Prison Radio Audio Feed

"A Message to No New Jails NYC." In September, New York city prison abolitionists organized the coalition known as No New Jails NYC. One of the group's goals is to promote a vision of a different kind of future, one where incarceration is wiped from the American landscape, according to an article written by freelance journalist Emily Nonko. The article goes on to report that No New Jails advocates admit they themselves have no plan to close New York's jails. But they see promise in alternatives to incarceration that could lead to a jail free New York. All that is well and good, but I can't help but wonder why No New Jails have made no mention of those of us still languishing behind prison walls. Prison abolitionists seem to talk a good one. They seem to spend a lot of time going to public cameras to chant "No new jails." But what about working on efforts to reduce causes of crime, like socioeeconomic inequality, and to reduce prison recidivism by supporting programs that help prisoners to truly change and bet

"Now what?" After the U.S. House voted along party lines to impeach the U.S. President  Donald Trump, headlines blared and pundits crowed about the news. But now what? It is all but certain that Trump will be acquitted by the U.S. Senate and the case essentially dismissed. While history books will know that Trump was impeached, beyond that it will mean next to nothing for he will not be removed from office. WIthout that, there is nothing. To men like him, "impeachment" is just a word: a nasty word, according to him. The Constitution? Just a scrap of paper. What matters is power, nothing else matters. From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

"The Puzzle of Afghanistan." The flag of the United States rustles in the dry wind of its bases in Afghanistan, but the bases are bereft of ideas on what to do except harass and humiliate the population by a series of useless counter-terrorism raids. According to a wealth of documents recently published in the Washington Post, senior military officials who've worked in Afghanistan say they had no idea what they were doing there, even as it becomes the nation's longest war. Retired three-star general Douglas Lute is quoted as saying, "We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan. We didn't know what we were doing." That was all also published in the New York Times, December 10th. To anyone who remembers that chaotic war in Vietnam, such sentiment as this sounds remarkably familiar. For over 18 years, military and government officials painted a rosy picture of the Afghanistan War. In truth, the Taliban rule the night in villages outside of Kabul, the capital, and their forays into Kandahar, have

I want to first thank all my family, friends and supporters for your participation in the Free Dontie Friday phone zaps to the governor's office. With any luck, these weekly phone zaps will make the difference and get Governor Cuomo's attention. We're in the home stretch now with only two phone zaps to go before New Year's Day. My hope is that we can make a big showing and get as many people involved as possible for these last two phones zaps. I ask that you call, text, and message everybody you know to please participate in the last two Free Dontie Friday phone zaps on December 20th and 27th. Also, if you're on Instagram, please snap photos of yourself or someone else holding up signs that say: call Governor Cuomo to free Dontie Mitchell and approve UFD. Go to Free Dontie Mitchell on Facebook for more details.  Once again, thank you all for your participation. This is Dontie S. Mitchell, better known as Mfalme Sikivu, reporting to you from Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, New York. Follow me @

"Nicholas Feliciano." Nicholas Feliciano was my baby [inaudible]. I initiated him into UFD on June 22nd, 2019 here at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. He was a young Hispanic kid born May 7th, 2001. Having just turned 18 years old when he was transferred here from the juvenile unit at Hudson Correctional Facility. He was an upbeat and happy kid, always smiling and giggling like a little boy. Especially when him and Smokey—another young kid I initiated into UFD—were together. Which I found both maddening and refreshing. I connected with Nick and learned a lot about him in our short time together. I would walk the prison yard with him or be at the table with him, where I usually deal with other young [inaudible] and young prisoners I mentor. I learned how much Nick loved his grandmother, Madeline, who he felt bad for letting down so many times. He was committed to doing the right thing this time to make her proud. And I encouraged him. I learned that Nick had an ex-girlfriend he still loved. And I learned ho

"The Cost Benefit of Supporting Pennsylvania Senate Bill 942." On November the 11th, 2019, Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street introduced Senate Bill 942 to help us finally get parole eligibility for our loved ones serving death by incarceration or life without parole sentences in Pennsylvania—a struggle going on for about 50 years in this state. From the 1970s until today, we can guesstimate that thousands—if not more—of lifer men and women in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections have died slow, agonizing, lonely deaths in prison from serving death by incarceration sentences. This must end. People deserve second chances. Placing emotions aside and looking at Senate Bill 942 from a practical standpoint, SB 942 is a bill we can get fully behind to support its passage and with good reason, here is why: for the first time in Pennsylvania history, there will be parole eligibility for incarcerated men and women condemned to death through life without parole sentencing schemes. A couple of thousand lifer

