Kite Line

Today, we are sharing an interview with Talila Lewis and Dustin Gibson, two organizers and researchers addressing the intersection of disability and incarceration.  After TL describes the high stakes of being deaf in prison, they move on to sketch out the ways that children of color are disabled across society and pushed towards feeling inept... The post 119 | Being Heard: Prison and the Deaf Comm...

In this interview, Elizabeth Hinton sketches the relationship between the civil rights movement, urban uprisings and the beginning of the “War on Crime,” with a focus on the Harlem Riot of 1964, and the 1965 Watts Rebellion, which was triggered by police brutality and became a key law-and-order talking point.  She then moves through a... The post 118 | The Long History of Black Resistance and Mass...

This week, we share the final story from the Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated panel that took place during the Fight Toxic Prisons conference in Pittsburgh. After we hear updates on Kevin Rashid Johnson and Keith Malik Washington, we close with anecdotes from Wendell Caldwell. Caldwell speaks on his time inside, its impact on his... The post 117 | Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated, Part Three...

This week, we hear from Curtis Ray Davis II, who talks about the racist history of Angola Prison- the Louisiana State Penitentiary. After we read a statement from hunger striking prisoners in Orange County, we then hear a moving account from Davis. He talks about Louisiana’s non-unanimous verdict, which essentially nullifies the votes of non-white... The post 116 | Voices of the Formerly Incarcera...

This week, we hear the stories of three men who share their experiences from years being on the inside. Khalid Raheem discusses his experiences with the Black Panther Party, solitary confinement, and educational options in prison. Carrington Keys talks with us about the Dallas Six case, and how racist prison guards not only failed to... The post 115 | Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated, Part One...

This week’s episode covers the situation in the Midwest. We hear from Ben and Aaron, who work on supporting prisoners in Ohio and Indiana, respectively. Ben informs about Ohio prisoners who are still facing repercussions from the 1993 Lucasville uprising. We’ve introduced Lucasville in previous episodes of Kite Line, including an early episode focusing on... The post 114 | The Prisoners’ Movement...

Across the country, thousands of prisoners are facing consequences for their participation in the national prison strike.  Some are being denied contact with the outside world, others have lost access to hot food.  Others have faced violence.  For many, outside solidarity has meant the difference, like the prisoners at an Indiana prison facility who were... The post 113 | We Know Wh...

This week, we are sharing the words from a prisoner who contacted us from inside the South Carolina prison system. In addition to his thoughts on the recent National Prison Strike, of which news still continues to trickle in, he talks about what prisoners are experiencing every day.  From severe medical neglect, inedible food, and... The post 112 | Reasons to Fight: Life Inside South Carolina Pris...

This week we are honoring the anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. The current National Prison Strike began on August 21st, the anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination, and is slated to end in two days, on September 9th. We have updates on the prison facilities across the country and their participation in the... The post 111 | The Attica Liberation Faction first appeared on Ki...

The National Prison Strike is on its second week. Shutdowns have been confirmed in five Florida prisons, with new strike activity in Georgia, California, and Maryland. Although information is slow to come in, we know of a hunger strike in Indiana, commissary boycotts in South Carolina, and solidarity demonstrations across the country. This week, we... The post 110 | Strike Solidarity From Inside S...

This week, we’re sharing selections from an historic interview with George Jackson, whose assassination on August 21, 1971, at the hands of San Quentin prison guards, remains a reference point for the US prisoners’ movement.  Indeed, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak called for the 2018 strike to begin on this date in his memory. George Jackson spent... The post 109 | The Real Dragon: George Jackson’s...

Next week, on August 21, is the start of the 2018 National Prison Strike. Anticipated to be the largest in U.S. History, this strike comes after many years of various strikes, work stoppages, boycotts, and other forms of rebellion.  In this episode, we hear about the intended transfer of 3,200 Puerto Rican prisoners to Arizona,... The post 108 | What Prisoners Want: Recent Movements and Current De...

As the 2018 National Prison Strike quickly approaches, we have news of hunger and work strikes already underway. We have updates on the successful, 108 day hunger strike of Mapuche Shaman Celestino Cordova, who had been denied access to his ceremonial altar while in Chilean prison. We also get updates from Siddique Abdullah Hasan and... The post 107 | Strike Season Part Two- First Sparks first app...

