“When I came here and saw the elderly population, I said, ‘God, well, why are they here? Our name is Corrections to correct deviant behavior (but) there’s nothing to correct in these guys; they’re harmless…(Y)ou actually create victims by not letting (elderly prisoners) go and us(ing) your resources on rehabilitation for the ones that are going to get out…” — Warden Burl Cain, Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola
The aging process is afflicting nearly all elderly prisoners in U.S. prisons.
The graying of the prisoner population is the outcome of several important demographic trends, according to a recent study by the American Civil Liberty Union titled At America’s Expense; The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly.
Tough sentencing guidelines that eliminate probation or home arrest as options are putting more elderly behind bars, according to the report.
Many men and women began serving their sentences as youngsters but have become seniors due to strict policies and pressures from state Legislatures that block early releases of elderly prisoners, the report finds.
Some older Americans have turned to crime because of economic hardship. Their offenses include passing bad checks, shoplifting (often involving the theft of food), DUI arrests, and other nonviolent crimes, the report finds.
Some men and women serving life sentences, who have been “programming” according to required participation by parole boards have been in prison long past their eligible release dates.
Joe Ybarra, 79, said he has a bad back, a prostrate problem, severe headaches, and is on high blood pressure medication. Ybarra is a frail man weighing approximately 130 pounds. “Just like everyone else, I have hope that I will see the streets again before I die,” he said.
Ybarra was sentenced to 15 years to life, plus an additional five years, in San Francisco for second-degree murder in 1979. The parole board rejected Ybarra’s application 14 times despite his age and medical ailments and disciplinary free prison record.
From 1980 to 2010, the U.S. prison population grew more than 11 times faster than the general population. The state and federal prison population increased by more than 400 percent, according to the ACLU.
California’s prison population has decreased from 175,000 to approximately 119,000 since the federal court’s 2010 intervention. But the elderly population has continued to increase, according to corrections reports.
Prisoners age 50 and older are considered “elderly” because they are exposed to unhealthy conditions during incarceration, according to the National Institute of Corrections. Thus, they age faster than freemen.
In 1981, 8,853 state and federal prisoners age 55 and older were in prisons. Currently, the number is 124,900. Experts project by 2030 there will be more than 400,000. In other words, the elderly prison population is expected to increase by 4,400 percent during this 50-year span. The estimate does not include prisoners ages 50-54.
In 1992, New York City native Vinny Leone was convicted of kidnapping in Los Angeles County. He is serving a seven-to-life sentence plus eight years for a weapon. Leone, 73, says he has taken full responsibility for his crime, but he has been denied parole four times for “lack of insight,” according to parole board records.
Leone, despite his age, works every day on San Quentin’s upper yard keeping it ship-shape, hoping for a shot at freedom before it’s too late. “All I can do is keep doing the right thing. Hopefully I’ll have my shot at freedom where I can still do constructive things in the community,” said Leone.
State and federal governments spend approximately $75 billion annually to run the penal system, according to a 2010 study by Center for Economic Policy Research. www.cepr.net
Over the last 25 years, state corrections spending grew by 67 percent, substantially outpacing the growth of other government spending, and becoming the fourth-largest category of state spending.
In 2012, Human Rights Watch estimated it costs about nine times more on health care cost for an aging prisoner, compared to the average prisoner.
Available statistical analyses report estimate that releasing an aging prisoner would save states between $28,362 and $66,294 per year per prisoner through health care, other public benefits costs. That number swells higher for old Death Row prisoners.
David Carpenter, 84, the oldest man on San Quentin’s Death Row, has been there since 1984. Carpenter said that although he is an octogenarian and has ailments relative to his age, he is “doing OK.” In Carpenter’s case, there are added cost due to age-related medical issues.
Two years ago, Carpenter had his left kidney removed and takes medication for high cholesterol. “Even though I’m on Death Row, I can’t complain about the medical care I receive at San Quentin. In fact, what medical issues I have are pretty much under control.”
Carpenter said he sees a doctor on “chronic care” follow-up about every 90 days. Presently, he said the only medication he takes is for high blood pressure and for high cholesterol.
By law, prisoners on Death Row are not eligible for a compassionate release.
States can implement mechanisms to determine which prisoners pose little safety risk and can be released. Aging prisoners are the least dangerous of any cohort of prisoners as various studies show they have only five to ten percent recidivism rate.
