Glen “Bo” Holden
Photo Credit: Joe Budd
“If you got a voice then speak your mind.”
I’m Glen Anthony Holden. I am 68-years-old and I'm from the city of San Francisco. I've lived here all my life.
I've been off parole for one year. I've been out about close to four years. I was given a seven-year-to-life sentence, and ended up doing 45 years. Thought I would never get out. I got out in 2015.
Buried my brother, one of my older brothers, the day I got out. He had passed away two weeks earlier, then we buried him same day I got out. I lost sisters and families and my mom through those years.
I was supported throughout all those the years. When you're doing time like that, you become selfish. You expect all these things. I had so much support though. So now that I'm out, I want to support others. I'm working with kids, working with grownups. Re-entry guys getting out of the pen. It's been a blessing.
When I was a youngster, we had undercover cops running around in Volkswagens with long hair, leather coats, trying to look like hippies or thugs. But once you knew they were drug enforcement narcotic agents, you knew what time it was when they came to the playground to come and confront you.
We'd be sitting in a circle, maybe drinking a little wine or something and a little weed in your pocket. Everybody always throws their joints when we'd see them coming. So they'd round us up. Get us against the wall, pat us down, go in your pockets and say, "What's that?"
We already threw the weed but they'd have a stash of weed that they would play like they pulled it out of your pocket. They'd pull one guy aside or another guy and start sweating him, you know, who runs the weed in your neighborhood? Who's the drug dealers? Who's the gang members?
They were just idiots. Go after somebody who's committing crimes. We're just youngsters kickin’ it and trying to get by. We ain't bothered nobody. We're not bothering the people in the neighborhood. We're looking out for our community. But then they come into our community, and sweat us. And they would continuously be there.
Marijuana laws impacted so many people. I read that quote from Ehrlichman, who finally gave up information that they knew exactly what they were doing. Going in the black and brown communities, man, disrupting the things that they were trying to do, either food programs or the Black Panther party or the Brown Berets. Anything that they could do to get in the neighborhoods and use marijuana as a catalyst to break doors down.
They vilified our community, but they're never held accountable. They account only for their own, no one can hold the police accountable. I think, shit, there hasn't been an indictment of a cop for killing somebody in 84 years. Do you believe that?
84 years. They never get indicted. They are never held accountable. And yet they're a firing squad. Look what they did with Mario Woods, standing right there, he ain't charging anybody. And five of them open fire on him. There's so many. It's just on and on and on.
Getting back to the cannabis, the city government needs to keep the Federal government out of this. There's a lot of support now and it's moving forward. Hopefully, the Federal government will just keep their mitts off it.
The only way the industry can be equal is if some of us are able to influence bigger decisions. You've probably heard of The Equity Group, etc. There are a lot of groups that want to see equity throughout the community. There's only 60 permits - we need to build up the areas where people can keep getting jobs, either through manufacturing, oils, edibles, weed itself. Whatever it is, people just need jobs. Let's put people on the board from affected communities, give them jobs, give them a paycheck. Let's all thrive, let's all eat.
Whatever someone’s feeling is - if it’s positive, negative or whatever - let them do the research and make their determination on whether or not we should participate in an equity program or help out equity people. If you got a voice, then speak your mind.
