Kite Line

As we covered last week, prisoners in California have been subjected to a new and disturbing round of gladiator fights – conflicts between prisoners instigated by guards for their own amusement or to break down solidarity between different groups on the inside.  This week, we continue sharing a powerful conversation with three women whose husbands have suffered from this shocking practice.  In addition to supporting their loved ones, these women are also bravely organizing to stop the practice and reverse the punishments hypocritically meted out in the aftermath of these state-imposed battles.

This week, they talk more about the dangers and impacts of these fights, the importance of yard and programming- things that are removed from their loved ones because of the “intermittent release” status they are under, and how to get involved. We applaud these women for their efforts, and hope that hearing both their heartbreak and their resolve can help us all move forward against this inhumane set of conditions.

Prisoners in California have been subjected to a new and disturbing round of gladiator fights – conflicts between prisoners instigated by guards for their own amusement or to break down solidarity between different groups on the inside.

This week, we will begin sharing a powerful conversation with three women whose husbands have suffered from this shocking practice. In addition to supporting their loved ones, these women are also bravely organizing to stop the practice and reverse the punishments hypocritically meted out in the aftermath of these state-imposed battles.

They are also joined in the conversation by a solidarity organizer from Oakland’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. Together, they describe a complex and dangerous situation, in which prisoners from different racial and territorial groups try to avoid accepting the provocations of the prison system, with the possible exception of the Bulldogs, a particularly violent prisoner set that acts with the protection of the system.

For this episode, we share calls from folks on the inside. First, we have the statement from the striking prisoners at the Clallum Bay Correctional Facility in Washington State. After their statement, Abu Faheem Shabazz calls in to talk about conditions at Westville Correctional Facility, followed by Myron Walker talking about education at Putnamville Correctional Facility- both prisons are in Indiana.

We appreciate folks calling in and sharing information about their conditions, as well as asking us on the outside for support. We continue to encourage our audience inside the prison walls to write and call us in whatever ways they can- we want to hear from you and share your experiences.

This week, we finish our conversation with Anastazia Schmid. This time around, she talks about labels- and the media’s role in the stigmatization of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Schmid also talks to us about the Indiana Women’s Prison History Project, and other ways of presenting her historical research, especially outside of the academic setting, such as the play “The Duchess of Stringtown” which she wrote with Michelle Jones while in the Indiana Women’s Prison.  She ends by sharing her ideas about what abolitionist horizons look like to her, and how she envisions a continued fight against the carceral system.

You can find a link to Anastazia’s work at The Real Costs of Prisons Project, at realcostofprisons.org, or visit focusreentry.com

You can hear the previous parts of our interview with Anastazia here and here.

We return this week to our conversation with Anastazia Schmid. Speaking to her just weeks after her release, she talks about stigma and control- both for women and for the incarcerated. After spending 18 years in Indiana prison, her case was recently overturned- due largely to her own tenacity. During this part of the conversation, she talks to Kite Line about the daily trauma women experience, both inside and outside of the wall. You can hear last week’s episode with Schmid here.