The overall prison population is increasingly aging. In 2010, of the 1.5 million individuals in state and federal prisons in this country, 246,600 were age 50 and older. This number represents individuals held by state and federal authorities as prisoners, and does not include individuals under the control of county jails. Notably, 86 percent of prisoners serve time in state custody, as opposed to federal custody.
Like California, New York sends a minimum of two guards to go with prisoners transported to an outside hospital, and they need to be guarded 24 hours a day if they remain there.
Today, more than 14 times as many prisoners over the age 55 are serving time than there were in 1981, and experts predict that by 2030 prisoners age 55 and older will comprise more than one-third of prisoners in the United States.
Curly Ray Martin, 74, from Bakersfield has been in prison since 1967. He was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to seven years to life. His initial Minimum Eligibility Parole Date (MEPD), according to the law, was 1974. Over the years, Martin has been denied parole 18 times. “The parole board told me because of my violent history as a young person, I might re-offend.” Martin has had a clean prison record for decades.
Martin suffered a stroke in 1996 and wonders if he’ll ever be released from prison. “When I die, I want it to be as a free man. I am confident that one day, the parole board will get it right and allow me to prove that I am no longer a danger to anyone,” said Martin.
Infirm elderly state prisoners are normally housed at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.
Lee Goins, born July 28, 1927, is the oldest man in San Quentin.
Archives for April 2013
Journalist Suggests Changes To Solitary Confinement
California needs to significantly change its policies and practices on solitary confinement, a noted broadcaster said before a group of San Quentin Prison journalists.
The speaker was Peter B. Collins, one of a growing number of journalists who report on issues that are important to inform the public about what is happening within America’s prison system.
He has also become known as an advocate for prisoners’ rights through activities including his liberal syndicated radio talk show.
“California’s treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement is just slightly better than Guantanamo Bay,” where terrorist suspects are imprisoned in Cuba, Collins told members of the San Quentin Journalism Guild recently.
Among the topics Collins talked about inmates who have been placed in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s security housing units (SHUs).
Collins said placement of someone in solitary confinement for 30 years is “cruel.”
He discussed a lawsuit filed by Jules Lobel, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who works with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR-Justice.org).
“I support this lawsuit,” said Collins. “By putting you in the SHU, it’s a dead end cycle.” He stated there is no possibility of parole for anyone in a SHU serving a life sentence.
It’s “barbaric to lock men in the SHU 23/1, locked down, no contact” for years, said Collins. “How is 10 years acceptable?”
Collins called the way someone is placed in a SHU “almost arbitrary,” with few legal safeguards. He said prison staff can manipulate the system for private purposes. This is something he says needs to end.
Among the array of issues Collins addressed at the Guild was the high rate of suicides in the California state prison system, which is nearly twice the national average when compared to the United States’ 49 other state prisons.
“Overpopulation is not addressed,” said Collins, referring to California’s 33 state prisons housing men and women above and beyond facility design capacity.
Collins’ media credentials include work as a reporter, talk radio host, voiceover talent, producer, entrepreneur, and media consultant.
He has served since 1986 as board president of the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization based at San Quentin. It was established to provide legal and investigative support for inmates who have been wrongfully convicted in California. Its advocacy has subsequently been transferred to the Innocence Project.
Collins has also worked with the Freedom Foundation to secure the release of inmates serving life sentences. He credits Gov. Jerry Brown for honoring 82 percent of Board of Parole Hearings decisions to give parole dates to lifers who are found suitable for parole.
It’s “going OK so far,” said Collins. However, he said there are many politicians who want to be “careful about Willie Horton,” the infamous 1987 Massachusetts case of a lifer who was released on a furlough and committed a brutal murder. It had a negative impact on then Gov. Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign the following year.
Collins said lifers have the lowest recidivism rate among prisoners released from prison in California. He said there is only one case where a paroled lifer violently re-offended by killing his mother.
Data Reveals 3-Strike Offenders Need Substance Abuse Programs
The trials and tribulations offenders sentenced under California’s Three Strikes law go through are more challenging than any other category of offender, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Substance abuse and mental illness problems of three strikers were the subject of an investigation by Chronicle and California Watch reporters.
Data collected from psychological substance abuse and education profiles showed about one-third of all prisoners – including second- and third-strikers – need substance abuse rehabilitation, the report finds.
