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The Oakland-raised R&B star reveals that her mother was once one of these women, held within the same walls at the California Institute for Women in Chino. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://youtu.be/1V1j9a2vWdk?si=dxcOLmNS3RuVEjSh\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the episode, Kehlani shares some painful memories from her childhood. Her mom had been in and out of prison since Kehlani was born; while incarcerated, she gave birth to Kehlani’s little brother in shackles. The baby died five days later, and the grief sent her mom into a spiral of addiction that frayed their relationship. Kehlani also opens up about losing her father. After he got out of prison, when Kehlani was a little girl, he died at the hands of a gang he joined behind bars. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Yesterday made me realize how prison shaped my entire world,” Kehlani says after the healing circle. The camera cuts to her taking a moment to herself, rubbing her temples as if processing her pain in real time. “Like, if my dad never goes to prison, he never joins the gang. He never dies. If my mother never goes to prison, she has my brother. I won’t say everything will be perfect, but who knows how different life will be.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In each new episode of \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em>, JJ’88 and reseda will visit a different prison with an artist whose life has been impacted by incarceration or violence. Together, with people serving sentences on the inside, they’ll have conversations about what healing and forgiveness can look like. The project is an extension of the Emmy-winning 2024 film the two created with director Contessa Gayles, \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em> is a documentary about JJ’88’s life before, during and after prison, interstiched with his music videos. He wrote and recorded the songs in the film while incarcerated, and sent Gayles handwritten treatments for the music videos by snail mail. The movie takes a hard look at cycles of violence and offers bold ideas for how to break them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raised in a Long Beach neighborhood where gun violence was common, JJ’88 took another young man’s life when he was only 15 years old. Three days later, his brother was murdered in a similar senseless shooting. The documentary tells the story of how, through music and the love of those around him, he changed his life, forgave his brother’s killer and devoted himself to helping shift the conditions that breed violence in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JJ’88 and reseda, who produced \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>, met while incarcerated. reseda was also the subject of a documentary Gayles directed in 2018, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/04/18/the-feminist-on-cellblock-y-doc-orig.cnn\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, about a self-help group he started at Soledad State Prison. The men read feminist literature and worked together to unlearn patriarchal beliefs about violence as a source of strength. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to hosting \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em> with JJ’88, reseda takes the director’s chair along with Antwan “Banks” Williams. The new series captures some of the 30-plus healing circles he and JJ’88 have held in prisons, using the film as a learning tool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We can choose healing over existing in trauma, and shoving the worst parts of our lives down, and trying to just get over it and not think about it,” JJ’88 tells KQED in a phone call. “We can process it. We can do it in a creative way. We can do it in a loving and joyous way, and we can do in circles.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the center of that practice is a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B0YktYcZ362e54ztpI0bKCMbXqyHiFcbJjd1lYTX6A/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.8y0tzo34q7q\">healing plan\u003c/a> he and reseda teach in their workshops, based on restorative justice principles. It calls people to make commitments to their physical, mental and spiritual health, their relationships and their communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Throughout my incarceration, the more I declared the positive parts of myself and tried to live into them, my community held me accountable to that,” JJ’88 says. “And that ultimately led to my freedom — and not just my physical freedom, but my spiritual freedom, my mental freedom to understand like, I have autonomy and power in my life to direct it. I’m capable of being who I wanna be, and I get to choose who that is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JJ’88 and reseda both practice the healing plan in their own lives. With their work in music, fashion and film through their creative agency, Question Culture, they hope to inspire people to also adopt it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“You make those commitments and then you ask your closest people to hold you accountable to that,” reseda says. “And you continue to do that forever, as a lifestyle. And it changes accountability from something that happens after something went wrong to something that happens on the front end.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their view, the healing plan is part of moving away from a domination-based society that relies on prisons to a more care-based way of life where harm is addressed before it happens. They’ve used it during trainings with community groups, including Bay Area organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13918908/oakland-department-violence-prevention-curyj-restorative-justice-town-nights\">CURYJ\u003c/a>, and worked with municipalities, including the Oakland Department of Violence Prevention. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em> streaming on Netflix, and the awards and fanfare for that project now over, \u003cem>Live from the Hole\u003c/em> is a way to continue the conversation around restorative justice; new episodes will be arriving in the coming months. Kehlani and her longtime manager, David Ali, have come on as executive producers for the entire series, with more special guests to come.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Luckily, the people we brought in who have big audiences, they’re really about this work,” reseda says. “And those are the people who we’re looking for, people who are directly impacted by state and community violence, and who are willing to do the vulnerable work of transformation and accountability and integrity.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the episode, Kehlani shares some painful memories from her childhood. Her mom had been in and out of prison since Kehlani was born; while incarcerated, she gave birth to Kehlani’s little brother in shackles. The baby died five days later, and the grief sent her mom into a spiral of addiction that frayed their relationship. Kehlani also opens up about losing her father. After he got out of prison, when Kehlani was a little girl, he died at the hands of a gang he joined behind bars. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the episode, Kehlani shares some painful memories from her childhood. Her mom had been in and out of prison since Kehlani was born; while incarcerated, she gave birth to Kehlani’s little brother in shackles. The baby died five days later, and the grief sent her mom into a spiral of addiction that frayed their relationship. Kehlani also opens up about losing her father. After he got out of prison, when Kehlani was a little girl, he died at the hands of a gang he joined behind bars. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Yesterday made me realize how prison shaped my entire world,” Kehlani says after the healing circle. The camera cuts to her taking a moment to herself, rubbing her temples as if processing her pain in real time. “Like, if my dad never goes to prison, he never joins the gang. He never dies. If my mother never goes to prison, she has my brother. I won’t say everything will be perfect, but who knows how different life will be.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Yesterday made me realize how prison shaped my entire world,” Kehlani says after the healing circle. The camera cuts to her taking a moment to herself, rubbing her temples as if processing her pain in real time. “Like, if my dad never goes to prison, he never joins the gang. He never dies. If my mother never goes to prison, she has my brother. I won’t say everything will be perfect, but who knows how different life will be.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In each new episode of \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em>, JJ’88 and reseda will visit a different prison with an artist whose life has been impacted by incarceration or violence. Together, with people serving sentences on the inside, they’ll have conversations about what healing and forgiveness can look like. The project is an extension of the Emmy-winning 2024 film the two created with director Contessa Gayles, \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In each new episode of \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em>, JJ’88 and reseda will visit a different prison with an artist whose life has been impacted by incarceration or violence. Together, with people serving sentences on the inside, they’ll have conversations about what healing and forgiveness can look like. The project is an extension of the Emmy-winning 2024 film the two created with director Contessa Gayles, \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em> is a documentary about JJ’88’s life before, during and after prison, interstiched with his music videos. He wrote and recorded the songs in the film while incarcerated, and sent Gayles handwritten treatments for the music videos by snail mail. The movie takes a hard look at cycles of violence and offers bold ideas for how to break them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em> is a documentary about JJ’88’s life before, during and after prison, interstiched with his music videos. He wrote and recorded the songs in the film while incarcerated, and sent Gayles handwritten treatments for the music videos by snail mail. The movie takes a hard look at cycles of violence and offers bold ideas for how to break them. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Raised in a Long Beach neighborhood where gun violence was common, JJ’88 took another young man’s life when he was only 15 years old. Three days later, his brother was murdered in a similar senseless shooting. The documentary tells the story of how, through music and the love of those around him, he changed his life, forgave his brother’s killer and devoted himself to helping shift the conditions that breed violence in the first place.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Raised in a Long Beach neighborhood where gun violence was common, JJ’88 took another young man’s life when he was only 15 years old. Three days later, his brother was murdered in a similar senseless shooting. The documentary tells the story of how, through music and the love of those around him, he changed his life, forgave his brother’s killer and devoted himself to helping shift the conditions that breed violence in the first place.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>JJ’88 and reseda, who produced \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>, met while incarcerated. reseda was also the subject of a documentary Gayles directed in 2018, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/04/18/the-feminist-on-cellblock-y-doc-orig.cnn\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, about a self-help group he started at Soledad State Prison. The men read feminist literature and worked together to unlearn patriarchal beliefs about violence as a source of strength. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>JJ’88 and reseda, who produced \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>, met while incarcerated. reseda was also the subject of a documentary Gayles directed in 2018, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/04/18/the-feminist-on-cellblock-y-doc-orig.cnn\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, about a self-help group he started at Soledad State Prison. The men read feminist literature and worked together to unlearn patriarchal beliefs about violence as a source of strength. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition to hosting \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em> with JJ’88, reseda takes the director’s chair along with Antwan “Banks” Williams. The new series captures some of the 30-plus healing circles he and JJ’88 have held in prisons, using the film as a learning tool. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In addition to hosting \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em> with JJ’88, reseda takes the director’s chair along with Antwan “Banks” Williams. The new series captures some of the 30-plus healing circles he and JJ’88 have held in prisons, using the film as a learning tool. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We can choose healing over existing in trauma, and shoving the worst parts of our lives down, and trying to just get over it and not think about it,” JJ’88 tells KQED in a phone call. “We can process it. We can do it in a creative way. We can do it in a loving and joyous way, and we can do in circles.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We can choose healing over existing in trauma, and shoving the worst parts of our lives down, and trying to just get over it and not think about it,” JJ’88 tells KQED in a phone call. “We can process it. We can do it in a creative way. We can do it in a loving and joyous way, and we can do in circles.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the center of that practice is a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B0YktYcZ362e54ztpI0bKCMbXqyHiFcbJjd1lYTX6A/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.8y0tzo34q7q\">healing plan\u003c/a> he and reseda teach in their workshops, based on restorative justice principles. It calls people to make commitments to their physical, mental and spiritual health, their relationships and their communities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Throughout my incarceration, the more I declared the positive parts of myself and tried to live into them, my community held me accountable to that,” JJ’88 says. “And that ultimately led to my freedom — and not just my physical freedom, but my spiritual freedom, my mental freedom to understand like, I have autonomy and power in my life to direct it. I’m capable of being who I wanna be, and I get to choose who that is.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Throughout my incarceration, the more I declared the positive parts of myself and tried to live into them, my community held me accountable to that,” JJ’88 says. “And that ultimately led to my freedom — and not just my physical freedom, but my spiritual freedom, my mental freedom to understand like, I have autonomy and power in my life to direct it. I’m capable of being who I wanna be, and I get to choose who that is.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>JJ’88 and reseda both practice the healing plan in their own lives. With their work in music, fashion and film through their creative agency, Question Culture, they hope to inspire people to also adopt it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You make those commitments and then you ask your closest people to hold you accountable to that,” reseda says. “And you continue to do that forever, as a lifestyle. And it changes accountability from something that happens after something went wrong to something that happens on the front end.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In their view, the healing plan is part of moving away from a domination-based society that relies on prisons to a more care-based way of life where harm is addressed before it happens. They’ve used it during trainings with community groups, including Bay Area organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13918908/oakland-department-violence-prevention-curyj-restorative-justice-town-nights\">CURYJ\u003c/a>, and worked with municipalities, including the Oakland Department of Violence Prevention. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em> streaming on Netflix, and the awards and fanfare for that project now over, \u003cem>Live from the Hole\u003c/em> is a way to continue the conversation around restorative justice; new episodes will be arriving in the coming months. Kehlani and her longtime manager, David Ali, have come on as executive producers for the entire series, with more special guests to come.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Luckily, the people we brought in who have big audiences, they’re really about this work,” reseda says. “And those are the people who we’re looking for, people who are directly impacted by state and community violence, and who are willing to do the vulnerable work of transformation and accountability and integrity.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The R&B star is executive producing a new series about healing and forgiveness from Emmy-winning filmmakers JJ’88 and richie reseda.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When richie reseda and JJ’88 invited \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kehlani\">Kehlani \u003c/a>to do a healing circle inside of a women’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/prison\">prison\u003c/a>, she responded in all caps: “HELL YES.” What they didn’t realize was just how vulnerable and meaningful the visit would be. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JJ’88 and reseda’s new YouTube series, \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em>, premiered last week. In the debut episode, Kehlani sits among a circle of incarcerated women contending with childhood trauma, sexual abuse and the circumstances that led to their imprisonment. The Oakland-raised R&B star reveals that her mother was once one of these women, held within the same walls at the California Institute for Women in Chino. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/1V1j9a2vWdk'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/1V1j9a2vWdk'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the episode, Kehlani shares some painful memories from her childhood. Her mom had been in and out of prison since Kehlani was born; while incarcerated, she gave birth to Kehlani’s little brother in shackles. The baby died five days later, and the grief sent her mom into a spiral of addiction that frayed their relationship. Kehlani also opens up about losing her father. After he got out of prison, when Kehlani was a little girl, he died at the hands of a gang he joined behind bars. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Yesterday made me realize how prison shaped my entire world,” Kehlani says after the healing circle. The camera cuts to her taking a moment to herself, rubbing her temples as if processing her pain in real time. “Like, if my dad never goes to prison, he never joins the gang. He never dies. If my mother never goes to prison, she has my brother. I won’t say everything will be perfect, but who knows how different life will be.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In each new episode of \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em>, JJ’88 and reseda will visit a different prison with an artist whose life has been impacted by incarceration or violence. Together, with people serving sentences on the inside, they’ll have conversations about what healing and forgiveness can look like. The project is an extension of the Emmy-winning 2024 film the two created with director Contessa Gayles, \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em> is a documentary about JJ’88’s life before, during and after prison, interstiched with his music videos. He wrote and recorded the songs in the film while incarcerated, and sent Gayles handwritten treatments for the music videos by snail mail. The movie takes a hard look at cycles of violence and offers bold ideas for how to break them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raised in a Long Beach neighborhood where gun violence was common, JJ’88 took another young man’s life when he was only 15 years old. Three days later, his brother was murdered in a similar senseless shooting. The documentary tells the story of how, through music and the love of those around him, he changed his life, forgave his brother’s killer and devoted himself to helping shift the conditions that breed violence in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JJ’88 and reseda, who produced \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>, met while incarcerated. reseda was also the subject of a documentary Gayles directed in 2018, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/04/18/the-feminist-on-cellblock-y-doc-orig.cnn\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, about a self-help group he started at Soledad State Prison. The men read feminist literature and worked together to unlearn patriarchal beliefs about violence as a source of strength. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to hosting \u003cem>Live From the Hole\u003c/em> with JJ’88, reseda takes the director’s chair along with Antwan “Banks” Williams. The new series captures some of the 30-plus healing circles he and JJ’88 have held in prisons, using the film as a learning tool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We can choose healing over existing in trauma, and shoving the worst parts of our lives down, and trying to just get over it and not think about it,” JJ’88 tells KQED in a phone call. “We can process it. We can do it in a creative way. We can do it in a loving and joyous way, and we can do in circles.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the center of that practice is a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B0YktYcZ362e54ztpI0bKCMbXqyHiFcbJjd1lYTX6A/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.8y0tzo34q7q\">healing plan\u003c/a> he and reseda teach in their workshops, based on restorative justice principles. It calls people to make commitments to their physical, mental and spiritual health, their relationships and their communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Throughout my incarceration, the more I declared the positive parts of myself and tried to live into them, my community held me accountable to that,” JJ’88 says. “And that ultimately led to my freedom — and not just my physical freedom, but my spiritual freedom, my mental freedom to understand like, I have autonomy and power in my life to direct it. I’m capable of being who I wanna be, and I get to choose who that is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JJ’88 and reseda both practice the healing plan in their own lives. With their work in music, fashion and film through their creative agency, Question Culture, they hope to inspire people to also adopt it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“You make those commitments and then you ask your closest people to hold you accountable to that,” reseda says. “And you continue to do that forever, as a lifestyle. And it changes accountability from something that happens after something went wrong to something that happens on the front end.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their view, the healing plan is part of moving away from a domination-based society that relies on prisons to a more care-based way of life where harm is addressed before it happens. They’ve used it during trainings with community groups, including Bay Area organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13918908/oakland-department-violence-prevention-curyj-restorative-justice-town-nights\">CURYJ\u003c/a>, and worked with municipalities, including the Oakland Department of Violence Prevention. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With \u003cem>Songs from the Hole\u003c/em> streaming on Netflix, and the awards and fanfare for that project now over, \u003cem>Live from the Hole\u003c/em> is a way to continue the conversation around restorative justice; new episodes will be arriving in the coming months. Kehlani and her longtime manager, David Ali, have come on as executive producers for the entire series, with more special guests to come.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Luckily, the people we brought in who have big audiences, they’re really about this work,” reseda says. “And those are the people who we’re looking for, people who are directly impacted by state and community violence, and who are willing to do the vulnerable work of transformation and accountability and integrity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The First-Ever Film Festival at a Women’s Prison in California",
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"content": "\u003cp>I was once told that one of the loneliest places in the world is the waiting room in a women’s prison. For a few hours on Saturday, March 28, the large crowd that filed into the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla defied that notion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">A small handful of visitors weren’t there for the day’s big event, but for regular visiting hours. A mother holding a baby in a shirt that read “Just served nine months in the womb.” An older woman going through security and removing items from her coat pocket, who told the guard she wished her daughter were part of the day’s activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a middle-aged man covered in tattoos, who while walking through the metal detector asked a security guard: why are all these other people in the waiting room?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re here for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanquentinfilmfestival.com/\">San Quentin Film Festival\u003c/a>,” she responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988084\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988084 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled.jpg\" alt='W. Kamau Bell hosts a panel discussion with Abby Pierce, Tiffany \"Tiny\" Cruz, Oscar Rodriguez, Steven Raven Liang and Antwan Banks Williams at the San Quentin Film Festival at CCWF. ' width=\"2000\" height=\"1485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-1536x1140.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">W. Kamau Bell hosts a panel discussion with Abby Pierce, Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz, Oscar Rodriguez, Steven Raven Liang and Antwan Banks Williams during the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cinephiles, photographers, professors and podcasters had all arrived in Chowchilla for the first-ever film festival held inside of a women’s prison in California. The daytime event showcased stories that centered the criminal justice system and explored concepts of love, freedom, health and healing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dde2Cmvj904\">Processing\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a short film by \u003ca href=\"https://www.antwanbanksphotography.com/\">Antwan Banks Williams\u003c/a>, combined audio interviews of incarcerated women with an intense scripted therapy session and opulent dance scenes, pairing uncomfortable truths with elegant body movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stevenliang.com/oscars-return\">Oscar’s Return\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an award-winning short documentary by \u003ca href=\"https://www.stevenliang.com/\">Steven Raven Liang\u003c/a>, chronicled the experience of Oscar Rodriguez, a man who returned home after spending 25 years behind bars. Despite finding his passion as a dog trainer, he still had to learn to deal with people in the outside world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"vimeo-player\" src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1129531106?h=82605106f5\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.soboomfilm.com/\">So, Boom\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a dramatic and hilarious narrative film by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tinyyydrama/\">Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/plainoldabby/\">Abby Pierce\u003c/a>, a character named Sweet Tea gives prison survival tips to her younger sister, who is soon set to turn herself in to the authorities. Sweet Tea shows her sister how to make a meal with the materials she’s issued, and advises her not to take favors from anyone, because they come with a price. In one scene, Sweet Tea demonstrates how makeup can be made from Kool-Aid and pencil shavings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I instantly looked around the room. There were so many women in blue CDCR shirts who’d gotten dressed up for the occasion using the resources they had; along with makeup, they wore fly earrings and freshly laid hairdos with perfect parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepbuQ702XE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting in a prison watching films about prison is like being in a 4D theatre. You \u003cem>feel\u003c/em> it. That’s why Louis Salé’s feature documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepbuQ702XE\">The People in Blue\u003c/a>\u003c/em> brought me to tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film chronicles the macro-level changes underway at San Quentin State Prison, which has recently been converted to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/02/san-quentin-rehabilitation-center/\">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center\u003c/a>. It also explores micro-level changes, as a handful of men go through an eight-week rehabilitative course that culminates in a visit from their families and a daddy-daughter dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The People in Blue\u003c/em> tugs the heartstrings, revealing all that comes with family separation. Lighthearted moments, like older men learning TikTok dances to impress their children, offset that weight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the film’s end, daughters and dads reunite while wearing dress attire. Again, I had to look around the room, and think: How many people in here, like me, grew up with fathers who were incarcerated?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988083 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028.jpg\" alt=\"People applaud during presentations at the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women's Facility. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The audience applauds during a presentation at the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like Salé’s film, the event as a whole contained moments of gravity, gratitude and goofiness. Musicians from the Juilliard School and vocalists from the prison’s chorus, as well as poets and comedian \u003ca href=\"https://www.wkamaubell.com/\">W. Kamau Bell\u003c/a>, all graced the stage. It was just like a regular film festival, except for the location and people in attendance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those attendees included creatives like filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://mayacamerongordon.com/\">Maya Cameron-Gordon\u003c/a>, visual artist \u003ca href=\"https://jacquelynserrano.com/about/\">Jacquelyn Serrano\u003c/a>, actor \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cousinshy/?hl=en\">Cousin Shy\u003c/a> and film director \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dlo.louis/\">D’Angelo “D’Lo” Louis\u003c/a>. All of them spent their Saturday in a gym at CCWF, accompanied by over 100 women in light blue shirts — just a small percentage of the 2,200 people currently incarcerated at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988081 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095.jpg\" alt=\"Diana Lovejoy, a CCWF resident, is the winner of the Best Documentary Pitch Award.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diana Lovejoy, a CCWF resident, won the Best Documentary Pitch Award during the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve never had an event of this magnitude at all in this facility, let alone for something for cultural and educational purpose,” said Diana Lovejoy, winner of the festival’s Best Documentary Pitch Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lovejoy also serves as Journalism Guild Chairperson for \u003ca href=\"https://ccwfpapertrail.org/\">\u003ci>The Paper Trail\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. Founded \u003ca href=\"https://ccwfpapertrail.org/welcome-to-the-ccwf-paper-trail/\">in 2024\u003c/a>, it’s the United States’ only independent newspaper created by people incarcerated in a women’s facility. The establishment of the publication has put a spotlight on the facility, and she hopes that eventually, the ability to produce films will allow its stories to be seen even more widely, adding that “we intend to get some of that film production in-house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While acquiring the needed facilities and the training is a lengthy process, Lovejoy is clear that it could foster a skill set the community will appreciate. “Several of us on the team would love to get into podcasting and more of digital production,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988082 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After nearly four decades behind bars, Miss Kelly said the San Quentin Film Festival had her thinking about what reentry entails, She’s pictured here at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For others, like Miss Kelly, the festival is a window into what reentry might entail. Its films, she said, highlight “the things that I forgot that I forgot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lapse in memory comes with being incarcerated for a long time. “Almost 40 years for me,” she said, pointing to herself, and describing how she’s prepared for the mental strain that may come after returning home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988085 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘In order to change, you have to stay in motion,’ said Asali Richardson, a volunteer working with the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Asali Richardson looked at the festival optimistically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people that participated from here, they deserve to shine,” she told me. “Even if you didn’t win, you deserve something. You put thought to paper, and that action is what creates change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person’s suffering, she said, may be answered by hearing somebody else’s story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988086\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988086 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in dark sunglasses poses for a photo. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cori Thomas, co-founder of the San Quentin Film Festival, which came to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cori Thomas, who worked with the Tribeca Film Festival for 17 years, co-founded the San Quentin Film Festival with Pulitzer prize–nominated podcast host and filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.rahsaannewyorkthomas.com/\">Rahsaan Thomas\u003c/a> (no relation).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Quentin Film Festival took five years to go from an idea to reality, debuting at San Quentin 2024. Now that she’s taken the show on the road, Cori couldn’t be happier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be a part of something that is helping women express themselves means more than anything to me,” she told me, noting that as a woman of color, it’s hard to be heard and respected. “You’re always sort of a second-class citizen,” Cori said. “You’re always the one who’s called to clean up the mess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105.jpg\" alt=\"A woman standing on stage while speaking into a microphone. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During the San Quentin Film Festival at Central California Women’s Facility on March 28, 2026, Lt. Monique Williams announced that she’ll retire in April as she celebrates her 50th birthday. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, she has big dreams for the festival: helping other prisons launch media centers, creating classes on filmmakers and maybe even livestreaming future festivals to prisons around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cori is right: taking in stories from a wide array of people and understanding their plight broadens one’s understanding of life. After working in and reporting about prisons on and off for over a decade, this was my first time in a women’s facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1357px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a garden. \" width=\"1357\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers.jpg 1357w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers-768x580.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1357px) 100vw, 1357px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just beyond the blooming flowers in CCWF’s garden, the barbed wire fence and ‘out of bounds’ sign serves as a reminder of where you are. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just like the other facilities I’d visited, there were barbed wire fences and steel doors, armed guards with keys jingling and Walkie-Talkies buzzing. People with facial tattoos. Folks in wheelchairs with ventilators. A lot more smiles than the male prisons I’ve visited, and more women guards, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there were also people pursuing dreams and chasing of freedom. Humans dealing with remorse and being accountable for their actions. There were harsh realities, fantastical tales and hands held in prayer circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the guards checked me out of the prison, I noticed they were the only ones in the waiting room, which had gone back to its natural empty state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for one day, at least, that women’s prison waiting room wasn’t one of the loneliest places in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>I was once told that one of the loneliest places in the world is the waiting room in a women’s prison. For a few hours on Saturday, March 28, the large crowd that filed into the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla defied that notion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">A small handful of visitors weren’t there for the day’s big event, but for regular visiting hours. A mother holding a baby in a shirt that read “Just served nine months in the womb.” An older woman going through security and removing items from her coat pocket, who told the guard she wished her daughter were part of the day’s activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a middle-aged man covered in tattoos, who while walking through the metal detector asked a security guard: why are all these other people in the waiting room?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re here for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanquentinfilmfestival.com/\">San Quentin Film Festival\u003c/a>,” she responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988084\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988084 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled.jpg\" alt='W. Kamau Bell hosts a panel discussion with Abby Pierce, Tiffany \"Tiny\" Cruz, Oscar Rodriguez, Steven Raven Liang and Antwan Banks Williams at the San Quentin Film Festival at CCWF. ' width=\"2000\" height=\"1485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Untitled-1536x1140.