Podcast appearances and mentions of noelle hanrahan

This week, we're featuring two segments. First up, Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders talks about conditions at Red Onion State Prison in western Virginia where a number of prisoners have been self-immolating in order to escape longterm isolation and racist guard violence. You can find Phil's article on the SF Bay View which includes a clip of Noelle Hanrahan on Al-Jazeera talking about this subject, and past interviews with and about Kevin "Rashid" Johnson at this link here. [00:01:02 - 00:41:15] Then, you'll hear Jo, an anarchist from Germany, speaking about the recent building of conspiracy cases against antifascists known as Antifa-Ost, or Antifa East. You can find our prior interview about NSU Watch and Day X here. [ 00:44:45 - 01:11:42 ] More info on Antifa-Ost and the Budapest Structure: https://www.129a.info/en/index.html https://political-prisoners.net/tag/antifa-ost-verfahren/ https://www.soli-antifa-ost.org/ https://www.basc.news/ . ... . .. Featured Track: The Adjuster by Adjuster

9/11/24: 9/11 & the debate. Jen Meeropol: U.S. govt reveals it executed her grandmother Ethel Rosenberg knowing she was innocent. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan & Jennifer Black w/ Abolitionist Law Ctr E.D. Saleem Holbrook: "Beneath the Mountain." Brian Adams w/ Historic Nhmptn's Laurie Sanders: 500 million years ago. Nhmptn Survival Ctr's Hedi Nortonsmith & Alexander Leger-Small: food for all.

9/11/24: 9/11 & the debate. Jen Meeropol: U.S. govt reveals it executed her grandmother Ethel Rosenberg knowing she was innocent. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan & Jennifer Black w/ Abolitionist Law Ctr E.D. Saleem Holbrook: "Beneath the Mountain." Brian Adams w/ Historic Nhmptn's Laurie Sanders: 500 million years ago. Nhmptn Survival Ctr's Hedi Nortonsmith & Alexander Leger-Small: food for all.

9/11/24: 9/11 & the debate. Jen Meeropol: U.S. govt reveals it executed her grandmother Ethel Rosenberg knowing she was innocent. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan & Jennifer Black w/ Abolitionist Law Ctr E.D. Saleem Holbrook: "Beneath the Mountain." Brian Adams w/ Historic Nhmptn's Laurie Sanders: 500 million years ago. Nhmptn Survival Ctr's Hedi Nortonsmith & Alexander Leger-Small: food for all.

9/11/24: 9/11 & the debate. Jen Meeropol: U.S. govt reveals it executed her grandmother Ethel Rosenberg knowing she was innocent. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan & Jennifer Black w/ Abolitionist Law Ctr E.D. Saleem Holbrook: "Beneath the Mountain." Brian Adams w/ Historic Nhmptn's Laurie Sanders: 500 million years ago. Nhmptn Survival Ctr's Hedi Nortonsmith & Alexander Leger-Small: food for all.

Noelle Hanrahan was 57 when she attended law school. As a founding member of Prison Radio dot org, Noelle realized that it wasn't enough to just be a journalist and broadcast the voices of those incarcerated individuals who were brave enough to speak out about prison treatment and conditions, she needed to find a way to get their release. Prison Radio stories serve as catalysts for policy changes, public awareness campaigns and community activism aimed at addressing systemic issues within the justice system. Across the U.S. there are approximately 5.5 million people under a form of correctional control.

2/12/24: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: school receivership & more. Amilcar Shabazz w/ Black Business Assoc Amherst Chair Pat Ononibaku & White Lion Brewing's Ray Berry. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan on Mumia Abu-Jamal. Megan Zinn with romance writer Susan Elizabeth Phillips: "Simply the Best".

2/12/24: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: school receivership & more. Amilcar Shabazz w/ Black Business Assoc Amherst Chair Pat Ononibaku & White Lion Brewing's Ray Berry. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan on Mumia Abu-Jamal. Megan Zinn with romance writer Susan Elizabeth Phillips: "Simply the Best".

2/12/24: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: school receivership & more. Amilcar Shabazz w/ Black Business Assoc Amherst Chair Pat Ononibaku & White Lion Brewing's Ray Berry. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan on Mumia Abu-Jamal. Megan Zinn with romance writer Susan Elizabeth Phillips: "Simply the Best".

2/12/24: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: school receivership & more. Amilcar Shabazz w/ Black Business Assoc Amherst Chair Pat Ononibaku & White Lion Brewing's Ray Berry. Prison Radio's Noelle Hanrahan on Mumia Abu-Jamal. Megan Zinn with romance writer Susan Elizabeth Phillips: "Simply the Best".

Noelle Hanrahan: My name is Noelle Hanrahan. I’m a lawyer, investigator, and I work with Prison Radio, and I’m here with Pam Africa for the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal. Pam,…

Q+A

This week, Clearing the FOG speaks with two advocates for the freedom of political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. Mumia Abu-Jamal is waiting to hear if Judge Lucretia Clemons will grant a new hearing on his case that includes new evidence of corruption in the legal process that led to his false conviction. On February 16, port workers will strike on the West Coast in support of an international day of action in for Mumia. Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio talks about his case and the carceral state. Leonard Peltier has now served almost 50 years in prison on a murder charge involving FBI agents. Coleen Rowley, a whistleblower formerly with the FBI, recently wrote to President Biden asking for clemency for Peltier. Rowley discusses the COINTEL Program, which is very much alive, and the culture inside the FBI. Both call on the public to take action to free Abu-Jamal and Peltier. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Our comrades at the Certain Days:Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar collective have begun sales of their 2023 calendar. The project is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers across North America and political prisoner Xinachtli (s/n Alvaro Luna Hernandez) in Texas. This year features art and writings by Zola, Jeff Monaghan and Andy Crosby, Kill joy, Noelle Hanrahan, Juan Hernandez, Dan Baker, Antiproduct, Upping the Anti, Katy Slininger, David Gilbert, Paul Lacombe, Garrett Felber, Oso Blanco, Mark Tilsen, Terra Poirier, Steve McCain, Lawrence Jenkins, Ed Mead, Windigo Army, Dio Cramer, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Green and Red's Scott Parkin, Seize the Mean and Cindy Barukh Milstein. We just got 10 of them and with a $25 dollar donation to G&R, we'll send you one. [postage included in donation] Just message us at greenredpodcast@gmail.com with name, address and then make a donation at https://bit.ly/DonateGandR. Thanks for the support. In solidarity, Bob and Scott

"The culture of imprisonment tells a deeper story about America. We're not going to get it if we don't go to the prisons and get those voices out." The post ‘This Is America. That's the Kind of Trial Mumia Abu-Jamal Had.' appeared first on FAIR.

Overt, proud-of-it bias has shaped coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal's case from the outset, and current mentions suggest little has changed. The post Noelle Hanrahan on Mumia Abu-Jamal Update appeared first on FAIR.

Anti-Coal Struggles in Lutzerath, Germany First up, we share an interview with Fauv, a radical who recently participated in the anti-coal occupation in the village of Lützerath / Lutzerath (aka the ZAD of Rhineland) in western Germany against the company RWE. We talk about RWE's push to break resistance at Luzerath and the currently-calm Hambach Forest, which activists fear will be attacked by RWE and their goons. More info at https://luetzerathlebt.info/en Transcript PDF (Unimposed Zine) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can find our past interviews on: the ZADs Hambach Forest BAD News We'll also be sharing the September 2022 episode of Bad News from the anarchist and anti-authoritarian A-Radio Network. You'll hear a short update from the 2022 anti-racist football (aka Soccer for you ignorant yankees out there) tournament by A-Radio Berlin, an update from Free Social Radio 1431 on labor strikes by the Malamatina Winery workers in Thessaloniki and the pre-trial release of three prisoners accused of participation in Anarchist Action Organization, which ramped up arsons this year. Finally, Frequenz-A shares an interview with Feral Crust collective in Manilla, Philippines! Check out more Bad News. Announcements Support Russian Antifascist Prisoners There is an article on Avtonom.Org/En calling for support for the 6 prisoners of the Tyumen Case through a fundraiser to cover legal costs and write them letters. There is more info on the case and how to support them linked in our show notes or at https://avtonom.org/en/news/tyumenskoe-delo-sbor-sredstv Exposing Fascists: Best Practices Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists just published a short and thoughtful guide to creating doxxes of people on the far right. You can find it at https://cospringsantifa.noblogs.org/best-practices/ Firefund for Revolutionary Prisoners in Greece From their fundraising page: After all these years, of the continuous persecutions and imprisonments, we consider the existence of the Solidarity Fund topical and necessary. Being one more stone in a mosaic being built by the multiform struggles against prisons, which urge us to act against one of the major pillars of the system of oppression and exploitation. Against the crime of incarceration that reproduces class inequalities, fear and submission. Certain Days Calendar The 2023 Certain Days Freedom For Political Prisoners Calendars are now available for pre-order. There are ordering details in the show notes, including info on bulk orders. The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers across North America and political prisoner Xinachtli (s/n Alvaro Luna Hernandez) in Texas. We were happy to welcome founding members Herman Bell and Robert Seth Hayes (Rest in Power) home from prison in 2018, and founding member David Gilbert home from prison in 2021. We work from an anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist, queer- and trans-liberationist position. This year features art and writings by Zola, Jeff Monaghan and Andy Crosby, Killjoy, Noelle Hanrahan, Juan Hernandez, Dan Baker, Antiproduct, Upping the Anti, Katy Slininger, David Gilbert, Paul Lacombe, Garrett Felber, Oso Blanco, Mark Tilsen, Terra Poirier, Steve McCain, Lawrence Jenkins, Ed Mead, Windigo Army, Dio Cramer, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Scott Parkin, Seize the Mean and Cindy Barukh Milstein. Proceeds from the Certain Days 2022 calendar were divided amongst Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP), Mutulu Shakur legal support, Sundiata Acoli release fund, Palestinian Youth Movement, Burning Books expansion, Puget Sound Prisoner Support , Coalition to Decarcerate Illinois, Appalachians Against pipelines, Community Resource Initiative- CA, P4W Memorial Collective Prisoners' Justice Day healing circle, Wet'suwet'en Solidarity Fund 2022, Cascadia Forest Defenders and NorCal Resist. Proceeds from the 2023 calendar will go to some of the same grassroots groups and more. How to order the Certain Days calendar: U.S via Burning Books (individual and bulk sales)burningbooks.com/products/certain-days-the-2023-freedom-for-political-prisoners-calendar Your group can buy 10 or more for the rate of $10 each and then sell them for $15, keeping the difference for your organization. Many campaigns, infoshops and projects do this as a way of raising funds and spreading awareness about political prisoners.  Use the discount code "BULK" to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each. In order to receive the discount, you must enter the discount code "BULK" at check out. Canada (1-9 copies) via Left Wing Bookshttps://leftwingbooks.net/en-us/products/certain-days-freedom-for-political-prisoners-calendar-2023 Canada (bulk. 10+ copies)certaindays.org/order/ Prisoner copies ($8 & only for people in prison and jail)certaindays.org/order/prisoners/ Support TFSR If you'd like to support The Final Straw, there are a few easy ways. First up, you can like and share our content on all the social media platforms out there, rate and subscribe on apple podcasts, google, amazon and the rest as it makes our content easier to find. You can share episodes you enjoy with folks in your life, use the content in discussion groups or print off a transcribed zine for reading and sharing. More details at tfsr.wtf . If you have money to spare, we have merchandise for sale on our BigCartel or you can make one time or recurring donations via Venmo, Paypal, Liberapay or become a patron at patreon.com/tfsr for one-time or recurring thank you gifts and early access to some interviews. More on this at tfsr.wtf/support . Finally, get us on your local radio airwaves to increase the audience of listeners. More on that at tfsr.wtf/radio . Thanks so much for all the support! . ... . .. Featured Tracks Children's Story (instrumental) by Black Star from Black Star Instrumentals Hip Hop (instrumental) by A Kid Called Roots from Hydra Beats 13 Take Back The Land by Oi Polloi from Fuiama Catha Farewell To The Crown by Chumbawamba Her Majesty by Chumbawamba (based on The Beatles) . ... . ..  

