In a groundbreaking symposium, San Quentin’s incarcerated Spanish community hosted its first forum with San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and her staff.
“I’m honored to be here today to make an impact for the Hispanic community. I have the opportunity to do this for the first time here at SQ,” said DA Brooke Jenkins, who is of Salvadorean descent, in her opening statement.
Jenkins spoke about the importance of the event to other minorities. She added that she would continue to reach out to marginalized communities to promote social justice.
Attendees of the symposium worked in six groups of approximately eight to ten persons each, including at least two persons from the DA’s office together with residents. Each group discussed causative factors that lead to crime.
During small circles the following topics were discussed: Lack of resources or support network in Spanish information not available in Spanish regarding resentencing options Creation of dialogue in Spanish between victims/survivors and offenders.
Improving living conditions and increasing humanity among the incarcerated Hispanic community.
“I never thought I would be sitting with the San Francisco DA and her assistants in this symposium,” said resident Ruben Rodriguez, who has been incarcerated over 20 years. “It made me feel like I’m closer to society with the conversations we had.
I also felt that I was taken into account — I felt that I mattered to them.”
The symposium was organized by resident Edwin E. Chavez, who thanked the SQ administration and the DA’s office for the opportunity to have the symposium. He added that it was a much needed event for the incarcerated population who do not speak English.
Tiffany Sutton, SFDA executive director of special projects and programs, shared with the group that she always had a passion for keeping youth out of the justice system. She said that once they start, it’s like a revolving door; trying to keep them out is difficult.
Sutton is overseeing programs such as the Youth & Young Adult Unit and the Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentor groups. For more information on how to support these types of programs here in the Bay Area, she encouraged people to visit the website www.sfda. org/accesstohope.
Small groups also discussed the importance of addressing their life experiences and traumas that led to their crimes. Participants put themselves in the shoes of the victims and recognized the ripple effect that the crimes had on the victims and their communities.
“The symposium was … helpful because it created a much needed discussion between the victimized community and offenders,” said resident Arturo Melendez.
Another key point shared at the event was the importance of making amends and providing the self-help material in Spanish.
DA investigator Jessica Zamora mentioned after the symposium that she learned about all the obstacles the Hispanic offenders go through. She added that her culture’s customs are not always the best. She feels that the problem is that there is no communication and that those generational problems need to change.
Chavez said that these types of dialogue break language barriers to a large community within the prison walls. Thanks to this event, the community had the opportunity to demonstrate that the incarcerated understand the impact of their actions toward the survivors of crimes and that the DA is not our adversary.
