Transitions: Coming Of Age In The Criminal Justice System

Your environment plays a vital role in life. Whether we accept it or not, it is easy to be influenced by our surroundings, both positively and negatively. Unfortunately, sometimes in life, we may not realize the challenges our childhood has caused until we are in a compromised situation. Despite your upbringing, life still gives us the chance to renew or reestablish our stories at any given time. We’d like to use this moment to highlight the story of Van Huynh, a member of Creatives Futures Cohort — Class of 2020.

Growing up, Van’s environment played a critical role in his upbringing. Van noted that he didn’t “have the chance to live in a stable environment growing up as a child. His parents struggled financially, so they had trouble finding affordable housing as a youth.” As a result of this, Van quickly turned to the gang lifestyle for comfort, and he did not hesitate to say that he craved “attention and acceptance from those around him.”

Additionally, Van experienced racism at the early age of 4, which conditioned his lifestyle, causing an identity crisis at a young age. As he got older, he noticed that racism caused much pain and confusion in his life, which slowly progressed to anger. In his anger, he found himself “contributing to racism and the cycle of harm to others as [he] navigated through the streets.” Ultimately, he assumed his fight was to “get respect and dignity for everything that made [him] different and outcast; [which] limited [his] role as a whole human being.

Unfortunately, Van’s new lifestyle landed him two-life sentences in prison. During his time in prison, Van noticed the kindness and compassion he received from his family and random strangers he met, which encouraged a change. Soon, he began to refocus and find clarity on the things that he values in life. He also learned how to be open when other people talk to him, which was an “ excellent way to expand [his] knowledge and also reduce unnecessary tension or conflicts between groups. Although Van does not like to make promises, he told himself “to always be true and to be consistent”, which is his way of “promising that [he] will always be mindful and self-aware” at all times.

Despite the challenges that Van faced in life, he learned that he is “strong, valuable, and enough to make transformation possible.” Before joining Creative Futures in 2020, Van felt that his life was hopeful, but there was still much uncertainty. At times, he would feel isolated from his environment and still searching for his place in the world. After the program, things began to turn around, and Van felt the growth in different areas of his life. He felt connected to the professional world through enriched network connections and friendships made throughout the program. In all, the program has “enriched [his] life and future by giving [him] so many great experiences and connections with such amazing people.”

Some of Van’s long-term goals include financial and emotional stability while making changes to issues that have impacted his life directly through prison, family, or gang interactions. He’d like to create a space where he can provide a connection between two people from different backgrounds where they can appreciate each other with respect and compassion. Lastly, Van reminds us that despite your story, he “[believes] we are all unique — similarities connect us, but our uniqueness gives us the opportunity to make ourselves great” and that “everything will fall into their proper places and at the right time.”

The Numbers

• Despite being 5% of the world’s population, the United States is home to nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners. And since 1970, data shows America’s incarcerated population has increased by close to 600% ­­– not because of population growth or higher crime rates, but rather law, policy, and (over-)policing shifts that put more people behind bars and hurt communities. — brightest.io
• In Chicago and Los Angeles, nearly half of all homicides were attributed to gang violence from 2009–2012. — Youth.gov

Action

• Find out ways to help at-risk youth at https://youth.gov/
• Support API
• Support Prison Fellowship to help newly released prisoners find housing and resources needed to move forward in life after prison.