October- December 2026
Issue
Editor's Note
Dear Readers,
In our last issue, we explored Reclamation, the act of taking back what was lost, taken, silenced, or forgotten. We talked about reclaiming our voices, our identities, our stories, and the parts of ourselves that life, circumstances, and sometimes even our own choice caused us to lose along the way.
But reclamation is not the end of the journey.
It is the beginning of becoming.
Becoming is what happens after we begin to reclaim ourselves. It is the ongoing process of deciding who we are, what we believe, what we are willing to leave behind, and what we want to carry forward. It is understanding that we can honor where we have been without remaining there.
Becoming does not require erasing our past. Our mistakes, losses, triumphs, disappointments, and experiences have all contributed to who we are. But our past should inform us, not imprison us. At some point, we must stop letting yesterday have the final word over tomorrow.
Through this October-December issue of RE/CLAIMED, we explore becoming in many forms: identity, healing, accountability, purpose, relationship, justice, resilience, reinvention, and the courage it takes to imagine something different for our lives and our communities.
As we approach the end of another year, I invite you to reflect: Who were you when this year began? What did you learn? What did you release? What challenged you? What healed you? And perhaps most importantly, who are you becoming?
Welcome to the Becoming issue of RE/CLAIMED Magazine.
Dr. Clover A. Perez
Editor-in-Chief
RE/CLAIMED Magazine
Becoming
This month's theme, Becoming, explores how we grow, rebuild, and discover who we want to be. Through honest stories and fresh perspectives, we look at what it takes to move forward while we're still figuring things out.
Dr. Clover A. Perez: The Forgotten Middle
America, the land of the free, has long wrestled with the paradox of mass incarceration. Within the labyrinthine corridors of the U.S. criminal justice system, the faces of those confined are as diverse as they are numerous. Yet among them is a population too often overlooked: emerging adults—young people who have crossed the legal threshold into adulthood while still navigating one of the most consequential developmental periods of their lives.
Alchemizing The Wound
by Simran Dave
I met a young man who transformed the way I think.
A word usually used to diminish people could be reclaimed and given a new meaning—one rooted in pride, strength, and empowerment.
And somehow, that changed the way I looked at my own past.
I could see beauty in transforming a word without ever needing to say it. He didn't teach me that I needed to start using the words that made me uncomfortable.
He taught me that I could look at them differently.
And that distinction changed everything.
Do Not Let Prison Decide Whom You Become
by David Z. Simpson
After spending a decade incarcerated, I learned something that many people outside prison walls do not fully understand: prison is not only a place of punishment; it is an environment that constantly pressures people to give up hope, lose themselves, and accept emotional, mental, and spiritual defeat. And if we are honest, many prisons are built in ways that slowly break people down. Not all at once, but slowly.
A person can enter prison angry and leave emotionally numb. Another can enter hopeful and leave distrustful of everyone. Some men become hardened because survival in harsh environments often requires suppressing fear, emotion, compassion, vulnerability, and sometimes even humanity. Others lose confidence, purpose, family connections, or belief in their future. Some never fully recover from what they experienced while incarcerated
You're Allowed to Grieve During the Holidays
by Linsay Irene
America, the land of the free, has long wrestled with the paradox of mass incarceration. Within the labyrinthine corridors of the U.S. criminal justice system, the faces of those confined are as diverse as they are numerous. Yet among them is a population too often overlooked: emerging adults—young people who have crossed the legal threshold into adulthood while still navigating one of the most consequential developmental periods of their lives.
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The Other Side of the Sentence
by-Mackenzie Guirsch
When I was three years old, a sneaker wave took me.
Our mother had taken us to the beach. Lisa, who is fourteen years older than me, was put in charge. The ocean grabbed hold of me and my brother, who was four then, and swept us away. Lisa fought through the current to reach us, swallowing water, and held us above her head until we were safely back on the sand. She saved our lives while risking her own.
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