We are pleased to share the first part of an interview between Anne Gray Fischer and Micol Siegel.  Fischer’s powerful first book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification, was published earlier in 2022, and is an account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of police power.  In this conversation, the first of two we will present on Kite Line, Fischer and Siegel discuss the context of the book and its relationship to wider abolitionist research.  They also work through the relationship between vice policing, aimed primarily at womens’ bodies, and race, which allowed wide swathes of Black neighborhoods to be treated as red light districts and subject to intensified police surveillance and violence.

December 17th marked two years since the passing of Russell Maroon Shoatz.

He was a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a soldier in the Black Liberation Army. After twice escaping from prison, and twice being recaptured, Shoatz was held in solitary confinement for more than 22 years. This solitary confinement was controversial — while Shoatz had successfully escaped twice, he actually had an excellent record of behavior within the prison itself. Advocates and Shoatz himself argued that his extended solitary confinement reflected the personal offense taken by prison officials, who were embarrassed both by his ease in escaping, and his sharp critiques of the American prison system.

Shoatz is remembered today as, among other things, a well-respected author. One famous essay, The Dragon and The Hydra, is widely available online. Listeners interested in honoring the anniversary of Shoatz’ passing but unfamiliar with his work may find this essay insightful, short, and accessible, as a history of one important aspect of revolutionary organizing.

This episode we’ll share a previously aired interview with Shoatz, recorded on August 15th 1996, at State Correctional Institution-Greene in Pennsylvania. The interview was originally aired on the Peoples Video Network, and was conducted by Dhoruba Bin Wahad.

This week, we speak again with Isaiah Willoughby. Last time he was on the show, he reflected on being incarcerated due to the 2020 George Floyd Uprising. He was released from prison last March, but he’s now housed once again in SeaTac Federal Detention Center on a parole violation. It took three separate calls to complete this interview: calls in the facility are limited to ten minutes, and prisoners must wait an hour in between each call. Because of this, prisoners line up waiting for their turn to make a phone call. He tells us about his re-entry experience, which are issues with returning to the outside world that many people face after incarceration. He talks about the murder of his friend Manny at the hands of police. The police who killed Manny are currently out on bail, and their trial is set for September 2023.  Isaiah ends by explaining his civil case against SeaTac Federal Detention Center.

You can hear the first episode with Isaiah here: https://www.kitelineradio.org/podcast/296-words-from-an-incarcerated-blm-demonstrator/

This week, we feature interviews on Life After Lockup from the Kunta Kenyatta Files.  Kunta Kenyatta uses YouTube to speak to a range of people in Cleveland, Ohio, often featuring videos shot from the 107 Club, a half-way house and neighborhood hub.  He speaks with neighbors, former prisoners, and others, amplifying important voices and preserving memory of key struggles like the Lucasville Uprising.  First, we hear him speaking with Mosi Paki about the Lucasville Uprising, and then his friend Porky, who shares his personal reflections on his time inside as a young man in the 1960s.

You can check out more of Kenyatta’s interviews and other videos on Youtube.

We turn our focus this week to a local struggle. Here in Bloomington Indiana, Monroe County Government is quickly moving forward with a proposal for a new $60+ million dollar jail to replace and expand the downtown jail. With little input from community members, consultants hired by the county have recommended jail expansion, and the county government has begun the purchase of an 87 acre, $10 million property.

In response to the jail proposal controversy, a group of concerned local community members called Care Not Cages has been speaking up. Supporters want the county to pause the construction process and consider alternatives to expanding incarceration. We spoke to a member of the group to get some context about recent events. After that, you’ll hear excerpts from a recent CJRC meeting… where supporters of Care Not Cages shared various concerns about the jail proposal and the direction of the committee.

We start out with news about the recent execution of Kevin Johnson in Missouri, and a call to strike from Pennslyvania prisoners. Afterwards, we share an interview conducted by James Kilgore, who spoke with Albert Woodfox and Robert King of the Angola 3. After that, we will feature part of Kilgore’s interview with Sekou Kambui, a longtime New Afrikan political prisoner, who reflects on his involvement in past prison strikes.

Woodfox spent more time in solitary confinement than anyone else in the US, and was released shortly before this conversation took place.  Woodfox died earlier this year, so we wanted to return to this 2016 interview to honor his memory.  Further, all the interviewees share important reflections on past prison strikes, which feel particularly apt given the January strike called in Pennsylvania.

This week, we share the second installment of a talk by Dina Alves, an abolitionist researcher and scholar who is currently visiting the US from Brazil.  Her talk is simultaneously translated from Portuguese by Micol Seigel. In this feature, she talks about the findings of her interviews with women prisoners in Brazil.

We hear examples of how Black women are more subject to legal persecution, and how, as Alves puts it, Black women in Brazil are last in line for rights, but first in line for punishment.

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We regret to report the passing of Linda Greene, long time Kite Line news volunteer. Linda has been with us from the beginning. Since helping us launch in 2016, Linda has collected and written news stories for us. She was always on the lookout for the latest prison news- which isn’t always easy to find. She was an avid listener, and was the first to alert us of an on-air snafu that might need attention. We are grateful for all her help over the years. Rest in Power, Linda.

This week, we share the first part of a talk by Dina Alves. Alves is a Brazilian lawyer with a doctorate in Anthropology, and has been an anchor in the feminist, antiracist legal scene in São Paulo since 2009. She is currently visiting the US, and recently gave this talk, generously translated by Micol Seigel, here in Bloomington. In this segment, she gives context to her research, guiding us through some of her experiences as an abolitionist, a black woman, lawyer, and a scholar.

In our previous episodes, Sincere paints a picture of life in a women’s prison. Today, they wrap up by talking about prison conditions- such as poor food, exploitative practices, and overly harsh punishments- such as losing visits as retaliation for saying “I love you” to another inmate. They also answer audience questions about a wide range of experiences.

This talk was organized by Focus Initiatives and IDOC Watch.

You can hear our previous episodes with Sincere and Jok here:

327 | How it is with Us – Women and Incarceration

November 4, 2022: Women and Incarceration, Part 2

We start this episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances, compiled by Perilous Chronicle.

You can find out more at perilouschronicle.com.

This week, we share the second part of a conversation between Focus Initiatives’ Jok Huerta and Sincere. Sincere spent 13 years in Indiana prisons, and now organizes in Indianapolis with other formerly incarcerated people. Sincere continues to speak to her experience in a women’s facility in Indiana.

This conversation was hosted by IDOC Watch and Focus Initiatives. Thanks to everyone who helped with the show.

You can hear our first conversation with Sincere here:

327 | How it is with Us – Women and Incarceration

And a few other previous episodes about similar topics:

166 | Truth and Trauma: A Conversation with Anastazia Schmid, Part One

23 | Childbirth in Prison