SecondChancesLA |
Our Storytellers
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I am Rossana Perez and I am from El Salvador. I am in this country 30 years. "The body has a memory of its own…it remembers my grandma's hands cooking soups and stews and pupusas to comfort me, and it remembers the hands of those who inflicted pain." For Rossana's story, along with the narratives of her children - Sara, Tonatiuh, Sage - and her granddaughter Sol, please click here. Or download all the family stories as a PDF:
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I am Nakaggwa Rene.
When I arrived in the United States I didn't know I was pregnant. But first, let me tell you why I am here. Back in Uganda, I had my dream job. I was doing a radio show where successful women share their stories to inspire others. You see, I like working with people and hearing their stories. That's what gets my brain working. But that work got me into trouble. Click here to read Nakaggwa's story or download it here. |
Mi nombre es Mario Avila. Yo soy de Guatemala. Mi país es un abanico de colores tanto en su selva como en los trajes de su gente maya.
[My name is Mario Avila. I am from Guatemala. My country is a fan of many colors, in the rainforest as well as in the traditional clothing of the Maya people. ] Click here to read Mario's story. Para leer la historia de Mario, haga clic aquí. Download in English here. Descargar en español aquí. |
My name is Théophile. I'm
from Cameroon, central Africa and the way that I was born, my mom and my dad were both fishing in the boat. This is where they meet each other. My mom told me, "I meet him fishing at 3 AM in the morning. He has his own boat and his own team and when they went to catch a fish he showed her how." They have the first four child, the four pass away. One die of malaria, one die because of the typhoid, other die by accident, and the ten-year-old die by poison. It was so much hurt to my mom and to my dad that they became happy when I first came in the world. I was the number fifth who came and I was born in the middle of the water in the boat in the sea. Click here to read Théophile's story. or download it here. Maria Guardado has left us.
Born in El Salvador 81 years ago, her activist work in organizing campesinos, teachers, and other workers for the UDN (Unión Democrática Nacionalista) led to her abduction and torture by the US-trained and supported military on January 12, 1980. She survived, in part because Archbishop Oscar Romero called publicly for her release. Read more here. |
Ernest Shepard III is Life Changers Co-Director and paralegal for the Fair Chance Project, a movement led by liberated lifers and loved ones, organized around the demand for just sentencing laws and fair parole practices. A current campaign seeks to end the practice of long-term solitary confinement. Here he speaks as a private citizen, not as a representative of Fair Chance.
I was in the Hole in so many facilities, in Paso Robles, in Los Padrinos, in Preston. Those were all Youth Authorities and then I graduated to Soledad, Folsom, Corcoran, San Quentin. Three years on Death Row till the courts ruled it cruel and unusual punishment according to the Eighth Amendment. So I can tell you why people call solitary confinement torture. Click here to read Ernest's story. Or download it here. Download a fact sheet about solitary confinement prepared by the Center for Constitutional Rights. I am Matadi Mayo and I want to tell my story because it's not only about what happened to me but to many women in my country. Congo. Democratic Republic of Congo. DRC.
Being a doctor was always my dream. When I was little, every single individual in my street was calling me when they have a problem or some injury. They were calling me "doctor" when I was the age of six or seven or eight. I was even writing on all my books Doctor Doctor and people are telling me I'm débile–weak in the head. Crazy. They did not know that the dream can come true. End of story: I became a doctor. Read more here. or download Matadi's story here. |
My name is Ángel. I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1986. When I was one year old my siblings and I were taken to Guerrero to where my grandmother lived. We were four in total. I was the youngest and we were left there because my father and mother had to flee. It had to do with the land, and soldiers were involved. It started from my great-grandfather, a man killed my great-grandfather, and the problem continued. Then they were looking for my dad too so they just came here. They didn't know about asylum or anything.
Read more here. Or download Ángel's story here. |
I'm Miguel and when I was just a kid, I was taken by the Army in El Salvador and held captive for almost a year. I was 11 when they took me. I was rescued, thanks to my grandmother and a group called Comadres, and when I was released I was close to being 12.
I'm Sandra, Miguel's wife. When I met him he was very quiet and I think that's one of the things that really attracted me about him. He was very quiet and very mature, more mature than other guys around. He didn't tell me much about his past and in fact I didn't even know he was Salvadoran. Read more from Miguel and Sandra here. Or download their story here. |
Mon nom est Boyz, je suis né dans un pays d’Afrique Centrale il y a 43 ans dans une ville située a une cinquantaine de kilomètres de la capital, j'y ai passé les premières années de mon enfance. Mes frères et sœurs grandissons dans la foi catholique, nos parent nous ont appris la crainte de Dieu et le respect de notre prochain.
My name is Boyz and I was born in a Central African country 43 years ago in a city about 50 kilometers from the capital where I spent the first years of my childhood. With my brothers and sisters, we grew up in the Catholic faith, our parents having taught us the fear of God and respect for others. Pour lire toute l'histoire, veuillez cliquer ici. To read the whole story, please click here. Ou pour la télécharger, cliquez ici. Or download it here. L'entrevue avec Boyz a été réalisée avec l'aide de l'interprète Sarah Rubinstein. The interview with Boyz was carried out with the help of interpreter Sarah Rubinstein. |
I am Victor.
Seven years in immigration detention. They just release me on bond in May. Three months ago. Why didn't they release me on bond seven years ago? What changed? I am the same person. I never had any arrest for anything violent or anything like that. On my record in my life I never been violent. They take seven years out of my life to be with my daughters. I am a good father. I changed their Pampers, I be taking them to the park, picking them up from school, everything. And I don't lie to them. I tell them the truth. If I do something wrong, I tell them. And sometimes they tell me things they don't tell their Mom. But I never been telling them before what happened to me in El Salvador. I don't want to give that kind of worry to them about what happened long time ago. Read Victor's story here. |
I am Nancy.
I have to forget about Uganda. There are some sweet memories but that's a place I can never go back to. What happened was they arrested a few people at an illegal meeting and somebody during interrogation named me.... My landlord never saw me again, I just disappeared just like that. They also attacked my mom. When I got my asylum, she sold her place and had to leave and go to a different place where I think she'll be safe. Read Nancy's story here. Or download it here. |
My name is Maryann and
my parents were both from North Korea. My mother escaped when she was five and her little sister was two. She has stories about her sister crying and they were scared to death. It was kind of the typical thing, like today, with coyotes. They would flee and hide in the bushes during the day and walk at night. My father, he never talked about it ever. He was a typical Korean man: They don't talk; they just do. They bury the past and that's why we came to America, so we could escape the past and whatever oppression he was under. Read Maryann's story here. Or download it here. |
My pseudonym is Herman Lass–герман ласс–and if you read Russian, you can find the website I made for him. Herman expresses my male side of me. I write as a male and I feel it's not Sonya who is writing. He writes like he feels it and he doesn't care if somebody likes it or not and probably this is the main point of being Herman Lass because all my life I wanted to express myself but I was not allowed, I was afraid, I was threatened.
Read Sonya's story here. Or download it here. |
A lot of people have a lot to say about the situation in Syria.... I might know a little about what these refugees might be experiencing....
Because I was a refugee, too. My name is Chheng and I was born in Cambodia. I usually don’t like to talk about my past. For so long I didn’t want to look at those Syrian faces because I didn’t want to see the same sadness and fear I had felt myself. But hearing what people are saying about these refugees makes it difficult to stay silent. To read Chheng's story, please click here. Or download it here. |