At an event sponsored by Mourning Our Losses, the Veterans Group of San Quentin honored veteran, Ernest Vick, while San Quentin resident and trumpeter Brian Conroy played a patriotic song, paying tribute to a fallen comrade.
In a respectful manner, four incarcerated veterans gently folded a United States flag in a traditional triangle and then carefully handed the flag to the lead honor guard.
A flag was placed next to sketched portraits of Vick and all the lives that were honored at this event. The veterans group stood guard in 15-minute increments, each member taking turns on guard post.
“Toward the end of his [Vick’s] life, he seemed to have changed since the last time I talked to him. He then went out for back surgery, and the next morning he passed away,” said San Quentin resident John Kruger, who honored his friend.
Mourning Our Losses gave the San Quentin community a place to heal in the wake of all the residents who passed away in the previous year.
The event was held in SQ’s Catholic chapel, and residents Arthur Jackson and Michael Shukry hosted the event.
“Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming,” said co-host Jackson. “The purpose of this event is to teach people how to mourn by giving them a place to express their grief.”
According Jackson, friends and mentors lost their lives on a journey of freedom; he wanted everyone to lift each other up during this occasion.
MOL was established in 2022 immediately after the Covid pandemic. This was the fourth annual celebration of life.
Co-host Shukry read the names of 13 residents who had lost their lives. He told attendees about the loss of Bernard Moss, a friend and former self-help facilitator whom he held dear.
Shukry added that Moss was well liked at San Quentin and he lit up the prison yard with his big smile. Moss was a resident at San Quentin who paroled in 2016 and passed away in June 2024.
San Quentin’s Catholic chaplain, Father George Williams, said that this event is a reminder that people among us are with us. He thanked MOL for putting on this event, saying, “This is an act of love.”
The chaplain led attendees in prayer. “From one refuge to the next, you [God] have been with us. Those who trust in God shall abide with truth,” Williams said.
The Greater Good house band played a spiritual song that violinist John Zeretzke said came from a small village in Armenia. “We combined the song with a Jewish passage from the Torah, a prayer of song and love,” he said.
Idalio Villagran gave a tribute to his friend Felipe Portillo. He described how their friendship began out of the love of making burritos, and then together they started a self-help group.
“Whenever I had doubt, he [Portillo] was the engine that kept me going. I am going to remember that big smile. Felipe was a friend to everybody,” Villagran said.
He added that Portillo told him he would not make it out of prison alive. Portillo died on December 26, 2024.
Next, the Muslim Imam Muhammad Fasih honored beloved bassist Leonard “Funky Lynn” Walker. The Imam said that whenever you were in the presence of Walker “you could feel his soul.”
“We are all passing away since the day we were born,” Fasih said. “If the deceased were here today, they would say ‘Don’t hold on to grudges’ and ‘Do the one special thing you always wanted to do.”
San Quentin resident Samuel L. Jackson performed “Momma,” an original song he wrote. “I was in prison when my momma died,” Jackson sang.
La Banda Esperanza [The Band of Hope] graced the attendees with two spiritual Christian songs in Spanish, titled “Hallelujah” and “Jesus Christo.”
The Unico Elemento [One Element] band gave the crowd a performance to remember. People bobbed their heads to the sounds of an accordion, guitar, drums, and a solo rap.
Artistic Ensemble, a group of five San Quentin residents, honored the lives of family and friends with spoken words from West Indian Greanadi culture that symbolized liberation, and Native American traditions.
“I love you from the day you gave birth to me. So many things I wanted to say, now she’s gone,” said Hamisi Spears, a member of Artistic Ensemble.
Shukry gave a special thanks to the painters and sketch artists: Robert Kuikahi, Erick Maciel, Robert Ortiz, and designer Chris Ciabattoni.
Kuikahi gave a shout out to West Block Correctional Officer MacDonald for getting the photos of the deceased so the artists could pay their respects through art.
“I appreciate Mourning Our Losses for allowing me to be a part this event. It’s why I want to give back to our community,” Kuikahi said. “I have drawn and painted over 400 small art projects and portraits.”
Throughout the event attendees paid their respects by placing Post-It notes on the sketched portraits designed by the artists.
Some read: “Finally free, Never forgotten”; Thank you for all the love”; “May Allah (God) grant you paradise”; “Much love and respect, you are honored in this world”; and “Descansa En Paz [Rest in Peace].”