I am Izell Robinson, Minnesota inmate number 320006, an innocent man confined within the quadrilaterals of systemic injustice, fighting to be heard and affect positive change. Yet, to accomplish success, I need you, the listeners, to hear me and act—so I'm only asking if I can be heard and count on you to act While you ponder that question, here's some creative expression to address the plight of social injustices. We lost four black lives to police and the weak, it’s hard to find inner peace When death speak, my head low shake from side to side, could be me and my sons next to die And our complexion aside shouldn't be why, yet police refuse to hear when black doves cry In the state where Prince’s “Purple Rain” turned to bruises and pains Minnesota Nice comes with a price, leaving black life driving so insane when they choke or shoot and your skin make them scared of you Who would ever knew complexion get you killed, have your body left killed, image of you lying still, body camera, cell phone paint the picture, injustice the mixture When black lives matter don’t in America, truth will stare at ya’ on my soap box hoping to clean conscious, death got us nauseous, simple traffic stop leading us to become more cautious. So I'm caught up in the rages of society because these police are shiesty, from botched investigations to murder just to criminalize the poor Systemic racism at the poor, where survival becomes a chore Don't unlock that door because truth is you don't live on my streets when there's no justice and no peace And no words can make our lives matter, where images of police brutality only calls us to shatter, broken to pieces and tears apart from the tragedy We weighed down by the gravity, and your prison reforms is all talk, that's why I prefer to [inaudible] the police outlined in chalk I hope you enjoyed that lyrical expression and that you can find meaning and feeling in my words that will ignite a spark of action and voice of reason within you. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Hey, my name is Peter Kamal Mukuria, also known as Comrade Pitt. Um, um, this commentary, um, is called, um, pertaining, um, an aspect of prison, uh, which doesn't get much consideration. Um, oftentimes many people falsely believe that, um, prisons is synonymous to rehabilitation: you go to prison so you can be rehabilitated and we return to society as a better person. This is a narrative enforced by prison officials and those who will financially and politically benefit from imprisonment of human beings. Um, there are plethora of instances which constitute violence, and prison is a form of such. It has a structure and a number of various criminal acts. Um, a person is forcibly removed from [inaudible] space and away from loved ones and friends, They mobilize especially to make you suffer. Um, the removal from social space is an act of violence. Um, the immobilization is an act of control of a person’s consciousness who is in control of the body, and the resulting suffering serves [inaudible] political or psychological purposes. Um, that's the base structure of imprisonment. The kind was similar or isomorphic to what I just described. It shouldn't happen. It’s purpose is personal gain of some kind for the kidnapper, and its major instrument is constraint. Um, another example is when a man sequesters his wife as a form of patriarchal control, keeping her locked in the house. It’s causing us the same thing, and prison mates furthmore resembles torture. Um, the precondition for physical torture is immobilization, but its main element is inducing suffering so as to control the consciousness such as for the prisoner to behave in accordance with the torturer’s wishes. Um, prisons, despite its accessibility, is in the category of violence in terms of the model father act as well. Um, in this sense, the violent acts of imprisonment does more than punished violations of law. Judicial process claims to punish criminals as a means of making them pay for their transgressions by undergoing a transgression themselves. How ironic! The act of punishment is indistinguishable from revenge. They call of incarceration is a revenge ethic. That revenge ethic is the essence of any and all judicial process that [inaudible] imprisonment, but a revenge ethic cannot be used to respond to, let alone diminish the violence, cause it is itself an act of violence. That's doubling down the violence of society and criminality. Um, this nation has always been in denial of the horror it imposes on human beings, specifically black and brown people who not only compose the majorities of our prison, but are conspicuously the target of such violence while in imprisonment. In order to eliminate the ethos of the prison of society, the commodification of human beings and going beyond capitalism, they come in educational human beings and go and be all is the only way to get past the perpetuation of violence which imprisonment entails. Thank you for your time, and, as always, all power to the people. This is Comrade Pitt with the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, Baltimore, D.C. IWOC, all power to the people. You can check me out on Instagram at @pittpanther_art. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

My name is Torie Chisholm, inmate number 1018519, housed in the Virginia Department of Corrections. I'm an ex-gang member turned mentor and activist, and my goal is to be an excellent role model for my kids, siblings, and the youth, be a great husband to my wife, make my mother proud, and be a productive citizen when I'm blessed to be able to be released from prison. I've been incarcerated since 2003 when I was 15 years old for robberies, and I'm 33 years old now. I received 47 years. I'm truly sorry for my actions. Coming into prison as a young juvenile, I turned to gangs for protection, and I created an image in order to survive a dangerous atmosphere. That lifestyle did protect me, but it caused me to get in a lot of trouble. And I realized that my family and freedom is way more important. I could- I completed a program called Second Chance Quest and became a tutor and mentor in the program. It's a nonprofit organization and they helped me realize that I deserved a second chance. Governor Ralph Northam officially made [inaudible] Virginia, and we are doing the social media takeover in April, so please go to Second Chance Quest on IG. You can also go to YouTube to see my interview with [inaudible] and sign my petition for my parole called Free Torie Chisholm 1018519. Thanks to everyone for making a difference like Senator David Marsh, Jennifer McLean, Mark Pete, Jeffrey Campbell, Lee [inaudible], and Vivian Watts, Senator Scott Surovell in Fairfax, Virginia, the Virginia Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Jaina White to lead the turn of the staff and mentor at Second Chance Quest, [inaudible], and Life of a Life podcast, my legal legal team, Johnny  My legal team, Johnny [inaudible], my mother, kids, and beautiful wife, and governor Ralph Northam by changing the narrative of Virginia and being pro-prison reform. This is Torie Chisholm, god bless. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

This is Bilal Abdul-Salaam Bey, also known as Charley Hughes, inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Hutchinson, Kansas. This is part two, section one of the Kansas Healthcare, Education, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Preparedness bill. Be it also enacted that, upon the passage of this bill, the director of contracts and programs shall implement a program within the KDOC titled “Education, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Preparedness Program.” And the secretary of corrections shall designate all [inaudible] with the KDOC for this program. Such programs should be made available to all people incarcerated within the KDOC irrespective of sentence, including sentences of life without parole and death which [inaudible] should be abolished in the state of Kansas. Once enrolled into the ERREP program, a new social/psychological evaluation will be performed along with the case review of the prisoner’s convicted offense. Thereafter an education/rehabilitation curriculum will be made based on the individual needs of the prisoner being evaluated, and a [inaudible] parole date will be set within 30 days. Capital murder cases. Level one capital murder cases will consist of those people currently convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to death or life without parole with two or more victims, murder of a police officer or a child. These people, eligible for parole, will require special review before parole is granted. Review will involve the governor, a classification specialist, and psychologist of the KDOC, and members of a citizens committee selected by the Free Kansas Movement executive committee. This person, after serving 10 to 15 years, and a form completion of the education/rehabilitation program, will then be eligible for review to be placed in the reentry preparedness phase of the program. Upon successful completion of the reentry preparedness phase, this prisoner would then be eligible for parole upon special review. Level two capital cases- capital murder cases. Level two offenders consist of those people convicted of a capital offense with one victim and who are currently finished to life without parole. These prisoners will not require special review and will become parole-eligible upon successful completion of the curriculum and after serving the full base-minimum. Level two offenders, after serving 10 years and upon completion of the education/rehabilitation/reentry curriculum, shall then be paroled back to society. Murder convictions, all other prisoners convicted of murder and sentenced to 60 or more years will receive a base parole range of 7 to 10 years upon completion of their initial review and will be paroled upon completion of education/rehabilitation/reentry preparedness program. Any prisoner convicted for murder is sentenced to life without parole pursuant to the Habitual Felony Offender Act will start with the base parole minimum of 10 years with enhancements available for each prior felony conviction. A prior felony conviction used to enhance but later ruled invalid will be retroactively deducted from the parole date. This concludes the part two of the Kansas Education Rehabilitation and Reentry Preparedness Program Bill. Once again, this was Bilal Abdul-Salaam Bey, also known as Charley Hughes. Those wishing to reach me may do so by writing Charley Hughes, C H A R L E Y H U G H E S, Number 96576, Hutchinson Correctional facility, PO Box 1568, Hutchinson, Kansas 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

