This week, we share important news from around the Midwest and more updates from the struggles in Louisiana’s immigrant detention centers.  Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson is facing threats on his life inside the Indiana Department of Corrections.  An abolitionist in Madison, Wisconsin has chosen to enter solitary confinement rather than violate his ethics and testify against other activists in a secret Grand Jury.  At Winn Correctional, in Louisiana, ICE detainees have risked retribution from guards to speak to Perilous Chronicle about indefinite confinement, poor conditions, and COVID-19 vulnerability.  We are grateful to Perilous for sharing this important story with us and our listeners.  You can find out more about Perilous’ efforts to document prisoner organizing across the U.S. at perilouschronicle.com.  

ICE detainees are a week into a hunger strike at Pine Prairie, Louisiana.  This week, we broadcast audio of a call between an anonymous Pine Prairie ICE detainee, and a member of Perilous Chronicle. More information on the struggle there can be found at perilouschronicle.com. The strike at Pine Prairie is not an isolated incident, but the continuation of a year of protest in ICE facilities on the part of African immigrants, who have been trapped by the failure of the global community to grant them refuge as they flee war and environmental disruption. The hunger strike this month at Pine Prairie is at least the fourth major protest led by Cameroonians in ICE detention this year. In March 2020, Cameroonian detainees at Pine Prairie organized a hunger strike that lasted at least ten days in protest of their conditions of confinement and the dysfunctional asylum process they faced. Months later, the same migrants again find themselves in segregation for acting together to demand justice. As far as we know, their protest continues despite their transfer to segregation, but it is not clear how long they will be able to sustain their strike after all they’ve been through. You can read the full transcript of the call here. The full article about the hunger strike can be read here.  

Today, August 21st, is the 49th anniversary of George Jackson’s murder by San Quentin guards.  Jackson was a leading theorist and militant in the prisoners’ movement which had emerged over the previous decade in close relationship to the rise of Black Power.  His books, Soledad Brother and Blood in my Eye, remain touchstones for prisoners’ discussions across the US.  Jackson famously organized within a collective of other courageous prison rebels. After that, we finish last week’s conversation between Bella Bravo and abolitionist researchers Zhandarka Kurti, and Jarrod Shanahan. Kurti is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennesee in Knoxville, and also works with Face to Face Knox, a campaign to restore in-person visitation to Knox County detention centers.   Shanahan is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Governors State University. Together, they have written several pieces, including the article referenced in this conversation, Prelude to a Hot American Summer, about the George Floyd Uprising. Today, we share the final part of their conversation about the current moment, its relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement of previous years, and the impact of the coronavirus on incarcerated people. We are grateful to Freedom Archive for providing audio records of George Jackson’s speech, and of Harry Belafonte, which is featured in their important audio documentary on Jackson, titled Prisons on Fire. Many more materials can be found at freedomarchives.org  

This week, Bella Bravo speaks to Zhandarka Kurti and Jarrod Shanahan. Kurti is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennesee in Knoxville, and also works with Face to Face Knox, a campaign to restore in-person visitation to Knox County detention centers.  Shanahan is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Governors State University. They have collaborated on a number of projects dealing with class, the racial order in America, and abolition, including a recent article in the Brooklyn Rail, Prelude to a Hot American Summer, about the George Floyd Uprising. Today, we share the first part of their conversation about the current movement, its relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement of previous years, and the limits of the demand to defund the police.  

This week marks our 4-year anniversary, and we would like to thank all those who have contributed their stories, labor, and expertise to Kite Line, making it possible to air news and experiences of incarceration for 211 consecutive episodes. Thank you! — In this episode, we share news from a major prison riot in Georgia, before airing the final part of Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid’s conversation on education in prison. In this segment, we learn more about the biases incarcerated people face while attempting to secure a degree. In a system rife with obstacles preventing prisoners from achieving their goals, Schmid describes applying for an advanced degree while in prison, and how even “radical” academic institutions still discriminate against those who have been convicted of felonies. Schmid overturned her wrongful conviction in 2019, and was freed after nearly two decades inside. You can hear previous stories with Anastazia on our website’s archive- but you can find the previous episodes from this conversation here, and here. These interviews on barriers to higher education were made possible by the Lumina Foundation. And please keep calling into our coronavirus hotline with information about COVID-19 conditions in prisons and jails: (765) 343-6236.

This week, we share the voices of three prisoners in Florida. Choosing to speak anonymously due to repression, they told us about horrible conditions inside the Florida prison system. They explain the racial injustice in the prison system, the importance of letting lifers out, the prevalence of moldy, rancid food, poor hygiene in the face of COVID-19, rats and cockroaches in their cells, inadequate health care, and the lack of a working grievance system that leaves prisoners to fend for themselves. Additionally, we’ve received reports that people imprisoned at Dekalb County Jail in Georgia have tested positive for COVID-19. They say jail staff are not taking appropriate measures to protect the people inside and they’re scared for their lives. Their loved ones say you can call (404) 298-8100- the Dekalb County Sherriff’s Office, and demand the following: 1- Put everyone on bondable release, effective immediately. 2- Test everyone in the jail for COVID-19. 3- Release those inmates who test positive for COVID-19. 4- Restore all access to phone and video visits.    

We return this week to the second part of the conversation between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid. Schmid is an award-winning, formerly incarcerated scholar who went to extraordinary lengths to complete her education on the inside. We last heard Schmid describe the impact of Ball State University, which she attended while in the Indiana Women’s Prison, choosing not renew its contract with the Indiana Department of Corrections. This week, she expands on the research she and other prisoners did with the Indiana Women’s Prison History Project, and how their lived experience as prisoners allowed them to uncover dynamics other researchers had overlooked. In future episodes, we will hear more from both of them about the structural barriers that prisoners face while seeking education. You can hear the first part of this conversation on our website, here.  

We will continue the final installment of the interview between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid next week, as they talk about barriers to education while incarcerated. This week, though, we received urgent calls. Faheem Shabazz is a longtime whistleblower and militant inside the Indiana prison system, who was released in 2018. He has been targeted many times by both guards and parole officers for his organizing, landing him back in prison last year.  He has since spoken out against neglect during the COVID-19 pandemic.  He is once again being targeted by guards, as he details in the message we are sharing today. We end this episode with a call we received from Andre Perry, currently incarcerated at Wabash Valley Correctional, here in Indiana. He shares important reflections on the George Floyd Uprising, the history of racial exploitation, and the prospects for movement solidarity across the prison walls.  

This week, we broadcast an interview digging into the problem of barriers to higher education during incarceration. This interview is between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid, both  former inmates at the Indiana Women’s Prison. Anastazia speaks to the difficulties accessing a successful educational experience behind prison walls. These interviews conducted on the barriers to higher education are made possible by a grant from the Lumina Foundation. In today’s news, we share the words of prisoners at Indiana Women’s Prison who are suffering from extreme conditions and deprivations there.  The related petition can be found here.