History

142 | Impacts of the Prisoners’ Movement, Part One

This week, we have a conversation between Toussaint Losier and Micol Seigel. This is part one of a series in which we hear Losier, author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement, speak to Seigel about his research while writing his book, in which he builds a cohesive picture of the long history of resistance to slavery…

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141 | Communication is a Human Right: More Reflections from Mark Cook

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…

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140 | If You Care, Grow Your Hair: Prison Rebellion Strategies from the 1960s

This week, Kite Line welcomes the contributions of Mark Cook for a second time.  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. …

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139 | Policing Los Angeles, Part Two

Last week, we heard the first part of a lecture by Max Felker-Kantor on policing in Los Angeles, from the Watts Rebellion in the 60s to the brutal police beating of Rodney King in the 90s. This week, he continues to talk about the police murder of Eula Love, and how her death affected the…

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138 | Voices From the Grassroots

This week, we interview a participant in Perilous, a new prison history project. Perilous launched its website earlier this year, with a goal of compiling all the grassroots, collective mobilizations that have happened in US prisons since the prisoners’ movement seriously kicked off again in 2010. With this interview, we got a sense of their…

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137 | Policing Los Angeles, Part One

This week, we air the first of two episodes tracking the rise of police racism and militarization in Los Angeles, from the Watts Uprising of 1965 to the 1992 L.A. Riots after Rodney King’s beating. Max Felker-Kantor, author of the book, Policing Los Angeles, walks us through the changes in policing, as well as the…

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118 | The Long History of Black Resistance and Mass Incarceration

In this interview, Elizabeth Hinton sketches the relationship between the civil rights movement, urban uprisings and the beginning of the “War on Crime,” with a focus on the Harlem Riot of 1964, and the 1965 Watts Rebellion, which was triggered by police brutality and became a key law-and-order talking point.  She then moves through a…

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111 | The Attica Liberation Faction

This week we are honoring the anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. The current National Prison Strike began on August 21st, the anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination, and is slated to end in two days, on September 9th. We have updates on the prison facilities across the country and their participation in the…

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109 | The Real Dragon: George Jackson’s Legacy and the National Prison Strike

This week, we’re sharing selections from an historic interview with George Jackson, whose assassination on August 21, 1971, at the hands of San Quentin prison guards, remains a reference point for the US prisoners’ movement.  Indeed, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak called for the 2018 strike to begin on this date in his memory. George Jackson spent…

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108 | What Prisoners Want: Recent Movements and Current Demands

Next week, on August 21, is the start of the 2018 National Prison Strike. Anticipated to be the largest in U.S. History, this strike comes after many years of various strikes, work stoppages, boycotts, and other forms of rebellion.  In this episode, we hear about the intended transfer of 3,200 Puerto Rican prisoners to Arizona,…

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