Steve Champion - Writer & Poet
Steve Champion (Adisa Kamara) - Writer and Poet
To see Steve Champion's work, please visit his website www.sacredeyeofthefalcon.com
Steve Champion is a death row prisoner at San Quentin State Prison. A former Crips gang member, he grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Champion has been incarcerated since 1981. He is self-taught and conversant in African history, philosophy, political science, and comparative religion. As an author he has received an honorary mention in the short fiction category in the 1995 Pen Prison Writing Contest and in 2004 won first place in nonfiction for his essay, “His Spirit Lives On: George E. Marshall.” He has poetry featured in the book “Voices From The Inside”. An excerpt from his memoir “Dead to Deliverance” was published in Maxim magazine (May 2005). Steve Champion, along with co-author and fellow inmate Anthony Ross (Ajani Kamara) are currently finalising their book “The Architect” in which they aim to present a model for gang members to develop a new consciousness of change that can transform their lives and communities in positive and extraordinary ways.
Publications and work
“Writing is like breathing for me. It allows me to explore the inner region of my soul and discover new things about myself. Writing, like reading, allows me to travel without moving. Im able to escape the circumscribe mantle of my confinement and connect to the social world Ive been separated from. Every day I wake up with a central purpose that motivates me to keep moving forward.”
Steve Champion (Adisa Kamara)
Publications and work
- 2004 – Essay – “His Spirit Lives On: George E. Marshall.” – first place in nonfiction PEN Prison Writing Contest
https://pen.org/his-spirit-lives-on-george-e-marshall-1940-2001/ - 2004 – 2007 : A series of flyers for the self-improvement of prisoners:-
https://faculty.ithaca.edu/tkerr/pamphlets/ - 2004 - “The Ninth Ground” - The Ninth Ground, a term derived from the ancient military text The Art of War, refers to the last of the nine grounds—the dying ground. Co-authored with Anthony Ross and Stanley Tookie Williams
- 2006 - “The Making of an O.G – Transcending Gang Mentality” – co-authored with Anthony Ross
- < >- “Walking it like you talk it – A manual for building character” – co-authored with Anthony Ross & Stanley Tookie Williams2007 - "Everything of Value You Must Carry Without Hands"a spiritual concept and metaphor for "what is truly valuable is already within you."
- 2007 – “Words for our Brother” – Tribute to Stanley Tookie Williams, executed December 2005 at San Quentin – published by Counterpunch https://www.counterpunch.org/2007/12/12/words-for-our-brother/
- 2007 - A selection of poems by Steve Champion - A selection of podcasts by Steve Champion recorded by Professor Tom Kerr, Ithaca college - https://faculty.ithaca.edu/tkerr/reading/
- 2007 – “Dead to Deliverance – A death row memoir” - Edited by Prof. Tom Kerr, Assoc. Professor, Ithaca College, Dept of Writing Faculty, School of Humanities & Science
In “Dead to Deliverance” - Champion describes his early life in Los Angeles and the allure for him of the Crips street gang, his incarceration and experience in the U.S. prison system, his life on death row, and his growth and struggle as a human being. He also offers a critical analysis of the prison system, especially capital punishment, and describes how through sustained collaboration with Stanley Tookie Williams and Anthony Ross he evolved on death row from a high school dropout into an accomplished writer and student of the humanities. - 2008 – “The Sacred Eye of the Falcon – Lessons in Life from death row” – A collection of sayings and aphorisms concerning self-transformation under exceedingly difficult circumstances. The three death-row authors, Steve Champion, Anthony Ross and the late Stanley Tookie Williams, draw on their combined 70-plus years of experience on death row to formulate first principles for personal growth and social change. Self-published with Lulu.com
- 2011 – “Gang Validation – The New Inquisition” – originally published by Counterpunch on February 16, https://www.counterpunch.org/2011/02/16/gang-validation/
- 2016 Essay “Breaking the Conditioning: The Relevance of the Prisons Information Group” – for Michel Foucault’s book compiled of interdisciplinary collection of essays about the Prison Information Group (GIP) “The Prisons Informations Group, and the future of Abolition”. Published by Palgrave Macmillan US, January 2016 http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137510662
- < > – interview with Editorial Group Tickled Inc - https://tickled-inc.com/2017/04/30/in-sight-steve-champion/2017 – “The Architect” – Steve Champion and co-author, Anthony Ross are currently finalising “The Architect” - which offers a means of community revolution through the social transformation of gang members. Co-authored with Anthony Ross fellow inmate
“Writing is like breathing for me. It allows me to explore the inner region of my soul and discover new things about myself. Writing, like reading, allows me to travel without moving. Im able to escape the circumscribe mantle of my confinement and connect to the social world Ive been separated from. Every day I wake up with a central purpose that motivates me to keep moving forward.”
Steve Champion (Adisa Kamara)