Faces of CSC: Gérald Max Désilus
December 06, 2024
SLAM Poet and artist, Quebec Region
"A young person saved from a life of delinquency is one more talent that can enrich the cultural fabric of a nation."
From troubled youth and inmate to inspirational mentor and poet, Gérald Max Désilus has lived a life marked by contrasts, challenges, and redemption.
Today, he is best known for inspiring and guiding countless people, offering them a path to healing and self-discovery through the written word. But before getting to where he is today, he had to confront his past and carve out his own unique path.
Born into a middle-class Haitian family in north Montreal, Gérald faced the struggle early on of navigating between Quebecois and Haitian cultures. This often left him feeling alienated - "a Black among whites and a white among Blacks," he says.
This sense of displacement, plus the pressures of living in a neighborhood influenced by the gangster-rap culture of the 1980s, led to a turbulent adolescence marred by bullying and a rebellious break from his family.
Despite these challenges, Gérald embarked on a promising career as a model with the leather apparel company Dimitri Cuir and as an actor in American films, such as Snake Eyes. However, his trajectory took a drastic turn in 1995 when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. During his incarceration, he confronted the gravity of his actions and the profound impact they had on his life and the lives of others.
Gérald underwent a transformation in prison. He adopted the name Quidam and began writing as a means of coping with his guilt and understanding his past. Poetry became an outlet for processing emotions, channeling creativity, and confronting inner turmoil.
"As I was forced to go through this experience, I started writing endlessly, since that's all I had left. And I wanted to understand my feelings, review the events in my mind, and analyze my actions in order to have the answers to how I got there," he says.
"This helped me mourn my past, heal my wounds, and help me see what I still had available inside me, and especially what the future could offer me."
Quidam's poetry, which he would recite in the prison yard, became a form of therapy for himself and for fellow inmates who began seeking his help in expressing their own emotions. This collaborative writing process not only helped his peers communicate with their loved ones but also fostered a sense of community and healing within the prison walls.
After his release, Quidam faced the harsh reality of reintegration into society with a criminal record. Despite his talents and ambitions, he struggled to find stable employment with the stigma attached to his past. Yet, these obstacles did not deter him. They fueled his determination to make a positive impact, particularly on young people at risk of following a similar path.
He dedicated himself to mentoring people, with a focus on young adult offenders, and raising awareness about the detrimental effects of gangster-rap culture and street life. His journey and the lessons he learned became the foundation of his work, inspiring others to transform their lives through the power of words.
In 2001, Quidam began offering slam poetry workshops to young people in diverse communities. From January 2024, he focused on helping inmates inside CSC's penitentiaries in Quebec. Through his 'SLAM THÉRAPIE' sessions, he shared his past mistakes and how slam poetry helped him express and understand his emotions, leading to personal healing. His workshops emphasize themes of education, crime prevention, and positive self-expression.
He aims to inspire and empower other inmates, particularly from Black and other racialized communities, to use poetry as a therapeutic outlet and change their lives positively.
Quidam plans to take his slam therapy nationally and produce international slam competitions to encourage young adult offenders to create and share meaningful content. Through his initiatives, Quidam hopes to demonstrate that a reformed inmate can contribute positively to society.
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