by Gucc, San Mateo It’s 7 AM. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I start to knock on my door loud, “AYE pop my door! I’m ready!” The staff replies jokingly “ Wow Mr. Gucc you’re up early today!” To which I don’t reply. I don’t have time for jokes or conversation. I have one thing and one thing only on my mind. Going home. I hear the sound of the lock on my door retracting. I open my door and quickly put my Bob Barker shoes against it to keep it propped. “Aye can
Continue ReadingYear: 2021
Mistakes And Losses
by EE, Sacramento My greatest teacher is mistakes and losses. As you, everyone takes losses and makes mistakes. And trust me, in my life, I have had plenty of both. Mistakes are there for you to learn from them, so you can do better in the future. They are learning experiences. If no one ever made a mistake, then we wouldn’t know our rights from wrongs. To be honest, we probably wouldn’t do half the things we do. Every time I make a mistake, it encourages me to stop guessing and try my best on each question. If I wouldn’t
Continue ReadingMy Kids Are My Everything
by Terkesha Lane, Federal Detention Center in Miami, Florida This is not a letter due to my current circumstances of being in prison. I have always felt this way about my children. Year after year, the older they became, I fell more in love with them. Their personalities, different but interesting moods, little quirks, the craziness (which I’m sure came from me) just the small things most people would not notice, like how they change when they are sleepy, different study habits, the educational subjects each of them liked or disliked, even how they arranged their clothing closet. Yes, I
Continue ReadingReady To Write
by Chad Fitzpatrick, Correctional Facility in Moose Lake, Minnesota I recently watched a movie on T.V called “Freedom Writers.” It’s about a teacher who encourages her sophomore English class who many are from the inner-city and are gang members to write in a journal every day. It didn’t matter what it was they wrote or how much they wrote as long as they wrote in it every day. They would not be graded on it nor would they be read unless they wanted her to read them. Every time I see that movie it inspires me more to keep on
Continue Reading
Volume 26.27/28
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 26.27/28
Better late than never! After nearly 2 years, we finally took a break to celebrate family and friends last week up in Lake Tahoe, CA. It was great to getaway and enjoy this amazing place, especially given how COVID kept us all away until recently, but unfortunately that put the magazine on pause, and we fell a few days behind. Our apologies. You may question internally, why could someone not step up in one’s absence, well, as a tiny non-profit, we don’t always have the people power to have folks cover for the good work, but we know you understand,
Continue ReadingIsabella And Randy
by Jeramiah, Albuquerque, New Mexico My grandparents are Isabella and Randy. These two amazing and significant individuals have been around me my entire life. I say they are amazing because they have been with me through my ups and downs. When I got locked up, they were one of the very few who actually wrote me and wanted to talk to me. They made me so happy to have them around. I thank them for giving me the best life they could give to me. I have learned that I appreciate and respect them with my entire being. They are
Continue ReadingMy Daughter
by Adam, Albuquerque, New Mexico The one thing that I haven’t done that I really want to do is spend time with my daughter. She is about to be six months in a couple of days. This has been on my mind ever since she was born. I have a couple of pictures of her, and I can’t stop looking at them. She’s the one that keeps me going. She made me realize the purpose of my life. She made me a better person. To see my daughter, I will have to get out of JDC. I need and want
Continue ReadingA Letter To My Victim
by Lalo, San Francisco I am writing this letter to share my sincere apologies to you for the incident on February 2021. I am really sorry for what I did. I feel your struggle and pain and I’m sorry for putting you and your family through these moments. I didn’t want to do what I did and I wish I could take the day back and things would be different. That night, things happened so fast that I did not think. I just acted. At first, I thought I had killed you and I panicked. I remember when I got
Continue ReadingSculpting My Image
by Gucc, San Mateo I’ve been reading a book on psychological improvement. Actually, I finished the book recently. So, I’ve been working on myself in every aspect. I’ve been doing a whole lot of introspection, seeing who I really am. I also have been practicing meta-cognition and if you don’t know what that is, it’s being aware of your thoughts so basically thinking about thinking. Some people don’t ever question their thoughts. They just think that that is themselves talking. But truthfully, your mind isn’t you. Even though it sounds strange, it’s true. On average a person has 50,000 thoughts
Continue Reading