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This is Ronald Gibson, BQ5220, calling in live from death row. There's a killer on death row: for six months here at SCI Phoenix, we did everything within our power to mitigate against the COVID-19 virus. We wear our masks, social distancing cohorts, clean the blocks, and we clean our cells. This block was even voted cleanest block of the prison. Unfortunately, our worst fear became reality. The staff member, the block counselor, test positive for COVID-19. This counselor was allowed to work for several days while experiencing symptoms after his positive test. No contract tasting was done, no staff working was sent home as a precautionary measure. Days later, three prisoners started experiencing COVID symptoms. They all tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, they were removed from the block. No testing was done on anyone within their cohorts. Days after those three positive tests, the block unit manager also tested positive for COVID-19. The unit manager works several days after his contact with the block co

This is Eric Riddick calling from SCI Chester. How did we go from no cases in one week, to hundreds of cases? And people die. A guy named Ponzel is on life support right now. Our Lieutenant at work here named Quintina. He died for four minutes and they brought him back. He got to learn how to talk and all that. His officers is upset because they was wondering why would you bring people from different jails to this institution? Then like Dennis McElhoe who  is diagnosed with cancer. Again, he had sugar, diabetes, high blood pressure, every other element he frail, he can't even walk up and down the steps he's over here. Boy, his boy, he got, he got a pacemaker. He can't even walk five steps without his chest hurting. You have high blood pressure on and on. And Jeffrey Johnson. James Kennedy,  Jane Santis, Mike  and multiple other elders over here and have underlined the issues before the pandemic kick up here. We didn't have no cases, especially on CP. And if you look at what change. A policy was violated, when

Call Operator: This is Eric Riddick calling from SCI Chester. Eric: We in the midst of a pandemic where everything is being shut down again because of the holidays. You know, a wave have came through, here at SCI Chester. You already- people had already passed away. But the thing is to mitigate the death and destruction that comes with a pandemic, this pandemic. A competent policy is supposed to be put in place regarding social distancing. When it's- when it's at a height that it's at right now because of the holidays, everything is shut down. Here at SCI Chester, they said that only four cells can be, you know, these cohorts can't go outside of that. But they making moves not considering the health of the elders. Today, they are today, they moving 15 to 20 people on this particular block. The same block that, last month, the last two months. That the pandemic in here started when every cell damn near had a COVID, right. But what make this so essential to get on down is that this block is where all the elders

After The Fall (10:17) Mumia Abu-Jamal

The Fear of Socialism, Again." As joblessness and deep hunger creeps across America, politicians have pulled out the fear card, socialism, to ensure that voters stay in their place. Astonishingly, for almost a century this ploy has worked. It almost worked when president Herbert C. Hoover ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal—which Hoover decried as socialism and a threat to the American way. Roosevelt won in a landslide, for the country was still in the grips of the Great Depression and numb with hunger. Across the country today, we see food lines stretching for miles: American hunger. The 1932 elections brought with it social security, and market forces have opposed it ever since. Even though it didn't cover farmworkers, predominantly blacks and Mexicans, it kept the wolf from millions of Americans' doors. Although much time has passed, fear is raised again, the fear: socialism. It still tends to have a foreign ring to it, but it's about as American as hunger itself. From in Prison Nation, this is Mu

"A Prisoner's Voice From COVID-19." According to published reports, at least some 400 prisoners in Pennsylvania state prisons have been infected with the Coronavirus. Today we'll hear from one. Sergio Hyland is in prison at the state prison in Chester. In early November 2020, he was put in Chester's infirmary and soon tested positive for COVID-19. He writes: "The virus was impacting my oxygen levels, causing them to drop. So I was placed on steroids. However, the steroids were having a negative interaction and they were making my blood sugar extremely high." Hyland had another problem for he was already diabetic, nor did COVID-19 treat him well. He writes: "This virus is rough, I've had nights where I literally thought I would die. Sometimes I wished it would just happen, so the pain would end." According to Sergio Hyland, several prisoners had died at the Chester state prison from COVID-19 and—perhaps more shocking—Hyland claims some staff members don't wear masks there. Sergio HYland provides a prisoners vo

My name is Jamil Pirant. It's just that when I think about being buried alive, I think about being in the joint. It's like, you know, you got all these capabilities but you can't do it cause you buried. They got you in this - this hell, these four walls. You can't do nothing but hone in on these skills that you don't even know if you will be able to use. Like that's like being buried alive. But the people that arrive who don't even understand they alive. They just know that they buried. So they going kick, they going stream, they going panic. You got to make sure that you keep calm. And know that you alive and be grateful for that. But we definitely buried alive, man. It's like this place during Corona season is a whole different world. They scaring easy [inaudible] were thinking they going die? In the joint, you know, they see one case, two case, three case. They think we going die. No such thing as social- social distancing in here. It's not going to happen. It's not possible. It's 400 people in this one un

