Many residents in San Quentin said the perceptions of people with criminal records is askew and believe it is up to them to help highlight the importance of second chances and redemption.
“Everybody makes mistakes. We are all human and each one of us is capable of change if we choose to learn from our missteps,” resident Sergio Argueta said.
April is recognized as Second Chance Month. In 2017, Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest nonprofit serving prisoners, founded the nationwide effort to raise awareness of the magnitude of a criminal conviction, and change the perceptions of incarcerated individuals. As advocates for justice reform and formerly incarcerated they have encouraged employers to become second-chance employers.
According to Wikipedia the nonprofit designated April as Second Chance month for a few reasons: The United States Department of Justice recognizes National Reentry week and it is the anniversary of the federal Second Chance Act. Coincidently, it is the culmination of the Christian Easter season, which focuses on the message of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and themes of redemption.
Incarcerated Advisory Council Chairperson Peniamina Taamai said that during Second Chance Month he is hoping the San Quentin community can come uniformly to be better, think better, and to serve each other’s best interest. “Working together, we can better our community inside and outside.”
As the newly appointed chair, Taamai said he is reaching out to the population because he sees that residents have an opportunity to redeem themselves. He said the community deserves a second chance because their shared experiences and diverse backgrounds help create a healed community.
“I used to hurt people because violence was my coping skill,” Argueta said. “I came to realize I was hurting innocent people and that it is my duty to give back to the community I hurt. I will use my second chance to bestow wisdom onto others who are making the same destructive choices I made.”
Second chances are important because an individual with a criminal record, which according to Wikipedia is one in three Americans, faces several hurdles upon reentry into society. Barriers such as limited access to education, jobs, and housing. The widespread social stigma of a criminal record and the more than 48,000 documented legal restrictions even after completion of sentencing and discharge of parole.
“Every person strives for a second chance whether free or not,” resident Jesse England said.
He said second chances and hope were foreign concepts to him and he struggled to express that to another. He said the Bible taught him about hope and how God’s forgiveness is innumerable, “seven times seventy-seven times,” so he said he believes redemption is possible.
“In San Quentin I learned how change is possible and how I can help my next community. I do not want to see another person in our community to go through this (incarceration),” England said.
England said he no longer believed he should be defined by his mistakes, which prompted him to commit to transformation and convey that change.
Resident Jason Jenkins said, “It is a beautiful thing to see new men in Christ and who we are in Jesus.” He said his redemption started when a near-death experience while incarcerated prompted him to ask God to take control of his life.
“For far too long people saw only the wrongs we had done and our dark sides, but when given a second chance people can see how God has moved in out lives,” Jenkins said.