Since 2006, a risk assessment on 49,000 of 134,000 inmates in California prisons determined.
Three strikers are three and half times more addicted to alcohol and drugs than the 19 percent of low-risk offenders.
Nearly 70 percent of three strikers profiled showed a high need for substance abuse treatment compared to 48 percent of all inmates tested. The numbers are stark for third-strikers whose last offense was a burglary: 76 percent scored high risk for substance abuse.
When measuring inmates “criminal thinking” risk levels, which indicate whether they exhibit anger or antisocial behaviors that spur criminal activity, the data shows that the scores of third strikers are similar to those of inmates with no strikes on their records. Overall, roughly 30 percent of all prisoners have “high-risk” thought patterns.
The investigation found judges gave Three Strikers particularly long sentences even though they have “not necessarily committed violent offenses.”
However, since the passage of Proposition 36, the Three Strikes Reform Act, most of these type of sentencing problems will decrease and some offenders are being re-sentenced to modify their life terms.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation “provides in-prison programming to adult offenders. Programs include academic and vocational education, substance abuse treatment, cognitive-based behavioral programs, transitional services, and employment programs,” according to the Future of California Corrections. “All are aimed at reducing recidivism while keeping prisons and communities safe.”
Substance abuse treatment could have prevented some repeat offenders from becoming third-strikers, according to Southern Illinois University criminology professor Daryl Kroner, who was quoted in the Chronicle report.
A 2009 audit estimated the Three Strike Law would cost an additional $19.2 billion in prison costs, if continued.
New Report Shows How Children End Up in Prison
Children who are suspended, expelled, or arrested are more likely to repeat a grade, eventually dropout of school, enter the juvenile justice system and end up in prison, according to a new government report.
“Even one court appearance during high school increases a child’s likelihood of dropping out of school,” according to Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
For six years, nearly one million seventh-grade Texans were tracked to verify the outcome of the Department of Justice study. Almost two-thirds of the students were taken out of classrooms at least once because of state-mandated laws, according to the study.
School officials took discretionary action against African-Americans more than whites and Hispanics, the study reported disabled students were “dis-proportionably disciplined.”
“Suspension or expulsion of a student for a discretionary violation nearly tripled the likelihood of juvenile justice contact within the subsequent academic year,” the study shows. Arrest, detention and involvement with the juvenile justice system have “negative short-term and long-term consequences for children’s mental and physical health, education success, and future employment opportunities.”
The detrimental effect of court appearance were especially damaging to “children with no or minimal prior history of delinquency,” the study says.
Failure to complete high school translates to “higher unemployment, poorer health, substance abuse, shorter lifespan, lower earning and increased future contact with the criminal justice system,” the study concludes.
Unmarked Graves Still Sit on Boot Hill
Hundreds of poor San Quentin convicts have for decades been lying in unmarked graves in a ridge overlooking the prison, but that situation might change.
Redwood crosses used to mark the convicts’ graves, located on the potter’s field, called Boot Hill, but over the years the markers fell prey to vandals, or were consumed in numerous brush fires, according to a 1988 Marin Independent Journal newspaper story.
Executed prisoners or those who died at San Quentin without family to claim their bodies were buried on Boot Hill until 1952.
Situated atop a ridge next to the firing range, Boot Hill is the final resting place of almost 700 prisoners.
In 1987, the Vocational Machine Shop decided to do something about the years of neglect and poor state of affairs of the graveyard.
Machine shop workers began recycling used brass from pipes and other sources in the prison, and melting them down in its foundry to create brass plates that would mark the graves. The plates bear a number, not the prisoner’s name.
The project gained the attention of then-state Sen. Milton Marks, and was reported in the Marin Independent Journal.
Marks wrote a letter of congratulations to the prison and the inmates for all of their hard work on the project.
Somehow, the brass markers never made it to the grave sites, becoming another mystery hidden in the mist of San Quentin history, until Machine Shop Instructor Richard Saenz became involved.
About five years ago, Saenz found five of the brass markers.
Saenz discovered what the markers were intended for, and that they were made in his shop.
He immediately started looking for the other 691 markers that had been made for the graves.
Saenz searched the prison for the rest and inquired about them from many people he thought might know their whereabouts within the prison, with no luck for years.
