Reginald Glover

Misguided Anger

Reginald Glover was born in San Francisco, and raised in both Oakland and San Francisco. He is the nephew of renowned actor, Danny Glover. Reginald was arrested at 18 years old, and sentenced to life in prison at 19. He grew up in a single parent home for most of his childhood, it was him and his mom against the world in the beginning. He has been in prison for 28 years serving a life sentence.

When he was 6 years old he remembers his mom selling cocaine as a side job. He first noticed when he was playing with his toys, and he grabbed a white substance as a prop. His mom's reaction to him grabbing that substance made him suspicious. After he knew something was going on, they were going for a walk to the store, and someone tried robbing his mom. Reginald, being a 6 year old, didn’t know exactly what to do, so he bit the back of the robbers leg. The thief threw Reginald off of him, but allowed his mom enough time to pull out her gun and shoot the man.

That instance taught Reginald that it was kill or be killed in his world. Early in his life, when Reginald, his brother, and his mom were visiting Reginald’s dad, he wouldn’t let him use the bathroom because there was a woman hiding in the bathroom. They left with his mom, went back that night and his mom shot up his house while in the car.

He had a brother that was 2 years older than him. He looked up to him highly and he was good in sports, so whenever his brother would get onto a sports team, they would have to let he play as well. He was who he looked up to most in the world.

When he was 14 his brother and mom had an argument, which resulted in her kicking him out of the house. He lived with his grandparents for a year, until he was murdered. He was 15 years old and devastated, his attitude changed after that, he started acting out a lot more. By 16 years old, Reginald was selling drugs on the street. He needed to help pay for things and that’s what his parents were doing for money. 

At 16, he had one child on the way that he knew of, and another one that he didn’t. He started looking up to his soon to be co-defendant as his big brother figure, they were selling together, and started robbing houses for extra money. During one of their robberies, Reginald committed murder. The murder wasn’t about getting money, it was an opportunity to take something from someone.

Reginald was arrested at 18 years old, spent a year awaiting trial, and was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 19 in 1992. It didn’t really phase him when the judge said that he would be serving a life sentence. In the culture, the world he was living in, this was the norm. Either you went to prison, or you ended up dead. When he arrived at Pelican Bay prison at the age of 19, the first thing he asked for was a knife; he was still in a survival state of mind. 

While in prison Reginald’s wife was visiting and helped him realize he didn’t even commit those crimes for himself. It was always for someone else. This made Reginald reevaluate a lot of his past decisions and future choices. At Reginald’s first parole hearing in 2014, the commissioner called him a coward, that didn’t sit well with Reginald at the time, but he sat and thought about what his wife and the commissioner said, he had a realization over time, that he was selfish.

During a victim's awareness workshop, a mother who as a victim of a violent crime, came to talk the workshop, by listening to her stories Reginald realized how much pain he has caused his mom and those he had harmed. He started joining other groups like Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence, Cornerstone, and many more. He has turned a corner, he has transformed his life and he now sees his poor choices and weaknesses and is growing from them.

Reginald’s next parole hearing is set for June 2021, but it may be moved up to a sooner date. He has plans to start a non-profit organization, helping to feed everyone who can’t afford to feed themselves. He also wants to talk to kids who are in similar situations to what he was in, tell them his story, and share how to avoid going down the path that changed the trajectory of his life forever. He wants to give back to his community, and help prevent the same fate that life that he met because of his choices.

CROP Organization's directors' served years with Reginald Glover and were able to witness his transformation. this is his story...This is his story.