Racism, Discrimination, Diversity & America (Part 3) - My Time At A Maximum Security Prison

 "It’s crazy man…you literally woke up early this morning and drove to prison.”

                                      – Huggy Bear, San Quentin State Prison inmate

 

            This quote was said to me by Huggy Bear, a jokester and one of the inmates at San Quentin, who was flabbergasted that I decided to wake up early on a Saturday morning to travel to California’s maximum-security prison to spend time with him and some of his inmates. Huggy could not stop giggling and shaking his head saying, “you woke up early to drive to prison!” There are times when I shake my head in disbelief too and think…what am I doing here? But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Playing Basketball at San Quentin State Prison

            It was a cool Saturday summer morning and I woke up, got dressed and headed out the door to go play basketball with some friends from Seminary, except this was not your normal basketball game. I was heading to San Quentin State Prison to play basketball with some of the inmates. I am not going to lie, I was nervous, like the nervousness you feel when you do something that you don’t want your parents to find out about. That kind of nervous. I was going to prison? Willingly going to prison?

            I hop in the car with my friends and we drive about 10 minutes away from our dormitories to the parking lot at San Quentin State Prison. For those who don’t know, San Quentin is California’s maximum-security state prison where over 700 men are on death row. 

            San Quentin has been featured in many documentaries, television shows, radio bits, books and podcasts, and is well-known for housing some of the worst criminals in California and the nation. 

            Moreover, San Quentin has gained some publicity and notoriety because a few artists and musicians have visited San Quentin and performed for the inmates, such as Lecrae, Carlos Santana, Metallica and most famously, Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash actually recorded a live album at San Quentin in 1969 titled San Quentin. You can listen to that album on Spotify and a few other streaming apps.

            We park our cars and walked up a hill to the front gate. The gate is guarded by a couple of security guards who ask for our IDs, they scan them and do a quick check before we are sent on our way into the prison. Little did I know that this is the first of three checkpoints that I need to go through in order to enter the prison facilities.

            The walk from the front gate to the second security check is about a quarter of a mile and the view to my left is of the San Francisco Bay, pristine Marin County housing, the Richmond Bridge, and you can see the city of Oakland off to the distance. By the time we are walking into the prison, the sun is starting to rise and it is a clear day. On my right, the view consists of several old ranch style army barracks that are beige with brown trim used by San Quentin employees for a multitude of uses. It is nothing special to look at. 

            After we arrive at the second gate, we are greeted by another security guard who takes us through another round of security checks. We have to sign in, get stamps our hands (like the stamp you need to reenter a sporting event or nightclub), get a visitor’s badge and then he has us walk through a security gate as we hold our ID’s over our head for cameras and other security guards to see. 

            On an interesting side note, I have been going to San Quentin off and on since 2006 and this same security guard (D, this is his first name shortened) is there all the time at the second gate. D always jokes that he’s ready to play if we need him to. For the record, we need him. I have probably played 30 basketball games at San Quentin over the years and our record while I am there is 1-29. I proudly hold on to that one victory like I won an NBA Championship.

            After walking through the second gate (while we hold our ID’s over our head), we are waiting in a holding area for another security guard on the other side of a bulletproof glass window to approve of us, so we can walk through security gate number 3 to enter the prison courtyard. 

            We get approval, walk through the gate and the scene is not what I expected. To my right is the chapel building with a fountain out front and beautiful flowers and to my left is the adjustment center for those in solitary confinement who are on death row. In front of us, not too far is a building that is a hospital for the inmates…there is no basketball court in sight.

            A few inmates yell “hello” to us and we begin to walk further onto the prison grounds and we make a right down a road around the hospital building and we are descending into an outdoor open area with security guards in towers, barbed wire on the prison walls, and Mount Tamalpais off to the distance in front of you. In fact, your eye catches Mount Tamalpais as you round the corner before you notice anything else around you. We’re about to enter the Lower Yard of the prison, where the inmates on good terms hang out, work out, and get their outdoor time.

            The Lower Yard consists of a basketball court (which the Golden State Warriors fixed up in 2018), a baseball diamond (which the San Francisco Giants donated money to make), a tennis court, a dirt track around the Lower Yard, and an open field which I have also played “flag” football on. The “flag” is in quotations because the hardest hit I ever took was playing “flag” football with the inmates.

            One of the inmates saw us from a distance and yelled, “LOOK…they here!” That still makes me laugh to this day because I remember feeling watched like the new kid at school when his/her name is called for the first time.

