The Hydra Podcast

When a person is incarcerated, it's like their whole family is incarcerated with them. The impacts are especially devastating for children, who are not only separated from their loved one, but can be isolated socially because of stigmatization. That's what the Freedom Side School, a project coming out of Philadelphia abolitionist movements, hopes to heal by creating a liberation school for children impacted by incarceration. In the Season Finale of our first season, Shakaboona sits down with Portia Taylor and Faith Adams of the Freedom Side School to talk about the school's mission to provide both emotional support and political education to impacted children and break the cycles of incarceration within family lines.Check out their website to donate and spread the word! www.freedomsideschool.org

Shakaboona sits down with Leigh Owens of PennFranchise to discuss the systematic exclusion of incarcerated people from the electoral process. They point to the power of incarcerated people and their family members as a voting block that can bring progressive change, as exemplified by the 2017 election of Larry Krasner. Although individuals being held pretrial or serving time for misdemeanors in county jails are eligible to vote, jails do not ensure voting access. Recently introduced legislation would remedy this by providing voter information in PA county jails. These efforts are part of a nationwide movement to re-enfranchise incarcerated voters.

Shakaboona and Serge sit down with Nia Holston, an attorney with the Abolitionist Law Center, to talk about the pervasive lack of oversight in jails and prisons. Nia shares insights from her work on a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia and its department of prisons over the conditions of the city's jails, describing how the COVID pandemic exacerbated existing human rights issues, and how people inside and outside are organizing for accountability.Episode Notes: This episode was recorded in early 2023, but the unconstitutional conditions continue to this day! ALC and others recently filed a contempt motion, which you can read here: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-prisons-jail-conditions-class-action-lawsuit-contempt-20240408.html

Shakaboona is joined by Nora of La La Lil Jidar and the Philly Palestine Coalition for a conversation situating the ongoing genocide in Palestine historically, in the context of movements for justice across the globe. Nora and Shakaboona relate the theft of land and destruction of culture in Palestine to racist and settler-colonialist violence in Philadelphia and beyond. They emphasize the importance of solidarity and the power of narratives in shaping our collective future.Episode Notes: "The Dragon and the Hydra" is an essay written by Maroon that you can access here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/russell-maroon-shoats-the-dragon-and-the-hydraYou can visit the website for La La Lil Jidar here: https://lalaliljidar.org/

Shakaboona joins Tea Troutman, Atlanta organizer and editor at Scalawag Magazine, to discuss the Stop Cop City movement rooted in Atlanta. Tea sheds light on the context leading up to Cop City, how we got to where we are now, and the effects we will face if Cop City is allowed to exist. Their discussion ties in Stop Cop City to many fronts including guerrilla warfare, IDF-U.S. police ties, and the importance of decentralized tactics (aka 'the Hydra') in radical movements.

How do we respond to harm in ways that facilitate healing rather than repression? With Serge away for the birth of his child, Shakaboona sits down with Felix Rosado to discuss his work helping youth restore their relationship to community after committing harm. Felix speaks about his journey to becoming an advocate for restorative justice - from his childhood in Reading, PA, to his awakening at Graterford Prison - and how our criminal punishment system is “the antithesis of accountability.” To learn more about Felix, check out this his life story in the Inquirer: https://tinyurl.com/felixrosado

When Shakaboona and Sergio were in prison, the reputations of revolutionary leaders Russell Maroon Shoatz and Joseph Joe-Joe Bowen loomed large. Our hosts recount the influence these mentors had on their revolutionary development, and they explain the namesake of this podcast “The Hydra” - a model for imagining leadership in liberatory movements. 

Meet this season's hosts: Shakaboona Marshall and Sergio Hyland. In this episode, they discuss how revolutionary leaders, like Russell Maroon Shoatz, turned the state's heinous tool of oppression solitary confinement, or The Hole, into a transformative classroom. You will learn a bit about Shakaboona and Serge as they recount their processes of becoming politicially conscious while serving their 33 years and 22 in prison respectively.