What's going on everybody? It’s Uptown Serg again. We're honoring a true hero. I want to take some time to pay homage to an unspoken civil rights hero, one who made history has set the stage for perhaps the biggest civil rights victory during the 20th century. Her name is Irene Morgan Kirkaldy. 11 years before the world would come to know Rosa Parks, Irene Kirkaldy refused to give her seat up to a white passenger on a Greyhound bus headed toward her home state of Virginia. She was quickly arrested and charged with that offense along with assaulting the policemen who tried to arrest her. Two years later in 1946, a case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States where the justices ruled that segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional. Irene Kirkaldy never sought attention or fame for what she did that day, but without those brave actions, a large part of the civil rights movement would be missing. For instance, it was Irene Kirkaldy’s bold resistance that day which led to her hiring a young lawyer from the NAACP named Thurgood Marshall. And if it weren't for Irene Kirkaldy’s courage that day, her victory wouldn't have led to the very first Freedom Rides in the South in 1947. What’s most inspiring to me about our Kirkaldy is that her resistance was spontaneous, not planned by some committee in a boardroom. When asked where she got the courage to resist that day, she replied: “I can't understand how anyone would have done otherwise.” Today, so far removed from the civil rights era, we sometimes take for granted those things in life that have become such a regular part of our existence. Maybe we think that we would have easily done what Irene Kirkcaldy did that day. In truth, the only thing that we easily do is talk about what we would have done. I can only hope that, if faced with a similar dilemma, I will act in a similar way. But the fact that I can even imagine being faced with a similar dilemma shows just how slow progress really is in America, just how far we still have to go. Nevertheless, on this day I salute Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, a true African-American shero. Irene Morgan Kirkcaldy died in 2007 at the age of 90. Thanks for listening. I'm Uptown Serg. Follow me on Instagram @uptownserg. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

So this poem is titled “Their God.” Former president Trump claimed to be a Christian, and former vice president Pence claimed to be a Christian. David Duke, formal leader of KKK, claim to be a Christian. This led me to wonder how their gods like, who they typically [inaudible] their knees, meld their hands together, and pray to. My vision led me to their God being a white male with a mullet, yes a mullet. On the weekdays, he probably wears a flannel shirt with no sleeves and a fanny pack to compliment the look. For pajamas, he probably wears the Ku Klux Klan robe, and he's an avid FOX News viewer. Huh? I bet their God rocks out to the national anthem and enjoy the hypocritical lyrics that they're in, and his favorite hobby is burning crosses. I bet their God attended a high school which serves racism in the cafeteria for lunch every day, and hate speech is their God’s first and second language. I bet that God has a tattoo sleeve on both arms full of swastikas and racial slurs for the sake of making intolerance more comfortable, and a constant reminder that Jews would not replace them and black lives don't matter—words echoed at the Charlottesville rally. I bet their God has constant daydreams of nostalgia over the good old days of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. I bet their God is a closed-minded, intransigent homophobe who doesn't recognize LGBTQ+ community as human beings worth of respect and dignity like everyone else, because equality was his most despised class in school. I bet their God is an indomitable sexist and misogynist. I bet their God is surrounded by angels in heaven with black eyes and broken halos who claimed they fell on the stairs. I bet their God created Eve without a mouth and only taught her how to spread her legs and invented the most effective ways to keep women subservient. I bet their God is calling me all sorts of N-words as he hears my voice right at this very moment. Come to think of it, their God isn’t some omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God. Their God is actually one that we might encounter every day. So someone tell their God that my God is looking for him with vengeance being the topic on mind. Uh, so this is, um, you know, Peter Kamau Mukuria on Instagram @pittpanther_art. So, um, for full disclaimer, I hope you enjoy the poem, but for the sake of clarity, if you are listening and you happen to be a white male who has a mullet and wears flannel shirts with no sleeves in a fanny pack, if that happens to be you and you're on the right side of her-story, and you are, uh, the anti-racist, the anti-homophobe anti-misogynistic, anti-sexist [inaudible], then this is not about you. This is directed to those who cannot tolerate other people for simply who they are. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

Sup everybody, this is Uptown Serg, and this piece is called “Why Prison Radio.” As prisoners approach a full year [inaudible] on an enhanced lockdown, we still find it difficult to galvanize enough public support to make critical and necessary changes to PADO policy. This lockdown has put the prison system’s unwritten policy of inhumanity in full display, once again proving that the true purpose of prison is to torture human beings. People often ask me why I choose to use Prison Radio to voice my concerns. It's a legitimate question. After all, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has a grievance system, and if that doesn't work, prisoners have the ability to challenge our conditions in court. The problem with these processes is that they don't work. They all smoke and mirrors: simple measures of reform put in place to keep prisoners in a disadvantaged position. Therefore, when it comes to prisoner’s rights, our only real hope is for public involvement. However, prison officials have always countered our claims of abuse with their own claims of self-righteousness. They claimed that we’re just a bunch of unhappy convicted criminals who don't like following the rules, and because the public is conditioned to believe so-called law enforcement, these false statements of prison officials are rarely challenged. The mainstream media, whose job it is to report facts, seem to be noticeably quiet on the topic of human rights abuses in prison. On the rare occasion that they do report on prison issues, it’s because the violation is so egregious that it can't be ignored. Let's face it: the sad reality is that society is seasoned to think of prisoners as little more than liars and complainers. This is why Prison Radio is so important and necessary. It's an on-the-record, first-hand account of what's taking place on the inside of prisons. And if you do a thorough investigation of the claims made by prisoners on Prison Radio, you will undoubtedly see that these claims are not lacking in validity as prison officials and their co-conspirators in the mainstream media would like to believe. For example, since this pandemic has began, prisoners have been attempting to expose the negligence and dangerous measures being implemented by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, specifically John Wessel and his team of cover-up artists. Journalists on the inside have greatly reported on the increasing number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. However, those reports have been consistently attacked and denied by DOC officials. Time and again, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has directed their spokespersons to feed knowingly false information to the public. A recent report by Spotlight PA has exposed how John Wessel and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has been manipulating the numbers of prisoner infections and deaths. When confronted by the report, Wessel accepted responsibility but still blamed others. This report noted that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has been double counting tests, giving the appearance that widespread testing is taking place on the inside of Pennsylvania prisons. The report also exposes how deaths among prisoners and staff are often documented but later removed, causing some to wonder if there's really something to hide. Of course, these curious maneuvers aren’t so curious to prisoners and our supporters and loved ones. The Human Rights Coalition, the Coalition Against Death by Incarceration, Decarcerate Pennsylvania and other organizations have been making these claims from the very beginning, and no public outcry followed. This report underscores the urgent need to release vulnerable prisoners. Some critics claim that, even in the midst of a deadly pandemic, prisoners are among society’s safest demographic. Spotlight PA’s and the Pennsylvania DOC’s own reporting says otherwise. For example, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has reported over 13,000 positive cases of COVID-19 within its 24 state prisons with a population of only about 45,000 prisoners. The infection rate is a staggering 30%, clearly confuting any bizarre claims that a prison environment is safer than a home environment. This issue doesn't only affect prisoners. Staff too are growing wary of John Wessel and his mishandling of this crisis. At this point, I must ask the question: if the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections would so blatantly lie about the handling of COVID-19, can you imagine what else they lie about due to their audacious presumption that the public will accept whatever they say? This, fellow listeners, is why Prison Radio is as vital to society as the oxygen one needs to breathe. The hard truth is that prisoners have no real recourse. When violated, our best and only option is to report that violation to the violator and hope that he or she holds themselves accountable: a dream scenario which has never once happened in the history of relationships between the oppressor and the oppressed. I strongly encourage all of you that urge your family and friends to tune into Prison Radio more regularly so that they can listen to journalists on the inside give true [inaudible] accounts of what we're up against. This is our version of the mainstream media. This is who we trust to represent the real concerns of people on the inside of prisons. You don't have to take my word for anything: ddo your own research. But in your journey to find the truth, if your moral conscience tells you that everything you thought you knew was wrong, I hope that you find the courage and fortitude to then do what is right. Thank you for listening. I'm Uptown Serg. You could follow me on Instagram @uptownserg. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

