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Delvon, 32

Delvon, 32

Stories

Delvon, 32

Meet Delvon…

I watched her grow up in pictures and now she’s raising me. A daughter raising a dad in prison.

Incarcerated: 9 years

I play for the San Quentin Warriors basketball team. We were in our Saturday morning basketball circle and I shared about my one year old cousin, Devyn. He was in the hospital, he had three seizures and three strokes. I was crying uncontrollably in front of my friends. I asked for a prayer, I thought he might die. His grandfather died from a seizure. I don’t know if it runs in the family, but it worries me. Don, from the Prison Sports Ministry, prayed right there on the spot. He’s the last boy that’s been born into our family. I felt it so deeply because of my uncle. My cousin, Devyn’s mother was actually watching him and when she went to the restroom, he had a seizure and died. She felt that she was the cause of his death. She feels guilty and now her son has seizures too. She worries.

I also think about how I haven’t seen my daughter since 2019. Raising a high school daughter from prison, who lives in Las Vegas, is something I have no idea how to do. She’s trying to find herself. The whole stereotype that is out there about Vegas, that is the scary thing. They say, “Try to think positive,” but the thought of a young woman in Vegas. I have no words for it. My daughter has a blank when she talks about her feelings about growing up without a father. We have a strong bond, but it’s a mystery bond, there is a blank space between us. I don’t know what she doesn’t like. I know she is the one that nips stuff in the bud. She says, “Why are you saying that?” It’s like she’s checking me and raising me. She asks me to come home and says, “Don’t get into trouble.” I watched her grow up in pictures and now she’s raising me. A daughter raising a dad in prison. It’s starting to become normal for me to share my feelings. I think it’s being around the caliber of people in San Quentin. Being in the middle of the court, which is my comfort zone. I feel safe and comfortable regardless of who’s on the court. When we say, “Bring it in the middle” it feels like home.

Jennifer, 52

Jennifer, 52

Stories

Meet Jennifer…

I’m not defined by the crimes I committed or worse things I’ve done. Rather, I’ve actually defied them by learning to accept responsibility, to have empathy for others, and remorse for my past harmful behavior.

 

Incarcerated: 32 years
Housed: Salinas Valley State Prison, Soledad, California
I’m an incarcerated activist, student, writer and worker. I’m also an anarchist-feminist queer and transwoman. Addiction, abuse, and criminal thinking led me to prison. I’ve survived abuse, brutality, Covid-19 outbreaks and witnessed prison deaths! I’ve survived the most adverse circumstances imaginable, including over a decade in control units and solitary confinement at Pelican Bay and Folsom. I’ve experienced a lot of harm, addiction and trauma, but I’ve also found the path of recovery. I’ve learned coping skills, built genuine friendships. I’m grateful for my lived experiences as a transwoman in California men’s prisons, which has not killed me but made me stronger! I’ve found out a lot about myself. I can be quite resilient and I have many opportunities to advocate for human rights and social justice. I communicate with my family and friends regularly. They would be surprised to know that I’m not defined by the crimes I committed or worse things I’ve done. Rather, I’ve actually defied them by learning to accept responsibility, to have empathy for others, and remorse for my past harmful behavior.

My cellmate, Peter, has a positive impact on me. He and I have been together for over three years. We have shared friendship, intimacy, love, and solidarity. We have a mutually beneficial and positive impact on eachother. He helps me get through each day, keeps me on the right track, and provides comfort. My next parole board hearing in July of 2025 has been my motivation to work toward positive personal change, and eventual freedom. I’m excited to share that at my recent classification review, I was told I qualified for a “Behavioral Override” to transfer to a level three, medium-security yard. This change of circumstance is grounds for a Petition to Advance (PTA) which would move my next hearing up to July of 2023, two years early ! 🙂 I will miss Peter, but I have hope that I may have a greater chance for a parole grant and release from prison captivity 🙂 Things are better than ever!

 

Christopher, 42

Christopher, 42

Stories

Meet Christopher…

I want to change the culture in prisons, but it’s going to take an effort from the rest of the world as well. I want society to someday paint a different picture of prisons and prisoners.

