Two men from disparate backgrounds run side-by-side, battling hate and prejudice under the watchful gaze of the prison guard towers
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A Journey of MILES By Steve Brooks // Photos by Phoeun You, SQNews
ost days, I begin my morning next to a baseball scoreboard, beneath a gray sky and a sun just poking out through the marine layer that blankets the San Francisco Bay. I stretch my calves and hamstrings and then simulate a few strides. “I’m glad 2020 is finally over,” I think to myself as I bounce up and down. I look out onto our volunteer coaches have been prevented from coming inside the Yard, which had once been full of medical tents the prison. during the summer of 2020’s nightmarish COVID-19 In the 1000 Mile Running Club, of which I’m a member, I run outbreak. alongside all races, colors, and creeds. Our total membership inI take a few deep breaths and expel them from my lungs. I see Darren, Mike and Tommy, some of my white teammates, already out on the track. I am happy to see them, remembering how they also survived their bouts with COVID-19. I smile, greet each of them and I set out alone on my five-mile run beneath the gun towers on the Lower Yard at San Quentin State Prison. Except for the masks being worn by guards and some incarcerated people who aren’t running or working out, it feels like things might be getting back to a sense of normal. But who knows. The uncertainty surrounding vaccines and new Covid variants still has everyone worried. We are still being ordered to practice social distancing and
cludes about 50 people ranging in age from 20 to 70. About half our members are White, many are Black, Latino, Asian or Middle Eastern. What brings our diverse group together is one common goal — to be better people. When you’re in prison there is a constant cloud hanging over you, reminding you that you committed a terrible crime. The system tries to convince you that you’re horrible, perhaps even unforgivable. The culture inside pressures you to keep to your own kind. I’m Black, which means I’m supposed to hang out near the basketball courts in the lower recreational yard. But in the 1000 Mile Running Club, we face no cloud, no judgment, only the exhilaraSUMMER 2022
WALL CITY
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