Hey there, this is, um, Comrade Pitt, Peter Kamau Mukuria, calling in from Red Onion State Prison in the state of Virginia.  This piece is called “Serve the People, RIBPP Free Food Program.”  So every Friday and Saturday, the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party (RIBPP) launches the free food program. Every Friday, the Panthers, along with community volunteers of North New Jersey, prepares and serve hot meals for the homeless. And every Saturday, the Panthers distribute hundreds of free grocery bags to community members.  These programs were first implemented- implemented Saturday, October 26, 2019. On its October 26 unveiling, the program distributed over 150 bags of groceries to the people. Each bag contained fresh meats, tuna, assorted vegetables, bread, eggs, etc.  This critical program was first implemented by the original Black Panther Party in September 1968 under the leadership of Bobby Seale. Despite having myriad of community programs, the free food program was unequivocally the most essential program for it directly met the people’s most basic need: food.  The message was relatively simple: we are you, your problems are problems. Exploited people need a- land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace, and the Black Panther Party shall not, for one day, alienate ourselves from the masses and forget their needs for survival.  The ideological objective of this program: to raise public consciousness about hunger, homelessness, and abject poverty. However, feeding the homeless and distributing free food isn't by any means intended as a charity case, or handout. Quite the contrary.  The ideological basis is to empower the people by demonstrating that, through our own cooperation and collective power, we can indeed solve our own problems, meet our own needs, and ultimately free ourselves from this exploitative and oppressive order which enables a handful of scavengers to hoard and monopolize socially produced wealth and resources while everyone else suffers.  A leopard cannot change its spots, and capitalism cannot change true nature. It is driven and governed by only one law, which is the maximization of profit. Even during a pandemic, the government is yet proving once again that it utterly incompetent and unable to meet the people’s material needs because it cannot see it as the interests of the wealthy elite and its sheer greed.  As the rich continue getting richer, capitalism has created artificial scarcity barely enough to live on and [inaudible] politicians cannot even unite to pass simple COVID relief bills to ensure that the people’s needs are met. Therefore, how can we somehow expect our salvation to derive from the same system which created our own problems and refused to address them?  The survival and continuity of Serve The People Free Food program hasn't been an easy feat, especially since the pandemic hit. Yet since October 26, 2019, the homeless have been served every Friday and hundreds of free grocery bags continue to be distributed every Saturday. This wouldn't be possible without the donations we receive in every pastor, comrade, volunteer who shows up no matter the weather to ensure that the people’s most basic needs are met.  And I personally want to take this opportunity to thank every Panther, comrade, community volunteer, and donors for ensuring the program’s survival and this- this program will still be replicated in other states. More people won't go to sleep on empty stomachs. All power to the people and, all is surely, all power comes from the people.  Check us out on Instagram and Facebook at Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party. Check me out on Instagram at @pittpanther_art. This is comrade Pitt, Peter Kamau Mukuria, checking in from Virginia.  These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

This is, uh, Mr. Quincy Jones, um, uh, CC number BI9263. Of course, as of the officer abuse, November 10th, nurse Deseree made a medical report that did not show any of the significant injuries I have- that occurred when I was seen the next day by the pill call nurse when they, uh, sent me to A Yard, A5 to be exact. I was immediately seen by the RN who sent me immediately to San Joaquin Hospital within a matter of a couple of hours, um, uh, with these significant injuries, um, the very next day. So, uh, two sergeants come to see me, like I say, the very next day. And, um, they tell me, MB5, that if they're going to have the nurse do a second incident injury report. And after she's finished with that, they're immediately going to do a, um, they're going to conduct a use of force interview where they're going to use a camcorder, um, to record the injuries to my right eye and the severe injury to my left, uh, shin bone. So now I'm at the point where, um, the law firm RBGG, located in San Francisco, RBGG, they're located in San Francisco, they've been, um, helping me with, uh, different matters, um, that I going through at this facility this whole years since I've been here. But I want to thank RBGG for, um, you know, sticking by me and now I'm- they- actually- um, because of what's going on now, they set up a private, uh, interview for the 22nd of February, um, coming up shortly in about a week or so, so, you know, it was going to be very interesting because you know, the private call, you know, um, nobody can hear what you say with your attorney. So I'm looking forward to that, you know, seeing what our next move was gonna be. Like I said, my first segment, you know, a lot of things are going on. Um, to address these horrendous and horrific, uh, situations that go on with law enforcement and, um, and uh, people of color. But as I feel a lot of is not being done, the rest that goes on behind prison walls. So I want to thank RBGG once again, and I want to thank, uh, Prison Radio. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Dear controller of my days, I want to be you, earning the inalienable right to rule over the stooped women of waywardness. My desire is to have my polyester pants weighted down by the keys that secure each cell door. I wish to rule what's behind each one of them and have no clue to what key goes to what door. I want to laugh about that, with the captives, a dream of setting the tone at 6:00 AM for the offenders by refusing to answer simple questions, slamming doors, or glaring at them. My mood would make or break their day. I want your right. I'd feel enlivened having inmates clear a path for my presence without me uttering a word. Behind my booming voice, I would observe these same women keep lowered gazing while jerking, recoiling, and scurrying out of my way. Every day, I sit for many hours, but run to protect my power from the danger of a 90 pound, detoxing,  depressed female's fingernails. I want the constitutional right to look down on those that put themselves there. I want your innocence. I wish to sleep soundly after a cleansing thought of those people, getting their just dues and safer communities, want to slip into your smooth purified skin and know what it's like to have never done anything that bad in my life. I want to feel guiltless over how I treat them. My clean conscious entitling me to a queen throne, I'm going to play with questionable acts in my past, as I surely would be. I smirk and never question my motive, my character, or my spirit as you. I want your life. When I get promoted as I most assuredly will, I will thank the minorities, the addicts, the poor, and obviously the dumb as crump criminals. I be guaranteed stability via the misery, mistakes, circumstances, and sufferings of another. I wouldn't flinch while building my career on a graveyard. Surely, I see this place with its electrified fences. Its [inaudible] loaded assault rifles and revolving door as a necessity. I long to be you. If I were you walking past me, I feel so much better about my life. Do a quick comparison, clear my throat and look for someone to speak to that's just behind me. I crave thinking of vacation time while whistling, just like you. If I were you, I'd ignore me. As a matter of fact, I want to do over. My name is Laura Taylor. I'm a life worthy of progress. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

This is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey at the Hudson Correctional Facility. This piece is about the Kansas freedom bill called Kansas' Healthcare, Education, Rehabilitation, and Re-entry Preparedness Bill Part 1. Section 1: be it enact a law that, by December  15th, 2021, Kansas Department of Corrections will reduce this prison population down to its designed capacity. Due to the ill effects of COVID-19 inside KDOC, prisoners who have the following health problems should be release from prison immediately: Bronchitis, TB, Asthma, HepC, HIV and Diabetes. Prisoners are more prone to get COVID-19 than others due to us being confined in closed spaces. We don't have enough room to practice social distancing. For these obvious reasons, the secretary of KDOC is ordered by this law to release no less than 100 prisoners per month per year beginning January 15th, 2021 until the prison population is reduced to its current designed capacity. Section 2: be it also enacted that a moratorium shall issue upon the passage of this bill stating that no person convicted of a crime in the state of Kansas, so be transferred without legitimate reasons to any out-of-state facility. In order to address the ill effects of mass incarceration for private financial motives, no other public or private prisons outside the state of Kansas shall be used to house anyone convicted of any crime within the state of Kansas. This concludes the first two parts of this bill. Those wishing to get in contact with me may do so by writing "Charley Hughes" number 96576, Hutchinson Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 1568, Hutchinson, Kansas 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

I'm Heather Jarvis, and this is "People Not Pest." At 22, I was arrested and admitted into the masses of incarcerated in our country. I found my so-called [inaudible] bathroom with a burly female officer staring at my naked body, showed a five o'clock shadow, and a look that screamed, "Don't fuck with me." I was addicted, young, and scared, but back then, I still had an attitude that loved to challenge authority. So I shot back my best "Don't fuck with me either" look I could muster while standing completely bare. She nodded knowingly. Her intentions were to break me. "Hands up, shake out your hair, and lift one breast at a time," she said slowly. She got off on her dominance over me. I had no choice. She had the power. "Turn around and place your legs wide apart, bend over, touch your ankle." There was no compassion, no sympathetic gesture for me to cling to. She seemed to be an unfeeling cruel woman. Every defense I had was on high alert. My knees bent a little during my effort. I wasn't flexible. "You can do better than that. Let me see the pink," she belted. The statement took my breath. Following her instructions, I went through a series of squats and [inaudible]. It felt like a morbid game of leapfrog. My inhibitions were screaming. She produced a canister with a hose. She looked like a Ghostbuster. I looked back at her, I'm sure white as a ghost, wondering what she was planning? She aimed it at me and then, without warning, an icy liquid blasted out, hitting my genitals and armpits. That is what incarcerated individuals are seen as in my country: pests that buzz around the system. I'm not a pest, I'm a person. My country's justice system is designed to disrupt your sanity and annihilate your dignity from the very beginning. No matter how strong I pretended to be, and no matter how much attitude I shot back, I was still broken. I was terrified. I couldn't hold it up the roof anymore. I was too expose. I broke. My lip quivered in tears, leaked down my cheek. The liquid saturated my hair, ran down my forehead, burnt my eyes, and it smelled like chemicals. Later, inmates told me the process is called being "quailed." "Quailed" means to grow feeble, recoil, and [inaudible]. I've learned America's justice system relies on this tactic. They are bullies. They want to belittle the accused, scare us into plea bargains, and sometimes admit things we didn't do. For a while, I did recoil. For a while. I did let them win. For a while, I had no idea how afraid I should be of my country, but most importantly, for awhile, I just thought that was the name of the pesticide. Now I know, and so do you. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

