Bradley told me something I’ll never forget, you can choose to go down the wrong path or you can take your struggle and use it to create a positive movement.
I was still a kid when I went away. I made a mistake at just 17 but before you can understand me you have to understand what I went through. I lost my brother right in front of me. I watched him get gunned down. At 12 he was somebody I looked up to so you can picture how it affected me emotionally and physically. I was blamed for it and became the black sheep of the family. I lost my whole family. As a kid with nowhere to go or live I was forced to seek out the wrong things and fell to the streets. Now that you know what I was put through you might be able to grasp what and how I’m thinking. Going to a max facility at just 19 you had to always stand your ground and fight because if you didn’t people would always try to take things from you. I got stabbed in a riot and almost lost my life. That’s when I started thinking to myself this is not the life I want to live. I have to better myself not just for me but for my son who I live for now. My mindset shifted from always fighting and gangbanging to focusing on schoolwork and trying to join different programs but due to staff shortages no programs were ever run. So I started asking older guys about reentry and how to stay out of jail. Even though max prisons are still racially divided I found good dudes who didn’t care about the color of my skin or what gang I was from. They just wanted to see a young man do better and liked the steps I was taking. One guy named Bradley changed everything. He flipped a light switch in my head that I didn’t even know was there. He stayed on me about everything from always being mad to helping me understand that I can’t control the uncontrollable so why be mad. He always reminded me that it’s not just my life anymore I gotta live for my son. The crazy thing is when you see Bradley you’d think he’s going home soon just by the way he carries himself but he’s actually doing 59 years. Still he moves with so much poise and positivity that you just want to gravitate toward his advice. I used to think money was everything until Bradley showed me that having deep faith in God, the ability to receive knowledge and waking up to a new day are the real blessings. I asked him what it was like having no money and he told me at first it was hard but hard times are what really made him and showed him how blessed he is. Bradley told me something I’ll never forget, you can choose to go down the wrong path or you can take your struggle and use it to create a positive movement. Thanks to everybody who helped me grow into a man. I feel now I know I’m ready to go back out there with the right state of mind. P.S. Bradley is the reason I started writing about my time in jail and what I went through.