This is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bay. Also known as Charley Hughes, I have a scheduled court date coming up December 4th. And it's going to be about whether or not I can win my habeas- a habeas corpus. If I do win I will receive immediate release. If I don't win, then I'll have to appeal the court's decision. If I do receive immediate release, I will be paroling to Childress Texas. The address I will be paroling to is 1108 Avenue G. Northeast Childress, C-H-I-L-D-R-E-S-S. Texas, 79201. Those wishing to get in contact with me sooner than that may reach me at Charley Hughes, C-H-A-R-L-E-Y H-U-G-H-E-S. Number 96576. Hutchison Correctional Facility. P.O. Box 1568. Hutchinson, Kansas. 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy. (Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. 

Mama. It's been 12 years I've been locked up. And I did everything that you did for me, from teaching me how to tie my shoes, teaching me how to walk across the street, teaching me how to do everything I need to do. I stay in a one-man cell, and I just think about everything that you taught me and it's helping me survive right now. I just love you, I understand your struggles. If anything, if I did anything here to hurt you, Ma or make you cry, Ma. I'm sorry. You know what I'm saying, I know I'm your baby boy now. I know you love me dearly and I love you too. And I promise I'm just trying to do everything I can to come home to you. I just need you to stay strong for me because it's a lot going on out there in that world. Like, it's a lot going on here. But I admire you. To be 24, 25, have three kids, married young. I did it, like you was my mom and my little hero. I don't understand you being 30 years old. That was young, that's young, 28. Now I understand that's young. Ma, you a queen, now I understand what

My name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, also known as Charley Hughes. I'm an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas. This piece is called "Serve The People." It is about my nonprofit Serve The People Incorporated, incorporated here in Kansas. It is a organization that is looking to be a survival programs for people in the community, such as food, clothing and etcetera. We're trying to get a education program that is going to be called the George Jackson foundation. With the George Jackson foundation we were looking for educators though- that have been teachers in the past or those that are still teachers looking for- looking to do education classes on a volunteer basis. We also have board member positions open. The positions that are open are secretary. We also have a general membership position open as well as others. Those wishing to be a part of Serve The People Incorporated may write me at Charley Hughes, that's C-H-A-R-L-E-Y H-U-G-H-E-S. Number 96576, Hutchinson Correctional

BLM Attacked (2:36) Shakaboona

This is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, also known as Charlie Hughes. This piece is called "A Soldier." It's about the definition of what a soldier is. A soldier fights for the people. He or she does whatever is necessary to protect his people. A soldier takes care of his woman and children. A soldier plans for tomorrow. A soldier respects those who have more wisdom and experience. A soldier removes threats to the community. A soldier doesn't relax during the time of war. A soldier loves the people and the values he holds dear. A soldier fights for a reason, and is not motivated by his emotions. A soldier needs guidance from higher authority and will fight as directed. A warrior has the fight within him and will continue regardless to who or what. Again, this is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, also known as Charlie Hughes, number 96576. Hutchinson Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 1568. Hutchinson, Kansas. 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy. (Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noell

My name is Charlie Hughes, also known as Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. I am a inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas. This piece is called "The Constitution of the Black Man," and it is about the constitution. "The Constitution of the Black Man." Number one: he must be spiritual and fo-and focused more on that which is universal in religious ideology, rather than the political beliefs that separate us. Number two: Black men must have a social, political, economical, and historical base of knowledge. Social, able to interact with Black people and understand why we do the things we do, drugs, pimp, gang bang, et cetera. Political, understanding the importance of people's relations with each other. Economical, understand the worth of money as well as create jobs in the environment, banks, stores, schools, et cetera. Historical, must have knowledge of the past and learn and grow from it. Number three: with that base of knowledge, he must be able to produce for his nation, civilization,

"Dancing in the Streets." An American president loses his hard-fought re-election bid and, within moments, the streets are full of people who are beyond exalted. They are singing, they are dancing, dancing in the streets. I've never seen such a thing, nor was it expected. The end of the Trump regime was within sight and people in Philadelphia, New York City, Wilmington, Delaware, and San Francisco exploded into the street expressing paroxysms of pure joy. What could it mean? I think it reflected the heaviness of repression, the aura of threat and intimidation being lifted, and the sight and thought expression. People felt like they could breathe again, sing again, and even dance again. As soon as I saw it, I thought of the song "Dancing in the Street" by Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas. A song popular in the sixties: "Dancing in the Street." From in Prison Nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.  These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.  

