On behalf of the Donovan residents, a huge THANK YOU!  Much gratitude in this month of thanksgiving. Many of you responded to the call for books.  One person ran a university-wide drive; several of you shipped books; still others offered what they had and lightened their bookcases in preparation for moves.

Thanks to you, we're bringing over 560 books to Donovan!!!!  That's enough to supply the libraries across ALL yards, including Administrative Segregation (AdSeg or the "hole")!  Books have become critical in this season of unprecedented confinement conditions in our prisons.  In our bimonthly correspondence with our inside team, several of them mention the rescue and escape their books provide AND, unknowing of the book drive, they speak of the decreasing supply of books of interest.

Self-help books.  Biology and physics books.  Spirituality and wellbeing.  Bibles and daily devotionals.  Meditation and cooking.  Spy novels and mysteries.  Self-discovery and breathing books.  Mystical and inner transformation.  History books.  Political analyses.  Non-fiction and fiction.  Law and legal books. You name it, it's in these boxes.

As we near this country's most significant holiday, we wish you joy, thanksgiving, health and yummy meals with family.  As some of you may choose to spend Thanksgiving with less family members this year, we offer you what we tell the guys every year:  They are with us at our Thanksgiving tables.  We take a moment to celebrate their lives, their choices, their brilliance and their transformations.  May you bring your distant family members and those dear in a similar manner that matters to you.

Mariette had a significant a-ha during her 3-month Peace Fellowship that transforms her view of leadership:  moving away from focusing on strictly fixing a problem to, instead, creating the brilliant future and taking the steps towards it.  It turns out this approach is called "Positive Peace" in peace studies and leads to more sustainable and more powerful results.  If you want to start listening after the intros, here's the shortcut.

Showing appreciation one sign at a time by Zacharia Arteaga

Bold emphasis added.  All other emphasis, smiley faces, added capitals, etc. are original.

Nearly a month ago, I started to get burdened with what the news was showing.  A lot of protests, which I’m not against; but the ones done ungraciously and aggressively burdened me.

Burdened, I realized something needed to be done.  Something needed to either direct the flow of our demand on changing the police and racism and all the hate issues… Or something needed to create a new flow…

I’d soon discover it would be the latter in which I would be ambitiously taking head on.

I fought and fought internally… I decided “I’m going to do it.”

With segregated building, we went out for yard.  During this pandemic, I’ve been facilitating on our night yards, a night of worship.  When we come out altogether and fellowship, sing and group-style reflect through questions.

I used this opportunity to inform everybody [of my idea] and ask for support.  Rather than a protest, let’s gather with handmade signs in front of the program office and the gate and tell all the staff, medical, psych’s, C.O.’s, etc. “Thank you…You are Worthy!...You are Loved!...Don’t give up on us.”

I was laughed at that night… It hurt…. I individually ask our TEDx family, relaying our charismatic intent of sowing seeds of change!  I was heavily doubted, laughed by a few and told by one how “unbiblical” I was being.

Only my cellie – who’s part of our TEDx family – helped me.  By even then I think he felt obligated.   I’m kidding, he was totally free.

I scheduled it to happen in two weeks…. Surprisingly, I got a lot of support, and necessary conversations from people I least expected.  I eventually gathered a strong ten people…. Counting my cellie and I, twelve.

I was burdened with doubt but, for some reason [his brilliance!], I just kept moving.  I kept declaring over my heart, making louder my belief than the very doubt within me.

It was nearing shift change [when the highest number of staff and C.O.s are on the yard], we prayed and immediately caught the first nurse walking out.  I yelled “Thank you!” holding up my sign.  And then we all just came alive!  My cellie knocked on all the medical building windows, getting everyone’s attention.  We witnessed all the staff passing [outside the gate from] their [respective] yards stopping in disbelief as we went Crazy! Ha!

We witnessed nurses stop and tear up, C.O.s stop and tear up.  [The Captain] came out and took photos of us.  All the while, I maintained the grease in our gears.  While our sign holders were shouting praise and speaking faith over own prison, I was building them up as they’d weaken and exhausted.  It’s not every day you stand for two and a half hours straight, telling the prison staff “You are love and thank you.”

Oh!  By the way, if you build it, they will come!  We eventually go to nearly 40 people shouting praise to all the staff.  And, of those forty, were many of the people that doubted.  It was beautiful!!

It wasn’t their fault for doubting.  Instead, it was my responsibility to show them it’s okay to believe….  It’s okay to be bold.