Then, one day about two years ago, he got a phone call telling him the plates had been located in the back of a warehouse on a top shelf.
Now the markers sit in bins in a shed holding used parts for machines and pieces of metal, but they are under the watchful eyes of Saenz.
The foundry where the plates were cast has temporarily shut down, and its fate is uncertain at this point.
It has been more than 25 years since the brass markers have been cast and they still haven’t made it to the grave sites on Boot Hill, and whether they ever will is uncertain.
Saenz says, “I want to see the project come to completion.”
He adds, “The foundry has been a historical part of San Quentin, and I don’t want to see these markers just go to waste.”
Lt. Samuel Robinson, the San Quentin public information officer, said the administration wants to do the right thing by the grave sites, but is concerned that the markers might fall victim to vandalism.
San Francisco District Attorney Calls for Sentencing Reform
Across the U.S., prosecutors can chart a new path on public safety by championing at both local and state levels one of the biggest ways we can transform our justice system in this generation—sentencing reform.
Right now, the U.S. puts more people in prison and jails than any other nation in the world. The costs associated with incarceration are staggering. California alone spends more than $9 billion per year on prisons.
Despite all of these costs—economic, social, and systemic—the rate of people returning to a life of crime even after serving time remains all too high, with almost 65 percent of California’s prison inmates re-offending after being released.
While California’s Realignment effort represents a major change in our state’s sentencing practices, it is primarily intended to impact system costs and incarceration rates— not public safety. So further change is needed.
Sentencing reform is one of the most important ways we can reduce recidivism and keep our communities safe. We can use two innovative strategies—sentencing commissions and alternative sentencing practices—to achieve our goals.
Most criminal law is developed legislatively through the political process, with mandatory minimum sentences and sentence enhancement laws changing every year. Often, this process is influenced by political reactions to high-profile cases or attempts to be “tough on crime.”
The challenge of politically driven sentencing schemes is that the resulting hodgepodge of criminal laws is largely disconnected from the most effective strategies to prevent or reduce crime. If, for example, reducing recidivism were a major goal of the development and design of sentencing schemes, they would look very different than they do now.
Other states are using nonpartisan governmental entities, called sentencing commissions, to assess existing sentencing schemes and propose alternate approaches. Several of these commissions have succeeded at revamping major penal code sections and bringing consistency and clarity to the jurisdictions’ approach to sentencing.
In San Francisco, the District Attorney’s Office led an effort to establish the first county-level sentencing commission in California, with the explicit purpose of assessing the impact on recidivism of current approaches to sentencing.
Our commission can serve as a model for other state and local efforts.
While the commission is not empowered to change state law, it will be able to make recommendations and build consensus among criminal justice agencies, service agencies, victims, and other stakeholders about the most effective strategies to reduce recidivism among various categories of offenders and offenses.
By holding these important discussions in a public forum, the commission can demystify sentencing laws and practices.
In addition to pushing for meaningful legislative change, prosecutors also can innovate our sentencing practices. Across the country, prosecutors evaluate criminal cases at three stages: charging, securing a plea or verdict, and sentencing.
At this third stage, prosecutors must determine what they think the case is “worth” in order to determine the punishment they will advocate for in the plea bargaining process or in court. This assessment traditionally involves focusing on the strength of the evidence in the case and the maximum allowable punishment.
Often, what’s missing is an assessment of the most appropriate punishment in order to reduce the likelihood the offender will reoffend. A “recidivism reduction analysis” asks questions that go beyond the strength of the evidence and the penal code punishment guidelines. In other words, this analysis focuses on not just the offense, but also the person who committed it.
Studies on recidivism show that the longer a medium- to low-risk person is incarcerated, the higher the chance they will reoffend. So, if we are committed to improving public safety, understanding the risk level of each offender is critical to determining the most appropriate length of incarceration for that person.
The emerging science on recidivism reduction is a sea change in the criminal justice system.
It identifies what is known about behavioral and situational patterns and how they relate to the frequency of re-offending. Reducing recidivism then becomes an exercise in identifying an individual’s “risk and protective” factors, from the offender’s criminal history to alcohol and drug issues, mental-health issues, family history of involvement in criminal activity, and other factors such as employment, education, parenthood or other family responsibilities, and stable housing.
