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Fear of A Black Woman's Planet. Just read mega-rapper Megan Thee Stallion's article, "Why I Speak Up For Black Women" in the New York times op-ed on Wednesday, October the 14th, 2020. And it felt like I was reading minister Malcolm X when he expressed that Black women was the most disrespected and unprotected in America. I got to thinking, why is that? I mean, really why? Sure, I know the myriad of reasons why that is so: a culture of white supremacy, chauvinism, slavery, and colonialism. Eurocentric miseducation and self-hatred. But I was searching for a word or a phrase that would place the reason in a nutshell as to why. When reading sister Megan Thee Stallion's op-ed, I had a eureka moment concerning why Black women were the most disrespected and unprotected in American society. And it is because historically white-supremist-minded Caucasian males, whom first violently conquered Caucasian women in York, hate all women because their fragile egos feel threatened by matriarchal societies' empowerment of wome

Beyond The Polls (1:51) Mumia Abu-Jamal

Hey, this is comrade Pitt. Got a brief commentary on police violence as well as correctional violence (laughs) within prisons. So, police violence has never been a figment of Black folks' imagination—it has always been all objective reality. And with the proliferation of social media, this reality got exposed to the world. But social media's availability is inaccessible to those behind the walls who are subject to torture by prison officials. Which makes it impossible and/or extremely difficult to hold prison officials accountable. I'm currently held in Red Onion State Prison, which is one of two Virginia's maximum prisons. But it was brought to my attention that on 10, 10- 10-25-20 at Wallens Ridge prison—which is another maximum prison—that a young black men named Devon Banks AKA Little D was severely physically assaulted by numerous prison guards while he was utterly defenseless, and was in handcuffs and shackles during this colony assault. I was not surprised to learn that they went as far as to repeatedl

I am Reginald Sinclair Lewis. "This piece is called: This Is Your World." It is truly deeply moving to see throngs of anti-racist white Americans of all economic, educational, and social backgrounds shouting, "black lives matter." Clenched fists raised, as they march alongside our young Black and Brown brothers and sisters in the movement. This is the interconnection of all people with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. And the vision in his famous April 16th, 1963 letter from a Birmingham city jail where he wrote, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." On November 3rd, we need the same energy and spirit of solidarity from the millennials. The generation Z-ers and the Latinx-ers to cast their vote for the candidates who they feel will implement the policies and issues that greatly matters to you. Environmental protections, gun control, student debt forgiveness, affordable housing, police reform, and equal pay. Your generation has the power to silence the

Hello outside world, my name is Christopher Trotter. Again, calling inside the belly of the beast at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Carlisle, Indiana, to update you on the COVID-19 situation inside the belly of the beast. Today, the institution still has not done any mandatory testing of prisoners for COVID-19. They gave us [inaudible] packets for prisoner to take flu shots. Well they paid prisoners to take flu shots. And after these prisoners received these so-called flu shots, they all came sick. Over 50 prisoners tested positive for COVID-19. They isolated some of the prisoners a week after. Then they brought 'em back into the general population five or six days after they had allegedly tested positive for COVID-19. I had the privilege of talking to some of these prisoners, asking them about the conditions on the lockup unit. And they said they never received any of their property while they were over there. They would be at this cold [inaudible] while they were in there. And it made me wonder, is th

Pandemania (1:42) Mumia Abu-Jamal

My name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. I am an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas. Commentary is about the COVID-19. About four days ago, I started feeling sick. I woke up and I was sneezing. And then it progressed from sneezing to sneezing and coughing. And the third day it went from sneezing, coughing, to sneezing, coughing, a headache, puffy eyes, and a swollen throat. And on the fourth day, right after I had went to breakfast, I came back to my cell and I threw up twice. And I happened to [inaudible] in the cell house. And the cell-house porter cleaning up the cell house. And I had came out for work and I started feeling dizzy. So I asked the guard to call the nurse for me. And the nurse came [inaudible]. She did my-she did my temperature, which at the time was only 98.5. She did a oxygen check on me and my oxygen levels were good and everything. And she did blood pressure and the blood pressure was good. However, being that I had the symptoms she gave-she got permission

My name is Kareem Charles Diggs. I met a woman one day while sitting in the visiting room. She asked me why was the prison so large? And why there was nothing but concrete wires, gun towers, and most of the prisoners look to be African-American? First I told her we would have to know the character of American slavery and the r- and the racial legal system that maintained oppression into the 21st century. The foundation of the American experiment is building a capitalistic nation based upon slavery. Slavery allowed wealth to be made and a new nation to be born. The heart of slavery was one person's skin color was divine and the dark-skinned person was cursed by God. The religious and legal construction of slavery continued after the civil war under the 13th amendment. And other state and federal laws controlling where African slaves could sit, eat, live, pray, and walk. The laws were incorporated into white America was to allow poor whites to feel superior over the slaves. This arrangement created by governmen

Flu Shots for Prisoners (6:54) Christopher Trotter

Hello, my name is Christopher Trotter. I'm coming live inside the belly of the beast at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Carlisle, Indiana. At this moment, the facility is on lock-down due to COVID-19. A upkick in cases as a result of staff transferring it inside to prisoners. Again, as a result of staff transferring it inside to prisoners. Right now, they have over 50 cases in the last two days—positive cases—amongst the prison population here at Wabash. They've isolated a few prisoners. They did no contact tracing. They did no mandatory testing. And so as a result, this pandemic could get worse in prison. Prisoner lives matter too. And Indiana is a rich state. And instead of them taking the necessary precautions to open slowly, they were concerned about the economy. Economy over lives. You know, that's what this capitalist system is all about. Property over human life, capital over human life. And what we hear this day they call herd, H-E-R-D. What they're saying is just let this run rampant throughout

