One Long Night: Andrea Pitzer on the Global History of Concentration Camps
The Global History of Concentration Camps “The use of concentration camps changes the world, but going forward, the most predictable outcome of their use is a world with more camps” Today we use a lot of euphemisms: re-education camps, internment, work camps, prison camps, camps for internally displaced people. But before world war one, these prisons were known simply as concentration camps and they started in Cuba in the...
70 Million: How Bail Shackles Women of Color
How Bail Shackles Women of Color Tamiki Banks life was turned upside down when her husband was arrested, leaving her the sole breadwinner and caregiver to their twins. More than two years later, shes still struggling, and hes still in custody, even though he hasnt been convicted of any crime. From Atlanta, Pamela Kirkland reports on the heavy burden women of color like Tamiki bear when a loved one is jailed....
70 Million: How New Orleans Could Set a New Course for Bail Reform
70 Million: NOLA See Transcript Below New Orleans could become the battleground for bail reform. The city has one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the world. And most people are there because they cant pay their bail. The current arrangement with the local bail industry gives the impression that judges there could have a financial conflict of interest when setting bail. In this episode, Sonia Paul digs into how...
The Future of Abolition: Marc Lamont Hill, Michelle Alexander and Vonya Quarles
The Future of Abolition “Prison Abolition” had been a widely discussed idea for centuries, and was adopted –even by centrists– in the 1970’s. During the last 40 years and a staggering boom in imprisonment – prison abolition seemed like a fringe idea. “Get rid of prisons?!” Only radical activists thought that was possible. But in the last decade the tide has been turning. We’ve had the work of Michelle Alexander and...
70 Million: Locals Divided Between Diversion and Border Security
In Pima County, where Tucson is located, formerly incarcerated individuals and local government officials have joined efforts to send fewer people to jail. Meanwhile, a federal program designed to stop drug and human trafficking at the border is also sending people to jail for months over traffic violations and minor drug offenses. Reporter Jesse Alejandro Cottrell explores just how complicated it can be to reform a local criminal...
The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson
SPECIAL FOR AUG 21st + “Black August” –a radio documentary by the Freedom Archives about the roots of the modern anti-prison movement. This year marks the 39th anniversary of Black August, first originated in the California prisons to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, George and Jonathan Jackson, Khatari Gaulden, James McClain, and William Christmas. Jonathan Jackson was gunned down outside the Marin County courthouse...
Specters of Attica: Reflections from Inside a Michigan Prison Strike
On September 9, 2016, prisoners across the U.S. went on strike. In Michigans low security Kinross prison, workers assigned to kitchen duties refused to report to their shifts. Hundreds gathered to protest in the prison yard. The strike spread like a prairie fire. Nationally, 24,000 prisoners participated, making it the largest prisoner labor strike in U.S. history. In this episode of Making Contact, four men who were imprisoned...
Parenting From Prison, Inside Out
Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! When one or both parents are in prison the whole family is, in a way, also imprisoned. Family members are negatively affected in ways that worsen existing struggles and inequities. Today we’ll go to New York and New Hampshire to hear about programs for inmates and families that encourage rebuilding and maintaining relationships...
Beyond Choice: Organizing for Reproductive Justice
At the end of March, Congress passed a bill allowing states to deny funding to family planning groups that offer abortion services – groups like Planned Parenthood. Now, Pennsylvania and Michigan have introduced legislation to join over a dozen states in doing just that. As we fight off right wing attacks on abortion rights, Loretta Ross asks us to consider what it would take to have real choices about our bodies. On this...
The Long Ride Home: The Get on the Bus Program and Incarcerated Families
The Get On The Bus program, coordinated by the Center for Restorative Justice Works, offers support and free transportation services to families affected by the criminal justice system. They bring children and their guardians/caregivers, from throughout California, to visit their mothers and fathers in prison. These rides happen over several weekends, from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day, hundreds of families are reunited for the...