In this episode we give follow-up information about the hunger strike at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Then, we finish a conversation with Salomon X, a former prisoner in southern Illinois. Two weeks ago, he shared stories of different issues he faced in a variety of facilities. Now, he continues talking about his experiences behind the walls, and about his transition to life on the outside. You can hear the first part of his interview here.

In Wabash Valley, Shaka Shakur is maintaining his hunger strike, demanding an end to guard abuses and the isolation of active prisoners in camera cells. We spoke with his wife, Akili Shakur, who provided context for the struggle undertaken by Shaka and other prisoners, along with background on his imprisonment and the role of guards in targeting prisoners and stoking conflict. She also explains the importance of the hunger strike as a tool for prisoners to fight for their dignity and survival.

Updates on the movement at Wabash Valley and Shaka’s hunger strike can be found at idocwatch.org. IDOC Watch reports that there is still a request to call in and support the prisoners’ protest.

This week, we share the words and experiences of Salomon X, a former prisoner in Illinois. In the first of two episodes with Salomon, he describes poor conditions and exploitation in the Menard prison, site of many recent struggles, and compares it with other facilities. Many of his memories will be recognizable to Hoosiers; elsewhere, he has spoken of prisoners choking to death without receiving aid. A similar situation occurred in Westville, Indiana, sparking a round of protest there.

This week, we speak with Lill, a resident of Whitesburg, Kentucky. Whitesburg is located in Letcher County the proposed home to a new federal prison to be built on a mountaintop removal site. We have previously covered the strong local organizing in Letcher County that had helped put a stop to this toxic proposal. In light of recent efforts by the Bureau of Prisons to put the prison back on the table, we wanted to go in depth with a local organizer to help us understand the current situation and how others can support the struggle there.

Last April, the Indiana Department of Corrections banned all correspondence to it’s 25,000 prisoners, except that which is handwritten on lined white paper. The official explanation is that this is an attempt to block trafficking of synthetic marijuana which can be applied to paper. But many prisoners and advocates have pointed to a long series of earlier measures targeting correspondence and the mailing of political and religious materials and argue that this is just the latest and most sweeping attempt to isolate prisoners from outside supporters. In particular, prisoners have pointed to the exclusion of Afrocentric and anti-racist materials by mail room censors.

The mail ban policy pushes families, friends, and supporters to use J-Pay, a proprietary pay-only online communications system. Sending emails through J-Pay requires the purchase of expensive digital “stamps,” channeling money to IDOC and its contractors rather than the post office. It is also easier to surveil.

On today’s episode, we share statements from prisoners who’ve been hurt by the mail ban. They reflect on ways that the ban has secluded them from their families, limited their access to reading materials, and pushed them into isolation.