A group of San Quentin prisoners celebrated the coronation of the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I with a banquet and religious tribute.
Six belief groups called “mansions” from San Quentin’s Rastafari community participated in the March 9 event.“It was a great day, said Christopher Bell, also known as Ras Jahraiel.
“It was a spiritual day of remembrance, for all Rastafari. The celebration of Emperor Selassie’s coronation means so much, and we’re happy we could have it,” he added.
Born a Rastafari, Bell’s mother is from the mansion of Beta Israelites and his father is from Bobo Ashanti.
“Like in any religion or way of life, for instance Judaism, Islam or Christianity, you have many different schools of belief,” he said. “The three most prominent mansions of Rastafari are the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.”
Bell said the Rastafari are a relatively new community. The community started with the assistance of the Jewish Chaplain Carole Hyman.
Haile Selassie I was Emperor of Ethiopia for decades. He was crowned Nov. 2, 1930 and was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. For the Rastafari community, his coronation is a time to reflect on his teachings.
“This a belated coronation celebration,” said Bell a resident of San Quentin for the last three years.
Thomas Blanks Bongo known as Ras Jahzeal Tafari said it has been very pleasing here in San Quentin and the administration here has gone above and beyond to assist them.
Rastafari are governed under the Christian Church because of the bloodline of Haile Selessie ascending from Kind David, according to Ras Jahzeal.
“The whole purpose of why we wear dreadlocks,” said Jahzeal. “Is in accordance with the Nazarene, it’s explained in Numbers 6:5 the King James version in Nazarene.”
Jahzeal said one of the misconceptions about the belief of Rastafari is Bob Marley and smoking weed. That could be no further from the truth.
“Western society has indoctrinated the western hemisphere with the belief that all Rastafari is based on is smoking weed,” Jahzeal said. “Bob Marley was singing about love, peace and basic human rights.”
“We see Haile Selassie I as being principled and noble, worthy of our worship,” said Bell. “Today we look at him as the second advent of the Messiah. For instance, our Christians brothers look at Jesus as the Messiah. We look at Haile Selessie I as the Messiah.”
Many different Rastafari were at San Quentin’s coronation event, Bell said. Some believe in Christianity, and others believe in the Law of Moses.
“The purpose of the Rastafari brethren here at San Quentin is to bring awareness and education in its appropriate frame,” Jahzeal said. “Because Rastafari from creation has been to the glorification to our creator JAH RASTAFARI.”
Expanding Access to Higher Education Behind Bars
By JulianGlenn Padgett
Feather River College is educating one San Quentin prisoner with correspondence courses and is expanding its program in San Quentin and other California prisons.
“No one should be denied access to obtaining a college degree; a college degree holds a special meaning for the incarcerated,” said Joan Parkin, associate dean at Feather River College, a community college in Lassen County, Calif. Parkin said her mission is to educate prisoners no matter where they are.
The San Quentin student, Michael Holmes, said he attended multiple self-help groups, such as criminality awareness, substance abuse, anger and stress management. Holmes said the programs piqued his interest in learning about behavioral science, so he wrote numerous letters seeking sponsorship from Project Rebound, the Re-entry Council, Fresno Pacific University, Palo Verde College and the Prison Scholarship Foundation.
He was eventually referred to Coastline College, but he was unable to pay for textbooks and had no access to used copies.
“I had no means to pay for college or books,” Holmes said. “On top of that, I had been told California no longer provided grants for inmates” to take college courses.
Then, Holmes’ medical care providers suggested he write to Feather River College. The school accepted his application and is covering the costs for tuition and books.
“I’m humbled by this experience, because
the person whois the most locked
down can go through the program”
“They’re very attentive to me and they respond quickly when I have an issue,” Holmes said. “For me, Feather River is a godsend.”
