San Quentin's Day of Peace
At night you could hear the scraping of men sharpening their shanks in preparation. During the day, they wore baggy clothes with extra layers underneath to help protect against those newly-sharpened shanks. Tension between a set of Black prisoners and a set of Mexican American prisoners threatened to set San Quentin State Prison alight with violence. Under the supervision of the California Department of Corrections (and rehabilitation?), the prison was savagely Balkanized along racial lines, and the conflict at hand promised to drag all players, prisoner and administrator alike, into the fray. Everybody knew the routine, chose their side, and armed themselves for the moment when the war popped off.
But even in these dire times, there were still choices to be made. Jerry Elster had been locked up long enough know the cycles of retaliation well, and he had come to the conclusion that true power was the ability to author your own life. As a lifer and former gang leader, Jerry had the respect of various power-brokers among the prisoners. Trained in restorative justice, Jerry had the tools to navigate the conflict non-violently. So, against the odds, Jerry made the choice to interrupt business as usual at San Quentin. To do so, he started to organize a day of peace. Lasting truces were fragile and seemed to reinforce the inevitability of violence when they collapsed. But if the men could spend one day together on the yard without problems, then nobody could deny that peace was possible. Jerry knew that peace was infectious--once folks tasted it, they would want more, and that could change the whole dynamic.
Organizing the Day of Peace took a full year. Jerry maneuvered through gang hierarchies and state bureaucracies that rivaled each other in their arbitrary exercises of power. A few courageous administrators risked their careers by signing off on the event, and the inmate steering committee swelled as gang leaders who reluctantly agreed to participate made sure that they had some of their soldiers at the organizing table. The group secured outside funding, found a band to play some tunes, and hired a food truck to cater.
2,000 men of all races, creeds, and affiliations filled San Quentin’s main yard. Across gang and color lines, prisoners wore white t-shirts as a sign of peace as they enjoyed an afternoon of music, poetry, and speeches. The administration had put everyone on notice--any incidents or even false alarms and everything gets shut down. Armed guards stalked the gun towers as a reminder. But they never had occasion to deliver on those promises because the Day of Peace went off without a hitch. In the midst of the successful event, a young brother turned to Jerry and asked the question on the minds of many in the yard, “G, is this real?”
From simmering gang war to a powerful show of solidarity in the belly of the beast, Jerry and the other men at San Quentin made real what so many conspire to make impossible: peace, here and now.
Day of Peace Related Resources
Perspectives on the Day of Peace
San Francisco public radio station KALW put together a nice audio compilation of a recent Day of Peace at San Quentin that gives you an idea of the vibe on the yard during the event.
Day of Peace lead organizer Jerry Elster describes his path to prison and how he came to help organize the first Day of Peace in this AFSC article.
Teacher’s Guide to Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
Just Mercy is an insightful look at the American (In)Justice System through the eyes of the young lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative. This teacher’s guide provides Common Core-aligned chapter summaries, reflection questions, and class activities.
Ear Hustle Podcast.
Ear Hustle is an awesome podcast created at San Quentin State Prison that “brings you the stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it.” Co-host Earlonne Woods is currently incarcerated at San Quentin and adeptly guides listeners through a range of aspects of prison life from getting a fresh haircut to coping with solitary confinement. Ear Hustle shines a light on life behind San Quentin’s walls, and in the process showcases the full humanity of the men caged there.
Organizations Fighting the Good Fight.
Below are several organizations doing great work in California to advocate for the rights and dignity of prisoners, and for the abolition of mass incarceration:
American Friends Service Committee California Healing Justice Initiative This Quaker organization has been advocating for prison reform for decades. The Healing Justice Initiative out of AFSC’s Bay Area office is led by longtime prisoner advocate Laura Magnani, and works to reduce reliance on incarceration and other punitive approaches and replace them with restorative/healing practices. Toward that end, the Healing Justice Initiative concentrates on four areas: mass incarceration, long term isolation, the death penalty, and the promotion of healing alternatives.
All of Us or None All of Us or None is a grassroots civil and human rights organization fighting for the rights of formerly- and currently- incarcerated people and their families. The goal of All of Us or None is to strengthen the voices of people most affected by mass incarceration and the growth of the prison-industrial complex. Organizing areas include advocating for voting rights for formerly incarcerated people, “Ban the box” initiatives to address discrimination against people with arrest or conviction records, and opposing gang injunctions that criminalize young people of color.
Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) CURB is a statewide coalition of 70 grassroots organizations working to reduce the number of people in prisons and jails, the number of prisons and jails in the state, and shift state and local spending from corrections and policing to human services.
Prison University Project The mission of the Prison University Project is to provide excellent higher education to people at San Quentin State Prison; to support increased access to higher education for incarcerated people; and to stimulate public awareness about higher education access and criminal justice.