Eddy Zheng, a former felon from San Quentin Penitentiary, who was recently featured in the most recent edition of Verde, spoke to Paly students last Friday about his transformation in prison.
Zheng, who spent nearly 20 years in prison for kidnap and robbery, is now an educated poet with a GED credential and associate of arts degree. Even facing impending deportation to China, Zheng says he is still fighting to claim his rightful place in America.
After going to jail at 16, Zheng taught himself English and graduated from the college program at San Quentin.
“When I first went into prison, I had to learn survival skills.” Zheng said. “Once I learned those, I wanted to educate myself.”
While imprisoned, Zheng noticed a huge gap in the different racial groups at San Quentin.
“The whites would hang out at their corner, and the blacks would be in theirs. And in the other two corners, you would have the Hispanics and the Asians.”
Zheng pushed for unity among his fellow inmates. He started by sharing a cell with a white male, a feat never accomplished before in San Quentin.
“I refused to conform to the segregation,” said Zheng, “we had to see the unity in each other.”
Reaching out to people in the system, Zheng was everyone’s friend, trying to fuse the population into a collection that everyone could relate to. “People would hear what I had to say, because I had respect for myself, which gave me respect from others.”
Zheng even tried to push for an Asian history and culture class, hoping to bring together separated Asian nationalities into a common basis. When he pushed even harder for the program, he was locked into solitary confinement for violation of prison rules.
Now out of prison, Zheng is carefully monitored by an intensive supervision program. The program gives him strict rules for check-in times and curfews. He was even required to wear a GPS shackle on his ankle for the first month after his release.
Zheng works for the Community Youth Center in San Francisco. His role is to empower and help needy Asian youth, enabling them to reach goals otherwise unattainable by their current means. Zheng travels around the Bay Area giving talks at schools.
“He’s been really productive,” says Jeanne Loh, a former tutor. “He’s been asked to talk at many schools and universities.”
Even after the March 10, 2005, deportation order, Zheng’s lawyers say that he has redeemed himself as a beneficial member of society. According to East Bay News, supporters all over the Bay Area are rooting to stop the extradition, arguing that Zheng, above all, should be the one given the second chance. Zheng says he awaits a miracle to keep him from deportation now.