This is Mr. Quincy Jones. My, uh, CDCR number is B as in boy, I, as in Indio, 92603.  I am currently housed in CDCR New Folsom in California. I have recently been a victim of police brutality, actually correctional officer brutality. You have to be very specific about these titles, especially when you take into account all that's being done out there on the streets: the protesting and making a stand to say that this treatment of people of color must come to an end today. To see so many white people protesting the solidarity for the cause is very humbling to a person like Quincy Jones. Recently, as I was saying, I was a victim, November 10th at New Folsom on CR um, officer, uh, brutality. I was, uh, thrown to the ground while handcuffed on my right eye, and, um, I- I've suffered, uh, how severe trauma to my right eye. And I was also, um, according to San Joaquin Hospital in Stockton, California, they said I had a broken, left shin. Um, my, uh, my knee, my left leg injury is still, uh, you know, causing me a great deal of pain at this time. Uh, from November 10th, all the way until recently as a week ago, I was housed in the SHU program, SHU program meaning, uh, basically, uh, you get one phone call a week, and if you want to go to the yard, you do it inside of a cage, like an animal. I feel that that was very wrong for them to do me like that. Captain Conrad also felt that it was wrong for them to do me like that and wanted them to give me more phone call uses. But they refused to listen to the captain. So Quincy Jones' treatment at this facility, uh, I feel is, uh, very, uh, unfortunate. I see a lot of things going on, uh, to help, uh, the abuse has taken a place on the street, but I don't see a lot of people standing up and making noise for what's going on behind these walls, these prison walls, these jail walls. Um, Because a lot of abuse is, is, is actually happening in here. And, um, you know, I don't know, you know, a lot of people, they probably don't want to tell their stories, but I think these stories need to be told. I think a lot of people around the world are listening right now. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Hello my name is Elizabeth Anne Green. After 33 years of being in prison, I have learned to give back instead of hurting others. It is very sad that I had to come to prison to learn that I should not do drugs and not hurt others in order to get money. I have done many things to improve myself. These things include taking victim awareness, thinking for a change, and drug-related groups among others. I tried very hard to mentor other inmates coming to prison so they don't become like me, learning the hard way like I did. Each day, I try to improve my life [inaudible]. Being in a place like this can become very hard, but I fight to change way of thinking, so I will never have to repeat my past mistakes. Now, I just want to give back. I even earned my GED. Now I am a tutor, love learning and going. My name is Elizabeth Green, and I'm a life worthy of progress. Thank you. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

What I want people to know about me: I'm a mother, a sister, an aunt, but most of all, I'm a human being capable of feeling. My life has been filled with deep rejection. My chest has been broken over and over again by people who were supposed to keep me safe. I sometimes think of that word "safe" and what it means, and I've come to realize I've never known that feeling. I've lived the life filled with drug abuse to escape my reality of the life I was given, and I often ask myself what would my life have been like if I had been dealt a different hand, if I had had a mother who loved me, if I didn't come from a broken home? What did I do to deserve such a life filled with pain and heartache? The older I got, the more walls I put up, and the stronger I became. What I left behind is my son: the one good thing in my life, the one thing I was good at. I've often asked myself, am I a monster, an evil person? And this is what I came up with: no. I'm not evil. Yes, I'm worthy of God's love. So why am I not worthy of yours? I've never understood how the justice system works. When you go in front of that judge, do they see you or just a number? Do they think or consider what made you into the person who is standing in front of them, waiting to be sentenced? Oftentimes, I don't feel human or normal. I guess, having to train yourself at the age of 10 to not cry or show fear because the person who is hurting you enjoys the pain she is inflicting on her child: the child she's punishing because the child looks like her father. My trust was broken long ago. I grew up not trusting anyone, not having a life a child is supposed to have, like making friends, going to the mall, hanging out. I'm 45 now, and I do not know how to comfort someone when they are hurting or share my feelings and open up. I'm socially awkward. People ask me, how can I walk around with this smile on my face, knowing I'm doing a life without sentence? And I told him, I've- I've accepted my sentence because, yes, my actions led me here. I want other women who see me to have hope, to know you can be strong. You can get through this. And if my story can help someone else from making my mistakes. Then that helps me get through my day. Don't get me wrong: I'm still upset that I was dealt this hand. The system turned its back on me and instead of helping me, it locked me in a box and threw away the key. Do I not deserve a second chance? Can I not be redeemed? Is my life not worth saving? I wish I could go back to the night of my crime and change the outcome. I would have walked up that door like I did so many times before, but they say God has everyone's past picked out for them. So he knew what I was going to do before I did it. So I asked, what was his purpose for this? Is it to help someone else like me? That's what I have to tell myself. Some days it's hard to keep my faith to not question God. I struggled violently within myself, hiding my pain, hiding the scared little girl who was still lost somewhere inside me, hoping the world doesn't see that I'm going horrible, that I'm lost and I'm confused. If I could send a personal message, it would be- it would be a heartfelt apology to my victim's family. I was denied that right [inaudible] between the two people I put my trust in, who was supposed to be fighting for me, who was supposed to tell my story and make everyone understand the life I was dealt and said I was just another case on their docket. I'm truly saddened when I think about all the lives that were destroyed the day I made the choice I made. Please understand: I'm human and, like you, I'm capable of making mistakes, but I'm far from a heartless monster. To my son, the most important and most valuable thing I have in my life: I wish I could give you back all those precious years we lost as mother and son. I'm deeply sorry for all the years that are yet to come that I denied you of. I regret not seeing you go from a sweet blue-eyed innocent little boy and to the man yours today. I know you're going to be a great one. I'm so very proud of you. And know when I talk about you, which is quite often, I talk about you with pride and awe, because even though you were dealt the hand you were dealt, you're going to do wonderful, great things. I'm so proud of you, Jonathan Ryan Murphy. I can't say that to you enough. Please never forget you accepting that ever happened to me. [inaudible] I hope one day you will open your heart and your life back up to me and give me the chance to be the mother that you deserve. My name is Margaret Kenny, and I am a life worthy of progress. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Sup everybody. It's Uptown Serg, and I got this piece that I want y'all to listen to. When I arrived at SCI Chester back in 2016, one of the very first elders I met and befriended was Tommy Pirant. He was a gentle giant in the seventies and walking with the aid of a cane. Prison conditions had destroyed both of his knees, eventually putting so much strain on his back that he needed multiple surgeries. When it got really bad, I forced Tommy to let me push him in his wheelchair as we both made our way to the medical department for our daily shots of insulin. See, like me, Tommy was a diabetic, but he had it under control. I remember getting a good laugh whenever I see this big old man walking around the unit with his tiny Chihuahua named Penny. Man he loved Penny, and Penny loved him. He treated that dog like family, but that's how Tommy was and everybody knew it. In fact, not long ago, he received a letter from the family of the person he was in prison for killing. They had forgiven them and wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help him to get out of prison and rejoin his family and community. Soon after receiving the letter, he started the commutation process, hoping for relief from the life sentence that he'd been serving for nearly 30 years. That relief, however, never came. On January 23rd, 2021. My elder Tommy Pirant died from COVID-19. The deadly virus was Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wessel has allowed to spread uncontrollably throughout the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. With the elderly most at risk of succumbing to this virus, many people believe that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is turning a blind eye to the danger, hoping that the virus will finish what the government started. In Pennsylvania, a life sentence is a death sentence. And with the aging population of prisoners steadily increasing, so too is the prison budget. This leaves many of us to wonder if the  Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and government officials are conspiring to rid themselves of costly financial liabilities. Such a cynical thought shouldn't be summarily dismissed. In fact, many years ago, the federal prison system embraced the policy of death by attrition with political prisoners and other elder leaders would be thrown into solitary confinement until their deaths. The idea was to let these leaders die off through old age and other health issues. Since this pandemic has begin, several of our elders have died. Several more remain sick but are still fighting. When I heard that Russell "Maroon" Shoatz was sick with COVID-19, I felt an ominous pain in my stomach, similar to the one I felt when I received news of my own father's death. Like Tommy Pirant, Russell Shoatz is in his seventies. He has been incarcerated for nearly five decades straight. And during those 50 years, Russell Schoatz has been a leader, mentor, teacher, and father figure to innumerable young men who entered prison with diseased and corrupt mentalities. I should know, because I'm one of them. I'm one of those men who wants to embrace the culture of self-hatred and violence. But because of Russell Shoatz and men like him, my life is completely different today, as so on the lives of countless others. And July of 2019, several string legislators came into SCI Chester and watched the video of aging lifers making their case for compassionate release. Each of these men has spent at least 30 years in prison and suffered from serious medical issues among those men were Dennis McElany, Alvin Joiner, Tommy Pirant, and Leroy Ponzo. Nobody, especially me, would have guessed that all of these men would be killed by John Wessel's reckless mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis. And while these shameful, spineless, ruthless bureaucrats continue in their efforts to deceive, I will continue risking my life and freedom to shine a light in the dark crevices where society has decided to hide the monsters that they hope to create. Thanks for listening. You can follow me on Instagram @uptownserg. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

"Life." That word once meant living out my dreams, reaching goals I had sat back in my early childhood, such as starting a daycare center with my mom. When the judge [inaudible] it feels like you've been punched. It's so scary to think this could be it for me. When I meet other lifers, I look at them in awe: how do they stay so strong?  Sometime  I wonder if I can survive another day, another goodbye. My fate lies in the hands of strangers who only know me on paper. They don't know the real me or my story. At times I feel so alone. It's so terrifying, so very overwhelming. A lot of people have said, wow, I would have killed myself with that sentence. I hold on because not all hope is lost yet, that my family has been through a lot already. I couldn't be that selfish. If I could go back, I would have walked away when my grandfather, who wasn't a beggy man, all but begged me to come home. I should've gone. I feel guilty every single day. I believe stealing innocence is worse than stealing a life. I would like to tell my victims and their families I'm beyond sorry for all that I took from them. And to my family: I'm sorry. My selfish actions have kept me away. My name is Heather Koon, and I am a life worthy of progress. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

