San Quentin News' Centennial Celebration 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’ Richardson 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

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 Editorin-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

work around lockdowns.

Still, it seems that with each headwind the paper faced, a tailwind—in the form of an advisor’s support or some formal recognition—had come along that kept the paper afloat. Many of those positive forces were present in the room at the 100th edition celebration, and they followed Sawyer’s account with nodding heads and knowing familiarity.

In 2014, San Quentin News won the James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, which some of the staff belong to. “We’ve become, in effect, a professional news organization,” Sawyer said.

The crowd applauded when Sawyer acknowledged the zero percent recidivism rate of men who have been involved in San Quentin News. And although the event focused on the paper’s 100th edition and its staff’s accomplishments, it was also an acknowledgment of the work that those on the outside—advisers, donors, volunteers, fellow prison media—had done to help the staff reach the milestone.

“I’m humble. I’m humble because every step that the San Quentin News makes is because of everybody in this room,” said Richardson. “Without you, there would be no us.”

Although the mood was celebratory, it was shot through with an undertone of grief. The community is still mourning the September 2017 death of Garcia, the galvanizing leader who was instrumental in re-starting the program. During the Q&A

portion of the event, many men spoke of Garcia and what he did to fold them into the newspaper and help them get on the right track. As Richardson took the stage after a touching tribute video, he said he wouldn’t talk about Garcia, for fear of becoming emotional. “But he would want us to move forward, and I will move forward with him with me,” he said.

In the spirit of Garcia’s forward thinking, Then Staff Writer Jesse Vasquez took to the stage to discuss upcoming projects: a forum with law enforcement, a newsletter to be distributed within the juvenile justice system, and a program to bring awareness to prison culture.

Others in attendance were looking forward as well. Assistant District Attorney Marisa Rodriguez emphasized the importance of connecting her office with incarcerated communities in California. And Richard Alden Feldon, Director of Programs for the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, which has donated $100,000 to the San Quentin News, so far, called the newspaper’s work “world changing.”

The energy was electric and hopeful as attendees reluctantly filtered out of the space. Standing in the sunlight, Former Warden Robert Ayers, who restarted the paper back in 2008, reflected on how far the paper has come. Although in his speech, he presented challenges to the newspaper to better itself, he said he believes it has come a long way.

“You need to do that, you need to push them,” he said. “A medium like the San Quentin News can be a conduit for change.”