Richie Reseda and Indigo Mateo: Question Culture and Fighting Patriarchy in Prison Systems

Voices of Esalen

Richie Reseda and Indigo Mateo are the co-owners and founders of Question Culture, an activist-artistic art label whose projects support grassroots organizing. Richie Reseda is an abolistionist-feminist, formerly incarcerated in the state of California and the subject of the CNN documentary" Feminist in Cell Block Y," a film that chronicles his journey educating and combatting toxic masculinity within the walls of the prison system. Indigo Mateo is a singer, healer, abolitionist, survivor, and artist. She’s releasing her sophomore album on the label this summer. Indigo met Richie while visiting him in prison; her partner, 88, also an artist on the Question Culture label, is currently incarcerated. Together we discussed how patriarchy functions in culture and in jail, what the school to prison pipeline is, and why it exists, how economies sprout up around the prison system and in neighboring towns, how meritocracy has led to a culture of vengeance, and why“the prison system is,” in Richie Reseda's words, “the deadbeat boyfriend of America.” Coming soon at Esalen: Join authors Camille Maurine and Lorin Roche August 16–20 for WILD SERENITY: At Play with the Radiance Sutras. Camille and Lorin will lead an immersion in deep relaxation and refreshment to help you fall in love with meditation. They’ll customize the practice so it flows in harmony with your inner nature. Space is limited, book now: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/wild-serenity-at-play-with-the-radiance-sutras Relational Mindfulness, Power, and the Deep Feminine: An Experiential and Restorative Retreat for Women, August 30th to September 3rd with Deborah Eden Tull. You’ll explore how meditation, relational mindfulness, and other rituals can yield more compassionate, wise, and embodied practitioners. Register now: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/relational-mindfulness-power-and-the-deep-feminine-an-experiential-and-restorative-retreat-for-women Discover your electric body, get in tune with the power of your voice, and liberate your human instrument with Electric Health/Sound Therapy pioneer Eileen Day McKusick and musical facilitators The Brothers Koren in their workshop Sing the Body Electric, September 17–19 in Big Sur. sign up at https://www.esalen.org/workshops/sing-the-body-electric