Feather River’s Incarcerated Student Program was launched in 2006 at California Correctional Center, according to Parkin. Dawn Tibbits, the prison’s college program facilitator, established a system to verify the educational backgrounds of those men interested in furthering their education through Feather River. Tibbits also set up a program to distribute textbooks to all the participating students.
“We need more funding to bring Associate of Arts degrees to any inmate who wants one,” Parkin said. “I’ve seen a complete transformation” in men who complete the program in other prisons. Feather River currently educates 400 prisoners in California prisons.
Recently, when Parkin gave a lecture at Pelican Bay State Prison, one prisoner said he came to prison at age 16 and now, at 38, Feather River College gave him his first opportunity at an education.
“I just want to learn something,” the prisoner told Parkin.
“I’m humbled by this experience, because the person who is the most locked down can go through the program,” she added.
Anyone interested in taking classes through Feather River College should contact Tom Bolema in the San Quentin Education Department. He said Feather River is providing instructional materials for 30 San Quentin prisoners, including Death Row inmates.
Alliance For Change is Making a Difference in San Quentin
San Quentin’s Alliance for CHANGE. brought new meaning to the words social justice as its 2012 class graduated.
AFC is a program created to teach about social justice and its core goal is to prepare incarcerated men to re-enter society. In 2012, 13 San Quentin prisoners graduated from the program after attending sessions four days a week for four months.
“I would like to say we’re family; we want to break stereotypes. The work is hard in here but we’re doing it,” said Abdur Raheem, co-leader of the education section for Alliance for CHANGE. CHANGE stands for Creating Hope and New Goals Ethically, according to Malik Harris, the president of Alliance.
“I’m very proud of you men here today. From the beginning this was a tough class. I knew you all would graduate but many of you surprised me,” Harris said at the 2012 event.
Cleo Cloman, a graduate who has been at San Quentin for a year, said AFC taught him that he was a very important part of the community.
“I was living in my community but I was detached from it,” said Cloman, who has been incarcerated for 17 years. “That is what allowed me to harm my community.
Dr. Kim Richman, associate professor at the University of San Francisco, said the graduation was uplifting.
“You graduates have demonstrated a deep commitment to social justice and the community by sticking it out,” Richman said. “I’m proud of every single one of you.”
AFC’s founding members Ern Morgan and David Cowan — both parolees from San Quentin — attended the graduation.
Cowan said he was happy to see another class graduating.
“I hope that our being here gives people hope for the future that you can make it out there,” Cowan said. “The good decisions you plan to make have to start here.”
Morgan, who has been out of prison for 2 1/2 years, said transitioning out has not been easy.
“Days after I paroled to a transitional house, some of my property was stolen,” Morgan said. “I called my attorney and she said ‘You victimized someone; now you know what it’s like to be victimized.’ That was one of my turning points.”
Morgan, who was incarcerated for 23 years, said parolees are not necessarily prepared for some of the realities outside prison. He said if you do not have your mind straight when you go home, it can be hard to make that transition.
Morgan also advised the men to use Alliance’s Virtual World, an in-the-works program that will help acquaint prisoners with the online world.
The program will teach prisoners things like how to pay bills online and use credit cards and phones, according to Morgan.
“These are things you all will need to understand,” he said.
AFC aims to educate incarcerated individuals on social justice and its affect on their communities, Harris said.
“The goal is to inspire both men and women who have committed crimes to become anti-crime and anti-violence advocates,” said Alliance member Carlos Meza.
Innocence Project Takes On Guy Miles’ San Quentin Case
A court fight is continuing for a San Quentin prisoner who insists he was imprisoned based on faulty eyewitness testimony. The California Innocence Project agrees, and is working to set him free.
Guy Miles has served 13 years of a 75 years to life sentence for two counts of robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and a gang enhancement.
“The basics of my case came down to (stranger) eyewitness testimony and they were all wrong,” Miles said in an interview. His attorney said, “Stranger eyewitness identifications are the single leading cause of wrongful convictions in the world.”
