Kogen

Kogen,an African American man, born in chicago, but moved out to Southern California and raised in Lynwood, very close to where I was raised in Long Beach, is a man who I came to know well while I volunteered at San Quentin. In the fifteen years he has been there he has become a devout Buddhist and was the inside coordinator of the Haitian Benefit and I was the outside coordinator. I will write about that later. The reason it came about was he approached me and told me of the desire of many inmates to do something to help the Haitian people. We together came up with the acronym Q.U.A.K.E which stands for Quentin United for Aid Kindness and Empathy for Haiti. I know his story very well and it deserves to be read and heard. For me, this one case points out all the inequities of our judicial system. For sure, and most people do know this there is not an equal field, if you are poor and a person of color, your chances of getting a fair trial are far different than if you are white or at least if you have enough money for a good lawyer. If anyone out there happens to read this and is a lawyer who can help him please contact me at suzala20@gmail.com, As I have said before one of the many things I learned from my volunteer work at San Quentin was men can either fall to the bottom of rise to the top and choose to become both rehabilitated, by their own work, and in the process become enlightened. Kogen is enlightened. He has spent many of his years at San Quentin working with young people to try and get them away from the gang mentality that is very prevalent. He did this also when he was on the outside.

He started out his life in a home with three other brothers and a sister. He was the second oldest in the family. There was a lot of fighting between his parents, a lot of chaos and abuse. His father is an alcoholic and was very abusive to his sons when they were young. Kogen did get in trouble as a teenager and spent time in the CYA. Although Kogen has forgiven, I can still hear the hesitation in his voice when he talks of him. When I spoke to him about this he told me it was not because of the drinking or the abuse, it was because he loved and looked up to his father so much. His father was his hero, but once he started drinking his father changed dramatically. His Buddhist practice has helped him in this area and many other areas as well. It is not easy to endure being a life prisoner, but he does it well. His easy and often laughter is a joy to hear. We met in a year long class called the TRUST. The acronym stands for Teaching Responsibility Using Sociological Techniques. His comments and observations added a great deal to the class, and I could easily see how intelligent he was.

When he was about 27 he was working with young people as a counselor. The night he was to be rewarded for his endeavors was the night he made the biggest mistake of his life. On the way to the ceremony, he let a friend talk him into pulling a quick robbery. After they held the man up, both unarmed, Kogen ran away. The young man he was with also ran away but returned to find the man and for unknown reasons moved the man, and even if it is only a few feet, it is still considered kidnap, and carries a life sentence. Now, here is the irony, the young man who went back and moved the man was found not guilty and even though Kogen was not there at the time the man was moved, he was given a life sentence. He has spent the last 15 years first at Avenal State Prison and then was transferred to San Quentin. All I can surmise is the his friend become a witness for the prosecution and Kogen became the victim. This may not be true it all, its just the only thing I can figure. This is a story so unbelievable that if I didn't know it to be true, I would never believe that something like this could happen. I am gathering all his materials on this case and pray that I will find a lawyer who can help me with it. He has so much potential and has worked so hard on himself. I do have the feeling that he was always a good person, but got caught up in the wrong things like many young people growing up where he did. I think the world of him and know that if released he has so much to offer. I will do everything to get him that chance. At the benefit for Haiti he asked me to speak for him. He asked me to say that when you are raised in ignorance and you do not see the light, you act in ways that are ignorant. Since he has been incarcerated he has seen the light and will never turn away from it. As I will say many times over I am honored to know him. I pray that he gets the chance he so deserves to be a law abiding and productive citizen of this society. He wants to be a film maker and has learned a great deal about it at San Quentin. He has filmed many people who have come in, Michael Franti, Van Jones and Dave Eggers among others. He participates in the San Quentin Film School and is working on his own screen play. He is dedicated to changing the tide of violence among young African American men. The last time he came up for parole, even the Warden, William Ayers, wrote a letter on his behalf. He was still denied parole! I am grateful to him on a personal level. He got me to understand Shakespeare. I have never either particularly liked Shakespeare or understood him. Here is the sonnet he sent me which changed my mind. It made me cry. Shakespeare' Sonnet Number 29


"When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone bemoan my outcast state
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
and look upon myself and curse my fate.
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope.
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed.
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope.
With what I most enjoy contented less.
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee- and then my state
(Like the Lark at break of day arising from sullen earth)
Sings hymns at Heaven's Gate
For thy sweet love remembered such love brings,
that then I scorn to change my state with kings"