A drum call to gather the population on San Quentin’s Lower Yard was made on Sept. 9 for the “Hope” themed opening of Mental Wellness Week. Incarcerated men answered the drum call of L. Williams, who works in SQ’s mental health department, visitor Serigne Sowto and sat down in a drum circle. They learned to play traditional West African rhythms like the Sente, Danza, and Dun Dun Ba Ba by hand on a congos bass. “Drumming is recreation- al therapy, and it helps the men in the community, so I thought it could help men in here … [Read more...] about Message of Hope for Mental Wellness Week at SQ
MENTAL RIGOR
RISK LITERACY: WOODBLOCK FORTUNA & SAPIENTIA
One of the most common stock images used by the San Quentin News website is that of a 17 century woodblock print of Fortuna and Sapientia - FATE & WISDOM. Critical thinking will not emerge on its own. Humans rarely abstract general principles from examples, therefore, we use STORY to help identify and formulate the common strategies and methods that underlie critical thinking. A significant aid to learning uses a narrative environment rich in retrieval cues, i.e., making use of associations. We call this narrative construct, story. … [Read more...] about RISK LITERACY: WOODBLOCK FORTUNA & SAPIENTIA