“I was sentenced to life because of my prison priors, not because I broke any laws. I’m innocent,” said Miles.
The place that was robbed was located in Fullerton, Miles said. “But when these crimes happened, I was living in Las Vegas, Nevada.”
Miles said he presented an alibi of misidentification defense to the jury. His defense attorney, Frank Williams, called six witnesses to testify.
Gloria Perry testified that they saw Miles the night before the crime and the day of the crime.
“There were actually eight witnesses,” said Alissa Bjerkhoel, Miles’ attorney from the Innocence Project. “The judge refused to allow all of them to testify. He said their testimony would be cumulative and would be too long.”
“First of all, Judge (Frank) Fasel was wrong,” said Bjerkhoel, who has been practicing law since 2008. “I don’t care how long it is. I think everyone should be able to testify.”
“We’ve got a witness who cannot identify Miles,” said Bjerkhoel. “That was a red flag for us that this might be a wrongful conviction.”
In a written declaration, Bernard Teamer reported he, Jason Steward and Harold Bailey robbed Fidelity Financial, which is the crime for which Miles was convicted.
Bailey said he contacted the Innocence Project to bring truth to Mile’s non-involvement in the crime.
“This is the biggest thing I’ve done since my recovery,” Bailey said. “Mr. Miles is 100 percent innocent of this crime.”
In April, Bjerkhoel and two other lawyers will be conducting an Innocence March for Miles.
Their plans are to organize a walk from San Diego to Sacramento carrying a clemency petition that they intend to present to Governor Brown.
“I’m going to fight to my dying day to get Guy out,” said Bjerkhoel.
Napoleon Brown Released after 17 Years
PROP. 36 enabled sentence modification
Proposition 36 has opened the door for Richard Napoleon Brown, a prisoner who was serving life in San Quentin State Prison under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Brown was incarcerated for nearly two decades. Due to voter-approved changes in the law, he was released from prison on Dec. 28.
“I was convicted of petty theft in 1995,” Brown said shortly before his release. “But I had two 1975 priors. Both were assaults with a deadly weapon; they used those priors to strike me out on my petty theft.”
Even with a sentence of 25 years to life, Brown said he was never under the impression that he would serve the full 25 years.
After a few years imprisoned, Brown said he noticed how the law was being applied. “From the beginning, I felt it was a very unfair and unjust law.”
“I’m inclined to believe that the Three Strikes Law was designed more so for African-Americans and Hispanics, mainly people of color,” he commented.
This is evident because a majority of African-American and Hispanic men are filling the prisons and serving more time for less crimes than whites, he said.
When he was on the street, his life was centered on drugs and alcohol, he said. The phrase he used to describe his lifestyle back then was “out of control.”
“The path I had taken was leading me down the road to destruction,” said Brown. “I chose to live around prostitutes, even to the extent that I exploited them,” said Brown.
In the early days of his incarceration, Brown said he studied the Bible and meditated on what he read.
“Studying God’s word is what helped me find some peace,” said Brown. “In those early days, I was surrounded by a lot of turmoil — way too much, really.”
Proposition 36 was a “smart on crime” change in the law, Brown said, but it should have included a broader outlet for prisoners.
“This not only would include three strikers but lifers — men and women who have acquired the tools and skills that the (parole) board mandates,” he suggested.
As for the future, “My plans are to reach as many young children to prevent them from coming to prison. This is no life at all.”
Soon after he arrived at San Quentin, Brown said he began taking classes that would help him once he re-entered society.
“I took the Victim’s Offender’s Education Group (VOEG) and No More Tears — both very good groups,” Brown said. “I also took a Bible course program and I assisted here in the Bible Boot Camp teachings.”
Helping the Infirm
PRISONER GROUP OFFERS COMPASSION TO OTHERS
A group of San Quentin prisoners called the Gold Coats have been selected to help elderly, sick and wheelchair-bound fellow prisoners live more comfortable and productive lives.
