从监狱到 Python
Python 监狱

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> 入狱后，开源编程是如何提供机会的。
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![](/data/attachment/album/202002/15/114918ditsiiu9p6x6u69m.jpg)


不到一年前，我还在圣昆廷州立监狱服刑，我是无期徒刑。


我高三的时候，我抢劫了一个人并向他开了枪。现在，我经过一段时间才意识到并承认自己做错了，这是在经历了陪审团审判并看到我的行为带来的恶果后，我知道需要改变自己，我也确实做到了。尽管我对我的行为表示懊悔，但我毕竟开枪打了一个人，并差点杀了他。做这样的事是有后果的，这是理所当然的。所以在我 18 岁的时候，我被判了终身监禁。


监狱是一个非常可怕的地方；我是不推荐你去的。但是我必须去，所以我去了。我不告诉你具体的细节，但你可以放心，这是一个没有太多动机去改变的地方，许多人在这里养成的坏习惯比他们过去在别处养成的更多。


我是幸运儿之一。当我在服刑的时候，发生了一些不同寻常的事情。我开始想象自己出狱后的的未来，虽然在这之前，我还是已经在那里度过了我整个成年生活。


现在你想想：我是黑人，只受过高中教育。我没有工作经历，如果我离开监狱，在被释放前，我还是一个被定罪的重罪犯。当每个雇主看到我的简历，都不会有“我需要雇用这个人”想法，我认为是正常的。


我不知道我的选择是什么，但我已经下定决心了。我需要做些活下去的事情，并且这和我入狱前的生活一点也不像。


### Python 之路


最终，我被关在了圣昆廷州立监狱，我不知道我为何幸运地被关在那里。圣昆廷提供了几个自助和教育编程项目。这些[改造机会](https://www.dailycal.org/2019/02/27/san-quentin-rehabilitation-programs-offer-inmates-education-a-voice/)帮助囚犯使他们拥有在获释后避免再次犯罪的技能。


作为其中一个编程项目的一部分，2017 年我通过圣昆廷媒体项目认识了[杰西卡·麦凯拉](https://twitter.com/jessicamckellar?lang=en)。杰西卡是编程语言 [Python](https://www.python.org/) 的爱好者，她开始向我推荐 Python 有多棒，以及它是刚起步的人学习的完美语言。这就是故事变得比小说更精彩的地方。



> 
> 感谢 [@northbaypython](https://twitter.com/northbaypython?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) 让 [@ShaStepter](https://twitter.com/ShaStepter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) 和我重复 [@pycon](https://twitter.com/pycon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) 的主题演讲，让他们被录制下来。我很荣幸与大家分享：
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> 从监狱到 Pythone: <https://t.co/rcumoAgZHm>
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> 大规模裁员:如果我们不雇佣被判重罪的人，谁会呢？ <https://t.co/fENDUFdxfX>
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> [pic.Twitter.com/kpjo8d3ul6](https://t.co/Kpjo8d3ul6)
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> —杰西卡·麦凯拉（@jessicamckellar）[2019 年 11 月 5 日](https://twitter.com/jessicamckellar/status/1191601209917837312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
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杰西卡向我介绍了一些 Python 视频教程，这些教程是她为一家名叫 [O’Reilly Media](http://shop.oreilly.com/product/110000448.do) 的公司做的，课程是在线的，如果我能接触到它们，那该有多好呀。不幸的是，在监狱里上网是不可能的。但是，我遇到了一个叫 Tim O’Reilly 的人，他最近刚来到圣昆廷。在他访问之后，Tim 从他的公司 O’Reilly Media 公司向监狱的编程班捐赠了大量内容。最终，我拿到了一款平板电脑，上面有杰西卡的 Python 教程，并学会了如何使用这些 Python 教程进行编码。


真是难以置信。背景和生活与我完全不同的陌生人把这些联系在一起，让我学会了编码。


### 对 Python 社区的热爱


在这之后，我开始经常和杰西卡见面，她开始告诉我关于开源社区的情况。我了解到，从根本上说，开源社区就是关于伙伴关系和协作的社区。之所以如此有效，是因为没有人被排除在外。


