San Quentin Rehabilitation Center hosted a celebration of mothers during the month that celebrated Mother’s Day. Titled “Grip the Mic,” the May 22 morning-to-noon event took over San Quentin’s Lower Yard basketball court, turning half of it into a performance stage while using the other half for the 2025 Bridging the Gap Big-Three Basketball Tournament.
Officers passed basketballs to residents who passed them to hospital staffers. A psychologist consulted with a resident about the way the two of them should perform their song. Grip the Mic blended sports with musical arts and blended San Quentin residents with San Quentin officers and staff in a way typical for San Quentin’s California Model. The theme centered on Mothers.
“As we gather here shortly after Mother’s Day, I want to take a moment to celebrate and acknowledge all mothers not just once a year, but every day,” said Lt. G. Berry, San Quentin’s Public Information Officer, in her keynote address. “Mothers often play a crucial role in the rehabilitative journey of incarcerated individuals — they are a source of hope, motivation, and love.”
The basketball tournament drew an immediate crowd of spectators. Event co-organizer Lawrence Randall had players take numbers from a hat to form four teams. Soon, several observers predicted a winner as three of the starting five players for the SQ Warriors — Donell “Sonic” Pimpton,
Keyshawn “Steeze” Strickland, and Velteese “Teese” Mathis — ended up on Team Two.
Predictions changed once Ms. Williams — about 5 feet tall and playing for Team One — entered the game. A spectator said she “plays like a bullet train.”
“I’ve been a basketball fan since I was 5 years old,” said Williams, now in her seventh year at San Quentin, working as a custody officer in the infirmary. “I love the California Model and that we can make San Quentin a better environment for everybody.”
Ronald “Trey” Fisher, also playing for Team One, turned out the perfect complement for Williams. Fisher’s attacks on the bucket put the team into the lead. After Williams’s 3-ball found its mark three times, she earned the M.V.P. for staff. Fisher’s
performance earned him the M.V.P. for the residents.
“Grip the Mic honors the women in our lives for the work they do, both on the inside and on the outside,” said resident Randall, who co-organized the event with resident Jambri Johnson, Sr.
As the event alternated between sports and performance arts, two performances stood out. San Quentin psychologist Dr. Nocerino, wearing a T-shirt that said, “I’m not crazy I’m just a little unwell,” performed “Broken,” a song about mental health, with resident Kaleo Schreiner. “That beat saved me,” said Schreiner.
The other musical event that had crowds cheer came from Mental Health Nurse Larissa Gonzalez. Dressed in an all-black outfit but with sunglasses with fluorescent green frames, she took the stage
with high energy.
Resident Jamie Van Cleave said he liked Gonzalez’s performance. “She has a stage presence that’s unbelievable. She was the highlight of this event.”
The basketball tournament “displayed the awe-inspiring teamwork of staff and incarcerated persons in the Championship game,” said resident Joseph Marsala. “What a message to the population and staff at SQRC. Never give up and always grow through adversity; you never know who your M.V.P. is going to be. The biggest winners are all the advocates of the California Model, one more testament to the humanity at SQRC.”
CRM Office Technician A. Torres summed up the event by saying, “I am a woman of few words and all I can say about this is: ‘Cool.’”
By Martin Keith DeWitt
The California Model Resource Team’s celebrated Mother’s Day by having a party on the Lower Yard basketball court promoted as Bridging the Gap festivities and a basketball tournament dubbed “Grip the Mic.”
The three-on-three single elimination competition was loosely based on the popular ‘Big Three’ League format where five, five player teams which utilize three players at a time on the court with two substitutes available for each team. The teams were made up of a mixture of staff and residents and the first team to fifteen points advanced to the next round.
“I enjoyed how the staff and residents bonded,” said resident Ernest Blackwell who captained the winning team. “I’m a fan of the California Model.”
All of the games were competitive and had multiple lead changes. When the dust settled, Team #1 was victorious. Their members included:
Team captain I/P Earnest Blackwell, Correctional Officer Miss Williams, I/P Thomas ‘T Mas’ Vaca, I/P Ronald Fischer, and I/P Le Toree ‘Greezy’ Gilmore.
Correctional Officer Williams and I/P Fischer were awarded Co-Most Valuable Player awards for the tournament.
“I feel like we were the underdogs but we worked as a team,” said Williams. “It doesn’t matter how the other team looks, you just ‘gotta’ put it in the basket. We gave great effort and had fun and it translated into a win.”
“I was really amazed how she [C/O Williams] handled the pressure and made shots,” said Blackwell, “the lights weren’t too bright for her.”