            The scene in the Lower Yard is not eye opening. There is a tall tower that overlooks the yard occupied by security with AK-47’s scanning the yard along with a security hut on the ground level to break up any fights. The ground level hut also houses the sports equipment for the inmates to use if they’d like.

            There are a couple of hundred men in the Lower Yard either playing cards or sports and the yard segregated by choice. Rival gangs do not mix and different ethnicities do not mix, unless they’re playing sports together.

            When we finish walking to the Lower Yard, we are greeted by the inmates who will play basketball with us and the referees (also inmates). They are friendly, talkative, give everyone hugs, and they make sure you know they’re appreciative that you came out to hang with them.

            I knew we were going to be playing some team basketball, but I did not think the games would be that competitive, but I quickly learned this was not the case. The inmates take this seriously. The game is full court for 48 minutes with referees (other inmates) and it is meant to mimic the professional leagues (shot clock, game clock, a scoreboard, and record of fouls).

            The inmates call themselves the Warriors and they have matching Golden State Warriors practice jerseys that were provided to the inmates by the Golden State Warriors themselves. The San Quentin Warriors hold team practices twice a week and they make it their mission to beat your team…hence our terrible record.

            Once the basketball game started all nervousness went away and I forgot I was playing competitive basketball in a maximum-security prison. My very first game, I hit a shot over one of the inmates and started to trash talk and quickly realized that you don’t trash talk the players at San Quentin!

            I decided to go and play basketball with the inmates because I loved playing the game and enjoy the exercise, but I had no idea that the basketball games would become a vehicle that would allow me the opportunity to build bridges with inmates. The more games I played (and the better I play on the court), the more opportunities it provided for me to get to know some of the inmates and learn from some of them. I was nervous before going my first time, but now I look forward to going, even if it means our team losses the game. It’s not about winning, but it is about the relationships and mutual encouragement we show each other.

 

My Bias Towards Inmates

            Proximity breeds empathy and distance breeds suspicion.

                                                             – Dr. Eric Mason

           

            I am not going to lie, before going into the prison I had a strong bias towards the inmates that was not favorable. I felt inmates were in prison for a reason (justified at that!) and I couldn’t understand why some continued to get into trouble after their first stay in prison. After interacting with various inmates over the years, I started to develop empathy for them instead of judging them.

            As a disclaimer, the inmates that I interact with are all on good terms with the prison, which means they can participate in athletic games with civilians and almost all are seeking to get parole. I am not interacting with the worst of the worst, but their crimes can be serious and most understand (now) the seriousness of their actions.

            Inmates are reluctant to open up in environments where they don’t feel safe, especially to people they deem suspicious. Since I am a regular and have brought several people into the prison, a large majority of the inmates consider me a safe person to talk with. I’ve learned a lot about prison dynamics (such as housing dynamics, food, work, and the racial tensions), I have heard personal life experiences, and for some, the reason they ended up in San Quentin. Here are three things I learned from my conversations:

 

1.     Some of the inmates have sentences of 25 years to life because of California’s Three Strikes Law. Basically, let’s say a person robs a bank and spends some time in jail, receives parole and gets out. That is considered one strike against them. Then, while the inmate is out, he gets pulled over for speeding (that’s considered strike number 2). Finally, the same inmate gets caught stealing some food at a grocery store (strike 3). Under the three strikes law this means they automatically will spend 25 years to life in prison for having three strikes against them. A fair amount of men I interact with have had this happen to them and are in prison for 25 years or more because of this.

 

2.     Racial tensions are high within the prison and most inmates’ relationships are within their own ethnic groups except for those who play sports (which can be a unifier) or have a similar hobby as another inmate. In the Lower Yard, you will see whites in one area, blacks in another, Latinos (Latinx) are in a different area, and Asians in a completely different area and the list goes on…including a Native American burial zone. Majority of the inmates are Black or Latinx though. If racial tensions are high outside of the prison (like in our current American climate), this is usually reflected inside the prison. Some people stay connected to the outside world and act in retaliation to the events they hear happen on the outside. The men I interact with have to navigate their way around these situations to stay on track for parole.

 

3.     There’s a lot of wasted potential at the prison because most of the inmates are smart, but have never been told they are smart nor have they been guided to pursue a lifestyle outside of gang activity. I have always wondered who could have connected with them before they joined a gang; whether that’s through sports, a church, another activity or program or family to family relationships. I see this as a constant struggle for a lot of the inmates as they wrestle with their own self-worth and value. They know how they are viewed and the mental battle to think of themselves otherwise is very real.

