Podcasts about jailhouse lawyers speak

This week, we're sharing a presentation from the 2023 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. From the presentation: The Mediterranean Sea is Europe's deadliest border. For years, non-state actors like Sea-Watch and other NGO's have played a part in humanitarian search-and-rescue operations. In spite of legal repression and the technical challenges of maintaining a “civil fleet”, anarchists, anti-fascists, and other activists try to stop needless death at sea. Hear a report back from a wayward American yacht-punk who spent the summer doing rotations on two different SAR (Search And Rescue) ships. We'll discuss the general political situation, the reality of everyday operations and how you could get involved. One case Quoyle mentioned was the Luventa Crew in Italy, they were acquitted of all charges in April of 2024! For more audios from ACABookfair 2023, check out the site. To hear a 2023 interview we conducted with an activist with Maldusa on a similar topic, you can find it at our website. We also have this 2016 interview by A-Radio Berlin that we aired in 2016 about conditions  a No Border Camp in Greece. And here's one we conducted with an immigrant from Africa and a supporter in Germany in 2016. Also, check out this podcast called The Civil Fleet with voices of others involved in solidarity in the Mediterranean route. Announcement Sundiata Jawanza Mail Tampering? The only publicly identified Jailhouse Lawyers Speak activist, Sundiata Jawanza, is concerned that his outgoing mail is being tampered with. If you've been in contact with Sundiata and haven't heard back, please reach out to freejawanza@protonmail.com

Shut 'Em Down 2024 + Monsour Owolabi An interview with Courtney of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee & Millions For Prisoners New Mexico and Roc, communications bridge for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and residential manager at the JLS housing center to speak about the JLS call for Shut ‘Em Down strikes inside and outside of prisons in December of 2024. We talk about abolitionism, the organizing that JLS is doing including that transitional housing project and other topics. You can find a past interview with Courtney here. [00:01:49 - 00:47:18] JLS Transcript JLS PDF (Unimposed) - pending JLS Zine (Imposed PDF) - pending Then, you'll hear Monsour Owolabi, incarcerated New African political prisoner in the Ferguson Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system sharing some perspectives on inside-outside collaboration, the role of isolation in prisons as counter-insurgency and the importance of transitional housing projects. Monsour has been involved in Prison Lives Matter, the website https://www.texasletters.org/ has published his writings, and supporters have an instagram @FreeMonsourOwolabi [00:48:35 - 01:08:13] Monsour Owolabi Transcript Monsour Owolabi PDF (Unimposed) - pending Monsour Owolabi Zine (Imposed PDF) - pending By putting these segments together, we are not proposing any organizational overlap between Mr Owolabi and JLS. Shout out to Marylin's Children for inspirational praxis. . ... . .. Featured Track: Remember Rockefeller at Attica by Charles Mingus from Changes One

This week, we're sharing our interview on the Balkan anarchist journal, Antipolitika which released it's Nationalism issue last July. It's now available via PM Press (USA) and Kersplebedeb (Canada) on Turtle Island, alongside the back issues. Our guest is Rey Katulu (an editor of the journal and a co-host of the awesome antifascist podcast The Empire Never Ended) talks about the journal, about fascism, nations from an anarchist perspective and, surprising to some, nationalism as a project of socialist Yugoslavia.. To hear a past interview we aired (recorded by comrades at FrequenzA) an interview about issue #1 of Antipolitika with Rey from 2017, audio comes in at around [00:46:30] . ... . .. Support If you want to support the show, for $3 or more a month at patreon.com/tfsr you can get early access to episodes like this one, or the recently released chat with outside supporters of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's 2024 Shut Em Down protests. Soon we'll be releasing our chat with the editors of the recent Three Way Fight book on antifascism from PM Press & Kersplebedeb and another with members of Antifa International about the July 25th Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. We'd love to see an infusion of cash to be able to do some much-needed promotion of the show, like replenishing our stickers for distribution by radical publishers with their book orders, or even to be able to pay an artist for a new shirt design. If you don't want to do the patreon but have some money to share we also have links for merch and donation points at tfsr.wtf/support . ... . .. Featured Track: Song To The Siren by The Chemical Brothers from Exist Planet Dust

In this discussion we talk to CalvinJohn Smiley about his book Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition, which examines how individuals returning to society navigate and negotiate this process with diminished legal rights and amplified social stigmas.  CalvinJohn Smiley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department of Hunter College-City University of New York. He also has worked to abolish the death penalty, and currently volunteers at Rikers Island and Horizon Juvenile Center facilitating restorative justice programming. We talk to Smiley about his concept of purgatory citizenship, and understanding reentry as a verb rather than a noun. We talk through his application of Walter Rodney's analytical tools from How Europe Underdeveloped Africa to the history of Newark, NJ. Much of this conversation is centered on the experiences of folks returning from prison, and barriers presented by parole and probation processes, navigating housing, employment and many other visible and less visible hurdles. We also discuss the Prison Reentry Industry and its role within the Prison Industrial Complex or Carceral Continuum. You can pick up this book from our friends over at Massive Bookshop.  And speaking of radical abolitionist re-entry work. Our comrades over at Jailhouse Lawyers Speak have been working to build a housing center for women returning from prison. That is still a work in progress and can be supported so we'll put a link to that project in the show notes where you can learn more and support their work there. https://www.jlshousingcenter.com And of course a friendly reminder to support the podcast on patreon if you can. Between the study, the preparation, the editing and all the other aspects of running this show it is more than a full time job for me. Josh also puts in a significant number of hours to the show in addition to other work obligations. We really appreciate all the folks who chip in and make this show possible and if you are a listener who has not yet become a patron of the show, if you can afford to part with as little as $1 a month you can help us keep this show going. We have struggled to hit our goals in recent months and are hoping we can hit our goal for the month of September.  So kick in at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism if you can.

This episode is focused on the campaign to free Sundiata Jawanza. Sundiata Jawanza is a New Afrikan, abolitionist and human rights activist currently incarcerated in the South Carolina. Today we have four guests, Audrey Bomse and Jenipher Jones both co-chairs of the Mass Incarceration Committee of the National Lawyers Guild, Darren Mack of Prison Lives Matter, and Roc, the Jailhouse Lawyers Speak Housing Program Coordinator.  In this discussion J shares a bit about the Sundiata Jawanza's freedom campaign, a bit about the case itself, and primarily we focus on a political discussion of Sundiata Jawanza's work in part discussing his individual contributions, but primarily through the political work that he and his comrades have done through Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. As part of that discussion, we also discuss the overall importance of jailhouse lawyers to the legal education and opportunities at freedom and defense of human rights within US prisons.  We want to ask all of our listeners to please get involved, to connect with Sundiata Jawanza, and to support his freedom campaign by writing the parole board on his behalf. Full details on how to do that can be found at SundiataJawanza.com. To learn more about Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. People can write JLS by mail at:  JAILHOUSE LAWYERS SPEAK PO BOX 673 MERCER, PA 16137 Or email jailhouselawyersspeak@protonmail.com or outthemud.jls@gmail.com Some prior episodes with (or in solidarity with) Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's 2020 Call To Action  “In The Spirit of Abolition” - Jailhouse Lawyers Speak Calls For Shut ‘Em Down Demonstrations "Building Infrastructure: Identifying Tactics for Sustainable Formations": A Panel Discussion Supporting Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's #SHUTEMDOWN2021 Demos

In this episode, we discuss the story of Sundiata Jawanza, who has been in prison since 1995 on a life sentence. Sundiata has spent the last 28 years working towards self-development and has become a beacon of hope for others in prison; he's a selfless advocate for prisoners' rights, is a peer counselor where he supports the mental health of fellow incarcerated people, and provides legal aid and education through his work as a founder of the organization Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. He has also served as the Imam, providing spiritual guidance to the entire prison Muslim population.Jay and Rock discuss the recent movement to free Sundiata, as his parole approaches, what his organizing and activism has looked like, who he is as a person, the role of jailhouse lawyers, and how the listeners can get involved to bring him home. Visit SundiataJawanza.com for more information and to get involved. Visit Patreon.com/Halfatlanta to support the podcast. 

