Men, Violence and Healing in San Quentin Prison
For the past 8 years, I’ve been active as a teacher with the Insight Prison Project (IPP). IPP is a wonderful non-profit organization that teaches violent men how to heal, regain their dignity, and become valuable members of society. IPP’s courses take place inside San Quentin Prison in Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco. The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote about my experience with the inmates at San Quentin.
Men, Violence and Healing Inside San Quentin Prison
Noise is loud and harsh at San Quentin Prison. Gates clang; buzzers attack the air and our ears. Antiquated heating systems complain with knocks and pings, and electric fans emit insistent dragon hums in the classrooms. There’s no quiet here. In order to have quiet in prison, one must learn to be quiet.
San Quentin is a caged man’s world. As a volunteer Peace Education teacher, I am a foreigner — because I can freely walk out past those immense gates, and also because I’m a woman. During my monthly visits, men crowd the yard as I walk through. Most are busy with their primary occupation: building muscle. They huff and puff into their push-ups for hours each day, biding their time until they are released. A precious few greet me with an eager desire to learn. It’s these men I come here to know, to teach and to learn from. It is this tiny percentage who want to find the long buried goodness within them, no matter what, no matter where they are or what they’ve done. read more
To watch a TED talk by IPP founder, Jacques Verduin, about IPP and its great work on behalf of creating a peaceful world, click here.
