LUBBOCK, Texas — On Wednesday, Cyntonia Brown-Long, sex trafficking survivor, author and advocate, visited with law students at Texas Tech to talk about her experiences following her conviction and time in prison. She is also the keynote speaker for the Celebrate Diversity Banquet.
Brown-Long was born to an alcoholic teenage mother. Her mother was a victim of sex trafficking, according to a press release.
Brown-Long also became a victim to sex trafficking, and was arrested at age 16, the release said. She was tried as an adult for killing a man who had solicited her for sex.
She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
While in prison, Brown-Long was able to attend university, and complete two degrees. She said she found God, and even fell in love with her now husband, who wrote letters to her while she was in prison.
Long-Brown said she applied to appeal her case several times, and when the attempts were futile, she applied for clemency.
At the time, she said her chances for clemency were slim, however, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam commuted her sentence after 15 years. Long-Brown was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women on Aug. 7.
Brown-Long wrote a book about her experiences entitled “Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System.”
“I wrote Free Cyntoia, My Search For Redemption in the American System after seeing that while I was going through everything that I was experiencing, I didn’t really have a blue print,” she said. “I really had to figure things out for myself.”
Brown-Long said she wanted to visit the law school students because they are in the perfect position to create change within the justice system.
“I hope that they can see things that maybe they hadn’t thought about before that need revamping, that need to be reworked, that need to be rethought,” Brown said.
Brown-Long also addressed the Rodney Reed case that has gained traction among advocates and on social media.
“Once you get in new evidence, you actually have to prove actual innocence, which means you have to prove with no reasonable person could ever find you guilty and I for one, am horrified at the thought of that– That there’s reasonable doubt,” Brown-Long said.
Long-Brown said she can relate to Reed in the idea that it can happen to anyone. In her address to students, she said everyone is only a decision away from being involved with the justice system.
“I think there are many many areas, that are in need of attention within our justice system,” she said. “The excessive sentences that we’re handing out people. The practices that we go through with evaluating cases.”
Brown-Long said she was glad to connect to students on an emotional level.
“We look at them [people in the system] as a set of facts, and they’re always the worst facts,” Brown-Long said. “They’re facts from the worst moments of that person’s life, and so when you can really connect with an individual, through their experiences, I think there’s true power in that.”
Brown-Long said she feels God has given her the opportunity to share her story, and she will continue to do so.
“Just wanted to share the testimony that God gave me. He gave it to me for a reason,” Brown-Long said. “I know he gives us all testimonies for a reason, and really just wanna give Him glory. God can see you through anything. He is powerful beyond measure.”