Duties of the Gold Coats include guiding disabled prisoners to and from leisure time activities, support groups, and school. They also help them get to medical appointments.
The program is called Inmate Disability Assistance Program.
“As the inmates get older throughout the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” said Glen Harden, one of the Gold Coats, “the creation of programs like (this) will definitely be a much-needed asset to this prison community.”
Harden said he was motivated to be a Gold Coat worker by his personal struggle with HIV, witnessing disability assistance programs at other institutions, and his Christian belief in being of service.
“Since I’ve come to know Christ, I know the Gold Coat program is definitely a part of my growth,” Harden said. “I’ve been in medical facilities for the past 15 years, due to my own medical conditions. During that time, I’ve had the chance to see this program in action, and the Inmate Disability Assist Program is what these men need here at San Quentin.”
Harden, 51, was in prison from 1991 to 1997 for assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. He returned years later for armed robbery under the Three Strikes Law. The term “Gold Coats” comes from the bright gold-colored jackets worn by each worker.
The Inmate Disability Assistance Program is a statewide plan that has been implemented throughout CDCR, said John Curzon, Associate Warden of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He noted the program provides accommodations to prisoners with disabilities pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The department is taking a proactive approach to address its aging inmate population,” said Curzon. “And as the ADA, my unit worked in concert with headquarters to get this program started.”
The program is constantly receiving many positive comments, “and I attribute the comments to the assigned inmate disability assistance workers of San Quentin,” Curzon said.
Harden praised Curzon and Lt. Williams for helping make the program successful.
“Our group is unique. We come from various backgrounds,” said Harden. “What I see is brother to brother, inmate to inmate helping each other overcome the difficulties of being handicapped or getting old in prison.”
The San Quentin Gold Coats are Harden, Anthony President, Raymond C. Mayor, Gregory Bedford and Shaka Senegal Muhammad.
Beloved Lifer Passes Away, Leaves Behind Daughter and Sister
Lifer Jesse “Blue” Wells, who friends said did his time quietly and with dignity, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 28 at the San Quentin medical facility. He was 56.
“When I got here he was in the cell,” said Carley McFarland, his cellmate. “Jesse and I never had a disagreement. He was an easy-going man who just wanted to be left alone.”
McFarland said Wells was a people’s person who genuinely got along with everybody.
Wells was convicted in 1996 and was serving a sentence under the Three Strikes Law. He used to joke about how he was going to do all of his time, McFarland said.
“I never met anybody like him,” said McFarland. “So when Correctional Officer Lujan came to my cell and told me he didn’t make it, that shocked me.”
Wells reported chest pains and was taken to San Quentin’s on-site medical facility, where he died later in the day.
“He had diabetes and high blood pressure and other medical issues,” McFarland said. “Dr. Crenshaw was on him about his weight too because Jesse was 300 pounds or more easy.”
McFarland said he was moved to Administrative Segregation pending an investigation and autopsy.
“I knew that’s how they do it, I knew I had to take the ride,” McFarland said. “I didn’t like being in the hole, but I knew I had to go.”
“He just left too soon”
McFarland said they gave him a day to clear his head, but he thinks the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation should come up with another process, especially if an individual you share a cell with dies outside of the cell.
“I met him in 2011,” said Darryl Williams who has been incarcerated since 2001. “Jesse had the biggest heart and was like a father figure.”
Williams got in touch with Wells’ daughter, Renetta, to let her know of her father’s passing. Renetta was the love of her father’s life, Williams said, and he talked about her all the time.
“When I talked to her, I could hear it in her voice that she loved him too,” said Williams. “She said his wife died on the same day Jesse died,” which was during the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. Renetta told him the mortuary wanted $1,500 to fly his body back to New Orleans.
“She couldn’t afford to raise the money for the flight and also pay for her father’s burial fees,” Williams said. He and some other men in blue tried to raise money to help her, but they didn’t have enough time.