I am so grateful for this opportunity to once again register my unwavering support for Mumia Abu-Jamal. He has played such a pivotal role in the processes of popular education that have led us to this critical juncture and what one might call the century-and-a-half-year-old effort to acknowledge the structural and systemic character of racism—and to take seriously demands for abolition, abolition of the death penalty, of prisons, of police. And so it is right and just that we should accelerate our efforts on this new terrain to finally free our brother comrade. Much attention has been focused on Philadelphia recently: from the elections, to the police killing of Walter Wallace because he was experiencing a mental health crisis, to the arrest by federal agents of the teacher and community activist Anthony Smith. And we know that, barely a week before his arrest, Philadelphia Magazine had applauded Anthony Smith's community service and his exceptional leadership. And all around the world, we have followed the w

When I was invited to speak on behalf of Mumia, one of the first things that came to mind was how long he's been in prison. How many years of his life had been stolen away from him, his community, and his loved ones. He's been incarcerated for 38 years. Mumia has been in prison longer than I've been alive.When I first spoke with Mumia on the phone, I did very little talking. I just listened. Hearing him speak was a reminder of why we must continue to fight. Earlier this year,  The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a statement, noting that prolonged solitary confinement, the precise type often used in the United States, amounts to psychological torture.  Mumia Abu-Jamal has spent roughly 30 out of his 38 years in solitary confinement.In his book Live From Death Row, Mumia wrote that prison is a second by second assault on the soul, a day-to-day degradation of the self, an oppressive steel and brick umbrella that transforms seconds into hours, and hours into days. He has had to

My name is Charlie Hughes. About two weeks ago, I had got back from Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. Due to testing positive for COVID-19. I was moved back to Hutchinson Correctional Facility and I was- got my job back as a cellhouse porter. Once I got back, 90% of the people in my cellhouse tested positive for COVID. So, being that the other- most of the other porters had tested positive, they wouldn't let none of them out to work. And for the past five days, I've been the only person coming out to clean the cell-ouse by myself. I've been doing the- I've been spraying the COVID-19 spray, which is called Rejuvenol. I've been cleaning the cellhouse, passing out trays, cleaning the showers, passing out laundry, and doing ice. And it's very stressful. I've been up pretty- really haven't had no sleep for the past five days. I've- in the past five days, I've literally got maybe 10 hours of sleep. If that. Once again, this is Bilal Abdul-Salaam Bey, known as Charlie Hughes. Number 96576. Hutchinson

This is Dennis Solo McKeithan. SCI Phoenix in Pennsylvania. And today I'd like to talk about the Anti-Terrorist Effective Death Penalty Act. You know, we constantly hear politicians and advocates say and shout the slogan "criminal justice reform." And they talk about inequity in the courts, racism, and wrongful conviction. What is not talked about and should have been corrected under the Obama administration is the murderous criminal injustice bill put in the law by Bill Clinton. This bill is commonly known as the Anti-Terrorist Effective Death Penalty Act 95-45. The thing is, it does nothing to terrorists. All it did was take away the right to file a second or subsequent Habeas Corpus from domestic prisoners who are innocent. This was really about Bill Clinton trying to cut off the appeals of men on death row. To expediate their state murders, to target particular prisoners like Mumia. What it actually did and is still doing is denying innocent men their constitutional right to petition the court and present

"Biden's Long Run." Within the next few hours, a few days at most, Joseph Biden will achieve his life's chief political objective to become president of the United States. Despite the promises of the polls, actual voting rates have been up and down, reflecting the dichotomy between urban and rural. Trump's last explosion of rallies appears to have actually invigorated its base and stimulated a rush of votes. But he couldn't outrace his negativities, America's changing demographics of a blacker and browner nation, and the distaste he aroused amongst suburban women. When the polls close, and the races are cold, the Biden-Harris tickets may garner an incredible 70 million plus votes. Which while not a factor in the electoral college, will be half a million to a million more than Barack Obama's first run in 2008, which netted 69.4 million votes. For Joseph Biden, the third time appears to be the charm. From in Prison Nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Rad

Hello outside world. My name is Christopher Trotter. I'm calling live from inside the belly of the beast at Walbash Valley Correctional Facility. Carlisle, Indiana. I would like to update everybody on- on the situation with COVID-19 inside the prison. Currently they're still on lockdown. They've been on right down now for a month. The facility hasn't done any mandatory testing, any contract tracing. I think the facility is implementing what they call a herd policy. In other words: let prisoners catch COVID, let it run throughout the prison system slowly. Let it kill who it can kill and hope the rest get immune so you can put prisoners back to work. That's the situation we're facing right now. And again, I think it's cruel because myself has been sentenced to death. I'm 58 years old. I've been in prison for 40 straight years. Eating prison food, not being able to get the best healthcare. Trying to keep myself up physically, but over a period of time in prison, 40 years, it weakened not only the immune system,