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I was released from prison in September 2020 after 22 long hard years of incarceration. I went into prison as a 19-year-old young man and returned to the community as a 41-year-old grown man. While in that mad house that is prison, which is full of anger, rage, and negativity, I emerged as a new person with new thinking. While in prison I used my time to engage in self-reflection, education, and hard work, with a focus on being a more productive human being. In that very dark and lonely jail cell, I discovered my untapped talents and purpose. I discovered that I wanted to write and be a public speaker. I want to share my story of struggle, oppression and redemption with people so the lessons of my life can inspire others to be their best selves.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in people. He acknowledged the divisions that kept us apart and harmed our national character but had confidence that each one of us sought greater unity and equality. He recognized that racism and inequality can never be accepted. We must meet intolerance with education and action to come to a solution. My hope is that we are able to abandon our focus on the comforts of personal prosperity, and instead embrace fidelity to social justice and equality for all. When a life has suffered injustice at the hands of another, no person goes untouched by the repercussions -- Given recent events, we see that now more than ever.

"I remember seeing Dr. King’s mural at the Compton courthouse after attending a probation meeting to tell folks about CEO. I remember feeling how important that conversation was because most of our colleagues were coming from South Los Angeles. I remember being in a room with mostly Black people, building relationships that would have a lasting impact. Planting a seed in the community to make a difference. To literally change lives. I am reminded of the countless Black and Brown kids that came in with their parents to our office, seeing their mother or father engaged in conversation with us. I carry that memory as a symbol for anything I do here at this organization: it must be rooted in anti-racism."

According to the Sentencing Project, 5.1 million people with felony convictions are unable to vote in the 2020 election. Felony disenfranchisement is among the over 45,000 collateral consequences faced by the estimated 19 million people with felony convictions. In response, CEO launched our first-ever voter registration drive focused on helping our participants and others with a felony conviction to exercise their right to vote this cycle. The non-partisan effort, a partnership with Vote.org and Spread the Vote, includes the creation of a voter resource page on our website that allowed voters to check their registration, register to vote and access other information on voting.

The impact of COVID-19 on the health and economic stability of every American is unprecedented, and justice-impacted people are among those most affected, particularly in low-income communities of color from which so many currently incarcerated people come. As our state continues to respond, CEO is active in the community offering employment and training to those returning home from incarceration. Through CEO’s transitional jobs program, participants have been on the front lines providing essential work to their communities.

Breonna Taylor was murdered by the police in her own home, and last week we learned that no police officers will be held criminally responsible. Attorney General Cameron presented limited charges and the grand jury only indicted one officer for wanton endangerment, alleging only that he shot blindly into a neighbor’s home during the raid. This is not only a failure of police officers to do their jobs effectively– it is a failure of the very institutions and laws that are supposed to keep community members safe.

Recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2147. The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino), provides a pathway for inmate firefighters to petition the courts to have their records expunged. CEO participant Victor Canales was released in 2019 before the law was changed. While not a direct beneficiary of the recent change, his story highlights the difficult path that inmate firefighters have to take to pursue a career in firefighting after release. While Victor is still working on his career path, his story offers inspiration for others.

Policing in the United States has been under increased scrutiny and calls for reform in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more recently, the shootings of Jacob Blake and Trayford Pellerin. These all-too-familiar tragedies serve as direct evidence as to why public trust in policing has declined, especially in low-income communities of color that bear the brunt of these practices.

The Center for Employment Opportunities applauds the introduction of the Jobs for Economic Recovery Act by Senators Baldwin, Wyden, Bennet, Booker, and Van Hollen. If passed by Congress, the measure would provide jobs to unemployed and underemployed individuals, including those returning home from incarceration facing multiple barriers to work in an economy severely affected by COVID-19.

The Center for Employment Opportunities stands in outrage over the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless other Black men and women who’ve lost their lives to police brutality and racial violence. We strongly affirm Black Lives Matter. Our nation cannot move forward until our institutions and leaders come to terms with the fact that racism is a defining characteristic of our justice system.

The CARES Act (H.R. 748), signed into law on March 27, is a $2 Trillion economic stimulus package intended to provide limited relief to individuals, industries, businesses, states and localities affected by COVID-19. It is “Phase 3” of bills passed by Congress to respond to the pandemic following the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which included policies to improve Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) access temporarily. Even though the CARES Act is the largest economic stimulus package in our country’s history, more federal action will be needed to assist impacted populations, such as CEO participants, and to establish a pathway back from the economic devastation resulting from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 crisis is challenging both our civic structures and our values. As the effects of the sustained economic downturn become further entrenched, those who struggle to access opportunity even in the best of times will undoubtedly bear a disproportionate burden. We have already seen how this crisis has exposed the fault lines of our nation’s inequalities. Communities of color in particular have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 as a result of historic inequities in housing, access to health care and employment. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of white Americans. If we are to address the needs of COVID-19-impacted communities, it is essential that we account for the people released from incarceration, many of whom will return to low-income communities that are now dealing with record levels of unemployment.