Humans of San Quentin logo

Montreal, 52

Stories

Meet Montreal…

I got myself right with God, I help to steer the youth and everyone in the right direction. I tell them, no matter their past, they can change their futures.

Incarcerated: 23 years
Housed: Cummins Unit, Grady, Arkansas

I am doing a life without parole for murder. I went to Hall high school until the 11th grade. My father was a minister and my mom was a school teacher. I have one daughter who is 32 years old. I moved to Oklahoma in 1998 after I did five years in AOC. That’s where I caught this charge I’m on now and got a life sentence. I am doing my time here closer to my family. I got myself right with God, I help to steer the youth and everyone in the right direction. I tell them, no matter their past, they can change their futures. I do a lot of positive things with my time. I have three projects doing good at the moment. One is a published book called ORIGINAL PLAYER. My other projects include a co-ed magazine, and a book about the true heroes of the pandemic. I feel they will all do great if they get seen. I love my family, thank them for their support and I do what I do because they inspire me to do good. 

Thomas, 40

Stories

Meet Thomas…

I am coming up on 16 years of incarceration. I do not know if any of my family is alive or not. I have not seen or talked to them. I don’t even know where they are living now.

Incarcerated: 18 years
Housed: North Central Unit; Calico Rock, Arkansas

My story starts in March of 2006. I am 24 years old and I am staying with my sister and brother-in-law in Fayetteville, AR. I am working with my brother-in-law doing electrical work for a small company in Fayetteville.

I come home from work for lunch, to find 12 Fayetteville police officers at the house waiting for me. As they arrested me they told me I was being detained for possession of, viewing or distributing material of sexually explicit nature of children (child porn). I had rented five computers and was paying for the internet at the house. The internet company informed the police that someone at our address had downloaded the material. While being interviewed I told them that it was not me, it couldn’t be. They said the computers and internet is in your name, it’s your charge. While I was in court my brother-in-law’s daughters stood up in court and said “Be a man and own up to what you did, Dad!” The judge asked me “Do you know what they are talking about?” They are saying the charges I’m facing should be his. The judge asked them “Is that correct, can you prove it was your dad?” they said no. The judge then said, the charges will remain against you. At 24, I was sentenced to 30 years with 12 years suspended imposition of sentence. After I was sentenced my brother-in-law’s daughters stood up again in court and told him “Stay away from us as we fear for our safety. We are going to live with our brother.” After being sentenced I saw my sisters and mother, once in county jail. I am coming up on 16 years of incarceration. I do not know if any of my family is alive or not. I have not seen or talked to them. I don’t even know where they are living now. As for friends, no I have not heard from any of them since I was charged as a “Child sex offender.” I’m going to ask the same question that one of my friends asked my mother. “Who wants to be friends with a known child sex offender?” Everyone looks down on a sex offender and even more so when it involves a child. Do I blame them? Not at all. Even though I carry the title, I am not a person who has or ever would do that. In fact, up until recently I really wanted to get out and kill my brother-in-law; but my higher power has started to show me a better way in life. Through education and religion, I have learned to work my very hardest and forgive people of their past wrongs and forget. Through a great university such as Ashland University out of Ohio. I was given a second chance to receive a college education. I have received my associate of arts in business administration and I am working on an associates of arts in sociology and my bachelor’s of arts in applied communication. With these degrees, I will be able to start my life over when I get out of prison. The sad part is I made parole in October 2014 and have been stuck in prison as I have nowhere to parole out to. I am stuck in prison until February 2024 my discharge date. The state of Arkansas does not have halfway houses that will take people in my position. The prison system in Arkansas requires its inmates to work but does not pay them “Slavery.” If they did I would have been able to rent a place to parole out to. Bot having any family or friends, I am worried about getting out and what I’m going to do. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle making new friends. I am currently in a program called Principle Application of Life Skills. I have also done a re-entry program called Think Legacy. I’m working to be ready to be released, yet I am still worried because making new friends has never been easy for me.

Derrick, 21

Stories

Meet Derrick…

…My big brother in here has been hard on me, but I knew it was to help me find the “better me”. So for all of you dealing with big problems, smal problems, ups, downs, obstacles, heartache and pain, remember that you are not alone. God is always there.

Incarcerated: 1 year of Life sentence
Housed: Cummins Unit, Arkansas

I was told to knock on a door, which almost caused him to lose his life, for drug money. This was my life, starting when I was eight. Not because my mother and father weren’t good parents cause they were, it was just my life. I went from stealing from my own family to stealing from others, to car hopping, to breaking into people’s houses, taking what they worked so hard for, to robbing drug dealers, stores and then things got worse. Each crime I’ve committed was for the same reason, to provide for my people and survive.

I was addicted to the “Powder” since the age of eight. I’ve spent my life in and out of the system. At 14, I moved in with my grandmother. I thought my problems would slow down, only to realize they followed me and got worse. At 15, I ended up getting this female pregnant. She was 14. I was addicted and used to messing around with older women. I left her to get my mind right. Only to be locked up again.

My son’s due date was on my birthday, February 14th. Eight days after he was born I was released. That day I was completely done with the life I was living, I wanted to provide for the lil one. Nothing fell in line. I gave up and started back hustling. I committed a crime that caused a police officer to be killed. It was three years in county jail before I finally said forget it and took a deal for 20 years with 17 on a “YO” which means class Y felony to keep my other homeboy from doing the time.