对我来说，一个努力寻找自己定位的人，我所看到的是一种非常基本的爱——通过合作和接受的爱，通过接触的爱，通过包容的爱。我渴望成为其中的一部分。所以我继续学习 Python，不幸的是，我无法获得更多的教程，但是我能够从开源社区收集的大量书面知识中获益。我读一切提到 Python 的东西，从平装本到晦涩难懂的杂志文章，我使用平板电脑来解决我读到的 Python 问题。


我对 Python 和编程的热情不是我的许多同龄人所共有的。除了监狱编程课上的极少数人之外，我认识的其他人都没有提到过编程；一般囚犯都不知道。我认为这是因为有过监禁经历的人无法接触编程，尤其是如果你是有色人种。


### 监狱外的 Python 生活


然而，在 2018 年 8 月 17 日，我得到了生命中的惊喜。时任州长的杰里·布朗将我 27 年的刑期减刑，在服刑将近 19 年后，我被释放出狱了。


但现实情况是，这也是为什么我认为编程和开源社区如此有价值。我是一名 37 岁的黑人罪犯，没有工作经历，刚刚在监狱服刑 18 年。我有犯罪史，并且现存偏见导致没有多少职业适合我。但是编程是少数例外之一。


现在，监禁后重返社会的人们迫切需要包容，但当谈及工作场所的多样性以及对多样性的需求时，你真的听不到这个群体被提及或包容。



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> 还有什么:
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> 1、背景调查：询问他们在你的公司是如何使用的。
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> 2、初级角色：删除虚假的、不必要的先决条件，这些条件将排除有记录的合格人员。
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> 3、积极拓展：与当地再就业项目合作，创建招聘渠道。
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> [pic.twitter.com/WnzdEUTuxr](https://t.co/WnzdEUTuxr)
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> —杰西卡·麦凯拉（@jessicamckellar）[2019 年 5 月 12 日](https://twitter.com/jessicamckellar/status/1127640222504636416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) 
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因此，我想谦卑地挑战开源社区的所有程序员和成员，让他们围绕包容和多样性展开思考。今天，我自豪地站在你们面前，代表一个大多数人都没有想到的群体——以前被监禁的人。但是我们存在，我们渴望证明我们的价值，最重要的是，我们期待被接受。当我们重返社会时，许多挑战等待着我们，我请求你们允许我们有机会展示我们的价值。欢迎我们，接受我们，最重要的是，包容我们。




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via: <https://opensource.com/article/20/1/prison-to-python>


作者：[Shadeed Sha Wallace-Stepter](https://opensource.com/users/shastepter) 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[heguangzhi](https://github.com/heguangzhi) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
Less than a year ago, I was in San Quentin State Prison serving a life sentence.

In my junior year in high school, I shot a man while robbing him. Now, it took a while for me to see or even admit that what I did was wrong, but after going through a jury trial and seeing the devastating consequences of my actions, I knew that I needed to make a change, and I did. And although it was a great thing that I had changed, I had still shot a man and nearly killed him. And there are consequences to doing something like that, and rightfully so. So at the age of 18, I was sentenced to life in prison.

Now prison is a terrible place; I do not recommend it. But I had to go and so I went. I’ll spare you the details, but you can rest assured it’s a place where there isn’t much incentive to change, and many people pick up more bad habits than they went in with.

I’m one of the lucky ones. While I was in prison, something different happened. I started to imagine a future for myself beyond the prison bars where, up until that point, I had spent all of my adult life.

Now YOU think about this: I’m black, with nothing more than a high school education. I had no work history, and if I ever were to leave prison, I would be a convicted felon upon my release. And I think I’m being fair when I say that the first thought for an employer who sees this profile is not "I need to hire this person."

My options weren’t clear, but my mind was made up. I needed to do something to survive that wouldn’t look anything like my life before prison.

## A path to Python

Eventually, I wound up in San Quentin State Prison, and I had no idea how lucky I was to be there. San Quentin offered several self-help and education programs. These [rehabilitation opportunities](https://www.dailycal.org/2019/02/27/san-quentin-rehabilitation-programs-offer-inmates-education-a-voice/) ensured prisoners had skills that helped them avoid being repeat offenders upon release.

