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Thanksgiving Must Die
“Thanksgiving Must Die.” Every year, for what seems like an eternity, the bane of my existence appeared like a banshee in the night: Thanksgiving. Haunting me, taunting me, like some sort of curse upon my… Full Transcript
If I Were A Rich White Kid
“If I Were A Rich White Kid.” In 84 days, December 24th, Christmas Eve, I’ll be 40 years old. Wow. 40 years old. From 17 to 40, I’ve been in prison. That’s 23 years behind… Full Transcript
Free Lamar Johnson Now
This piece is entitled “Free Lamar Johnson Now.” My name is Keith Malik Washington, and I’m the chief spokesperson for the End Prison Slavery in Texas movement. Peace and blessing, sisters and brothers. For 24… Full Transcript
El Paso and Dayton Ohio, A Brief Word
“El Paso in Dayton, Ohio: A Brief Word.” With the recent gun violence in El Paso in Dayton, Ohio, the previously unacknowledged pervasiveness of white domestic terrorism has now been given national attention. So much… Full Transcript
Mad at the World, Fearful of the Future
“Mad at the World, Fearful of the Future.” As an American presidents stomps in the ground in mock anger, decrying the alleged wrongs of young women, he is chilling at windmills, fighting battles he can… Full Transcript
Trump, Mad at the World
“Trump, Mad at the World.” Donald Trump, from the first day he unleashed his venomous campaign for the U.S. presidency, has lashed out at people he considers beneath him. It began, as all now know,… Full Transcript
When The Oppressed Support The Oppressed
“When the oppressed support the oppressed.” In recent weeks, prominent black leaders have been labeled quite unjustly with a tag of anti-Semitism. The best known is perhaps the iconic radical figure Dr. Angela Yvonne Davis… Full Transcript
Babies In Chains
“Babies In Chains.” They’re beautiful babies when you see photos of those tikes: bright-eyed, curious, little bundles of endless energy—except their energies thrown into metallic American cages called detention centers, separated from their parents by… Full Transcript
Why White Supremacy Means White Male Supremacy
“Why white supremacy means white male supremacy.” When Donald Trump lamented at the loss of one of his employees’ career, a bomb of females protest erupted, for he not surprisingly ignored the suffering of his… Full Transcript
War Against the Poor and Workers
“War against the poor and workers.” It is an era of imperial freefall, and in support, the government is openly attacking Latino immigrants from Guatemala and Honduras, lobbing tear gas canisters at moms and babies.… Full Transcript
The Rise That Couldn’t Be
“The rise that couldn’t be.” In 1952, a political scientist named Richard Hofstadter published a book that would become a classic, The Paranoid Style in American Politics. In the preface, former U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower… Full Transcript
Somewhere in Your Lifetime
My name is Charles Karim Diggs. I’m calling from Pennsylvania state prison, SCI Phoenix. The name of my essay is “Somewhere in Your Lifetime.” America has experienced the African-American president, our first. Our parents used… Full Transcript
Disturbing the Peace
The video is stunning. A muscular cop leans over a skinny schoolgirl, flips the chair in which she sits, sending her to a hard fall to floor on her back. Before she can disentangle herself… Full Transcript
Linking Movements
“Linking Movements and Daring to Be Free” by Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall. What does the Black Lives Matter, immigration movement, J20 protesters, Poor People’s Campaign, and Occupy movement have in common? Their commonality is that the… Full Transcript
Goode Street
“Goode Street.” Just a few days ago, a street in West Philadelphia was renamed W. Wilson Goode Senior Way. Members of Philadelphia City Council approved the change months ago in honor of the city’s first… Full Transcript
Domestic Violence
Charles Karim Diggs. I’m a Pennsylvania prisoner at Phoenix, a new prison. And the name of my, uh, title is “Domestic Violence, Harassment, and Denial.” Domestic violence has taken front stage because the president and… Full Transcript
Is Administration of Justice Fair in America?
My name is Charles Karim Diggs, and I’m at Graterford state prison. What we call it now- it’s a new jail we have called Phoenix. They just completed it, and we will have been transferred… Full Transcript
False Identification
My name is Omar Askia Ali, AKA Edward Sistrunk. I’m housed at, uh, Coal Township in Pennsylvania. Historically, false identifications have been the crux of criminal investigations. Now for the first time in Pennsylvania, law… Full Transcript
Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?
“Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? An Introduction.” Does the title of this work seem provocative? If so, then good. That’s how it’s intended to be, for if the question is provocative, then what of the… Full Transcript
The problem is that rich keep getting richer while the rest of us barely make ends meet. People must work two, three jobs just to live the American Dream. Many of you will have to… Full Transcript