Over half a century has passed since voices from San Quentin were broadcast on a regular basis over the radio waves.
San Quentin returns to radio with the San Quentin Prison Report, a new program created by inmate Troy Williams and his crew (Curtis Carroll, Tommy “Shakur” Ross, Sha Wallace-Stepter, Brian Asey, Greg Eskridge, and Earlonne Woods). Williams also credits Larry Schnider, San Quentin TV Specialist, and volunteer Nigel Poor with helping to launch the radio project.
The idea for the radio show began when photographer Poor and Williams were working on a documentary titled Verbal Photography and they were interviewing people. After a while, Poor and Williams realized the images were not as important as the stories they were telling, and the San Quentin Prison Report was born.
The show will officially launch on the radio station KALW, 97.1 in September.
The San Quentin Prison Report has some big shoes to fi ll if it hopes to compare to the broadcasting excellence of the past. “San Quentin on the Air” was a radio program built around convict talent and broadcast from coast to coast by the mutual broadcasting network in the 1940’s.
According to San Quentin Established 1852: 150th Anniversary Commemorative Book by Turner, “The radio program lasted for five years and earned the highest Hooper ratings of any mutual show produced during that time.”
The San Quentin Prison Report will air as a segment on the radio show Crosscurrents, and will profile people from the prison community.
“A lot of people don’t understand who the people in prison really are, and we hope to provide the public with this insight,” says Williams.
Former warden of San Quentin Robert Ayers Jr. told Williams the public has a duty to know what is going on in their prisons, and Williams hopes the San Quentin Prison Report will help to make this possible.
A few segments have previously aired. San Quentin Prison Report interviewed Don Heller, the writer of the original death penalty bill in 1974 and now a proponent of Proposition 34 to abolish the death penalty.
Through interviews like this San Quentin Prison Report hopes to broaden the discussion between crime, punishment, and rehabilitation.
By interviewing prisoners, says Williams, “I want the public to see our struggles, and I also want fellow prisoners to see they are not alone and may share some of the same issues with someone else.”
Williams hopes people connect with each other and become inspired.
Besides interviews with prisoners and their advocates, Williams plans to interview victims of crimes. He wants the conversation to be complete and show all aspects of crime.
“If a listener wants to hear the truth about prison life, not the drama of shows like ‘Lock Up,’ they should tune in. If they’re interested in the fear then they need to go to Hollywood,” says Williams.
The radio show has given Williams a voice to address issues he sees in his community that he never imagined he could. Although his true passion is film, Williams thinks he has a future in radio and plans to pursue a combination of both fi lm and radio when he is released.
To hear podcast of the show visit www.sqpr.org
More information about Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll can be found at www.wallstreetfeel.com