"Solitary confinement." I must admit during my 12 years of incarceration since the age of 16, I haven't done much solitary confinement time in comparison to other fellow prisoners, so I didn't rush into writing on this topic. I've been to the hole many times, but not for long periods.What do you know? Weeks later, I went to the hole for battery resulting in a serious bodily injury. I received the projected 17-month [inaudible] term, but with good behavior I could do 6 months. So I did six months, and I just was released from the hole 3 days ago. If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be "inhumane." This experience has changed me so much. In 4 days, I'll be 28 years old, but because of this whole experience, I feel much older and wiser. The gruesome habitat that I've resided in would drive an animal insane. Inside the housing unit alongside of us prisoners were pigeons who frequently flew in and outside the housing unit, even roosting and creating mess inside the buildings so the filth was obvious upon entering the unit. You could smell it. The noise was torment. It was torture. My peers, my fellow peers, prisoners that is, refused to be silent throughout the night, so sleep basically never existed on my behalf. I watched a fellow prisoner hogtied with shackles on January 22nd at 8:15 a.m. and pepper sprayed remaining like that for 20 minutes, all because this individual cut his wrist and was suicidal. I almost wasn't released on time from the hole because of my questioning particular officers about their "Blue Lives Matter" emblems stitched into their uniforms illegally. I asked an officer every morning: "Why are you wearing a 'Blue Lives Matter' emblem?" And then his partner threatened to keep me in the hole longer. I said, "I'd rather die than be silent. My ancestors died. I'm not scared keep me longer than 6 months." And this environment was torture, but its individuals that have spent decades in that place. I cry for them. This- what I reveal is only the tip of the iceberg. It's a lot more about this places that need to be observed by auditors and the World Health Organization or someone important that could bring an end to this nefarious tactic of portrait on prisoners' behalfs. My eyes are open now. Are yours? These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

This is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. also known  as Charley Hughes number 96576, a prisoner at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. This concludes part four and five of the resolution for the Free Kansas movement. Part four: healthcare. Number one: health care insurance program. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement call for health insurance to be provided for to all Kansans for costs of $5 per month and those that aren't able to afford it be awarded free coverage. Be it finally resolved that the Free Kansas movement will create a community treasury to pay for health insurance. Number two: healthcare clinics. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement calls for health care clinics to provide care for residents free of charge. Be it finally resolved that the Free Kansas movement will train healthcare providers from our community to work in these clinics. Three: mental health for prisoners. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement calls for proper treatment of prisoners who have mental health diagnosis. Be it finally resolved that the Free Kansas movement call for prisoners who are diagnosed with mental health disorders to be moved from state prisons to mental health institutions in order to receive the treatment they deserve. Part five: housing. Number one: decent housing. Therefore be it resolved that decent health would be provided for all that is fit for the shelter of human beings. Be it finally resolved that the Free Kansas movement will work with HUD in order to provide decent housing in our communities.This concludes the resolution for the Free Kansas movement. Those wishing to reach me may do so by running Charley Hughes, C H A R L E Y H  U G H E S, number 96576, Hutchison Correctional Facility, PO box 1568. Kansas 67504. Thank you for your time, effort and energy. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

My name is Karim Charles Diggs. I'm calling from SCI Phoenix, Pennsylvania, and the title of my subject is "COVID-19 and Reconstruction." A cure for all our diseases, including COVID-19, [inaudible] may very well be found in the period of Reconstruction. COVID-19 has inspired the medical community to produce several vaccines. The vaccines will perform a number of miracles. First it may prevent cured persons from catching COVID. Secondly it will cure some persons once they have the virus. There was a possibility that others will be unable to benefit from the vaccine because of underlying illnesses. You would think with the numerous corporations developing vaccines, that federal, judicial, police, prison, and medical officials would ensure that the millions of persons that stayed in federal prisons would be on the first list of receiving vaccines because of  our unique and cruel circumstances. There should have been a national network to deal with the citizens who are most likely to catch the disease from those in the community. Prisoners did not create the COVID-19. It has been brought into the prisoners by the free people in the society. At least our Pennsylvania governor has made the decision that Pennsylvania prisoners will get the vaccine. This is good news, and we respect that decision. We need one man per cell. Instead there are two men in the cell. Of course, other states have dormitory and have primitive conditions. At least we have disinfect, shower, masks, and soap and water at all times. Besides releasing prisoners, I do not know what else could be done. Why has most states not included prisoners in the population that should be vaccinated as soon as possible? This may be the first time in American history that nobody can charge prisoners with creating COVID-19. I am a student that pays attention to the political stories being [inaudible] each day in prison and society. I have been in this university 4+ decades. There has yet to be any summer vacations, graduation, ceremonies, marriages, births, retirement, or unification with females. Any solutions, cures, have been declared off-limits. It is evident that the legislatures and senators do not have any reason, empathy, or concern in recognizing the humanity of prisoners. The only way to address the massive imprisonment is choose to seek solutions: first to accept inequity, inequalities, and injustice, unfairness, that [inaudible] process of massive imprisonment of people. The convictions are unjust. Most life sentences were not justified, nor was the arena of trial fair. Life sentences, unjust sentences, are founded on lies, false testimony, and racial animus by the prosecutors and the [inaudible] they use. Thus to maintain over a hundred thousand women and men serving life in prison is morally, and actually legally, unjust. COVID-19 only adds to the host of injuries inflicted upon the millions of women, children, and men who languish in prisons across the land.The root of the ongoing elimination of human beings from society dates back to slavery. Some Americans are still fighting the civil war. Some Americans believe America is only for white people. These are the people who are doing everything oppressive under the color of law to drive African-Americans into the sea. Trump was a reproduction of the civil war mentality. He does not know of any other way to function. How many are in the justice, court, judicial systems, prisons, police, medical systems, operating under the protection and color of law? The prisons are CODE-19. They give us some idea of the disease or racism and how terror really works. I continued to state the Federalist Papers by Madison, number 51, warns us about the lawmakers oppressing the minority population and unwanted population. Mandatory sentences, severe punishment, and diseases is why we need Reconstruction: a chance to design  and developa  body where we could breathe and exist without being murdered by anyone, not just the police. There- there has yet to be a dedicated movement that is consistent with finding a place for African-Americans to live in peace and happiness. Ever since our presence in America, we have sought acceptance by white people. Always seem to want just to be safe and get along, but we wanted most of all to be left alone, to make a life for ourselves and family. Reconstruction was our effort to lift ourselves out of slavery and all the residue of slavery. Reconstruction was the effort to [inaudible] men and design a community for the betterment and happiness as human beings, without depending and begging the white society. This Reconstruction was an honest man's way to earn his place in the history of humanity. This historical mission was aborted and crushed by the KKK and all of its supporters. It was destroyed on the worst violence ever inflicted on a nonviolent people. The end results was African people in America were put in a worse condition than slavery. Some people believe that it was worse than slavery. Today we are suffering the result of repression, massive imprisonment, [inaudible] the intoxication of hate and violence. And [inaudible] had choked the desire to reconstruct our human dignity and nature. The imagination of a true freedom was polluted and corrupted of centuries of fear and suffering. A new Reconstruction needs to be imagined with the principle theme is communities based upon a design created by us and where black lives dictate the world we want to live in. Shall we create a new Reconstruction? The diseases of COVID-19, racism, massive imprisonment, and legislative repression will continue to camouflage justice. President Nixon made a statement: "Everyone knows that the blacks are the problem in America." nixon's tape continues to haunt us. Reconstruct, reconsider rethink worship of the two-party system. We need solutions, not parties, every four years. Thank you. Kareem Charles Diggs. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

This is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey also known as Charley Hughes, number 96576, inmate at Hudson Correctional Facility here in Hudson, Kansas. As you all know, this piece is about resolutions being passed here in Kansas through the Free Kansas movement. This is second part to the first resolution. This part will be on economic development. Number one: to force full employment for all people. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement will build businesses in our communities to ensure that our residents who are able and willing to work will have full employment. Be it finally resolved that the Free Kansas movement will provide workforce centers to give our residents training and work skills so they can perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. Number two: supports the building of institutions that benefit the community. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement pushes for the building of institutions that will benefit the residents and not the government. Be it finally resolved that once these institutions are built, they will be the private property of the community in which they are built. Number three: supports tax-free property. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement calls for community property to be free from paying property taxes. That concludes part two, and now we move on to part three: education. Number one: supports decent and beneficial education. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement calls for an educational system that teaches children about their rightful place in society and how to succeed in life. Be it further resolved that the Free Kansas movement will prepare educational curriculum that will help children prosper and succeed in life. Number two: summer learning program, Guiding Light Foundation. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement will create a summer learning program for youth ages 12 through 18. The program will be under Guiding Light Foundation. Be it further resolved that this program will teach youth such things as computer skills, positive attitude, development, coping skills, how to write a resume, etcetera. Number three: grant program for college. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement will create grants for high school juniors and seniors so they can go to colleges of their own choice. Be it further resolved that the Free Kansas movement will maintain a fund for this program so we can pay the tuition for the youth through our grants. Number four: book and supplies drive. Therefore be it resolved that the Free Kansas movement will provide up-to-date books and supplies to families who can't afford it in order to further their children's education. Be it further resolved that the Free Kansas movement will host food events to raise funds for the books and supplies. That concludes part two and three. And coming up, you will have part four. May you all have a blessed day. Once again, this is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, also known as Charley Hughes, number 96576. Those wishing to reach me or write me may do so by writing Charley Hughes, C H A R L E Y H U G H E S number 96576, Hutchinson Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 1568, Hutchinson, Kansas, 67504. Thank you for your time, effort and energy. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

