Dortell Williams
H45771 / D17-B203-3L
P.O. Box 409089
Ione, 95640

March 13, 2025

As incarcerated people, our turning points are as diverse as mainstream

America. For some, it was the death of a loved one and perhaps a vow to the deceased, or the murder of a family member. For others it was solitary confinement and the choice between suicial ideation or navigating the threatening and treacherous journey of abandoning the gang life. And yet for others it was pure love that prompted the motivation to change.

For me, it was a progressive experience. Remorse haunted me from day one , but feelings and emotions are easy to turn off, numb or ignore.

Reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X had the most influence in planting the seeds of my life change. Indeed, for most of us, it is a journey of ebbs and flows, failures and triumphs. Malcolm X showed me that I was the problem; selfish, misguided, immature and ignorant.

T took fast to study as he did when he was locked up. I sought positive role models as he did when he was imprisoned. I imagined a better version of myself .

Good mentorship, access to self—help groups where volunteers taught us subjects such as parenting, domestic violence, cycles of violence, and personal development; all of these fed my progress. Yet it was trauma—informed care that gave me the most clarity as to why hurt people tend to hurt others and why 1 made a series of callused decisions that culminated into murder and would reverberate into the next generation.

Later college became available. By then I was in love with learning. 1 took full advantage, earning a doctorate in Ministries and an MA in Humanities.

Yet none of this could have been accomplished without community. People inside and outside the prison have guided, corrected, and loved me. It was community that shaped me, from family to peers, to professors; I am who I am because others accepted me when I was at my worst.