sapevo né leggere e né scrivere.
crime was my way to go.
fosse la mia strada.
about this robbery that we could do.
che potevamo fare.
financial nation in the world,
più forte al mondo,
stand in line at a blood bank
in fila a una emoteca
just to try to feed her kids.
solo per sfamare i suoi bambini.
on her arms to day to show for that.
sul braccio a testimoniarlo.
were doing to take what they wanted,
per arrivare a quello che voleva,
la banca del sangue.
the robbers, the blood bank.
really did rule the world,
for robbery and murder
per rapina e omicidio.
rule more than they did on the streets,
i soldi contano più che nelle strade,
the sports page of the newspaper
la pagina sportiva del giornale,
picked up the business section.
della pagina economica.
"Hey youngster, you pick stocks?"
"Hei ragazzo, compri azioni?"
tutti i loro soldi", rispose.
where white folks keep all their money."
un barlume di speranza,
that I saw a glimpse of hope,
of what stocks were,
cosa fossero le azioni,
to hide my illiteracy
per nascondere l'analfabetismo
prey among predators,
preda tra i predatori,
I'd ever done in my life.
di tutta la mia vita.
time of my life,
che abbia mai fatto.
I had ever dreamed of:
più grande che potessi immaginare:
everything I could get my hands on:
che cominciai a leggere di tutto:
street signs, everything.
insegne stradali, tutto.
and know how to spell.
di saper leggere e fare lo spelling
"Cosa stai mangiando?"
"Man, what you eating?"
I said, "N-O. No."
"N-O, no", rispondevo.
for the first time in my life read.
nella vita posso leggere!
from it was amazing.
è incredibile.
of the newspaper.
financially manage money and invest,
finanziariamente e come investire,
responsibility for my own actions.
responsabile delle mie azioni.
in a very complex environment,
in una realtà difficile,
for that, and I did.
le mie responsabilità e l'ho fatto.
that could teach incarcerated men
per insegnare ai galeotti
through prison employments.
lavoro in prigione.
would provide transferrable tools
può darci degli strumenti
when we reenter society,
una volta rientrati nella società,
who didn't commit crimes.
che non hanno commesso crimini.
over 60 percent of NBA players
che più del 60% dei giocatori NBA
derive from financial issues.
deriva da difficoltà finanziarie.
that people worked their whole lives,
tutta la vita,
homes and material stuff
appartamenti e beni materiali
going to help incarcerated individuals
aiutare i detenuti
to meet those on the path
queste persone
I now cared about my community.
mi importava della mia comunità.
I cared about my community.
Mi importava della mia comunità!
and the lower class in our society
e le classi sociali più basse
of the American population
che il 50% degli americani
driven by financial prosperity?
in un paese economicamente prospero?
i trasporti e il cibo
that most people can't manage.
che molti non sanno gestire.
than any other issue.
per la sicurezza pubblica.
Department of Corrections,
della California,
with money-related crimes:
di crimini connessi al denaro:
fraud, larceny, distortion --
frode, ladrocinio, estorsione,
della California
a risparmiare niente.
200 dollars gate money and told,
e gli viene detto:
Don't come back to prison."
Non tornare in prigione".
or long-term financial plan,
o un piano finanziario a lungo termine,
that led him to prison in the first place?
criminali che gli sono costati la galera?
already chose for him, probably.
ha già deciso per lui.
a evitare che accada?
Emotional Literacy.
Emotional Literacy.
your emotional decisions
le decisioni emotive
to personal finance:
delle finanze personali:
by allowing your money to work for you
così che sia il denaro a lavorare per voi
before we reenter society.
prima che rientrino nella società.
without these life skills.
senza conoscere queste regole di vita.
can invest and manage money
investire e amministrare il denaro
meglio di tanti altri,
you need, have or want better than you,
quanti soldi avete, volete o necessitate,
ladies and gentlemen.
non è una competenza, signori e signore.
of a proper lifestyle.
di un corretto stile di vita.
can become a taxpaying citizen,
può diventare un cittadino contribuente
taxpaying citizen can remain one.
finanziarie solide può restare tale.
between those people who we influence:
formata dalle persone che influenziamo:
that crime and money are related.
tra crimine e denaro.
e dall'ansia che proviamo
that you've been out there hearing.
quando si parla di finanza.
of what's been crippling our society
che ci impedisce
to be better life managers.
e gestire la nostra vita nel modo migliore.
and easy to use curriculum
semplici e di facile utilizzo
and emotional literacy really is.
e l'educazione emozionale.
in the audience and you said,
e state pensando:
and I don't buy it,"
it costs you every time you get emotional.
vi costa il farvi prendere dall'emotività.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll - Financial literacy advocateCurtis “Wall Street” Carroll overcame poverty, illiteracy, incarceration and a lack of outside support to become a stock investor, creator and teacher of his own financial literacy philosophy.
Why you should listen
The media calls Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll the "Oracle of San Quentin" for his stock picking prowess and ability to translate financial information into simple language for his students.
Carroll grew up in Oakland, California surrounded by poverty. In 1996, at 17 years old, he committed a robbery where a man was killed. He turned himself in and ended up an illiterate teenager in prison with a 54-to-life sentence. While in prison, the stock market captured his attention, but due to his illiteracy he couldn't learn more about it. Motivating by the lure of financial gaining, he taught himself how to read at 20-21 years old, and then he started studying the stock market. Carroll's role models changed from drug dealers and sports figures to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. He wanted others to learn this new way of making money.
When Carroll arrived at San Quentin in 2012, he met Troy Williams, who helped him start the Financial Literacy Program. Together they created the philosophy F.E.E.L (Financial Empowerment Emotional Literacy) that teaches people to recognize how their emotions affect their financial decision, and how to separate the two.
Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll | Speaker | TED.com