Renetta recently consented to a cremation ceremony at Mount Tamalpais Mortuary, which has a contract with San Quentin State Prison. “He just left too soon,” Carley McFarland said. “Way too soon.”
Wells was born May 5, 1956. He is survived by his daughter and a sister.
Unique Spiritual Center Thriving in San Quentin
On the west side of the San Quentin Lower Yard, Native Americans gather at their sacred sweat lodge to pray, study and perform ancient rituals of worship and purification.
Called Shasta Lodge, it is the world’s first fireplace sweat lodge in a prison, said Hector Frank, San Quentin’s Native American chaplain.
LESSONS
“Basically they learn how to pray,” said Frank. “The lessons taught here in the sweat lodge are about our history, our way, our connection to our church.”
About two dozen Native Americans, most of whom are from northern Californian tribes, gather in the sweat lodge to worship and share tribal culture, learning Native American language and ancient traditions like ceremonial song and dance.
It is a re-birth, Frank explained. When the men come into the sweat ceremony, they let go of everything, and when they go out, they are thoroughly cleansed.
“Just entering into this atmosphere is special, because we are entering inside Mother Earth’s womb.” Frank said.
“It’s like a purification ceremony,” said Frank Whipple, of the Wylacki Tribe in Covelo, Calif. “We’re sweating out the negative energy and putting positive energy back in.”
Robin Guillen, of the Commanche Chippewa tribe, who has been incarcerated for nearly 40 years, recalled his first sweat ceremony.
SPIRITUALITY
“I was 12 years old when my parents took me to my first ceremony,” Guillen said. “I learned that for guidance, this is how we as native people connect spiritually with the creator.”
Guillen said the sweat lodge can bring a person balance — emotionally, physically and spiritually.
“It’s my center,” said Guillen. “I would not have been able to receive the guidance to accomplish what I have, if I had not remained true to the sweat lodge.”
The history of San Quentin’s sweat lodge is intertwined with that of another famous prison.
In 1976 Frank and several other spiritual and civil rights activist embarked on a trek from Alcatraz Prison to Washington, D.C. to advocate for the religious rights of prisoners.
“It was called ‘The Longest Walk,” Frank said. “All the believers were there (including) Buddhists from China and Japan, along with several priests from other congregations and churches.”
At the culmination of the walk, and with the approval of the United Nations, the Freedom of Religion Act was signed by then-President Jimmy Carter, who has Cherokee Indian ancestors, says Frank. Today this law is known as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects institutionalized people from discrimination based on their religious beliefs.
PRISONS
As an Indian priest, Frank has guided Native Americans at other prisons such as Folsom, Chino, Nevada State Prison, Arizona State Prison, and Pleasant Valley. He also helped put the lodge up in Chowchilla and Valley State Prison for Women.
“I’m 61, and I’ve been coming into the prisons for over 40 years,” said Frank. “Forty years ago I made a commitment as a Sun Dancer to come in here and help the Indian people.”
Musicians Honor Jazz Artist
It was a night of music when a San Quentin prisoner took the stage with several renowned musicians to pay tribute to former inmate and jazz artist Frank Morgan, who died last year.
The Protestant Chapel was filled with sound on Oct. 12 when prisoner and jazz pianist Reginald Ausin performed with bass player Ron Carter, alto saxophonists Grace Kelly and Mark Gross, trombonist Delphius Marcellus, pianist George Cable and Marvin “Smitty” Smith on the drums.
“Being on that stage and playing in tribute to my friend Frank Morgan with Marcellus and the crew was just amazing,” Austin said. “For me, heaven couldn’t get much better.”
Austin said it was an honor to play in memory of Morgan and speak the language of music without ever having to say a word.
“I thank God I was ready when the opportunity came,” said Austin. He said that Morgan was a major influence on his style and development in music.
While Austin was playing, Cable was listening and watching over Austin’s shoulder.
“At that point I knew my music was saying something that he wasn’t used to hearing,” Austin said.
