SAN QUENTIN, Calif. — The individuals who spend their days and nights at San Quentin Rehabilitation Heart name the concrete ramp that connects the complicated campus’s entrance to the jail yard “the big hill.”
When the Warriors stroll down the large hill for his or her annual sport in opposition to inmates, it formally begins what many on the within think about their Tremendous Bowl.
“This day keeps me straight,” one incarcerated individual stated.
“It gives us hope, it humanizes us,” stated one other.
Dressed uniformly in denim, whites and blues, inmates lined as much as give their guests handshakes and fist-bumps. Some requested for autographs. The gamers — the San Quentin Warriors — warmed up on the court docket in anticipation of their massive sport in opposition to Golden State’s “Green Team.”
Everybody at San Quentin did horrible issues that value them their freedom. However contained in the jail yard humanity sprouts in every single place — on the court docket, on the dominos desk, at chess boards, up and down chin-up bars, and throughout the prisoner journalists proud to seize all of it.
“It’s given me a purpose,” stated Edwin E. Chavez, 48, who joined the paper in 2018 and has been incarcerated for the previous 26 years.
San Quentin Rehabilitation Heart doesn’t resemble the Hollywood model of a jail and even the previous model of itself — the one which housed Charles Manson and operated a gasoline chamber. The 2023 implementation of the California Mannequin, designed to reimagine jail life as reforms geared toward rehabilitating the incarcerated and lowering recidivism, has elevated efforts to reimagine jail life.
“It teaches people empathy,” editor-in-chief Marcus Henderson stated. “Journalism is telling someone else’s story. It translates to them becoming better people and better writers.”
For incarcerated journalists, researching supplies which are introduced in, considering critically, telling tales and interviewing individuals might be therapeutic.
On Henderson’s first day at San Quentin in 2014, the youth offender reunited with a former cell-mate, Rahsaan Thomas. Thomas, a producer and host of the Pulitzer-nominated “Ear Hustle” podcast, informed Henderson to cowl a baseball sport out within the yard between prisoners and guests. That by no means would’ve occurred within the amenities the place Henderson was incarcerated earlier than — previous prisons he’d been at have been a lot much less livable and would by no means permit outsiders.
“He told me, ‘Remember, you’re capturing history,’” Henderson stated of Thomas.
At Thomas’s instruction, Henderson interviewed the guests, which was a serious step in his rehabilitation course of.
“The interviews brought my humanity back,” Henderson stated. “I hadn’t talked to outside people in 15 years.”
Henderson has been editor-in-chief for the previous 5 years, after working up the ranks from the baseball beat. He coated the COVID-19 pandemic and now leads a employees of about 15.
Final Wednesday, the large occasion to cowl was Golden State’s tenth go to to the establishment. The custom started in 2012, after Kirk Lacob met Invoice Epling, the Silicon Valley govt who has organized tons of of video games between inmates and outsiders for years.
On the court docket, the Golden State “Green Team” dominated, taking an all-time 6-4 sequence lead. Lacob, former All-Star Jerry Stackhouse and participant growth coach Noel Hightower paced Golden State as present Warriors watched from the sidelines. Moses Moody mingled with associates he’s made in his three journeys to the power. Brandin Podziemski signed autographs. Rookie Quentin Put up went 3-0 in chess and assistant coach Anthony Vereen performed dominos with inmates.
In a approach, the San Quentin Warriors being so totally outmatched was factor. As Lacob famous in his halftime speech, it was nice to not see a few the San Quentin Warriors’ greatest gamers from years previous; it meant they’re now free.
“We have different clothes and our activities and movements are restricted, but we’re just like anyone else,” DeWitt stated.
Chavez, the 48-year-old convict, grew up in El Salvador, the place the 12-year civil warfare prompted childhood trauma and displaced him to Los Angeles. His head and chest are plastered with tattoos, remnants of his gang-related previous that put him behind bars.
Chuck Hayes, the Warriors’ president of basketball operations, left, poses with inmates on Sept. 25, 2024 at San Quentin Rehabilitation Heart after Golden State’s inexperienced group defeated the San Quentin Warriors.
“People need to see that change is possible,” Chavez stated.
“What I’ve done at San Quentin, nobody can take away from me,” he added. “What we’re doing here is real. It’s not fake. It’s not a fairy tale.”
Henderson has quite a bit on his plate. As he mentioned his journey and expertise at San Quentin, Perry tapped at a keyboard behind him, line-editing an opinion column he’d written. In dialog, I gave him a chunk of homework on high of all of his tasks.
In case you received the possibility to interview Steph Curry, what would you ask him?
In a couple of moments, the primary query popped into Henderson’s thoughts. Even introduced with a hypothetical, Henderson zeroed in on rehabilitation.
“I’d ask him what he thinks about people getting second chances,” Henderson stated.
He’d most likely like Curry’s reply.
Curry talked about Aaron “Showtime” Taylor, who used to function the general public tackle announcer for the San Quentin Warriors video games whereas he was incarcerated. After getting launched, Taylor served as a visitor announcer at a Warriors sport and is now calling video games within the Venice Basketball League.
“I know he’s working jobs around Southern California and taking full advantage of his second chance,” Curry stated of Taylor. “That’s how the process should work. It’s really amazing to hear those types of stories of ways that people are making the most of their time. The fact that they have resources and programs in place for inmates to take advantage of, that’s what it should be, and it’s really cool to see.”
