“Faith sees the possibility. Restoration builds the becoming.”
Disconnected paths tell the story of where they’ve been. The neighborhood ahead holds what is possible, belonging, healing, and community, even before it takes shape.
Today, October 22, 2026, I want to honor Journalist Cecil Egbele for choosing to hear me, see me, and approach my story with care.
For 20 years, my experiences with journalists, family, friends, and strangers have often been painful and one-sided. There have been parts of my story that received little grace, curiosity, or consideration. In “Healing the Wounds Behind the Walls,” Cecil made room for honest pieces of my life that others had never taken the time to welcome or hear.
I appreciate the care she brought to difficult topics and the dignity she extended to the men she interviewed at our SAGE graduation. She listened to their experiences, their grief, their accountability, and the ways they are learning to help themselves and others. Her reporting gave readers an opportunity to witness that learning and the community growing around it.
My service is rooted in preventing harm, intervening where harm is happening, and transforming the patterns that allow it to continue across generations. I know the devastating cost of unaddressed wounds. I also know that people who have experienced and caused harm can learn, take accountability, and contribute to the healing of others.
Cecil, thank you for turning up the volume on a voice that had not been heard this way in 20 years. Thank you for listening with care and allowing that care to be present in your reporting. Your work gave people an opportunity to hear me, see me, and to hear the men whose lives, learning, and contributions matter deeply to me.
To my son, Raijon Da'Meria Daniels-Smith, it is because of you that I hear more, move wiser, love harder, forgive easy, refuse to settle, pour like it's my last time, and make memories with every moment, I love and miss you dearly. 1/31/1998-10/27/2006
She didn't capture my story overnight, in a moment, or from heresy, she welcomed what I had to say and those that are most impacted by my words, presence, and actions. This is the article that she wrote:
In the Wisdom of Memories:
Raijon D. Daniels-Smith
1/31/1998-10/27/2006
I am so proud of these young men that stayed the course no matter what challenges brought along the way. They not only leave footprints of hope to those who will follow but speak with a voice of encouragement to those who are passing the baton to. There were several other individuals who assisted in building the Come-unity Center located at 654 SAGE Way and Healing & Transformation Avenue. They were commited to a lifestyle change without seeking a certificate or credit. They understood that the real credit is being able to apply restorative principles, upholding their values, and being the character that a certificate could never fully describe or contain.
Our surprise guest speaker Mr. Ronney Moses, formerly incarcerated (three times) as a young father with a 3 year daughter, shared insights that he learned and that has kept him out of the system for over thirty years. He also shared the devastation and guilt of his absence that factored into his daughter ending up with a life sentence at 23 years old. Nevertheless, this message of hope landed as a second wind to the many fathers, brothers, and uncles that was represented in that moment, signifying that their choices are not automatically passed down to their children. He stated something rare inside this men's prison, "I'm sensitive; I melt like butter." Speaking truth to the power of vulnerability, transparency, and strength. My father and I, aim to dismantle the parent to child prison pipeline one family at a time.
Rooted in relationship, redemption, and restoration, this moment recognized the courage, commitment, and collective practice of the men who dared to build a neighborhood that represents the best version of themselves through: Safety, Self (identity), Accountability, Grief and Empathy.
This work is very present, powerful, & generational. We are all born into a neighborhood without choice, influenced by neighborhoods with limited exposure, and often stunted by neighborhoods that cultivates pathways that lead to harm. So, what neighborhood shaped you?
What would you build, who would you be, and who would you invite to the built?
Corcoran State PrisonTrailblazing Class of 654 Ways to SAGE.
~August 4, 2026
Standing And Guiding Experiences
