The following letter from an incarcerated worker in the Pennsylvania prison system was sent by email on Feb. 17 to Joe Piette, a member of the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. From SCI Pine Grove: Nina Simone famously said: “Alabama got me so upset; Tennessee made me lose…
A transgender formerly incarcerated activist speaks out
By Judy Greenspan posted on February 17, 2021
Lisa Strawn is a transgender woman who spent more than 35 years in California prisons due to that state’s draconian “Three Strikes” law. At the age of 19, she was locked up for petty offenses like prostitution, and on her third “strike,” Lisa was sentenced to 50-to-life for burglary. She has been incarcerated in California State Prison, Corcoran; the California Medical Facility at
Vacaville and San Quentin State Prison. While inside, she was an activist and organizer on behalf of the LGBTQ+ incarcerated community. After contracting COVID inside San Quentin during the peak of the pandemic there, she was finally released to the community July 14, 2020 still with COVID. She has continued her advocacy for her siblings inside. This is part 1 of a two-part interview conducted with Strawn on Dec. 30, 2020, by Judy Greenspan, a member of the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of
Montgomery Bus Boycott, Bessemer, prisons – Class struggle then and now
By Monica Moorehead posted on February 16, 2021
Fifty years after the end of the U.S. Civil War and during the height of horrific lynchings of Black people in the Deep South by KKK terror the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History was founded in 1915 by Dr. Carter Woodson and Rev. Jesse E. Moorland to research and promote the individual contributions of people of African descent, both inside the U.S. and throughout the African diaspora.
The ASNLH launched a national “Negro History Week” in February 1926. Fifty years later in 1976, due to the influence of the Civil Rights Movement, this “Week” officially evolved into Black History Month in the U.S.
Diet discrimination in prisons, jails, and detention centers
WW Commentary
By Mirinda Crissman posted on January 20, 2021
The interlocking systems of prisons, jails and detention centers were built up by descendants of those made rich from colonial conquest of this continent. The prison-industrial complex continues to benefit this very class of people every day by its existence.
“Once in a very great while, a rich man goes to prison. Maybe he is taking a six-month rap for a company that defrauded the people out of millions; when he gets out after his brief stretch, he’s set for life. And even while he’s in, every little comfort is provided for him, so that the time passes as pleasantly as possible.
Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police have done everything possible to silence Mumia Abu-Jamal and bury his fight for justice. In February their obstruction even included filing a “King’s Bench” petition – which sidesteps and preempts all other judicial or appeal procedures – to attempt a change in venue for his appeals hearing.
Pam Africa speaking at Dec. 9 press conference to ‘Free Mumia Now!’ Credit: Joe Piette
But Abu-Jamal’s global supporters, insisting on his innocence and demanding his immediate release, have other ideas.
Twice recently, a broad coalition of U.S. and international groups and individuals has succeeded in gaining major media coverage for the former Black Panther and journalist, who is Pennsylvania’s best-known political prisoner. On Nov. 16, former football star and Black Lives Matter activist Colin Kaepernick issued a statement in support of Abu-Jamal. This aired during a virtual pres