San Quentin State Prison- Hope Behind Walls
My Visit to San Quentin State Prison
Living in the Bay Area, next to Alcatraz, San Quentin is the second most famous prison in the area. When the name comes up, you think of scary inmates, violent offenders, and men that should never see the light of day again. My experience today sort of shifted my idea of people who are doing time behind bars.
I arrived over an hour early at 8:15 AM on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, to a normal Fall morning of crisp air and a slight breeze that penetrates your skin and into your bones. I found myself waiting for the group I am on the tour with to arrive; overtaken with different emotions I paced around and looked for any way to kill time before our 9:30 meet up. I peeked inside the gift shop that was closed to see art done by inmates worthy enough the be in the De Young Museum just south of us in San Francisco. My heart had the feeling of fear and excitement-- it was like going on a roller coaster, with the ever-comforting fear of potentially anything happening. My group arrives. I say hello to the lady that has helped me advance so much in my life and is a second mother to me, Stacey Martin, after saying hi to her I felt the ease only a mother could bring. We waited around a familiar face that I have only seen on television and dozens of YouTube videos: Lieutenant Sam Robinson, the prions Spokesperson. Not surprisingly he knew Stacey. Lieutenant Robinson greeted us and gave us a history lesson of the prison. He actually gave us a few chances to back out of the tour, a part of me wanted to, but I knew I waited far too long for an opportunity like this.
We entered through the serval gates to standard protocols similar to which I have experienced in my time in the military: stand to the right, don't forget to sign in, and have your ID ready. The only difference was all the sights and sounds of a prison. At this point, my heart is filled with nervousness, as I am finally seeing for the first time in the person those California prison uniforms I have seen on television for years. We were given the rundown about the prison and the different facilities. The main plaza where most of the guards enter when they come to work was being maintained by inmates with a memorial of the fallen officers. LT. Robinson gave us a story of one inmate who killed two guards while being handcuffed. This certainly didn't make the butterflies in my tummy go away, it only led me to constantly check my surroundings. I was already here, so I had to keep going.
The first stop was the church. The church looked like a normal church and it had several inmates at their own will walking around. I was expecting to see at least one guard somewhere but didn't see one, which made me nervous yet comforted because of LT. Robinson always appeared to be in charge and well-liked by the guards and the prisoners. It is there we are met with several inmates who shook our hands, and at that moment I realized I am actually fully in prison. The smiles we received as we walked in and the handshakes that were given out is might not what one would think when they enter prison, but at this point, I didn't have any expectations. Several men, all but one are black, the other being white are standing at the front and they would later serve as both our escorts and a panel.
To my surprise the men told us about how they ended up in prison, all but two are in for murder. Many of us and at one point myself would have this stereotype of what murder is, someone who is heartless, doesn't care about others, egotistic, and cocky. While that may be true for some and I wouldn't doubt there are men and women who are like that, but we need to remember as society that the people behind bars are still human beings too and it is understandable that we see some of them in such a negative way for the things they have done. However, there comes a point when we as people on the outside need to ask ourselves when do we forgive those, who have done so wrong? When do we acknowledge that many people who commit crimes aren't genuinely bad people, they just made a mistake? The men I met today, you could tell were genuinely sorry and didn't want society to forgive them just because they were guilty and that was it. No, the men I met wanted to earn society's forgiveness through their actions while being inside. We have all done something where we asked forgiveness and said we would do better, just to sort of wait for things to clear up and not do much personal follow up afterward, I certainly know I have. These men were earning Associates Degrees and their high school diploma because they know they have something to prove, which is the fact that humans can change because many know they will be returning to the society at some point so they are working to not only provide a better life for themselves and their loved ones but to show the world that not everyone who does something terrible is a terrible person.
The gentlemen were very transparent about what they did and how much time they had done already, why they committed the crime, and if and when they would be going home. It wasn't uncommon to meet someone that has been "down" longer than the 22 years I have been alive. When I would talk to those that have been in for 30 or more years it is sometimes hard to imagine because you can't help but think about how much they have missed already with the world changing around them without them being apart of it, and all the small things in life that just come with being alive. One man told my group that one thing he wishes he could do is to pick up his daughter from school. I met a guy who went by Ray-Ray who is only a few months older than me. He said that one thing he misses aside from family was Chinese Food and Video Games. I don't know why, but when he said: "I'm a gamer" with a slight chuckle, I felt another barrier fall down and once again humanity returns in your heart. Ray Ray and I have a lot in common. He is another person in the criminal justice system that you could tell is a genuine person who made a mistake in the heat of the moment.
As time went on, we were able to see different parts of the prison such as the hospital. I will say this, I have been on edge before, but nothing is scarier than a prison hospital with inmates saying just about anything to you. While we were going from sight to sight, I noticed the different ages of people from people who could clearly be old enough to be my grandparents and others who looked the same age as me if not younger. The men who were older, I would wonder if they were victims of institutionalized racism and falling victim to the classic American plague of being born with a plastic spoon in their mouth rather than a silver or in some children's situation, a platinum spoon in their mouth. The men I saw that were clearly the age as me if not slightly older or younger I just wanted to ask what were they doing there and where in life did things go south?
