My Education At U.C.S.D.
My name is Albert Nava and I am from San Diego, California.I am currently going to U.C.S.D. and educating myself into becoming a Professor of U.S. History. I am also going to become a motivator speaker for the kids in High School and share my story of prison life and the betrayals that I went through.My focus is to let the kids know the real truth about friends in the gangs.By hearing my story I just hope that these youngsters will make the right decision in life because they need to know what may happen to them by hearing my experience. There is one thing about claiming a neighborhood. Once the youngster claims a barrio , there is no way out unless they become a Christian. And by them making the right decision when they are young, then they can get themselves into college or any type of job and become Somebody. Getting an education or a job will give them a sense of empowerment and an opportunity for a better way of life.To tell you the truth, It's much better than living in a life of crime that will eventually put them away in prison for 25 years to life on a third strike.The reason why I say all this is because I just got done doing 17 years in prison with a 25 to life sentence for petty theft. I did most of my time in the Maximum Security prisons of California.I was in Delano State Prison when the Norteno's killed a Sureno on the yard. During that riot eleven Sureno's got stabbed up and the gun tower wounded four more Surenos with the gunfire. In that riot there were 7 Norteno's against 40 Surenos. The riot happened after everybody got done exercising on the yard. While I was doing my time, I was just minding my own business and i would still get stabbed up twice on two different yards at Calipatria State Prison.The guards seen one incident because the officers had accused the both of us with swinging weapons at each other.I ended up with a big slice in my chest that the doctors had to sew it up with metal staples.The second time around some coward sneaked from behind and stabbed me with an ice pick twice in the back.The guards that were walking the yard happen to see blood dripping down the back of my shirt. So the guards ordered me to get down because of my injury,. I ended up getting handcuffed and taken to the hole where the Associate Warden eventually got me transfered and I ended up getting transfered to High Desert State Prison. I got into a little riot inside the vocational school. So then the warden sent me to Prlican State Prison.
In Pelican Bay State Prison I ended up in the hole for fighting with another camarada. So I ended up going to the hole with all the validated homies and piasas. When a person is Validated, that means that the inmate is punished to do all his time in the hole.Some of those inmates have been in that hole ever since the early 1980's. I was in that hole for only 2 months, and when I came out for showers I would be the only one that would be allowed to come out of their cell. Then when I finish entering the shower stall, the guard would automatically close the shower door behind me.That is how secure that hole was for everybody.The hole in Pelican Bay would hold the most dangerous inmates of all of California.Some inmates have already came out of the hole after being stuck in there for the last 30 years.During the day I would be stuck in my cell for 22 hours. While I was in the hole I would get out of my cell for1 hour and a half of exercize in a room made out of cement.The exercize room was about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long and all made out of cement. The walls surrounding the yard were 2 stories high in which I would get no sunlight, maybe for a few minutes I would get some sun. It all depended on time of the day they would let me out iof my cell, then maybe I would get about 30 minutes of sunlight. The lack of receieving any kind of sun is very unhealthy for any individual. That is why a lot of them inmates that have been isolated for a long time have lost their mind.The exercise room in the hole had a surveillance camera that was recording me at all times. They also put up a fence to cover the top of the yard in which I was exercising in.The camera that was pointing at me had razor wire circling the camera so that way i will not be able to escape in between the fence and the camera.Living in the hole was like living in an ice box, I was wearing my top and bottom thermals along with my jumpsuit and I was still freezing my butt off. There was no heater inside the building so that made the hole feel like a freezer.I was living with no sun and freezing in very cold temperatures.I felt like I was living in a nightmare, I was also in a section of the building that had eight cells, four cells on the bottom and four cells on the top. All the cells held only 1 inmate. I could be talking out of my cell because my cell door was made out of metal with about 1 hundred holes drilled into the cell door. I could be standing at my cell door talking to all 7 inmates because they can all hear me clearly. So all of us would be communicating to each other or just joking away during the day and having some laughs.There were 4 Sureno's, 2 Norteno's, 1 Black, and myself in that section of the block. The whole block had 6 sections that holds altogether 48 inmates. Some inmates would have a cellie but in the hole it's hard to get a cellie, because sometimes they would kill each other. After experiencing all this and the knowledge that I have about prison life.I will be able to open up the mind of these youngsters.My advice will help them stay away from gangs instead being in a position where they might lose their life by getting killed by one of their own homeboys or maybe die in a riot that might erupt at any given moment. .The only reason why I am out of prison is because the People of California believed that the 25 to life law was too much time for petty theft. All I need is some to my education
Sincerely Yours, Albert Nava