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Nick Stender, a member of the Chicago Teachers Union and an activist with Reds in Ed to discuss the lockout of Chicago public school teachers from virtual teaching as Chicago Public School officials attempt to mandate in-person instruction as the omicron variant runs rampant, the bad faith that CPS and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's bad faith in dealing with the safety of teachers and students, the farce of a testing regimen that CPS is using to justify locking teachers out, and efforts to pit students, families, and teachers against each other.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Alec Karakatsanis, Founder and Executive Director of Civil Rights Corps to discuss the pro-police media coverage of the killing of a 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta and 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez by the LAPD, the whitewashing of the officer who shot Peralta and Lopez, the history of the LAPD's police propaganda campaigns and the use of such campaigns by police departments and other occupation forces, and the insidious focus of the news media on shoplifting and demands for police repression as wage theft and tax evasion by corporations are much larger shares of property crime.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jenipher Jones, Co-Chair of the National Lawyers Guild Mass Incarceration Committee and lead counsel for the JLS International Law Project to discuss a submission by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues on the expansion and abuses of the mass incarceration system, slavery in the US prison system and the intentional nature of mass incarceration, the role the UN might play in the dismantling of the mass incarceration system,and the role of a movement for liberation in delegitimizing the incarceration system. Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Gabriel Rockhill, an organizer, Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University to discuss the first anniversary of the Capitol insurrection and the political theater being played by the January 6th commission, the shady dealings and remaining questions about law enforcement informants and ignorance involved in the insurrection, the history of astroturfing fascist movements demonstrated in the 1934 Business Plot, a coup plot hatched by capitalist interests, the historical bankrolling of fascist movements and the contemporary involvement of capitalists in advancing right-wing movements today, and the persistent threat of fascism that has been met with inaction one year after the insurrection.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jenipher Jones, Co-Chair of the National Lawyers Guild Mass Incarceration Committee and lead counsel for the JLS International Law Project to discuss a submission by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues on the expansion and abuses of the mass incarceration system, slavery in the US prison system and the intentional nature of mass incarceration, the role the UN might play in the dismantling of the mass incarceration system, and the role of a movement for liberation in delegitimizing the incarceration system.

For this episode we offered our platform to some organizers inside and out, who put together a series of discussions on the state and needs of prisoner movements today. This is the third segment of a series of political discussions focused on building support for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's 2021 National Call To Action “Shut ‘Em Down” and looking forward to next summer's 2022 National Prisoner Strike and Boycott. The first two panels were hosted by George Jackson University and Final Straw Radio, we'll link to both in the show notes and people should really listen to all these conversations in dialogue with one another. From various New Afrikan perspectives, panelists discuss cadre development and political education as a crucial strategies toward building sustainable formations and community infrastructure. They discuss how these formations and related infrastructure can propel the prisoners' resistance movement towards the abolition of prisons. The moderator of this panel is coco. coco is a conscious New Afrikan engaging in prisoner solidarity work along with political education & New Afrikan resistance. The panelists for this discussion are: Kwame “Beans” Shakur. Kwame is Chairman and Co-Founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective (NALC) and National Director for the Prison Lives Matter Movement. Kwame is a political prisoner currently being held in Indiana DOC solitary confinement (SHU) in an attempt to silence his work inside & out. Nomi Isaac, pronouns they/them/theirs, is an afro-futurist cultural organizer, and earth liberation advocate engaged in class struggle taking place on Pamunkey Land, or what is commonly known as Richmond Virginia. They co-produce the Black Feminist podcast Race Capitol and are a proud member and support the work of prisoner solidarity efforts within VA Prison Abolition Collecitive (VPAC), NALC, and the Richmond Community Bail Fund. Abbas Muntaqim is a New Afrikan Muslim educator and organizer who co-chairs People's Programs, an Oakland based New Afrikan/Pan Afrikan organization. He also co-hosts Hella Black Podcast. One note on audio, apologies but there were some technical difficulties with the audio coming from Kwame Shakur who was calling us from inside. Those clear up after the first couple of responses, but I encourage folks to stick with the conversation despite the distortion in the audio in his first couple of segments. A reminder that as we publish on September 8th, tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the Attica Rebellion and a second set of “Shut ‘Em Down” demonstrations are scheduled around the country in response to Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's Call to Action.  

This is the second segment of a series of political discussions focused on building support for Jalihouse Lawyers Speak 2021 National call to action #ShutEmDown2021 along with support for the 2022 National Prisoner' Strike & Boycott. In this segment “Interpreting Realities: Aligning Fragments Within the Prison Resistance Movement” moderated by Brooke Terpstra – a longtime resident of Oakland and co-founding member of Oakland Abolition and Solidarity, which has been active since 2016 in the abolition and prisoner solidarity movements–we are joined by two panelists located within the belly of the beast– a conscious New Afrikan Komrade, located within kalifornia koncentration kamps, who is serving a longer than life sentence due to prosecutorial abuse of power, along with Komrade Underground–3rd world rebel, urban guerrilla, student of dragon philosophy and member of JLS–to discuss myths and misconceptions of the us prison structure and how these misconceptions create fragmented understandings about the prison-carceral state and forms of abolition. We also hear how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further isolated prisoners from the outside world. More about JLS at http://www.iamweubuntu.com/ or by finding their accounts on Twitter (@JailLawSpeak) & Instagram (@jailhouse_lawyers_speak). You can hear the first panel on the Shut Em Down Demonstrations, hosted by George Jackson University Radio, moderated by Mama Efia Nwangaza and featuring panelists are Baba Sekou Odinga , Baba Jihad Abdul Mumit , Baba Masai Ehehosi and Kevin Steele. You can find a transcript of this interview in the near future at TFSR.WTF/Zines, and you can support our transcription costs at TFSR.WTF/Support ** This episode, including Sean Swain's segment on the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising and the massacre that follows, detail abuse and brutality against people in prisons, including of a sexualized nature, so listener discretion I advised ** . ... . ... Featured track: Somethin' That Means Somethin' (instrumental) by J Dilla

As its on-going celebration of the updated sixth edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook, Center for Constitutional Rights Co-author and Senior Legal Worker Ian Head speaks with a number of people who have influenced and been influenced by the handbook for the 41st episode: “Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook: Exploring the legacy of inside-outside organizing.” Ian spoke with:●      Brian Glick, a lawyer, Fordham Law School professor, writer and activist, and original author of the handbook;●      Jenipher Jones Bonio, lead counsel, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak International Law Project and program manager for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice Initiatives at Sturm College of Law;●      Lisa Drapkin, director of membership for the National Lawyers Guild, which helps with the distribution of the handbook; and●       Chinyere Ezie, senior staff attorney and co-author of the updated edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook.●      Ian wraps up the episode by playing a recording by Mumia Abu Jamal, political activist, journalist and jailhouse lawyer.In this episode, Ian goes back to 1973 with Brian, when the first Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook which was published as a manual to demystify the complexities of the law for non-lawyers. Brian provides the history of how the manual came to be. Jenipher discusses the mission of the Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a group of anonymous incarcerated activists working to abolish prisons and their current advocacy action, the Shut'em Down demonstrations. Lisa talks about the impact—the number of requests for the handbook and how people on the inside use the handbook. And Chinyere highlights what's new in the handbook regarding LGBTQIA+ law, including new case law about transgender healthcare, visitation, and equal protection, and an appendix that provides state-by-state policies.Ian closes with a powerful recording by Mumia, who lifts up some of the self-taught litigators who have successfully used the handbook.Hard copies of the sixth edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook are being distributed widely to prisoners and prisoners' rights groups. The accompanying Jailhouse Lawyer's website makes a searchable version available to family and friends of prisoners that allows users to browse the lengthy resource and quickly identify the most pertinent information.

We start out by sharing a statement from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak about the Shut ‘Em Down campaign, scheduled for August 21st and September 9th, historic days for Black struggle inside and against prison. Afterwards, we share the first of a two-part conversation between Nicole Fleetwood and Micol Seigel. Fleetwood's recent book, Marking Time: Art in …

This week on the show, you'll hear our conversation with Mwalimu Shakur, a politicized, New Afrikan revolutionary prison organizer incarcerated at Corcoran prison in California. Mwalimu has been involved in organizing, including the cessations of hostilities among gangs and participation in the California and then wider hunger strikes against unending solitary confinement when he was at Pelican Bay Prison in 2013, helping to found the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, or IWOC, Liberation Schools of self-education and continues mentoring younger prisoners. He was in solitary confinement, including in the SHU, for 13 of the last 16 years of his incarceration. For the hour, Mwalimu talks a bit about his politicization and organizing behind bars, his philosophy, Black August, the hunger strikes of 2013, the importance of organizing in our neighborhoods through the prison bars. You can contact Mwalimu via JayPay by searching for his state name, Terrence White and the ID number AG8738, or write him letters, addressing the inside to Mwalimu Shakur and the envelope to: Terrence White #AG8738 CSP Corcoran PO Box 3461 Corcoran, CA 93212 Mwalimu's sites: https://wireofhope.com/prison-penpal-terrance-white/ https://ajamuwatu.wixsite.com/ajamuwatu To hear an interview from way back in 2013 that William did former political prisoner and editor of CA Prison Focus, Ed Mead (before & after the strikes). Other Groups Mwalimu Suggests: Initiate Justice: https://www.initiatejustice.org/ Critical Resistance: http://criticalresistance.org/ California Prison Focus: http://newest.prisons.org/ Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC): https://incarceratedworkers.org/ Malcolm X Grassroots Movement: https://freethelandmxgm.org/ Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party: https://www.facebook.com/RIBPP Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: https://jailhouselawyerspeak.wordpress.com/ San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper: https://sfbayview.com/ True Leap Press: https://trueleappress.com/ Announcements Shut ‘Em Down 2021 This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Jonathan Jackson at the Marin County Courthouse, the assassination of his brother George at San Quentin in California and the subsequent uprising and State massacre at Attica State Prison in New York. Black August has been celebrated at least since 1979 to mark these dates with study, exercise, community building, sharing and reflection by revolutionaries on both sides of the bars. In the last decade across Turtle Island, you've seen strikes and protests and educational events take place around this time of the year as we flex our muscles. This year, as you've heard us mention, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak is calling for weeks of action for Abolitionism under the name “Shut ‘Em Down 2021”. You can find out more at JailhouseLawyersSpeak.Wordpress.Com and follow them on twitter and instagram, linked in our show notes, alongside links relating to this weeks chat. You can hear our interview with a member of JLS from earlier this year about the “Shut ‘Em Down” initiative, or read the interview, at our site and in these show notes. Also, check out our interview with the remaining member of the Marin Courthouse Uprising, possibly the oldest living political prisoner in the US, Ruchell Cinque Magee. Shaka Shakur Hunger Strike New Afrikan prison rebel, co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective and IDOCWatch organizer, Shaka Shakur has been interstate transferred hundreds of miles away from his support network to Buckingham Correctional Center in Virginia (recognize that name?). There was a call-in campaign this week focused on VA Governor Northam, director of VADOC Harold Clark, VADOC central regional director Henry Ponton and Warden Woodson at BKCC. This was in support of Shakur's hunger strike in protest of the transfer, his time in solitary prior in Indiana for having his prescription medication, being moved into solitary at BKCC with minimal hygiene and no personal materials. As noted in the transcript about his hunger strike at IDOCWatch's website, the transfer interrupts civil and criminal litigation Shaka Shakur had pending in Indiana and has caused him to be halfway across the country after his own surgeries, the loss of his family matriarch and another aunt, the hospitalization of mother and other health hardships. You can find ways to support via VA Prison Abolition twitter and fakebook IDOCWatch twitter and instagram New Afrikan Liberation Collective twitter and fakebook . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Blues For Brother George Jackson by Archie Shepp from Attica Blues George Jackson by Dicks from These People

