By Watani Stiner Contributing Writer For nearly three years, since March of 2013, I have enjoyed contributing to the San Quentin News with my OG’s Perspective column, glad to let my son Larry Jr. pinch-hit occasionally. But with this column my time in the lineup comes to an end. When I paroled from San Quentin […]
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By Watani Stiner Contributing Writer My eldest son turns 50 today (October 25th) and I wrote this in his honor. He celebrated by having a big gathering of family and friends which I would have loved to attend. However, as I am still on parole, I was denied permission to travel to Los Angeles for this […]
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By Larry Stiner Jr. Happy 50th Birthday: But How Far Have We Really Come? On October 25th of this year, I joined Club 50 as my born day arrived and a large group of family members and friends launched into a soulful rendition of the happy birthday song. It would be the 50th time in […]
Read MoreBy Watani Stiner Contributing Writer Though it seems a lot longer, it’s only been nine months since I was released from San Quentin State Prison. Just a few months since I gathered my belongings, said my good-byes and walked eagerly but patiently to be processed from one world into another. I took my final breath […]
Read MoreBy Larry Stiner Jr. Through the grapevine, I heard the question: How many different schools are they going to put her in? This was being asked in response to my wife and I enrolling our daughter, Khyra, into yet another new school. It would be the fourth school she would attend in her nearly 12 […]
Read MoreBy Watani Stiner Contributing Writer I was somewhat surprised that my children born in South America don’t seem to share my passion for fighting for racial justice in the United States, that they don’t even see its injustice the way I do. Because of this, it throws into question my assumptions about how they thought […]
Read MoreBy Larry Stiner Jr. Contributing Writer Do you recall the last time you ventured into a house of worship? Remember how that strong feeling of comfort embraced you as you walked through those church doors, briefly leaving the chaos and danger of everyday life behind you? At ease, you exhaled and allowed your spirit to […]
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By Larry Stiner Jr. The face on that man looks very familiar. And so does his uniform: perfectly matching navy-blue shirt and pants accessorized with a black duty belt upon which a nine millimeter handgun is holstered. The shiny oval-shaped badge on his chest identifies him as an officer working for the Los Angeles Police […]
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By Latanya Stiner Contributing Writer As the month of June approached, Father’s Day sat at the forefront of my mind as I thought of how different it would be this time around. You see, I had gone twenty years without being able to celebrate this day or any other day with my father, Watani Stiner, […]
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By Watani Stiner Contributing Writer “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. As I reflect on my past, which was once my present, I find that it is […]
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