“Breonna’s Deathbed.”
Her name, Breonna Taylor, has become a call to be chanted and shouted at protests now joined by that of many other black people who were killed by distinct with perfect impunity.
A Kentucky grand jury has just returned with no charges against the cops who burst into her apartment, fired over a dozen shots, at least six of which struck her as she laid in her bed. All, ostensibly as part of a drug raid, note that no drugs were found. Indeed, only one cop, one who was earlier fired, faced charges for shooting up a neighbor’s home.
Philosophers sometime run thought experiments to see all sides of a controversy. Imagine, if you will, that a 26-year-old white woman named Breonna Brzezinski, then, who worked as an EMT, was shot in her bed by a half-dozen cops in a mistaken drug raid. What do you think would happen to those cops?
Black Breonna’s case reminded me of a 21-year-old Black Panther leader who was shot and killed in his bed after being drugged, I might add, on the early morning of December 4, 1969 in Chicago. His name Fred Hampton. 1969. 2020, over 50 years later, and black lives still don’t matter.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
![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)