In this No Borders Media audio dispatch, we get in-depth background, analysis and perspective on the current Nationwide Prison Strike taking place all over the USA and elsewhere, between August 21 and September 9 (the anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion 45 years ago).
Incarcerated prisoners across the USA declared a nationwide strike in response to the deaths of seven prisoners during a riot at a maximum security prison in South Carolina this past April. The Prison Strike is demanding, among other things, humane living conditions, access to rehabilitation, sentencing reform and the end of modern day slavery. A previous strike in 2016 involved upwards of 24,000 prisoners in 24 states,
To get more information about the current prison strike, No Borders Media speaks with El Jones, a supporter of the current protest by prisoners at the Burnside Jail near Halifax, Nova Scotia. We also speak with Brooke Terpstra, a member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), one of the main organizing groups of the current Prison Strike.
We hear from El Jones in Halifax first, followed by Brooke Terpstra in Oakland (interview with Brooke starts after 21:53).
These interviews were recorded on August 26, 2018, by Jaggi Singh for No Borders Media.
Background:
- Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee: https://incarceratedworkers.org/
- Statement by Burnside Jail prisoners: www.halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house/the-prisoners-at-the-burnside-jail-are-engaged-in-a-non-violent-protest-here-is-their-statement/
- No Borders Media: www.facebook.com/NoBordersMediaNetwork