I saw those doubters so happy, shouting praise and holding signs alongside us.  Even got in the pictures!    I dismissed the “in your face” attitude.”  Hallelujah….  I saw what my brilliance was made to be about…. That day more so than I ever had before.  I’m to help people believe… again.

I do not like pain, but I discover in pain, there’s ignition for passion.  I definitely do not want to thank anyone for doubting in me or not saying anything at all, which sometimes hurts just as much as saying the wrong thing… But, the spiral of my own insecurities [this] took me down showed me the real fight… The real change…

I want my brilliance to take me deeper in this real fight.  The fight to believe that change is possible.  And it can be done through you and me.

Sometimes, things don’t happen as we wish.  (Sound familiar, lately? ;-) ) We were hoping to share the first-person account of an inspiring story from Donovan.  We’re still waiting for approval so, for now, an abbreviated second-person account will have to do.  Because let’s face it.  We’re not going to let a “not yet” rain on any parade of celebration and honoring of the light that shines brightly in darkness.  Here it is…

One of our team members, who observed the depression and challenged mindset of many residents around him and within himself, decided to bring light into their now-even-more-confined environment.  At first, he struggled rallying implementation partners.  But the few who were in created the needed signs: “You are loved!”, “You are worthy!”, “Thank you for not forgetting us” to name a few.

On the selected day, at shift change – which maximized the number of correctional and medical staff coming and going on the yard – this small group of prison residents stood their designated distance away, held their signs up high and started shouting gratitude to all staff that walked out of or onto the yard.  At first, people didn’t know what to think.  They soon realized the prison residents were recognizing their – the staff’s – hard work to manage the delicate balance of the changing tides of Covid.

The raucous attracted more prison residents and the small group of gratitude givers grew to 40 residents!  (Knowing that social distancing limits the residents on the yard to only a small fraction of yard residents.)  The authors describing the event spoke of how touched the staff seemed to be.  The yard leadership came out to take photos.  The residents also noticed other Custody and staff walking beyond their yard gate to whom they shouted their gratitude.

One of those staff walking beyond the yard gate was the person to whom I sent this story for approval.  This person replied with, paraphrasing, “I remember that day!  It was great to see.”

We hope this second-hand account inspires almost as much as the first-hand ones.  The prison residents are regular examples of how they turn dark, even violent, situations into times of spreading more light, more dignity, more respect, more love.

May this inspiration move you into exploring what small or big way you can bring joy, gratitude or peace into a situation.

We heard back from our inside team!  Last week, we received the residents' responses to the first packet of materials that we sent into Donovan on July 15th.  The excitement about hearing from us, that we read in their letters, reflected our excitement of reaching out to them.  One letter started with "Hello to my second family!"  All expressed great joy in being reconnected.

This season has been rough inside prison with confinement, no visits, no visitors, no programs, the fear of Covid....  And yet, in the letters we received, we heard resilience, determination and positivity.  Two residents shared a deeply uplifting story - about how they brought light to Custody and staff - that we had hoped to share with you here but we're still waiting on administrative approval for public release.  We'll send it when it's approved!

One resident quoted James Allen with "Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him."  This quote and the residents' stories reflect one of the foundational principles of our Circles inside Donovan:  Every situation can be seen for its challenges and its opportunities.  Which lens are you using?

It's easy to see the doom and gloom; we're fed this day in and day out.  With a little time and practice, it does become just as easy to see the gifts and opportunities.  One story pops to mind.  A good friend thanks God for having caught Covid.  While no one in their right mind would wish Covid on themselves, it turns out that, thanks to Covid, he was able to be at his wife's bedside as she took her last breath.  His wife died of Covid.  And since this friend had also been admitted to the hospital with Covid, he was able to be by her side.  As some of you may unfortunately know, if he had not been sick AND admitted, his wife would have died alone.  For both of them, Covid was a gift.

How has Covid been a gift in your life?  We'd love to know and so would the Donovan residents with whom we'll share your stories.

The other day, I read a YouTube comment in which a person shared a very personal story of trauma.  There were well over 20 replies to this comment, filled with support and love.  There was also one person who had replied “really?”.  Instead of receiving and basking in the generous support of the 20+ positive replies, the commenter zeroed in on the one cryptic “really?” and attacked this person.  She to date has not replied to or engaged with any of the positive replies.

How often do we do the exact same thing?  We are surrounded by positive moments, actions and people.  But the instant that one detail – big or small – triggers us, we lose sight of all of the surrounding goodness.  We are hurt.  We get worked up.  And we create our own misery…. Ouch…. And yet, we all do it.

