THIRTEEN INCARCERATED AND formerly incarcerated individuals who died within the past year were remembered during the fourth annual Mourning Our Losses ceremony last month inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.
Portraits of those who passed away were lined up on display in a memorial gallery inside the prison’s Catholic chapel. Some had their faces sketched by incarcerated artists.
A packed procession of incarcerated individuals, prison volunteers, and clergy members wrote words of remembrance on colorful flower-shaped paper placed next to the names of those who died.
“When we come out of the womb we are dying,” said Imam Muhammad Fasih, San Quentin’s Islamic chaplain who opened with a spiritual reflection. “Death is the inevitable result for all of us and it is not to be looked upon as a sad moment, but a moment to honor those who have passed on.”
The names of the deceased were read aloud and an incarcerated veterans group presented the nation’s colors.
‘A platform for grief’ and healing
Mourning Our Losses is a national organization that believes in giving space to honor and remember those who died while living or working behind bars in jails, prisons and immigration detention centers.
“We believe that a loss of any human life warrants mourning and reject the notion of deservedness,” the organization wrote. “We offer a platform for grief, healing, community, and reflection for all those touched by tragedy.”
The San Quentin chapter of MOL was founded in 2021 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the deaths of 28 incarcerated individuals and one correctional officer during the COVID-19 outbreak in the summer of 2020.
Mount Tamalpais College faculty member Kirsten Pickering, who is a member of the national organization, sponsors the group started by incarcerated individuals Juan Haines, Steven Zinnamon, Arthur Jackson and others. Jackson is the group’s former president.
“Many of us who are incarcerated never learned how to grieve or express healthy emotions,” said Jackson. “Processing trauma and pain is natural and to pretend to be unaffected by things is a recipe for disaster.”
Brian Conroy has been incarcerated for seven years. He has participated in the last few events. Conroy is a musician who plays several instruments. He plays with a band called The Greater Good, which played music at the ceremony.
“MOL is about understanding our unity as a community and showing each other that regardless of who we are, or what we’ve done, we all deserve to be remembered,” said Conroy.
Leonard Walker, who everyone refers to as “Funky Lynn,” is one of those who passed. For years he played the bass guitar and was a regular staple in the church choir and for other events. Walker suffered kidney failure and was transferred to hospice care at a Vacaville facility after a doctor said he had less than a year to live.
Imam Fasih remembered Walker. “He was an amazing person who loved God, his guitar, and who spoke straight from the soul,” he said.
Douglas Dawkins, who is an Incarcerated individual nicknamed Truth and Poetry, read a poem and spoke a few words.
“Funky Lynn thought he was a comedian,” said Dawkins. “He loved to make people laugh.” Dawkins told the crowd that it was okay to let down their tough exterior and grieve.
“When I sit by myself and deal with the wounds, I marinate in the pain,” he said. “But when I mourn with others in the community, I gain strength mourning together with them.”
‘He seemed at peace’
Alan “Tex” Mabrey paroled early last year before he passed away. He was well-known in the San Quentin community. He checked himself into a hospital in the Bay Area complaining of stomach pain. He died shortly thereafter from stomach cancer.
Dennis Jefferson described Mabrey as his friend who he knew for years while incarcerated.
“I spoke to him by telephone as he laid in his hospital bed watching movies,” said Jefferson. “He seemed at peace.”
Another person who passed away was Bernard Moss. He was released on parole several years ago, but kept coming inside San Quentin to help others find their way.
Moss was a facilitator for a self help group called GRIP, which is an acronym for Guiding Rage Into Power. He died from health complications.
More than a hundred incarcerated individuals have died while in California prisons since December 2024. While some were killed, many died from suicide, overdose, diseases or old age. Most did not have a funeral or anyone to remember them.
Several incarcerated individuals spoke, read a poem or did spoken word. There were also two Hispanic bands who played music called Banda Esperanza and Unico Elemento.
There was also an acting group named Artistic Ensemble. They sat around a table and talked about cultural understandings of death from the Native American, African and Pacific Islander culture. One of the members put on a headdress with horns and chanted loudly, calling to the gods. Each agreed death was a celebration where people dressed in white and carried their ancestors into the afterlife.
There have been more than a hundred incarcerated individuals who have died while in the custody of the California prison system since December 2024, according to the California Correctional Health Care Services. While some were killed, many died from suicide, overdose, cancer, other diseases or old age. Most did not have a funeral or anyone to remember them.
Others who passed away from the San Quentin community included Timothy Green, Melvin Turner, Johnathan Walker, James Healy, Matthew Veltri, Felipe Portillo, Allan Roper, Frank Salas, and Ernest Vick.
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.