Incarcerated: 10 years

Housed: Monroe Correctional Complex, Washington

It’s refreshing to know that many people who come to prison, for whatever reasons, often uncover the lies we’ve told ourselves in order to live with the truth of our pasts. For me, this is what caused my life to become a path of justice. as a lifestyle. I’ve heard people say over the years, “I’ve served my time and now my debt is paid,” but the truth is that no amount of time can constitute payment for some of the things I’ve done. In fact, from my study of mathematics, I see this as being similar to an infinite limit, where although we continue paying towards the justice of our past.. although our debt to the world may become smaller and smaller, there is no point in our lives where we can say, “The debt is finally paid, it’s time to kick up my feet!” I think we should live in a way that contributes positive value into the world, a byproduct of a better way to live! My way of life is wrapped around the world of mathematics where I live my justice in the pursuit of beauty. I’m more free doing this, than I ever was while lost in addiction. I want to change the culture in prisons, but it’s going to take an effort from the rest of the world as well. I want society to someday paint a different picture of prisons and prisoners. I  want prisoners to realize that it’s our job to serve the Justice for our crimes.. not our department of corrections number. We need to be responsible and accountable to allow for enough forgiveness – for ourselves – so that we can heal in a way where we can fix those flaws that led us here. That’s our responsibility, it’s a necessary part of actual Justice. I know that this is an uncommon story of “me” in prison, but this is more “me”than any life story I can sum up in a few paragraphs. I see organizations like HUMANS, the Prison Mathematics Project and the Prison Journalism Project as doing their part to change the culture of prisons through altering the lense for which the outside world sees prisoners for what they actually are… humans.

 

Shani, 39

Shani, 39

Stories

Meet Shani…

Being isolated forced me to look up. I began to seek God. I prayed and read the Bible. I committed to attending church services, Bible studies, and discipleship classes to build a relationship with God. I built relationships with men of faith to help me grow spiritually. I began to feel the presence of God in my life.

Incarcerated: 6 years

Housed: Patuxent Institution, Jessup, Maryland

I have been sentenced to 40 years for a non-violent drug offense. Before I came to prison I depended on illegal means to support my family. I always had high entrepreneurial aspirations to make a good living, but I had no knowledge or foundation. I believed I had to live a life of crime in order to survive. I thought I could make enough to start my own business and then fly straight. I was proven wrong. It landed me in prison, away from my family for a very long time. My whole life had changed. I lost everything. My family relationships were destroyed. My closest friends betrayed and abandoned me. I was left alone. I was in my darkest hour. The only thing I had left was my faith. Being isolated forced me to look up. I began to seek God. I prayed and read the Bible. I committed to attending church services, Bible studies, and discipleship classes to build a relationship with God. I built relationships with men of faith to help me grow spiritually. I began to feel the presence of God in my life. God began to provide me with all of my immediate needs. My relationship with my family began to be restored. They forgive me and the actions that lead me to prison. I won the visitation of my sons so I could have a relationship with them. Things began to turn around. I have educated myself by reading book after book on financial literacy. I now have a solid financial foundation so I don’t have to do the wrong things to earn a living. I no longer feel or think the same. I have broken the mental bondage I had to do the wrong things to make living. I am not where I used to be spiritually and mentally. I have grown. And I am ready to close this chapter in my life and make the next chapter my best chapter. I want to start an assisted living home for the elderly.

 

Armando, 18

Armando, 18

Stories

Meet Armando…

I have struggled. I told myself I would never be like my father, until I got a taste of the street life, fast money, fast cars, and the baddest women. Growing up in Vallejo it ain’t nothing but that.

Incarcerated: 1 year
Housed: Solano County Juvenile Detention Center, Fairfield, California

My dad has been in and out of San Quentin. I have been in and out of jail since I was 15 for robberies and gun charges. This last time I was under investigation for a shooting and was stopped, then detained and questioned. I had no idea what they were talking about. My vehicle had matched the description of the car that was involved. I was searched for a firearm. They found nothing, but some mail I had just picked up from my uncle’s house. They said they were going to search his house for the weapon ‘I used’ in the shooting,  but I said they couldn’t because that wasn’t where I lived. They still ended up searching his house and found an AR-15. The people in the house said it was mine. I ended up pleading guilty and sentenced to five years.

Since being incarcerated, I’ve graduated high school, started college and completed many other programs. Doing time separates the real from the fake, living life fast you are always on the go. You can’t tell the difference between salt and sugar, until you taste it. Growing up I lived in a domestic violent household and have been mentally and physically abused. I moved from house to house, bullied and was the bully. I have struggled. I told myself I would never be like my father, until I got a taste of the street life, fast money, fast cars, and the baddest women. Growing up in Vallejo it ain’t nothing but that. I really didn’t have a choice being the oldest male in the house with a single mother. I robbed to eat and  basically live. I made alliances and enemies so I had to carry a pistol to survive in my community. I went to my local high school and was robbing people back to back. I was under investigation for 50 different robberies, the school never filed charges though. I hope to live life legally and correctly, I want to be able to be free and happy. The streets are for the birds. I don’t have many pictures, only one with my little sister on a furlough from jail for a funeral. I am a family man and want to be a positive role model.

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