 

Viewing Inmates as Equals

            The more I visited the prison, the more I realized that these men are not very different than me. They have relationship issues, family issues, they have fears and anxieties, and they’re passionate about their sports teams. The more I interacted with them, the more I was reminded of their humanity and their worth/value as part of humanity.

            This realization brings to mind a passage in the Bible found in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians was written by Paul (whom I have referenced in the last two blog posts) for the purpose of reminding humanity that Jesus reconciles all creation to Himself (restores a right relationship with Him to those who place their trust in what Jesus did on the Cross) AND that Jesus unites people from all nations to Himself (makes people who are far from God, united as one in God through Himself). In verses 8 & 9 of chapter 2 Paul writes, “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” (ESV).

            When I read these verses, I am reminded that I am a Christian not because I am a good person who is deserving, but because God is good and gracious towards me, His creation. His love for me fuels me to love others as He has loved me and to extend grace when others would cast judgment.

            Once I was able to grasp this biblical truth, it was not hard to learn how to love the inmates as Jesus loves me. I was being judgmental and boastful instead of being mercy filled and humble.

            I believe when it comes to race conversations we need to operate in the same way, with mercy and humility. I don’t mean one race, but all races come to the table with humility. We are quick to judge when topics make us uncomfortable, or because perspectives are different with the same facts, or when we haven’t spent the time to reflect upon our conversations with one another.

           We can not approach these critical opportunities to learn from other people and cultures to simply “fix them” and to get back to “our normal.” It is imperative to learn from each other and to make a better future together with each other, rather than without each other.

 

Two Keys to Making a Better Future Together

 

1.     Live with mercy. Be available and interact with humility. I believe barriers come down in racial relationships when both people develop empathy for the other, which takes time. I am not suggesting quick solutions, but solutions that are the result of mutual effort. It has to be both sides showing empathy for a relationship to be built, but someone has to take the first step and extend empathy, which can be the hardest step to take. When you have your mind made up about someone it can be hard to shake that bias, but making a difference may mean laying aside your judgment. This means we need to be slow to become angry and slow to judge.

 

2.     Be consistent. It is hard to care for or about someone you only know from a distance. The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” comes to mind when I think about consistency. If we aren’t consistent with people, we will forget and move on to the next thing. I know many of us want to be difference makers, but if we are not consistently engaging one another, then we lose our effectiveness. Consistency builds rapport and lays the ground work for relationships, building bridges, and seeking justice. For example, playing basketball with the inmates happens once per month for 8 months out of the year. I have some friends who started going once a month who now go into the prison once a week if not more. They went consistently and as they built relationships, the need for more visits ensued, but they started small and are now making a larger impact.

 

Why Do I Share This?

 

After I wrote my last post, which talked about seeking to understand and building bridges, I realized that I had an experience of my own where I had to do some internal work to make an external impact, which I feel is relevant to today’s climate on race.

            I am going to make a pretty strong statement (and you may not agree with me), but I believe all of us have strong biases that cause us to dehumanize people who are different than us. We hear a perspective shared through conversation and we may want to immediately write the person (and all of the people who think like them) off. The popular phrase on social media is to “cancel” people; however, cancelling people is what hinders us from seeing the value of each other.

After a significant investment of time having in person conversations, I was able to see their perspective so much so that I now believe that every inmate has value and has a story that is greater than what we can see on the surface. It could be very easy for me to visit the prison, play basketball, have surface level conversations and feel good about myself because I performed what I perceive to be a good deed. But what a missed opportunity, more is required to make a difference.

            Reflecting upon my times at San Quentin has reminded me that there was a group of people with different life experiences than mine to whom I needed to show mercy. My bias was hindering me from showing them empathy and it wasn’t until I realized that I needed to grow was I able to learn their stories and see their worth. 

            May we all do the same as we discuss race and what a better America could look like.

 

Other Helpful Resources

            1. Watch the documentary Q Ball on Netflix. Kevin Durant is the Executive Producer and this documentary chronicles all of the players I play basketball with at San Quentin. You can see for yourself the environment and people that I play versus when I go in to the prison once a month.

 

            2. Watch the film Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson. It is streaming for free the month of June 2020. The film is based off of the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

 

            3. This video is a good summary of African American history in America and highlights some of the big issues that have contributed to the conversation on race in America.

 

            4. Here is an article on the Golden State Warriors visiting San Quentin State Prison and one about my team playing the San Quentin Warriors.

            5. Prison Initiatives and Ministries: Equal Justice Initiative & Prison Fellowship