An audience of inmates and community volunteers gathered in San Quentin’s Catholic chapel the day after Christmas to hear more than two dozen inmates take the stage in Prison University Project’s 12th annual open mic.
The inmates performed acts including poetry, spoken word, songs and testimonies of transformation.
Inmate Syyen Hong’s spoken word performance, True Identity, focused on how he grew up without understanding his culture, “So, who am I?” he asked, after dealing with the trials and tribulations of life. “I am a student in a university,” he said, which brought a round of applause from the audience. Hong addressed racism and hatred in California prisons. However, he said that he learned that “We are all a part of the human race.” Hong empathized that he found his true identity when he found God.
Prisoner Ali Muhammed read a testimony, Prison Is, which described life behind bars.
“Prison is a place where you write letters and can’t find anything to say,” Muhammed said. “You have been forgotten. You are only remembered in past tense.” The somber tone of his testimony was met with a silence in the audience.
Inmate Danny Ho sang a gospel song, God’s Love, in Vietnamese with a translation displayed on a teleprompter. The song broke into rap then back to the gospel with the audience clapping and cheering the performance.
Frankie Smith read A Letter of Forgiveness to his children. It addresses who he’s become since being incarcerated. “I am willing to prove myself not only through my words, but through my actions,” Smith read to the audience.
Edito DeWeaver read Fowl Game, a satirical poem about how feeding the birds on the prison yard is against the rules. The audience related to the poem, which addresses why he feeds the birds and how he notices the social patterns of each species, his empathy for the birds’ continual struggle for survival. DeWeaver said that he notices that when there was an abundance of food, the “birds all get along well.”
Jason Jones read Pain that defined pain through empathy. It was a self-degradation performance that confessed the pain that he caused other people.
Prisoner Richard Lathan read Ascending to Heaven, which was written in honor of the children of Sandy Hook.
The Native Hawaiian Spiritual Group performed a dance, The Sweetest Gift, about re-birth, reconciliation, hope, peace and love.
Aaron “The Jeddii” Taylor performed, You Ain’t Ready Yet, lampooned inmate behavior and used audience interaction.
Six Inches off the Ground, an original contemporary pop tune, was performed by Robert Tyler on keyboard and sung by Richie Morris.
Michael Tyler read Where I’m From, which described small town-America, a place called Los Banos, Ca.
The acts touched on subjects such as: the power of language, self-discovery and self-awareness while struggling through life as an inmate; what life is like for a man who is the youngest of eight children and confessed that he could not read or write at age 42; true identity, hate, anger, sadness and life’s struggles; a tribute to struggling mothers; supporting educating women in Pakistan; what it looks like seeing the landscape from inside a prison; loved ones who died since incarceration; the killing of black youth today; understanding one’s purpose in life; and growing up in the suburbs.
“These guys are my tribe,” said PUP Program Associate Kara Orion, referring to the students/performers.
Executive Director Jody Lewen and Program Assistant Simon Woodard attended the event along with more than a dozen teachers and volunteers of PUP.
Inmate JulianGlenn Padgett was the event’s emcee.