"Silencing the Unique Collective Voice of Prisoners." A decision and order dated December 5th, 2019, the United States Justice Court for the Northern District of New York dismissed several of my claims raised in my amended complaint. For those of you not familiar, whenever you file suit in the federal court system, you use what is called a complaint to plead your causes of action. That is, what was done to you and how it violated your rights under the law. In my amended complaint—which superseded my original complaint—I raised several class action allegations, but they all can be summed up to this: the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for years has instituted and affirmed policies, practices, procedures, and customs, systematically, and unreasonably depriving prisoners of their personal liberties and freedoms protected under the United States Constitution. These policies, practices, procedures, and customs are designed to silence, humiliate, and destroy the dignity of prisone

"The Commutation Process." The Pennsylvania commonwealth spends 40,000 a year per incarcerated person. According to the Secretary of Corrections, John Wetzel, the aging population has led to increase in the Department of Corrections' medical calls. Some of the inmates had bad—have had massive strokes, glaucoma and other ills. Some of the population are wheelchair bound and others with missing limbs. Since the secretary of department of corrections has quoted the costs of 40,000 per person incarcerated in Pennsylvania, and the taxpayer has to flip tens of millions of dollars a year, the taxpayers should pay attention to what the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania John Fetterman has to say, pertaining to clemency for inmates who have proven that they are good candidates for commutation. He has even taken a more proactive approach and asked the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Advocacy to conduct an audit of the population to figure out who might be good candidates for commutation. He states also that our laws a

David Wade Correctional Center—located in Homer, Louisiana—continues to house prisoners in solitary confinement despite ongoing litigation. It was estimated in 2017 that over 87,000 prisoners across America are being held in solitary confinement. Despite the many studies done by neuroscientists around the world that solitary confinement is a neglected social, economical, environmental risk That also causes and worsens mental illness. Despite these facts, and ongoing lawsuits spearheaded by Louisiana Advocacary Katie Swanson—formerly of the ACLU—ordered Jerry Goodman and coerced, refused to shut down that torture chamber. Mental health patients in solitary confinement receive no form of counseling, no social workers come around to offenders, are left to deal with their mental health issues on their own. 23 hours a day, minus one hour in a cage outfitted exactly as a dog kennel, contrary to what they'd have taxpayers on the outside world think, offenders are left to languish in these deplorable conditions with

"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 the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party and the man chosen by the Party Central Committee to become the new Chief of Staff of the national organization. Hampton, barely 21, would be shot to death in his bed, in his sleep. Also killed: Mark Clark, a captain from Peoria, Illinois, who was security for the apartment. The killing of Fred made him a martyr for blacks in Chicago and for Panthers across the nation. This year marks 50 years since his assassination. How many cops were sent to death row in Illinois for this most premeditated of murders in Chicago? I think you know the answer: zero. Fred's wife worked for black freedom movements for years. His son, sleeping in her belly while his father was assassinated by the state, became an outspoken freedom fighter for the black nation and Fred

 Howard Zinn book Fair-   come join us prison radio has a table!!! Stephen Vittoria & Mumia Abu-Jamal Sunday Dec. 8th 201910:30 to Noon, Room 214City College of SF, Mission Campus1125 Valencia St. SF See you there.  www.prisonradio.org

Alright. Hi everyone, it's Jamil Pirant. Over the last few months, I've been going through a lot of stuff, but with the support of everybody who's been supporting me from Prison Radio, to the people that send postcards and everything. It just lifted my spirit, made everything that much more easy. And everything that y'all did helping me get transferred to where I'm at right now at ISP. I'm 45 minutes away from my family. I haven't been this close to my family in over 10 years, probably. I've been locked up since 16 years old, man. I haven't been this close to my family in a long time. Visiting my family, things like that. So it means so much to me. I'm just thankful for y'all just fighting with me and things like that. So, just continue to support me, man. Cause I like the post cards and all that type of stuff. (Laughs.) So, just [inaudible]. But uh, I think y'all though, man. I just want to thank everybody at Prison Radio. I want to thank everybody that supported me.  Alright, so, I don't know. I just want t

Message for Cleveland (:44) Mumia Abu-Jamal

"So That the Public Never Knows." I'm currently litigating in federal court, three civil rights lawsuits on my own because I get no help from any of these so called prison legal services, organizations that claim to stand up for the rights of prisoners. This puts me at a severe disadvantage. For one, federal judges are biased against incarcerated pro se litigants and often give us unfair rulings, but what can we do? Not only must we pay $350 just to file a civil rights lawsuit to protect and vindicate our constitutional rights. We must also pay $505 just to appeal a unfair ruling. So we incarcerated pro se litigants who are poor, we can't really afford to fight in federal court. To do so is a tremendous sacrifice for us. This is all in thanks to our- the Prisoners Litigation Reform Act signed into law by our good old pal Bill Clinton. The reason I'm mentioning this is because the New York state prison officials know how difficult it is for prisoners to expose how pervasive and widespread the abuse and mistrea

