Dear “Wall City” (The companion periodical of the San Quentin News).
Hello my name is Joel Baptiste. I have just received the wall city magazine that you produce. (vol.1/issue #1). I am also a survivor of the Pelican Bay (SHU) program. I spent many years con- fined by an indeterminate gang validation in that tomb.
You could not understand the feelings I had when my celly came home with a huge picture of the (SHU) yard on the cover. Only those of us who were unfortunate enough to have spent countless years circling that yard could understand what the sight of it means.
So as I read the stories of the men and what they are doing now, I let out a huge hell yeah ! cheer. These are great stories that have gone untold for far too long. I really love
How we continuously prove the system wrong. We, who were labeled the “worst of the worst, “ are in fact now some of the most dedicated to progress and rehabilitation.
I left pelican bay in late 2014. I was sent to Kern Valley A facility and the line had changed so much, I had changed so much. I did not really recognize the line anymore. I experienced what I can only call a shift in paradigm. I walked away and ended up being forced into the (SHU) unit there at (KVSP).
Since that moment I have not looked back. I have completed so many programs, and I facilitate so many others. I was then sent to Calipatria where I enrolled into Imperial Valley College (face to face program) where I am a 4.0 student and will have my degree shortly (with honors).
We have a cohort here who is dedicated to success, growth, and change. Recently we published a book “man, I wish I would have known” letters from Calipatria state prison. You can see it on Amazon or Barnes & Nobel. (geared toward at risk youth). We here salute you men & women who are engaged in our community, putting in the hard work to stretch your capacity in telling these types of stories that need to be told.
“Wall City” is awesome and a serious tool in dispelling stereotypes that keep one in a proverbial, actual box.
You could not understand the feelings I had when my celly came home with a huge picture of the (SHU) yard on the cover. Only those of us who were unfortunate enough to have spent countless years circling that yard could understand what the sight of it means.
So as I read the stories of the men and what they are doing now, I let out a huge hell yeah ! cheer. These are great stories that have gone untold for far too long. I really love
How we continuously prove the system wrong. We, who were labeled the “worst of the worst, “ are in fact now some of the most dedicated to progress and rehabilitation.
I left pelican bay in late 2014. I was sent to Kern Valley A facility and the line had changed so much, I had changed so much. I did not really recognize the line anymore. I experienced what I can only call a shift in paradigm. I walked away and ended up being forced into the (SHU) unit there at (KVSP).
Since that moment I have not looked back. I have completed so many programs, and I facilitate so many others. I was then sent to Calipatria where I enrolled into Imperial Valley College (face to face program) where I am a 4.0 student and will have my degree shortly (with honors).
We have a cohort here who is dedicated to success, growth, and change. Recently we published a book “man, I wish I would have known” letters from Calipatria state prison. You can see it on Amazon or Barnes & Nobel. (geared toward at risk youth). We here salute you men & women who are engaged in our community, putting in the hard work to stretch your capacity in telling these types of stories that need to be told.
“Wall City” is awesome and a serious tool in dispelling stereotypes that keep one in a proverbial, actual box.
Thank You! J. Baptiste
“No one – not even the government itself – has ever been able to specify with any certainty the precise number of federal crimes defined … in the 27,000 or so pages of the U.S. Code.” In the 1980s, lawyers at the Department of Justice estimated that the criminal code contained 3,000 crimes. Today, the Heritage Foundation estimates the federal laws currently enumerate nearly 5,000 crimes, a number that grows every year.
Holly Harris, Executive Director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, told Foreign Affairs Magazine in “The Prisoner Dilemma” March /April 2017 www.ForeignAffairs.com
https://sanquentinnew.wpengine.com/san-quentin-news-merchandise/
https://sanquentinnew.wpengine.com/15450-2/
