Tag Archives: prison struggles

After the news, we hear from Daniel McGowan, former political prisoner and member of the Certain Days Collective. Daniel’s been on the show before, talking to us about the Certain Days calendar- which is out now. Later on in the episode, we talk to an organizer with the group Both Sides of the Wall.  Alabama prisoners have been striking since …

This past week, we spoke to Swift Justice, who is an incarcerated organizer in Alabama. Thousands of Alabama prisoners began a strike last week to protest poor prison conditions across the state, where prisons are overcrowded, understaffed and notoriously dangerous. Today, Swift Justice speaks about the recent retaliation the strikers have faced. He updates us on the strike’s progress, some …

Last week, marked our 300th episode! Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing clips of our favorite moments from our archive of shows. The following story is from Mark Cook, one of our all-time favorite guests on Kite Line. In this gem, Cook, a founding member of the Walla Walla Black Panther Party, tells us the story of …

In this episode, we share information about the recent disturbances in St. Louis. Afterwards, we have the second part of a conversation with Balagoon, an Indiana political prisoner who has been locked up for almost 43 years, 31 of those in isolation. In this episode, he first describes the context of the 1985 uprising in the Indiana reformatory, now called …

  On Kite Line this week, we share two interviews with advocates working on the physical well-being of those locked inside. The first conversation we hear is with Olivia, who is part of a group trying to get the word out about unsafe conditions at the California Medical Facility, or CMF, a prison for inmates with medical conditions. This facility …

This week, we hear from two people who explain the rapidly deteriorating COVID-19 situation in facilities in both Saskatchewan and Indiana. As we reported last week, prisoners at the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre in Saskatchewan, Canada organized a hunger strike last week to protest the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. The hunger strike lasted several days and ended Monday, …

On our show this week, we hear from Dennis Boatright, a co-organizer with MAPS- Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Support. Boatright presents ‘From Convict to Inmate’, tracing the counter insurgent and repressive measures- such as isolation, book restriction, and even the colors used within the facilities- used by the Michigan Department of Corrections to neutralize and depoliticize prisoners. He spoke about …

We recently sat down with Zolo Agona Azania, who was recently released after surviving decades on Indiana’s death row.  In this first section of the interview, he covers his early experiences in prison, the role of imprisoned Black Panthers in mentoring him, and the cycle of prisoners struggles that lasted in Indiana from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.  …

This week, Kite Line welcomes the continued contributions of Mark Cook, who we recorded in conversation with Alejo Stark.  Mark is a former prison rebel, dating back to ambitious organizing on the inside in the 1960s.  Following his release from prison, he co-founded the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party and later went underground with the George Jackson Brigade.  …

This week’s episode covers the situation in the Midwest. We hear from Ben and Aaron, who work on supporting prisoners in Ohio and Indiana, respectively. Ben informs about Ohio prisoners who are still facing repercussions from the 1993 Lucasville uprising. We’ve introduced Lucasville in previous episodes of Kite Line, including an early episode focusing on the case of Bomani Shakur …