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">W. Kamau Bell hosts a panel discussion with Abby Pierce, Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz, Oscar Rodriguez, Steven Raven Liang and Antwan Banks Williams during the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cinephiles, photographers, professors and podcasters had all arrived in Chowchilla for the first-ever film festival held inside of a women’s prison in California. The daytime event showcased stories that centered the criminal justice system and explored concepts of love, freedom, health and healing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dde2Cmvj904\">Processing\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a short film by \u003ca href=\"https://www.antwanbanksphotography.com/\">Antwan Banks Williams\u003c/a>, combined audio interviews of incarcerated women with an intense scripted therapy session and opulent dance scenes, pairing uncomfortable truths with elegant body movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stevenliang.com/oscars-return\">Oscar’s Return\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an award-winning short documentary by \u003ca href=\"https://www.stevenliang.com/\">Steven Raven Liang\u003c/a>, chronicled the experience of Oscar Rodriguez, a man who returned home after spending 25 years behind bars. Despite finding his passion as a dog trainer, he still had to learn to deal with people in the outside world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"vimeo-player\" src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1129531106?h=82605106f5\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.soboomfilm.com/\">So, Boom\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a dramatic and hilarious narrative film by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tinyyydrama/\">Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/plainoldabby/\">Abby Pierce\u003c/a>, a character named Sweet Tea gives prison survival tips to her younger sister, who is soon set to turn herself in to the authorities. Sweet Tea shows her sister how to make a meal with the materials she’s issued, and advises her not to take favors from anyone, because they come with a price. In one scene, Sweet Tea demonstrates how makeup can be made from Kool-Aid and pencil shavings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I instantly looked around the room. There were so many women in blue CDCR shirts who’d gotten dressed up for the occasion using the resources they had; along with makeup, they wore fly earrings and freshly laid hairdos with perfect parts.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/WepbuQ702XE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/WepbuQ702XE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Sitting in a prison watching films about prison is like being in a 4D theatre. You \u003cem>feel\u003c/em> it. That’s why Louis Salé’s feature documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepbuQ702XE\">The People in Blue\u003c/a>\u003c/em> brought me to tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film chronicles the macro-level changes underway at San Quentin State Prison, which has recently been converted to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/02/san-quentin-rehabilitation-center/\">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center\u003c/a>. It also explores micro-level changes, as a handful of men go through an eight-week rehabilitative course that culminates in a visit from their families and a daddy-daughter dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The People in Blue\u003c/em> tugs the heartstrings, revealing all that comes with family separation. Lighthearted moments, like older men learning TikTok dances to impress their children, offset that weight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the film’s end, daughters and dads reunite while wearing dress attire. Again, I had to look around the room, and think: How many people in here, like me, grew up with fathers who were incarcerated?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988083 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028.jpg\" alt=\"People applaud during presentations at the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women's Facility. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01028-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The audience applauds during a presentation at the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like Salé’s film, the event as a whole contained moments of gravity, gratitude and goofiness. Musicians from the Juilliard School and vocalists from the prison’s chorus, as well as poets and comedian \u003ca href=\"https://www.wkamaubell.com/\">W. Kamau Bell\u003c/a>, all graced the stage. It was just like a regular film festival, except for the location and people in attendance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those attendees included creatives like filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://mayacamerongordon.com/\">Maya Cameron-Gordon\u003c/a>, visual artist \u003ca href=\"https://jacquelynserrano.com/about/\">Jacquelyn Serrano\u003c/a>, actor \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cousinshy/?hl=en\">Cousin Shy\u003c/a> and film director \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dlo.louis/\">D’Angelo “D’Lo” Louis\u003c/a>. All of them spent their Saturday in a gym at CCWF, accompanied by over 100 women in light blue shirts — just a small percentage of the 2,200 people currently incarcerated at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988081 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095.jpg\" alt=\"Diana Lovejoy, a CCWF resident, is the winner of the Best Documentary Pitch Award.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01095-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diana Lovejoy, a CCWF resident, won the Best Documentary Pitch Award during the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve never had an event of this magnitude at all in this facility, let alone for something for cultural and educational purpose,” said Diana Lovejoy, winner of the festival’s Best Documentary Pitch Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lovejoy also serves as Journalism Guild Chairperson for \u003ca href=\"https://ccwfpapertrail.org/\">\u003ci>The Paper Trail\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. Founded \u003ca href=\"https://ccwfpapertrail.org/welcome-to-the-ccwf-paper-trail/\">in 2024\u003c/a>, it’s the United States’ only independent newspaper created by people incarcerated in a women’s facility. The establishment of the publication has put a spotlight on the facility, and she hopes that eventually, the ability to produce films will allow its stories to be seen even more widely, adding that “we intend to get some of that film production in-house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While acquiring the needed facilities and the training is a lengthy process, Lovejoy is clear that it could foster a skill set the community will appreciate. “Several of us on the team would love to get into podcasting and more of digital production,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988082 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01077-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After nearly four decades behind bars, Miss Kelly said the San Quentin Film Festival had her thinking about what reentry entails, She’s pictured here at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For others, like Miss Kelly, the festival is a window into what reentry might entail. Its films, she said, highlight “the things that I forgot that I forgot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lapse in memory comes with being incarcerated for a long time. “Almost 40 years for me,” she said, pointing to herself, and describing how she’s prepared for the mental strain that may come after returning home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988085 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01084-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘In order to change, you have to stay in motion,’ said Asali Richardson, a volunteer working with the San Quentin Film Festival at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Asali Richardson looked at the festival optimistically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people that participated from here, they deserve to shine,” she told me. “Even if you didn’t win, you deserve something. You put thought to paper, and that action is what creates change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person’s suffering, she said, may be answered by hearing somebody else’s story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988086\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988086 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in dark sunglasses poses for a photo. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01056-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cori Thomas, co-founder of the San Quentin Film Festival, which came to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla on March 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cori Thomas, who worked with the Tribeca Film Festival for 17 years, co-founded the San Quentin Film Festival with Pulitzer prize–nominated podcast host and filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.rahsaannewyorkthomas.com/\">Rahsaan Thomas\u003c/a> (no relation).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Quentin Film Festival took five years to go from an idea to reality, debuting at San Quentin 2024. Now that she’s taken the show on the road, Cori couldn’t be happier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be a part of something that is helping women express themselves means more than anything to me,” she told me, noting that as a woman of color, it’s hard to be heard and respected. “You’re always sort of a second-class citizen,” Cori said. “You’re always the one who’s called to clean up the mess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105.jpg\" alt=\"A woman standing on stage while speaking into a microphone. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/DSC01105-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During the San Quentin Film Festival at Central California Women’s Facility on March 28, 2026, Lt. Monique Williams announced that she’ll retire in April as she celebrates her 50th birthday. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, she has big dreams for the festival: helping other prisons launch media centers, creating classes on filmmakers and maybe even livestreaming future festivals to prisons around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cori is right: taking in stories from a wide array of people and understanding their plight broadens one’s understanding of life. After working in and reporting about prisons on and off for over a decade, this was my first time in a women’s facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1357px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13988087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a garden. \" width=\"1357\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers.jpg 1357w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/flowers-768x580.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1357px) 100vw, 1357px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just beyond the blooming flowers in CCWF’s garden, the barbed wire fence and ‘out of bounds’ sign serves as a reminder of where you are. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just like the other facilities I’d visited, there were barbed wire fences and steel doors, armed guards with keys jingling and Walkie-Talkies buzzing. People with facial tattoos. Folks in wheelchairs with ventilators. A lot more smiles than the male prisons I’ve visited, and more women guards, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there were also people pursuing dreams and chasing of freedom. Humans dealing with remorse and being accountable for their actions. There were harsh realities, fantastical tales and hands held in prayer circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the guards checked me out of the prison, I noticed they were the only ones in the waiting room, which had gone back to its natural empty state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for one day, at least, that women’s prison waiting room wasn’t one of the loneliest places in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "1939-escape-from-alcatraz-island-arthur-doc-barker-stamphill-shot-captured-prison-1930s",
"title": "How a Little-Known Escape From Alcatraz Almost Closed the Prison in 1939",
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"headTitle": "How a Little-Known Escape From Alcatraz Almost Closed the Prison in 1939 | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As all good Bay Area history nerds know, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/alcatraz-island\">Alcatraz\u003c/a> Prison closed in 1963, less than a year after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870765/how-the-1962-escape-from-alcatraz-set-a-precedent-for-prison-crafting\">Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin escaped from the island\u003c/a>, never to be seen again. What is less well known is that there were serious calls to shut down the prison all the way back in 1939, just five years after it opened. That was after a different escape attempt put a spotlight on the failures and flaws of The Rock, and prompted debate all the way to Washington, D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13975058']On Jan. 13, 1939, five prisoners managed to saw through the bars of their individual cells in D block, get to the island’s western shoreline, and fashion a raft out of discarded lumber. Ultimately, two escapees were shot (one fatally) by guards, one fell from a cliff edge (and survived) and the final two were peacefully captured wearing only their skivvies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was by no means the first escape attempt by Alcatraz prisoners, but it represented a final straw for officials who were increasingly concerned that Alcatraz posed a security risk, as well as a PR problem for San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985139\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13985139 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-768x581.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-1536x1163.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alcatraz in 1938: the main prison building and recreation yard wall viewed from Bay. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3013)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 1939 escape crew was made up of a coterie of robbers, kidnappers and murderers, led by 40-year-old Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker, who ultimately lost his life. Barker’s associates were Dale Stamphill, 27, Rufus McCain, 36, Henry Young, 28 and William Martin, 25. Barker’s escape plan was said to be inspired in part by the escape of Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe, who made it off Alcatraz island two years prior. Cole and Roe were presumed drowned by authorities but their bodies were never found, leading many prisoners to believe the duo had made it to freedom. (The fact that escapee \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Scott\">John Paul Scott\u003c/a> successfully swam to Fort Point in 1962 later validated this theory.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The very same day Barker’s escape attempt happened, Alcatraz warden James A. Johnston took the unusual step of publishing his own account of events in the \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em>. Unfortunately for Johnston, his surprisingly frank summary wound up increasing existing concerns about the security of Alcatraz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnston wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>When I was awakened, it was so foggy that I could scarcely see to make my way to the cell block. It was really wool thick. We found that the men had escaped from the cell block by cutting through the bars of an exterior window and dropping nine or ten feet to the ground outside … As for how the men got the saws or other tools with which they cut their way out — that’s what we’re trying to learn. So far, we have no idea.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Two days later, a quote from Johnston in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> made the prison staff sound even more inept: “We were scurrying all around, and they were scurrying trying to escape us,” he said. “One minute we could see them, and then we couldn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More sensibly, Johnston explained to the press that Barker and Stamphill were shot when they made a run for the water after guards shouted a warning for them to stop. Stamphill took bullets in both legs, while Barker took one in the eye and later died in the prison hospital. (Horrifyingly, it was reported that Barker “did not lose consciousness” after he was shot.) McCain and Young escaped injury by surrendering, and Martin was later located hiding elsewhere on the island.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985136\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985136\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of a prison on an island with jagged outcrops. Small figures in matching uniforms can be seen walking in formation. Photo taken from a boat in the open water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-160x122.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-768x585.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-1536x1170.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prisoners marching along the west side of Alcatraz island in 1938 — the same area five prisoners attempted to escape from a year later. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3016)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If Johnston’s honesty about the chaotic nature of the escape attempt raised eyebrows, the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>’s coverage made things infinitely worse. The newspaper carried multiple articles written by a former Alcatraz inmate named Patrick Forrest Reed. Reed’s first exposé, published on Jan. 15, 1939, claimed that he personally had seen visitors repeatedly carry bars and wrenches through the prison’s metal detectors without guards noticing. Reed also said claims that Alcatraz’s cell and window bars were hacksaw-proof were “baloney.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Reed wrote in detail about the incompetence of some of the Alcatraz guards:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I’ve seen a guard on the catwalk dead to the world. I came out of the kitchen at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you could hear him snoring all over the block. There he sat with his feet propped up on the bars of the cage and his sawed off shotgun leaning against the bars on the cell house side. Any con could have stepped up on a desk below the catwalk and snatched the gun … Although it’s strictly against the rules, some of the guards over there have been known to drink.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Reed even alluded to possible corruption within the prison’s walls. “To get from their cells to the window they went through, those five cons had to pass down a long corridor, turn a corner within 20 feet of the catwalk screw and then go through a locked wire gate,” he explained. “You tell me how they got a key to that gate and maybe I’ll tell you how they did it without being seen or heard when it’s so quiet a cough sounds like a cannon shot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The terrible press coverage didn’t stop there. In the days after Barker’s death, it was reported that the coroner, T. B. W. Leland, was refusing to release Barker’s body to the undertakers assigned to handle the burial of Alcatraz prisoners. Instead, and in direct opposition to the wishes of prison officials, Leland was awaiting instruction from Barker’s father in Missouri.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Leland clarified his opposition to all things Alcatraz months later in the \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em>. “Alcatraz prison is a blotch on San Francisco’s name,” he said. “The government ought to ship all those gangsters out to the desert and give the island back to San Francisco as a park or a playground.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13870765']Things continued to get worse with the Jan. 24 inquest into Barker’s death. It concluded with a definitive “recommendation that San Francisco seek removal of [the] penitentiary from San Francisco Bay.” (A contributing factor may have been that Barker was not the first prisoner killed on the island. Thomas Limerick was shot to death in 1938 after killing a guard with a hammer, and Joe Bowers was killed in 1936 while climbing a chain link fence.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By June 7, 1939, U.S. Attorney General Frank Murphy was campaigning openly for the closure of Alcatraz. The \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em> reported that Murphy was “dissatisfied with what he termed the ‘bad psychology’ bred at Alcatraz, saying that it [was] ‘sinister and vicious.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same article reported that other major figures in favor of Alcatraz’s closure included District Attorney Matthew Brady and Chamber of Commerce President Marshall Dill. Dill reportedly stated: “Alcatraz is one tourist attraction San Francisco would be willing to lose without protest. The attorney general is welcome to move it whenever he wants to and wherever he wants to, and the sooner and farther, the better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of four men in 1930s-era suits examining a corridor of prison cells.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1608\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-768x617.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-1536x1235.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Mayor Angelo Rossi, U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings, Warden James A. Johnston, and S.F. Police Chief William Quinn inspect cells in Alcatraz on Aug 18, 1934, before the prison opened. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3052)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By that time, even sitting San Francisco mayor Angelo Rossi was opposed to keeping Alcatraz open. “God gave us a great and beautiful harbor, created to free the spirits of men, not to imprison them,” he said. “Alcatraz prison has been a drawback to the city, has brought us no good publicity … I’d be glad to see it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheriff Daniel C. Murphy echoed Rossi’s sentiments. “While the prison is not a menace from the standpoint of law enforcement,” he said, “I’ve never liked it here. It mars the beauty of our Bay. It brings us unpleasant notoriety … I’m pleased to hear it is to be abandoned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, Alcatraz prison was not abandoned for another quarter century. Instead, after Warden Johnston lobbied officials in D.C., a House appropriations subcommittee awarded the prison $100,000 to make security improvements on the island. Ten more escape attempts occurred before the prison finally closed, resulting in the deaths of two guards and four prisoners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of them could have predicted that this blight on the Bay would become one of San Francisco’s most popular attractions.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As all good Bay Area history nerds know, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/alcatraz-island\">Alcatraz\u003c/a> Prison closed in 1963, less than a year after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870765/how-the-1962-escape-from-alcatraz-set-a-precedent-for-prison-crafting\">Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin escaped from the island\u003c/a>, never to be seen again. What is less well known is that there were serious calls to shut down the prison all the way back in 1939, just five years after it opened. That was after a different escape attempt put a spotlight on the failures and flaws of The Rock, and prompted debate all the way to Washington, D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On Jan. 13, 1939, five prisoners managed to saw through the bars of their individual cells in D block, get to the island’s western shoreline, and fashion a raft out of discarded lumber. Ultimately, two escapees were shot (one fatally) by guards, one fell from a cliff edge (and survived) and the final two were peacefully captured wearing only their skivvies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was by no means the first escape attempt by Alcatraz prisoners, but it represented a final straw for officials who were increasingly concerned that Alcatraz posed a security risk, as well as a PR problem for San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985139\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13985139 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-768x581.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-wide-west-1536x1163.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alcatraz in 1938: the main prison building and recreation yard wall viewed from Bay. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3013)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 1939 escape crew was made up of a coterie of robbers, kidnappers and murderers, led by 40-year-old Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker, who ultimately lost his life. Barker’s associates were Dale Stamphill, 27, Rufus McCain, 36, Henry Young, 28 and William Martin, 25. Barker’s escape plan was said to be inspired in part by the escape of Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe, who made it off Alcatraz island two years prior. Cole and Roe were presumed drowned by authorities but their bodies were never found, leading many prisoners to believe the duo had made it to freedom. (The fact that escapee \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Scott\">John Paul Scott\u003c/a> successfully swam to Fort Point in 1962 later validated this theory.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The very same day Barker’s escape attempt happened, Alcatraz warden James A. Johnston took the unusual step of publishing his own account of events in the \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em>. Unfortunately for Johnston, his surprisingly frank summary wound up increasing existing concerns about the security of Alcatraz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnston wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>When I was awakened, it was so foggy that I could scarcely see to make my way to the cell block. It was really wool thick. We found that the men had escaped from the cell block by cutting through the bars of an exterior window and dropping nine or ten feet to the ground outside … As for how the men got the saws or other tools with which they cut their way out — that’s what we’re trying to learn. So far, we have no idea.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Two days later, a quote from Johnston in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> made the prison staff sound even more inept: “We were scurrying all around, and they were scurrying trying to escape us,” he said. “One minute we could see them, and then we couldn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More sensibly, Johnston explained to the press that Barker and Stamphill were shot when they made a run for the water after guards shouted a warning for them to stop. Stamphill took bullets in both legs, while Barker took one in the eye and later died in the prison hospital. (Horrifyingly, it was reported that Barker “did not lose consciousness” after he was shot.) McCain and Young escaped injury by surrendering, and Martin was later located hiding elsewhere on the island.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985136\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985136\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of a prison on an island with jagged outcrops. Small figures in matching uniforms can be seen walking in formation. Photo taken from a boat in the open water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-160x122.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-768x585.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-west-1938-1536x1170.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prisoners marching along the west side of Alcatraz island in 1938 — the same area five prisoners attempted to escape from a year later. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3016)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If Johnston’s honesty about the chaotic nature of the escape attempt raised eyebrows, the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>’s coverage made things infinitely worse. The newspaper carried multiple articles written by a former Alcatraz inmate named Patrick Forrest Reed. Reed’s first exposé, published on Jan. 15, 1939, claimed that he personally had seen visitors repeatedly carry bars and wrenches through the prison’s metal detectors without guards noticing. Reed also said claims that Alcatraz’s cell and window bars were hacksaw-proof were “baloney.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Reed wrote in detail about the incompetence of some of the Alcatraz guards:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I’ve seen a guard on the catwalk dead to the world. I came out of the kitchen at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you could hear him snoring all over the block. There he sat with his feet propped up on the bars of the cage and his sawed off shotgun leaning against the bars on the cell house side. Any con could have stepped up on a desk below the catwalk and snatched the gun … Although it’s strictly against the rules, some of the guards over there have been known to drink.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Reed even alluded to possible corruption within the prison’s walls. “To get from their cells to the window they went through, those five cons had to pass down a long corridor, turn a corner within 20 feet of the catwalk screw and then go through a locked wire gate,” he explained. “You tell me how they got a key to that gate and maybe I’ll tell you how they did it without being seen or heard when it’s so quiet a cough sounds like a cannon shot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The terrible press coverage didn’t stop there. In the days after Barker’s death, it was reported that the coroner, T. B. W. Leland, was refusing to release Barker’s body to the undertakers assigned to handle the burial of Alcatraz prisoners. Instead, and in direct opposition to the wishes of prison officials, Leland was awaiting instruction from Barker’s father in Missouri.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Leland clarified his opposition to all things Alcatraz months later in the \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em>. “Alcatraz prison is a blotch on San Francisco’s name,” he said. “The government ought to ship all those gangsters out to the desert and give the island back to San Francisco as a park or a playground.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Things continued to get worse with the Jan. 24 inquest into Barker’s death. It concluded with a definitive “recommendation that San Francisco seek removal of [the] penitentiary from San Francisco Bay.” (A contributing factor may have been that Barker was not the first prisoner killed on the island. Thomas Limerick was shot to death in 1938 after killing a guard with a hammer, and Joe Bowers was killed in 1936 while climbing a chain link fence.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By June 7, 1939, U.S. Attorney General Frank Murphy was campaigning openly for the closure of Alcatraz. The \u003cem>San Francisco Call Bulletin\u003c/em> reported that Murphy was “dissatisfied with what he termed the ‘bad psychology’ bred at Alcatraz, saying that it [was] ‘sinister and vicious.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same article reported that other major figures in favor of Alcatraz’s closure included District Attorney Matthew Brady and Chamber of Commerce President Marshall Dill. Dill reportedly stated: “Alcatraz is one tourist attraction San Francisco would be willing to lose without protest. The attorney general is welcome to move it whenever he wants to and wherever he wants to, and the sooner and farther, the better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of four men in 1930s-era suits examining a corridor of prison cells.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1608\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-768x617.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/alcatraz-inspection-rossi-1536x1235.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Mayor Angelo Rossi, U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings, Warden James A. Johnston, and S.F. Police Chief William Quinn inspect cells in Alcatraz on Aug 18, 1934, before the prison opened. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp14.3052)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By that time, even sitting San Francisco mayor Angelo Rossi was opposed to keeping Alcatraz open. “God gave us a great and beautiful harbor, created to free the spirits of men, not to imprison them,” he said. “Alcatraz prison has been a drawback to the city, has brought us no good publicity … I’d be glad to see it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheriff Daniel C. Murphy echoed Rossi’s sentiments. “While the prison is not a menace from the standpoint of law enforcement,” he said, “I’ve never liked it here. It mars the beauty of our Bay. It brings us unpleasant notoriety … I’m pleased to hear it is to be abandoned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, Alcatraz prison was not abandoned for another quarter century. Instead, after Warden Johnston lobbied officials in D.C., a House appropriations subcommittee awarded the prison $100,000 to make security improvements on the island. Ten more escape attempts occurred before the prison finally closed, resulting in the deaths of two guards and four prisoners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of them could have predicted that this blight on the Bay would become one of San Francisco’s most popular attractions.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "puerto-rican-restaurant-oakland-borinquen-soul-eric-rivera-comeback-santa-rita-jail",
"title": "A Legendary Puerto Rican Chef Reemerges in Oakland — After 5 Years Behind Bars",
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"headTitle": "A Legendary Puerto Rican Chef Reemerges in Oakland — After 5 Years Behind Bars | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]F[/dropcap]lash back to 2015, when the hottest restaurant in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland’s\u003c/a> Dimond District wasn’t a trendy Asian fusion spot, or a Michelin-endorsed palace of fine dining, or a temple to California cuisine. It wasn’t even a proper restaurant, really. Instead, crowds of hungry people would line up inside the Two Star Market liquor store on MacArthur for a taste of slow-roasted pernil, grilled chicken thighs with garlic and caramelized onions, and fragrant, annatto-stained arroz con gandules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The liquor store takeout spot was called \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/borinquen-soul-dishes-out-puerto-rican-grandma-food-inside-an-oakland-convenience-store-2-1/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, and it specialized in what founders Eric “E” Rivera and Chris Caraballo liked to call “food for the homesick boricua.” At the time, it was the only Puerto Rican restaurant in the East Bay, and even though the place didn’t really have any seating to speak of, it routinely drew customers from as far away as Stockton and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it just kind of disappeared. When Borinquen Soul closed in 2017, the two owners went their separate ways, and Rivera opened a new restaurant, W.E.P.A.!, that lasted less than a year. After that, nothing. Seven years passed without any word from the business. No explanation was ever given for why it had closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until a couple of months ago, that is. That was when Rivera, aka Chef E, suddenly reemerged at a little \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DHb5KNvypBd/\">pop-up takeout window in Vallejo\u003c/a>, where for a short time he was selling the same food I remembered from all those years ago — the same yellow rice flecked with pigeon peas and pimento olives, the ultra-crisp tostones and tangy mayuketchu. And if all goes according to plan, next month Rivera will complete his comeback. He’s opening a new restaurant in East Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/puertoricanstreetcuisine/\">Puerto Rican Street Cuisine\u003c/a> that’ll serve all of the old favorites from Borinquen Soul. It will once again be the only full-fledged Puerto Rican restaurant in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977966\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977966\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed.jpg\" alt='Two men stand on the roof of a restaurant holding a large Puerto Rican flag. The sign on the restaurant reads, \"Puerto Rican Street Cuisine.\"' width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chefs Eric Rivera (center) and Chris Lopez and stand on the roof of the 23rd Avenue restaurant in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place is going to be an incredible spot in these next few months, where you can just get the best of the best food,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as it turns out, there was a good reason why Rivera put his business on pause for seven years: He spent most of that time in jail, awaiting trial for a crime he says he didn’t commit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Life-Changing Turn of Events\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Born and bred in the Bronx, Rivera moved to the Bay Area to live with his aunt when he was a teenager, graduating from Independence High School in San Jose in the early ’90s. Back then, he was an up-and-coming rapper, performing under the name Mookie D. He was a member of the San Jose rap crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7SMjhzvxQ4\">Red Black & Green\u003c/a>, which put out an EP produced by KutMasta Kurt. He was good friends with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868241/sway-calloways-free-block-party-celebrates-oaklands-cultural-well\">Sway Calloway\u003c/a>, too, in those early years before Sway became one of the hip-hop world’s most prominent interviewers and tastemakers — Rivera even wound up rapping on one of the first episodes of Sway’s \u003ci>Wake Up Show\u003c/i> on KMEL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After high school, Rivera moved back to New York before returning to the Bay for good in 2008, dabbling in different jobs before he got serious about cooking. He was an amateur MMA fighter for a time and then worked as a strength and conditioning coach for the Oakland Raiders. In 2012, he and fellow Bronx transplant Chris Caraballo officially launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/borinquensoulwepa/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, initially as a food truck — the very first Puerto Rican food truck in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, Rivera recalls, it was just about impossible to find proper Puerto Rican food in the Bay: “When we came from New York, we got homesick right away. The food here wasn’t hitting home.” He and Caraballo started pulling up to Bay Area nightclubs, blasting loud salsa music from the truck when the clubs were letting out for the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977875\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera prepares a plate of food for workers at the businesses surrounding his restaurant. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It just became an overnight hit,” Rivera says. “People were hitting us up like, ‘Bro, I don’t know how to pronounce your name, but man, that was the best food I ever had!’ It was just the best feeling in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truck quickly built up a large fan base, which stayed loyal through the business’ remarkable three-year run inside the Two Star Market liquor store, from 2015 to 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many ways, then, the summer of 2018 was the high point of Rivera’s cooking career. Even though he’d closed Borinquen Soul after parting ways with Caraballo, his new restaurant, W.E.P.A.! (Where Everybody Parties At), was already \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/wepa-at-brix-581-rises-from-the-ashes-of-borinquen-soul-2-1/\">making a name for itself\u003c/a> with its menu of homey Puerto Rican dishes served inside a Jack London nightclub. Then came the ultimate validation: In June of that year, W.E.P.A.! got the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1oCNZuaF4I&t=247s\">\u003ci>Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives \u003c/i>treatment\u003c/a>, as the Bleached One himself gave Rivera’s loaded plantains and chicken chicharron mofongo the Flavortown stamp of approval. For a small, relatively unknown restaurant like Rivera’s, that kind of national TV exposure had the potential to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/2018/12/20/18150707/guy-fieri-diners-drive-ins-and-dives-good-for-restaurant-business\">life-changing\u003c/a>. “It was like a dream come true, man,” Rivera recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977878\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A tray of fried plantains under a heat lamp.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tray of tostones and fried sweet plantains kept warm under a heat lamp. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just a month later, that dream turned into a nightmare. Rivera says he was getting ready to open the restaurant on a Thursday afternoon when police officers showed up — without a warrant, he says — and grabbed him in the doorway. Rivera was arrested on a robbery charge and wound up serving five and a half years behind bars for a crime he insists he didn’t commit. He says there was even video evidence that proved he was at his restaurant the night the robbery took place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera eventually signed a plea deal, though, after he’d already been held in Dublin’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945438/community-and-civil-rights-groups-hold-vigil-and-rally-over-recent-deaths-at-santa-rita-jail\">notoriously dangerous\u003c/a> Santa Rita Jail for four years without a trial. He says Alameda County prosecutors kept finding reasons to postpone the trial — a sign, he believes, that they knew they didn’t have a case. Still, the long years and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11918230/grand-jury-major-health-and-safety-violations-at-santa-rita-jail-require-urgent-attention\">awful conditions\u003c/a> in jail had worn him down. Rivera’s mother passed away while he was at Santa Rita. And like many of the inmates there, he spent most of his time in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/i-spent-16-months-solitary-confinement-and-now-im\">23 and 1\u003c/a>” solitary confinement, trapped inside his own thoughts, allowed outside his cell for only one hour a day. Rivera says prosecutors led him to believe that if he signed the plea agreement, he would be set free right away on time served. Instead, he wound up spending another year and a half in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The whole ordeal turned Rivera into something of an activist. Toward the end of his time at Santa Rita, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/protest-at-santa-rita-jail-over-inedible-food-and-sheriffs-profit-on-rising-commissary-prices\">participated in a hunger strike\u003c/a> to protest the inedible, often rat-feces-infested food there (now the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://clearinghouse.net/case/17341/\">class action lawsuit\u003c/a> that he’s joined). He’s also preparing to file civil lawsuits against both OPD and the California Parole Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Rivera believes his time in prison ultimately helped him to become a better, stronger person. He’d once turned a bit of common Puerto Rican slang — “\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/what-wepa-puerto-rico-aid-bill-named-slang-means-cool-704857\">wepa\u003c/a>,” meaning “cool” or “all right!” — into a restaurant concept. One day, while he was in solitary lockdown, a new acronym appeared to him in a vision. Instead of lamenting, “why me,” Rivera spun those letters into a more positive mindset: “Whatever Happens, You Must Embrace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I focused on how do I make myself better,” he says. “That’s essentially what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977872\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977872\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Pink beans strained in a colander held over a large pot.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Habichuelas guisa — pink beans stewed in a sofrito base. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And, as it turns out, he was able to start cooking again. Rivera says he was put in jail so soon after his feature on \u003ci>Diners, Drive-ins & Dives\u003c/i> that the episode was still airing regularly. When he was transferred to the state prison in Jamestown, a prison officer who had seen the show recognized him and said, “Man, I know you! What are you doing here?” The prison officer wound up recruiting Rivera to cook in the Jamestown prison kitchen, which he agreed to do — feeding 3,000 inmates at a time — as long as they let him make Puerto Rican food. Eventually, he was transferred over to become the head chef at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/ben-lomond/\">Ben Lomond fire camp\u003c/a>, in the Santa Cruz mountains, where he was tasked with cooking for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021720/californias-reliance-on-incarcerated-firefighters-sparks-debate-over-low-pay-and-dangerous-work\">incarcerated firefighters\u003c/a> assigned to battle the region’s ongoing wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was cooking yellow rice. I was cooking carne guisa. We were doing habichuelas guisa,” Rivera says, laughing. “We were giving them the best food they ever had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An Improbable Comeback\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since getting out of prison in December of 2023, Rivera says he’s been slowly working his way back into the Bay Area food scene, doing a handful of pop-ups and festivals and picking up catering jobs here and there. The whole time he’s been struck by just how many customers he’s run into who still have fond memories of Borinquen Soul — of snagging a piece of crispy pork skin from the Two Star Market location’s weekend pernil or, even earlier, buying chicken-and-rice plates off the food truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13972834,arts_13960344,arts_13920581']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For a tiny liquor store food operation that was only open for three years, Borinquen Soul had an outsized impact on the local food ecosystem. In fact, almost every notable Puerto Rican restaurant or food truck that’s opened in the Bay Area in the past decade has ties to that tiny convenience store kitchen. Anthony Lamboy of Boriqua Kitchen, the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960344/puerto-rican-food-truck-boriqua-kitchen-bay-area-richmond\">only active Puerto Rican food truck\u003c/a>, did a stint at Borinquen Soul before branching out to open his own business. Cheo Ortiz, the chef-owner of La Perla, also started out as a cook there before taking over the Two Star Market’s kitchen once Borinquen Soul closed. He eventually expanded La Perla into a full-fledged Puerto Rican restaurant — \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/1/22256408/la-perla-puerto-rican-restaurant-oakland-opening\">Oakland’s only one\u003c/a> until it relocated to Castro Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGFfaNdxfJr/?hl=en\">earlier this year\u003c/a>. And Lourdes Marquez-Nau, aka Chef Lulu, of vegan Puerto Rican spot \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/casaborinquena/\">Casa Borinqueña\u003c/a>, used to work the festival circuit with Rivera during that earlier food truck iteration of Borinquen Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Call it the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nba.com/news/gregg-popovich-hall-of-fame-profile-2023\">Greg Popovich coaching tree\u003c/a> of Puerto Rican chefs in the Bay. As Rivera puts it, “Borinquen Soul was a big springboard for a lot of people to do really, really well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977873\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977873\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two chefs add sliced onions to a big pot of stew.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera (center) and Lopez work on a big batch of pollo guisado. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rivera says he’s still close with all of those chefs. Just last week, Lamboy came over to the new spot to help him raise a Puerto Rican flag up on the roof. Meanwhile, Marquez-Nau, who just opened a second location of her restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://billypenn.com/2025/06/10/casa-borinquena-philly-vegan-puerto-rican-food-east-kensington/\">in Philadelphia\u003c/a>, recalls that she first got to know Rivera mostly as a customer — she, too, was a homesick New York boriqua who was craving real Puerto Rican food. She wound up helping out with the food truck, and when she decided to open her own business, Rivera came and showed her staff how to make the dough for alpacurrias (stuffed plantain fritters).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s like a brother,” Marquez-Nau says. “I will support Eric any way I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s hope, of course, is that Puerto Rican Street Cuisine will be a similarly impactful restaurant — both for the local East Oakland community as well as the Bay Area’s wider Puerto Rican diaspora. To start, the restaurant will function just as a simple takeout window. He’ll sell all of the big Puerto Rican staples he used to serve at Borinquen Soul: pernil, chicken encebollado, carne guisa, arroz con gandules, empanadas, pasteles, alpacurrias, and both sweet and savory plantains. He’ll serve his signature dishes that \u003ci>Diners, Drive-ins & Dives \u003c/i>made famous, too — the canoa (loaded plantains) and the fried-chicken mofongo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977879\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977879\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The back of a red chef's jacket. The text above the palm tree logo reads, "Puerto Rican Street Cuisine."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera’s custom chef’s jacket. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a couple of months, he hopes to open for dine-in customers as well. There’s also a whole outdoor area in the back that he says is like a “hidden oasis,” where he eventually hopes to host private events, putting to use his custom slow cooker that can roast four pigs at once. And who knows? Eventually he’d like to expand to other locations as well, using his East Oakland flagship as a central hub to train his staff, just as he once taught other inmates to cook when he was the head chef in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Rivera’s journey to opening this new restaurant seems incredibly improbable after all these years. But he has lived and persevered through so many different lives already — a son of the Bronx, a rapper, a fighter, a coach, a chef, an entrepreneur, a prison activist, and now a chef once again. Who’s to say he’s done reinventing himself?\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/puertoricanstreetcuisine/\">\u003ci>Puerto Rican Street Cuisine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will likely have its soft opening around the second week of July at 1430 23rd Ave. in Oakland. To start out, the restaurant will be open for takeout only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>lash back to 2015, when the hottest restaurant in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland’s\u003c/a> Dimond District wasn’t a trendy Asian fusion spot, or a Michelin-endorsed palace of fine dining, or a temple to California cuisine. It wasn’t even a proper restaurant, really. Instead, crowds of hungry people would line up inside the Two Star Market liquor store on MacArthur for a taste of slow-roasted pernil, grilled chicken thighs with garlic and caramelized onions, and fragrant, annatto-stained arroz con gandules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The liquor store takeout spot was called \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/borinquen-soul-dishes-out-puerto-rican-grandma-food-inside-an-oakland-convenience-store-2-1/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, and it specialized in what founders Eric “E” Rivera and Chris Caraballo liked to call “food for the homesick boricua.” At the time, it was the only Puerto Rican restaurant in the East Bay, and even though the place didn’t really have any seating to speak of, it routinely drew customers from as far away as Stockton and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it just kind of disappeared. When Borinquen Soul closed in 2017, the two owners went their separate ways, and Rivera opened a new restaurant, W.E.P.A.!, that lasted less than a year. After that, nothing. Seven years passed without any word from the business. No explanation was ever given for why it had closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until a couple of months ago, that is. That was when Rivera, aka Chef E, suddenly reemerged at a little \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DHb5KNvypBd/\">pop-up takeout window in Vallejo\u003c/a>, where for a short time he was selling the same food I remembered from all those years ago — the same yellow rice flecked with pigeon peas and pimento olives, the ultra-crisp tostones and tangy mayuketchu. And if all goes according to plan, next month Rivera will complete his comeback. He’s opening a new restaurant in East Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/puertoricanstreetcuisine/\">Puerto Rican Street Cuisine\u003c/a> that’ll serve all of the old favorites from Borinquen Soul. It will once again be the only full-fledged Puerto Rican restaurant in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977966\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977966\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed.jpg\" alt='Two men stand on the roof of a restaurant holding a large Puerto Rican flag. The sign on the restaurant reads, \"Puerto Rican Street Cuisine.\"' width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Puerto-Rican-Street-Cuisine_EG_27_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chefs Eric Rivera (center) and Chris Lopez and stand on the roof of the 23rd Avenue restaurant in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place is going to be an incredible spot in these next few months, where you can just get the best of the best food,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as it turns out, there was a good reason why Rivera put his business on pause for seven years: He spent most of that time in jail, awaiting trial for a crime he says he didn’t commit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Life-Changing Turn of Events\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Born and bred in the Bronx, Rivera moved to the Bay Area to live with his aunt when he was a teenager, graduating from Independence High School in San Jose in the early ’90s. Back then, he was an up-and-coming rapper, performing under the name Mookie D. He was a member of the San Jose rap crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7SMjhzvxQ4\">Red Black & Green\u003c/a>, which put out an EP produced by KutMasta Kurt. He was good friends with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868241/sway-calloways-free-block-party-celebrates-oaklands-cultural-well\">Sway Calloway\u003c/a>, too, in those early years before Sway became one of the hip-hop world’s most prominent interviewers and tastemakers — Rivera even wound up rapping on one of the first episodes of Sway’s \u003ci>Wake Up Show\u003c/i> on KMEL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After high school, Rivera moved back to New York before returning to the Bay for good in 2008, dabbling in different jobs before he got serious about cooking. He was an amateur MMA fighter for a time and then worked as a strength and conditioning coach for the Oakland Raiders. In 2012, he and fellow Bronx transplant Chris Caraballo officially launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/borinquensoulwepa/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, initially as a food truck — the very first Puerto Rican food truck in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, Rivera recalls, it was just about impossible to find proper Puerto Rican food in the Bay: “When we came from New York, we got homesick right away. The food here wasn’t hitting home.” He and Caraballo started pulling up to Bay Area nightclubs, blasting loud salsa music from the truck when the clubs were letting out for the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977875\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera prepares a plate of food for workers at the businesses surrounding his restaurant. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It just became an overnight hit,” Rivera says. “People were hitting us up like, ‘Bro, I don’t know how to pronounce your name, but man, that was the best food I ever had!’ It was just the best feeling in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truck quickly built up a large fan base, which stayed loyal through the business’ remarkable three-year run inside the Two Star Market liquor store, from 2015 to 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many ways, then, the summer of 2018 was the high point of Rivera’s cooking career. Even though he’d closed Borinquen Soul after parting ways with Caraballo, his new restaurant, W.E.P.A.! (Where Everybody Parties At), was already \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/wepa-at-brix-581-rises-from-the-ashes-of-borinquen-soul-2-1/\">making a name for itself\u003c/a> with its menu of homey Puerto Rican dishes served inside a Jack London nightclub. Then came the ultimate validation: In June of that year, W.E.P.A.! got the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1oCNZuaF4I&t=247s\">\u003ci>Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives \u003c/i>treatment\u003c/a>, as the Bleached One himself gave Rivera’s loaded plantains and chicken chicharron mofongo the Flavortown stamp of approval. For a small, relatively unknown restaurant like Rivera’s, that kind of national TV exposure had the potential to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/2018/12/20/18150707/guy-fieri-diners-drive-ins-and-dives-good-for-restaurant-business\">life-changing\u003c/a>. “It was like a dream come true, man,” Rivera recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977878\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A tray of fried plantains under a heat lamp.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_23-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tray of tostones and fried sweet plantains kept warm under a heat lamp. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just a month later, that dream turned into a nightmare. Rivera says he was getting ready to open the restaurant on a Thursday afternoon when police officers showed up — without a warrant, he says — and grabbed him in the doorway. Rivera was arrested on a robbery charge and wound up serving five and a half years behind bars for a crime he insists he didn’t commit. He says there was even video evidence that proved he was at his restaurant the night the robbery took place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera eventually signed a plea deal, though, after he’d already been held in Dublin’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945438/community-and-civil-rights-groups-hold-vigil-and-rally-over-recent-deaths-at-santa-rita-jail\">notoriously dangerous\u003c/a> Santa Rita Jail for four years without a trial. He says Alameda County prosecutors kept finding reasons to postpone the trial — a sign, he believes, that they knew they didn’t have a case. Still, the long years and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11918230/grand-jury-major-health-and-safety-violations-at-santa-rita-jail-require-urgent-attention\">awful conditions\u003c/a> in jail had worn him down. Rivera’s mother passed away while he was at Santa Rita. And like many of the inmates there, he spent most of his time in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/i-spent-16-months-solitary-confinement-and-now-im\">23 and 1\u003c/a>” solitary confinement, trapped inside his own thoughts, allowed outside his cell for only one hour a day. Rivera says prosecutors led him to believe that if he signed the plea agreement, he would be set free right away on time served. Instead, he wound up spending another year and a half in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The whole ordeal turned Rivera into something of an activist. Toward the end of his time at Santa Rita, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/protest-at-santa-rita-jail-over-inedible-food-and-sheriffs-profit-on-rising-commissary-prices\">participated in a hunger strike\u003c/a> to protest the inedible, often rat-feces-infested food there (now the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://clearinghouse.net/case/17341/\">class action lawsuit\u003c/a> that he’s joined). He’s also preparing to file civil lawsuits against both OPD and the California Parole Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Rivera believes his time in prison ultimately helped him to become a better, stronger person. He’d once turned a bit of common Puerto Rican slang — “\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/what-wepa-puerto-rico-aid-bill-named-slang-means-cool-704857\">wepa\u003c/a>,” meaning “cool” or “all right!” — into a restaurant concept. One day, while he was in solitary lockdown, a new acronym appeared to him in a vision. Instead of lamenting, “why me,” Rivera spun those letters into a more positive mindset: “Whatever Happens, You Must Embrace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I focused on how do I make myself better,” he says. “That’s essentially what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977872\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977872\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Pink beans strained in a colander held over a large pot.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Habichuelas guisa — pink beans stewed in a sofrito base. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And, as it turns out, he was able to start cooking again. Rivera says he was put in jail so soon after his feature on \u003ci>Diners, Drive-ins & Dives\u003c/i> that the episode was still airing regularly. When he was transferred to the state prison in Jamestown, a prison officer who had seen the show recognized him and said, “Man, I know you! What are you doing here?” The prison officer wound up recruiting Rivera to cook in the Jamestown prison kitchen, which he agreed to do — feeding 3,000 inmates at a time — as long as they let him make Puerto Rican food. Eventually, he was transferred over to become the head chef at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/ben-lomond/\">Ben Lomond fire camp\u003c/a>, in the Santa Cruz mountains, where he was tasked with cooking for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021720/californias-reliance-on-incarcerated-firefighters-sparks-debate-over-low-pay-and-dangerous-work\">incarcerated firefighters\u003c/a> assigned to battle the region’s ongoing wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was cooking yellow rice. I was cooking carne guisa. We were doing habichuelas guisa,” Rivera says, laughing. “We were giving them the best food they ever had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An Improbable Comeback\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since getting out of prison in December of 2023, Rivera says he’s been slowly working his way back into the Bay Area food scene, doing a handful of pop-ups and festivals and picking up catering jobs here and there. The whole time he’s been struck by just how many customers he’s run into who still have fond memories of Borinquen Soul — of snagging a piece of crispy pork skin from the Two Star Market location’s weekend pernil or, even earlier, buying chicken-and-rice plates off the food truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For a tiny liquor store food operation that was only open for three years, Borinquen Soul had an outsized impact on the local food ecosystem. In fact, almost every notable Puerto Rican restaurant or food truck that’s opened in the Bay Area in the past decade has ties to that tiny convenience store kitchen. Anthony Lamboy of Boriqua Kitchen, the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960344/puerto-rican-food-truck-boriqua-kitchen-bay-area-richmond\">only active Puerto Rican food truck\u003c/a>, did a stint at Borinquen Soul before branching out to open his own business. Cheo Ortiz, the chef-owner of La Perla, also started out as a cook there before taking over the Two Star Market’s kitchen once Borinquen Soul closed. He eventually expanded La Perla into a full-fledged Puerto Rican restaurant — \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/1/22256408/la-perla-puerto-rican-restaurant-oakland-opening\">Oakland’s only one\u003c/a> until it relocated to Castro Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGFfaNdxfJr/?hl=en\">earlier this year\u003c/a>. And Lourdes Marquez-Nau, aka Chef Lulu, of vegan Puerto Rican spot \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/casaborinquena/\">Casa Borinqueña\u003c/a>, used to work the festival circuit with Rivera during that earlier food truck iteration of Borinquen Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Call it the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nba.com/news/gregg-popovich-hall-of-fame-profile-2023\">Greg Popovich coaching tree\u003c/a> of Puerto Rican chefs in the Bay. As Rivera puts it, “Borinquen Soul was a big springboard for a lot of people to do really, really well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977873\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977873\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two chefs add sliced onions to a big pot of stew.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera (center) and Lopez work on a big batch of pollo guisado. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rivera says he’s still close with all of those chefs. Just last week, Lamboy came over to the new spot to help him raise a Puerto Rican flag up on the roof. Meanwhile, Marquez-Nau, who just opened a second location of her restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://billypenn.com/2025/06/10/casa-borinquena-philly-vegan-puerto-rican-food-east-kensington/\">in Philadelphia\u003c/a>, recalls that she first got to know Rivera mostly as a customer — she, too, was a homesick New York boriqua who was craving real Puerto Rican food. She wound up helping out with the food truck, and when she decided to open her own business, Rivera came and showed her staff how to make the dough for alpacurrias (stuffed plantain fritters).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s like a brother,” Marquez-Nau says. “I will support Eric any way I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera’s hope, of course, is that Puerto Rican Street Cuisine will be a similarly impactful restaurant — both for the local East Oakland community as well as the Bay Area’s wider Puerto Rican diaspora. To start, the restaurant will function just as a simple takeout window. He’ll sell all of the big Puerto Rican staples he used to serve at Borinquen Soul: pernil, chicken encebollado, carne guisa, arroz con gandules, empanadas, pasteles, alpacurrias, and both sweet and savory plantains. He’ll serve his signature dishes that \u003ci>Diners, Drive-ins & Dives \u003c/i>made famous, too — the canoa (loaded plantains) and the fried-chicken mofongo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977879\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977879\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The back of a red chef's jacket. The text above the palm tree logo reads, "Puerto Rican Street Cuisine."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/PUERTO-RICAN-STREET-CUISINE_EG_24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rivera’s custom chef’s jacket. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a couple of months, he hopes to open for dine-in customers as well. There’s also a whole outdoor area in the back that he says is like a “hidden oasis,” where he eventually hopes to host private events, putting to use his custom slow cooker that can roast four pigs at once. And who knows? Eventually he’d like to expand to other locations as well, using his East Oakland flagship as a central hub to train his staff, just as he once taught other inmates to cook when he was the head chef in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Rivera’s journey to opening this new restaurant seems incredibly improbable after all these years. But he has lived and persevered through so many different lives already — a son of the Bronx, a rapper, a fighter, a coach, a chef, an entrepreneur, a prison activist, and now a chef once again. Who’s to say he’s done reinventing himself?\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/puertoricanstreetcuisine/\">\u003ci>Puerto Rican Street Cuisine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will likely have its soft opening around the second week of July at 1430 23rd Ave. in Oakland. To start out, the restaurant will be open for takeout only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Pelican Bay’s SHU (Special Housing Unit) is immortalized in Denzel Washington’s award-winning performance as a crooked cop named Alonzo in the 2001 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj4adAAHa68\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Training Day\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. Just after the film’s climax, as Alonzo is losing his iron fist grip over the residents of an apartment complex, he says to them, “You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get through with you.” Bloody, sweaty and nearly defeated, he continues with his hollow threat: “SHU program … 23-hour lockdown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reference became cemented in popular culture, but the reality of being inside of a solitary unit — confined to a small steel-and-concrete cage for 23 hours a day — is as far from Hollywood as one can get. Up the California coast, roughly a dozen miles from the Oregon border, on the edge of Crescent City, is Pelican Bay State Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13966841\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2914px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13966841 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7.png\" alt=\"An aerial view of Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California.\" width=\"2914\" height=\"1622\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7.png 2914w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-800x445.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1020x568.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-768x427.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1536x855.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-2048x1140.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1920x1069.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2914px) 100vw, 2914px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lucas Guilkey )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Opened in 1989, the maximum security facility, designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, was once lauded by former California Governor George Deukmejian as the crown jewel of the state’s prison system. Today the facility is home to hundreds of minimum security residents, and only one quarter of its solitary units are occupied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of activism, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/07/29/206555385/hunger-strikes-lead-to-changes-in-california-prison-units\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a massive hunger strike\u003c/a> staged by incarcerated people across the state in 2013 and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10664540/california-prisons-agree-to-major-changes-in-solitary-confinement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 2015 lawsuit\u003c/a>, the CDCR’s (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) approach to solitary confinement has been drastically altered. While thousands of people have been reinstated into the general prison population after being released from long-term isolation, the practice of subjecting people to solitary confinement hasn’t completely ended. But the story of how we got to this point, where massive changes have been made at Pelican Bay and throughout the state’s prison system, is shown in the documentary film, \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thestrikefilm.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Strike.\u003c/a>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film — which will screen this Wednesday, Oct. 23, \u003ca href=\"https://www.renaissancerialto.com/TheStrike.php?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYUZqnb8UHfwo-wA54jzL0HSoco-e4FjJU5lsWdMbSl1Eiyurfn3tD31bo_aem_5p6B0t5iFpfg0y9okKYqWg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a> and is scheduled to broadcast on PBS’s \u003cem>Independent Lens\u003c/em> in the spring of 2025 — was directed and produced by \u003ca href=\"https://lucasguilkey.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Guilkey \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.joebillmunoz.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JoeBill Muñoz.\u003c/a> Over a score created by well-known East Bay jazz artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/samorapinderhughes/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Samora Pinderhughes\u003c/a>, a handful of men who were once incarcerated at the notorious prison share testimonies about their time inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the men explain their regimen of doing hundreds of push-ups, practicing hours of meditation and playing chess against themselves on a makeshift board made from folded paper, the audience gains an understanding of how cyclical the days on days of seclusion became. Award-winning film editor \u003ca href=\"https://www.danielaquiroz.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniela Quiroz\u003c/a> works magic as she loops the list of activities the interviewees mention, causing the viewer to feel confined not only to the space but also the limits of what someone in solitary can do with their time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3nnMZD6QHE&t=1s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the men breaks down the struggle of solitary confinement as “trying to tell your mind you’re not losing your mind, when your mind is telling you that you’re losing your mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documentary uses archival footage, reenactments and a staged setting to portray an SHU cell. The filmmakers also gained access to unreleased footage of meetings held by the incarcerated leaders of different racial groups within the prison, who in 2013 formed a truce. Together, they and thousands of other incarcerated people across the state participated in a hunger strike in order to bring attention to their grievances with CDCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t believe it,” says filmmaker Lucas Guilkey, discussing the archival videos of incarcerated leaders meeting with prison officials. “We had heard about these meetings, but never did we think we would actually get footage of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California’s prison system, where race divides people nearly as much as steel bars do, seeing stakeholders from different racial groups sitting at the same table is almost unfathomable. But it happened, and when it did, those leaders also brought a list of demands for prison officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the heart of the battle were five key points: the need for regular meaningful human contact, an end to group punishment, the need for adequate food, the abolition of the debriefing policy (requiring those in solitary confinement to give up dirt on other incarcerated people before they’re allowed to exit) and, lastly, ending the practice of indefinite isolation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was also a push to end the process by which many incarcerated people land in solitary confinement, which often involved being penalized for holding revolutionary literature, cultural artwork or anything that was remotely “gang affiliated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the heels of the hunger strike and the subsequent lawsuit, California made changes to its solitary confinement policies, including the amount of time people could be forced into isolation. (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/Nelson_Mandela_Rules-E-ebook.pdf\">The United Nations’ standard\u003c/a> for [imprisoned] isolation is 15 days,” Guilkey says. “Beyond that is considered torture.”) Thousands of people who were siloed in cells for years were released to the general population, and substantive changes were made to the checklist that lands people in solitary confinement in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October of last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2023/10/05/cdcr-files-regulations-to-reform-use-of-restricted-housing-in-the-states-prisons/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the CDCR announced\u003c/a> that solitary confinement, rebranded as Restrictive Housing, would offer a minimum of 20 hours per week “out of cell time” to assist with access to classes and other workshops to help the rehabilitative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13966877\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2175px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13966877 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun.jpg\" alt=\"A California prison guard with a gun standing in a watchtower.\" width=\"2175\" height=\"1472\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun.jpg 2175w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1536x1040.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-2048x1386.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1920x1299.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2175px) 100vw, 2175px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California prison guard with a gun standing in a watchtower. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lucas Guilkey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Guilkey, who began as a volunteer social media producer working to spread awareness of the prison hunger strike over a decade ago, says when he found out the details of the story, he knew it would make for an interesting feature film, even for those who aren’t engrossed in the nuances of prison in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that you can still take a lot away about the power of organizing, about the power of family,” Guilkey says. He mentions the notion that when a person is incarcerated, a family is also incarcerated. “So the meaning of family,” he says, “is really super important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film also deals with the consequences of “tough-on-crime policies” and misguided media narratives built around fear, which have led to devastating consequences for certain communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a part of healing the people from those communities, filmmaker JoeBill Muñoz looks at this week’s screenings as a social gathering built around the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muñoz explains that in making the film, they had no idea that the hunger strikers would live to see a changed prison system, and definitely didn’t foresee them eventually being released from prison. But, now home, a handful of the men will speak at this week’s screenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all went through the same experience. They were all in the same place for years of their life, isolated, and they didn’t know each other for the most part,” says Muñoz. “They’re going to be together on stage with us, and I think it’s going to be a real special event.