Members of the Oakland based Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC) came to San Quentin Health Fair on May 1, 2009 to connect Asian and Pacific Islander inmates with its culture, education and legal support services. The APSC hopes to raise awareness about the growing Asian/ Pacific Islander (API) population in prisons.
The APSC provides advice, research and referrals for reentry back into the community and immigration issues. The APSC volunteers, Ben Wong, Lo Niumeitolu, Sun Lee and Kasi Chakravartula learned of the need and concerns of API inmates through Eddy Zheng, a former API inmate who emphasized to them the need for community interaction with API inmates.
The APSC released the book, “Other: An Asian and Pacific Islander Prisoners’ Anthology,” edited by Eddy Zheng and Ben Wong. They passed out copies to inmates and encouraged API prisoners to contribute writings and artwork to a zine to be distributed to API youth in the Bay Area.
San Quentin’s API inmates appreciated the effort and commitment of the APSC volunteers. Perry Sinocruz, a Phillipino, described their presence as “refreshing.” He said that he would be “writing about my experiences for the zine so I can use my life to try to help young people out there.”
Eli Sala, a Samoan, said the APSC showed a concern for our “transition back into his community. They mentioned support for lifers and non-lifers. It will help a lot. It’s hard when you don’t have support when you parole.” Sala added, “It feels good knowing there are groups out there trying to help us out. I had never seen one before.”
Nghiep “Ke” Lam, Chinese, appreciated the enthusiasm of the volunteers in meeting a definite need. “They are reaching out to the incarcerated Asian Community. Every community has specific resources for a specific target population. The Asian/Pacific Islander group seems to be lacking in this regard. They are filling this gap,” Lam said.
Letters and contributions to the zine can be sent to: Asian Prisoner Support Committee at PO Box 1031, Oakland, CA 94604.