I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger when the officer was killed. I took the deal to keep others from getting locked up. My family and many others fought me on it, even my child’s mother. My parents gave up on me which made me give up. I started to feel there wasn’t anything in life left for me. I started causing problems here in prison. My big bro in here Rufus has been a big influence, he’s been tough on me but I know it has helped me find the “better me.” Recently he’s tried to keep my mind off my worries and on the positive. He’s also pushed me to get educated which I accept and respect. For all of you going through the struggle, through problems, situations, ups and downs, obstacles, heartache and pain.

No matter what it is, always remember you ain’t alone. I encourage you always keep pushing and striving no matter how long it takes for things to get better. Keep faith in God and in yourself. No matter what time you got. Whatever dream or goal you are chasing. Keep pushing cause one thing is for certain, anything is possible. I gave up on so much over the years. Even now, I’m trying to rise and better myself. I haven’t given up on chasing my dreams, my music and starting a clothing and designing business. Everything I do, I do it for my son, my number one. NEVER GIVE UP.

 

Rufus ‘Lil Ru’, 31

Rufus ‘Lil Ru’, 31

Stories

Meet Rufus…

 I feel it’s my job to teach positivity amongst adults – young and old. Today, my model is to ‘each one – teach one’ where I speak out about my experiences for the ‘Humans of Arkansas.’

I have never been outside of Arkansas and by coming to prison in Grady, this is the farthest I’ve been outside of Little Rock. Even though I have been incarcerated since I was 16, I no longer consider my length of imprisonment a struggle. I was pretty dubious growing up in the streets of Little Rock. By 12, I was infamous around my neighborhood. I was in and out of juvenile detention, expelled from school even though I was always the smartest, in every subject. I am thankful to my father, who taught me at an early age to be resourceful in school. I strayed away from positive morality to an ephemeral, glamorous lifestyle that provided lucrative living. I don’t blame my role models, my five cousins, it was my choice. I wanted more for myself and my household which could have been developed in a more meek way equally due to the fact I didn’t really understand poverty. I dropped out of Felder Academy, a military school named after a man who died for this country named “Bo Felder”. Every Friday, in our school uniforms and ties, we marched for Mr. Felder’s family. Our principal was a man named Judge Evans, who lost his leg in the war. He was our disciplinarian, hard and fair If any rule was broken, you were handcuffed and taken to the Little Rock Juvenile Detention Center. The county judge gave me unlimited chances to get it right instead of sending me away. Kids like me were sent to a place called Alexander, where we could stay up to 12 months. By 16, I hung out with a maniacal apprehensive group of guys. We marked ourselves as a gang, known as “Hoe-hop”. Some of us are Pirus, Crips, Bloods, G-D’s, B-D’s, ViceLords, hence the biggest in town. They gave me a purpose to live. Today, while seeing a continuous cycle of young men who remind me of myself, overcrowding the prison system. I decided to make a change while growing up in this Arkansas prison system. I feel it’s my job to teach positivity amongst adults – young and old. Today, my model is to ‘each one – teach one’ where I speak out about my experiences for the ‘Humans of Arkansas.’ 

Happy Mystik, 37

Happy Mystik, 37

Stories

Meet Happy Mystik…

I just want to say, Nevaeh or Vey as you go by now, if you’re out there and reading this, I love you and miss you, sorry I’m not there.

What I miss most about being outside? The water! I used to go swimming every day, sometimes several times a day, some days I didn’t even leave the water. Creeks mainly, but rivers too. I love the water, pools, sprinklers, the rain, I just love playing in the rain. Every summer, I’d camp out next to the water. I kept a tent and a square of carpet in the trunk of my car, I just never knew when I’d pitch a tent next to a creek. I loved it! I want to share one specific summer in 2009. My girlfriend, Brandi and our two year old daughter Nevaeh, were down on our luck. On a whim, due to our circumstances, we decided to move from Siloam Springs to Berryville, Arkansas. Brandi had lived there on and off and thought she could find us a spot until we figured something out. We didn’t have more than $20 to our name. Long story short, we didn’t find anyone to take us in and I couldn’t find steady work. We ended up staying on the Kings River, a nice little spot, but the banks were filled with busted glass. We hit up some food banks and got enough food to last us a month. What makes that particular month so rememberable was my daughter. She didn’t have a care in the world, she swam everyday, all day long. She didn’t even seem to notice we were eating out of the same can using the same spoon. We scored her this little crib mattress, and we brought pillows and blankets. We’d sleep under the stars. We also scored her this little plastic three wheeler, I tied a rope to it and I’d pull her around the river bank and play games, she loved it. I taught her to wave bye-bye to the sun at sunsets. I even had her hugging trees. I’d be like Náná go play with that tree and she’d go give it a hug, it was so cute, I had her hugging every tree from then on. But the good times came to an end, Brandi was getting tired of it, so we packed up and moved back to Siloam Springs. I just want to say, Nevaeh or Vey as you go by now, if you’re out there and reading this, I love you and miss you, sorry I’m not there.

Receive more inspiring stories and news from incarcerated people around the world.