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After conceiving of this film 11 years ago, Guilkey says, “It’s been a long and winding road to bring this film to fruition.” After premiering it at Hot Docs in April and showing it at a few other festivals, Guilkey, who is based in the Bay, says this week’s screening is special: “I am personally just so thrilled to be bringing it home to Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As a part of the International Documentary Association’s FallDocs 2024 showcase, ‘The Strike’ will screen Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, and will have subsequent screenings at San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre on Oct. 24. \u003ca href=\"https://www.thestrikefilm.com/screenings?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabrM_Jw2ZMhLpto72MB5PeWuQ3aOomXUw-Pdp98_XjlIt2MGY7MDvDFL84_aem_nlmzNesJfkuA5XtSFdtoRg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info and tickets can be found here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "In ‘The Strike,’ Filmmakers Illustrate the Issues With Solitary Confinement | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Pelican Bay’s SHU (Special Housing Unit) is immortalized in Denzel Washington’s award-winning performance as a crooked cop named Alonzo in the 2001 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj4adAAHa68\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Training Day\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. Just after the film’s climax, as Alonzo is losing his iron fist grip over the residents of an apartment complex, he says to them, “You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get through with you.” Bloody, sweaty and nearly defeated, he continues with his hollow threat: “SHU program … 23-hour lockdown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reference became cemented in popular culture, but the reality of being inside of a solitary unit — confined to a small steel-and-concrete cage for 23 hours a day — is as far from Hollywood as one can get. Up the California coast, roughly a dozen miles from the Oregon border, on the edge of Crescent City, is Pelican Bay State Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13966841\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2914px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13966841 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7.png\" alt=\"An aerial view of Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California.\" width=\"2914\" height=\"1622\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7.png 2914w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-800x445.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1020x568.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-768x427.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1536x855.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-2048x1140.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/The_Strike_7-1920x1069.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2914px) 100vw, 2914px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lucas Guilkey )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Opened in 1989, the maximum security facility, designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, was once lauded by former California Governor George Deukmejian as the crown jewel of the state’s prison system. Today the facility is home to hundreds of minimum security residents, and only one quarter of its solitary units are occupied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of activism, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/07/29/206555385/hunger-strikes-lead-to-changes-in-california-prison-units\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a massive hunger strike\u003c/a> staged by incarcerated people across the state in 2013 and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10664540/california-prisons-agree-to-major-changes-in-solitary-confinement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 2015 lawsuit\u003c/a>, the CDCR’s (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) approach to solitary confinement has been drastically altered. While thousands of people have been reinstated into the general prison population after being released from long-term isolation, the practice of subjecting people to solitary confinement hasn’t completely ended. But the story of how we got to this point, where massive changes have been made at Pelican Bay and throughout the state’s prison system, is shown in the documentary film, \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thestrikefilm.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Strike.\u003c/a>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film — which will screen this Wednesday, Oct. 23, \u003ca href=\"https://www.renaissancerialto.com/TheStrike.php?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYUZqnb8UHfwo-wA54jzL0HSoco-e4FjJU5lsWdMbSl1Eiyurfn3tD31bo_aem_5p6B0t5iFpfg0y9okKYqWg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a> and is scheduled to broadcast on PBS’s \u003cem>Independent Lens\u003c/em> in the spring of 2025 — was directed and produced by \u003ca href=\"https://lucasguilkey.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Guilkey \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.joebillmunoz.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JoeBill Muñoz.\u003c/a> Over a score created by well-known East Bay jazz artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/samorapinderhughes/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Samora Pinderhughes\u003c/a>, a handful of men who were once incarcerated at the notorious prison share testimonies about their time inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the men explain their regimen of doing hundreds of push-ups, practicing hours of meditation and playing chess against themselves on a makeshift board made from folded paper, the audience gains an understanding of how cyclical the days on days of seclusion became. Award-winning film editor \u003ca href=\"https://www.danielaquiroz.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniela Quiroz\u003c/a> works magic as she loops the list of activities the interviewees mention, causing the viewer to feel confined not only to the space but also the limits of what someone in solitary can do with their time.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/N3nnMZD6QHE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/N3nnMZD6QHE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>One of the men breaks down the struggle of solitary confinement as “trying to tell your mind you’re not losing your mind, when your mind is telling you that you’re losing your mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documentary uses archival footage, reenactments and a staged setting to portray an SHU cell. The filmmakers also gained access to unreleased footage of meetings held by the incarcerated leaders of different racial groups within the prison, who in 2013 formed a truce. Together, they and thousands of other incarcerated people across the state participated in a hunger strike in order to bring attention to their grievances with CDCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t believe it,” says filmmaker Lucas Guilkey, discussing the archival videos of incarcerated leaders meeting with prison officials. “We had heard about these meetings, but never did we think we would actually get footage of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California’s prison system, where race divides people nearly as much as steel bars do, seeing stakeholders from different racial groups sitting at the same table is almost unfathomable. But it happened, and when it did, those leaders also brought a list of demands for prison officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the heart of the battle were five key points: the need for regular meaningful human contact, an end to group punishment, the need for adequate food, the abolition of the debriefing policy (requiring those in solitary confinement to give up dirt on other incarcerated people before they’re allowed to exit) and, lastly, ending the practice of indefinite isolation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was also a push to end the process by which many incarcerated people land in solitary confinement, which often involved being penalized for holding revolutionary literature, cultural artwork or anything that was remotely “gang affiliated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the heels of the hunger strike and the subsequent lawsuit, California made changes to its solitary confinement policies, including the amount of time people could be forced into isolation. (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/Nelson_Mandela_Rules-E-ebook.pdf\">The United Nations’ standard\u003c/a> for [imprisoned] isolation is 15 days,” Guilkey says. “Beyond that is considered torture.”) Thousands of people who were siloed in cells for years were released to the general population, and substantive changes were made to the checklist that lands people in solitary confinement in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October of last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2023/10/05/cdcr-files-regulations-to-reform-use-of-restricted-housing-in-the-states-prisons/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the CDCR announced\u003c/a> that solitary confinement, rebranded as Restrictive Housing, would offer a minimum of 20 hours per week “out of cell time” to assist with access to classes and other workshops to help the rehabilitative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13966877\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2175px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13966877 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun.jpg\" alt=\"A California prison guard with a gun standing in a watchtower.\" width=\"2175\" height=\"1472\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun.jpg 2175w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1536x1040.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-2048x1386.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/Guard-with-gun-1920x1299.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2175px) 100vw, 2175px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California prison guard with a gun standing in a watchtower. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lucas Guilkey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Guilkey, who began as a volunteer social media producer working to spread awareness of the prison hunger strike over a decade ago, says when he found out the details of the story, he knew it would make for an interesting feature film, even for those who aren’t engrossed in the nuances of prison in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that you can still take a lot away about the power of organizing, about the power of family,” Guilkey says. He mentions the notion that when a person is incarcerated, a family is also incarcerated. “So the meaning of family,” he says, “is really super important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film also deals with the consequences of “tough-on-crime policies” and misguided media narratives built around fear, which have led to devastating consequences for certain communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a part of healing the people from those communities, filmmaker JoeBill Muñoz looks at this week’s screenings as a social gathering built around the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muñoz explains that in making the film, they had no idea that the hunger strikers would live to see a changed prison system, and definitely didn’t foresee them eventually being released from prison. But, now home, a handful of the men will speak at this week’s screenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all went through the same experience. They were all in the same place for years of their life, isolated, and they didn’t know each other for the most part,” says Muñoz. “They’re going to be together on stage with us, and I think it’s going to be a real special event.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After conceiving of this film 11 years ago, Guilkey says, “It’s been a long and winding road to bring this film to fruition.” After premiering it at Hot Docs in April and showing it at a few other festivals, Guilkey, who is based in the Bay, says this week’s screening is special: “I am personally just so thrilled to be bringing it home to Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As a part of the International Documentary Association’s FallDocs 2024 showcase, ‘The Strike’ will screen Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, and will have subsequent screenings at San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre on Oct. 24. \u003ca href=\"https://www.thestrikefilm.com/screenings?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabrM_Jw2ZMhLpto72MB5PeWuQ3aOomXUw-Pdp98_XjlIt2MGY7MDvDFL84_aem_nlmzNesJfkuA5XtSFdtoRg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info and tickets can be found here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In ‘Songs From The Hole,’ an Illuminating Story of Prison — and Forgiveness",
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"content": "\u003cp>Forgiveness is a universal concept, relatively simple in nature. A wrong is collectively addressed, an apology is exchanged for a thank you, and ideally all parties move forward with changed behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jj_eightyeight/?hl=en\">James “JJ’88” Jacobs\u003c/a>, a musician who honed his craft while in solitary confinement in a California state prison, forgiveness is arguably the single most profound concept in his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after he committed a homicide that would lead to his double life sentence, JJ’88 lost his brother to gunfire. While in prison, JJ’88 encountered the man who killed his brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ill-fated triangle of trauma, and the concept of forgiveness, are at the center of the film \u003ca href=\"https://www.songsfromthehole.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Songs From The Hole\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Co-written by JJ’88, produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/richiereseda/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">richie reseda\u003c/a> and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.contessagayles.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contessa Gayles\u003c/a>, the film is technically a documentary. But it might be more accurately described as high-level multimedia artwork about a key aspect of the human experience: forgiveness. It screens at Berkeley’s La Peña Cultural Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, as a part of the 15th annual \u003ca href=\"https://filmfreeway.com/FistUpFilmFestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fist Up Film Festival\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story is told through a series of recorded calls on a prison phone between JJ’88 and his family, and interviews with the production team. Excerpts of written letters are sprinkled throughout the storyline, along with family photos and archival home video, plus animation, choreography and reenactments full of symbolism. It’s all anchored by JJ’88’s original songs about prison, being Black and facing oppression in America — with references to spirituality and family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a particularly low point in JJ’88’s story, he writes a song titled “Steel Grave.” JJ’88’s description of the feeling of being behind bars segues into one of the several music video-like interludes in the film, and a track with heavy bass begins. Before the lyrics start, we see a sheet of lined notebook paper with a note from JJ’88: “*Visual Note: This visual also works as an animation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13965890\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Filmmaker Contessa Gayles. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles.jpg 1467w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker Contessa Gayles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Contessa Gayles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those sorts of details, director Gayles says, speak to how they worked together as a unit. “We collaborated through the whole process; we were intentional about that,” says Gayles during a recent video chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles first met JJ’88 while making her previous film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxTzsabkH8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which premiered on \u003cem>CNN\u003c/em> in 2018, covering the story of \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>’s producer, richie reseda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles says the trio formed a well-balanced approach to storytelling for \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it over a bunch of phone calls — 15 minutes at a time — and handwritten snail-mailed treatments,” says Gayles, adding that despite the obstacles and power dynamics involved with being incarcerated, JJ’88 had agency. “We did a lot of back and forth, and co-wrote it together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles sees JJ’88’s story as a way to reach people “looking to heal and move toward a collective freedom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want people to know that healing and transformation is possible,” Gayles says. “There are other ways that we can respond… beyond producing more violence and harm by punishment and revenge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local screening of the film, which won the Audience Award at this year’s SXSW during its debut in March, will be a bit of a homecoming. Gayles, originally from Buffalo, New York, was based in the Bay during the two years of the film’s development, supported by \u003ca href=\"https://bavc.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-63BhC9ARIsAMMTLXQs8hCkAqILq6d9YhrH9vjswXU8UR44XaDiDz7ENq34wXujIJrq01saAmeREALw_wcB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a fellowship with BAVC\u003c/a> and nurtured by the local film community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel proud to bring this back and show folks what we were working on,” says Gayles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film will be screened as a part of the Fist Up Film Festival, which is celebrating its 15th year. Founded by Berkeley filmmaking siblings Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, the festival bucks several trends of traditional film festivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They cost a lot of money,” explains Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi. “And they aren’t connected to community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965891\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13965891\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The New Parkway is one of the venues hosting screenings of this year's Fist Up Film Festival. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Parkway is one of the venues hosting screenings of this year’s Fist Up Film Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In contrast, the Fist Up Film Festival is free for filmmakers to enter, and issues donation-based tickets to screenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 10-day festival includes family-friendly films like ‘\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/supa-modo-youth-film-matinee-tickets-1010264868417?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*1hgnlg5*_up*MQ..*_ga*NzAwMzc4MTI4LjE3Mjc4MDY2NzU.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*MTcyNzgwNjY3NS4xLjAuMTcyNzgwNjY3NS4wLjAuMA..\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supa Modo\u003c/a>\u003c/em>,’ the tale of a young superheroine in training, as well as social events for adults, like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/networking-at-kulcha-latino-spanish-reggae-night-tickets-1010905494547\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spanish Reggae night\u003c/a> at Kulcha Latino in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobs-Fantauzzi says \u003cem>Songs From The Hole\u003c/em> fits the festival perfectly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the idea is to tell the story \u003cem>with\u003c/em> the community instead of \u003cem>about\u003c/em> the community,” says Jacobs-Fantauzzi. “The power will remain in these communities when they’re able to tell their own stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Fist Up Film Festival runs Oct. 4–14 at various venues. ‘Songs From The Hole’ screens Thursday, Oct. 10, at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. Tickets and more information \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/fistuptv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can be found here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Forgiveness is a universal concept, relatively simple in nature. A wrong is collectively addressed, an apology is exchanged for a thank you, and ideally all parties move forward with changed behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jj_eightyeight/?hl=en\">James “JJ’88” Jacobs\u003c/a>, a musician who honed his craft while in solitary confinement in a California state prison, forgiveness is arguably the single most profound concept in his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after he committed a homicide that would lead to his double life sentence, JJ’88 lost his brother to gunfire. While in prison, JJ’88 encountered the man who killed his brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ill-fated triangle of trauma, and the concept of forgiveness, are at the center of the film \u003ca href=\"https://www.songsfromthehole.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Songs From The Hole\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Co-written by JJ’88, produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/richiereseda/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">richie reseda\u003c/a> and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.contessagayles.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contessa Gayles\u003c/a>, the film is technically a documentary. But it might be more accurately described as high-level multimedia artwork about a key aspect of the human experience: forgiveness. It screens at Berkeley’s La Peña Cultural Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, as a part of the 15th annual \u003ca href=\"https://filmfreeway.com/FistUpFilmFestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fist Up Film Festival\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story is told through a series of recorded calls on a prison phone between JJ’88 and his family, and interviews with the production team. Excerpts of written letters are sprinkled throughout the storyline, along with family photos and archival home video, plus animation, choreography and reenactments full of symbolism. It’s all anchored by JJ’88’s original songs about prison, being Black and facing oppression in America — with references to spirituality and family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a particularly low point in JJ’88’s story, he writes a song titled “Steel Grave.” JJ’88’s description of the feeling of being behind bars segues into one of the several music video-like interludes in the film, and a track with heavy bass begins. Before the lyrics start, we see a sheet of lined notebook paper with a note from JJ’88: “*Visual Note: This visual also works as an animation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13965890\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Filmmaker Contessa Gayles. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/songsfromthehole_director_contessa_hayles.jpg 1467w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker Contessa Gayles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Contessa Gayles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those sorts of details, director Gayles says, speak to how they worked together as a unit. “We collaborated through the whole process; we were intentional about that,” says Gayles during a recent video chat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles first met JJ’88 while making her previous film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxTzsabkH8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Feminist on Cellblock Y\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which premiered on \u003cem>CNN\u003c/em> in 2018, covering the story of \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>’s producer, richie reseda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles says the trio formed a well-balanced approach to storytelling for \u003cem>Songs From the Hole\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it over a bunch of phone calls — 15 minutes at a time — and handwritten snail-mailed treatments,” says Gayles, adding that despite the obstacles and power dynamics involved with being incarcerated, JJ’88 had agency. “We did a lot of back and forth, and co-wrote it together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gayles sees JJ’88’s story as a way to reach people “looking to heal and move toward a collective freedom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want people to know that healing and transformation is possible,” Gayles says. “There are other ways that we can respond… beyond producing more violence and harm by punishment and revenge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local screening of the film, which won the Audience Award at this year’s SXSW during its debut in March, will be a bit of a homecoming. Gayles, originally from Buffalo, New York, was based in the Bay during the two years of the film’s development, supported by \u003ca href=\"https://bavc.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-63BhC9ARIsAMMTLXQs8hCkAqILq6d9YhrH9vjswXU8UR44XaDiDz7ENq34wXujIJrq01saAmeREALw_wcB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a fellowship with BAVC\u003c/a> and nurtured by the local film community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel proud to bring this back and show folks what we were working on,” says Gayles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film will be screened as a part of the Fist Up Film Festival, which is celebrating its 15th year. Founded by Berkeley filmmaking siblings Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, the festival bucks several trends of traditional film festivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They cost a lot of money,” explains Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi. “And they aren’t connected to community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965891\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13965891\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The New Parkway is one of the venues hosting screenings of this year's Fist Up Film Festival. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/886221_1680381508895504_1170785570981700985_o.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Parkway is one of the venues hosting screenings of this year’s Fist Up Film Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In contrast, the Fist Up Film Festival is free for filmmakers to enter, and issues donation-based tickets to screenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 10-day festival includes family-friendly films like ‘\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/supa-modo-youth-film-matinee-tickets-1010264868417?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*1hgnlg5*_up*MQ..*_ga*NzAwMzc4MTI4LjE3Mjc4MDY2NzU.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*MTcyNzgwNjY3NS4xLjAuMTcyNzgwNjY3NS4wLjAuMA..\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supa Modo\u003c/a>\u003c/em>,’ the tale of a young superheroine in training, as well as social events for adults, like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/networking-at-kulcha-latino-spanish-reggae-night-tickets-1010905494547\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spanish Reggae night\u003c/a> at Kulcha Latino in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobs-Fantauzzi says \u003cem>Songs From The Hole\u003c/em> fits the festival perfectly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the idea is to tell the story \u003cem>with\u003c/em> the community instead of \u003cem>about\u003c/em> the community,” says Jacobs-Fantauzzi. “The power will remain in these communities when they’re able to tell their own stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Fist Up Film Festival runs Oct. 4–14 at various venues. ‘Songs From The Hole’ screens Thursday, Oct. 10, at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. Tickets and more information \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/fistuptv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can be found here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we’re taking some time to honor all the kinds of relationships that people have with their mothers. We’re especially thinking about those who are missing their mothers or mothers who are missing their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than just thinking about them, we’re hearing from them. This week we’re passing the mic to our friends over at the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.earhustlesq.com/episodes/2023/9/20/once-youre-in-the-ocean-youre-going-everywhere\">Ear Hustle\u003c/a>, from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s a special episode that highlights the stories of elderly mothers who are incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, a prison located in Chino, CA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their tales of aging behind bars while yearning for family are gut-wrenching but necessary. We can’t grow as a people unless we understand the plight of those on the margins of society. And when it comes to ensuring that we grow as a people, that’s something that mothers know best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Happy Mother’s Day from the Rightnowish family!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC2810419346\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Rightnowish Host:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey ya’ll, welcome to Rightnowish. I’m your host Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s Mother’s Day weekend, a day for celebration — and for some, a day that opens wounds. I want to give some love to those who have strained relationships or are missing their moms in one way or another. I’m also thinking about the mothers who are missing their children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, we’re going to hear from some mothers who are incarcerated, particularly senior women with adult children. We’ll do that by passing the mic to our friends at Radiotopia’s Ear Hustle, a podcast that shares the daily realities of life inside prison, from those living it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode, co-hosts Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor pay a visit to the senior center located at the California Institution for Women, and talk to residents about aging and navigating family relationships from within prison walls. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A heavy, but much needed discussion, coming up right after this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor, Ear Hustle Co-Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m just going to describe the scene a little bit. There’s a big television on the wall. It was probably about 54 inches and we’re watching PBS and there’s a woman stretching and Earlonne is really getting into it. He’s doing modern dance right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods, Ear Hustle Co-Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeans, Nigel. These are not yoga pants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s still doing a really good job. And Bruce is even jumping in a little bit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can do that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[workout audio playing in the background] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was at the California Institution for Women, a prison near LA where you and I have been spending a lot of time these days, Nyge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we are in a room they call the Senior Center. But don’t think about some big fancy complex. It’s basically a large carpeted windowless room in a structure that is kind of like a double-wide trailer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where’s your rhythm? You done threw us off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[background chattering] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s going there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got a bad knee and a replaced knee now, y’all. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know how they always tell us we have to keep our distance inside prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I loved how we could just kind of let our guard down a little bit. It was really fun to kick back and try to keep up with those ladies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I felt like I got my workout in for the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel it. I definitely feel it. I feel stretched. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m putting my shoes back on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wait a minute. Hold on. What you mean you putting your shoes back on? Nigel, we only two minutes into this. Leslie’s still going. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know. She’s good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you done? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our friend, Leslie, is kind of the ringleader here at the Senior Center, which come to think of it, just got a rebranding. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, it did. So right now, we are in the She Shed, which I like better than the Senior Center, I have to say. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s kind of fun. We’ll see how it goes over. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. It brings up conversation when you say it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, Nyge, with all the time that they give you in California, the prison population is kind of old. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s aging. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are segments that are and have been there for a long time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Definitely. And Leslie is part of that. She’s been in prison, I mean, since her 20s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, 19. So, her idea for the Senior Center was, how can we make prison more accommodating for old people? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Leslie convinced the prison to open up this room, and she got some boardgames and some greenery and lamps and started getting the word out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At first, I thought I would be like Julie from The Love Boat, create these programs, social director and all this. But it’s been a long, slow process of getting people curious and interested. At first, there was, I think, a feeling that this was a Band-Aid on an ongoing problem of the aging population, and so they weren’t going to come. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were people angry at you or resentful that you were wanting to spearhead this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think that– it could have been, and I missed it, but I think it was just more angry that they’re still incarcerated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pensive music] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can’t do much about the diet, but we can stay in mental shape and physical and spiritual. This is hopefully more of a holistic thing to stay sharp and good and also being recognized, because I don’t think people are aware that there’s so many women over 60 incarcerated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Gladys Ortiz. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you love about the Senior Center? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so much to do there. Yeah, and you get to socialize with people your age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been incarcerated? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seven. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And what is your sentence? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got 15 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oka\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">y. How old were you when you came to prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">60 years old. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Had you ever been to prison before? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Never. It’s a little embarrassing too, because I have my grown children who now have to learn how to maneuver prison. And then, I learned about 50-minute phone calls. I never thought I’d be here. Never. It’s like, wow. None of my friends back home– I’ve disappeared, I’ve just fallen off the face of the earth. Nobody knows I’m here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do they think happened to you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These older women, you don’t really see them when you’re walking around the main part of the prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nah, they don’t hang out like that. They probably spend a lot of their time in the cell. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, it’s actually cool when you get to the Senior Center and it’s a place just for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep. It’s a cubbyhole, you know what I’m saying? They get to go hang out. They got air conditioning and you definitely need that in that part of California. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You definitely want air conditioning. So, I think that makes it attractive. But it’s open every day and they have so many activities, like the exercising. They have different people coming in to give talks. And once a week, I think at least once a week, they show movies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you all seen The Notebook? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you think of it? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I wasn’t into it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Men love this movie and women are like, “Really?” Oh, wait a minute. You said you loved it? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I loved it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, okay. I take back what I said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought it was interesting and educational for people who’ve never had an instance to recognize Alzheimer’s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlonne I love this. Men see The Notebook as a romance movie, and women, at least here at the Senior Center, see it as an Alzheimer’s movie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. It’s quite a distressing disease, not only for the person suffering, but for all of the family as well. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, you were more drawn to it because of that, not because of the romance? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, not the romance. [laughs] I want you to see how they portray the Alzheimer’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The romance seemed a little corny. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just have to say this, I’ve never met so many men in my life that cried over this movie than at San Quentin. Even this dude got all teary about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did I? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, we need to rewatch it and think about that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You told me you did, you find it very emotional. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a cool story. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, one of the most popular things to do in this little area are these bicycles. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Really? Bicycles? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean well, they’re like miniatures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re like little pedals on the ground. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedals, sprockets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, after the stretching, I think we wanted to redeem ourselves, so we both sat down and started pedaling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Earlonne Woods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Nigel. Nigel Poor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nigel. Earlonne. And? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bruce: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bruce. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bruce. LaVelma Byrd. Yes, thank you. Pleased to meet you all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been here, LaVelma? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, 29 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are you doing right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You seen that little thing on TV where people sit in their chair and work their legs? That’s what this is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like a bike. A little bike. And are you a senior? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 72. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">72, okay. What is this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I have arthritis in both of my hands and the bouncing, I made this little soft cushion for my hands when I’m walking with my walker. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you remember LaVelma and her walker? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was all decked out. She’d done all this handiwork crocheting to make the handles softer and give it some personality. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, she was cool. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you find that do you stay separate from the younger people? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As much as possible. [laughs] I’m going to be totally honest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are they bullies, or they just have a different way? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you think it would be a good idea to have younger people house separately? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, ma’am. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And some of the old rowdy ones too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t leave them out. There’s a few of them too. They’re up in age. They should know better. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you stepped in here 29 years ago, how was you moving? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I was out working out every day. I was running 30 laps around the track every day. I was in good shape when I came here. But now, gravity and everything else have caught up with me. \u003cem>[laughs] \u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Ms. Christine. We started calling each other– the older people started calling us by our first names, but we say Miss. So, Ms. Lainey, Ms. Candice, Ms. Christine, Ms. Leslie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t know that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You remember Christine, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She definitely spends a lot of time down the Senior Center. And she had that beautiful long \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Braid. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">-silver braid. And she’s the type of person that likes to sit against the wall and kind of take in the whole scene, makes sure she knows everything that’s happening down there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been here four years and was three years in Chowchilla, so I haven’t been here as long as some people. I came to prison when I was 72. Not all of us are lifelong criminals. And speaking for myself, most of my friends have been teachers and nurses and lawyers, and one is a doctor. And we are not lifelong criminals, and we’d really prefer not to be around criminal activity in prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know I’m a criminal. I did commit a crime when I was 71. But as a person, I am not a criminal. I’ve not ever led a criminal lifestyle. I was never arrested before. And many of these older people are in the same boat that I’m in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It took 71 years to commit a crime? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. Alcohol and a loaded gun, and one second, and now I’m a criminal for the rest of my life. But I’m not asking for sympathy. I know that’s what happened, and I know that I’m here. I just would prefer while in prison not to be around people who led a criminal lifestyle. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, we don’t normally do this, but you brought it up. Can we ask you what your crime was? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. I killed someone when I was drunk and a loaded gun was there. I am here for first-degree murder, and not only first degree, but also gun enhancement, which means that I’ll never get out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who did you kill? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I killed a close relative. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, what we really wanted to talk to you about is what is it like, as you were saying, to come to prison at 71 when you’ve lived a long, professional life? I believe you were– \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was a retired nurse. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how does someone adjust? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a rude shock. [chuckles] It’s a very rude shock. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. I mean, did you ever see this in your future? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No. I never thought about prison. I never considered prison. It was totally not in my world. I always thought that really, really bad, hardened people who had committed terrible crimes went to prison, obviously. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tell us, what is it like when you’re 71 to walk into a prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gave me an upper bunk, first of all, which it was hard. It was hard because I have to get up and pee during the night. So, it means you have to come down carefully, get to the bathroom, get up carefully without waking anybody up and all that a couple of times a night. It was very difficult. I was put in with people that fought in the room, had fights with each other, girlfriends, always these jealousy fights and blood, women having sex with each other in the shower or over to the side of me. And I got used to all of that. But people being up all night because they were tweaking and they were up all night making noise, and I couldn’t sleep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I moved into a room with this couple, and they liked to play the radio really loud, and it was rap music. And I asked them one day if they would turn it down, and they just turned on me [chuckles] like wild beasts. And they told me, “Get out of the room.” And I got out of the room for a while. But you can absolutely not tell anybody in the room in Chowchilla what kind of noise they can make or can’t make. That’s a huge issue. I had no clout at all. I had no clout. I had nothing. I didn’t sell drugs. I didn’t have any stature there at all. So I was like at the bottom of the heap. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You were just an old person in prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was an old person without a whole lot to offer. And I wasn’t even an interesting old person that could do drugs or something or that had anything going for me in prison at all. I didn’t have anything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name’s Lanie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been in prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since 1988. I’m sorry I have a new partial– \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and I’m having a hard time in case I sound a little old lady stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lanie came in, she had those bright eyes with the short hairstyle, and she was very engaging. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. I mean, I found her proper. I don’t know what else to say. Hospitable. And she seemed to me like a character out of a southern novel. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kentucky Derby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe, with the hat and the gloves. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The hat and the gloves. Betting on horses. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ooh. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How old are you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 76 now. I was 41 then. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s your sentence? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">LWOP.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">LWOP stands for life without parole. Most people say life without the possibility of parole, but it’s life without parole. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right. And considering that’s what she’s dealing with, there’s a lot more going on with her beyond this proper southern lady description we gave. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, definitely. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the Senior Center about? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it first opened, I wasn’t real impressed because I thought it was just a way for them to say they did something for us when we’re really used to being invisible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you say invisible, do you mean being someone who’s in prison or being a woman, being someone who’s older? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being elderly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you talk about that invisibility? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is set up for young people, basically. Even at 50, I felt young. You can do it. You can keep up with the program. You can hustle. You just keep the pace. It’s a fast pace. And at 76, I don’t care how hard you try, and I’ve got two hip replacements and deteriorating bones. You can’t keep the pace anymore. You just can’t. The getting up, even getting ready and getting out the door, it’s a challenge. Or to get to the shower and to have to use a particular shower because another shower is slippery and you might fall. There are struggles everywhere. I don’t want to go around saying, “I can’t do this,” or, “I can’t do that.” I got the cane and I won’t make it. The grace of God, I’m going to be okay. But it makes it so much more difficult. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have a lot of people here now who are over 70, 75, 80 years old, and I don’t think they’ve ever had this kind of accumulation of elderly before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, when you came in at 41, is that what you said, were there elderly women? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Very, very few. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And do you remember seeing any older women– \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And what did you think when–? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, my heart went out to them because I had wonderful relationships with my grandparents. And so, you try to help them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when you saw them, did it worry you, like, “Oh, my God, that could be me one day”? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I never thought that this would last that long. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I first came into the women’s prison, I was thrown by seeing older women in prison. It wasn’t even in my mindset. I didn’t even think older women would be in prison. And I spent a long time in men prison. I’m used to seeing older men, and when I seen it, I was like, “Damn.” I don’t know, that was one of them days you just left depleted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are there a lot of older men in prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. Earlonne and I have talked about this a lot. We find it way harder to see older women in prison. I don’t think about it when I’m at a men’s prison and there’s plenty of old men there. Why do you think it’s so much harder for us to see older women in prison? Like you said, it’s draining. It is really heavy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, that’s a good question. And it’s interesting because to me, it would be sad to see older men too. It’s sad with women because the saddest thing for me is family. I’ll start crying if I talk about it, so I’d rather not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, but why do you think it affects us so much? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, because we’re maternal. Mothers are not meant to make mistakes and commit crimes and come to prison. We’re just not. And I hate the fact that I did this to my family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like older women are not supposed to be in prison, and I’m trying to figure out why I don’t have that feeling about older men. You know what I mean? It’s very hard for me to separate my heart feeling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were you very close to your mother? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m very close to my mother. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think, like I said before, we’re all a product of our environment. Just like me, I had a great relationship, as I said, not only with my grandparents, but with my mother. So, when I would see these elderly ladies in prison when I first came, I’d make their beds, I’d do their laundry, anything I could to help them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your supposition is that the three of us have very close relationships with older women in our lives, or did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe if not even with your inner family, with someone older that influenced your life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, I’m smiling because what does that say about what we think about men? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, did you have a great relationship with your father? [laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have very different feelings about men than I have about women. And now, I’m wondering–\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> [crosstalk] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I do too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for that revelation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m ready for the hereafter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How so? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I believe I’m going to heaven. I believe in heaven. I don’t have a real close personal relationship with my grandchildren because my son was raised coming to prison to see mom. He was only six at the time. And he has decided he doesn’t want his children to know that I’m in prison. And I have to respect that. My son and I talk a couple of times a week, and I get tons and tons of pictures and videos and everything of the kids, but we tiptoe around it, and it’s heartbreaking. My daughter-in-law is a schoolteacher, and she’s wonderful. But she was trying to get him to go to a funeral one day. He who’s usually very accommodating and kind, said, “I’m not going to any funerals. I live with the death that never ends.” Meaning I can’t take anymore. He’s very emotional. And so, I think once I’m gone I’m gone, and he don’t have to continue living the death that never ends. “My mom’s gone, and she can’t come home.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, it’s heavy. It’s heavy aging in prison and not just dealing with it myself but trying to help others to deal with it. My family, especially my child. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The heartache never ends. You accept it, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Rightnowish Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was an excerpt from Radiotopia’s podcast, Ear Hustle. To listen to the rest of this episode look up “Ep 94: Once You’re in the Ocean, You’re Going Everywhere” on ear hustlesq.com. To hear other Ear Hustle episodes- they have 13 seasons so plenty to immerse yourself in- find them on your favorite podcast app. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Big ups to their team! Ear Hustle is produced by Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods, Amy Standen, Bruce Wallace, and Rahsaan “New York” Thomas. Shabnam Sigman is the managing producer. The producing team inside San Quentin includes Steve Brooks, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Tony de Trinidad, Tam Nguyen and Tony Tafoya. Earlonne Woods sound designs and engineers the show with help from Fernando Arruda and Derrell Sadiq Davis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was made possible by The Just Trust, working to amplify the voices, vision and power of communities that are transforming the justice system. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks y’all. Love on your people. Peace.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we’re taking some time to honor all the kinds of relationships that people have with their mothers. We’re especially thinking about those who are missing their mothers or mothers who are missing their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than just thinking about them, we’re hearing from them. This week we’re passing the mic to our friends over at the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.earhustlesq.com/episodes/2023/9/20/once-youre-in-the-ocean-youre-going-everywhere\">Ear Hustle\u003c/a>, from PRX’s Radiotopia. It’s a special episode that highlights the stories of elderly mothers who are incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, a prison located in Chino, CA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their tales of aging behind bars while yearning for family are gut-wrenching but necessary. We can’t grow as a people unless we understand the plight of those on the margins of society. And when it comes to ensuring that we grow as a people, that’s something that mothers know best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Happy Mother’s Day from the Rightnowish family!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC2810419346\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Rightnowish Host:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey ya’ll, welcome to Rightnowish. I’m your host Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s Mother’s Day weekend, a day for celebration — and for some, a day that opens wounds. I want to give some love to those who have strained relationships or are missing their moms in one way or another. I’m also thinking about the mothers who are missing their children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, we’re going to hear from some mothers who are incarcerated, particularly senior women with adult children. We’ll do that by passing the mic to our friends at Radiotopia’s Ear Hustle, a podcast that shares the daily realities of life inside prison, from those living it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode, co-hosts Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor pay a visit to the senior center located at the California Institution for Women, and talk to residents about aging and navigating family relationships from within prison walls. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A heavy, but much needed discussion, coming up right after this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor, Ear Hustle Co-Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m just going to describe the scene a little bit. There’s a big television on the wall. It was probably about 54 inches and we’re watching PBS and there’s a woman stretching and Earlonne is really getting into it. He’s doing modern dance right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods, Ear Hustle Co-Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeans, Nigel. These are not yoga pants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s still doing a really good job. And Bruce is even jumping in a little bit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can do that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[workout audio playing in the background] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was at the California Institution for Women, a prison near LA where you and I have been spending a lot of time these days, Nyge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we are in a room they call the Senior Center. But don’t think about some big fancy complex. It’s basically a large carpeted windowless room in a structure that is kind of like a double-wide trailer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where’s your rhythm? You done threw us off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[background chattering] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s going there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got a bad knee and a replaced knee now, y’all. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know how they always tell us we have to keep our distance inside prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I loved how we could just kind of let our guard down a little bit. It was really fun to kick back and try to keep up with those ladies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I felt like I got my workout in for the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel it. I definitely feel it. I feel stretched. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m putting my shoes back on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wait a minute. Hold on. What you mean you putting your shoes back on? Nigel, we only two minutes into this. Leslie’s still going. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know. She’s good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you done? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our friend, Leslie, is kind of the ringleader here at the Senior Center, which come to think of it, just got a rebranding. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, it did. So right now, we are in the She Shed, which I like better than the Senior Center, I have to say. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s kind of fun. We’ll see how it goes over. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. It brings up conversation when you say it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, Nyge, with all the time that they give you in California, the prison population is kind of old. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s aging. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are segments that are and have been there for a long time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Definitely. And Leslie is part of that. She’s been in prison, I mean, since her 20s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, 19. So, her idea for the Senior Center was, how can we make prison more accommodating for old people? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Leslie convinced the prison to open up this room, and she got some boardgames and some greenery and lamps and started getting the word out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At first, I thought I would be like Julie from The Love Boat, create these programs, social director and all this. But it’s been a long, slow process of getting people curious and interested. At first, there was, I think, a feeling that this was a Band-Aid on an ongoing problem of the aging population, and so they weren’t going to come. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were people angry at you or resentful that you were wanting to spearhead this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think that– it could have been, and I missed it, but I think it was just more angry that they’re still incarcerated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pensive music] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can’t do much about the diet, but we can stay in mental shape and physical and spiritual. This is hopefully more of a holistic thing to stay sharp and good and also being recognized, because I don’t think people are aware that there’s so many women over 60 incarcerated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Gladys Ortiz. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you love about the Senior Center? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so much to do there. Yeah, and you get to socialize with people your age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been incarcerated? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seven. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And what is your sentence? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got 15 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oka\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">y. How old were you when you came to prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">60 years old. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Had you ever been to prison before? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Never. It’s a little embarrassing too, because I have my grown children who now have to learn how to maneuver prison. And then, I learned about 50-minute phone calls. I never thought I’d be here. Never. It’s like, wow. None of my friends back home– I’ve disappeared, I’ve just fallen off the face of the earth. Nobody knows I’m here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do they think happened to you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gladys Ortiz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These older women, you don’t really see them when you’re walking around the main part of the prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nah, they don’t hang out like that. They probably spend a lot of their time in the cell. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, it’s actually cool when you get to the Senior Center and it’s a place just for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep. It’s a cubbyhole, you know what I’m saying? They get to go hang out. They got air conditioning and you definitely need that in that part of California. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You definitely want air conditioning. So, I think that makes it attractive. But it’s open every day and they have so many activities, like the exercising. They have different people coming in to give talks. And once a week, I think at least once a week, they show movies. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you all seen The Notebook? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you think of it? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I wasn’t into it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Men love this movie and women are like, “Really?” Oh, wait a minute. You said you loved it? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I loved it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, okay. I take back what I said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought it was interesting and educational for people who’ve never had an instance to recognize Alzheimer’s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlonne I love this. Men see The Notebook as a romance movie, and women, at least here at the Senior Center, see it as an Alzheimer’s movie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. It’s quite a distressing disease, not only for the person suffering, but for all of the family as well. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, you were more drawn to it because of that, not because of the romance? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Female Speaker: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, not the romance. [laughs] I want you to see how they portray the Alzheimer’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The romance seemed a little corny. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just have to say this, I’ve never met so many men in my life that cried over this movie than at San Quentin. Even this dude got all teary about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did I? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, we need to rewatch it and think about that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You told me you did, you find it very emotional. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a cool story. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, one of the most popular things to do in this little area are these bicycles. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Really? Bicycles? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean well, they’re like miniatures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re like little pedals on the ground. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedals, sprockets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, after the stretching, I think we wanted to redeem ourselves, so we both sat down and started pedaling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Earlonne Woods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Nigel. Nigel Poor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nigel. Earlonne. And? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bruce: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bruce. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bruce. LaVelma Byrd. Yes, thank you. Pleased to meet you all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been here, LaVelma? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, 29 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are you doing right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You seen that little thing on TV where people sit in their chair and work their legs? That’s what this is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like a bike. A little bike. And are you a senior? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 72. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">72, okay. What is this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I have arthritis in both of my hands and the bouncing, I made this little soft cushion for my hands when I’m walking with my walker. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you remember LaVelma and her walker? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was all decked out. She’d done all this handiwork crocheting to make the handles softer and give it some personality. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, she was cool. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you find that do you stay separate from the younger people? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As much as possible. [laughs] I’m going to be totally honest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are they bullies, or they just have a different way? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you think it would be a good idea to have younger people house separately? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, ma’am. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And some of the old rowdy ones too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t leave them out. There’s a few of them too. They’re up in age. They should know better. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you stepped in here 29 years ago, how was you moving? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LaVelma Byrd: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I was out working out every day. I was running 30 laps around the track every day. I was in good shape when I came here. But now, gravity and everything else have caught up with me. \u003cem>[laughs] \u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Ms. Christine. We started calling each other– the older people started calling us by our first names, but we say Miss. So, Ms. Lainey, Ms. Candice, Ms. Christine, Ms. Leslie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Leslie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t know that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You remember Christine, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She definitely spends a lot of time down the Senior Center. And she had that beautiful long \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Braid. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">-silver braid. And she’s the type of person that likes to sit against the wall and kind of take in the whole scene, makes sure she knows everything that’s happening down there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been here four years and was three years in Chowchilla, so I haven’t been here as long as some people. I came to prison when I was 72. Not all of us are lifelong criminals. And speaking for myself, most of my friends have been teachers and nurses and lawyers, and one is a doctor. And we are not lifelong criminals, and we’d really prefer not to be around criminal activity in prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know I’m a criminal. I did commit a crime when I was 71. But as a person, I am not a criminal. I’ve not ever led a criminal lifestyle. I was never arrested before. And many of these older people are in the same boat that I’m in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It took 71 years to commit a crime? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. Alcohol and a loaded gun, and one second, and now I’m a criminal for the rest of my life. But I’m not asking for sympathy. I know that’s what happened, and I know that I’m here. I just would prefer while in prison not to be around people who led a criminal lifestyle. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, we don’t normally do this, but you brought it up. Can we ask you what your crime was? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. I killed someone when I was drunk and a loaded gun was there. I am here for first-degree murder, and not only first degree, but also gun enhancement, which means that I’ll never get out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who did you kill? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I killed a close relative. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, what we really wanted to talk to you about is what is it like, as you were saying, to come to prison at 71 when you’ve lived a long, professional life? I believe you were– \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was a retired nurse. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how does someone adjust? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a rude shock. [chuckles] It’s a very rude shock. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. I mean, did you ever see this in your future? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No. I never thought about prison. I never considered prison. It was totally not in my world. I always thought that really, really bad, hardened people who had committed terrible crimes went to prison, obviously. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tell us, what is it like when you’re 71 to walk into a prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gave me an upper bunk, first of all, which it was hard. It was hard because I have to get up and pee during the night. So, it means you have to come down carefully, get to the bathroom, get up carefully without waking anybody up and all that a couple of times a night. It was very difficult. I was put in with people that fought in the room, had fights with each other, girlfriends, always these jealousy fights and blood, women having sex with each other in the shower or over to the side of me. And I got used to all of that. But people being up all night because they were tweaking and they were up all night making noise, and I couldn’t sleep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I moved into a room with this couple, and they liked to play the radio really loud, and it was rap music. And I asked them one day if they would turn it down, and they just turned on me [chuckles] like wild beasts. And they told me, “Get out of the room.” And I got out of the room for a while. But you can absolutely not tell anybody in the room in Chowchilla what kind of noise they can make or can’t make. That’s a huge issue. I had no clout at all. I had no clout. I had nothing. I didn’t sell drugs. I didn’t have any stature there at all. So I was like at the bottom of the heap. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You were just an old person in prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christine: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was an old person without a whole lot to offer. And I wasn’t even an interesting old person that could do drugs or something or that had anything going for me in prison at all. I didn’t have anything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name’s Lanie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long have you been in prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since 1988. I’m sorry I have a new partial– \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and I’m having a hard time in case I sound a little old lady stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lanie came in, she had those bright eyes with the short hairstyle, and she was very engaging. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. I mean, I found her proper. I don’t know what else to say. Hospitable. And she seemed to me like a character out of a southern novel. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kentucky Derby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe, with the hat and the gloves. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The hat and the gloves. Betting on horses. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ooh. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughter] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How old are you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 76 now. I was 41 then. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s your sentence? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">LWOP.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">LWOP stands for life without parole. Most people say life without the possibility of parole, but it’s life without parole. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right. And considering that’s what she’s dealing with, there’s a lot more going on with her beyond this proper southern lady description we gave. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, definitely. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the Senior Center about? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it first opened, I wasn’t real impressed because I thought it was just a way for them to say they did something for us when we’re really used to being invisible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you say invisible, do you mean being someone who’s in prison or being a woman, being someone who’s older? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being elderly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you talk about that invisibility? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is set up for young people, basically. Even at 50, I felt young. You can do it. You can keep up with the program. You can hustle. You just keep the pace. It’s a fast pace. And at 76, I don’t care how hard you try, and I’ve got two hip replacements and deteriorating bones. You can’t keep the pace anymore. You just can’t. The getting up, even getting ready and getting out the door, it’s a challenge. Or to get to the shower and to have to use a particular shower because another shower is slippery and you might fall. There are struggles everywhere. I don’t want to go around saying, “I can’t do this,” or, “I can’t do that.” I got the cane and I won’t make it. The grace of God, I’m going to be okay. But it makes it so much more difficult. