This week, we feature interviews on Life After Lockup from the Kunta Kenyatta Files. Kunta Kenyatta uses YouTube to speak to a range of people in Cleveland, Ohio, often featuring videos shot from the 107 Club, a half-way house and neighborhood hub. He speaks with neighbors, former prisoners, and others, amplifying important voices and preserving memory…
Read MoreKeith LaMar, also known as Bomani Shakur, is a prisoner on Ohio’s Death Row. He is facing execution in autumn 2023 after being framed in prison due to his advocacy for other prisoners and his refusal to snitch on others in the aftermath of the 1993 Lucasville Uprising. He has consistently expressed solidarity with other…
Read MoreThe country might be locked down, but struggles inside prisons and out continue to develop chaotically and unexpectedly intersect with the COVID-19 crisis. Prisoners in Stateville in Illinois report that they continue to suffer from a full lockdown, restricting their programming and access to phones. Yet, guards are patting them down without washing their hands…
Read MoreAcross the country, politicians and businessmen are calling for the economy to reopen, regardless of the consequences. At the exact same time, the corona virus is spreading nearly uncontrolled inside America’s prisons and jails, with concentrations of infections spiking from Rikers Island in NY to the Marion Correctional Facility in Ohio, where 73% of prisoners…
Read MoreFor this week’s episode, we continue airing messages about the coronavirus from prisoners around the country. You can call in on behalf of a loved one, or they can call in to record a message at (765) 343-6236. This week, we hear from prisoners in Wisconsin, Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio about how the coronavirus…
Read MoreToday, we are sharing an interview with Talila Lewis and Dustin Gibson, two organizers and researchers addressing the intersection of disability and incarceration. After TL describes the high stakes of being deaf in prison, they move on to sketch out the ways that children of color are disabled across society and pushed towards feeling inept…
Read MoreThis week’s episode covers the situation in the Midwest. We hear from Ben and Aaron, who work on supporting prisoners in Ohio and Indiana, respectively. Ben informs about Ohio prisoners who are still facing repercussions from the 1993 Lucasville uprising. We’ve introduced Lucasville in previous episodes of Kite Line, including an early episode focusing on…
Read MoreAs the 2018 National Prison Strike quickly approaches, we have news of hunger and work strikes already underway. We have updates on the successful, 108 day hunger strike of Mapuche Shaman Celestino Cordova, who had been denied access to his ceremonial altar while in Chilean prison. We also get updates from Siddique Abdullah Hasan and…
Read MoreThis episode is a conversation with Steve Garrett, who during his time in Ohio’s prison system, used the legal loopholes and statutes he learned to challenge the State on its own terms. He shares stories with us about how he used the law to his advantage.
Read MoreWe go to the neighboring state of Ohio this week in order to dig into the history of Midwestern prison resistance. We share more of the story of Siddique Hasan – one of 5 prisoners on death row for their role in the 1994 Lucasville Uprising – as well as his organizing and his case….
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