Quddus -- Arabic term meaning strength
One day he was in a classroom fulfilling his dream, and the next thing he knew he was in a 6-by-9 cell -- smack back into a world he never wanted to see again.
Jason "Quddus" Archie was recognized on the SF State campus as positive, political, critical and outspoken. He is a member of the Pan Afrikan Student Union and the African Student Alliance, was elected to the AS Legislature (Unity), acted as chair of the AS Rules Committee and is a volunteer for Project Rebound. Archie is seen by his peers as a young man who is turning his life around after an unfortunate altercation resulted in his incarceration. Archie served seven years in California state prisons for a voluntary manslaughter conviction. He was released on parole in December 1993.
Gwen Archie, his 33-year-old sister, recalls him as a quiet, mild-mannered child who was a joker, liked to make faces and loved to make people laugh.
"He went with the flow," she said of his childhood in Sacramento. "He never bothered anybody." Though they had stepbrothers and stepsisters, they were a tight tandem growing up. "We got along really good."
Their parents, Robert Archie, 62, and Ruthie Archie, 58, both worked for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department as cooks.
Originally from El Dorado, Ark., their parents came to California in the 1970s and worked hard to make sure "we had everything we wanted," Gwen Archie said.
According to her, when Archie reached 19 he began to run with a bad crowd that had more money than a group of youngsters ought to. She said she didn't know if the crew earned its money through drug distribution -- she just knew they were bad.
This was around the time Archie got into the altercation that cost him six and a half years of freedom. Gwen Archie said she didn't have a lot of details about the altercation that initially put him in jail.
She believed Archie was sticking up for someone in his crew. His noble character, she said, got him six and a half years.
Prior to his life-changing altercation, "Jason was doing his own thing and so was I. I came into it after he was in court and got sentenced." Getting into trouble "wasn't the Jason I knew," his sister said. "He always believed in taking care of his friends, but not to this extreme."
In November 1993, Archie was released on parole. He enrolled at SF State in January 1994 to begin a new life. Once at SF State, he got involved with numerous on-campus organizations, including PASU.
Mick Mendez, a broadcast major and member of PASU, said he's known Archie for about a year and a half. In that time, Mendez said, he has had nothing but respect for him.
"Archie had no trouble with no one. The only time he fought, he fought for his people," Mendez said.
He was elected to the AS in spring of 1994. "We were so proud of him," Gwen Archie said. "When he was elected to the AS, we (the family) all came down to celebrate."
This year, as part of PASU and AS, "He was so happy to be a part of Rosa Parks coming to SF State -- then the day before she gets here, this happens," Gwen Archie said.
She was referring to Archie's removal from campus by his parole agent, James Quen, five days after a verbal altercation with English Lecturer Virginia Elliott.
Does Archie have a hot head and an angry disposition?
According to Gwen Archie, "What made him angry was the six and a half years he spent in prison."
However, according to his peers, his anger had been harnessed and focused into a positive beam of political activism and involvement at SF State.
Archie is known on campus for being very vocal in defense of the Malcolm X mural and his involvement in the ensuing conflict last spring at SF State. The mural was sanded away by order of President Robert A. Corrigan after Jewish students and others protested a Star of David depicted with a dollar sign in the center of the star.
According to Gwen Archie, "His strong convictions and stern outspokenness are what contributed to him getting into trouble, but at the same time they are what serve him so well." That sentiment has been echoed by many of Archie's supporters.
Tony Pierson, a creative writing major at SF State, said he's known Archie about one year. He smiled when he said, "He's like a big brother -- the type of person someone could confide in."
Student Union Governing Board and PASU member Aimee Barnes, who said she's known Archie for about one year, recalled, "one time, my roommate got her car towed. Archie helped calm her down, loaned her the money to get it out, and took her to get the car. I've seen him extend his hand when he didn't have to."
From a leadership standpoint Barnes said, "because he's overcome so much (in his life) I have to respect him. We didn't always see eye to eye on things, but to go through what he went through and aspire to be a student leader says a lot."
Student activist and SUGB member Tharon Weighill described Archie as looking like Huey P. Newton, the late leader of the Black Panther Party. He also said Archie is a person who understands the importance of struggle. Weighill said he began to get to know Archie during the Malcolm X mural conflict.
"In politics you tend to build alliances with people revolving around different issues. The mural was an issue we allied on," Weighill said.
Even though they had different ideologies for why the mural should stay up, they respected each others reasons and left it at that. Weighill said he got to know Archie "having spent a couple of nights with our asses in the freezing cold out there playing dominoes and making sure nobody had disturbed the mural. Consequently, we started rappin' and got to know each other better."
Weighill said he and Archie discussed and connected on political and religious ideologies, as well as what they saw as the "oppressive tools" holding down people of color.
Weighill said his being Native American and Archie's African-American heritage contributed to their mutual respect for each other and the struggles their people have endured.
Apparently, people didn't always agree with Archie's ideology or methods, but he had their respect. Weighill said Archie is the type of person you want watching your back if a problem should arise.
On March 13, Vice President of Student Affairs Penny Saffold wrote a letter to the California Department of Corrections Parole Board in support of Archie.
In the letter Saffold said, "Mr. Archie, during this academic term, served on the Associated Student Legislature and was a very active member... Mr. Archie rarely missed the weekly meetings and was an active participant, always listening to student concerns and vocal in his support of student issues."
Dean of Ethnic Studies Philip McGee has made arrangements with Archie's instructors to ensure that he will be able to complete his classes this semester through correspondence.
"We just want to make sure he has no problems when he comes back to school in the fall," McGee said.
According to Gwen Archie, right now he is "hanging in there" in prison.
"When he was released in 1993 his attitude was, 'I'm never going back.' Now to have this happen to him -- like he's an animal! He feels as though he was set up, but he plans on doing what he set out to -- finish school and get his degree."
"We had really started getting close again... all that's gone now, and for what? Though I have no concrete proof to back it up, I feel as though this whole thing was racially motivated," Gwen Archie said.