My Time in Prison

I went to prison last week. In particular San Quentin Prison. My daughter Chelsea is a leader in a non-profit called ‘Alive Inside’ that helps the incarcerated with issues of grief, hope and loss. It was Mental Health Awareness week and her team and she played music out in the prison yard along with a number musicians from among the prisoners while hundreds listened or did their outdoor activities. It was a pretty astonishing and eye opening day for me. So many came up to me expressing their appreciation for Chelsea, her music and her ability to listen and help process their emotions when they are doing smaller, more intimate group activities.
It was something listening to an entire prison yard full of tough men sing an enthusiastic happy birthday to my daughter. No cameras were allowed but my sketchbook was so I spent time drawing what I saw.
Do I have to say how proud I am of her? Yes, I do. I am a very proud papa.

The Band in San Quentin Yard
Peer Support/Hearing Impaired
Chelsea Singing in San Quentin Yard 1
Chelsea Singing in San Quentin Yard 2

One interesting note about San Quentin. There is no Saint Quentin. What there was was an indigenous Coast Miwok warrior named Quentin who lived in that area. He was captured after a fight with the Mexican military in the 1820s and his people named the area after him. When American settlers came later they mistakenly assumed any named place in California had to be named after a saint, as so many were, and named the land San Quentin.

I also drew 3 more drawings during my trip, 2 in airports and one in a club, Vita Brevis, that Chelsea belongs to.