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Kym Smith, co-founder of Soda City Bail Fund and an outside liaison for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, to discuss how the transition from chattel slavery to the penal labor system allowed the planter class to continue to exploit Black workers, and how activists can get involved in the fight against the prison-industrial complex.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Amir Khafagy, an award-winning journalist based out of New York City who you can follow on Twitter @AmirKhafagy91, to discuss the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium, the refusal of politicians to keep people housed and prevent its expiration, and what people can do to organize for a real resolution to serious economic issues. In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kym Smith, co-founder of Soda City Bail Fund and an outside liaison for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, to discuss the transition from chattel slavery to the penal labor system allowed the planter class to continue to exploit Black workers, and how activists can get involved in the fight against the prison-industrial complex.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jalil Muntaqim, an activist, former political prisoner and Black Panther and author of ‘We Are Our Own Liberators', to discuss the history of Black August, ongoing efforts of prison organizing, and the importance of commemorating prison struggles in today's era of mass incarceration and international struggles for human rights and liberation.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Claudia De La Cruz, Director of Culture for The People's Forum, to discuss the surge of the delta variant across the United States and the economic and political realities that exacerbate its spread, the folly of ‘political pragmatism' and and the state of the Progressive movement, and Latin American resistance to imperialism and the West's growing struggle to maintain the current system.

This week on the show, I spoke with Comrade Chux, a member of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. JLS is an autonomous network of incarcerated activists from across the so-called US. They have been engaged in organizing and calling for the 2016 & 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike activities. Chux and I chat about the call for this year for folks on the outside to engage for Abolition on August 21 and September 9th, we talk about Abolition, Black August and other topics. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can learn more by following JLS on Twitter and Instagram or checking out their website, Jailhouse Lawyer Speak, lawyer is singular in this, dot wordpress dot com. You can also find out there about their fundraising, the JLS Mothers Day fundraising effort through Blackstone Career Institute to sponsor paralegal courses for people in Women's Prisons, prisoners they're supporting and more. Also, another podcast that was a great listen with JLS members speaking about the strike, other initiatives and realities of incarceration, check out this Millenials Are Killing Capitalism. Chux mentions: Reverand Joy Powell, incarcerated Black feminist activist and political prisoner in the interview. You can learn more about her at FreeJoyPowell.Org. They also mentioned the firing of Garrett Felber from UM, author of “Those Who Know Don't Say:The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement and the Carceral State,” for his pro-Black Liberation, abolitionist twitter comments criticizing university ties to racists and stymieing efforts to fund an inside / outside abolitionist study program called Study and Struggle. Some Outside Anti-Prison and Abolitionist Groups Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement Critical Resistance Oakland Abolition and Solidarity Florida Prisoner Solidarity Anarchist Black Cross Federation and unaffiliated crews exist, too numerous to name Fight Toxic Prisons Amend The 13th Comrade Chux also mentions Amend The 13th. From JLS's website: “Amend the 13th: Abolish ‘Legal' Slavery in Amerika Movement” is an all-inclusive, coalition-based national campaign and community-based organizing effort which is determined to remove the “legal” and social basis for the dehumanization of those subject to the judicial machinery of the United States – and finally abolish slavery in Amerika once and for all. “ More can be found at AmendThe13th.org. 1 Million Families for Parole, April 3rd Another prisoner initiatives similar to JLS that have been mentioned and supported by the group that are worth checking out include the National Freedom Movement, which is calling for an April 3rd “1 Million Families for Parole” rally across the country to extend the following demands: We demand that federal parole be immediately reinstated. We demand the creation of a mandatory parole criteria and curriculum based on the specific educational, rehabilitative and re-entry needs of every parole-eligible person. You can learn more by reading SF Bay View's story authored by Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun, or more about National Freedom Movement by listening to or reading our interview with Mr Ra-Sun from January, 2021. Sean Swain on Dimitris Koufantinas Sean speaks about supporting Dimitris Koufantinas, prisoner from the 17 November group in Greece who just ended a hunger strike. You can read a translation of his statement ending his hunger strike at EnoughIsEnough14.org. To hear an insightful interview by a comrade in Greece and another in the diasporic Greek community about the situation with Koufantinas and the aftermath of his hunger strike, check out episode #254 of Dissident Island Radio. Announcements Love Zap for Comrade Z There's a weekly call-in to support incarcerated anarchist, Julio “Comrade Z” Zuniga at Darrington Unit in Texas. Supporters are invited to call the Prison Show on KPFT radio in Houston at 713 526 5738 Mondays after 9:30pm CST to give a shoutout to E-Line and B-Line Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee members standing in solidarity with Comrade Z and all of the incarcerated folks at Darrington. There's an image in our show notes for social media, suggesting to keep the message short and sweet, under 15 seconds. You can find our interview with Z on our website, as well as his writings at Mongoose Distro and #Prisons Kill as well as this just published on AbolitionistMediaWorldwide. You can find our interview with Z on our website, as well as his writings at Mongoose Distro and #Prisons Kill as well as this just published on AbolitionistMediaWorldwide. Bring Sundiata Acoli Home There is a currently a petition circulating to press the governor of New Jersey, Phil Murhpy, to grant release for elder Black Liberation political prisoner Sundiata Acoli who is 84 years old and has contracted Covid-19. At his advanced age, Sundiata has developed dementia and has ailing health and is not a threat to anyone. He should be allowed to live out his days outside of prison walls with family and community. More info at the petition linked in our show notes. Bring Mumia Home Actions and information is going and available at FreeMumia.Com to release aging and infirm journalist, Black Panther, author and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal. Keep an eye on his support site for ways to plug in and join the growing calls to release this great man! 40 years on a sham trial is too much! BAD News, March 2021 We'd like to announce the release of the 43rd edition of B(A)D news: angry voices from around the world a commonly produced monthly show of the anarchist and anti-authoritarian radio network, on this occasion composed by free social radio 1431AM, a radio station in Thessaloniki, Greece. This month covers 5 topics over almost an hour. Check it out! . … . .. Featured Tracks: The Anthem (Madlib Remix) by Lootpack RoboCop (feat. Tuesday Tuenasty, Squeazy & Lil Stank)

In this episode we catch up with representatives from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. They talk about the state of the prison abolition and prisoner support movements from their perspective. JLS describe an exodus of liberals from prisoner support movements with the election of Joe Biden. A dangerous trend given Joe Biden's track record as a key figure in the expansion of prison,  jails and police power historically. They also talk about the weaponization of COVID-19 inside prisons as well as the insufficient response from people outside the walls, in light of the genocidal policy COVID-19 policies in US prisons.  This summer, JLS is calling for national “Shut ‘Em Down” demonstrations at jails, prisons, and detention centers around the country from August 21st through September 9th.  In addition JLS provides updates from their International Law Project with the National Lawyers Guild. They also talk about changing demand number 9 of the 10 demands to include the immediate release of all political prisoners. Finally we talk about other concerns coming from inside prisons today, and JLS challenges folks on the outside to move in the spirit of abolition in solidarity with prisoners on the inside. To be added to the endorsement list for the Shut ‘Em Down campaign: email outthemud.jls@protonmail.com For media inquiries related to that campaign: media@incarceratedworkers.org Reminder that we are 100% funded by our listeners, if you’d like to become a patron of the show you can do so on our patreon page. 

