I spent 4 years in San Quentin, the only prison in CA that has the death chamber for executions. Over 700 men* live there in the “Condemned Row” units. They’re kept separated from us, the general population. But often we would see them being escorted and in handcuffs...

...w/ the guard tower hovering above on the cat walk, rifle w/ live rounds in hand. They would yell “ESCORT!” And a slew of officers would demand us to get far back, turn around & face the wall, as they escorted the “condemned man” behind us. We weren’t allowed to look at them...

...or turn around. They say it’s for the safety of the escort. That they have high profile cases & the ppl on general population would attack them. But I can’t help but imagine the truth behind this dehumanization & what it would feel like to finally come out of your cell...

...and even your incarcerated peers turn their backs on you, literally, when society has figuratively already done so. The order to face the wall felt so intentional & cruel. But we would still find a way to attempt to acknowledge their humanity & offer some form of solidarity..

...when facing the wall. We’d slightly turn our faces, peek, try to make eye contact and give them a nod. Sometimes the nod was just with our eyes. That subtle. And they’d nod back the same way. That was our only contact with them and our only form of communication...

...that’s how we spoke to each other. A simple, subtle nod. And that simple, subtle nod relayed a message of care, empathy, moral support and most importantly, each other’s worthiness of humanity.