ONE OF THE leading incarcerated voices helping to humanize California prisoners, is being paroled after 30 years.
Greg Eskridge, the incarcerated host of KALW’s audio storytelling program “Uncuffed,” was released from the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center on Tuesday.
“I wasn’t supposed to go before a parole board until the year 2048,” said Eskridge. “The only other option would have been an elderly parole hearing after I turn 60.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recommended Eskridge for early release for his exceptional rehabilitative conduct. This triggered resentencing by the trial court, putting Eskridge before a parole board, where he was found suitable for parole in March of this year.
Eskridge shot and killed a man and attempted to kill the man’s uncle in May 1994. He was convicted of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 58 years plus two life sentences under California’s three strikes law.
He entered the prison system at age 22.
“I was filled with a lot of anger,” he said. “I was still trying to figure out who I was. Every decision I made back then was based on survival.”
A life on the streets
Eskridge was born to a 15-year-old single mother, who brought him to California from Memphis, Tennessee, at age 3. He spent his youth in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area. Although he never joined a gang, he embraced the culture.
“I held a lot of resentment toward my mother for bringing me to California,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave my grandmother, uncles and cousins. I left a lot of love in Tennessee.”
Eskridge ran away from home a lot. At age 7, he was introduced to his first father figure, a guy named Paul, who was his mother’s boyfriend. He looked at Paul like a superhero because of his ability to fix things. But Paul had anger issues and would physically assault Eskridge and his mother. This led him to hang out in the streets as a young teen.
“I started stealing and being antisocial. I felt like, nobody cares about me so f— the world and I engaged in lawlessness. I got a burglary conviction at 18 and that’s how I got my first strike doing time in county jail.”
Eskridge developed a criminal mindset, hanging around other delinquents. He was in and out of foster homes and boys homes, until he was old enough to go to actual jail and prison.
Now he is a fully matured 52-year-old man.
“I spent 30 years of incarceration rehabilitating myself,” he said. “I have a clear understanding of why I committed my crime; the causative factors, character defects. I have remorse, and empathy for the victim’s family. I took responsibility and accountability. I addressed all my issues and have developed coping skills for any issues that come up again.”
Redemption radio
Over the years, Eskridge participated in a multitude of self improvement groups including anger management, criminal thinking and gangs anonymous, restorative justice and a host of other programs.
“I stopped wanting to be destructive,” he said.
When he arrived at San Quentin in 2012, he got a job in the media center editing videos with SQTV, its in-house TV station. In 2013 he went to KALW radio, where he learned to tell incarcerated peoples’ stories, stories of redemption, rehabilitation and profile stories. By 2018, he was hosting the radio podcast called “Uncuffed.”
“Uncuffed started at Solano (State Prison) and it was short radio pieces,” said Eskridge. “But in 2018-19 we decided that we wanted to do longer forms of storytelling to teach the craft of audio journalism to incarcerated people.”
The first “Uncuffed” cohort included Eskridge, Thanh Tran, Chanthon Bun, Nate McKinney, Tommy “Shakur” Ross and Edmond Richardson. With the exception of Richardson, all others have been released on parole.
Working in the media Center, Eskridge got to know a lot of people, a lot of officers, prison volunteers, and outside public and media personnel. He also became a member of the San Quentin chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, with investigative journalist Michael Bott of NBC as the lead sponsor.
“The board members saw that I had a lot of supporters. I had nearly 90 letters from family, staff, volunteers, the public, and correctional officers who supported and vouched for my change.”
Helping others succeed
Eskridge also has a pretty good parole plan. He has been offered a future with KALW as a continuing producer for the Uncuffed podcast. He will soon be entering the same prison system he left to help others find their way out.
“I think podcasting played a pivotal role in my developing empathy, being vulnerable, listening to others, empathizing with others stories,” he said. “Working for Uncuffed, people trust you to tell their story and to be a vehicle to help others tell their stories. It helped me tell my story.”
He said that he wants to help incarcerated people succeed on their rehabilitative journey by helping them develop the confidence to speak and learn how to be working professionals.
“Uncuffed helped give me a lot of self esteem and helps me hold myself accountable. I hope it can do the same for others.” Greg Eskridge
“Uncuffed helped give me a lot of self esteem and helps me hold myself accountable,” he said. “I hope it can do the same for others.”
Upon his release, Eskridge was taken out to breakfast with family and friends to celebrate his freedom. He said he is anxious to learn about the new world after his 30-year hiatus from society.
“The first thing I want to do is take a trip to the beach, because when I was young, and I ran away from home, the beach is where I felt safe,” he said. “Although my soul was in torment, the ocean calmed me down. It gave me a sense of peace. Now I think I can really appreciate that peace.”
Steve Brooks is a California Local News Fellow with Bay City News Foundation, reporting from inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. His perspective gives readers insight into issues and news from inside the prison. See more of his work at Inside/Out on Local News Matters.