Prosecutors then can pinpoint the sanctions that most likely can motivate that person, to eliminate the risk factors and enhance the protective factors. Studies on a wide variety of programs point to sanctions, both punishment- and rehabilitation-oriented, that work better or worse with individuals at different risk levels.
This new alternative approach to sentencing—taking the science of recidivism into consideration—already is underway in the San Francisco DA’s office.
We recently created the nation’s first “alternative planner” position in a district attorney’s office to support prosecutors in court. The ASP evaluates cases to review what is known about the risk level and protective factors of the offenders and then makes sentencing recommendations that will reduce the likelihood that the person reoffends.
In addition, the ASP acts as an investigator, conducting site visits to programs to determine their effectiveness in reducing recidivism, and also provides training for all staff so that the recidivism reduction approach can be integrated into the fabric of all case prosecutions.
Applying this surgical approach to our most scarce and expensive resource—jail—has allowed us the space in our system to properly deal with the violent and serious offenders.
As law enforcement leaders, we must have the courage to face the fact that locking everyone up is not winning. Recognizing that jails and prisons are not the answer to every crime or every offender is a paradigm shift that flies in the face of assumptions that we have built upon for many years.
Yet by grounding our work in a commitment to improving public safety, prosecutors can lead the way in reforming our sentencing laws and practices.
George Gascón is District Attorney of San Francisco and an occasional columnist for The Crime Report. He served as chief of the San Francisco Police Department from 2009-2011. This essay originally appeared in Justice in California, a publication of the Rosenberg Foundation. Gascón welcomes comments from readers.
The Impact SQUIRES Has on At-Risk Kids
“This works,” a Los Angeles police officer said as he escorted 23 at-risk kids through San Quentin Prison.
In his two previous trips to San Quentin, Officer Gus Tarin said he noticed an immediate, positive impact on the behavior of youths he brought inside the prison walls.
“The program is a real eye-opener,” said Tarin. He indicated some of the kids have the same issues as guys in here, and “that’s huge” when it comes to communicating with troubled teens, he added.
One of the young visitors, Roman Jackson, commented, “The people in here are just like us.”
The message from prisoners for the children: Learn how to make it to prison, because you’re headed here if you keep on doing what you’ve been doing..
Tarin has come to San Quentin with the SQUIRES program to give kids a chance to experience prison, showing them where they might wind up if they don’t shape up.
The San Quentin visit exposes young men to all aspects of prison life. From cellblocks to outside Condemned Row, the visitors experience the sight, sound, smell, feel, and taste of prison. Inmates conducted the tour for the youngsters.
This is one of the best ways to discourage bad behavior, said Edwin Henderson of On A Mission, Inc., a Los Angeles not-for-profit organization specializing in at-risk youth.
The young people learn there are two sets of rules they must follow: rules imposed by the state, and inmate-originated rules.
The SQUIRES program was started in 1964, based on an idea that some young people on a path to prison need a reality check. It was launched by Death Row inmate Ross Patch Keller, who hoped it would help his son change his behavior. It originally was the basis of the “Scared Straight” and similar programs, but evolved into more of a counseling and mentoring focus.
The latest visit was coordinated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Southwest Division of LAPD has an office designated specifically to work with troubled teens. The Community Relations Office (CRO) reaches out to the troubled teens and interfaces with Henderson’s program and others to counsel and mentor at-risk kids.
CRO officers wear regular uniforms and provide the kids a role model. They have a gym and work out with the young men. They take snow and mountain trips together. They combat obesity with activity programs. And they bring them to San Quentin.“This program tells it like it is,” said CRO Officer Cecilia Frausto.
“Each time I come to San Quentin, I am enlightened.” Said CRO Officer Oscar Ibanez,
“I’m going to think a little more differently now!” said visitor David Ennis.
Kevin Watson said his visit would have an important impact on his future.
Compassionate Release Easier In Fed. Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has made it easier for offenders who suffer from terminal illnesses or deteriorating health to gain a compassionate release, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Under the new rules, when prison officials approve the request, it goes to the general counsel of the Board of Prisons, where the director of BOP files a motion to reduce the offender’s sentence in federal court.
Long-Time San Quentin Volunteer Dies of Stroke
A long-time San Quentin Prison volunteer, Hari “Ed” Lubin, passed away after a stroke.
Born in 1932, he died March 15 at Marin General Hospital, surrounded by family and friends.