"The Truth is More Insidious and Treacherous." For years the superintendent here at Great Meadow has presided over and condoned some of the worst prison violence in New York state. The Correctional Association of New York ranks Great Meadow the third highest New York state prison in violence and ranked it number one in guards using violence against prisoners. Why this guy hasn't yet been fired is beyond me. Currently there's a mounting crisis here over the limited number of phones in the prison yard that prisoners have access to so that they may call their loved ones. Oftentimes communication with the outside world or with one's mom, wife, or child is the only thing keeping a man in prison from completely losing his cool. Look, the lack of phones in the yard is creating a serious risk of a riot. What is so upsetting is that the prison administration here, especially the superintendent, know what is going on. There has already been a number of incidents resulting from disagreements over the phone. In fact, for

"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 life. Reminding me of all my relatives who have suffered the ultimate crime. The genocide of nearly 50 million Indigenous people of Turtle Island, renamed North America, and wholesale theft of their land. The indentured slavery of oppressed, poor Caucasian people of Europe. And the kidnapping and enslavement of nearly 40 million Black people of the African continent. Reminding me that we didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us. Thanksgiving for what? For giving poverty, disease, pigs, flies, and death? Are we to be thankful for giving the world a hell on earth? Revisionist history told by the conqueror. Now, narratives and pictures of peaceful looking pilgrims and Native peoples breaking bread and eating corn and Turkey on a white cloth picnic table. Now, narratives and pictures of gleeful l

This piece will be broadcasted at the Howard Zinn Bookfair On December 8th, 2019 where Stephen Vittoria, Co-Author of Murder Inc, will be reading at 10:30 am at Room 214.  For more information visit: https://howardzinnbookfair.com/timetable/event/murder-incorporated-empire-genocide-and-manifest-destiny/

In this Pennsylvania state prison system, there is an estimation of 5,000 people sentenced to prison. Most of those were men and women are African Americans. The balance of the 5,000 are poor whites and Latinos. However, with this in mind, the current clemency board of pardon under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Fetterman, along with the final decision for clemency being with the Governor Tom Wolf, along with Secretary [inaudible]. There's a ray of hope for freedom after years of no hope for clemency off parole eligibility. There also is strong aspirations for a bill for parole with eligibility in Pennsylvania. And supporters of the legislation for the bill are resilient in their quest to bring parole eligibility to fruition. I- calamity for life is for the first time in the history of commutation in Pennsylvania, and possibly the nation, now have former offenders who fill these roles. No one is more suitable for this position than two people who have gone through the process. And who have valuable ins

Leonard Peltier’s 2019 Thanksgiving Message: “Walking on Stolen Land”by Levi RickertPublished November 23, 2019COLEMAN, FLORIDA – Leonard Peltier, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, who is incarcerated at the U.S. Penitentiary in Coleman, Florida, for his 1977 conviction in connection with a shootout with U.S. government forces, where two FBI agents and one young American Indian lost their lives.The year of 2019 is coming to a close and with it, comes the day most Americans set aside as a day for Thanksgiving. As I let my mind wander beyond the steel bars and concrete walls, I try to imagine what the people who live outside the prison gates are doing, and what they are thinking. Do they ever think of the Indigenous people who were forced from their homelands? Do they understand that with every step they take, no matter the direction, that they are walking on stolen land? Can they imagine, even for one minute, what it was like to watch the suffering of the women, the children and babies and yes, the sic

"Prison Abolition Versus Prison Reform." I recently was asked if I support the abolition of prisons or am I an advocate just for prison reform. My response was pretty unorthodox for a prisoner serving an unjust prison sentence: I argued that prison abolition presupposes that evil will not exist in a more just society. Allow me to explain. Before we can even speak about prison abolition, we must first understand the underlying basis of the current prison-industrial complex. It is classist and racist, meaning prisons are filled mostly with poor people and the majority of them are people of color. Before we can talk about prison abolition, we first must address the deeply rooted classism and racism upon which American society is built. The fact is rich white men are as likely to go to prison as a cow flying. It's possible if you put a cow in a plane, but not likely, or else Donald Trump would be in an orange jumpsuit by now. Ideally, I'm an advocate of prison abolition. Any rational, compassionate person couldn'