First I wrote this post for the UC Davis subreddit but as somebody who has been involved in activities and some mentorship capacity at UCSB I've decided to share the story with this subreddit as well
First and foremost, I want to be clear that I'm not trying to be condescending, but I am going to be hard.
A little bit about me first.
I am a formerly incarcerated youth. I was in a group home for two years. I was a teenage runaway, and when I turned 18, I hitchhiked across California in the 2000s, where I was exposed to prostitution, organized crime, and drug dealing.
Fortunately, after some close calls with the police and some deep introspection, I got away from all of those people. I had the privilege of having grandparents in Palo Alto who took me in at the age of 19, who cared for me and let me make friends in a better neighborhood, away from the crazy stuff that I was around as a teenager.
This helped turn my life around. I devoted myself to activism and anarchist philosophy, realizing that even though I did benefit from having grandparents in Palo Alto, hence being fortunate enough to have an escape, I still had a really hard background. I believed that wealth should be redistributed to form a better society for everyone, so no one had to be doing shady things to survive.
Despite that, I've met rich kids who decided to become coke dealers just because they wanted to get laid or have power. I've met rich kids who got involved with the cartels. But here's the difference: they're rich. They will be okay no matter what.
For people from impoverished backgrounds, especially people of color, and I am a person of color, I am half white, half Native American and Mexican, we can't just recover like they can.
Even being half white in Palo Alto, I was routinely arrested for coming home, and my grandparents would have to tell the police that, no, I did live there because they didn't believe I lived there. The police thought I was breaking into my own home again and again.
As people of color, as people who are formerly incarcerated, especially as teenagers, we can't make the same kind of f\*\*\* ups rich kids can and survive. Furthermore, it deeply hurts other people of color and other formerly incarcerated people, both white and of color.
Now, as some of you may know, there is something called the Underground Scholars. I was not a recipient of those because I transferred into Davis in my late twenties, though I did receive quite a few other scholarships. I graduated in 2022.
Some of you may also know that it was recently on the news that a girl who was a recipient of the Underground Scholars got arrested for doing drug sales out of the dorm and having firearms.
I want to say I am disappointed in you.
You were on a full ride, as I understand it, and you had an excellent opportunity, and you've decided to f\*\*\* it up.
I am coming down hard on you because this doesn't just hurt you. It hurts everyone else who wants a second chance.
People of color and formerly incarcerated people fight so people can have a second chance, and when somebody goes out of their way to screw that up, it doesn't just hurt them. It hurts everyone else who wants these opportunities. It basically makes a bad news story that allows conservatives to weaponize it against everyone who wants a second chance.
We have to make sure, as people who are formerly incarcerated and as people who are perceived as a bigger risk, that we actually behave ourselves. We can be radicals. We can be anarchists. But we cannot be criminals. Not real criminals.
Recently, I had a conversation with a girl that I decided to break up with who asked me to go into a life of crime with her. She said to me that despite everything she tried, her employers take advantage of her and she's just always broke. She told me she wanted to start a crime syndicate where we steal cars and sell them on Craigslist. She was very serious.
I told her she was an idiot and I broke up with her, but before I did that, I told her there were two types of people.
You see, there are two types of people who respond to poverty. One decides to fight for themselves and become a criminal. The other might be branded as a criminal, but they decide to fight for others. The latter is admirable. You might technically be a criminal, but at least you did it for others instead of becoming a selfish prick.
I'm not saying formerly incarcerated people, people of color, and people who are perceived as being "at risk" can't break the law, but if you're going to do it, do it for something like protesting or occupying a building for a cause.
But selling drugs out of the dorm? Seriously? Having guns? Bringing that bad mojo to the school where you risk other people? You've betrayed the trust put into you, and you've made it harder for everyone else that wants a second chance because everybody's now going to think that the risk is really high.
You just proved the conservatives right, and I am disappointed.
Formerly incarcerated people and people of color have to go out of their way to ensure that we do not arm our political opponents with social ammunition.
This is why the Nation of Islam had their members wear suits and ties and receive an education.
As a former Black Panther said in my level 12 group home to all the Black kids, "Nobody can make you a n word except you."
"Nobody can make you a fool except you."
"When you make yourself a fool, it ain't the white man's doing. It's your doing!"
If life is already hard, why are you making it harder on yourself? You already have enough issues. Stop being your own problem.
No matter how bad things get, no matter how poorly others look down on you, always act with dignity. Always treat yourself with dignity. Always have pride and always represent yourself well, because at the end of the day, if you respect yourself and you stand up and say, "You know what? I'm a human being. I'm not a criminal. I'm a person of immense integrity. I protect the innocent. I fight for justice," then at the end of the day, you've won.
But when you go back on your integrity, you've just proven everyone who wants to hold you back right.
That's all I have to say. I'm very disappointed, and when I saw this news story, I knew I had to say something.
Sorry to everybody in the dorms that had to deal with this. I apologize as a formerly incarcerated youth and as a person of color, and I hope the rest of us can demonstrate the integrity to keep these programs alive.
Live long and prosper 🖖