It’s so easy in these times to see the negative, especially considering the constant reminders the media and any trip to the grocery store provide.  Can we remind ourselves of the positives?

In every moment, we have a choice on what to focus.  As I learned from the residents inside (story in first video below), I choose to focus on hope and my surrounding goodness.

Donovan news

One source of joy is that four months – to the day! – after our last interaction inside Donovan, we sent our first program packet to our Donovan-based Brilliance Inside family.  We have revamped our offering to engage with the residents through written correspondence.  In this way, the team will finish the study guide to “Writing After Life” that they started in February.  In addition to the joy of finally interacting on a regular basis, this season offers an opportunity to create something new.  We’ll see what ideas the team comes back with…

Another hope-creating celebration:  Despite the wild spread of covid in many California prisons, Donovan had its first case only two weeks ago and still has only two cases.  Yes, only TWO cases of covid among 3800ish residents! It’s amazing since most Donovan residents have preexisting conditions.  Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers of protection and health on this space that houses so many highly vulnerable people.

Enjoy the many stories from inside prison walls – from our own to North Carolina’s death row – which you’ll find below.  Until next month, remember that – just like the residents – you are loved, and you matter.

“When nobody cares about you and the people who are supposed to care deliberated hurt you, it is hard to care about others.  And when you feel no connection to humanity, it becomes easy to lash out at it.”

Many of you heard these words at the 2018 TEDxDonovanCorrectional.  They – as well as the countless other residents’ stories – illustrate the downward spiral:  Initial abandonment and trauma fester into a disconnection from humanity which fuels the residents’ violent actions and criminal behavior.

For my Rotary Peace Fellowship earlier this year, I analyzed the structural, cultural and personal violence of our prison residents’ environment, starting in childhood.  It’s pervasive and continuous, before, during and after prison. (Discover the exert here.)

This disconnection from humanity doesn’t only explain criminal behavior.  It is also the underpinning of the systemic racism, patriarchy and discrimination of our society at large.  (If any are squirming in discomfort, please honor yourself by being with your feelings and read on.)

The current murders and protests have brought to the surface and placed in our faces the suppressed hurt and trauma.  When we look past our own hurt, we see that a lot of people, across the entire struggle, have been hurt, have felt degraded and wronged.  And a lot of those same people have taken hurtful action, as well as degraded and wronged another.  This is the cycle of hurt in which we’re stuck.  And as long as we continue to allow our past hurt to dictate our future actions, this vicious cycle deepens.

As much as prison taught us about disconnection from humanity, prison also unveiled that there exists another way.  The solution to healing our society’s cycle of violence is as simple as reconnecting with humanity.

More than our skin color and socioeconomics can separate us, in prison, we’re brought together by our common humanity, our desire to impact this world and our commitment to becoming even greater human beings than we already are.  We recognize that we're more powerful together than we are separate.

What can this do for society?

First, it creates the obvious healing and transformation of individuals.  Most of you on this list have personally experienced the ensuing peace, joy and laughter.

It also creates unimaginable results that most businesses or organizations can only dream of.  In only five months, the Core Team became the cohesive, innovative and engaged team that put on a TEDx event that was deemed perfection by its 100 outside attendees (as surveyed by TED; we received an NPS of unprecedented 100, for those who know the Net Promoter Score).

It snowballed into a cultural revolution.  Those of you at the 2017 TEDx event were witness to the Core Team's embrace during the Closing Circle, pictured above.  Yes, a spontaneous group hug among multi-racial tough guy prison residents in front of their peers!  Under usual circumstances, this multiracial expression can risk getting people seriously hurt. 

This extended to the prison yard.  When we started working together, the Core Team could not meet or even acknowledge each other on the yard.  A year later, they were meeting cross-racially.  Our team of multi-racial tough guys were even hugging ON the yard!  Talk about a yard-wide cultural transformation…

THIS is what reconnection to humanity enables.

And it’s not only about treating others with the dignity, respect and love each of us human beings deserve.  It transforms families.  It transforms businesses.  It transforms institutions.  It transforms culture.  It transforms policing and government.

To take a small step right now, recognize that YOU have the power to change the world and read the first heading below.  Just this morning, I called Jennifer Duffy, the SDPD 911 dispatcher who spoke in 2018 about “Interpreting Others’ Realities”, to listen.  You’ll be amazed at the healing you create simply with your ears.

If this message of reconnection with humanity resonates, hit reply and tell us what inspires you.