San Quentin News Cele By Kate Wolffe
Photos by Eddie Herena
In early February 2018, a motley group dressed in business casual or prison blues gathered at the San Quentin State Prison Protestant Chapel to celebrate a prison journalism milestone. It was a far cry from where the group usually met, in the dark, cramped media lab on the other side of the property. But the sun-drenched hall was more appropriate for the celebration in store. Decorations hung in blue and gold, the pews replaced with small tables. ‘Reserved’ placards awaited a widespread web of people connected to the newspaper—advisors, donors, volunteers—who filed in to commemorate San Quentin News’ 100th edition. The event began in a constant cycle of surprise, recognition, guests jumping up to offer warm greetings and handshakes, sitting down, and doing it all again, giving the evening the flavor of a strange family reunion. Once everyone had settled down, San Quentin News Editor-in-Chief and resident beanstalk Richard ‘Bonaru’ Rich ardson took the stage. He acknowledged Warden Ron Davis, and described a conversation the two had shared about parenting and the natural love that emerges for one’s child. From there Richardson segued into the brief story of what brought him to prison, a tale of a childhood bereft of love and of a criminal history that began when he was just 10
years old. “We couldn’t recognize our parents’ love growing up, so we looked for it in other places,” he said. San Quentin TV Staff Member Eric ‘Phil’ Phillips found Richardson’s story particularly moving. “Hearing that, that’s the story of a lot of us,” said Phillips, who has been in prison for over 20 years for second-degree murder. “Coming from that to being editor-in-chief? We never thought that we could be here; it shows that we can go anywhere.” After this heartfelt start, Associate Editor Kevin Sawyer regaled attendees with something of a family history – a tale of the successes and roadblocks the newspaper has encountered since the paper’s humble beginnings in the 1940s. The first iteration of a paper began almost a century ago, he explained, under the title Wall City News. Throughout the twentieth century, an active, if relatively unknown, body of American prison newspapers channeled the voices of incarcerated people to the outside, connected populations inside, and made those who held the keys uncomfortable. Wall City News was among them. The first newspaper at the prison began almost a century ago, he explained, under the title Wall City News. Throughout the twentieth century, an active, if relatively unknown, body of American prison newspapers channeled the voices of incarcerated people to the
Executive Editor Richard Richardson 10 WALL CITY SPRING 2019
outside, connected populations inside, and made those who held the keys uncomfortable. Wall City News was among them. It was shuttered in the mid-1930s. In 1940, San Quentin News was established. It was shuttered on more than one occasion due to strife with the prison administration, and then again in the mid1980s, after a number of courts ruled prisoner-run newspapers could not be censored by prison administrators. After 20 years of dormancy, in April 2008, the paper was revived in its current form, as San Quentin News, when then-warden Robert Ayers Jr. decided inmates ought to have a reliable source of true and pertinent information, rather than just grapevine-generated gossip. The paper now reports on prison affairs and policy changes that have the potential to affect incarcerated readers far beyond San Quentin’s walls. In 2011, then Editor‑ in-Chief Arnulfo Garcia and his staff decided to expand to all California state prisons. Now the paper circulates 30,000 printed copies each month. These papers reach all 36 prisons in California, as well as individuals in 46 other states and hundreds of outside donors. Although it receives advice and volunteer contributions, San Quentin News is the only completely inmate-run newspaper in the world. It has experienced many struggles to get to where it is. In the last decade alone, the paper has survived despite a print shop shut down, limited funding, a 45-day suspension, and tight deadlines to
Former Warden Robert Ayers and Carmeilta G. Vargas
