Three Years of Freedom and Hustle

Three years ago, I walked out of the gates to freedom for the first time after 18 years of incarceration.

As a teenager, I was sent to a maximum-security prison in California for four aggravated robberies and became a member of California's largest prison gang. I misused my leadership abilities and position within my gang to engage in violence and destruction.

In my first year out, I graduated from Seth Godin's altMBA program, learned to ski black diamond runs, have flown in a helicopter, spoke on stages to hundreds of people about second chances, given a TEDx Talk, and enjoyed not being confined as I take advantage of Lake Tahoe, from mountain biking to tennis to kayaking.

The day I was discharged from parole, I applied for my passport and booked a flight to Europe to see the history I read so much about while incarcerated in Paris, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.

I get to do many of these activities with Hustle 2.0's supporters and advocates—my friends—who have formed a true community that loves and cares for me and the men and women we get to serve. I am more thankful for you than I could ever express.

I'm most proud of the work I've done with Hustle 2.0. In the past year, I've co-authored 10 Hustle Guides—serving in all 50 states providing healing to those still incarcerated.

Today is also my third anniversary of working with Hustle 2.0; I was hired by Charles and Cat Hoke on Day One. I was homeless for a short period, and I didn't have an ID (despite every effort, I wouldn't be able to get one for more than two months). With Charles and Cat's help and more support than I could have imagined from the volunteers, I got on my feet. Every day since I've gotten out, I wake up and think of ways to bring justice and compassion to my incarcerated brothers and sisters.

This all happened because, in 2019, Charles and Cat started a Writing Team at Pelican Bay to capture the voices of an overlooked and marginalized population. Their vision was to recruit the most influential gang leaders to change gang culture. They recognized the power in our voices, and instead of waiting for outsiders to fix the problem, Cat and Charles realized that by empowering us with a platform for our voices to be heard, we could create real and lasting change.

They knew much of the younger generation in prison wouldn't care for a curriculum written by random people who have never walked a mile in our shoes. So we cultivated leaders from different races and different gangs. At one point, these men were fierce rivals. At Hustle 2.0, they came together regularly to strategize how we could create peace and opportunities for the next generation. All of us in gangs were raised in a "till the casket drops" culture—meaning there was no way out of the gang life, and nearly all of us enlisted in gangs as teenagers.

Cat and Charles challenged us to step out of our comfort zones and discuss things that were taboo for as long as I had been incarcerated, such as domestic violence and sexual abuse. Our leaders united around the crazy and controversial idea of creating the first-ever real path to freedom and transformation – a way to leave the gang life. We published and distributed it at maximum-security prisons—and the plan was co-authored by some of the top gang leaders at Pelican Bay. We've heard a lot of positive feedback and support for Squaring Up, and people who have felt like they didn't have an alternative are now taking steps away from the gang and criminal life.

When the Writing Team started meeting, Cat asked us, "If you died today, why would your life matter?" My peers and I didn't have answers we were happy with. We saw Hustle 2.0 as an opportunity to be known for more than how many years we served in the SHU (multiple of my co-authors did 32 consecutive years in the SHU) and refused to allow anyone else to tell us who we are.

Every leader agreed that we wanted our voices to contribute to positive change; we wanted to build a positive legacy. Spreading Hustle 2.0 and Squaring Up could be our greatest contribution to this world.

On the three-year anniversary of my release and starting my career as a curriculum developer for Hustle 2.0, I am honored to continue to write curriculum and represent my incarcerated brothers whom I miss every day. It is an honor to fight injustice and provide my brothers with a growing platform for positive change.