As a child, Austin took lessons from Kathryn Muller, a piano teacher who was a Holocaust survivor and a concert pianist in Germany until World War II.
“Muller taught me music, etiquette and to have pride in myself. She taught me to be a man of culture,” Austin said. “What she shared with me never goes out of style.”
PRISON
Austin began his prison term in 1977, and he said he was looking for something to keep his spirits up while pursuing his love of music.
“I met Morgan here at San Quentin in 1981 through my friend Luke Oliver, a bass player, when I was just beginning my life sentence,” Austin said. “My background was in classical music, but Morgan introduced me to bebop.”
Soon after meeting, both musicians began playing in a band called Brothers of Soul, formed inside San Quentin. As his friendship with Morgan grew, they had conversations on Bach inventions, and Austin learned to incorporate bebop into his classical training.
“Bach inventions for a pianist are short pieces, and when they’re expounded upon, each piece evolves with every interpretation,” Austin said. “Eventually, I incorporated the bebop that Morgan gave me with my classical knowledge of Bach.”
Austin has been able to develop his own style of playing, which has become a mainstay in his music.
“But that night was special,” Austin said. “We played in memory of a great alto jazz saxophonist, a man who was my friend, Frank Morgan.”
Another S.Q. Teacher Lost to Budget Cuts
Education staffer Hazel Koons has been laid off amid budget cuts, but she says she has learned how important learning is to prison inmates.
After she began working here two years ago, Koons said she began noticing her students excelling in their academic learning. She says tutoring prisoners of San Quentin has been very rewarding.
“They were taking their life experiences and relating them to what they were learning. I was seeing the lights,” she said.
One thing Koons said she learned while working at San Quentin is the media misrepresent the whole picture of the person in prison; the character of the person going to prison stops with the headline when he or she is found guilty.
“Inmate identity is very generalized, meaning that within the prison you’re differentiated by your sentence and the time you’re doing,” Koons said. “But the media and the legislation portray inmate identity as one blanket person, that being a criminal.”
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
When asked how her friends and family responded to her decision to work at San Quentin, she said her friends did not want to talk about it but her family was supportive.
“Once I made the choice they wanted me to have physical exposure,” she said. “It’s called immersion, getting in there and doing it.”
For Koons, immersion is also a part of being a community activist: “I’ve always had a strong identity in standing up and taking in what I’ve learned then speaking about it.”
She said being a community activist prepared her to work in this environment. “There were times when it was tough, but once I got into tutoring, the men were eager to learn, (and) I knew I could handle it,” she said.
In the beginning, the person who guided her was Ted Roberts, who was the principal when she started.
“When I started here two years ago, Roberts was the biggest gogetter. He would definitely make phone calls,” Koons said. “Roberts was a man who thought outside of the walls and made positive things happen here.”
However, what troubled Koons were supervisors whose agendas were not aligned with education.
GREAT TUTOR
Tom Bolema, literacy coordinator for the Robert E. Burton School at San Quentin, said Koons is on her way to becoming a great teacher because she was such a great tutor.
“Hazel’s a natural,” said Mr. Thomas, a teacher for Robert E. Burton Adult School of Education. “She had an ability to check for understanding when working with students. Many teachers will teach a lesson and expect the student to understand, and they do not.”
San Quentin resident Orlando Harris, who worked with Koons, said she was smart and always wanted to help.
“She always wanted to affect positive change in the classroom and in our lives,” said Harris. “She’ll be sorely missed.”
Koons said her plans definitely include continuing as an educator.
“I love being a teacher,” said Koons. “I’m a trans-national feminist. I believe education is important for all who are incarcerated, especially women.”
WOMEN’S ISSUES
“Women’s issues cross borders, meaning that one woman’s struggle here is no different from another woman’s struggle in another country. The same goes for rehabilitation,” said Koons. “I felt that rehabilitation was important, so I applied here, and after I got the job, I moved up here.”
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