Returning As geriFree
Give a Beat alumna Geri once served a 40-years-to-life sentence at California Institution for Women. In May 2026, she walked back through those same grounds as a free woman and a Teaching Artist. Read what that day meant to her, in her own words.
Geri (left) and Spiñorita (right) walking into CIW
“Returning to California Institution for Women on Tuesday was one of the most emotional and surreal experiences of my life. Years ago, I walked those same grounds while serving a 40-years-to-life sentence. This time, I returned not as an incarcerated woman, but as a free woman and a Give a Beat teaching artist, leading the electronic music curriculum inside the very prison where I once lived.
As I entered the facility, a flood of emotions came over me. I recognized the paths I used to walk, the yard where I once walked the circle, and the familiar sights that once represented confinement. But this time, everything felt different. I was walking those grounds with freedom, purpose, and gratitude in my heart.
Because of the clemency I was granted by Jerry Brown, I was given the opportunity to parole early and begin rebuilding my life. To now return to that same institution as a mentor, DJ, and teaching artist is something I still struggle to fully put into words.
What touched me most was being able to stand in front of women who are where I once was and hopefully offer them something powerful: hope. Hope that transformation is possible. Hope that freedom can begin on the inside long before the gates ever open. And hope that if they continue to work on themselves, keep faith, and never give up, one day they too can experience freedom on the outside.
The experience reminded me how far healing, purpose, and second chances can take a person. I left feeling deeply humbled, emotional, and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to return not as my past, but as the woman I have become.
I’m grateful that Give a Beat gave me opportunities to represent Social Justice through Music.”
Geri did not walk back in alone. By her side was Spiñorita, her mentor and co-Teaching Artist, the same woman who has guided her since she first joined our On a New Track Reentry Mentoring Program in 2021. Watching a mentee from our reentry program come back to teach inside next to her mentor is a milestone for us too. We are so proud of them both.
Want to see more of Geri’s journey? Watch her interview, From Incarceration to Inspiration, Through Music: Geri Rebuilds Her Life After Prison.