As part of one of these programs, I met [Jessica McKellar](https://twitter.com/jessicamckellar?lang=en) in 2017 through her work with the San Quentin Media Program. Jessica is an enthusiast of the programming language [Python](https://www.python.org/), and she started to sell me on how great Python is and how it’s the perfect language to learn for someone just starting out. And this is where the story becomes stranger than fiction.


Thanks

[@northbaypython]for letting[@ShaStepter]and me reprise our[@pycon]keynotes to get them recorded. I'm honored to share:


From Prison to Python:[https://t.co/rcumoAgZHm]


Mass Decarceration: If We Don't Hire People With Felony Convictions, Who Will?[https://t.co/fENDUFdxfX][pic.twitter.com/Kpjo8d3ul6]— Jessica McKellar (@jessicamckellar)

[November 5, 2019]


Jessica told me about these Python video tutorials that she did for a company called [O’Reilly Media](http://shop.oreilly.com/product/110000448.do), that they were online, and how great it would be if I could get access to them. Unfortunately, internet access in prison isn’t a thing. But, I had met this guy named Tim O’Reilly, who had recently come to San Quentin. It turns out that, after his visit, Tim had donated a ton of content from his company, O’Reilly Media, to the prison’s programming class. I wound up getting my hands on a tablet that had Jessica’s Python tutorials on it and learned how to code using those Python tutorials.

It was incredible. Total strangers with a very different background and life from my own had connected the dots in a way that led to me learning to code.

## The love of the Python community

After this point, I started meeting with Jessica pretty frequently, and she began to tell me about the open source community. What I learned is that, on a fundamental level, open source is about fellowship and collaboration. It works so well because no one is excluded.


And for me, someone who struggled to see where they fit, what I saw was a very basic form of love—love by way of collaboration and acceptance, love by way of access, love by way of inclusion. And my spirit yearned to be a part of it. So I continued my education with Python, and, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get more tutorials, but I was able to draw from the vast wealth of written knowledge that has been compiled by the open source community. I read anything that even mentioned Python, from paperback books to obscure magazine articles, and I used the tablet that I had to solve the Python problems that I read about.

My passion for Python and programming wasn’t something that many of my peers shared. Aside from the very small group of people who were in the prison’s programming class, no one else that I knew had ever mentioned programming; it’s just not on the average prisoner’s radar. I believe that this is due to the perception that programming isn’t accessible to people who have experienced incarceration, especially if you are a person of color.

## Life with Python outside of prison

Then, on August 17, 2018, I got the surprise of my life. Then-Governor Jerry Brown commuted my 27-years-to-life sentence, and I was released from prison after serving almost 19 years.

But here’s the reality of my situation and why I believe that programming and the open source community are so valuable. I am a 37-year-old, black, convicted felon, with no work history, who just served 18 years in prison. There aren’t many professions that exist that would prevent me from being at the mercy of the stigmas and biases that inevitably accompany my criminal past. But one of the few exceptions is programming.

The people who are now returning back to society after incarceration are in desperate need of inclusion, but when the conversation turns to diversity in the workplace and how much it’s needed, you really don’t hear this group being mentioned or included.


What else:



1. Background checks: ask how they are used at your company.


2. Entry-level roles: remove fake, unnecessary prerequisites that will exclude qualified people with records.


3. Active outreach: partner with local re-entry programs to create hiring pipelines.[pic.twitter.com/WnzdEUTuxr]— Jessica McKellar (@jessicamckellar)

[May 12, 2019]


So with that, I want to humbly challenge all of the programmers and members of the open source community to expand your thinking around inclusion and diversity. I proudly stand before you today as the representative of a demographic that most people don’t think about—formerly incarcerated people. But we exist, and we are eager to prove our value, and, above all else, we are looking to be accepted. Many challenges await us upon our reentry back into society, and I ask that you allow us to have the opportunity to demonstrate our worth. Welcome us, accept us, and, more than anything else, include us.

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