OCCUPY SAN QUENTIN 02/20/12

Her story: Occupy San Quentin 

  by Wanda Sabir

When the beautiful sister smiled shyly at me as I, as unobtrusively as possible, took her photo while she waited to speak at Occupy San Quentin, I wasn’t prepared for what she shared, that is, her experience in solitary confinement which still affects her today, years since her release. Kelly shared how she was uncomfortable in large assemblies with strangers. What it must have taken for her to get to the prison that afternoon, the walk from the road where heavily armed police and prison guards stood or sat in patrol cars and on motorcycles blocking all highway entrances! Yes, it was literally overkill, with a helicopter keeping us under scrutiny as the prison grounds beyond the gate where at the eastern entrance, green clad guards filmed us from the rooftops where they stood or sat silently for the entire rally.

What personal strength and spirit did our sister reach for so that she could show up, make her presentation and then walk the gauntlet back to her car and head home?

At Occupy San Quentin Feb. 20, Jabari Shaw holds a poster of George Jackson labeled “Human.” CDCR, on the contrary, labels George Jackson superhuman, his very name enough to persuade then-Gov. Schwarzenegger to execute – murder – Tookie Williams for dedicating one of his books to George and enough, when found in a prisoner’s cell, to send that prisoner to solitary for decades. – Photo: Wanda Sabir

When the rally ended, San Rafael police followed us to the Richmond Bridge. I don’t know if it was Jabari Shaw’s orange CDCR jumpsuit that kept them wondering – Is he an escapee, one of ours? – or if it was the sheer magnitude of fearlessness represented by women like this former prisoner who would not let her traumatic experience silence her.