Since the Ferguson uprising in 2014, the Black Lives Matter movement has shone a light on a range of American institutions, revealing their white supremacist origins and functions. In addition to police and the discriminatory mortgage market, cash bail is one of the most important of these institutions to be revealed and resisted. Community bail…
Read MoreWe are completing our series on Brazilian prisons by airing an interview between Beny and Rosângela, who wanted to discuss her experiences with health care there. Her account of deprivation of care, along with the over application of psychiatric drugs, will be familiar to anyone who has spent time inside an American prison. She likewise…
Read MoreThis week, we have the first of several interviews that were conducted this fall in São Paulo, Brazil. Kite Line contributor Micol Seigel was there to teach a course on American prison history at the state university. Seigel’s academic host introduced her to an activist civil servant at the Secretariat of Penal Administration, who connected…
Read MoreThis week, we speak more with Leon Benson, who calls us from inside the Pendleton Correctional Facility here in Indiana. Benson shared his story with us in the past several Kite Line episodes, and now he talks to us about the conditions inside the prison. Benson demonstrates the importance of prisoners being ableto form bonds…
Read MoreA new movement of refugees fleeing violence and starvation in Central America began to reach Tijuana last month, in the hopes of applying for asylum in the United States. Comprised of multiple, self-organized caravans, the refugees passed through incredible hardship and risk before thousands were temporarily settled in the Benito Juarez shelter – a sports…
Read MoreThis week, we are continuing our talk with Leon Benson, who speaks to us from inside Pendleton Correctional Facility here in Indiana. He’s been inside since 1998, for a murder conviction and he has been trying to clear his name and win his freedom ever since. Benson was incarcerated at 23 years old, and talks…
Read MoreThis week, we hear from Leon Benson, who calls us from inside an Indiana prison. You might remember some of Leon’s story from a Kite Line episode we aired in December of last year, called “You Can’t Force the State to Abide by the Law” in which his sister, Valerie, introduced Leon’s story. Leon’s been…
Read MoreThis week, we listen to Kathleen Rumpf share her stories of her time inside FMC Carswell, a United States federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas for female inmates with special medical and mental health needs. Kathleen shares her experiences and wisdom from her time with the Catholic Workers, where she participated in the plowshares movement,…
Read MoreToday, we are sharing the next part of an interview with Talila Lewis and Dustin Gibson, two organizers and researchers addressing the intersection of disability and incarceration. You heard their interview about the impact of prison on the Deaf community, and the organization they work with, HEARD- Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the…
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