Prison Truth

The Story of the San Quentin News

By: William J. Drummond

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Hardcover | 7 January 2020 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
344 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.34 x 1.62 x 0.29

Hardcover

$46.20

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San Quentin State Prison, Californiaâs oldest prison and the nationâs largest, is notorious for once holding Americaâs most dangerous prisoners. But in 2008, the Bastille-by-the-Bay became a beacon for rehabilitation through the prisoner-run newspaper the San Quentin News.

Prison Truth tells the story of how prisoners, many serving life terms, transformed the prison climate from what Johnny Cash called a living hell to an environment that fostered positive change in inmatesâ lives. Award-winning journalist William J. Drummond takes us behind bars, introducing us to Arnulfo Garca, the visionary prisoner who led the revival of the newspaper. Drummond describes how the San Quentin News, after a twenty-year shutdown, was recalled to life under an enlightened warden and the small group of local retired newspaper veterans serving as advisers, which Drummond joined in 2012. Sharing how officials cautiously and often unwittingly allowed the newspaper to tell the stories of the incarcerated, Prison Truth illustrates the power of prison media to humanize the experiences of people inside penitentiary walls and to forge alliances with social justice networks seeking reform.

Industry Reviews

"Prison Truth chronicles Drummond's past, along with the remarkable efforts by San Quentin Prison inmates to document their circumstances-and in so doing, achieve rehabilitation through introspection and expression. . . . [The book] comes at a time when the debate around incarceration has been rapidly shifting, fueled as much by the exorbitant cost of confining inmates as by concerns about reconciliation and rehabilitation." * Los Angeles Times *
"For anyone concerned with the prison reform movement, it is critical to engage with the media portrayals of inmates. And for that, Prison Truth is an essential book. Today, inmates write their own stories, and it is more important than ever." * Los Angeles Review of Books *
"Prison Truth examines the advantages of having stories told by people directly affected by incarceration. The resulting news narratives are from the vantage point of embedded reporters." * San Quentin News *

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