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Acknowledgments

A lot of people contributed to this book, putting their time, energy, expertise, and goodwill into its completion. I have to first thank everyone in Fresno who helped me conduct this research, especially all of the high school students and returning community members who were brave and generous enough to share their stories with me. Doing justice to your experiences pushed me to do my best every time I sat down to write. In one of my earliest interviews, one of you told me that “it’s not that [many] people who make it. When they come off of parole, it’s not a lot, you know? So when you doin’ your research, it’s a good thing because you got a lot of people tellin’ you different things, and it’s up to you to put it into words.” More than anything, I hope I have at least been an accurate and effective voice for some of the things you all have been through, and for some of the things that should change. I especially want to thank Richard, Chuy, Eddie, Anthony, Diana, Michelle, David, Sammy, Jose, AJ, CT, Daren, Victor, John, Mark, Darryn, Yasmin, Ricardo, Andrew, Steven, Felipe, and all the other young people who let me get to know them over the course of this research, and who made sure I knew what it was like for them at the school and the hall.

Obviously I could never undertake a project this extensive completely on my own, and there are several people who deserve recognition for helping me actually get into these research sites and bring my findings to this finished product. I want to extend my appreciation to the administrators, outreach workers, and teachers—especially Mrs. Diaz, Mrs. Damon, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Martinez—who helped me gain access to institutions that are typically very difficult to research. Cid Martinez was an invaluable role model and authority on all things Fresno—a fellow ethnographer who was always down to talk about current events in town, and who put me in touch with a number of insightful community members. Thank you to Javier Guzman and the Chicano Youth Center for welcoming me to Fresno, tapping me into the city’s distinctive history of community organizing, and giving me the opportunity to get involved. Thank you as well to Grandpa Bill, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Lia for always being around for support, and for inviting Meli and I over whenever we needed a break. I am grateful for the support of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC Mexus) and UC Santa Barbara’s Chicano Studies Institute, which made this research financially possible, and for the help provided by Valeria, Gaby, Doug, Jenna, McKenzie, Juliet, Gianna, Alec, and everyone else who assisted with transcribing so many interviews. And finally, I am tremendously appreciative for Maura, Sabrina, and everyone at UC Press who recognized the importance of this story, and gave me the opportunity to put it into print.

I owe much to the many mentors I have been blessed with, who have given me the perspective, curiosity, analytical skills, and endurance to take on this project. My earliest mentors and connection to Fresno, my parents Liz and Herb, are the ones responsible for making me a writer and for teaching me the importance of trying to understand others’ experiences. In graduate school, my advisors George Lipsitz, Victor Rios, Reginald Daniel, and Nikki Jones were the first to guide me on this specific project, and remained consistent voices of support and clarity throughout. You helped me build this research through its many stages, teaching me how to discuss the important social problems I was finding in an approachable way while still developing my analysis in scope and nuance. Through your mentorship, you have taught me how to be a professional scholar and a critical writer, and your lessons will stay with me throughout my career.

I also want to thank the many established scholars who went out of their way to read earlier drafts or versions of this research, and contributed to making it better. Particularly deserving of my appreciation are Ruth Peterson, Laurie Krivo, Aaron Kupchik, Cheryl Maxson, and everyone else involved with the RDCJN network. I would also like to thank Manuel Pastor, Timothy Matovina, the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, and everyone involved with the Young Scholars Symposium for their valuable input. Finally, I want to extend a special recognition to Anthony Peguero and Robert Durán—not only for providing their own feedback on earlier drafts of this research, but also for laying the groundwork for a community of Latina/o criminologists that has provided me and so many others with a professional space to grow into. You have all not only helped me tremendously in developing this book, but have also welcomed me into the academy and made sure I knew that the scholarship I had to offer was valued.

Throughout the process of planning and writing this work, I have been lucky to be surrounded by a talented group of peers and colleagues who have always helped me immensely and pushed me to keep up with their own brilliance. Thank you everyone from the 2014 cohort of the SRI—Daniel Gascón, Reuben Miller, Michael Walker, Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, Evelyn Patterson, Lallen Johnson, and Valerie Wright—for your feedback, ongoing friendship and encouragement, and memories of racist dots and cracking the ground. Thanks to Jerry Flores and Adrían Félix for being motivating writing partners I could always rely on to meet up at the library or coffee shop and actually write. Equally important were Katie, Scott, Armando, and Danny, who kept me sane by getting me out of the house during this process, congratulating me when it went well, and encouraging when it got dicey.

Most of all, I need to thank my partner and colleague Melissa Guzman. You have been there for me the entire time and never let me give up—when I couldn’t find a research site, when I didn’t think I could afford to stay in the field, or when I hit a wall while writing and didn’t think that I could finish it. You always keep me sharp and challenge me to think about my research in new ways. You have made me a better writer, teacher, and scholar. But most importantly you always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself, and not only reminded me that this was an important project but convinced me that I was capable of doing it. I love you, and can never thank you enough for the support you gave to me during this research. You influenced this work more than anyone.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to my grandparents Jorge and Emma Lopez-Aguado. The entire time I was conducting this research, you opened your home to me and gave me a place to stay and recover from long days of traveling, volunteering, and interviewing. You have always shared everything you have and done everything you could to help and take care of me. It was a personal blessing to me to be able to spend this time with you, to share meals and desserts with you, and to get to know the two of you again as an adult, and I will never forget it. I owe finishing this book to you, because without you this entire project would have never been possible. Thank you grandma and grandpa, for everything.