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by David Swanson, activist, journalist, radio host, Executive Director ofWorld Beyond War, and author of the new book “Leaving World War II Behind," to discuss the vote by the House of Representatives to approve the National Defense Authorization Act with a veto-proof majority, why the gargantuan military spending bill tends to receive so little public scrutiny each year, and his latest article, "I Agree with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Foreign Bases."In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Aaron Greene, an organizer with Black Alliance for Peace's Africa Team and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, to discuss his recent article, "Lynchings By Law," the wave of executions the Trump administration apparently aims to carry out before its departure from office, and why incarcerated people are some of the 'most oppressed' in the US.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by MOVE Family member Janine Africa to discuss the 1985 bombing of their home by Philadelphia police, why the MOVE Family is rejecting the recent 'apology' issued by Philadelphia City Council for the deadly state-sponsored attack on the Philadelphia neighborhood, and how the city's continuing refusal to intervene on behalf of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal makes the official statement seem so insincere.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ben Norton, journalist, Assistant Editor of the Grayzone, and the Producer and Co-host of the Moderate Rebels podcast, to discuss the cooptation of 'identity politics' in service of imperialism, what the potential appointment of Pete Buttigieg as Ambassador to the People's Republic of China reflects about the bipartisan nature of the 'New Cold War on China,' and why it's likely that 'nothing will fundamentally change' in the US government's aggression against Iran despite Joe Biden's claims that he would be willing to revive the Obama-era nuclear deal.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Aaron Greene, an organizer with Black Alliance for Peace's Africa Team and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, to discuss his recent article, "Lynchings By Law," the wave of executions the Trump administration apparently aims to carry out before its departure from office, and the ongoing, urgent need for solidarity with those behind bars.

You can find links to each of Sean's analysis pieces here. This article covers the week beginning June 28.The Crime Story Podcast has been ranked as the no. 10 Criminal Justice Podcast by  the "Content Reader" company Feedspot. 

In this episode we interview prisoner movement historians Dan Berger and Toussaint Losier who co-authored the book Rethinking The American Prison Movement. Today is the 49th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion, and in this episode we honor the ongoing tradition of prisoner resistance by examining the history of prisoner movements, and discussing the challenges faced by prisoners as well as abolitionists on both sides of the walls amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the current movement for Black Lives in the streets.  This episode is also in response to Jailhouse Lawyers Speak's national call for outside supporters to provide political education between August 21st and September 9th 2020.

We Need To Spread This Freely: JN On HK Under National Security Law This week, I speak with JN, an anarchist who works with the decolonial, leftist HongKonger platform, Lausan, talks about where the uprising against Chinese integration in Hong Kong stands, the National Security Law, tankie and rightwing narratives and international anti-authoritarian solidarity and resistance. The interview about Belarus that I mentioned before was from a recent episode of Elephant In The Room, from Dresden, Germany, which is a member of the Channel Zero Network of Anarchist Podcasts. A few of the media links mentioned by JN are: LausanHK on Twitter, FB & Instagram HongKongHermit on Twitter The Stand News (Chinese language news from HK) Announcements Charlotte RNC 2020 I'd like to remind folks that the 2020 Republican National Convention is going to partially be held in Charlotte from August 20-24. One group that is doing anti-repression work in the area is CharlotteUprising, which can be found on twitter at @CLTUprising, where you can find info about the protests at the event as well as their jail support, including how to make donations. You can learn more by following the hashtags #CharlotteUprising and #ResistRNC2020 JLS Call For Solidarity Aug 19 - Sept 9 You can read the whole release here: To all in solidarity with the Prisoners Human Rights Movement: We are reaching out to those that have been amplifying our voices in these state, federal, or immigration jails and prisons, and to allies that uplifted the national prison strike demands in 2018. We call on you again to organize the communities from August 21st – September 9th, 2020, by hosting actions, events, and demonstrations that call for prisoner human rights and the end to prison slavery...   On August 21 – September 9, we call on everyone in solidarity with the prison class struggle to organize an action, a panel discussion, a rally, an art event, a film screening, or another kind of demonstration to promote prisoners' human rights. Whatever is within your ability, we ask that you shake the nation out of any fog they may be in about prisoners' human rights and the criminal legal system (legalized enslavement). During these solidarity events, we request that organizers amplify immediate issues prisoners in your state face, the demands from the National Prison Strike of 2018, and uplift Jailhouse Lawyers Speak new International Law Project...   The prison strike demands were drafted as a path to alleviate the dehumanizing process and conditions people are subjected to while going through this nation's judicial system. Following up on these demands communicates to the world that prisoners are heard and that prisoners' human rights are a priority. In the spirit of Attica, will you be in the fight to dismantle the prison industrial slave complex by pushing agendas that will shut down jails and prisons like Rikers Island or Attica? Read the Attica Rebellion demands and read the National Prison Strike 2018 demands. Ask yourself what can you do to see the 2018 National Prison Strike demands through. SHARE THIS RELEASE FAR AND WIDE WITH ALL YOUR CONTACTS! We rage with George Jackson's “Blood in my eyes” and move in the spirit of the Attica Rebellion! image by StudioIncendo on Flickr . ... . .. featured track: I Can't Relate - Beatnuts - Hydrabeats Vol 5 (instrumentals)

We have a special prerecorded discussion with a Jailhouse Lawyers Speak representative which we will broadcast this Sunday in it's entirety. We'll also be following up on the rapid growth of the slavery abolitionist movement. including the recent announcement made by Senator Jeff Merkley. "The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery—with one big caveat: “except as a punishment for a crime.” For a century and half, that’s been used to re-enslave American citizens (disproportionately black men). So I’m introducing a Constitutional amendment to end this abomination." As usual, we'll have amazing music/spoken word and the Bridging The Gap series part 16. If you've been missing that segment, you've gotta fix that ASAP. For your own sake. Archives are available 24/7 . Airs LIVE Sundays 7PM EST US abolitiontoday.org

Beyond Prisons podcast host Kim Wilson sits down with Amani Sawari of the Right2Vote campaign to talk about her work on a nationwide effort that grew out of the 2018 prison strike demand to extend voting rights for all justice-involved people. Amani and Kim talk about what it was like for her to teach poetry inside a youth prison and she shares a couple of poems written by her former students. Amani Sawari is a writer, founder of the site sawarimi.org, coordinator for the Right2Vote Campaign and a 2019 Civil Rights Fellow with the Roddenberry Foundation. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media Communication Studies and Law, and Economics & Public Policy. Her visionary publications aid in distributing messages and building community among participants in the prison resistance movement on both sides of the wall. In the aftermath of the Lee County Massacre that occurred in South Carolina’s Department of Corrections, Sawari was selected by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak to be their spokesperson for their 2018 National Prison Strike. Her coordination of over 400 endorsing businesses, groups and organizations led to the successful participation of incarcerated activists in 17 states and 3 regions abroad including, Palestinians held captive in Israeli Prisons, Leipzig Prison in Greece and at Burnside Prison in Nova Scotia, Canada.  In addition to coordinating Right2Vote, Amani is organizing the Statewide campaign to end Truth-in-Sentencing laws and bring back Good Time in Michigan. Today Sawari’s monthly Right2Vote Report is mailed to hundreds of prisoners in 27 states across the country.  Support our show and join us on Patreon. Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and on Google Play Join our mailing list for updates on new episodes, events, and more Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com Kim Wilson is available for speaking engagements and to facilitate workshops. Please contact beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com for more information Twitter: @Beyond_Prison Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondprisons/ Hosts: Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein Music: Jared Ware Amani read the following poems by her former students on the episode:   CHANGING WAYS No New Year’s resolution for me No crying decree No promises, just average changes Less time screwing around More time helping my parents in need Less time skipping school More time going to school Not so many fake friends A few more real friends Not so many regrets A few more successes Less running away from reality More facing reality Less dreaming More accomplishments Change after all…is good Change after all Is all I know   Dedicated to my mom   DAILY THINGS I go to bed every night I see a couple bright lights I hear a couple sounds And they sound like gun shots I smell hot Cheetos Eating them in my bed Sleeping in a king size bed Like rolling hills underneath me Touching my heart with fear Thinking that somebody’s gonna come for me Kick down my door Come in my house And hit me But I hit him back And had no fear.   LIFE OF A YOUNG MEXICAN Just a young child Living life wild Rarely had a father figure So I just started busting triggers I was a good boy Back in elementary Who woulda thought I’d get to see the penitentiary Squares at my school never really liked me I felt misplaced I just wanted to be happy I told my mother Let’s go back to Mexico She said “sorry mi’jo” You just got to let it go I said “Fuck it” And went to Denny middle school Everything was different I started acting like a fool Met some crazy vatos back in 7th grade That was when my life really freaking changed I started kicking it with all the fucking “criminales” We would be posted like a herd of “animales” I started sportin’ that blue I started reppin’ the “sur” I use to think it was about hanging and smoking dope Then I realized that this gang life ain’t no joke Got beat up a couple times Sniffed a couple lines Sold a couple dimes

In this week’s episode, we start off with a call for action from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. JLS is calling for a new set of actions from August 21- September 9, 2020. After we hear from them, we share the story of Nick, a long-time Bloomingtonian who passed through both private prisons and those run by …

In August and September of last year, there were prison strikes in at least 17 states marked by work stoppages and hunger strikes. But what's happened since? How have things improved or, in some cases, been made worse by the forces of reaction? As we come up on the one-year anniversary of the 2018 prison strike, our guest, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak spokesperson and Right 2 Vote national coordinator Amani Sawari joins us to discuss how the unrest of 2018 is being channeled into political reforms.   

