Kite Line

This week, we are changing our format slightly.  After hearing a letter from a prisoner involved in Operation PUSH, we are broadcasting an interview between Dr. Micol Seigel and Dr. Garrett Felber on the role of the Nation of Islam in prison life and prisoners’ struggle.

Beginning in the middle of the last century, the Nation of Islam built a strong presence among black prisoners, drawing together not only disparate religious traditions, but also neglected experiences of struggle, ranging from the early civil rights movement to black conscientious objection during World War 2. Felber then situates Malcom X, the best-known of the Nation of Islam organizers to come out of prison, within this broader context of collective struggle and political reaction in 1950s America. Micol and Garrett are currently both fellows at the Warren Center at Harvard.

We will finish their conversation in next week’s episode, as they cover the relationship of Nation of Islam to other trajectories of prison struggle and black radicalism.

This episode, we start out with a statement from Anastazia Schmid, a prisoner in the Indiana Women’s Prison. She walks us through a brief history of how prisons, and specifically the modern practice of prison slave labor, came about. She also talks through some basics of how prison serves to isolate those on the inside, and the importance of outside support in making sure that prisoners are treated as human beings. Some of what she says resonates with reports we are hearing from the work stoppage and strike in the Florida prison system- Operation PUSH. We give some updates on Operation PUSH as they continue to unfold. More updates are available right now on our website: kitelineradio.noblogs.org

Lastly, we finish talking to Craig. Over the past two episodes of Kite Line, Craig has shared his experiences in the local jail, as well as in facilities across the state. As we continue our conversation, Craig compares the Monroe County Jail to the Howard County Jail. He gives his observations on the influence of gangs on the inside, and analyzes the differences in medical care between the facilities.

In this episode, we start with updates from Operation PUSH. After that, we continue hearing from Craig, who spent significant time in the Monroe County jail. You can hear the first part of Craig’s interview in last week’s episode. He spoke about his experiences in the various parts of Monroe County Jail, and also his experiences being a jail trustee.

He speaks about recreation time, jail overcrowding, the varying conditions between jails in Indiana that he has experienced, and how they communicated with their loved ones- in other words, the differences Craig saw between in person visitation and video visitation. We will hear the last part of Craig’s story in next week’s episode.

First off, we include an update from outside supporters of Operation PUSH, the strike in Florida prisons that is now in its fifth day. We will continue to give updates on the situation in Florida’s prisons as they arrive. After the news, we share the first part of Craig’s story, who was recently released from the Monroe County Jail, after spending two years inside.  We found his observations about life in the jail incredibly helpful for understanding the daily experiences of the sometimes up to 400 men and women held in the local jail, as they navigate fundamentals like medical care, recreation, guards, commissary, and other prisoners.  He shares his positive experiences with the AIR Dorm, which stands for Addicts in Recovery, a program shut down by the jail last year. He also speaks about being a jail trustee, a more privileged, working inmate in the jail’s kitchen. We’ll include more of his observations about Monroe County Jail and other facilities around the state next week.

This week, we feature two snapshots from fast-developing situations inside the prison system. First, we share an anonymized statement from a prisoner participating in final preparations for Operation: PUSH, the statewide strike inside Florida prisons next week. Second, we broadcast an analysis by a Michigan prisoner of the recently instated mail ban there, which is strikingly similar to the new censorship regime in Indiana’s prisons. Both these situations have national repercussions, as both prisoners and administrators everywhere watch to see who will prevail and what level of violent repression against inmates will be tolerated by the American public. As the prisoner in Florida said, “if there’s enough light shining on the situation, they won’t be able to do certain things and get away with it.”