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have a lot of people here now who are over 70, 75, 80 years old, and I don’t think they’ve ever had this kind of accumulation of elderly before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, when you came in at 41, is that what you said, were there elderly women? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Very, very few. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And do you remember seeing any older women– \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And what did you think when–? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, my heart went out to them because I had wonderful relationships with my grandparents. And so, you try to help them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when you saw them, did it worry you, like, “Oh, my God, that could be me one day”? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I never thought that this would last that long. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Earlonne Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I first came into the women’s prison, I was thrown by seeing older women in prison. It wasn’t even in my mindset. I didn’t even think older women would be in prison. And I spent a long time in men prison. I’m used to seeing older men, and when I seen it, I was like, “Damn.” I don’t know, that was one of them days you just left depleted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are there a lot of older men in prison? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. Earlonne and I have talked about this a lot. We find it way harder to see older women in prison. I don’t think about it when I’m at a men’s prison and there’s plenty of old men there. Why do you think it’s so much harder for us to see older women in prison? Like you said, it’s draining. It is really heavy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, that’s a good question. And it’s interesting because to me, it would be sad to see older men too. It’s sad with women because the saddest thing for me is family. I’ll start crying if I talk about it, so I’d rather not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, but why do you think it affects us so much? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, because we’re maternal. Mothers are not meant to make mistakes and commit crimes and come to prison. We’re just not. And I hate the fact that I did this to my family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like older women are not supposed to be in prison, and I’m trying to figure out why I don’t have that feeling about older men. You know what I mean? It’s very hard for me to separate my heart feeling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were you very close to your mother? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m very close to my mother. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think, like I said before, we’re all a product of our environment. Just like me, I had a great relationship, as I said, not only with my grandparents, but with my mother. So, when I would see these elderly ladies in prison when I first came, I’d make their beds, I’d do their laundry, anything I could to help them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your supposition is that the three of us have very close relationships with older women in our lives, or did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe if not even with your inner family, with someone older that influenced your life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, I’m smiling because what does that say about what we think about men? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, did you have a great relationship with your father? [laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have very different feelings about men than I have about women. And now, I’m wondering–\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> [crosstalk] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I do too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for that revelation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m ready for the hereafter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How so? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I believe I’m going to heaven. I believe in heaven. I don’t have a real close personal relationship with my grandchildren because my son was raised coming to prison to see mom. He was only six at the time. And he has decided he doesn’t want his children to know that I’m in prison. And I have to respect that. My son and I talk a couple of times a week, and I get tons and tons of pictures and videos and everything of the kids, but we tiptoe around it, and it’s heartbreaking. My daughter-in-law is a schoolteacher, and she’s wonderful. But she was trying to get him to go to a funeral one day. He who’s usually very accommodating and kind, said, “I’m not going to any funerals. I live with the death that never ends.” Meaning I can’t take anymore. He’s very emotional. And so, I think once I’m gone I’m gone, and he don’t have to continue living the death that never ends. “My mom’s gone, and she can’t come home.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, it’s heavy. It’s heavy aging in prison and not just dealing with it myself but trying to help others to deal with it. My family, especially my child. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lanie: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The heartache never ends. You accept it, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Nigel Poor: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Rightnowish Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was an excerpt from Radiotopia’s podcast, Ear Hustle. To listen to the rest of this episode look up “Ep 94: Once You’re in the Ocean, You’re Going Everywhere” on ear hustlesq.com. To hear other Ear Hustle episodes- they have 13 seasons so plenty to immerse yourself in- find them on your favorite podcast app. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Big ups to their team! Ear Hustle is produced by Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods, Amy Standen, Bruce Wallace, and Rahsaan “New York” Thomas. Shabnam Sigman is the managing producer. The producing team inside San Quentin includes Steve Brooks, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Tony de Trinidad, Tam Nguyen and Tony Tafoya. Earlonne Woods sound designs and engineers the show with help from Fernando Arruda and Derrell Sadiq Davis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was made possible by The Just Trust, working to amplify the voices, vision and power of communities that are transforming the justice system. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks y’all. Love on your people. Peace.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "in-the-50-incarcerated-men-become-mentors",
"title": "In ‘The 50,’ Incarcerated Men Become Mentors",
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"headTitle": "In ‘The 50,’ Incarcerated Men Become Mentors | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>One of the most important parts of community healing is assisting individuals directly, one-on-one. And a key aspect for those looking to heal themselves? Helping others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is as true for the world at large as it is for people who are incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brentongieser.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brenton Gieser\u003c/a>’s documentary film, \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.the50film.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The 50\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, currently streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime and \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-50-oakland-special-release-screening-event-tickets-878111393817\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">screening at the New Parkway Theatre\u003c/a> in Oakland on April 19, hones in on this idea of mutual assistance by highlighting \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2014/04/30/offender-mentor-certification-teaches-inmates-to-help-themselves-others/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program (OMPC)\u003c/a> and a few of the men who’ve gone through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956043\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956043 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from the film, 'The 50,' shows a room where men are dressed in state-issued prison clothing while sitting in a circle of chairs and holding a discussion. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘The 50’ shows men sitting in a circle, sharing thoughts about the healing process. \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Grieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within the film’s first 15 minutes, viewers are brought into the California State Prison in Solano, where the first OMCP program began in 2008. The mentorship program uses the “parallel process,” where men are encouraged to work through their own traumas while simultaneously assisting others. It’s exemplified by people like Anthony Hill, a mentor who is also incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he stands in front of a class, Hill illustrates a pyramid on a dry-erase board and identifies common roadblocks people face in addition to the “junk” that informs a person’s core beliefs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The way I was raised affects the way I think,” Hill says to a room of other men in blue shirts. “And the way I think is the way I behave, right?” Heads nod as he pinpoints the issues of maintaining a certain image and yearning for acceptance as the catalyst to many peoples’ misguided actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill believes that people are not inherently bad, but rather misled or misinformed by core beliefs gone awry due to childhood trauma. But there’s a solution: on the bottom of the pyramid, Hill adds a layer. “Up under here is some good stuff, because there’s good in everybody,” he says before going around the room, making eye contact and letting each individual know that he sees the good in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956044 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16%E2%80%AFAM-800x394.png\" alt=\"Anthony Hill, a mentor with California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program, stands in front of a whiteboard discussing methods of personal healing. \" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-800x394.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1020x502.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-160x79.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-768x378.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1536x756.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-2048x1007.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1920x944.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anthony Hill, a mentor with California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program, stands in front of a whiteboard discussing methods of personal healing. \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Gieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pulling out this “good stuff” that hides beneath our learned behavior is a universal idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We come into this world as — not to get too existential — but as beings that are steeped in goodness,” says filmmaker Brenton Gieser. “And so many people aren’t afforded opportunities to fully actualize that goodness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gieser adds that being born into poverty, being of a certain race or inheriting generational family challenges are all obstacles that can make any person deviate from the “good stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any level of investigation into our own journeys,” says Gieser, will lead people to “understand moments where innocence was stripped away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, the film’s three main characters Cameron Clark, Al Roensch, and Randy Carter sit down and discuss moments in their childhood where they changed for the worse, while viewers are shown reenactments and visual metaphors related to their stories. Gieser says the goal of these clips isn’t solely to illustrate the stories being told, but to bring audiences into \u003cem>the feeling\u003c/em> of each experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956046\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956046 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A behind the scenes shot of filmmaker Brenton Gieser giving directions on the set of the film 'The 50'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A behind-the-scenes shot of filmmaker Brenton Gieser giving directions on the set of the film ‘The 50.’ \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Gieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one scene, Clark opens up about a time he was incarcerated and exchanged photo albums with a person in the cell adjacent to him. After flipping through the images, he soon realized that the person with whom he’d swapped photo albums was the nephew of the man Clark was incarcerated for murdering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark recalls the following day, when the two had a meeting. “This dude walks up to me and kneels down on one knee,” says Clark, as the reenactment shows the two congregating in what’s described as a blindspot on the yard. “I’m looking at him, so I kneel down on one knee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nephew of the slain man explained how his uncle used to take him to wrestling matches, illustrating the joy they had together — humanizing him. Clark couldn’t handle it, and abruptly excused himself. But even in leaving, the moment stuck with him, pushing him on his path to examine himself and find the “good stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The 50 | Official Trailer\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/gW0cb_ZHick?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark, no longer incarcerated, is now the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dovebayarea.org/our-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Executive Director of D.O.V.E.\u003c/a>, a non-profit focused on preventing crime and helping those formerly incarcerated to successfully return to the larger society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film ends as Clark speaks to the graduating class of the 8th session of OMPC, on a day that happens to be the program’s 10th anniversary. Clark encourages the men in the audience by saying that the community needs and misses them, and reminds them that there’s a spot for them when they return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the film trails off from Clarks’ speech and visuals of graduates, images of others who’ve since transitioned out of prison are shown, as well as their professional titles. An interview with Clark plays as he continues his vocal encouragement to those who’ve been through what he’s been through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are experts in the field when it comes to loneliness, hurt and pain,” says Clark, noting that with the right support these people who’ve been incarcerated, who are now mentors and non-profit workers, could go so much further. “We could ultimately become the greatest healers of our society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The 50’ screens on Friday, April 19, at 6 p.m., the New Parkway Theater in Oakland. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-50-oakland-special-release-screening-event-tickets-878111393817\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of the most important parts of community healing is assisting individuals directly, one-on-one. And a key aspect for those looking to heal themselves? Helping others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is as true for the world at large as it is for people who are incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brentongieser.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brenton Gieser\u003c/a>’s documentary film, \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.the50film.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The 50\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, currently streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime and \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-50-oakland-special-release-screening-event-tickets-878111393817\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">screening at the New Parkway Theatre\u003c/a> in Oakland on April 19, hones in on this idea of mutual assistance by highlighting \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2014/04/30/offender-mentor-certification-teaches-inmates-to-help-themselves-others/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program (OMPC)\u003c/a> and a few of the men who’ve gone through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956043\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956043 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from the film, 'The 50,' shows a room where men are dressed in state-issued prison clothing while sitting in a circle of chairs and holding a discussion. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Solano-State-Prison-OMCP-group-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘The 50’ shows men sitting in a circle, sharing thoughts about the healing process. \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Grieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within the film’s first 15 minutes, viewers are brought into the California State Prison in Solano, where the first OMCP program began in 2008. The mentorship program uses the “parallel process,” where men are encouraged to work through their own traumas while simultaneously assisting others. It’s exemplified by people like Anthony Hill, a mentor who is also incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he stands in front of a class, Hill illustrates a pyramid on a dry-erase board and identifies common roadblocks people face in addition to the “junk” that informs a person’s core beliefs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The way I was raised affects the way I think,” Hill says to a room of other men in blue shirts. “And the way I think is the way I behave, right?” Heads nod as he pinpoints the issues of maintaining a certain image and yearning for acceptance as the catalyst to many peoples’ misguided actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill believes that people are not inherently bad, but rather misled or misinformed by core beliefs gone awry due to childhood trauma. But there’s a solution: on the bottom of the pyramid, Hill adds a layer. “Up under here is some good stuff, because there’s good in everybody,” he says before going around the room, making eye contact and letting each individual know that he sees the good in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956044 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16%E2%80%AFAM-800x394.png\" alt=\"Anthony Hill, a mentor with California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program, stands in front of a whiteboard discussing methods of personal healing. \" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-800x394.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1020x502.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-160x79.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-768x378.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1536x756.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-2048x1007.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-7.59.16 AM-1920x944.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anthony Hill, a mentor with California’s Offender Mentor Certificate Program, stands in front of a whiteboard discussing methods of personal healing. \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Gieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pulling out this “good stuff” that hides beneath our learned behavior is a universal idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We come into this world as — not to get too existential — but as beings that are steeped in goodness,” says filmmaker Brenton Gieser. “And so many people aren’t afforded opportunities to fully actualize that goodness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gieser adds that being born into poverty, being of a certain race or inheriting generational family challenges are all obstacles that can make any person deviate from the “good stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any level of investigation into our own journeys,” says Gieser, will lead people to “understand moments where innocence was stripped away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, the film’s three main characters Cameron Clark, Al Roensch, and Randy Carter sit down and discuss moments in their childhood where they changed for the worse, while viewers are shown reenactments and visual metaphors related to their stories. Gieser says the goal of these clips isn’t solely to illustrate the stories being told, but to bring audiences into \u003cem>the feeling\u003c/em> of each experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956046\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956046 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A behind the scenes shot of filmmaker Brenton Gieser giving directions on the set of the film 'The 50'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DSC_6600.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A behind-the-scenes shot of filmmaker Brenton Gieser giving directions on the set of the film ‘The 50.’ \u003ccite>(Via Brenton Gieser)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one scene, Clark opens up about a time he was incarcerated and exchanged photo albums with a person in the cell adjacent to him. After flipping through the images, he soon realized that the person with whom he’d swapped photo albums was the nephew of the man Clark was incarcerated for murdering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark recalls the following day, when the two had a meeting. “This dude walks up to me and kneels down on one knee,” says Clark, as the reenactment shows the two congregating in what’s described as a blindspot on the yard. “I’m looking at him, so I kneel down on one knee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nephew of the slain man explained how his uncle used to take him to wrestling matches, illustrating the joy they had together — humanizing him. Clark couldn’t handle it, and abruptly excused himself. But even in leaving, the moment stuck with him, pushing him on his path to examine himself and find the “good stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The 50 | Official Trailer\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/gW0cb_ZHick?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark, no longer incarcerated, is now the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dovebayarea.org/our-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Executive Director of D.O.V.E.\u003c/a>, a non-profit focused on preventing crime and helping those formerly incarcerated to successfully return to the larger society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film ends as Clark speaks to the graduating class of the 8th session of OMPC, on a day that happens to be the program’s 10th anniversary. Clark encourages the men in the audience by saying that the community needs and misses them, and reminds them that there’s a spot for them when they return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the film trails off from Clarks’ speech and visuals of graduates, images of others who’ve since transitioned out of prison are shown, as well as their professional titles. An interview with Clark plays as he continues his vocal encouragement to those who’ve been through what he’s been through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are experts in the field when it comes to loneliness, hurt and pain,” says Clark, noting that with the right support these people who’ve been incarcerated, who are now mentors and non-profit workers, could go so much further. “We could ultimately become the greatest healers of our society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The 50’ screens on Friday, April 19, at 6 p.m., the New Parkway Theater in Oakland. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-50-oakland-special-release-screening-event-tickets-878111393817\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "rob-woods",
"title": "Rob Woods Knows You Are Worthy",
"publishDate": 1705575615,
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"headTitle": "Rob Woods Knows You Are Worthy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy,” sings musician \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Robwoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rob Woods\u003c/a> in a raspy yet uplifting tone that’s reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKqjbf8u10&t=2s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worthy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they’ve been through, they too are worthy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950397\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950397\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"Rob Woods talking to people at San Quentin State Prison about the idea of being worthy. \" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-2048x1360.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rob Woods talking to people at San Quentin State Prison about the idea of being worthy. \u003ccite>(David Chatman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Through the \u003ca href=\"https://worthyfoundation.myshopify.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worthy Foundation\u003c/a>, which Woods runs along with Quinton Jackson, Jacob Moynihan and Derek Foster, they have partnered with other volunteers to give free haircuts and resources to people living near the well-known unhoused community of Skid Row in Los Angeles. While there, his message was amplified when local artists painted the word “worthy” on a nearby wall. He’s also gone back behind the prison walls to do work, as he’s held workshops and performances at San Quentin in an effort to remind people of their value. And during a “Worthy Hour” show in his hometown of Sacramento, I got to see firsthand why Woods is so grounded, as his friends and family boisterously cheered in support of his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woods’ work is important, especially here in California. This state is home to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/203757/number-of-prisoners-in-the-us-by-states/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second largest population of imprisoned people\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-population-by-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the country’s largest unhoused population\u003c/a>. And for many people, even those who aren’t living behind bars or sleeping on the streets, times are hard. In the scramble to pay bills and make ends meet, our inherent value as human beings often gets lost. So this week we talk to Rob Woods for a simple but profound reminder that you too are worthy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3473309213&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Welcome to Rightnowish. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m your host Pendarvis Harshaw, bringing you a conversation I recently had with a talented musician by the name of Rob Woods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rob is an MC whose poetic lyrics speak of hard times and hope, the central idea in his music is that we’re all worthy beings. It’s best exemplified in his 2020 song titled, “Worthy,” a melodic and contemplative piece, with soulful lyrics about redemption.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This concept of worthiness, something he learned while incarcerated, also shows up in Rob’s approach to how he now serves the community. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He organizes with other volunteers to give haircuts to unhoused folks on Skid Row in Los Angeles. He also volunteers behind bars, speaking to people who are incarcerated in places like Marin County’s San Quentin State prison. And the idea of worthiness even shows up in his series of statewide live performances, which he calls, “The Worthy Hour.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rob knows what it’s like to be at your worst, and then grow to be the best version of yourself. So this week we talk about music, meaningful messages, and his movement to remind people that no matter what you’ve been through, you are worthy. Stay tuned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recently, I saw you perform in Sacramento at the Guild Theater as a part of your show called The Worthy Hour. What is the worthy hour?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods, guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s exactly what it is. It’s for one hour. You know, I’m trying to pour into those that are, you know, there in attendance, making sure that they feel worthy, that they hear the word worthy, that they understand the meaning behind it, which is for me, it’s knowing that you are loved, knowing that you are worth it, your worth, that you’re worth everything, everything that you want and you desire. I feel like people need to hear that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, you know, I just been able to do it through a musical display most recently, you know, being able to capture a dope audience and sit there with them for the hour and make sure that they’re hearing this, feeling this. And it’s not all just rap. You know, I try to assemble some musicians like my buddy K.J. Focus, who’s just really, really mean on the saxophone. He pulls up and he’s able to convey that same message to you without saying a word, just through his instrument.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It started with me doing it only inside of prisons. But, I soon realized that even us out here, we need to hear that we’re worthy. It’s not just… some people that are going through things behind bars, like in all reality, we are all in need of hearing this word on the daily. So, you know, I just, you know, take pride in making it my job and doing it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was going on in your life when you wrote the song “Worthy”?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was finishing up my prison bid sitting on the top of my bunk. I was confused a little bit on like where where I was at, you know. I kind of didn’t even understand, like, damn, you fucked up so bad that you got here. But at that same moment, I did feel that like, God was with me. I’ve never done anything on my own. I felt the power of like prayers, you know, I had a really powerful prayer team. My great aunties came to visit me in prison. They would pray on me. And now I feel like I have just like these angels. You know, I had angels on earth, I have angels above. And it made me feel like I knew I was going to be okay no matter what.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, the words are “I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect, been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it. I’m not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy. And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy on me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Worthy by Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">`\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the song, I just, I don’t know man, I just heard it in my head. I had a calling for it to write the music. I didn’t, I did not find it, the beats and all that until later on in life. But the initial template was just me writing in my journal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have a new song with LaRussell, who’s had immense success with putting heavy messages in his music and the Co-LLAB Choir. What was the conversation like leading up to that song?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a genuine approach on all fronts. You know, for me and… me and LaRussell it was just simply, you know we had done some shows. Pre-pandemic, you know, we did some shows where like we were just crossing paths, opening up for other artists and things of that nature. And, you know, we just had a chance to build a cool little rapport and a, you know, friendship through the music. And we waited until we found a track that actually just felt good for both of us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from The Road by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like I got the weight of the world on my shoulders but finally here\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Been through the winter, the stormiest weather but we made out to the clear\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I put my foot on the gas, I ain’t comin’ off, we bout to switch up the gears\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was locked in the cell, wasn’t worried ‘bout bail but the failure was my only fear\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m back on the road (Back on the road)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in my mode (Back in my mode)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in my zone (Back in my zone)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chasing the gold (Chasing)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The song is called The Road. You know, it hit… it hit for him. It hit for me. The beat maker, Beau Knows Beats, it hit for him. It was just very, very once- once we got the correct beat, it was easy, easy flowing. For the Co-LLAB choir…I had no… I didn’t know anything about it. But once they brought it to my attention on my damn this choir is so dope. And um, they jumped on another song with us with me and Gunna Goes Global called I Know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it was a heavy message based song but they elevated.. they elevated the sound. Took them\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no time for them to come back with their own versions of like how the song should sound and they amplified it in a way that I just can’t do on my own. I can’t do it myself, you know? I’m good with writing, I’m good with rapping. I think I can hold a note or two, but the power behind that choir and their willingness to be a part of this was like something that really amplified the track.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from I Know by Gunna Goes Global:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People always judged you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You ain’t want nothin’ but somebody to hug you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bills got you stressin’ it’s heavy on your back\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You tried to borrow money but they said they’d call you back\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hip hop has long had this issue with some music being, um, lighter. It serves a purpose, but it can be overly.. like we’re overly saturated with music that isn’t um, of high intelligence, I’ll say or isn’t um, relating to the soul and so, how do you go about putting substance in your music and making sure that it reaches people?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing that I want to do is make music that I care about and that I love. If I can’t do that, it can’t happen. Very hard for me to do that. So I just try to stay the course of like, do you believe in what you’re saying? Like the stuff that you’re writing about. Is this really you, is that really your life? Is that the image that you are putting out there, does that line up with the person that you are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know what I believe in and what I don’t believe in. And I don’t believe in putting negative things out there. I don’t believe in hurting my brother or my sister in any way. I don’t believe in down talk of any kind to my people. So, you know, with this music, I just make sure that those things are checked off. Does this make a person… how does it make a person feel? Because this isn’t for me. It’s for someone else. I’m giving it to them. How does it make them feel? What did they take away from it? What effect does it have on them, during the, you know, the course of them listening? And that has just been my, you know, my rule of thumb in creating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your music is steeped in hope. Like, as I’ve listened, the first song that I really latched onto that black gold track, like I needed to hear that personally. It was, you know, around 2020 where things were pretty heavy. Thank you for that. And why does it feel important for you to have hope at the center of your art?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think it’s important to implement hope at the inside of the track because that’s all I am you know, that’s all I’ve been. And even the track Black Gold, that was not my original track. It’s actually a guy that I met when I was doing a tour into San Quentin Prison. He was very talented, his name is Antwan Banks. When he got out, he reached out was like, “Hey, I love to connect, let’s do some music.” He came to me with this idea of black gold, like that’s him on the hook \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Antwan Banks in a clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>“\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)…”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Us as black individuals and… We’ve been painted a different color. You know what I mean. We’ve been painted a different light and it’s negative. But, you know, I really, really want to do my job in reminding us, like, how beautiful black is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">King like Nat Cole \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beautiful Black queens, all black bathrobes\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All that Black soul, sound like…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that music is… it’s very, very, very, very powerful and it’s dangerous at the same time. I want to be on the side that’s putting something out there that people can take and that they can use in a way that it’s going to help, not hinder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I’ve done work with folks who’ve been incarcerated in different institutions throughout the state as well as people reentering society, it’s been clear to me that that network, that community is essential in making sure that people get on their feet and reestablish themselves. Is this something you’ve experienced of seeing that… that network of even, um the kind of fraternal group of people you were incarcerated with even, have you experienced that as well?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The formerly incarcerated, I have seen what it looks like when they get out. There’s just absolutely nobody there. You know, I did my… my halfway house in the Tenderloin, you know. Very, very weird place for a prison to place a man after he’s doing prison time. You know, this is supposed to be a rehabilitation time of your life, but the halfway house in the Tenderloin, and we all know what it’s like there. You look to the left, you gon’ see a lot. You look to the right, you see a lot. It’s very hard to just get out and keep a straight path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My sister was close to me, you know, like, literally right down the street. She lived in the Tenderloin too somehow and uh… I knew that that helped me a lot. She helped me with getting my first job, references. My other buddy Gunna Goes Global, he was in the halfway house when I got out with me, cause we met in prison. He gave me my first studio for $25 an hour. You know, everything that I really, really needed, it came from other individuals that wanted to help and just be a resource. And I feel like we all need that some times in our life, but definitely a person that has been going through incarceration. When they get home, they need all the help they can get. Positive reinforcements.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People showing up for other people who might otherwise slip through the cracks of society. That’s…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s definitely what I’ve seen as well and so…\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">thank you for sharing that experience. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kind of fast forwarding a little bit. I understand that you grew up in Sacramento, you spent time in the Bay Area, then you moved to L.A. and when you, when you got there, you began working with the unhoused population, specifically around Skid Row. What did you see? What were your like, broad observations when you first got there?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s very sad. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Very much like how it is down there in San Francisco area where you have Taylor Street, where it’s one street, at the bottom of the street, it’s the Tenderloin. It’s poverty. It’s homelessness. It’s… it’s, you know, it’s just a totally different world from the top of the hill. Here in Los Angeles, it’s the same way. You got your downtown area. You have a very rich area where people are thriving and like just three blocks over you have Skid Row, which is five to seven blocks of just total opposite of that. And\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I saw people turning a blind eye. I saw people making a point to go around these areas. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The arts district is on the outside of Skid Row. Downtown is on the outside of Skid Row. Skid Row’s almost in the heart of the downtown area, but we make sure to go around it. And I didn’t feel good going around it. Man you know, I didn’t. I had to go in there. I had and it was during me making the video for Worthy, looking for all these dope beautiful spots to do the video. And I’m like, why are we going around what needs us the most?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like we went in there and we had. We had our brotherhood, we had our sisterhood. We had people that actually wanted to hear the message. That was eye opening. That was very awakening to me to like, physically see people wanting this message. I feel like that is the place that needs it the most. Let’s… let’s come together in a place that needs us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the earlier parts of your volunteer work was around haircuts. Why did you see it as important to give people haircuts in effort to show them that they’re worthy?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, the feeling of when you get a haircut, you feel like, ‘Aye, damn, you know, like I feel good. I look good.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: ‘\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t have a dime in my pocket, but I feel good, like, let’s go get it.’ You know, that is the energy that I was able to get, even when I was locked up. I get a haircut. I feel good. I still got some years, but looking in the mirror, I’mma be alright. I’m okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I had the opportunity to do the haircuts in Skid Row, I wanted to give that same energy. You know, and it was beautiful to see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One guy flew out from Washington. His name is Juice and he was also incarcerated with me, but he’s a barber. He flew himself out. He stayed for a weekend, and then two other barbers from the L.A. area just.. they banded together and they sat on that corner and they gave up as many free haircuts as possible. And we literally watched… It was a transition, it was a transformation from no smile, to haircut, to mirror, to smile, to walking off, and feeling good, and attacking the day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s like what my barber buddies were saying, they’re like, “Hey man we could give this freely. Like, this is the one thing that we possess that doesn’t cost us anything that we want to give away freely.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Based on your firsthand experience in these two environments, prison and then working on the streets with folks who are unhoused. What parallels or overlaps have you seen?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are two places where it’s clear that they need, they need somebody. They need help, right? You’re dealing and you’re doing with the least amount of resources possible. They don’t have a lot. They might not even want a lot anymore, but they’re making it work and they are trying. But I also see a community of people that have each other’s backs. You know, that’s one thing that really drew me to the area was like, even though they don’t have homes and houses and cars, what they do have is like a heart and a smile and they’re sharing. They don’t have shit, but they’re still sharing!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s some things that we need in society. We need, even in the prison system, it sucks to say, bro like the, the structure, the organization, the discipline that it- that they have in there, we need some of that out here. The minimal hopping on the phone to talk to people and the scrolling through our instagrams that they can’t do in there, I feel like we need a little bit of that out here to help balance you know, and keep us focused and stay on track.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a personal note, I know that the work that you do both as entertainment and also the work that you do, the social work that you do, can be draining. And this world just in general is taxing. And so I’m wondering, like when you’re down, what’s your… what’s your personal ritual to remind yourself that you’re worthy? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just remind myself, like first off, it’s all in my name. I’m named after my grandfather. Very, very, very great man, he led the family, 11 children. I have 11 aunties and uncles. And uh, he was a great man. And I always just try to remind myself like… Will he be proud, you know what I mean, of the work I’m doing? I think so. You know, even with like, the distribution, this stuff I’m doing with the community, I learned that from him. You know, I used to ride around in the back of his truck and he would stop at food banks and grab bread and stuff after work. We’d pass it out, and um, so a little piece of this, like I don’t get drained when it comes to that is what I’m trying to say. I get, I’m very excited because that’s my.. that’s my work. That’s my connection with him. We just keeping it, we just keeping it alive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For me, it’s a bit of a blessing. I’ve never not felt it. I’ve never not felt like God loves me, never not felt like my family loves me. To remind myself I literally just have to just speak, speak back to myself, speak to God, just being thankful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How was it felt for you personally, seeing your message resonating with folks?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know I’m a solo artist, I’m not signed or none of that stuff. Bro I just literally like, I have the opportunity and the ability to create something and people actually like it. People actually love it. Some people actually take it and it’s helping them. And that is like, the hugest payoff for me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like cooking good food, man. And watching everybody at the table eat and get full and say it’s good. And then, you know, catch the itis and doze off, right? Like, I did it the right way. I feel like the same way with my music, and my message when I’m able to put it out there and the…. Man, it’s just… It’s… it’s amazing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Indeed it is. Rob, thank you. Thank you for your message, your work and your music. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The service of reminding people of their worth– that we are all worthy– is such a unique thing that can be easily overlooked, especially when so much is needed: housing, mental health resources, changes to laws, you name it. But if you, as an individual, don’t think you’re worthy, you could have the world and it would mean nothing. So, it’s a universal message and I hope you all gained something from this conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I invite you to check out Rob’s music, including his latest single, “The Road,” which is done in collaboration with Vallejo’s LaRussell and The Co-LLAB Choir, find it wherever you stream music. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you can keep up with Rob Woods on instagram, at robwooods, all one word. Rob R-O-B. Woods is spelled with three O’s. That’s W-O-O-O-D-S.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was produced by Marisol Medina-Cadena and Sheree Bishop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris Hambrick is our editor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our engineer is Christopher Beale.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is also supported by Ugur Dursun, Cesar Saldana, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, and Holly Kernan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take it easy. Keep it lit. Be nice to people and don’t forget to pay it forward. Peace. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Musician Rob Woods spreads the message that everyone from San Quentin prison to Skid Row is worthy.",
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"title": "Rob Woods Knows You Are Worthy | KQED",
"description": ""Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy," sings musician Rob Woods in a raspy yet uplifting tone that's reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, "Worthy." Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they've been through, they too are worthy.",
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"socialDescription": ""Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy," sings musician Rob Woods in a raspy yet uplifting tone that's reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, "Worthy." Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they've been through, they too are worthy.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy,” sings musician \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Robwoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rob Woods\u003c/a> in a raspy yet uplifting tone that’s reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKqjbf8u10&t=2s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worthy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they’ve been through, they too are worthy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950397\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950397\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"Rob Woods talking to people at San Quentin State Prison about the idea of being worthy. \" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-2048x1360.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Rob-Woods_-Photo_by_David_Chatman-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rob Woods talking to people at San Quentin State Prison about the idea of being worthy. \u003ccite>(David Chatman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Through the \u003ca href=\"https://worthyfoundation.myshopify.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worthy Foundation\u003c/a>, which Woods runs along with Quinton Jackson, Jacob Moynihan and Derek Foster, they have partnered with other volunteers to give free haircuts and resources to people living near the well-known unhoused community of Skid Row in Los Angeles. While there, his message was amplified when local artists painted the word “worthy” on a nearby wall. He’s also gone back behind the prison walls to do work, as he’s held workshops and performances at San Quentin in an effort to remind people of their value. And during a “Worthy Hour” show in his hometown of Sacramento, I got to see firsthand why Woods is so grounded, as his friends and family boisterously cheered in support of his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woods’ work is important, especially here in California. This state is home to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/203757/number-of-prisoners-in-the-us-by-states/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second largest population of imprisoned people\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-population-by-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the country’s largest unhoused population\u003c/a>. And for many people, even those who aren’t living behind bars or sleeping on the streets, times are hard. In the scramble to pay bills and make ends meet, our inherent value as human beings often gets lost. So this week we talk to Rob Woods for a simple but profound reminder that you too are worthy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3473309213&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Welcome to Rightnowish. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m your host Pendarvis Harshaw, bringing you a conversation I recently had with a talented musician by the name of Rob Woods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rob is an MC whose poetic lyrics speak of hard times and hope, the central idea in his music is that we’re all worthy beings. It’s best exemplified in his 2020 song titled, “Worthy,” a melodic and contemplative piece, with soulful lyrics about redemption.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This concept of worthiness, something he learned while incarcerated, also shows up in Rob’s approach to how he now serves the community. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He organizes with other volunteers to give haircuts to unhoused folks on Skid Row in Los Angeles. He also volunteers behind bars, speaking to people who are incarcerated in places like Marin County’s San Quentin State prison. And the idea of worthiness even shows up in his series of statewide live performances, which he calls, “The Worthy Hour.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rob knows what it’s like to be at your worst, and then grow to be the best version of yourself. So this week we talk about music, meaningful messages, and his movement to remind people that no matter what you’ve been through, you are worthy. Stay tuned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recently, I saw you perform in Sacramento at the Guild Theater as a part of your show called The Worthy Hour. What is the worthy hour?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods, guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s exactly what it is. It’s for one hour. You know, I’m trying to pour into those that are, you know, there in attendance, making sure that they feel worthy, that they hear the word worthy, that they understand the meaning behind it, which is for me, it’s knowing that you are loved, knowing that you are worth it, your worth, that you’re worth everything, everything that you want and you desire. I feel like people need to hear that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, you know, I just been able to do it through a musical display most recently, you know, being able to capture a dope audience and sit there with them for the hour and make sure that they’re hearing this, feeling this. And it’s not all just rap. You know, I try to assemble some musicians like my buddy K.J. Focus, who’s just really, really mean on the saxophone. He pulls up and he’s able to convey that same message to you without saying a word, just through his instrument.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It started with me doing it only inside of prisons. But, I soon realized that even us out here, we need to hear that we’re worthy. It’s not just… some people that are going through things behind bars, like in all reality, we are all in need of hearing this word on the daily. So, you know, I just, you know, take pride in making it my job and doing it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was going on in your life when you wrote the song “Worthy”?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was finishing up my prison bid sitting on the top of my bunk. I was confused a little bit on like where where I was at, you know. I kind of didn’t even understand, like, damn, you fucked up so bad that you got here. But at that same moment, I did feel that like, God was with me. I’ve never done anything on my own. I felt the power of like prayers, you know, I had a really powerful prayer team. My great aunties came to visit me in prison. They would pray on me. And now I feel like I have just like these angels. You know, I had angels on earth, I have angels above. And it made me feel like I knew I was going to be okay no matter what.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, the words are “I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect, been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it. I’m not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy. And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy on me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Worthy by Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">`\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the song, I just, I don’t know man, I just heard it in my head. I had a calling for it to write the music. I didn’t, I did not find it, the beats and all that until later on in life. But the initial template was just me writing in my journal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have a new song with LaRussell, who’s had immense success with putting heavy messages in his music and the Co-LLAB Choir. What was the conversation like leading up to that song?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a genuine approach on all fronts. You know, for me and… me and LaRussell it was just simply, you know we had done some shows. Pre-pandemic, you know, we did some shows where like we were just crossing paths, opening up for other artists and things of that nature. And, you know, we just had a chance to build a cool little rapport and a, you know, friendship through the music. And we waited until we found a track that actually just felt good for both of us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from The Road by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like I got the weight of the world on my shoulders but finally here\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Been through the winter, the stormiest weather but we made out to the clear\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I put my foot on the gas, I ain’t comin’ off, we bout to switch up the gears\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was locked in the cell, wasn’t worried ‘bout bail but the failure was my only fear\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m back on the road (Back on the road)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in my mode (Back in my mode)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in my zone (Back in my zone)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chasing the gold (Chasing)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The song is called The Road. You know, it hit… it hit for him. It hit for me. The beat maker, Beau Knows Beats, it hit for him. It was just very, very once- once we got the correct beat, it was easy, easy flowing. For the Co-LLAB choir…I had no… I didn’t know anything about it. But once they brought it to my attention on my damn this choir is so dope. And um, they jumped on another song with us with me and Gunna Goes Global called I Know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it was a heavy message based song but they elevated.. they elevated the sound. Took them\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no time for them to come back with their own versions of like how the song should sound and they amplified it in a way that I just can’t do on my own. I can’t do it myself, you know? I’m good with writing, I’m good with rapping. I think I can hold a note or two, but the power behind that choir and their willingness to be a part of this was like something that really amplified the track.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from I Know by Gunna Goes Global:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People always judged you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You ain’t want nothin’ but somebody to hug you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bills got you stressin’ it’s heavy on your back\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You tried to borrow money but they said they’d call you back\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hip hop has long had this issue with some music being, um, lighter. It serves a purpose, but it can be overly.. like we’re overly saturated with music that isn’t um, of high intelligence, I’ll say or isn’t um, relating to the soul and so, how do you go about putting substance in your music and making sure that it reaches people?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing that I want to do is make music that I care about and that I love. If I can’t do that, it can’t happen. Very hard for me to do that. So I just try to stay the course of like, do you believe in what you’re saying? Like the stuff that you’re writing about. Is this really you, is that really your life? Is that the image that you are putting out there, does that line up with the person that you are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know what I believe in and what I don’t believe in. And I don’t believe in putting negative things out there. I don’t believe in hurting my brother or my sister in any way. I don’t believe in down talk of any kind to my people. So, you know, with this music, I just make sure that those things are checked off. Does this make a person… how does it make a person feel? Because this isn’t for me. It’s for someone else. I’m giving it to them. How does it make them feel? What did they take away from it? What effect does it have on them, during the, you know, the course of them listening? And that has just been my, you know, my rule of thumb in creating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your music is steeped in hope. Like, as I’ve listened, the first song that I really latched onto that black gold track, like I needed to hear that personally. It was, you know, around 2020 where things were pretty heavy. Thank you for that. And why does it feel important for you to have hope at the center of your art?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think it’s important to implement hope at the inside of the track because that’s all I am you know, that’s all I’ve been. And even the track Black Gold, that was not my original track. It’s actually a guy that I met when I was doing a tour into San Quentin Prison. He was very talented, his name is Antwan Banks. When he got out, he reached out was like, “Hey, I love to connect, let’s do some music.” He came to me with this idea of black gold, like that’s him on the hook \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Antwan Banks in a clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>“\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)…”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Us as black individuals and… We’ve been painted a different color. You know what I mean. We’ve been painted a different light and it’s negative. But, you know, I really, really want to do my job in reminding us, like, how beautiful black is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">King like Nat Cole \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beautiful Black queens, all black bathrobes\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All that Black soul, sound like…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that music is… it’s very, very, very, very powerful and it’s dangerous at the same time. I want to be on the side that’s putting something out there that people can take and that they can use in a way that it’s going to help, not hinder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I’ve done work with folks who’ve been incarcerated in different institutions throughout the state as well as people reentering society, it’s been clear to me that that network, that community is essential in making sure that people get on their feet and reestablish themselves. Is this something you’ve experienced of seeing that… that network of even, um the kind of fraternal group of people you were incarcerated with even, have you experienced that as well?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The formerly incarcerated, I have seen what it looks like when they get out. There’s just absolutely nobody there. You know, I did my… my halfway house in the Tenderloin, you know. Very, very weird place for a prison to place a man after he’s doing prison time. You know, this is supposed to be a rehabilitation time of your life, but the halfway house in the Tenderloin, and we all know what it’s like there. You look to the left, you gon’ see a lot. You look to the right, you see a lot. It’s very hard to just get out and keep a straight path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My sister was close to me, you know, like, literally right down the street. She lived in the Tenderloin too somehow and uh… I knew that that helped me a lot. She helped me with getting my first job, references. My other buddy Gunna Goes Global, he was in the halfway house when I got out with me, cause we met in prison. He gave me my first studio for $25 an hour. You know, everything that I really, really needed, it came from other individuals that wanted to help and just be a resource. And I feel like we all need that some times in our life, but definitely a person that has been going through incarceration. When they get home, they need all the help they can get. Positive reinforcements.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People showing up for other people who might otherwise slip through the cracks of society. That’s…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yep\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s definitely what I’ve seen as well and so…\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">thank you for sharing that experience. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kind of fast forwarding a little bit. I understand that you grew up in Sacramento, you spent time in the Bay Area, then you moved to L.A. and when you, when you got there, you began working with the unhoused population, specifically around Skid Row. What did you see? What were your like, broad observations when you first got there?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s very sad. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Very much like how it is down there in San Francisco area where you have Taylor Street, where it’s one street, at the bottom of the street, it’s the Tenderloin. It’s poverty. It’s homelessness. It’s… it’s, you know, it’s just a totally different world from the top of the hill. Here in Los Angeles, it’s the same way. You got your downtown area. You have a very rich area where people are thriving and like just three blocks over you have Skid Row, which is five to seven blocks of just total opposite of that. And\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I saw people turning a blind eye. I saw people making a point to go around these areas. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The arts district is on the outside of Skid Row. Downtown is on the outside of Skid Row. Skid Row’s almost in the heart of the downtown area, but we make sure to go around it. And I didn’t feel good going around it. Man you know, I didn’t. I had to go in there. I had and it was during me making the video for Worthy, looking for all these dope beautiful spots to do the video. And I’m like, why are we going around what needs us the most?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like we went in there and we had. We had our brotherhood, we had our sisterhood. We had people that actually wanted to hear the message. That was eye opening. That was very awakening to me to like, physically see people wanting this message. I feel like that is the place that needs it the most. Let’s… let’s come together in a place that needs us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the earlier parts of your volunteer work was around haircuts. Why did you see it as important to give people haircuts in effort to show them that they’re worthy?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, the feeling of when you get a haircut, you feel like, ‘Aye, damn, you know, like I feel good. I look good.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: ‘\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t have a dime in my pocket, but I feel good, like, let’s go get it.’ You know, that is the energy that I was able to get, even when I was locked up. I get a haircut. I feel good. I still got some years, but looking in the mirror, I’mma be alright. I’m okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I had the opportunity to do the haircuts in Skid Row, I wanted to give that same energy. You know, and it was beautiful to see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One guy flew out from Washington. His name is Juice and he was also incarcerated with me, but he’s a barber. He flew himself out. He stayed for a weekend, and then two other barbers from the L.A. area just.. they banded together and they sat on that corner and they gave up as many free haircuts as possible. And we literally watched… It was a transition, it was a transformation from no smile, to haircut, to mirror, to smile, to walking off, and feeling good, and attacking the day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s like what my barber buddies were saying, they’re like, “Hey man we could give this freely. Like, this is the one thing that we possess that doesn’t cost us anything that we want to give away freely.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Based on your firsthand experience in these two environments, prison and then working on the streets with folks who are unhoused. What parallels or overlaps have you seen?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are two places where it’s clear that they need, they need somebody. They need help, right? You’re dealing and you’re doing with the least amount of resources possible. They don’t have a lot. They might not even want a lot anymore, but they’re making it work and they are trying. But I also see a community of people that have each other’s backs. You know, that’s one thing that really drew me to the area was like, even though they don’t have homes and houses and cars, what they do have is like a heart and a smile and they’re sharing. They don’t have shit, but they’re still sharing!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s some things that we need in society. We need, even in the prison system, it sucks to say, bro like the, the structure, the organization, the discipline that it- that they have in there, we need some of that out here. The minimal hopping on the phone to talk to people and the scrolling through our instagrams that they can’t do in there, I feel like we need a little bit of that out here to help balance you know, and keep us focused and stay on track.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a personal note, I know that the work that you do both as entertainment and also the work that you do, the social work that you do, can be draining. And this world just in general is taxing. And so I’m wondering, like when you’re down, what’s your… what’s your personal ritual to remind yourself that you’re worthy? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just remind myself, like first off, it’s all in my name. I’m named after my grandfather. Very, very, very great man, he led the family, 11 children. I have 11 aunties and uncles. And uh, he was a great man. And I always just try to remind myself like… Will he be proud, you know what I mean, of the work I’m doing? I think so. You know, even with like, the distribution, this stuff I’m doing with the community, I learned that from him. You know, I used to ride around in the back of his truck and he would stop at food banks and grab bread and stuff after work. We’d pass it out, and um, so a little piece of this, like I don’t get drained when it comes to that is what I’m trying to say. I get, I’m very excited because that’s my.. that’s my work. That’s my connection with him. We just keeping it, we just keeping it alive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For me, it’s a bit of a blessing. I’ve never not felt it. I’ve never not felt like God loves me, never not felt like my family loves me. To remind myself I literally just have to just speak, speak back to myself, speak to God, just being thankful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How was it felt for you personally, seeing your message resonating with folks?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know I’m a solo artist, I’m not signed or none of that stuff. Bro I just literally like, I have the opportunity and the ability to create something and people actually like it. People actually love it. Some people actually take it and it’s helping them. And that is like, the hugest payoff for me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rob Woods: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like cooking good food, man. And watching everybody at the table eat and get full and say it’s good. And then, you know, catch the itis and doze off, right? Like, I did it the right way. I feel like the same way with my music, and my message when I’m able to put it out there and the…. Man, it’s just… It’s… it’s amazing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Indeed it is. Rob, thank you. Thank you for your message, your work and your music. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The service of reminding people of their worth– that we are all worthy– is such a unique thing that can be easily overlooked, especially when so much is needed: housing, mental health resources, changes to laws, you name it. But if you, as an individual, don’t think you’re worthy, you could have the world and it would mean nothing. So, it’s a universal message and I hope you all gained something from this conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I invite you to check out Rob’s music, including his latest single, “The Road,” which is done in collaboration with Vallejo’s LaRussell and The Co-LLAB Choir, find it wherever you stream music. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you can keep up with Rob Woods on instagram, at robwooods, all one word. Rob R-O-B. Woods is spelled with three O’s. That’s W-O-O-O-D-S.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was produced by Marisol Medina-Cadena and Sheree Bishop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris Hambrick is our editor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our engineer is Christopher Beale.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is also supported by Ugur Dursun, Cesar Saldana, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, and Holly Kernan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take it easy. Keep it lit. Be nice to people and don’t forget to pay it forward. Peace. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "A New Documentary Paints an Intimate Portrait of Chesa Boudin’s Family",