“Hari loved life, food and helping people make the changes necessary to live in love and balance with themselves,” his family said in a statement. “He moved to Marin and devoted his last 10 years to the prison programs. Change is Possible and Freedom in Prison. During that time, letters from men in his counseling programs described the profound changes he helped them achieve.”
He was resident caretaker at Jug Handle Farm and Nature Center in Casper for nearly 10 years.
“Hari guided visitors toward a more harmonious relationship with the natural world. During that time he received a certificate in Hypnotherapy and began a practice and service that included counseling in Hospice, Men’s Alternative to Violence, and the Child Abuse Prevention Program,” the family reported.
In the late ‘90s, Hari became director of the spiritual teacher Gangaji’s Prison Program and was introduced to the “lifers” in San Quentin.
“It seems he finally found his deepest passion in facilitating their transformation toward inner peace,” the family said.
What to Tell Young Offenders ?
Recently I sat down with Pendarvis Harshaw, a 24 year-old Oakland freelance writer who met with the San Quentin News staff. In a one-on-one conversation, Pendarvis asked me a simple, but profound question that caused me to really think about my answer.
It was a rather straightforward question that I should not have hesitated to answer. After all, it wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about the question before. Nevertheless, I found myself scrambling for words that could adequately capture my thoughts.
As I sat with Pendarvis, he turned to me, with a serious expression, and said, “In your article you say you have something relevant and important to say to the younger generation. Then tell me, if you had the ear of the youth, what wisdom would you bestow upon them – what would you tell them?”
At that very moment, I wanted to deliver several meaningful messages all at once. I wanted to say something truly relevant, something that would inspire and provoke conversations. But, the more I thought about the question, the less precise I felt about the answer. I realized that the difficulty of answering this question was not due to lack of knowledge and understanding. Rather, it was from an inability to communicate a message and meaning in a language and logic that could be understood by young people.
As I thought about the question, I looked at Pendarvis and finally responded by saying, “I would tell them my story and have a conversation. ”
I am writing this monthly column because I want to let young people know that my story is part of their story, and all of our stories have a meaning and a message. Each story is part of the human experience. For even a sad and tragic story has its lessons. We must hear those stories and connect with them in the process of moving toward a better self, society and world.
If we understand the responsibility we have to share the lessons of our stories, we can realize that we are generational teachers and students to each other. We are heirs and custodians of a legacy. We must receive it and pass the historical baton.
Passing the baton is something I have come to understand about life. It’s what brought me to meet Pendarvis who has a photo essay project on his website called “OG Told Me.”
Armed with poignant questions and a camera, Pendarvis described his activities by saying he “moves about the community of Oakland, snapping photos and gathering snippets of wisdom from ‘OGs.’” He goes through Oakland, sees an “OG,” and asks them questions—inviting them into a conversation. From their conversation, he takes a picture and quote to post it on his site.
After learning about “An OG’s Perspective,” Pendarvis said he liked both the concept and content of the “OG” column. He told me that he sees this column as a creative and effective way to generate conversations between the older and younger generation.
The more I talked to Pendarvis, the more questions he asked. He asked me about my views and values on a range of critical issues.
He was particularly interested in the perspectives of OGs and how they interact with the younger prisoners here at San Quentin. He was also curious about the degree and manner of respect younger prisoners elect to show the OGs. What do young prisoners want to know? What and how much are OGs willing to share? Is there a distance or a sense of generational obligation and responsibility on the part of OGs?
Talking to Pendarvis made me feel like I had another connection to the younger generation—to someone in the community trying to make a difference. In addition, our conversation helped me realize what I want to share with the next generation.
For the youth, I wish to pass on personal and social stories of struggle and sacrifice—stories of family and community and of violence and reconciliation. I tell these stories, not in any self-righteous, preaching or condescending manner. I tell these stories in a manner that raises critical questions, inspires dignity and determination, and invites dialogue, debate and conversation. I realize that once a generation falters or neglects to pass the torch, a disconnection and a generational breakdown inevitably emerges.
Now, I ask the OGs the same question Pendarvis asked me.
If you had the ear of the youth, what would you bestow upon them – what would you tell them?
Send your answers and your age, so we can put them on the table for a dialogue. Once a few of the answers have been considered, this column will be open for the younger generation to respond.
OGs, please put your answers in a U-Save-Em envelope addressed to San Quentin News, Education Department, and drop it in the mail.
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