When We Win: What These Walls Won't Hold - San Quentin During COVID-19

Sliding Scale Tickets: $5 - $25 | No one turned away for lack of funds | FREE for La Peña Members

Tickets available at the door until we reach capacity.

This month’s gathering will center resilience, community, and the struggle for liberation from within the Pr*son system, with screenings of I’m Free Now, You Are Free and What These Walls Won't Hold.

Explore with us: How do we struggle to stay connected to prisoners as part of our families and communities and play an active role in providing them support when they come home?

Special guests

• Adamu Chan (Filmmaker, What These Walls Won’t Hold)
• Dr. Ameer Loggins

All are welcome. Seating will be theater-style. For accessibility requests, please contact us at least one week in advance. Email us at [email protected].

I’m Free Now, You Are Free (2020)

A short documentary about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9. In 1978, Debbie, then 8 months pregnant, and many other MOVE family members were arrested after an attack by the Philadelphia Police Department; born in a Pr*son cell, Mike Africa Jr. spent just three days with his mother before guards wrenched him away, and they spent the next 40 years struggling for freedom and for each other. In 2018, Mike Africa Jr. successfully organized to have his parents released on parole. “I realized that I had never seen her feet before,” was a remark he made when he reflected on Debbie’s homecoming. This film meditates on Black family preservation as resistance against the brutal legacies of state-sanctioned family separation.

Transcending the grim realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adamu Chan's powerful documentary, What These Walls Won't Hold (2023), paints a poignant portrait of resilience and hope blossoming within the confines of San Quentin State Pr*son. Chan, formerly incarcerated himself, offers a unique insider's view as he weaves a tapestry of the many threads of relationships that bind together his community. The film delves into his own journey towards freedom, while simultaneously amplifying the voices of his fellow incarcerated and their loved ones on both sides of the Pr*son walls.

Their interwoven stories shed light on a vibrant community forged in the crucible of adversity. Trust, unwavering resilience, and a shared yearning for a more just future bind them together. They navigate the challenges of incarceration with dignity and determination, finding solace and purpose in mutual support and advocacy. Their experiences illuminate the immense potential for positive change within even the most confined spaces.

What These Walls Won't Hold is not merely a chronicle of life behind bars; it's a powerful call to action. Chan's lens captures the yearning for liberation not just for individuals within the Pr*son system, but for a society free from oppressive structures that perpetuate cycles of incarceration. By showcasing the human spirit's boundless capacity for compassion and resistance, the film serves as an inspiring blueprint for a world where empathy and justice prevail.

When We Win: Political Education Film Series spotlights people’s struggles for liberation, decolonization, and the world to come. Each screening will include political education with facilitation, interactive discussions, and conversations featuring remarks from filmmakers and/or organizers active in peoples’ movements for liberation and justice.

• Sign up to Volunteer (free entry): https://signup.com/go/RCqqgTW
• Learn more about upcoming film screenings at Lapena.info/we-win
• Presented by La Peña Cultural Center, Center for Political Education, and Freedom Archives. Sponsored by the SFSU Film School.

• La Peña is a wheelchair-accessible venue with step-less entry, wide doorways, and accessible restrooms.
• Restrooms are all-gender.
• Masks are strongly encouraged. If you’re experiencing COVID-19, cold, or flu-like symptoms, please consider staying home to protect our community. HEPA air purifiers operate throughout our space.

We strive to make La Peña a welcoming, accessible space for everyone. For accommodation requests, please contact us at least one week in advance, and we’ll do our best to support you. Email us at programs@Lapena.org.

• Public Transit: The 18 bus line stops directly across the street (Shattuck & Woolsey), and Ashby BART is just two blocks away.
• Parking: Free street parking is available, or park at the Ashby BART station for a fee.
• Bike-Friendly: Bike racks are available outside La Peña.

• La Peña Members get FREE entry for this event! Become a member to unlock discounts, free events, and other perks all year. Join today: Lapena.org/members
• Make a tax-deductible donation to sustain the art, culture and community programs that keep La Peña thriving. Donate: Lapena.org/donate

• Email [email protected] | Contact us

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