Tommy Winfrey read a selected chapter from a memoir, The Things I Peed On, and had a crowd of about 100 inmates grabbing their sides with laughter, as San Quentin’s Prison University Project held its annual open mic. Aaron Taylor, also known as The Show, had the audience yelling, “Aw hell no!” to his descriptions of silly inmate behavior. Angel Falcone’s poem, “If the Shoe Fits,” satirized inmate behavior, too.
Most of the prison-based humor would not be so easy for free people to understand. However, Lee Jaspar’s ribbing of the governor, by saying, “Jazz would make Jerry Brown more honest,” the audience’s applause showed he had made his point.
James Vick’s offering (part of a classroom assignment) brought tears to some of his listeners as he described a May 1979 photograph of his father’s funeral. Vick said at that time he was locked up in San Quentin. “Over half the photos in my album are of people who have died.”
Following Vick was Peter M. Bergne. Bergne’s poem about prison life, and the importance of staying positive was uplifting. Bergne is in his 70’s and still actively writing.
Kevin Tindall expressed his hopes for the future, as he talked about having his life sentence reduced to time served. Tindall was resentenced on December 19, 2013, due to changes in California’s Three-Strikes Law as a result of Proposition 36. In early January, Tindall was released from prison.
Other acts were:
Marlon Beason performing an original song, Everyday’s a Good Day, if You Don’t Believe Me, Miss One. “It’s a song about life,” Beason said.
Atik Pathan told a story about doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Antwan “Banks” Williams performed a song he said was about pain, survival, redemption and salvation.
Emile Deweaver read his poem, Attraction.
Richard Dino read two of his poems, God’s Little Angel and Pledge to a Friend.
Jeff Scott Long read Convict’s Son, True Face and The Gardener.
Micheal “YaYah” Cooke read his poems, Kiss, The Seed and In the Realm of Nowhere.
“JB,” soon to be paroled read, Understanding Life While Serving It. The sonnet laments JB’s 23 years spent in prison and how he was able to change his criminal thinking 10 years into his incarceration.
Adriel Ramirez sang a Gospel song while playing keyboard. The song, God Helped Me, So I Wouldn’t Let Go, was dedicated to the Patten teachers who motivated him into getting over his depression and moving forward with his life.
Richard Lathan read a poem dedicated to his mother. Lathan also read a poem rejected by the editors of the anthology, Open Line, that was written in response to the killings at Sandyhook.
John Neblett read a poem by Robert Graves that acknowledges the wisdom of a son honoring his mother.
Nelson “Noble” Butler gave a reading about some of the most tragic killings of 2013. Oscar Grant, Hadyis Pendelton, Sandyhook, and Trayvon Martin.
Malik Laramore read several of his poems, Stomach, In You, Diving Board, and Arrested.
Chris Gallo did a reading based on accountability and integrity.
Maverick’s poem highlighted accountability to community and having integrity. He also performed a song with Lee Jaspar and Antwan “Banks” Williams about transformation.
James Jenkins read from Tim Wise’s book, Color Blind. The section Jenkins read focused on how to uplift the poor without focusing on race. Jenkins said he learned that the best way to deal with inequality is to focus on safety-net policies and to look at class structure.
Larry White took the stage to give thanks to the teachers. He described the daily routine that inmates go through in seeking to be educated.
Antonio Genovese read two poems, Dreams of a Loney Man and When Forever is Over.
Raymond Bodine’s self-deprecation in Raymond Kisses Like a Fish sounded somewhat awkward and comical. But it played perfectly into his overall message that encouraged other inmates to look back on their lives to get an understanding about themselves.
Carlos Meza’s poem was about freedom and love.
A. Kevin Valvardi read two poems, The Seeds I Sow and For What It’s Worth.
All in all, it was a jam-packed and enjoyable Open Mic Night.
www.prisonuniversityproject.org