Meet James…

She said, “Write, write everyday.” I took her advice and it’s taken me on quite a journey. A year’s worth of my daily journal writing was posted by Cornell University on their website, I have a stack of poetry I’ve written and a couple have even been published.

James, 64
Incarcerated: 15 years
Housed: Corcoran State Prison, California

I don’t even know the person’s name who had a huge impact on my life. I found myself in a prison cell with little more than some writing materials and a book with contact information for colleges and universities from all across the country. I can’t say with any accuracy how many letters I sent out requesting an old text book that may be outdated or getting ready to be discarded. Out of the stacks of letters I sent out, I received one response. It came from someone in the English Department at the University of San Francisco. This person sent me three brand new textbooks on creative writing and poetry. I had written in my requests, that I wanted to turn my prison cell into a classroom. She responded along with the textbooks, with a note saying that she hoped these books would help, and offered her advice… she said, “Write, write everyday.” I took her advice and it’s taken me on quite a journey. A year’s worth of my daily journal writing was posted by Cornell University on their website, I have a stack of poetry I’ve written, a couple have even been published, I’ve been asked to write pieces for a couple prisoner advocacy publications, as well as earning an AA degree in Fine Arts, graduating with highest honors. All this and more developed from the kind heart of someone I don’t even know, almost 15 years ago. Her KWD started me on my journey of recovery and rehabilitation. She changed my life, and I’m continuously thankful to her.

Meet Charles…

Incarcerated: 20 years
Housed: Corcoran State Prison, California

I was raised in poverty. I didn’t know we were poor until much later in life, my mom did her best to make sure we had food, clothing and shelter. My father was an alcoholic who loved chasing women, drinking, and smoking Pall Mall cigarettes. My father was a womanizer, some even say he was a pimp and he loved to bet on horses. I hated when my father drank, he would drink Crown Royal whiskey. Then, he became abusive both verbally and physically toward my mom. I would be scared. The first time my younger brother and I witnessed domestic violence I was five and he was three. As a result of witnessing such traumatic events, I developed anger issues, low-self-esteem and an intense hatred for authority figures. My mom finally divorced my abusive father. Being raised by a single parent, I gravitated toward the gang members in my neighborhood. I viewed them as older brothers and subconscious father figures. Career criminals, high school dropouts, and drug dealers became my role models, and I wanted to be just like them. In essence, I was aspiring to be a loser. I achieved my goal of being a success at failing by making the choice to disobey my mother and became a juvenile delinquent at 12. I’ve been to prison on multiple occasions. I finally came to my senses after years of neglecting the ones that truly loved me, my family. After years of wasting my precious life, in and out of incarceration, I decided that I had to change. I vowed I would change my life for the better. I denounced my association with my former gang. I started to engage in positive activities like self help, going to college, and vocational training. I’ve decided one way for me to give back is to tell my story through my writing. To date I have written and self-published five books, which is my way of sharing insight in hopes people will learn from my long standing history of failing. Today I’m truly successful because I believe in my abilities to achieve.