"headTitle": "A New Documentary Paints an Intimate Portrait of Chesa Boudin’s Family | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>On the campaign trail and news reports, Chesa Boudin has long been open about his family history — growing up with parents who were incarcerated for decades, and how the experience inspired him to become a public defender and eventually run for San Francisco district attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of us know the story of Boudin’s meteoric star rise. In 2019, at a moment when progressive-minded candidates were running for district attorney’s offices across the country, he won election. He ran on a platform focused on criminal justice reforms with the goal of reducing mass incarceration. Then, just a few days after being sworn into office, he faced a million-dollar recall effort, which ultimately succeeded. Boudin only served for two years.[aside postid='news_11913102']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We definitely made some mistakes and I learned an awful lot during my time in office,” Boudin told KQED. “There are no two things we could have done differently that would have prevented what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This political moment is revisited in the new documentary \u003cem>Beyond Bars: It’s a Movement, Not a Moment\u003c/em>, which premieres Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film puts in parallel Boudin’s political and personal life, featuring on-the-record interviews with his parents and adoptive parents for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936939\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration.png 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-2048x1152.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1920x1080.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chesa Boudin is seen at his inauguration in 2020 in a still from the new documentary ‘Beyond Bars.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmaker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This film is really about the history of racism and mass incarceration in this country. And it’s that same history that led in a circuitous way to my parents’ incarceration — to my own experience with jails and prisons since before I can remember,” Boudin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boudin talked more about the film with KQED’s Brian Watt. Their conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: Did the idea for this documentary come from you? Or did someone approach you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Chesa Boudin:\u003c/strong> The director of the film reached out to me through my team when I was still serving as San Francisco’s district attorney, and they proposed the documentary. We had a number of similar documentary film crews reach out and ask to work with us, to essentially be embedded in the office and ultimately embedded in my family in many ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have been open throughout your public life about your family history. When you were a toddler, your parents were arrested and went on to spend decades in prison. In this documentary, we hear from them, as well as your adoptive parents. What was going through your mind as you heard them share their story?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in the room for some of the interviews that made their way into this film. Watching my parents talk about raising me from the distance that incarceration created. Watching them talk about the transition into a new family after I was adopted. Watching them talk about their regret and remorse for the harm they caused not only to me, but also to the families that lost loved ones in ways that are totally irreparable, was a really emotional experience for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936940\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1554px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit.png\" alt=\"a polaroid of a small kid with two parents in prison uniforms labeled 'Chesa visits mommy and daddy in jail'\" width=\"1554\" height=\"1112\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936940\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit.png 1554w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-800x572.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-1020x730.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-768x550.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-1536x1099.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1554px) 100vw, 1554px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of young Chesa Boudin visiting his parents in prison. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmakers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there an emotional place – maybe one you had resisted going for a lot of your life – that you had to go that you weren’t expecting as you sat down to discuss your own personal part of this for the documentary?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documentary was filmed and recorded over the course of multiple years, so we did a whole series of different interviews. Some of them were profoundly emotional for me, particularly as I lost my mother to a seven-year battle with cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the filming of this documentary, she died — on May 1, just almost exactly a month before my recall from office. The director of the film and his team were doing interviews with her almost right up until the week of her death. Seeing her decline, and getting to watch and listen to the interview she did as part of this project, and then see them integrated into the final film, has been a really intensely emotional experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As you are dealing with the recall effort, in the documentary, we see difficult circumstances in your family: the loss of your mother to cancer and the release of your father from prison in New York after decades inside. What was going through your mind?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happened with the recall was profoundly dishonest and unfair. It was unfair to me, but more importantly, was unfair to the voters and the people of San Francisco who elected me and who did not get to choose the person who replaced me. And to have all that happen while my mother was dying, while I was trying to welcome my father home and help him with the intensely challenging transition after 40 years of incarceration — while I was learning to be a father for a newborn son — couldn’t have been more difficult. Yet I am always reminded of how lucky I am in so many ways, and of the fact that when life throws obstacles in our path, it’s in those moments that we learn what we’re capable of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936942\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin.png 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-2048x1152.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1920x1080.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathy Boudin is seen in a still from ‘Beyond Bars.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmaker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As much as the documentary is your story, it’s also a love letter to your mom in a way. What would she make of this next phase of your life beyond the district attorney’s office?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_11951826']My mom was always and would always be unwavering in her support, in her love and in her pride and in what I chose to do with my life, with my family. I know most of all she’d be absolutely thrilled to be a grandmother. It was one of the most important things to her in her final months. My mom, after she came home from prison, after her 22 years of incarceration, after she earned a Ph.D. from Columbia, she founded the Center for Justice at Columbia University School of Social Work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so in many ways, my work and this next chapter of my professional life is a parallel to what my mother did with the last 15 or so years of her life. And I know that we would find ways to collaborate professionally. And in fact, I’m continuing to work with people at the center at Columbia University that she founded and co-directed for so many years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Beyond Bars: It’s a Movement, Not a Moment’ premieres Wednesday, Oct. 25 at a sold-out screening at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. The film will also screen in Los Angeles in December. The film is expected to be available for streaming in January.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the campaign trail and news reports, Chesa Boudin has long been open about his family history — growing up with parents who were incarcerated for decades, and how the experience inspired him to become a public defender and eventually run for San Francisco district attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of us know the story of Boudin’s meteoric star rise. In 2019, at a moment when progressive-minded candidates were running for district attorney’s offices across the country, he won election. He ran on a platform focused on criminal justice reforms with the goal of reducing mass incarceration. Then, just a few days after being sworn into office, he faced a million-dollar recall effort, which ultimately succeeded. Boudin only served for two years.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We definitely made some mistakes and I learned an awful lot during my time in office,” Boudin told KQED. “There are no two things we could have done differently that would have prevented what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This political moment is revisited in the new documentary \u003cem>Beyond Bars: It’s a Movement, Not a Moment\u003c/em>, which premieres Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film puts in parallel Boudin’s political and personal life, featuring on-the-record interviews with his parents and adoptive parents for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936939\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration.png 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-2048x1152.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_Chesa_Inauguration-1920x1080.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chesa Boudin is seen at his inauguration in 2020 in a still from the new documentary ‘Beyond Bars.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmaker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This film is really about the history of racism and mass incarceration in this country. And it’s that same history that led in a circuitous way to my parents’ incarceration — to my own experience with jails and prisons since before I can remember,” Boudin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boudin talked more about the film with KQED’s Brian Watt. Their conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: Did the idea for this documentary come from you? Or did someone approach you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Chesa Boudin:\u003c/strong> The director of the film reached out to me through my team when I was still serving as San Francisco’s district attorney, and they proposed the documentary. We had a number of similar documentary film crews reach out and ask to work with us, to essentially be embedded in the office and ultimately embedded in my family in many ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have been open throughout your public life about your family history. When you were a toddler, your parents were arrested and went on to spend decades in prison. In this documentary, we hear from them, as well as your adoptive parents. What was going through your mind as you heard them share their story?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in the room for some of the interviews that made their way into this film. Watching my parents talk about raising me from the distance that incarceration created. Watching them talk about the transition into a new family after I was adopted. Watching them talk about their regret and remorse for the harm they caused not only to me, but also to the families that lost loved ones in ways that are totally irreparable, was a really emotional experience for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936940\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1554px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit.png\" alt=\"a polaroid of a small kid with two parents in prison uniforms labeled 'Chesa visits mommy and daddy in jail'\" width=\"1554\" height=\"1112\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936940\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit.png 1554w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-800x572.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-1020x730.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-768x550.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_JailVisit-1536x1099.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1554px) 100vw, 1554px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of young Chesa Boudin visiting his parents in prison. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmakers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there an emotional place – maybe one you had resisted going for a lot of your life – that you had to go that you weren’t expecting as you sat down to discuss your own personal part of this for the documentary?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documentary was filmed and recorded over the course of multiple years, so we did a whole series of different interviews. Some of them were profoundly emotional for me, particularly as I lost my mother to a seven-year battle with cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the filming of this documentary, she died — on May 1, just almost exactly a month before my recall from office. The director of the film and his team were doing interviews with her almost right up until the week of her death. Seeing her decline, and getting to watch and listen to the interview she did as part of this project, and then see them integrated into the final film, has been a really intensely emotional experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As you are dealing with the recall effort, in the documentary, we see difficult circumstances in your family: the loss of your mother to cancer and the release of your father from prison in New York after decades inside. What was going through your mind?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happened with the recall was profoundly dishonest and unfair. It was unfair to me, but more importantly, was unfair to the voters and the people of San Francisco who elected me and who did not get to choose the person who replaced me. And to have all that happen while my mother was dying, while I was trying to welcome my father home and help him with the intensely challenging transition after 40 years of incarceration — while I was learning to be a father for a newborn son — couldn’t have been more difficult. Yet I am always reminded of how lucky I am in so many ways, and of the fact that when life throws obstacles in our path, it’s in those moments that we learn what we’re capable of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936942\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin.png 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-2048x1152.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/BB_KathyBoudin-1920x1080.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathy Boudin is seen in a still from ‘Beyond Bars.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the filmmaker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As much as the documentary is your story, it’s also a love letter to your mom in a way. What would she make of this next phase of your life beyond the district attorney’s office?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>My mom was always and would always be unwavering in her support, in her love and in her pride and in what I chose to do with my life, with my family. I know most of all she’d be absolutely thrilled to be a grandmother. It was one of the most important things to her in her final months. My mom, after she came home from prison, after her 22 years of incarceration, after she earned a Ph.D. from Columbia, she founded the Center for Justice at Columbia University School of Social Work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so in many ways, my work and this next chapter of my professional life is a parallel to what my mother did with the last 15 or so years of her life. And I know that we would find ways to collaborate professionally. And in fact, I’m continuing to work with people at the center at Columbia University that she founded and co-directed for so many years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Beyond Bars: It’s a Movement, Not a Moment’ premieres Wednesday, Oct. 25 at a sold-out screening at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. The film will also screen in Los Angeles in December. The film is expected to be available for streaming in January.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Live from Death Row, Keith LaMar Performs Freedom Songs in SF",
"headTitle": "Live from Death Row, Keith LaMar Performs Freedom Songs in SF | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When Jay Bordeleau booked Freedom First, a singular collaboration between pianist Albert Marquès and spoken word artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.keithlamar.org/\">Keith LaMar\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://mrtipplessf.com/calendar/albert-marques-and-keith-lamar-freedom-first/\">Oct. 3-4 engagement\u003c/a> was marked by an urgency unlike any other at his jazz club, Mr. Tipple’s — or any other venue in the city for that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 29 years on death row, LaMar was scheduled for execution at Ohio State Penitentiary on Nov. 16, 2023 for what he’s always insisted was a wrongful conviction. In recent years, Marquès and a dedicated cadre of jazz musicians have championed his cause through international performances and the 2022 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://sayitloudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/freedom-first\">Freedom First\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, where LaMar skillfully recites his work via telephone from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with ongoing efforts to secure a new trial, the attention from Freedom First may have helped induce Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to issue a \u003ca href=\"https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/governor-dewine-issues-reprieve\">four-year reprieve for LaMar\u003c/a>, though the stated cause was “ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers to provide drugs to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s July decree moved his execution date to Jan. 13, 2027, “a mixed bag,” says LaMar in a recent phone conversation. “More time means more opportunity to right the wrong. But it also means more time. It’s bittersweet. I’m trying to hold on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZiCHpQpaxs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaMar was serving 15 years to life at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for a 1989 murder when riots broke out in April 1993. At the end of the 11-day standoff, nine inmates and a prison guard were dead, and in 1995 LaMar was convicted for murdering five prisoners. He’s steadfastly maintained his innocence, and it was only in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020 that Marquès came into the picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born and raised in an industrial town outside of Barcelona, Marquès has long drawn inspiration from Catalonia’s heritage of radical politics. He and his wife, sculptor Mia Pearlman, happened to live in the same Brooklyn building as Brian Jackson, the keyboardist and composer best known for his prolific creative partnership with the late Gil Scott-Heron.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Black Lives Matter demonstrations swept the nation, “we had lots of conversations around the George Floyd protests,” Marquès recalls. “The question kept coming up, ‘Why don’t we do something before the government kills [people]?’ Brian’s wife had read Keith’s book and that made connections. Keith loves jazz and John Coltrane, and he knows so much about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8b3ZMwA9Qc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking to LaMar is a bracing experience. People often describe music as a lifeline, but in his case it provides a soul-bearing creative outlet, essential emotional sustenance and a direct connection to fellow jazz devotees. He grew up in Cleveland surrounded by sacred and secular Black popular music, and didn’t really discover jazz until he was years into his sentence. On death row, he immersed himself in the music of Thelonious Monk, Nat “King” Cole and, particularly, John Coltrane, “all these people who created this canon of creativity,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started reading history books, learning and growing. My loyalty to this art form grew along with my knowledge of this art form. It’s an integral part of my life. I start listening when I wake up and throughout the day it helps me stay focused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2002727958/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s all too aware of the tension between his incarceration and jazz’s liberatory impulse, though he echoes the epiphany of Albert Camus’ Meursault in \u003cem>The Stranger\u003c/em> in describing his mindset. LaMar celebrates the music as a vehicle for freedom, but it’s the embrace of a man who has liberated himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m already free,” he says. “I just happen to be in this place, death row. But we’re all leaving this planet. What are you going to do between now and then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13935221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1663px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13935221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A musician visiting from the outside and an incarcerated poet hug inside a prison.\" width=\"1663\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-scaled.jpeg 1663w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-800x1232.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-1020x1570.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-160x246.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-768x1182.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-998x1536.jpeg 998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-1330x2048.jpeg 1330w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1663px) 100vw, 1663px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pianist Albert Marquès and poet Keith LaMar in 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Albert Marquès)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the Oct. 3-4 performances at Mr. Tipple’s, which are fundraisers for the legal campaign to overturn his sentence, LaMar will be reciting pieces from \u003cem>Freedom First\u003c/em> via phone from death row as Marquès leads a quartet featuring bassist Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, drummer Zack O’Farrill and tenor saxophonist Kazemde George.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Farrill, the third generation of an illustrious jazz clan, and the Berkeley-reared George have been working with Marquès since he first assembled some 30 musicians for performance protests in 2020. Since then, more than 70 musicians have participated in the project, including Berkeley-raised pianist-composer Samora Pinderhughes, who conducted a public conversation with LaMar last year as part of \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/transformation-music-and-healing-with-keith-lamar-and-samora-pinderhughes/\">\u003cem>The Healing Project\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an extensive installation at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. [aside postid='arts_13911226']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For George, who returns to the Bay Area to perform at the \u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/shows/1487/?date=2023-11-24\">Black Cat Nov. 24-26\u003c/a> with vocalist Sami Stevens, the attraction to playing in Freedom First is both political and aesthetic. “First of all, we’re playing really good music, Albert’s originals, gospel and John Coltrane, all stuff I’m really into interpreting from a musical standpoint,” he says. “And we play some Trane I wouldn’t normally play, like ‘Alabama,’ a really heavy tune that I’m not going to call on a regular gig for a Saturday night crowd. The purpose of this music is different. This feels like we’re serving a bigger purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mr. Tipples, a chatty supper club that’s been a jazz hot spot since 2016, isn’t an obvious venue for Freedom First, unless you know that its owner, Bordeleau, spent his college years in Ann Arbor giving music workshops in Michigan prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea was to create art and joy in the prison system, so I jumped at this when I heard about LaMar,” he says. “Those experiences made me really interested in not just serving cocktails to fancy people. This is much more interesting and impactful.”[aside postid='arts_13883580']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of Freedom First’s impact flows from LaMar’s musical commitment. He can’t hear much of what the musicians are playing to accompany him in the moment, but he listens back to recordings to study how they respond to his voice. And he’s constantly absorbing new sounds and songs. He listens mostly to jazz, but lately he’s been checking out Elvis Costello and he’s been obsessed with a song by Mercury Prize-winning British singer-songwriter Benjamin Clementine, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DU6lDPs-AQ\">Condolence\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of what music does for me as a person, it immerses and envelopes me in my significance as a human being,” he says. “It lets me feel I’m a member of this thing called humanity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Freedom First performs at \u003ca href=\"https://mrtipplessf.com/calendar/albert-marques-and-keith-lamar-freedom-first/\">Mr. Tipple’s on Oct. 3-4, 2023\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Jay Bordeleau booked Freedom First, a singular collaboration between pianist Albert Marquès and spoken word artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.keithlamar.org/\">Keith LaMar\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://mrtipplessf.com/calendar/albert-marques-and-keith-lamar-freedom-first/\">Oct. 3-4 engagement\u003c/a> was marked by an urgency unlike any other at his jazz club, Mr. Tipple’s — or any other venue in the city for that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 29 years on death row, LaMar was scheduled for execution at Ohio State Penitentiary on Nov. 16, 2023 for what he’s always insisted was a wrongful conviction. In recent years, Marquès and a dedicated cadre of jazz musicians have championed his cause through international performances and the 2022 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://sayitloudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/freedom-first\">Freedom First\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, where LaMar skillfully recites his work via telephone from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with ongoing efforts to secure a new trial, the attention from Freedom First may have helped induce Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to issue a \u003ca href=\"https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/governor-dewine-issues-reprieve\">four-year reprieve for LaMar\u003c/a>, though the stated cause was “ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers to provide drugs to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s July decree moved his execution date to Jan. 13, 2027, “a mixed bag,” says LaMar in a recent phone conversation. “More time means more opportunity to right the wrong. But it also means more time. It’s bittersweet. I’m trying to hold on.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/AZiCHpQpaxs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/AZiCHpQpaxs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaMar was serving 15 years to life at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for a 1989 murder when riots broke out in April 1993. At the end of the 11-day standoff, nine inmates and a prison guard were dead, and in 1995 LaMar was convicted for murdering five prisoners. He’s steadfastly maintained his innocence, and it was only in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020 that Marquès came into the picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born and raised in an industrial town outside of Barcelona, Marquès has long drawn inspiration from Catalonia’s heritage of radical politics. He and his wife, sculptor Mia Pearlman, happened to live in the same Brooklyn building as Brian Jackson, the keyboardist and composer best known for his prolific creative partnership with the late Gil Scott-Heron.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Black Lives Matter demonstrations swept the nation, “we had lots of conversations around the George Floyd protests,” Marquès recalls. “The question kept coming up, ‘Why don’t we do something before the government kills [people]?’ Brian’s wife had read Keith’s book and that made connections. Keith loves jazz and John Coltrane, and he knows so much about it.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/L8b3ZMwA9Qc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/L8b3ZMwA9Qc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking to LaMar is a bracing experience. People often describe music as a lifeline, but in his case it provides a soul-bearing creative outlet, essential emotional sustenance and a direct connection to fellow jazz devotees. He grew up in Cleveland surrounded by sacred and secular Black popular music, and didn’t really discover jazz until he was years into his sentence. On death row, he immersed himself in the music of Thelonious Monk, Nat “King” Cole and, particularly, John Coltrane, “all these people who created this canon of creativity,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started reading history books, learning and growing. My loyalty to this art form grew along with my knowledge of this art form. It’s an integral part of my life. I start listening when I wake up and throughout the day it helps me stay focused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2002727958/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s all too aware of the tension between his incarceration and jazz’s liberatory impulse, though he echoes the epiphany of Albert Camus’ Meursault in \u003cem>The Stranger\u003c/em> in describing his mindset. LaMar celebrates the music as a vehicle for freedom, but it’s the embrace of a man who has liberated himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m already free,” he says. “I just happen to be in this place, death row. But we’re all leaving this planet. What are you going to do between now and then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13935221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1663px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13935221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A musician visiting from the outside and an incarcerated poet hug inside a prison.\" width=\"1663\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-scaled.jpeg 1663w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-800x1232.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-1020x1570.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-160x246.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-768x1182.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-998x1536.jpeg 998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/processed-55849b59-9acf-4916-8780-769392acade4_YqdYR55a-1330x2048.jpeg 1330w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1663px) 100vw, 1663px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pianist Albert Marquès and poet Keith LaMar in 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Albert Marquès)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the Oct. 3-4 performances at Mr. Tipple’s, which are fundraisers for the legal campaign to overturn his sentence, LaMar will be reciting pieces from \u003cem>Freedom First\u003c/em> via phone from death row as Marquès leads a quartet featuring bassist Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, drummer Zack O’Farrill and tenor saxophonist Kazemde George.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Farrill, the third generation of an illustrious jazz clan, and the Berkeley-reared George have been working with Marquès since he first assembled some 30 musicians for performance protests in 2020. Since then, more than 70 musicians have participated in the project, including Berkeley-raised pianist-composer Samora Pinderhughes, who conducted a public conversation with LaMar last year as part of \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/transformation-music-and-healing-with-keith-lamar-and-samora-pinderhughes/\">\u003cem>The Healing Project\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an extensive installation at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For George, who returns to the Bay Area to perform at the \u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/shows/1487/?date=2023-11-24\">Black Cat Nov. 24-26\u003c/a> with vocalist Sami Stevens, the attraction to playing in Freedom First is both political and aesthetic. “First of all, we’re playing really good music, Albert’s originals, gospel and John Coltrane, all stuff I’m really into interpreting from a musical standpoint,” he says. “And we play some Trane I wouldn’t normally play, like ‘Alabama,’ a really heavy tune that I’m not going to call on a regular gig for a Saturday night crowd. The purpose of this music is different. This feels like we’re serving a bigger purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mr. Tipples, a chatty supper club that’s been a jazz hot spot since 2016, isn’t an obvious venue for Freedom First, unless you know that its owner, Bordeleau, spent his college years in Ann Arbor giving music workshops in Michigan prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea was to create art and joy in the prison system, so I jumped at this when I heard about LaMar,” he says. “Those experiences made me really interested in not just serving cocktails to fancy people. This is much more interesting and impactful.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of Freedom First’s impact flows from LaMar’s musical commitment. He can’t hear much of what the musicians are playing to accompany him in the moment, but he listens back to recordings to study how they respond to his voice. And he’s constantly absorbing new sounds and songs. He listens mostly to jazz, but lately he’s been checking out Elvis Costello and he’s been obsessed with a song by Mercury Prize-winning British singer-songwriter Benjamin Clementine, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DU6lDPs-AQ\">Condolence\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of what music does for me as a person, it immerses and envelopes me in my significance as a human being,” he says. “It lets me feel I’m a member of this thing called humanity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Carrie Fisher once said, “There should be a term for what celebrity children go through, which is narcissistic deprivation. The family is organized around the parents or parent and not around the children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The offspring of the Bay Area’s most beloved falcon, Annie, can probably relate. All year round, Annie is showered with attention, memes and livestreams. She even has \u003ca href=\"https://www.customink.com/fundraising/campanile-falcons23\">her own merch\u003c/a>, for crying out loud! For Bay Area falcon fans, Annie’s every move — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907837/peregrine-falcon-annie-grinnel-berkeley-campanile-birdwatching\">her newest love interest\u003c/a>, her latest mid-air fight, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909929/uc-berkeley-peregrine-falcons-campanile-annie-grinnell-not-dead\">that time she went on the lam\u003c/a> for a week — isn’t hard to track. But what of her many, many babies?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927659']For the most part, Annie’s 15 kids have dropped out of the public eye as soon as they’ve left the UC Berkeley campanile. Worse, we often only hear about them when tragedy strikes. Like when 2017 chick Lux died after flying into a window, or when Lindsay, one of the two 2022 babies was killed by a hawk, two months after fledging. (A lot of us still haven’t recovered from that one, especially after losing Grinnell, her father, just months before.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are always, of course, exceptions to the rule. These are the nepo babies, the kids who are going to outshine even their famous parents. One of Annie and Grinnell’s 2020 babies, Sequoia, has been hanging around in San Jose trying to make a name for himself. But it’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/posts/pfbid06aiu8A635EhPpztrRr948F6ksrrkXZYw6SfPvSxDfjtPmeMd6rS7MRQ9WrdkG7Qrl\">Lawrencium\u003c/a>, one of Annie and Grinnell’s 2018 chicks, who’s really starting to follow in her mom’s famous footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927789\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927789\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lawrencium, being majestic AF. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Morgan Barnes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lawrencium and her boyfriend, you see, are the first peregrine falcons to ever nest on Alcatraz. They moved onto The Rock in 2020 and quickly embarked on making a sex tape. Okay, not quite, but they did fornicate on top of the water tower in front of God and everyone. (By “everyone,” I mostly mean the wonderful rangers of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateNPS/\">Golden Gate National Recreation Area\u003c/a> who diligently shared the news.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This act — this one right here — produced two chicks that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-800x601.png\" alt=\"Two peregrine falcons mating on the lip of a white and red water tower.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-800x601.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1020x766.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-768x577.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-2048x1538.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1920x1442.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is it. This is the sex tape. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Tori Seher)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, however, Lawrencium has really outdone herself. The new mom just successfully hatched all four of her eggs, producing a tiny band of fluffy-butted chicks who, thus far, are doing a great job of wobbling around their nest like a crew of drunk old men at closing time. It’s an especially impressive brood given the storms that battered the island for much of the falcons’ incubation period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Park Service was kind enough to send us footage of the first two chicks, awaiting the arrival of their siblings:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://vimeo.com/817396034\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grandpa Grinnell would be so proud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, for a sneak peek of what these precious little bundles are going to look like in a month or so, here’s what one of Lawrencium’s 2022 fledglings looked like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927792\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"A young peregrine falcon squawks, beak open, while directly looking into the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1920x2879.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Annie’s grandbabies, last year, being all tough. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Morgan Barnes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grow up so fast.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Carrie Fisher once said, “There should be a term for what celebrity children go through, which is narcissistic deprivation. The family is organized around the parents or parent and not around the children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The offspring of the Bay Area’s most beloved falcon, Annie, can probably relate. All year round, Annie is showered with attention, memes and livestreams. She even has \u003ca href=\"https://www.customink.com/fundraising/campanile-falcons23\">her own merch\u003c/a>, for crying out loud! For Bay Area falcon fans, Annie’s every move — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907837/peregrine-falcon-annie-grinnel-berkeley-campanile-birdwatching\">her newest love interest\u003c/a>, her latest mid-air fight, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909929/uc-berkeley-peregrine-falcons-campanile-annie-grinnell-not-dead\">that time she went on the lam\u003c/a> for a week — isn’t hard to track. But what of her many, many babies?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For the most part, Annie’s 15 kids have dropped out of the public eye as soon as they’ve left the UC Berkeley campanile. Worse, we often only hear about them when tragedy strikes. Like when 2017 chick Lux died after flying into a window, or when Lindsay, one of the two 2022 babies was killed by a hawk, two months after fledging. (A lot of us still haven’t recovered from that one, especially after losing Grinnell, her father, just months before.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are always, of course, exceptions to the rule. These are the nepo babies, the kids who are going to outshine even their famous parents. One of Annie and Grinnell’s 2020 babies, Sequoia, has been hanging around in San Jose trying to make a name for himself. But it’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/posts/pfbid06aiu8A635EhPpztrRr948F6ksrrkXZYw6SfPvSxDfjtPmeMd6rS7MRQ9WrdkG7Qrl\">Lawrencium\u003c/a>, one of Annie and Grinnell’s 2018 chicks, who’s really starting to follow in her mom’s famous footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927789\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927789\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-in-flight-_-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lawrencium, being majestic AF. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Morgan Barnes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lawrencium and her boyfriend, you see, are the first peregrine falcons to ever nest on Alcatraz. They moved onto The Rock in 2020 and quickly embarked on making a sex tape. Okay, not quite, but they did fornicate on top of the water tower in front of God and everyone. (By “everyone,” I mostly mean the wonderful rangers of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateNPS/\">Golden Gate National Recreation Area\u003c/a> who diligently shared the news.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This act — this one right here — produced two chicks that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-800x601.png\" alt=\"Two peregrine falcons mating on the lip of a white and red water tower.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-800x601.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1020x766.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-768x577.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-2048x1538.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-13-at-4.33.19-PM-1920x1442.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is it. This is the sex tape. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Tori Seher)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, however, Lawrencium has really outdone herself. The new mom just successfully hatched all four of her eggs, producing a tiny band of fluffy-butted chicks who, thus far, are doing a great job of wobbling around their nest like a crew of drunk old men at closing time. It’s an especially impressive brood given the storms that battered the island for much of the falcons’ incubation period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Park Service was kind enough to send us footage of the first two chicks, awaiting the arrival of their siblings:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Grandpa Grinnell would be so proud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, for a sneak peek of what these precious little bundles are going to look like in a month or so, here’s what one of Lawrencium’s 2022 fledglings looked like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927792\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"A young peregrine falcon squawks, beak open, while directly looking into the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1366x2048.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-1920x2879.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Peregrine-fledgling-credit-to-NPS-Morgan-Barnes-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Annie’s grandbabies, last year, being all tough. \u003ccite>(NPS/ Morgan Barnes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grow up so fast.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
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