Looking forward to SQ News
Dear SQNews,
My name is Joseph Garcia Guzman III. I am requesting a copy of San Quentin News. Unfortunately, I’m in AD-SEG serving a RHU term. All I can say is prison politics. I don’t even gang bang, I am a US Army Veteran, and someone got caught up in the funk. I’m a G.P. inmate but I should of never ended up on a “gang banging” yard when I’m not even a gang member.
I pray, one day, I end up at San Quentin. I laid over for a night back in 2023 while transferring from RJD to CSPSAC. When I was SQ, I was amazed. Not by the buildings or the views of the prison but I could feel the opportunities while walking to the SHU. I said to myself, I’m gonna get here some day and I’ll parole from here. SQ is the best prison to be at due to the fact it has all the rehabilitation classes/courses. Like I said, the opportunities.
I hope y’all could send me a copy of the SQ News. Thank you! God bless.
— Joseph G Guzman III, CSP-SAC Represa, California
SQ Journalism Guild instructor inspires Centinela residents
Dear SQN journalism family,
A few years back you published an article featuring the newsletter I was a part of at Calipatria State Prison. I was editor-in-chief of Mind Tap, a newsletter created through the group Men of Vision think tank. This was in 2021. Who would have thought that in 2023, I would be transferred to Centinela-III as the 2025 San Diego State University graduation class with a bachelor’s in communication, journalism, and media. SQN still touches me to this day. This time it happened through the journalism guild and professor at U.C. Berkeley’s investigative journalism, Lisa Armstrong.
Professor Armstrong spoke to my SDSU cohort for three hours straight, enlightening us on the perils and joys of journalism. I could not wait to tell you about it. Journalism has always been a “thing” to the incarcerated population. It has now been provided the light where each man can potentially see his own journalistic potential, thanks in large part to SQN. The magnitude and impact of SQN is far-reaching. When Professor Armstrong landed here, I knew it was going to be a great opportunity to learn from one of the best. I must say, she didn’t disappoint. One of the most valuable pieces of information she gave me was always to hear both sides of a story and always to check sources.
When asked why she became a journalist, her answer resonated with me: “There is something wrong with the world and I want people to know about it.” One of the things that tied us all to Professor Armstrong’s journalism portfolio is that she has a “dog in the fight” of the incarcerated person plight. This came across to us immediately, after hearing the professor speak. It was powerful and educational and we appreciated the time the professor took to join our journalism class along with our gracious professor from SDSU, Arthur Santana, who is pretty brilliant in his own right.
Thank you, SQN for continuously providing the type of material you do. And thank you for allowing us to have your Journalism Guild professor. For the day.
— Marlon Gray, Imperial, California
SQNews spreads joy
Dear SQNews,
Please send me a copy of the latest issue of your newspaper. We love it here!! I am an inmate at Nevada’s High Desert State Prison, and we cannot wait for each new copy. I used to get them regularly in 2023, but they stopped coming this year. It is an awesome representation of the state of prison life in the o.s. thank you
— Wayne Viera, High Desert State Prison Indian Springs, Nevada
Wasco resident finds SQNews informative
Dear SQNews,
My name is Willie and I am currently a resident at Wasco State Prison. I came across your newspaper and I enjoyed every story in it. There is a lot of good information about prison reform. I love to read the different ideas, projects, and hobbies the residents achieve. I am looking forward to hearing from you guys if God allows. Thank you and God bless the prison’s staff and San Quentin News journalists, editors, and staff.
— Willie Avila, Wasco State Prison Wasco, California
SQNews praised
Dear SQNews,
I love what you guys do. Please keep up the good work. You give those of us housed in locations like Fresno, hope that change is possible. Hang tough, guys.
— Justin Gladding, Fresno, California
Shout out from N.C.
Dear fellow journalists of SQN:
Greetings from North Carolina where we produce The Nash News, a quarterly magazine created, designed, and produced entirely by incarcerated men at Nash Correctional Institution.
I am a journalist and former editor of The Nash News, and I wanted to reach out and share some of our successes with you. We have recently become a primarily digital.
― Caddell Kivett, Nashville Correctional Institution, Maryland