My name is Heather Jarvis. I'm calling from Marysville, Ohio at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. This is called “Dear State of Ohio." Dear state of Ohio, everything inside me wants to scream, cry and bang my head off the bricks I'm trapped inside. Why don't you see me? I'm a person. I'm a mother, a daughter, and a sibling. I'm more than the number 93371. There have always been a lot of things on the other side of the fence waiting for me: a family, a steak dinner, a shower without shoes, a loved one's sentimental touch, but most importantly, a future. That is what has always got me through, knowing this isn't where it ends. But now it's different, things have changed. Life is rearranged. It's a pandemic of sickness, fear, and a profound reference of the unknown called COVID-19. It hardly helps the good people of Ohio who are themselves coping with the pandemic to release the violent offenders into their midst during this crucial time was their response to my early release. I screamed inside my head reading the prosecutor's words. You're wrong. You don't know me. I'm a woman caught in the masses of the state's criminal justice system. I'm no victim. I committed my crime. So I'm doing my time. I am however, a believer in redemption, grace, and the power of true courageous, personal self discovery and change. I came into the system a 22 year old addict facing a life sentence after being dramatically over indicted. My case was serious. I was complicit and I do regret every bit of it, but I have accepted the consequences of my actions and I put out. I was promised a fair chance at early release with good behavior. I was eager to take responsibility for my actions. I wanted to be fixed. I wanted to come out a better person. I thought the courts would recognize my attempt at a personal reckoning. I was naive to believe in a system that will never believe in me. “Having committed numerous felonies the defendant is unlikely to follow the milder requirements of social distancing and stay at home orders and it would be naive to think otherwise." Dear state of Ohio, why don't you believe in me? Why do you see me as a monster? Why don't you see my hundreds of hours of community service or my 25 certificates for groups? Why do you refuse to read my letters of recommendation or see my nearest spotless conduct report? Why, why won't you let me redeem myself? Why don't I get a chance? The world outside is in a state of emergency. The time is now. See me I'm here. I'm a first time felony offender marked by the scrutiny that is the term violence. I've learned that means I have a fight in me. Like so many others right now, I'm fighting the catch, my breath. Every time the virus count rises, I'm fighting for a future I've yet to live and I'm fighting for my chance at redemption. I see on the news, people in the world are protesting to let the inmates free. They're fighting for us. Dear State of Ohio, do you see them? Are they important enough? I've done everything the courts could ask of me. Every day I follow the rules, every day I fit the mold of model inmate, I'm the creme de la creme of offenders. Why is the person I was, more important in your eyes, than who I have become? Why does one mistake outweigh all these years of atonement for the system? Not to believe in me, means it doesn't believe in itself. It doesn't believe someone could walk out changed. However, I have changed. Something has happened to me in here. I can never go back to who I was. So dear state of Ohio, I don't need your validation. I don't need your early release or your stamp of approval to tell me I'm worthy because I know my heart. I know I'm a good person. I know my past does not define me and I know one day I'll be free. The state prison system wasn't ready for the caliber of chaos that is the Corona. The virus is rocking the max masses. We have no visits and we're constantly locked down, but the system isn't ready for the caliber of resilience that is going to be me. I'm going to rock criminal justice reform efforts. So for now I'll wear my mask, wash my hands, write my dreams and make my plans.  Dear state of Ohio. My name is Heather Jarvis. You're going to meet me soon. I'm part of the masses locked away. I'm part of the forgotten many. But I'm writing to tell you I'm going to be part of the movement, part of the reform and part of something bigger. I'm going to make you see me, make you listen, and I'm going to rock perception. You think I'm a monster. You just don't know. The only thing monstrous about me is my pen.  These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

My name is Lexter Almagro. I'm calling from Donovan State Prison. The title of the poem is called "Death Around the Corner." Got half my anger received and I'm overcome by self control. Replace my ignorance with the lightning. The IQ may be able to break the mold or will not die young at the hands of a cop and never get to make your own like George Floyd. I can't breathe. Will all of my dirty laundry be exposed, to rationalize his decree, actions and cold, or will I die at the hands of one of my own Black brothers as I attempt to make it home?  Will I be still with bullet holes? Or, will I die of natural causes or drown from water dripping from a facet or die behind bars from COVID-19? Tattooed teardrop marked down my face to express the pain that I've been crying for. Nothing in my past can be washed away. But after the rain comes a brighter day as the sun rises to its highest peak. I did not survive gang feuds and the brutality of the police just to come to the unsanitized prison and die from COVID-19. I am dying to live while I'm living to die at this very moment, I see death around the corner. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

Hey, this is Taylor Conley here. I'm currently incarcerated in Washington state prison, and I'm serving life without possibility of parole. I'm also the host of "Life of a Lifer" podcast. So if you'd like to reach me or hit me up or find out more about me, you can find me on lifeofalifer.com and there's all the information about me. I'd just like to tell you a little bit about myself and introduce who I am and what I'm about. I decided I wasn't going to let this life sentence determine the outcome of my existence. Regardless of my past, I was locked up at the age of 20 in 2006. You know, my life was kind of over before it even started. Shortly before that, I was at a place called Tranquility Bay, which is a behavioral modification program that was located in Jamaica. Came back from there at the age of 16. And basically right after that, I was out on the streets. That experience was quite traumatic in it. There was a lot of abuse that took place there and it had lasting effects that I didn't deal with well, and I made bad decisions. I was around bad influences when I began using hard drugs, which although, I was wrongfully convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to die in prison. I do take responsibility for all the wrong that I did, which led me here, but I am living proof that change is possible. So I wanted to not only get my voice out there and let my voice be heard, but I wanted to create kind of a platform that helped others to get their voice out there and, and show that people just aren't people that can just be thrown away and mocked up and throwing away the key and never to be heard from again. And that's why I created the "Life of a Lifer" podcast platform to kind of, you know, get out there and let other people understand and know that we're people, even though we're incarcerated people that are incarcerated for decades and decades. I spent the last 15 years in here and I haven't left this negative prison cycle cause there's a lot of negative cultures around here affecting to the points where I was going to give up on mine, you know? And that's kinda what I've searched for. I spent years of my life searching for a meaning, you know, regardless of the circumstances or the outcome of my future. I have appeals pending right now, in my case, and the court of appeals of Washington, which had been dragged out due to the Coronavirus. And it's been a long process. I've gone through a lot in the healing and growth and maturing from the adolescent that I was to the man I'm am today. And a lot of that came through art. I found a passion in art, and that's what I do to pass a lot of my time is art and I do different programs like self-help programming, I'm a mentor in, and I only had a GED and now I have several, multiple college certifications that have been able to take on my own through, uh, correspondence and different things that I've been able to do, including becoming a professional dog trainer. I was in the fellows program doing Toastmasters, different things like that. Which led me to start a social enterprise called Design Conviction. And it's a platform where artists can get their artwork out there. And we provide design services for not only incarcerated individuals, but people that are out there in the world, professional people. I was able to also write music as a passion in some way that I passed my time and I'm able to express myself. And I was linked up with a formerly incarcerated artist named Seth Anthony, and we even got Bubba Sparks and another artist named Burden on a couple of tracks that we were able to release recently on an EP called the Free Taylor Repeat. I wrote a book since I've been incarcerated, "The Convicted Entrepreneur," just to list a few of the things, man. And I, I really do it because I like to give inspiration to others, to inspire hope in people, even if we're in the direst of circumstances. And that's what I'm doing with, with all these things in my life, or "Life of a Lifer" podcast is my outlet. And I would like to be able to share it with anybody out there that's interested. And I would also like to know, you know, what do you think? What, what do people think, I like to hear from people what they think about life sentences, man, do you think that people deserve another chance, but anyways, my name is Taylor Conley. Check me out. Uh, look me up. Um, you can Google my name and you'll find a lot of stuff. And, uh, I'm interested to hear from you what you think, but I will be back and, uh, Thank you very much. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

My name is Peter Mukuria. I'm calling in from Red Onion State Prison here in Virginia. Um, so I'm calling in, um, in regards to my dear friend, um, who I recently learned passed away. Um, so last November, um, at the beginning of the month, I spoke to a comrade and a great close friend of mine, whom I spoke to quite often. So she was on her way back from the hospital and, instantly, I inquired about what was wrong and was she okay? Um, she started to tell me that she wasn't feeling well. So she went to the hospital to be checked out and to have some tests done. Um, but the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. As she was telling me this, [inaudible] started to cry and I immediately became alarmed. I tried to comfort her, but her being this selfless self, she attempted to shift the conversation onto me by asking me how I was doing. And I wouldn't let her switch the topic this time, because I knew something was seriously wrong that she wasn't disclosing to me. Yes, she continued to tell me not to worry. Um, we concluded the call. Cause we did on any other call by saying, "I love you, to talk to you soon." Um, I then mailed her a gateway- a phone card. I tried calling her a week later: no answer. I sent her an email: no answer. This was unusual, because in the five years of knowing her, she always responded. I started thinking perhaps she was with her family for the holidays. And in January, she, uh, I received the issue of San Francisco Bay View newspaper. And as I was reading it, I came across an essay titled, um, "Rebecca Hensley Memorial." So Rebecca L. Hensley was my dear friend who passed away. I was and still am in utter disbelief. I still call her hoping that she would answer. I still write her hoping she would respond. And that this was just one big mistake and nightmare. See, Rebecca was unique. She cares for others more than she did for herself. And I used to tell her how much she needed to go on some kind of vacation and just take a break and just focus on herself. Um, she was an advocate, a voice for the voiceless, a revolutionary, abolitionist, and just an incredible care human being whom I was honored to have known and considered to be a comrade and a close friend. Um, it was heartbreaking having to discover over her passing away from reading a newspaper, but had it not been for San Francisco Bay View newspaper, I probably still wouldn't know, or it would have took longer to find out. I really miss my friend, Rebecca: the laughter, debates, conversations, jokes, um, she was inspiring, encouraging, and a fierce fighter. To know Rebecca is to love her: she is that amazing. You know, I once heard something along the lines of some people come into our lives and their footprints quickly wash away, but others leave footprints and we are forever changed by their presence in our lives. Undoubtedly Rebecca's footprints will always be in my heart. You know, though Rebecca is no longer with us. We are truly gained a guardian angel upwards and onwards. We'll have Rebecca concluded every letter and email. So as I conclude this commentary, I'll conclude with the words of my dear friend, Rebecca L. Hensley: "upward and onward." I love you, Rebecca. You're dearly missed. Your friend, your brother comrade. I thank you for listening, thank you for your time. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