Irena: This is Irena Sean, a friend of Peter Mukuria also known as Pitt. These are some questions I had for him about solitary confinement. So, number one, how did it feel five years into solitary confinement in comparison to the first six months? Peter: Well, in 2012 was when I was initially put in solitary confinement under the most restrictive status in the state of Virginia. For prisoners in solitary, we were categorized in two different statuses, which determine the length of time one would spend in solitary. There is the special management (SM status). Those on this status typically are released from solitary confinement after a year and completed the step-down challenge series program. Then there is the intensive management, IM. Now those on that status were essentially doomed in solitary confinement. There was no clearcut pathway established for them to be released. One could have completed a step-down challenge service program, remaining fresh and free for years and done everything required, but it m

Mumia Interview with Jeff Brown (16:18) Mumia Abu-Jamal

My name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. I am a prisoner at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas. My commentary is called "Doing Hard Time." About a month ago, the prison was locked down due to 10 staff members catching Corona and 84 inmates testing positive. And over the time, we were only allowed to go to yard on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. However, even though it's 32 degrees outside, we were only allowed-we weren't allowed to go to the gym. We were still outside, because they said being at the gym could spread the virus. Then a little while after that, they came with flu shots and offered the inmates that took the flu shot $5, if they would take the flu shot. However, I believe this is a trick in order to do the vaccination trial process and test it on prisoners to see how we would-how it would affect us. Again, my name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. My prison name is Charley Hughes, number 96576. Hutchinson Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 1568. Hutchinson, Kansas, 67504. Thank you fo

What's up everybody, it's Uptown Serg. I need you to listen to me on this. On August 26, 2020, at approximately 7:55 AM, a guard illegally deployed a pepper spray, assaulting a prisoner simply because that prisoner didn't hang up the phone when she ordered him to. While there's been much speculation about this incident throughout the institution, I witnessed it first hand and in fact, I was the only person to help this prisoner wash the chemicals out of his eyes while he gasped for air, pleading that he couldn't breathe. These assaults are becoming more commonplace throughout the state of Pennsylvania, as an influx of new guards are being trained to use force first and ask questions second. Since Pennsylvania prisons have gone into an enhanced lockdown. Staff has been using this opportunity to control the population through tactics of fear, intimidation, and violence. When this prisoner was pepper sprayed, he didn't present a threat. In fact, he remained seated in his chair throughout the entire ordeal. He ev

This is Dennis Solo McKeithan at SCI Phoenix in Pennsylvania. And I called tonight to speak about the wrongfully convicted and excessively sentenced. You know, referring to myself, you know. I remember growing up hearing and reading stories about the injustice perpetuated against Black men and women by the criminal injustice system that was created to protect the status quo. One of the first books my sixth grade teacher gave me was the Scottsboro Boys. Prisons became the new plantations and Black bodies became the new economical product. The government created unjust laws geared towards Blacks, just like the crack cocaine [inaudible]. Philadelphia was no exception. But the now-defunct career criminal program was established in Philadelphia, January, 1983 and lasted about two years. This program was ruled by a policy, not a law. It was established by the district attorney and a president judge. The only- the Pennsylvania legislature had nothing to do with it. This policy allowed the district attorney to judge

Disaster At The Heart of Empire (1:35) Mumia Abu-Jamal

Support Prison Radio (0:48) Mumia Abu Jamal

Mad As Hell (1:39) Mumia Abu-Jamal

Breaking news has President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Wall Street investors are uneasy and stock trading is low in response. The executive branch of America is contemplating whether a temporary transfer of presidential power into the hands of Vice President Mike Pence pursuant to the 25th Amendment should be enacted due to Trump having COVID-19. Throughout the uncertainty of President Trump's health crisis and being sidelined from his presidential campaign by COVID-19, should Joseph Biden suspend his campaign for president? Absolutely not! While President Trump is sidelined with COVID-19, possibly for two weeks, Joe Biden should take this opportunity to refocus the campaign message squarely on COVID-19 and Trump's incompetence and utter failure to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in America. The 200,000 COVID-19 deaths and 7 million COVID-19 infections of the most vulnerable U.S. citizens in America is inexcusable! Joe Biden should continue with his campaign for pr

Revolutionary greetings, this is comrade Pitt here at Red Onion State Prison. I'm calling in with a commentary based on this story that a comrade of mine shared that I'd like to share. It's title- she started off with saying," I wrote something this week too after a 27-year-old was stabbed 37 times for stealing something he probably didn't steal. The message of despair that filled up my JPay inbox inspired me to write this." The title of it is called "On Life and Death" by Rebecca Hensley. I remember when I got the call that my son [inaudible] for a black-for a black gang of Fort Lauderdale was dead. I hit the floor like a fallen tree. The fall [inaudible] my head my brain reeling. And the body was at the morgue and because he had already been identified, they would only let me see a photo of his face already deformed by rigor mortis. A young female doctor about to do an autopsy told me he was a handsome man. It was February 27, 2000. They kind of day no mother ever wants to see. I know because I have a tatto