In our Behind the Scenes series , CNN correspondents and producers share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events . CNN 's Soledad O'Brien and Stan Wilson visited San Quentin for `` Black in America : The Black Man '' which rebroadcasts tonight at 8 p.m . ET . `` I want to have everything that an average American would want , '' said Chris Shurn who served time in prison . OAKLAND , California ( CNN ) -- Chris Shurn walked out of San Quentin Prison in June after serving four years of hard time for possession of crack cocaine and a weapon charge . He joined at least 3,000 men paroled each year in Oakland , California , where the recidivism rate is more than 50 percent . When our documentary team first met Shurn inside San Quentin in 2008 , he considered himself one of the lucky ones . At 21 , he entered prison with a fourth-grade education , but left with a GED certificate and was only a few semesters short of earning an associate degree . Shurn told us there were few role models around him as a kid . He said his father left home before he entered the first grade , his mother was a crack addict and he was surrounded by a lot of violence . Ironically , San Quentin is where Shurn met the kind of role models he said he needed to break the cycle of incarceration . His hard work and determination to change caught the eye of Everett Highbaugh , who runs a program called Project Choice . Twice a week , Highbaugh goes into San Quentin with the goal of transforming men like Shurn from drug entrepreneurs to business entrepreneurs . Upon his release , Shurn replaced his dreadlocks and prison uniform with casual attire and a neatly manicured haircut . He said he felt relieved after the harsh conditions of prison life , but said he struggles every day in his Oakland neighborhood to resist the temptations of making easy money by selling crack cocaine . `` I want to have a family . I want to own a house . I want to have everything that an average American would want ; a good-paying job , a career , '' he said . But the odds are against him . Nearly 1 million black men are behind bars , an especially crippling blow to black communities , where one in three black men will have a prison record in their lifetimes . They leave behind communities filled with fear , broken families and a generation of vulnerable children . After Shurn left San Quentin , Highbaugh was in contact with him twice a week and helped him land a part-time job at Goodwill Industries . At Goodwill , Shurn spent 30 hours a week in a labor-intensive job , stacking goods and preparing them for shipment . `` I remember reading a lot of these very same books in prison , '' said Shurn as he was busy working . He was grateful to have a job , but frustrated because it paid so little , $ 7 an hour . That job lasted only a few months . When we caught up with him in January , he had been unemployed for a while . As he sat in Oakland 's Oracle Arena watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama , he wondered how he was going to help support his girlfriend and her daughter and earn enough tuition money to continue working toward his degree . Shurn has moved a few times , but is still hoping for success , still fighting against long odds , particularly in a severely debilitated job market . He 's hopeful that his hard work and the skills he learned through Project Choice will be a much better alternative than making easy money on the street -- a certain pathway back to prison . `` Every day of my life , with or without work , I feel vulnerable , '' said Shurn . `` Instead of waking up every day and going to a 9-to-5 ; I used to wake up and go outside and sell some drugs and have my money for a whole week . '' `` It crosses my mind , but I got to a point where I 'm disciplined and do n't need to venture into it . '' A few weeks ago , Shurn was hired as a courier for a local printing business . The job pays $ 9 per hour ; $ 2 more than his previous job . He says the new job wo n't be enough to pay all the bills , but his goal is to build a résumé so future employers will take a chance on an ex-convict who 's trying to recover from a mistake that cost him four years of his life .
Soledad O'Brien served four years in San Quentin Prison . Shurn earned a Shurn and nearly completed an associate degree in prison . He currently makes $ 7 per hour as a courier and hopes to return to college . `` Every day of my life , with or without work , I feel vulnerable , '' says GED .