Bridging the gap between young and old prisoners was the topic of a recent San Quentin conference.
The three-day Generation Gap Youth Conference encouraged an atmosphere of straight talk, respect and healing.
“This forum was a good thing. It was able to open up a much-needed dialogue between the older and younger gentlemen,” said Bea Barnett, president of the Wings of Prison Ministries. “With these types of forums, you have to communicate with love and don’t hold nothing in.”
The town hall-like meeting was an opportunity to express their issues with each other face-to-face. Incarcerated elder Anthony Waldrip mediated between diverse groups of inmates from different backgrounds, races and religions.
“Everybody who was there, God chose to be there,” said Waldrip. “What we don’t want to do is make this a one-time event. While we have the interest of the youngsters and older guys, what God is doing is making better men to make better communities.”
Fourteen Southern California and Bay Area pastors witnessed the three-day event attended by about 200 prisoners, mostly older men.
Maurice Gibson, 23, highlighted the second day with blunt honesty. It was disturbing for the pastors and older generation to hear him speak about how he is still fascinated with the fast life: money, women, cars and expensive hotels. But all the men connected with him, bridging the gaps. Gibson expressed that even though he was struggling with those issues, the older guys should not turn away from the youngsters or look down or talk down to them.
“We want to change and we want to be given a chance,” said Gibson. “We do appreciate the OGs for hearing our thoughts.”
Anthony “Tariq” Faulk added, “As elders in this prison community, we have to practice active listening and not over-criticize the youngsters. We have to establish trust and credibility first, even though we won’t agree with everything they say or do.”
Addressing both sides was Pastor Marvin Watkins of Citizens of Zion Baptist in Compton. “Life is about choices; to blame others for our circumstances or misfortunes is not the answer. We are dealing with all kind of divisions: gangs and racial tensions. But if you really want to help, you have to expose yourself to these forums.”
Ferrari Moody, representing the youth, added, “A lot of us are dealing with mothers with crack addictions and absentee fathers. The older guys have to understand that and make themselves available to care about the youngsters. We need to see what real love looks like and how to be a man. That is how we are going to break the cycle.”
Joshua Hudson, from Victory Outreach in Santa Rosa, shared how his church members deal with their generation gap: “Most of our older pastors came up in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s dealing with different values. They do value new ideas: heart, loyalty and traditions.
“The next generation wants to be creative and make something happen. The solution is: the younger people have to humble themselves — to learn from the elders about heart and traditions. Then we can learn from you. It takes humility for unity.”
The Wings of Love director, Marion Barnes, put together the panel of pastors for the Jan. 15-17 conference. She concluded: “This forum is about having a smooth transition from generation to generation with communication, respect and honor. These youngsters have to be taken to school, so they can connect with their children who are the next generation.”
–Steve Harris contributed to this article