This week, we feature three segments. Locals Respond To Far-Right Doxxings First, we'll feature a statement about recent doxing of a number of anti-racists in the Asheville area by far-right keyboard warriors.  A Jailhouse Lawyer Speaks About #PrisonStrike 2018 After that, we feature an interview with Dee, an anonymous incarcerated organizer affiliated with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. In this conversation we ask about the effectiveness of the #August21 2018 Nationwide Prisoner Strike, the push to move prisoners under storm threat as these increase under climate change, repression and changes in response to the strike, mail limitations in PA prisons, standardization of increased security in Ohio, outside support and organizing, critiques of the methods of NPS2018, and more. Check our show notes for links to more info concerning the strike. If prisoners want to communicate with and/or join JLS, Dee suggests in some words near the end of the show that they reach out to: Jailhouse Lawyers Speak P.O. Box 1076 Knightdale, NC 27545 And you can find JLS on fedbook or twitter to keep up with their organizing In our final section of the show, you'll hear a report by audio comrades in Germany about the recent resistance to the destruction of the Hambach Forest by authorities. The clearing of the ancient forest is to create the largest open-pit lignite coal mine in Europe on behalf of the corporation RWE, which sells to Netherlands, Germany & the UK. Lignite has a carbon content of around 60-70%, has a low energy yield, and is responsible for 1/3 of CO2 emissions in Germany. This segment shows up in the November 2018 episode of B(A)DNews, Angry Voices from Around The World from the A-Radio Network, of which we're a proud member. Keep an eye on our podcast stream and website for a link to this episode coming out in the next couple of days. Local Doxxings Within the last week, over 15 people were doxxed by white supremacists in our community. Here is most of a collective statement released a day or two after the fact by some of those folks: They've targeted more than twenty people they believe are involved in anti-racist organizing in North Carolina. They've posted information such as our home addresses, places of work, family members, license plates, social media profiles–whatever information they could find. They seem to be fixating on trans and nonbinary people in particular, and delight in trying to deadname and misgender us whenever possible. Some of us, and some of our family members, have received harassing messages. They wrote about us like it's some big secret that we oppose fascism, that we oppose racism, that we oppose all forms of bigotry and oppression. It's not a secret. We weren't hiding. We are not ashamed. This isn't a plea for sympathy. Our friends and immediate community have been amazing. Rather, this is a message to let you know that if you ever find yourself targeted by neo-Nazis and the far right, you are not alone. None of us need to face this rising tide of fascist scum alone. We have each other. Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter, actively and publicly chatted with alt-right trolls who had doxxed anti-racist activists. He even discussed violence against anti-racists in our region. This is probably a good time to think seriously about your online security and that of your family members and friends. But staying safe isn't just a matter of changing your Facebook settings or making your Instagram private. It's a matter of us showing up for each other. Of us not letting them intimidate us, not letting them isolate us. Not letting them stop us from our work. Especially when the work is stopping fascism. To read the full statement, you can visit https://ashevillesolidarity.tumblr.com/ , where you can also see a list of bands and businesses which have been included in the current harassment. And of course, there are ways to donate and send support! For an article about this (released just as our radio show was airing), including a statement by Firestorm Books contextualizing the specific harassment they've received, you can visit The Asheville Blade, which you can donate to here! To support Firestorm Books, our local anarchist community space and bookstore, you can join their Community Sustainer's Program or leave them a positive review on Facebook, Yelp, wherever you can. Additionally, for a really excellent walk through of how to help prevent this kind of thing happening to you or your crew, you can visit the Smiling Face Collective guide to preventing doxxing. This site can be easily adapted into an interactive workshop, because let's face it, wiping your presence off the internet is a tedious, upsetting, and grueling process which is designed to wear you down. It's always better to do this in groups! You can write to us about your experiences with internet hygiene, good, bad, or whatever, at tfsradioshow@protonmail.com Rural Organizing Against Racism Benefit For those in the Western NC area, there will be a Fall Fundraiser to benefit rural organizing and resilience on Friday November 30th at 6pm at the Marshall Container Co. which is located at 10 South Main Street, Marshall, NC. The event will center around a cornbread and chili dinner and will include several surprise musical guests! Support Anti-Fascist Protestors in Philly And finally, if you are in the position to donate to those injured yesterday fighting the Proud Boys in Philly and elsewhere, you can go to this rally.org page. Remember that if you donate to do so anonymously! . ... . .. Playlist here.

Sahar Francis of Addameer This week, I spoke with Sahar Francis, the Director of Addameer. Addameer is a non-governmental organization, or NGO, based in Ramallah in the West Bank in occupied Palestine that focuses on human rights advocacy, political prisoner support & public education efforts like Know Your Rights trainings. Addameer is one of the projects that is receiving a portion of the profits of the 2019 Certain Days: Political Prisoners Calendar that we've you've heard of in past episodes. For the purposes of broadcast, we had to cut some portions of this chat for the radio. If you're listening to the radio version, check out our podcast version for a few more minutes of chat. More instructions below. For the hour, Sahar tells us about aspects of the Palestinian struggle of the last 70 years against the domination of the Israeli state and a little about the refugee situation of the 10 million Palestinians in the region as they await their Right of Return to their homeland. Addameer (which translates to “Conscience” from Arabic) works to highlight the treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories by the military court system of Israel, in particular the situation of youth as young as 12 years old who face harassment and torture, administrative detention of months and years on end with seemingly no end, and the impunity of the military system's use against Palestinians, and the unequal treatment of Palestinians and Israeli Jewish Settlers in the Occupied Territories. We also speak of the movement towards widening the death penalty under military law and the difficulty of Palestinian lawyers offering defense in the Israeli military courts who aren't usually fluent in Hebrew or proficient in Israeli law, as they study Palestinian law in college. Addameer, as a human rights organization, frames it's work in terms of International Human Rights law as enshrined in the United Nations (UNRWA, The Geneva Convention in hopes of eventual international intervention against the ongoing genocide at the hands of the Israeli government. We even cover the incarceration of Palestinians (in Israel or the Occupied Territories) for publishing critique of the Israeli occupation on social media (1,000's, including Tareen Tatour in 2015). In a segment comparing Settler-Colonialism in the U.S. & Israel/Palestine, Sahar speaks about two Bedouin villages under threat of demolition by Israel, Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank as well as Umm al-Hiran in order to clear way for Israeli colonial design. . ... . .. If you visit our website, thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org you can find all of our episodes going back to 2010. To never miss an episode, click the “podcasting” link, where you can find instructions on how to subscribe to our podcast using iTunes or whatever music app or program you like, including our soon-to-be resurrected Error451 podcast, an occasional tech security podcast from an anarchist perspective. In the near future we hope to bring you perspectives on encryption from the pEp (or Pretty Easy Protection) Foundation, LEAP (or Leap Encryption Access Project) and more. Stay tuned next week for an overview of the 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike with an incarcerated organizer named Dee from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak.   Announcements Phone Zap for Comrade Malik Washington This didn't make it into the recording for today, but this Tuesday, November 13th, BRABC with the backing of IWOC is inciting a phone zap in support of Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington to get Malik out of segregation. Malik has been continuously punished and persecuted, including instances of medical endangerment and solitary confinement with out reason given or recourse. He's also had his property, including legal documents, taken and his communication is greatly stifled at the moment (including legal). Read more by visiting the above links. Digital Security Self-Defense at Firestorm If you're in the Asheville area coming up, on Saturday, November 17th from 4-6pm at Firestorm Books and coffee, Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross will be giving a free, interactive presentation on online hygene and security self-defense threat modeling the far-right. But, whether you're concerned about what info's online that might fall into the hands of the fash, a stalker or just want to tie up loose ends, a lot of the tools and tips are the same. Bring a laptop, tablet or phone to work on. And a few hours later there'll be a concert by Nomadic War Machine at the Bottle Shop, an electronic assault by Margaret Killjoy that you're welcome to swing by. SF Bay View Newspaper Updates In an update to our past episode featuring Mary Ratcliff of the SFBayView National Black Newspaper from August, we have good news! Amani Sawari, who we interviewed in July about the Nationwide Prison Strike as an outside spokesperson for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak prisoner organization, will be stepping up to take on the editorial position at that paper and giving Mary and Dr. Willie Ratcliff a long-deserved break. There's an online fundraiser to help get Amani situated in the Bay Area where you can support the transition and hopefully long next phase for the paper. You can find out more at https://www.patreon.com/sfbayview Anti-Anti-Semitism Action In light of the murder of eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue, Anti-Anti-Semitism Action is asking for your support to take action against anti-Semitic organizers and to defend Jews. We are raising funds which we need to spotlight specific anti-Semitic organizers—especially those who use platforms that cater to the Alt Right such as Gab—to spread their toxic conspiracy theories. Funds will be used to expose and run public campaigns against activists who spread anti-Semitism, as well as those promoters who bring anti-Semitic speakers to their towns. Remaining monies will be used to provide security and protection for Jewish activists who are targeted by anti-Semites. This includes hiring security for public appearances, and arranging security measures at activists' residences. The ADL raises millions of dollars a year to “fight anti-Semitism” but they refuse to do the nuts and bolts work of taking action against anti-Semitic organizers or protecting Jews who are targeted. 100% of your donations will go directly to this. Donate to this fundraiser here Support Craggy Prisoner, Dayvon Person Dayvon Person is a prisoner being accused of inciting a riot on September 24 at the Craggy Correctional Institution, just outside of Asheville, NC, where he was just about to reach minimum security levels. It's requested that people call officials to press them to hear is appeal of innocecence. He is asking that folks on the outside call with persistence, and ask these persons to hear his appeal for this false accusation. You can call: Kenneth E. Lassiter (Director of Prison Facilities): 919 838 4000 919 838 3755 David Rogers (State Representative): 919 733 5749 Ralph Hise (NC Senator representing District 47): 919 733 3460 Express your concern through calling or writing the North Carolina Department of Public Safety: 512 North Salisbury Street Raleigh, NC 27604 919-733-2126 . … . .. Playlist

