Here’s the team working out of San Quentin’s media lab. From left to right: Rahsaan “New York” Thomas; Julie Shapiro; Curtis Fox; San Quentin Public Information Officer Lt. Sam Robinson; John “Yahya” Johnson; Antwan Williams (no longer incarcerated); Pat Mesiti-Miller; and Nigel Poor.

Here’s some of the team at a meet-up in New York City. From left to right: Bruce Wallace; Julie Shapiro; Earlonne Woods; Nigel Poor; Erin Wade; Curtis Fox; and Pat Mesiti-Miller

Nigel Poor is an artist and podcast host whose work explores the ways people leave behind evidence of their existence. In 2011, Nigel got involved with San Quentin State Prison as a volunteer teacher for Mount Tamalpais College (formerly the Prison University Project). In 2017, she co-founded the prison-based podcast Ear Hustle, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Peabody Award nominee, among numerous other awards. Episodes of the show have been downloaded millions of times by listeners everywhere. Her work as a visual artist has been exhibited nationally and internationally and can be found in museum collections including the SFMOMA, the M.H. deYoung Museum, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. Nigel is a professor of photography at California State University, Sacramento. She’s the author of The San Quentin Project, published by Aperture and co-author of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life, published by Crown Publishing Group, which was the San Francisco Public Library’s One City One Book selection in 2022.

Earlonne Woods was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. In 1997, he was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison. While incarcerated, he received his GED, attended Coastline Community College, and completed many vocational trade programs. He also founded CHOOSE1, which aims to repeal the California Three Strikes Law, the statute under which he was sentenced. In 2017, he co-founded the prison-based podcast Ear Hustle, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Peabody Award nominee, among numerous other awards. Episodes of the show have been downloaded millions of times by listeners everywhere. In November 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown commuted Earlonne’s sentence after 21 years of incarceration. Upon his release, Earlonne was hired by PRX as a full-time producer and co-host for Ear Hustle. He is also the co-author of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life (Crown Publishing), which was the San Francisco Public Library’s One City One Book selection in 2022.

Rahsaan “New York” Thomas has been incarcerated since 2000. While inside, he discovered a love of writing and became a contributor to The Marshall Project, Wall City Magazine and the San Quentin News, among other publications. New York is the chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists San Quentin satellite chapter; in 2015, he co-founded Prison Renaissance; and in 2020, he founded the Empowerment Avenue writers cohort, which connects incarcerated writers with editors and writers on the outside. When he’s not ear hustling, New York works with Initiate Justice and the Ella Baker Center on social justice issues and also counsels youth that visit the prison through the San Quentin SQUIRES program.

Antwan Williams is a multi-dimensional artist whose talents include art, music, acting, dance and writing. Since his release in October 2019, Antwan has committed himself to using his lived experience as a tool to deconstruct the school-to-prison pipeline. Antwan travels throughout the Bay Area touring high schools and colleges using music, storytelling and motivational speaking as a way to encourage the youth to take proactive and productive paths in their lives. He also continues to contribute music and illustrations to the production of Ear Hustle, which he co-founded, and produces video content for like-minded organizations.