Kite Line

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 poor treatment by guards, to improper training of corrections officers, lack of support for prisoners facing mental health crises, lack of education opportunities, and much more in terms of dishonest and inhumane treatment that prisoners receive at the hands of prison officials. Speaking from a facility currently on lock down, he describes a prisoner having a heart attack in a nearby cell, and the inattentiveness of guards to this situation. We will have more insight on the prison strike next week, as more word makes its way out to us. We do know that prisoners around the country are facing lockdowns and repression in the wake of the National Prison Strike, and therefore it’s also important to note that the prisoners have been striking for a reason- and that the impacts of the strike are continuing, as our guest says, those on the inside need people to understand what is happening to them within the prison walls on a daily basis.

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 strike- including Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, South Carolina, Kentucky, Washington, and more. We will continue to share these updates as they come in.

September 9th through 13th mark the days of the Attica Prison Uprising, and as prisoners across the country are currently involved in their own struggles, we take an in depth look back at what took place at this time 47 years ago.

Please join us next week for a recap of the National Prison Strike, and updates from the inside, including other calls from prisoners currently inside the South Carolina and Indiana prison systems.

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 hear statements from two prisoners who spoke to us from within the South Carolina prisons. They give us some insight into how the prisoners in their area are participating in the strike in the form of commissary boycotts, and give statements of solidarity with prisoners in other facilities on strike. They give us information about the aftermath of the incident at Lee Correctional Institution, and we hear more about the conditions they face while on lockdown.

In response to the riot at Lee Correctional Institution, a network of imprisoned organizers called Jailhouse Lawyers Speak called for the National Prison Strike, both to fight against the deplorable conditions that exacerbated the prisoner-on-prisoner violence, but also to productively redirect anger towards collective action against the prison system.

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 much of his life in prison, after stealing $70 from a gas station at the age of 18, and being sentenced to “one year to life” behind bars.  Jackson spent the next eleven years in the California prison system, where he became a revolutionary, intellectual, and an inspiration to his fellow prisoners. As the Prison Strike enters its fourth day, and word from the rebelling prisoners trickles out to us, it is vital to hear George Jackson’s actual voice, as it continues to resonate now in the mass actions of prisoners in dozens of US states and Canadian provinces.

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, listen to a strike statement from Red Wolf, who was featured on Kite Line in March of 2018, and hear the demands laid out for the upcoming prisoner strike, as stated by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. We then hear a brief synopsis of previous prison strikes and their aftermath from a talk given by Ben Turk in Milwaukee.  We will continue to cover the current strike, as well as reflect on prisoner rebellions from the past decades throughout the upcoming weeks.