As reports of the 2018 prison strike actions and state retaliation continue to come in, we speak with Amani Sawari, organizer and media contact with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, about ways to support prison rebels. We also hear from J, a prison rebel who’s among the strikers inside a South Carolina Prison.

Eduardo and Andy discuss the recent prison strike called by Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak.  We cover in detail each of the 10 demands of the strike, and talk about why they are important, and what they expose about the U.S prison system.What's Left? Website:Podcasts:iTunes: Googleplaymusic:stitcher:Additional links:Interview of IWOC member on prison strikeMass Incarceration: 2018IWOCPrisoner WagesPunishment Fails. Rehabilitation Works.Brazil Museum Fires

This week, Roqayah and Kumars are joined by prisoners’ rights advocate Jared Ware. Jared is an activist, writer, producer of the prison abolitionist podcast Beyond Prisons, and co-host and co-producer of the anti-capitalist podcast Millennials Are Killing Capitalism. Ware is part of the press team for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak publicizing the ongoing nationwide prison strike. Jared gives us necessary background on the strike, which began on August 21st, the 47th anniversary of the death of Black Panther prison organizer George Jackson, and is set to continue until September 9th, the 47th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion. Jared describes the important role that jailhouse lawyers are playing in organizing strike actions, and how authorities at prisons around the country are trying to suppress all participation in what is likely the largest prison strike in US history. Jared explains the different forms of resistance manifesting within prisons as part of this strike—from work stoppages and commissary boycotts to sit-ins and hunger strikes—and how detained immigrants impacted by America’s fascist border policies are participating in the strike as well. Jared discusses his work with the press team for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and the importance of amplifying the voices of those incarcerated. We learn why prisoners themselves are drawing connections between incarceration and slavery, and how the strike is part of a broader, longer-term effort to undermine and ultimately abolish the prison system. We also discuss the importance of shows of solidarity from non-incarcerated people, and talk about ways people can get involved. Follow Jared on Twitter @jaybeware. A transcript for this episode will be provided upon request. Please send an email to deleteuracct @ gmail to get a copy sent to you when it is completed. If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

Amani Sawari, the official media spokesperson of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, explained a great deal about the current national prison strike. She detailed the scale of this strike, what prompted it, the prisoners' demands, prison profiteering, which private companies use this exploitative labor, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rackets/support

Ray Luc Levasseur, PT2 This week, we share some more perspectives on prison, stretching back decades. You're about to hear the second half of our conversation from earlier this year with Ray Luc Levasseur. Mr. Levasseur is a longtime activist, Vietnam War vet, revolutionary and former political prisoner in the U.S. Ray was a reputed founder of the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Unit, later known as the United Freedom Front which conducted sabotage, expropriations and attacks against profiteers and symbols of American Imperialism and oppression abroad. After 9 years of activity in the group and living underground, members of the group were apprehended and became known as the Ohio 7. Ray was paroled in 2004, about 20 years after his arrest. We aired the first half of my conversation with Ray back in March where he talked about his time underground, his relationship with Tom Manning and the resistance Tom has given and repression Tom has faced as an aging prisoner in the Federal System for the death of a cop he claims to be innocent of. In this hour, Ray talks about his introduction into political organizing in 1968 after returning from the Vietnam War. Ray joined an anti-racist, anti-Vietnam War and pro-Labor organization called Southern Student Organizing Committee in Clarksville, TN. He was incarcerated in 1969 for a drug charge (he was selling weed to supplement his G.I. Bill), and repressed as an anti-racist prisoner and organizer, and began to put the pieces together about criminalization, capitalism and white supremacy. He talks about his time at Brushy Mountain, where Convict-Lease (the transition of forced labor after slavery) prisoners had been forced to mine coal, and where Ray was held on death row. Ray later talks about the activities of the Marxist guerrilla group, the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Unit, 1975-1978. From 1982 to1984, the United Freedom Front (UFF) began bombing and bank robbery activities for which members were convicted and served time in Prison, again with Tom Manning and Jan Laaman still inside. Ray then responds to our question about his views as a longterm anti-racist organizer about the resurgence of street-level fascist and racist organizing in recent history, and inform us about engaging as anti-racists in support of the Indigenous Penobscot nation's resistance to the Penobscot river being commercialized. Finally, Ray mentions Sacco and Vanzetti being brought up in his trial statements, so I'll link to those statements here. We apologize for the quality of audio during this interview, we were having technical difficulties with our new audio setup when this was recorded. Announcements Prison Strikes The #August21 – September 9th #PrisonStrike is in full bloom with participation around the U.S. among immigrant detainees, folks in County, State and Federal facilities as well as prisoners in Halifax, Nova Scotia putting out a solidarity statement. Rather than list out all of the inside and outside solidarity, again we'll point y'all to https://prisonstrike.com, where you'll find links to IWOC, IGD, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, SuwariMi and other resources and clearinghouses where press releases, images, posters, interviews, updates and call outs are being collected, tools for you to use to amplify and spread this prison strike. And check out this audio postcard that someone produced for the ears of prisoners. Share it with someone inside if you can! And if you're looking for things to listen to, check out recent and upcoming episodes from the IGDcast, Kiteline, Rustbelt Abolition Radio, the newly added From Embers and the recently re-started crimethInc HotWire, all members of the Channel Zero Network of Anarchist Podcasts. NWDC ICE Phonezap There's also a request for a phonezap for Monday the 27th in support of Hunger Striking prisoners at the North West Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. In solidarity with the #August21 Nationwide Prison Strike and in their own struggle, undocumented prisoners at NWDC began this hunger strike on Tuesday the 21st. You can call Acting ICE Field Director, Bryan S. Wilcox at 206 835 0650 ext. 2 and Assistant Field Director for ICE Detentino William Penaloza at 253 779 6000 ext. 1, wait for the message and then dial 4 to get through. It's requested that you tell them to meet the hunger strikers demands and that GEO cease and desist in retaliating against the hunger strikers. More at incarceratedworkers.org/ Silent Sam Last Monday, August 20th , the Silent Sam statue to confederate soldiers from UNC Chapel Hill was removed by anti-racist students and community members and now Neo-Confederate goons are rattled. Saturday, August 25th there was a rally with racists waving Stars and Bars in Chapel Hill and scuffled with anti-racists. A number of anti-racists were arrested and released at the Monday event, then 3 warrants were set for people in the Triangle and more arrests occurred at the rally today. When fundraising sites are up, we'll be sure to pass on that information. In response to the monument coming down, one in a line of monuments in New Orleans, Memphis, Charlottesville, Richmond and even little old Asheville, Neo-Confederates are up in arms. There is a call up for a counter to the League of the South demo in Elizabethton, TN, on September 29th. More info on that can also be found in future episodes of this show. And here're a few announcements we stole from crimethInc's latest Hotwire! Sean Swain Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain is being held in solitary. Call Director Gary Mohr at 614–387–0588 or e-mail drc.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us or melissa.adkins@odrc.state.oh.us (Administrative Assistant for Mohr). You can use this script: “I am calling on behalf of Sean Swain, inmate #243–205. I am a friend of Sean. I am calling to request the ODRC grant Mr. Swain's appeal regarding his most recent disciplinary record, drop the charges, and lower his security level from 5b to 2. Mr. Swain is not a physical security risk, and there is no reason to keep him at such a high security rating where he will be unable to get the programming he needs to be eligible for rehabilitation and parole. Thank you for your consideration.” Joseph Dibee Also of note, we're sorry to share with you that alleged Earth Liberation Front activist Joseph Dibee, was captured by the Cuban state and handed over to the FBI. Joseph is being charges with arson and conspiracy charges related to ELF actions taken almost 20 years ago. Here's a crimethInc article about his case. You can send letters of care and encouragement to Joseph. DO NOT write about his case or reference anything illegal. Write him here: Joseph Dibee #812133 Multnomah County Detention Center 11540 NE Inverness Drive Portland, Oregon 97220 Zurich Tattoo Circus Anarchists in Zurich, Switzerland will be hosting a Tattoo Circus there from august 31 to September 2, to raise money for political prisoners and the Anarchist Black Cross. Find out more at TattooCircusZurich.noblogs.org. Playlist pending

