Filter Commentaries
Solo on Fire
Mumia Abu-Jamal
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2016, a man in Pennsylvania’s prison at Albion awoke in the grip of excruciating pain. Dennis ‘Solo’ McKeithan put in a Sick Call slip, and when a duty nurse… Full Transcript
Beauty in Cell Bars
Spoon Jackson
Beauty in cell bars. We locked ourselves up. Not because of the bars and steel that surrounds us. Not because life doesn’t bend to our every whim. But because of the projections we placed onto… Full Transcript
Go On
Spoon Jackson
My name is Spoon Jackson in that New Folsom Prison. And the title of the poem I’m reading is “Go On.” I cannot go on like this, but I will go on, on and on… Full Transcript
Acceptance
Lisa Strawn
Lisa Strawn, CMS Vacaville, “Acceptance.” Currently where I am and who I am, I’m not accepted for anything. Being a trans woman in a man’s prison, I’m not entitled to acceptance. The reality of acceptance… Full Transcript
Jerry Sandusky: Like Father, Like Son
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
“Jerry Sandusky: Like Father, Like Son,” by Shakaboona. The Sandusky name is back in the news again for allegedly corrupting the morals of minors, except this time, the news is not the sins of the… Full Transcript
President Trump Will Not Reach Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
In a press meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, president Donald Trump expressed to the world he will cut a great deal with the Israelis to bring peace by getting the Israelis… Full Transcript
On Death Row Without a Sentence
Mumia Abu-Jamal
On Death Row With No Death Sentence. For several years now, well, over a decade, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections kept dozens of men on death row even though they didn’t have a pending death… Full Transcript
Al Jarreau 1940-2017
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Al Jarreau, 1940 to 2017. Al Jarreau was a musical genius. He was a jazz artist, a soul singer, and a pop sensation who thrilled audiences with his mastery of song. Born in Milwaukee, WI… Full Transcript
Not The Last Days Of The Republic
Kenneth Hartman
These are not the last days of the republic. It seems I’m having a lot of conversations with otherwise rational people that quickly slip into an irrational “these are the last days of the republic”… Full Transcript
Law & Liberation
Mumia Abu-Jamal
“Law and Liberation.” From the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement now comes the rise of Law for Black Lives, a collective of lawyers, law students, jailhouse lawyers, and other legal workers in support… Full Transcript
Mean Men
Mumia Abu-Jamal
The regime of Donald Trump has radiated a global aura of dread, fear and the bared teeth of the state as a predator, hungry for power. From Day One the Trump Regime has used fear,… Full Transcript
Interview on The Other Death Penality Project
Life
Christian Weaver
The next poem is called “Life.” A skull on a stick, or a corpse in a cage, or a chest of old sweaters and bones, a convict so old, he forgets why he’s here, so… Full Transcript
Prisoner Blues
Christian Weaver
My name’s Christian Weaver. I’m calling from Mountain City, TN, contributing to the Cruel, Not Unusual Enough audiobook, and the name of my poem, the first poem, is “Prison blues.” You don’t know loneliness until… Full Transcript
At the Axis of Language and Philosophy
Mumia Abu-Jamal
“At The Axis of Language and Philosophy.” Saussure examines the field of linguistics by separating two controlling facets they’re in: speech and language. Speech, he argues, is at every moment an existing institution which is… Full Transcript
President Trump’s Game of Lies
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
For ages politicians have used the art of deception on opponents and on the people. President Donald J. Trump is no exception to the rule. Since the beginning of the presidential elections, and now as… Full Transcript
SCI RockView Restricts Phone Access
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
Kerry Shakaboona Marshall: Two weeks ago, prison administrators put restrictions on prisoners’ phone calls to their families because of a small altercation among two or three prisoners. After that, prisoners responded by holding the phones… Full Transcript
The Bans of Empire
Mumia Abu-Jamal
“The Bans of Empire.” Remember when departing president Obama reassured the nation that everything was all right after the ascension of Donald Trump to the oval office? Well, a week has passed, and guess what?… Full Transcript
Women’s March
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
Let’s face it. President Trump’s entire presidential election campaign was so mysogynistic, sexist, anti-choice, and anti-women’s rights, that women of America had no other option but to fight back against what can only be called… Full Transcript
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Lynne Stewart: Good afternoon Mumia. What a pleasure this is.Mumia Abu-Jamal: It is a pleasure for us both I hope.LS: I think so.MAJ: You have been seems to me. Singled out by the highest levels… Full Transcript