As we approach the August 21st launch of the national prison strike, Kite Line is focusing on the historic and recent precedents for the current prisoners’ movement.  This strike, called by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak along with a growing coalition of grassroots prisoners’ groups, is grounded in four decades of organizing, symbolized by George Jackson’s state... The post 106 | Strike Season first appe...

In last week’s episode, we introduced Johdy Polk, who spoke to us about her time behind the prison walls, and urged audiences to see the other ways that people are confined by society.  Now, we continue to hear more of Johdy’s story- about the relationships she built while on the inside, her transition to daily... The post 105 | Communities Within and Beyond the Prison Walls first appeared on...

This week, Johdy Polk, from Gainesville, Florida, describes her time inside a women’s prison, while sharing cutting observations on growing up as a black woman in a white supremacist society. She also makes an urgent call to tear down our inner prisons, a call that we think resonates with the torrent of news we are... The post 104 | Tear Down the Inner Prisons first appeared on Kite Line Radio .

Last week, Aren Aizura guided us through the history of colonialism in Australia, including racist measures to control non-white immigration, and later, in the 1980s, the implementation of mandatory detention for refugees. He focused on his experiences in an occupation outside the remote Woomera Detention Center, and the way that supporters on the outside grew... The post 103 | Anti-Detention Occu...

In light of the ongoing struggles across the country against deportations, family separations, and ICE detention centers, we are sharing an interview we did last year about struggles in Australia against refugee prison camps. In 2002, imprisoned refugees inside Australia’s remote Woomera immigration prison coordinated protests with 2500 supporters who had pitched a No Borders... The post 102 | Ant...

In light of the ongoing struggles across the country against deportations, family separations, and ICE detention centers, we are sharing an interview we did last year about struggles in Australia against refugee prison camps. In 2002, imprisoned refugees inside Australia’s remote Woomera immigration prison coordinated protests with 2500 supporters who had pitched a No Borders... The post 101 | Ant...

For this episode, we are returning to the conditions in immigrant detention centers. Alejandra spoke at the Fight Toxic Prisons conference in Pittsburgh, which was held earlier this month. Growing up in California, she was the only child in her family to be undocumented. As an adult in Arizona, she had a minor arrest that... The post 100 | They’re Not Detention Centers, They’re Prisons first appea...

This week, we will focus on a specific story about an immigrant detention case in Pittsburgh- and hear firsthand from family impacted by these harsh repercussions for undocumented immigrants. Martin Esquivel-Hernandez was detained after a traffic stop, held by ICE, and eventually deported, leaving his family behind in Pennsylvania. Today, we will hear his story... The post 99 | The Stakes of #Surr...

First, we hear part of a panel from the recent Fight Toxic Prisons conference, which was held last week in Pittsburgh. Saleem Holbrook shares his experiences after doing nearly three decades inside, with a focus on what it’s like to organize behind the walls. Coming into the system when he was young, he describes the... The post 98 | Families Fighting the Prisons first appeared on Kite Line Radio...

This week’s episode is packed with news of struggles and repression. We start with coverage of Indiana prisons and two prisoners who need outside support right now. Then we get updates and two statements from prisoners in Florida continuing to organize within the framework of Operation PUSH. These reflections are particularly vital as both prisoners... The post 97 | Summer of Kites first appeared...

This week, we are returning to the topic of Carceral Capitalism. We interviewed the poet and author Jackie Wang in previous episodes of Kite Line. You can access those by clicking her name in the tag links below. There, Wang discussed the relationship between the growth of municipal debt and the emergence of fine farming... The post 96 | Carceral Capitalism, Part 3: The Prison Abolitionist Imagina...

In this episode, we hear from Timothy Stewart-Winter, an Associate Professor at Rutgers University with a background studying sexuality and incarceration. Stewart-Winter wrote the book “Queer Clout: Chicago and the Rise of Gay Politics” and co-directs the Queer Newark Oral History Project. In this episode, they speak about the policing of sexuality and some of its consequences,... The po...