I just read an as-told-to article about an unexpected tool for change by former convict Richard Loya, who had joined a South Central L.A. gang at age 15 for the protection it offered, and wound up killing a man the following year. Richard was tried as an adult and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison. When parole hearings started coming up after 17 or 18 years, he kept getting the same message to come back in a few years. The hardened person the parole board perceived clearly wasn’t ready for release.
Richad knew he needed to change. He actively sought a tool for change, taking dozens of classes to help trigger that metamorphosis, but nothing worked. Then, in 2016, he attended a seven-day intensive class offered by The Actors’ Gang Prison Project.
According to their website:
Our mission is to establish a supportive community, offer participants tools for recognizing and managing their emotions, and create systemic change by centering the voices of those who have been system-impacted.
https://theactorsgang.com/
Through a highly physical and stylized form of theater practice, The Prison Project invites vulnerability, breaks down barriers, recognizes humanity, and supports human connections. As a result, the program shifts prison culture and the societal conversation about mass incarceration.
By the third day of class, Richard had cried at least twice, and had started to feel the transformation he’d been seeking for so long. A year later, in 2017, he was released from prison. When he went to thank the people in the program, they suggested that he join them. So he did.
“Every day, I think about my victim and their family. I can’t change what I did. I wish I could. So to honor them, I chose to change and give back,” says Richard.
Writing can provide that same sense of catharsis and self-discovery. Whether we’re the author or the reader, it, too, can provide a path for us to come to terms with our shortcomings, find our strengths, and connect with our humanity.
Having found his voice and his purpose, Richard is now helping others do the same. I hope I can help others figure out how to use writing as their tool for change.
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