A prison chapel served as a theater on Christmas Eve when more than a dozen incarcerated college students took to the stage for an open mic. More than 150 guests were entertained by performances that included spoken word, original songs and testimonies of personal transformation.
Carlos “Juancito” Meza performed two spoken word pieces, Sorry Son and Hands Behind My Back.
Sorry Son, an apology for injustices his son suffered, shared the trials and tribulations of growing up Mexican-American. The testimony centered on Meza’s response to his son being pulled over by police while driving home from work and then being treated like a criminal.
Hands Behind My Back gave the audience a visceral and interpretative perception on how oppressive life can be as an incarcerated American.
Other performances, spoken word pieces and testimonies included themes centered on social issues and transformation.
Aaron Taylor and Cody Koppe performed two acoustic freestyle guitar pieces that had a rock and roll sound that the audience enjoyed.
James Vick’s testimony, Homeless in America, gave an account on what it’s like to spend nearly a year as a homeless man in the U.S. Vick described what it’s like to spend the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays on the streets.
Gerry “Cap” Johns performed a monologue, geared around the plight of Bigger Thomas of Richard Wrights’ Native Son.
Johns, a lawyer acting as Bigger Thomas’ lawyer, was joined by Anouthinh “Choy” Pangthong acting as the judge.
“A guilty verdict delivered upon him is a guilty judgment upon us all,” Johns said, referring to the charges against Bigger Thomas.
Jason Jones read a poem, Innocent Perceptions, that described what hope feels like “through innocent eyes.”
“Breaking up a family should itself be a crime,” Jones said. “A broken home meant bad construction, not a family that couldn’t function.”
Somdeng “Danny” Thongsy performed a spoken word piece, My Own Prison, telling the audience what it’s like to journey from innocent kid to hustler and from vagrant to a prisoner serving a life sentence.
“Tears of loneliness, fighting brokenness,” was a line that stood out in Thongsy’s piece.
Lemar Harrison’s rap, The Beauty in Pain, had the audiences’ heads bobbing to “If you want to see a rainbow, first you have to learn how to deal with the rain…’cause when the sun shines; you see the beauty in pain.”
Adnan Khan pitched a new cultural movement at San Quentin called Prison Renaissance.
Khan talked using education and art to change self-perception. He referenced other social movements with an artistic component such as the European Enlightenment and the 1920 Harlem Renaissance.
Gregory “White Eagle” Coates’ serene melody on a wood flute soothed the theater.
The scheduled actswere:
Jens Brazwell – Doin’ Time/Dream Within A Dream
Emile DeWeaver – Lies
K. Walters – Why I Like English 99A
J. Medvin “Killa” Clown – All Lives Matter
Upu Ama and Artistic Ensemble – Impact Gesture
Reggie Hola – Unspoken
Micheal “Yahyah” Cooke – Clothes Make the Man
Tommy Winfrey – Power and How I Found Mine
Ralph Calix – A Life Revealed
Joey Hopkins – Heartache in Hell
Kevin Valvardi – Three Poems
Timbuktu – Who Am I?
Mesro Coles-El – Public Service Announcement
Eusebio Gonzalez – I am
Richard Lathan – Broken, Ascending to Heaven
James Jenkins – All Things in Common