Within the information I gathered from my unofficial on the spot interviews of the men I met the story among the inmates was rather consistent and that many of the people who were locked up had a rough home life from the start. If there was something that was constantly repeated it was "if I would have said I need help I wouldn't be here" several men said that the exact same thing. This made me think about the low-income communities in America where resources are slim and the opportunity to make it out is slim to none. America has the privilege of being the wealthiest nation in the history of our planet, but instead of that money being spread equitably, it has gone nowhere but up leaving those with little to nothing to be stuck in a place they can't escape. Most people who are in prison were born in a situation where it would be easier for them to fall into the prison system than it would be to get accepted into college. A report conducted by the Prosperity Now titled The New Pipeline Prison to Poverty showcased the connection between the number of people of incarcerated individuals and their income levels prior to being locked up. A quote from the article states “They found that incarcerated people ages 27-42 had a median annual income of $19,185 prior to incarceration, a figure that is 41 percent less than non-incarcerated people of a similar age”. With the number of people who are incarcerated consisting mostly of people of color, that number shows that people are born on roads with walls on the side and holes in the road. The walls, are placed from birth and they keep people in their lane and often times is impossible to clime. The potholes are the obstacles in the road, the more money you are born with, the fewer potholes you will have on your path. For those who are born in low-income areas experience more potholes than anyone else, thus leading to the inevitable destruction of a tire. For the many people who are born to families with less than the desirable financial situation most would want, this can lead to prison.
If you go to any major metropolitan area within America, it is easy to see how systemic racism, oppression, and a lack of care for low-income areas across America has affected our prison system. Yes, you have people like Michael Cohen who committed white-collar crimes and came from a background of privilege, but that isn't the case for many people. Low-income white people often referred to as "trailer trash" are usually comprised of people who aren't Anglo Saxon and have been dealt the bad hand of not being born English or French. Like many other communities around the country. When people have few resources to make money they do what they can to get by, often times this calls for something illegal. Let's be clear if you are white in America you definitely have an easier time making something of yourself and making opportunities so you can "pull yourself up by the bootstraps". For people of color, the situation is usually the same, they came from an area that has been ravished by policies that kept minorities oppressed with tougher sentences that wouldn't have received they were white. One of the men we met on the tour that is white openly said that if he were black, his murder conviction would have been life without parole as opposed to his 25-year sentence.
As we move forward, America as a whole needs to stop and look itself in the mirror and have an honest conversation about how things are being conducted, what needs to go and what needs to be added. In California, recreational marijuana is legal and it is just as common to see someone smoking a joint as you would a cigarette (I believe my generation is more anti-tobacco and many people I know would encourage one to smoke pot before tobacco), but we still thousands of men and women locked up from Presidents Raegan and Clinton's War on Drugs. Thousands of people are still in for minor crimes with long term sentences because of the three-strikes rule. Who knows how many people are in that didn't commit a murder, but were apart of a crime and a killing took place and are stuck serving life sentences for a murder they didn't commit nor plan to commit? Nationwide we have way too many mentally ill individuals get thrown into prison without any sort of treatment. Too many minors are being tried as adults and given sentences that won't allow them to give them tools to set themselves up for success. The number of elderly inmates is growing and soon many of them will be passing away. Some have been in prison for so long they could be considered to be raised in prison. Most importantly, we have forgotten that the people behind those walls are humans too. Yes, it is easy to say that people who commit a crime should be punished and that is certainly true, however, we need to remind ourselves that people change. The majority of incarcerated people will go home at some point and they will be vital to our nation's economy, workforce, and ending the cycle of poverty and crime that we see far too often in our system. When people can't contribute and earn money to spend that hurts local economies and that is how recessions begin. When people have no skills that the workforce needs they fall into crime or back into it the system. If we don't give someone the chance to build a brighter tomorrow our nation suffers because they can't contribute and their children will more than likely fall into the same system their parents were apart of.
San Quentin is a place where you can find someone who has done wrong and wants to give back and make something of themselves to benefit society and as the population that is giving our tax dollars to house, feed, and watch after these individuals, it is about time we unlock our arms and open our hearts and minds to those who wish to earn our forgiveness. Legislators have made it hard for people to jump over the hurdle of reinterring society. A quote from the Simmons University article The Challenges of Prisoner Re-Entry into Society states “Many ex-offenders are not given a new driver’s license simply because of their criminal record, but yet must drive to work, or drive to see their parole officers.” Even with people being released they can technically restart their life, but some of the most minor acts of assimilating into society can’t even be accomplished. Some situations certainly can't be forgotten and maybe even forgiven, but that does not mean we can't give someone a second chance.
People don't go away just because they are behind walls and barbed wires. We must do better in America. I am glad I took this opportunity. I will never forget it. Someday I hope to return and do what I can to help improve the lives of those in the system for the rest of their lives when some pay their debt and exit those walls, and I hope to work to help prevent people from entering in the first place.
I wish nothing, but the best for everyone locked up across this nation.