My name is Philip Alvin Jones. I'm calling for Washington state at the Washington State Penitentiary. The name of this piece that I'm going to speak about is called "In Our unity Is Our Strength." After witnessing all of the uprisings from the backlash of George Floyd and many other unarmed black people, what I came to learn is that protest alone won't end systemic racism. The protest highlighted the injustice, brought attention to it. But there was no shift in social justice. What we witnessed was a response to our call for equal protection. Which was those who would like to see the status quo remain in tact, come out into daylight, more determined to maintain white supremacy emboldened by Donald Trump. They were not just more vocal. They were incited to hate crimes. Now, back to the point I was making about the need for more than just protest. First, we organize. Then we show our outrage and finally we empower with our numbers by endorsing or fielding candidates all across the country. The result will be socially conscious elected officials who make policy changes, who at the very least have enough power from our vote to influence whoever is in power. Whoever, since the local government, federal government. We could change the whole country if we mobilize and continue to take control of our cities, states, and federal governments. The voting power is the strongest tool that we have at our disposal. We see as we witnessed what happened in Georgia. Now this is not just about political, uh, aspects of what's going on in our communities. This is also about reforms, whether it'd be prison reform, whether it be sentencing reform, or whether it be the ending of a mass incarceration by abolishing the prison-industrial complex. But that's the way that it's done in a three-step plan. And I'll speak on that and I'll have more details on it, but that's just enough for you to start thinking about this and then organizing with public groups who's thinking the same way. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you for listening. I appreciate it.  These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Comrade Pitt, Peter Kamau Mukuria, calling in from Red Onion State Prison. This one is titled "Misinformation, Lies, and Conspiracy Theories and Making a Right-Wing Extremist." I be there. It'll be wild. Quote, unquote, you'll never take our country back with weakness. You have to be strong, quote, unquote, fight like hell, quote, unquote, these inflaming rhetorics weren't hyperbolic in nature but rather designed to incite a mob. These were words tweeted out about President Trump prior to and during the January 6th, 2021 rally: a day which will forever be marked by history as the day of sitting president incited his base to storm and seize the U.S. Capitol building. This act, which has been described as a failed coup d'etat, aimed at the heart of the symbolic American democracy was ironically committed by a political party or rather a cult which claims to be the party of quote, unquote law and order. An unprecedented attack of the nation's Capitol was the first in history which the country's own citizens seizes buildings, but this wasn't the first time that U.S. Capitol had been seized and under attack. The only other time this building was under attack was in 1814 when the British Army seized this building and set it on fire. The difference this time was that this wasn't a foreign occupying force but rather the country's own citizens. Uh, this failed coup d'etat was more than a matter of security failure and it's, um, in auspicious debate to argue on the merits of whether or not security failed when there's ample overwhelming proof that the Capitol police and the FBI were fully cognizant of potential violence. In fact, the day prior to the January 6, 2021 rally,  the FBI warned the Capitol police of credible acts of violence planned for the January 6th rally. Even during the seige, the National Guard, when deployed as this right-wing mob, roamed the halls of the rotunda, desecrating the building, looting, assaulting, [inaudible] murdered one Capitol police who died from injuries stemming from being hit in the head with a fire hydrant. Subsequent to their hours-long escapade in the Capitol, the Capitol police then held the doors open for this mob as they exited the building. No attempts of arrest were made. The events of January 6th, 2021 confirmed what most people have predicted even warned about the greatest dangers of a Trump presidency. His presidential campaign of 2015 was predicated upon deliberate misinformation, bombardment of lies, and dubinng the media as quote, unquote the enemy of the people, such tactic is a page out of the old-fashioned fascist playbook. It was employed by tyrants such as Hitler. Mussolini, Stalin, et cetera. This is the go-to move by tyrants in order to radicalize their base and to believe in the most extreme fictitious conspiracy theories as their reality. Unlike prior, fascist dictators, what made Trump's deliberate misinformation and lies even more perilous was that his ideas and words were echoed and amplified through social media platforms, mainstream conservative news media, such as FOX news and conspiracy theory groups such as Qanon. These outlets made it relatively simple for Trump to not only to spew lies to his base about countless of lies, such a global warming being a hoax or a stolen election, which by the way, scientists have debunked these lies on global warming and numerous courts found no evidence of any fraudulent votes to corroborate his assertion over an election being stolen. Um,  these outlets furthermore allowed the president to summon assemble in order his disillusioned base to seize the U.S. Capitol as their last ditch hope of somehow overturning a decided and confirmed election. The hypocrisy and double standards, because I was watching the events of January 6th, 20, 2021 unfold, I couldn't help, but recall how in a not-so-distant past, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem in protest of gratuitous police killings of unarmed minorities and racial inequality. And this peaceful protest was deemed disrespectful to the American flag and military. Ironically, these were the same kinds of people, mostly white conservatives and or Trump supporters, seeing assaulting Capitol police using American flags as weapons. Even most of those who engage in this fail coup d'etat were active informal members of the military, including off-duty police and even some on-duty Capitol police while complicit by moving barriers so that the mob may advance, even taking selfies with them. Another thing I noticed many people was how does violent mob, which consisted of all whites with the exception of a few minorities, was treated vastly different in comparison to how peaceful black lives matter protesters were treated. As many will recall in the summer of 2020, and the president ordered the National Guard to violently remove Black Lives Matter protesters from Lafayette Square, just so he may have a photo op in front of a church. Um, federal troops are summoned to mostly democratic states to conduct mass arrests. In most states, the National Guards will deploy days before these were protests even commenced. Yet, a violent mob was allowed to seize the U.S. Capitol bereft of resistance or arrest. The dichotomy illustrates why the fight for racial equality is a hot hill to climb. Yet it's a fight we must continue despite the obstacles. Reap what you sow. Words matter. And the [inaudible] of constant deliberate misinformation, lies, and conspiracy theories were the ingredients which led to the indelible January 6th, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol. This wasn't American citizens driven to extremism by some overseas terrorist organization, these were American citizens driven to extremism by a sitting president who turned a political party into a cult. For those who fathom the dangers of Trump's presidency, what occurred didn't come as a surprise. It was a classic case of the chickens have come home to roost. All power to the people, comrade Pitt. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.

Mama. It's been 12 years I've been locked up. And I did everything that you did for me, from teaching me how to tie my shoes, teaching me how to walk across the street, teaching me how to do everything I need to do. I stay in a one-man cell, and I just think about everything that you taught me and it's helping me survive right now. I just love you, I understand your struggles. If anything, if I did anything here to hurt you, Ma or make you cry, Ma. I'm sorry. You know what I'm saying, I know I'm your baby boy now. I know you love me dearly and I love you too. And I promise I'm just trying to do everything I can to come home to you. I just need you to stay strong for me because it's a lot going on out there in that world. Like, it's a lot going on here. But I admire you. To be 24, 25, have three kids, married young. I did it, like you was my mom and my little hero. I don't understand you being 30 years old. That was young, that's young, 28. Now I understand that's young. Ma, you a queen, now I understand what you did to raise us. Raised us right. I love you, mama. Promise I do. Thank you. (Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

My name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, also known as Charley Hughes. I'm an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas. This piece is called "Serve The People." It is about my nonprofit Serve The People Incorporated, incorporated here in Kansas. It is a organization that is looking to be a survival programs for people in the community, such as food, clothing and etcetera. We're trying to get a education program that is going to be called the George Jackson foundation. With the George Jackson foundation we were looking for educators though- that have been teachers in the past or those that are still teachers looking for- looking to do education classes on a volunteer basis. We also have board member positions open. The positions that are open are secretary. We also have a general membership position open as well as others. Those wishing to be a part of Serve The People Incorporated may write me at Charley Hughes, that's C-H-A-R-L-E-Y H-U-G-H-E-S. Number 96576, Hutchinson Correctional Facility. P.O. Box 1568, Hutchinson, Kansas. 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy. (Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

Tonight we will be highlighting two political prisoners. During the first half-hour we will be speaking to Prisoner Radio's Noelle Hanrahan to get an update on the case involving long held political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal.The courts are currently hearing the case of Abu-Jamal v. Kerestes. The case centers around the refusal of medical treatment to adequately treat the Hepatitis C virus that Mumia suffers from. The case has had some explosive revelations as of late and Noelle Hanrahan will share those with us tonight. This case could have wider implications concerning the human rights of prisoners to get access to the healthcare they need.During the second half-hour we will be speaking with Josie Shapiro who is a political prisoner advocate for Eric G. King, a 28-year-old vegan anarchist who was arrested and charged with the attempted firebombing of a government official's office in Kansas City, MO in September 2014. He is currently being held in facilities run by the private prison profiteer and human trafficking company, Corrections Corporation of America and reportedly is being targeted and abused by guards as he is held in solitary confinement. Political Prisoner BirthdaysCasey Brezik Wednesday, Dec 30, 2015 DescriptionCasey Brezik #1154765 Jefferson City Correctional Center 8200 No More Victims Road Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Political Prisoner & Prisoner of War Birthday Calendar provided by nycabc.wordpress.com

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forbearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! 1. Noelle Hanrahan speaks about Mumia Abu Jamal medical urgency. See http://www.prisonradio.org/news call 717-728-4109. 2. Emmitt Thrower is a disabled retired NYC Police Officer and a Stroke Survivor. He is also the Founder and President of Wabi Sabi Productions Inc., a small community based Non Profit Company (Tax Exempt 501 c3) founded in 2005 in New York City. Its mission is to use the arts to address social issues and develop our communities and youth in positive ways. Wabi Sabi has produced theatrical events, musical events, digital films and short documentaries about issues impacting upon social, political or health issues affecting under served communities and youth.  Where Is Hope? is a collaboration with Poet/Activist Leroy Moore (The Black Kripple) Founder of Krip Hop Nation.  Leroy Moore is a Black writer, artist, hip-hopmusic lover, community activist and feminist with a physical disability. He has always been a strong voice in action and words against Police Brutality and in particular as it relates to people with disabilities. 3. NC Heikin and Edward Reed, join us to speak about Sounds of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story screening at Yerba Center for the Arts in San Francisco, April 9 and 11, 7:30 p.m. The director, Mr. Reed and Michael Connelly will be present at the 4/9 event.