The San Quentin Rehabilitation Center held its second annual victims awareness event on the Lower Yard. Residents, community members, administration, and victim rights organizations gathered to discuss the effect of crime on lives.
Resident Sammie Nichols said the event gave him the opportunity to hear from the voices of survivors and to understand the harm he caused in his community. He said leaving temptation represented a form of transformation for him.
“Most of the people in my community end up dead or in prison, yet those we victimize are left to pick up the pieces as if nothing happened,” he said.
One of many community members in attendance, Ronan Ross, a staffer at the San Francisco district attorney’s office, reminded the population of the importance of accountability. “If you spill the milk, it is your job to clean it up,” he noted.
Ross also discussed the involvement of his office in achieving transformation and fairness to improve public safety in the community. Ross said having seen and heard from the individuals who have put in the self-transformational work has impressed him.
Resident Robert Dunhan said he found the event impactful. He said he appreciated the good music and fellowship, which he called part of the healing process. Californians for Safety and Justice Executive Director Tinisch Hollins talked about her experience coming into San Quentin 20 years ago while acknowledging her reason having attended this late May event.
“I’m not here to shame you, I am here because I understand to hold people accountable, you have to be recognized as a human,” said Hollis.
Before she presented the survivors who visited San Quentin, she asked all the residents in the crowd to raise their hands and point to the sky, repeating after her, “Healing first,” adding, “Today I am here as a mother and a survivor. Hurt happens on a cycle and I really, truly believe that you have to be seen as human before you can be accountable,” she said.
For Jay Kim, a resident, the event demonstrated a way for residents to bring to the forefront survivors and victims. “Victims Awareness to me is acknowledging and recognizing that the victims were harmed,” Kim said.
Participants silently circled the Lower Yard’s baseball field to show solidarity for survivors and victims. Staff members and guests carried placards with messages in various languages made by residents, representing unity and togetherness, all for the same cause: To heal, not harm.
Resident Eric Allen, incarcerated for 15 years, spoke after hearing from survivors. This encouraged him to tell his story. “No one deserves to go through what my victim and my victim’s family has had to,” said Allen.
The Imam Mohammed Fasih opened with words of encouragement, hope, kindness, and truth. The incarcerated band “The Greater Good” entertained attendees with a variety of worldly songs. Harvey Brooks of the VGSQ veterans group added to the ensemble by playing his harmonica with the band.
Resident and editor-in-chief of San Quentin News, Marcus Henderson emceed the event and talked about the reason the event takes place and why it̕ s important for residents of San Quentin, “for us to recognize the ripple effects of our crimes and to acknowledge our victimhood, traumas, and ways to heal,” he said.
Henderson introduced Mick Gardner, the co-founder of No More Tears, a San Quentin program that focuses on areas such as victim impact. Gardner talked about the importance of recognizing harm done in communities and the ways in which the event translated to honoring survivors and victims.
“Everybody has been impacted by some form of violence that led to them committing the crime,” Gardner said.
Gardner invited residents to participate in the No More Tears program and talked about the most important part about the group’s curriculum.
“Our curriculum has been put together by the incarcerated people, for the incarcerated people,” he said. Gardner also discussed the support that awaited residents who would soon leave the system who might feel nervous about returning to the community.
“The support is not only here to help you overcome your life, but on the outside to support you all too,” he said.
—JamBri Johnson contributed to this story.
