International journalists visited San Quentin on Apr. 8 to gain an inside perspective on American prisons and how residents are making changes to better themselves through rehabilitative efforts and self-determination.
The group of inquisitive journalists came from all over the world, including Finland, Nigeria, France, Argentina, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Brazil, Australia, and Turkey where prisons vary greatly from the ones in America — for better or worse
“I wanted them to be inspired by what is possible with change,” said Michael Montgomery, a representative from Reveal and the World Press Institute who helped organize the visit.
He and the group toured the prison and took in the historical monuments inside one of America’s oldest prisons, surrounded by the beautiful waters of San Francisco Bay.
In their native tongues, the visitors asked about the prison’s 170-years of rich history. This included learning about some of the prison’s tumultuous times, such as when several people lost their lives in Aug. 1971 — among the prison’s deadliest days.
The peak of Mt. Tamalpias gave the group a glimpse of its majesty when they came down the hill to the Lower Yard from exploring the spooky dungeon on the side of the hospital.
On the Lower Yard, the reporters observed all of the residents out and about dressed in the grey and white workout gear and tennis shoes typical of prison, prompting many questions about the attire of the incarcerated, including their watches and jewelry.
For the visitors to see the racial and ethnic diversity around the prison was astonishing to them. They were told of the history of the wars and treaties made over the “real estate” that each race claimed on the Lower Yard, and of that mentality that has been embedded into the fabric of prison culture over the decades.
When the reporters stood inside an occupied cell, disdain marked their faces as they experienced the limited space that the incarcerated have to live in — and typically share. When some of the visitors exited the small space, they said they “felt bad” for the people forced to live in the closet-sized cells.
The guests expressed curiosity about the prison and its residents. They were accustomed to seeing how prisons are portrayed on TV. Vivid pictures conjured up by Hollywood in movies such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Lock Up” were all that they knew about American prisons.
Some of the visitors remarked that their country’s prisons were worse than America’s.
“I wanted to bring the group of journalists from around the globe to see at least one prison in California is not like any place they see in Hollywood,” Montgomery said, who regularly takes groups from the World Press Institute on such trips to give them different perspectives.
The journalists were excited to see the renowned SQ Media Center and hear about the effort to reimagine the prison as the new San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, inspired in part by the Media Center with its 0% recidivism rate.
After the tour, the reporters expressed their fascination with the prison and its residents and vowed to return.
