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In Honor of Women’s History Month
Izell Robinson
I am Izell Robinson, Minnesota inmate number 210006. I am today- due to the persistent COVID quarantine lockdowns at my facility, I have been limited in my access to share commentaries. Therefore, last month I… Full Transcript
In Solidarity With Asian Americans
Spoon Jackson
Anybody of color in this country has experienced so much discrimination, so to take it out on other people is wrong. Especially, I guess, Asian people has contributed, built a railroad, who helped do what… Full Transcript
COVID-19 in California Prisons
Ivan Kilgore
My name’s Ivan Kilgore and I am the founder of the United Black Family Scholarship Foundation. And I’m calling you from Solano State Prison in Northern California. Let’s go back to March of 2020. What’s… Full Transcript
COVID-19 To Life
Joadanus Olivas
I call this “COVID-19 to Life.” I never believed that jailhouse rumor pertaining to a world catastrophe or an invasion on U.S. soil, which would prompt the correctional officers to go to each cell and… Full Transcript
My Ghetto Thesis On The N-Word
Joadanus Olivas
Joadanus Olivas, “My Ghetto Thesis On The Word Nigga.” There’s much controversy over the word “nigga.” As a black youth myself, I’m more than familiar with this word. Those from black conscious groups argue that… Full Transcript
Better Education in College Or Prison?
Joadanus Olivas
My name is Joandus Olivas, currently incarcerated. The question is whether you receive a better education in college or in prison. Which of the two ensures that for sure success later in life? Which of… Full Transcript
I Can’t Breathe (We Are All George Floyd)
Khalfani Malik Khaldun
My name is Khalfani Malik Khaldun. I am calling from Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. This is my cry of support [], in celebration [] for George Floyd; power to the people and all those that… Full Transcript
How Do You Fight an Unjust Racist System?
Dontie Mitchell
How do you fight an unjust and racist system? Definitely not by being their good nigga. How do you find an unjust and racist system that uses the power of the state to grind people… Full Transcript
When Good People Do Nothing, Tyranny Reigns
Dontie Mitchell
When good people do nothing, tyranny reigns. Let us analyze why people are looting and rioting in the wake of George Floyd’s death. It’s because people lose respect for law when the very people responsible… Full Transcript
George Floyd: What Do You Expect To Happen
Dontie Mitchell
George Floyd and state power: what do you expect to happen? The death of George Floyd is on a long list of unarmed black people murdered by the police. His death is sad and tragic.… Full Transcript
December in Chicago
Mumia Abu-Jamal
“December in Chicago.” It was an early morning in December, 1969. When a joint FBI-Chicago Police crew raided an apartment building ostensibly for weapons charges. In fact, they came to kill Fred Hampton, Chairman of… Full Transcript
Quality of Moral Character
Dontie Mitchell
“The quality of moral character.” Today, September 4th, 2019, I was singled out of line on the way to morning chow by Sergeant Reynolds who is the grievance sergeant who screens prisoner complaints submitted to… Full Transcript
Stressing Out But Still In The Fight
Dontie Mitchell
“Stressing Out But Still In The Fight.” I told you all in my last commentary how Corrections Sergeant Reynolds here at Great Meadow singled me out of line, orders me into the Sergeant’s Bunker and… Full Transcript
When The Oppressed Support The Oppressed
Mumia Abu-Jamal
“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
Linking Movements
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
“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
The New World
Charles Karim Diggs
“The New World.” My name is Charles Karim Diggs. I’m calling from Pennsylvania, from the new prison called Phoenix. A European escaped from Europe because of oppression, tyrants, and religious persecution. They also suffered economic… Full Transcript
Is Administration of Justice Fair in America?
Charles Karim Diggs
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
A House is Not a Home
Mumia Abu-Jamal
She sits in utter stillness. Her coffee-brown features, as if set an obsidian, as if a mask, barely perceptible, the tears threatening to overflow that dark proud maternal face, a face held still by rage.… Full Transcript
American Jewish Lobbies’ Chickens Come Home to Roost
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
“American Jewish lobbies’ chickens come home to roost,” by Shakaboona. During the presidential election campaign of 2016, Donald Trump often rhetorically asked African-Americans what do you have to lose in casting a vote for him.… Full Transcript
This is Izell Robinson, Minnesota inmate number 210006. And this is part two to the series of the parallel lives of North and Kyle, one city, two broken families, and adolescent years of racism versus… Full Transcript