This week, we're sharing selections from an historic interview with George Jackson, whose assassination on August 21, 1971, at the hands of San Quentin prison guards, remains a reference point for the US prisoners' movement.  Indeed, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak called for the 2018 strike to begin on this date in his memory. George Jackson spent …

Hosts Cory and Anna air an interview with Amani Sawari, who works on behalf of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak - a group of incarcerated prison rights activists that have called for a national strike Aug 21 - Sept 9th - Hear about why they have called the strike, conditions in US prisons, the legacy of George Jackson, how people on the outside can help and more.

As we approach the August 21st launch of the national prison strike, Kite Line is focusing on the historic and recent precedents for the current prisoners’ movement.  This strike, called by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak along with a growing coalition of grassroots prisoners' groups, is grounded in four decades of organizing, symbolized by George Jackson’s state …

"You may be nonviolent, but I'm not gonna let these white people kill you”. A presentation with Charles Cobb on This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed. This week we are very pleased to present a presentation done some months ago at Firestorm Books with Charles E. Cobb, Jr.  Charles Cobb is a journalist, writer, and current senior analyst at allAfrica.com, which is “is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing news and information from over 140 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public.” Cobb has had a long career full of landmark moments, for example being the first Africa correspondent for NPR and being the first Black staff writer for National Geographic Magazine, among many other achievements. In this presentation, done on April 2nd 2018, Cobb talks about his 2014 book “This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed”, which details his work from 1962 to 1967 for the SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the most influential youth and student organization during the Civil Rights Movement. He also fills in a much overlooked gap in the understanding of the Civil Rights Movement, that is, the lived experiences of Black people living in the rural South at this time, gives his insights on embedding in communities for social justice purposes, and draws lessons from those insights as they pertain to the current Movement for Black Lives. In this talk he is being interviewed by Carol, who is a long time comrade and friend. Announcements Week of International Support in Lead Up to Nationwide Prison Strike A call from a variety of groups to make some noise for the upcoming prison strike, kicking off on August 21st, 2018. This is a challenge to every anarchist, abolitionist, rebel and determined fighter against prison society and white supremacy in Amerikkka: 'Between Monday, July 16 and Saturday, July 21, we're calling on you to help unleash a concerted and spectacular array of solidarity actions before the upcoming prison strikes! Prepare now, bring mayhem everywhere! As you likely know, prisoners will strike from August 21st to September 9th. They anticipate guards and administrators to respond with violent reprisals, media distortions, and extended lockdowns. Defending the strikes from the outside is an essential component of its success. Don't wait; retaliation has already started and as August 21st approaches we expect to see transfers, preemptive lockdowns, and more. Outside support efforts, in collaboration with imprisoned rebels, have already begun. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, IWOC, and other organizations are building phone trees, publishing call-outs, and mounting pressure campaigns. Another thing outside supporters can do is promote and set a stage for the strike. From July 16-21, we want to make an opening act that warms up the public consciousness and media landscape. If we're successful, it will also be a loudspeaker for the prisoners' call, blaring it past the censors, the mailroom pigs, and the dense walls of isolation and silence that prevent prisoners from knowing what's cooking in other states or facilities until it's already served up cold. The challenge before us is to do things so spectacular, creative, and unexpected that the mainstream media cannot neglect them. Hashtag: #prisonstrike2018. Use any means necessary to break that media blockade: take the streets, paint the town, disrupt the status quo, hack a site, get things lit, or go ahead and chuck your anarchist purity, resort to wooing celebrity endorsements, buying clever ads, or schmoozing your way into the news. Remember, the radical and independent outlets most likely to cover our activities exist mainly online. We need to leverage that coverage to force the big old media (the kind that gets into prisons: TV, radio, print editions of newspapers) to report this news due to fear-of-missing-out. The goal: get the phrase "Nationwide Prison Strike: 8/21-9/9" printed or spoken on the largest platform so prisoners can see it and no one outside can ignore it. So get out there and surprise us! Overwhelm amerikkka's hostile media environment and get the word into prisons large and small across the nation. ' For downloadable Sticker and Poster Graphics: https://supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org/nationalprisonstrike2018/ Groups endorsing the 2018 Nationwide Prison Strike: Jailhouse Lawyers Speak Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee The Fire Inside Collective Millions for Prisoners The People's Consortium WNC Prison Strike Info Session If you're in the Asheville area, Tuesday the 17th from 5-7:30pm at Firestorm, Blue Ridge ABC is holding an info session about the prison strike. There'll be an introduction workshop to writing to prisoners followed by news about the strike, propaganda to take home and brainstorming on outreach methods we can take to get word flowing on the outside and support those rumblings on the inside. This event is open to anyone who's interested in uplifting prisoner voices. Intl Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners In other prison-related news, here's an announcement about the August 23- 30th 6th Annual Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners. From https://solidarity.intenational/ : We are coming back with global week of solidarity with anarchist prisoners. Since last year, a lot has changed in our countries, but the general tendency is going in the worse direction with more repressions applied against anarchists not only in Europe but worldwide. With this in mind, we are calling for sixth annual week of solidarity! Last year lots of people sent us their reports from different parts of the world and we hope that this year the tradition will grow even bigger. We need to support our comrades! Use this week to spread the information about anarchists behind bars. Don't have prisoners in your country? No worry, support prisoners from other countries in your region or use those days to raise awareness of repression mechanisms and how anarchist communities can fight against them! Build up security culture, support your local anarchist prisoners and fight back. Do not hesitate to continue sending your reports to tillallarefree@riseup.net! Nobody is free till all are free!   Intl Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners Also, of note, #J25Antifa is the 4th Annual Day of Soli with Antifascist prisoners. Many of the prisoners that are listed on the NYC Antifa post are within the borders of the Russian Federation and it's a good opportunity to show international solidarity in it's various forms for these good folks facing severe crackdowns.  NYC Anarchist Black Cross is having a letter writing dinner at the Base in Brooklyn on Tuesday, July 17th at 7pm if you're in New York.   Eric King's Partner Needs Help In other anarchist prisoner related topics, the partner of Eric King has just suffered some major tragedies in her life and could use some help. She was recently in a car accident from which she's recovering but now lacks a vehicle for her day to day work life, the childcare of Eric and her two kids, and her weekly visitations of him in prison. On top of that and her partner serving a sentence on which he has 5 more years, Eric's partner was also just diagnosed with thyroid cancer. If you have any extra dough you can toss to her, there's a go fund me page where she's soliciting donations. This can be found at gofundme.com. Sean Swain update To check in about last week's ask about Sean Swain's condition, we have yet to hear anything back from Sean, the prisoner who has for the last 4 years been doing a weekly segment on our radio show. Sean had been missing from the ODRC database of prisoners and not showing up as a transfer to another prison but the day after last week's episode of our show it was brought to our attention that Sean was now back in the Ohio database's website. Anyone with clues about Sean's condition and state of being, please drop us a line at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net.   The Texas prison system is trying terrorist-jacket politicized prisoner Malik Washington!   Politicized prisoner Malik Washington was cleared for removal from Ad-Seg by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's state classification committee last month.  He has spent the past two years in solitary confinement on a bogus riot charge, which TDCJ has since admitted was not for actual rioting, but for organizing fellow prisoners to engage in work stoppages during the 2016 nationwide prison strike.   But as soon as Malik got to his new unit, he was informed that his clearance had been revoked, and that he was heading back to Ad-Seg.  He was given no explanation of why, but his support network did some digging, and found out that the classification committee is claiming to have "received additional information" from the Fusion Center in Texas, causing a determination that "it was in the best interest of the department that he not be released from Ad-Seg."   Fusion Centers bad news; they are based in the Department of Homeland Security and deal with anti-terrorism intelligence gathering, which, as we know, means manufacturing evidence to label people associated with the anti-authoritarian left, and others, as terrorists.     Fusion Centers are shadowy, unaccountable arms of the repressive state apparatus, and are quickly becoming one of state's new favorite tools.  What just happened to Malik is a signal that TDCJ is upping its repression of anarchist-identified prisoners, Muslims, and those engaged in black liberation struggle.     Please share this info with any media contacts you have; urge them to investigate Fusion Centers, and to ask questions about what kind of information they collect, how it is fact-checked, and how this data collection contributes to political repression--and urge them to dig into Malik's situation!    Write to Malik at:   Keith H. Washington #1487958 McConnell Unit 3001 South Emily Drive Beeville, TX 78102     Red Fawn Fallis sentenced to 57 months in jail from Unicorn Riot: In May, Michael “Little Feather” Giron was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for actions taken to defend pipeline resistance camps from police assault. Several other water protectors still face federal charges, with potential sentences of decades in prison, stemming from their participation in the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.Indigenous Water Protector Red Fawn Fallis, a political prisoner arrested during the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, was sentenced today in federal court by Judge Daniel Hovland. Fallis was sentenced to 57 months (4.75 years) in federal prison. She will receive a credit of 18 months ‘time served' taken off of her sentence, from time spent in North Dakota jails before trial proceedings began. Fallis is expected to serve a total of 39 months in prison followed by 3 years probation. In January 2018, Fallis entered a non-cooperating plea agreement in which prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence of less than seven years. In exchange, she pleaded guilty to charges of ‘Civil Disorder' and ‘Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.' Red Fawn and her supporters had previously maintained her innocence, and had stated that Fallis accepted the plea deal under the assumption that she would not receive a fair trial due to prosecutors withholding evidence. Judge Hovland had forbidden Fallis' defense team from mentioning treaty rights or other issues related to her arrest at anti-pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation border. The case against Red Fawn had centered around allegations she fired a gun during her arrest on October 27, 2016, when a massive police and military raid seized indigenous treaty lands on behalf of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The gun allegedly fired by Fallis was later revealed to have belonged to Heath Harmon, an undercover FBI informant who was romantically involved with Red Fawn at the time of her arrest. Before she was sentenced by Judge Hovland, Red Fawn Fallis told the court, “No matter where I go from here I am going to continue going forward…I wanted to move forward in a positive way away from Heath Harmon and the things he tried to put on me while I was trying to push him away.” – Red Fawn Fallis Sharing Is Caring If you like the podcast, share it with someone. We want to spread these voices and their messages far and wide. Also, you can upvote us in the iTunes library to extend or reach. You can find our stuff up on twitter, fedbook, instagram, mastadon, youtube and reddit, plus our most recent show is always up on soundcloud.

