Meet Richie Reseda

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richie Reseda.

Richie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started creating music and fashion when I was a child, growing up in the San Fernando Valley. Unfortunately, like many boys, I bought into the idea around age 10 that I had to be tough, rich and “have” a lot of girls to be a “real man”. Being black, these toxic standards of masculinity culminated into the “thug” stereotype, which I aspired to replicate. I began using and selling drugs.

When I was 14 I was recruited by Patrisse Cullors (#BlackLivesMatter) and Mark-Anthony Johnson (Dignity and Power Now!) into a community organizer training program they created for at-risk youth. This began my love for social justice. It is also when I began to understand how music and fashion could be used to bridge my two communities, the streets, and the social justice movement. However, it didn’t deter my addiction and the need for validation. My high school principal asked me to drop out and I did.. I was kicked out of my home and moved to the streets full time at 16. My art fell to the wayside. Three years later, I was incarcerated, facing 150-to-life for robbing two stores.

I fought my case for a year and received a ten-year sentence. In prison, I continued to be heavily invested in by my community of feminist, womxn-of-color organizers. My perspective and life transformed. Feminism freed me, and I wanted to use it to free others.

As soon as I transferred to a prison where the opportunity existed, I started Success Stories, a self-transformation group for young incarcerated men based in intersectional feminism. It began as leading workshops based on bell hooks’ “We Real Cool,” and evolved into a multi-week curriculum. We were recognized by the California State Assembly for our contributions to public safety, approved as a group that people can earn time off their sentences for attending, and were featured in the CNN documentary, “The Feminist On Cellblock Y.”

In 2015 I produced and released an album from prison, “Forgotten But Not Gone,” which launched Question Culture, my social impact record label. Because of Prop. 57, a law I worked hard to help change, I was able to earn two years off my sentence by getting college degrees, attending programs and working as an incarcerated firefighter. I was released on July 2018.

Since coming back to LA, I’ve been able to work expanding the work of Success Stories and making social justice content with Question Culture. We released our first album, “Intuition” by Indigo Mateo on all streaming platforms in April 2019. We are currently preparing to premiere its second video, “YQYG,” which doubles as a microfilm about street harassment, at Afropunk Brooklyn on August 24th. I also work to change California prison policy with Initiate Justice and do speaking and consultancy regarding patriarchy and prisons.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not, my own understanding of what it is to “be a real man” led me to make harmful choices. That, paired with LA,s zero-tolerance policies and vengeful sentencing practices resulted in me being sentenced to ten years in prison when I was 19. Luckily, a community of Los Angeles community organizers loved me through that time their investments gave me the opportunity to transform and thrive, even in prison. That love empowered me to lay the foundation for the life I have today, even from prison.

Tell us about your work– what should we know?
Success Stories dismantles patriarchy and incarceration by facilitating intersectional feminist workshops in prisons that help incarcerated men overcome harmful gender behaviors and be their highest selves. Success Stories is a nonprofit that hires formerly incarcerated graduates of the program as Coaches to go back into prisons and train people incarcerated there to facilitate and deliver the program to their peers.

We have graduated over 600 people since our launch in 2014. The California State Assembly recognized the program for its “contributions to public safety” later that year. California began allowing people to earn time off of their sentences for attending the group in 2017. It was profiled in the CNN documentary, “The Feminist On CellBlock Y” (now on CNN.com) in 2018. Upon my release, we were approved and partially funded by the CA prison system to launch in three new prisons. We are currently pending approval in an Illinois prison as well. We are on track to graduate 600 people per year by 2020.

Question Culture is a social-impact record label that uses music, fashion and film to bridge youth street culture with the social justice movement to end oppression. Each project is followed by a social impact campaign to transform the conditions exposed by the art. Our first album, “Forgotten But Not Gone,” which I wrote, produced and recorded from prison explored the patriarchal roots of both state and community violence in a swaggy, relatable way. It was covered by The Root, Mic Magazine and GOOD Magazine. Our latest album, “Intuition” by Indigo Mateo, is a millennial-soul journey inward that inspires listeners to heal their blockages, challenge sexual violence, and uplift feminine power. Its songs have been streamed over 10,000 times across platforms. We are currently in post-production for a Music-Video-Micro-Film on Street Harassment in the US.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Understanding that “history is plyable,” as my mentor Patrisse Cullors taught me. Knowing that everything around us was made up by someone, and I have that same power to create the world around me.

Contact Info:

• Website: QuestionCulture.com ; Success-Stories-Program.org
• Instagram: @RichieReseda
• Twitter: @RichieReseda

Image Credit:
(Singing with me, Indigo Mateo)

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