Kite Line

We go to the neighboring state of Ohio this week in order to dig into the history of Midwestern prison resistance. We share more of the story of Siddique Hasan – one of 5 prisoners on death row for their role in the 1994 Lucasville Uprising – as well as his organizing and his case. …

This week’s episode focuses on the importance of education in prison. We speak with Dr. Scarlett Brooks, who has taught English and writing in several inmate education programs . We also hear some reflections from Maureen, who has experience teaching art in Indiana Prisons. Later, we share a letter written by Zolo, a long-time inmate in an Indiana prison.

This week’s episode focuses on the importance of education in prison. We speak with Dr. Scarlett Brooks, who has taught English and writing in several inmate education programs . We also hear some reflections from Maureen, who has experience teaching art in Indiana Prisons. Later, we share a letter written by Zolo, a long-time inmate …

Our topic this week is creativity behind bars. We showcase poetry from prisoners working with the Indiana Prisoners' Writing Project, a piece by Shaka Shakur, entitled "Black Pain", and a song by local musician Billy Young. Shakur is currently serving time in the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility here in Indiana. Billy Young will speak with us in a future episode about his experience with incarceration and homelessness.

This week, we hear some prison-related news and then return to the topic of pregnancy in prison. We continue our discussion with Dr. Alicia Suarez, a sociologist who researches pregnancy and childbirth as it relates to incarcerated women. She continues the discussion from our Pregnancy in Prison episode, and walks us through the process of giving birth as a prisoner. We then speak with Joe and Mandy Knepp, of the Stepping Stones Baby Ministry- an organization out of Odon, Indiana. Stepping Stones places the babies of prisoners into the homes of volunteer caregivers, who provide homes for the babies as their mothers serve their prison terms.

Our episode focuses on the experience of being pregnant while in prison. First, we hear prison-related news. Then, we speak with Dr. Alicia Suarez, PhD, who teaches at DePauw University. Suarez researches pregnant prisoners at the Indiana Women's Prison, and speaks with us about the daily life and issues facing these women. In our next installment of this series, we will talk more with Dr. Suarez about the process of childbirth while incarcerated.

Our topic this week is creativity behind bars. We showcase poetry from prisoners working with the Indiana Prisoners’ Writing Project, a piece by Shaka Shakur, entitled “Black Pain”, and a song by local musician Billy Young. Shakur is currently serving time in the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility here in Indiana. Billy Young will speak with …

This week, we hear some prison-related news and then return to the topic of pregnancy in prison. We continue our discussion with Dr. Alicia Suarez, a sociologist who researches pregnancy and childbirth as it relates to incarcerated women. She continues the discussion from our Pregnancy in Prison episode, and walks us through the process of …

Our episode focuses on the experience of being pregnant while in prison. First, we hear prison-related news. Then, we speak with Dr. Alicia Suarez, PhD, who teaches at DePauw University. Suarez researches pregnant prisoners at the Indiana Women’s Prison, and speaks with us about the daily life and issues facing these women. In our next …

This week, we explore various spaces of exception. We spoke with Matt Peterson, a documentary filmmaker and contributor to a multimedia project called the Native and the Refugee. Along with Malek Rasamny, he has worked in both native reservations and Palestinian refugee camps, drawing links between each as spaces of exception, excluded from the national constitutional order, but also drawing strength from deep connections to the land and a surviving communal order. They emphasize this positive aspect of exceptionality, and Matt describes first hand the collective resilience he observed at Standing Rock. We were inspired by this resilience, and it again reminded us of the collective dignity demonstrated by prisoners in the face of institutional violence and degradation.

To pursue these connections farther, we interviewed an ex-worker from Indiana's New Castle prison who was present during the 2007 uprising there. She describes the protests of Native prisoners who were shipped to Indiana from Arizona as part of a for-profit deal by the GEO corporation running the prison. As part of their transfer, guards desecrated sacred objects important to these prisoners, and anger about this desecration was central to the uprising. She reveals that the rebellion was not about "pornography" and was not a race riot, the red herrings presented by the DOC, but was instead an act of resistance by native prisoners collaborating with local prisoners of other races. The uprising ultimately forced the DOC to return the prisoners to Arizona. This story from Indiana reinforces Peterson's point that native ways of life are a living exception within a society dominated by the logic of governance and the economy.