In Reports from the Prisoner Resistance Movement, released on the anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison rebellion, we reflect on the intensifying political struggles behind bars by examining two extraordinary flashpoints: Amerika’s nationwide September 9, 2016, prisoner strike, and the August 19, 2017, Millions for Prisoners march. Ben Turk of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World and Firehawk of Unstoppable discuss strategies developing within the contemporary prisoner resistance movement, while Krystal Rountree of the iamWe Prison Advocacy Network explains the organizing efforts inside and outside that made the August 19 Millions for Prisoners March possible. We close the episode with D, an incarcerated organizer with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak who tells us about what went down inside in the wake of August 19 -- and what’s next. For more reporting on the prisoner resistance movement, check out Michigan's Kinross Prison Strike: Reflections from Inside, an exclusive audio archive we’ve created with the help of correspondents behind bars and MAPS: Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity. You can find links to the archive on our website.

Beyond Prisons is on a brief hiatus until the end of August, when we'll return with a great episode featuring journalist Victoria Law. But before we go, we wanted to share our conversation with members of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak ahead of the historic Millions For Prisoners Human Rights March in Washington, DC on August 19. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak is a national collective of incarcerated people who fight for human rights by providing other incarcerated people with access to legal education, resources, and assistance. They inform people of their human rights under the United Nations charter and provide guidance on prison policies and lawsuits. Their advocacy work often makes them targets for retaliation and repression from corrections officers within prisons, which is why they chose to remain anonymous for our conversation. In general, jailhouse lawyers provide support primarily to poor incarcerated people and their families who cannot afford proper legal representation. They are largely incarcerated people who have taught themselves, or been informally mentored by other jailhouse lawyers, and don't have law degrees. They describe their work and some ways that people outside prisons can support it. We also discuss Black August and the fundamental teachings of black revolutionary George Jackson, whose life and work provides a major influence for JLS. Finally, JLS members share their perspective on the 13th Amendment and the upcoming Millions For Prisoners March - which they called for in collaboration with the IAMWE prison advocacy network - and give their ideas for how people can support the demonstration from around the country. Follow Jailhouse Lawyers Speak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaillawspeak Follow JLS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlkJailhouselawyer/ --- Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes and on Google Play Sign up for the Beyond Prisons newsletter to receive updates on new episodes, important news and events, and more. Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @Beyond_Prison @phillyprof03 @bsonenstein Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/ Music & Production: Jared Ware  

Dan Berger joins Brian Sonenstein and Kim Wilson for episode 9 of Beyond Prisons to discuss his book, "Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era." We begin the conversation by looking at whose voices are heard in conversations on mass incarceration and the importance of telling the history of this struggle from the vantage point of incarcerated people. Dan explains that although jails and courtrooms have been critical battlegrounds for Black people's human rights movements throughout American history, the influence of Black prison organizing is often glossed over, despite its central role in struggles from emancipation to the 1960's era civil rights movement and beyond. We discuss the increasing use of prisons as props in mainstream culture, where the focus is placed on the phenomenon of mass incarceration instead of the problem that is prison. We also talk about the erasure of Black political prisoners, who have their revolutionary ideas stolen from them by white American and European intellectuals. In addition to telling us what abolition means to him, Dan shares how letter writing with Black political prisoners was formative to his understanding of race, capitalism, and incarceration in America from a young age. Dan Berger is an associate professor of comparative ethnic studies at the University of Washington Bothell. He is the author of several books and won the 2015 James A. Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians for "Captive Nation." Buy "Captive Nation" from UNC Press. Follow Dan Berger on Twitter @dnbrgr. Read Dan's work at AAIHS. Free Alabama Movement: http://www.freealabamamovement.com/ Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: https://www.facebook.com/BlkJailhouselawyer/ Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes and on Google Play Sign up for the Beyond Prisons newsletter to receive updates on new episodes, important news and events, and more. Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @Beyond_Prison @phillyprof03 @bsonenstein Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/ Music & Production: Jared Ware

In episode 8 of Beyond Prisons, we have a wide-ranging conversation on the subjects of prison labor and slavery. First, we hear more from Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun, an incarcerated member of the Free Alabama Movement, and a member of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a group of incarcerated human rights advocates and prison abolitionists, on the connection between slavery and the 13th amendment, and how society justifies the exploitation of prisoners through academia. We are then joined by Jared Ware, our producer and a fellow abolitionist. Jay worked with the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) during the nationwide prison strikes against slavery. He helped manage their Twitter account, which was a crucial source of information as the strike unfolded. The three of us talk about prison jobs programs, organizing against prison slavery, abolishing the 13th Amendment, and the upcoming Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March in Washington, D.C. We also attempt to complicate the discussion of prison labor by considering the economic relationship between the minimum wage labor movement and the use of prison labor, the ethics of working in prisons, and the relevance of prison jobs to the broader labor market.   Free Alabama Movement: http://www.freealabamamovement.com/ Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: https://www.facebook.com/BlkJailhouselawyer/ Read "Lawsuit May Serve As Template For Challenging Forced Immigrant Labor In Private Prisons," by Jared Ware. — Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes and on Google Play Sign up for the Beyond Prisons newsletter to receive updates on new episodes, important news and events, and more. Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @Beyond_Prison @phillyprof03 @bsonenstein Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/ Music & Production: Jared Ware  

In episode 7 of Beyond Prisons, Brian and Kim are joined by Krystal Rountree, founder of iamWE and national organizer of the upcoming Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March on August 19 in Washington, D.C. Krystal discusses the hard work being done to organize the march and their goal to end prison slavery by removing the exception clause from the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Krystal shares how people on both sides of the walls and across the country can participate in this important action and show solidarity with the marchers. She also talks about the risks incarcerated people are taking to participate, and the struggles people face on the outside to support them. This episode also features currently incarcerated people from the Free Alabama Movement and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak sharing their thoughts on prison slavery and struggle.   Krystal is the CoFounder and Director of iamWE, a Prison Advocacy Network based in the Carolinas. iamWE is a hands-on Human Rights Organization dedicated to advocating for prisoners. Their current focus is the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March whose aim is to end Legalized Slavery by removing the exception clause from the 13th amendment. In addition to the work of iamWe, Krystal is also a local community organizer and works with women and children impacted by domestic violence and poverty. Visit iamWE's website: http://iamweubuntu.com Learn more about the march: http://www.iamweubuntu.com/millions-for-prisoners-human-rights.html Free Alabama Movement: http://www.freealabamamovement.com/ Jailhouse Lawyers Speak: https://www.facebook.com/BlkJailhouselawyer/ -- Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes and on Google Play Sign up for the Beyond Prisons newsletter to receive updates on new episodes, important news and events, and more. Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @Beyond_Prison @phillyprof03 @bsonenstein Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/ Music & Production: Jared Ware