On September 9, 2016, prisoners across the US went on strike. In Michigan’s 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 US history.
In this episode of Making Contact, four men who were imprisoned at Kinross report on the unlivable conditions, the moments in which the strike took shape, and the retaliation that rained down on them in its wake. We also hear from outside organizers on why it’s important to learn from prison rebellions, and how a persistent force organizing in the spirit of Abolition is rattling walls and cages to make prisons obsolete.
Special thanks to guest hosts Alejo Stark and A Maria, Rustbelt Abolition Radio, Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity, the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and the Omnia Foundation for supporting our prison episodes.
Featuring:
- Ahjamu, Baba X, Harold, and Fred, Prisoners at Kinross Correctional Facility in 2016
- Ben Turk, IWW Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
- Heather Ann Thompson, Author of Blood in the Water
Music:
- Original Music and Sound by Bad Infinity and DJ Liveleaks
Credits:
- Hosts: Alejo Stark, A Maria
- Episode Producers: Alejo Stark, A Maria, Marie Choi
- Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada
- Executive Director: Lisa Rudman
- Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin
- Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker
- The interviews with Ahjumu, Baba X, Harold, and Fred were originally recorded for Michigan’s Kinross Prison Strike: Reflections from Inside by Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity and Rustbelt Abolition Radio.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
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There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
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With love, rage, and solidarity,
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