Incarcerated Men Write the Stories of Wall City

[brooklynite]

Next City

To tell the story of Wall City — one of the few magazines in the country written, edited, photographed and produced by incarcerated journalists — you must begin with Arnulfo T. Garcia.

Some facts, to start. Garcia was born July 27th, 1952. He died at 65, on September 23rd, 2017, just two months and two days after earning his way out of a life sentence in prison.

The rest of his life story is complex. He battled addiction. He found solace on a farm in Mexico with his partner and their baby daughter. His crimes caught up to him and brought him back to the United States, and ultimately to San Quentin State Prison. His 65-year-to-life prison sentence was recalled in 2017, after serving 16 years. Somewhere in between, he earned the title jefe (chief), overseeing the prison’s newsroom.

To call Garcia simply jefe sells him short. Many hail him as a visionary — the man who, while incarcerated, built the San Quentin News into an essential voice covering criminal justice and mass incarceration, written entirely by those who live it. His death leaves a massive, aching hole and countless unfulfilled dreams.

[ismnotwasm]

1. K&R

[wcast]

2. Thank you for the link

Very interesting reading. Of course this song popped into my head.

[link:https://m.

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