Prison Choir Sings of Hope at Gospelfest

When the Conquerors raised their arms in the air and sang to the Lord in the Shrine Auditorium on Saturday night, hundreds of onlookers danced and sang along.

“Sing it, brothers!” one woman shouted.

“Lord Almighty! Lord Almighty!” another fan yelled, dancing in the aisles.

At Gospelfest ‘92, an annual competition sponsored by McDonald’s to raise money for the United Negro College Fund, the audience never gets much time to rest.

Members of the Conquerors, one of six Southern California choirs that battled for the top prize, said before they took the stage that gospel music at its best comes from deep inside and pours out uncontrolled. One has to really feel hope and faith to sing gospel, they said; and the Conquerors really do know about that.

When the show was over and they shed their shiny robes, the 20 men boarded a bus for the federal prison camp in Boron, Calif., and returned to their lives as inmates in the minimum-security prison.

The only traveling choir in the federal prison system, the Conquerors made it to Gospelfest twice before, finishing as the first runner-up each time. On Saturday, they finished second again, this time to the Community Church of God Youth Choir from Upland.

“It’s really easy to become bitter, angry and frustrated behind bars,” said choir director Jon Maxey, 34, an inmate. “The choir gets us calm, collected and directed on something positive. It passes our days and gets us thinking about the Lord.”

Don Williams, 30, started the choir when he was an inmate and has moved on to become music director at Faith Center Ministries in Walnut. What started as a small group of men trying to pass the time has grown into a major extracurricular activity that brings pride to all the inmates. Members rehearse in the evening, after their prison work details, and the choir faces a unique turnover problem as members complete their sentences.

Addie Hobbs, an officer who acts as the group’s sponsor, said that when the choir left the prison Saturday morning, those left behind shouted “Bring it home!” and “We’re rooting for you!”

“When people in the community hear an inmate choir like this it takes away from the stereotypical viewpoint of what an inmate is,” she said. “These are just guys who went down the wrong path. They’re heading on the right path now.”

Saturday night was all the more special, members said, because for a time they feared that they would not be able to make the trip this year. The prison set a 50-mile travel limit on the choir, a rule that allowed visits to small gatherings but would have eliminated the big Los Angeles competition.

Associate Warden J.A. Garcia said the prison has encouraged the choir since its formation but still battles concerns about allowing inmates to travel in communities, even though all the inmates were convicted of nonviolent crimes. Prison guards and other employees volunteer to accompany the choir on its trips.

He said those members who leave prison do much better in the world than the average prisoner.

“When you’re dealing with a negative environment, you try to develop positive activities,” he said. “Anything to do with religion seems to have the most positive impact on the population.”

The other groups competing Saturday were the Long Beach Community Choir; Joy, from Inglewood; the Onionaires from Sepulveda, and Linda Vista Second Baptist Inspirational Choir from San Diego.

The competition for the best small vocal group was won by Higher Calling from West Covina.