WEBVTT -  Fighting for Incarcerated Workers 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:05.040 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.640 Welcome to it could Happen here a podcast about workers 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:11.680 and the things that they do to fight to survive 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.160 and live in a better world. I am your host, 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.760 Bio Wong. Some of the worst treated and most depressed 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.840 workers in the United States are incarcerated workers, a group 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:25.160 of workers who are very seldom talked about much less 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:30.040 actually like formally organized by the conventional labor movement, and 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.560 here with me today to talk about the Incarcerated Workers 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:39.479 Organizing Committee as Colin from IWALK, Giselle Garcia, who is 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:43.879 iwalk's California outreach coordinator, and Adre Dawson, who is a 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.840 formerly incarcerated person and his ma support the all three 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.240 of you, welcome to the show. 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:51.320 Thank you so very much. 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:53.760 Thank you well talking to me. 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.200 Yeah, I'm excited to talk to all of you, and 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.200 I guess I want to start. Can you explain a 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.560 little bit about what the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee is 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:05.440 for people who are unfamiliar. 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.840 With it, I'll kick us off and everyone can supplement. 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:09.360 So I would. 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:15.360 Definitely say that the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee or EYEWALK, 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:19.560 is a committee of the incarcerated workers of the world 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:25.200 Labor union, and it was formed in recognition that there 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.880 is probably not a more exploitative kind of labor setting 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:34.920 than the prison system, and not just you know, US centric, 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:39.600 but also across the globe. And so our effort is 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:45.120 to build a bridge with our incarcerated neighbors, build that 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:50.120 connection and true solidarity rooted in connection, and then help 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:54.480 support those inside with resources so that they can not 0:01:54.560 --> 0:02:01.480 only come to an understanding of like be profound intentionality 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:07.560 behind a labor exploitation inside of carceral settings, but also 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:11.360 give them support them with tools that they ask for 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:16.080 when it comes to organizing those conditions. And it's led 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.680 by those inside really, because no one can inform practis 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:24.320 in this area other than those of large actuation fem. 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.880 Yeah, do we want to talk more about like what's 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.400 happening right now and then come back to sort of 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.440 more historical components if you want to try to do the. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.600 History now, well, I think I can give like a 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.560 tad bit on a sense I was in a carportd 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:44.120 Amy not long ago inside of CDCR, Satula, California. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.880 Cd ORC is the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.520 which runs California's prison system. 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:57.520 And I do understand the significance of working for pennies 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.920 when that same job outside is paying you thirty forty dollars. 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.760 I worked for HFM, I made thirty five forty cents 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.760 an hour. That job out here pays in the streets 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.480 thirty five forty dollars a hour. 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.239 Jesus, the cost of living was low. 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:20.560 The price of what it costs to live inside when 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.880 a incarcerated situation was high. Two paste two dollars. After 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.320 you do the two pays, you're loashing your few little 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.679 at the small size dollar store size prizes. You don't 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.960 have anything left to live with, you know what I'm saying. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.640 And it takes a lot to live inside of CDCR 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:44.560 because they provides you housing because you're incarcerated. But outside 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.440 of housing and the food that they try to put 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.280 together to make right for us, oh my god, there's 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:50.880 really not. 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.160 Much more they can do for you. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:54.960 A lot of the things they want you to do 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.120 for yourself out of your he need job, your job 0:03:58.200 --> 0:03:59.040 to pay cents. 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:04.920 Yeah, So it was really hard. I did almost sixteen years. 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.880 It was a struggle. It was ugly, and it was 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:08.520 a struggle. 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:13.720 If not for eye walk, they gave us resources to 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.360 help us with books and paper. They taught us how 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.720 to exercise our labor laws and how to fight for 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.640 ourselves and to know what you are allowed and what 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.000 you can have, and don't let nobody beat you. Don't 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:31.280 let them cheat you. This is your right to have this, 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.680 you know. I think just before our incarcerated I left, 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.680 they had raised the percentage rate on some of the jobs, 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:40.200 the more harder labors. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.040 They gave it a few more pennies. 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:48.120 But it's crazy how multi billion dollar corporation don't take 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:50.320 care of the inmates who keep it working. 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:52.760 We do the laundry, we do. 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:57.279 The cooking, we do the housing, we do the clerk work, 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:01.520 made glasses, tea, Everything is done buy inmates. I work 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.240 for carpentry, so I built some of the buildings. But 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.800 yet I only worked for pennies. And if you think 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:12.200 about it, that penny labor is even lower than slave 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.040 labor in Mexico or some of the more countries that 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:17.479 don't provide anything. 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:24.480 Yeah, so obviously, as you're describing, these are unbelievably horrific 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.200 conditions and wages, and god, I keep thinking about, you know, 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.960 like two dollars for toothpaste. If you're making twenty cents 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.720 an hour, it's like ten hours of work for like 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.960 one of the small rings of toothpaste, which is just nightmare. 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:43.920 What does organizing look like under those conditions? 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:45.560 I think most of. 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.960 Us lived in flight or fight mode. You had to 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.480 do what you had to do to survive. The mental 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.760 health level in CITCR is like ninety nine percent over 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:03.640 super high because people are stealing toilet paper and past things. 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.480 They give us what you need more because there's not 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.760 enough and I don't make enough money to get or 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:08.159 you know. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:10.680 Toothpaste, you're doing extra. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:16.520 So it has made a CDCR system a little violentile 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.240 because people are stealing a robbin and mugging like in 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:20.599 the free world, but you're taken. 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:24.640 From penny pinching people that don't have anything. So it's 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.720 made our environment a little bit more violet. If you've 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:29.239 asked me, Yeah. 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:35.040 I want to reflect on what Odre said. Prison is 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:39.320 tremendously expensive, you know, within our circles. I guess it's 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:43.440 famously more expensive to send someone to prison than to 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:48.440 send them to Harvard. However, people are in these like 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:53.400 really desperate material circumstances for stuff like toothpaste, theodor and 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.080 even toothbrushes and things like that, and within people that 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.839 know about CDCR they call it. In your prison system. 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.360 On the men's side, they do a thing where they 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.120 track and monitor the calories that people get because the 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.760 guys all, you know, like to work out a lot, 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.600 and like they just don't want people bulking up that much, 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.120 and so they physically restrict the amount of protein and 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:22.880 calorie intake to Jesus sort of facilitate their ideal security situation. 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.720 So they're just starving everyone like intentionally. 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:30.040 Yes, yes, precisely, yeah, keeping people yeah alive, you know 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.760 and in purgatory and not not able to like be 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.400 how they want to be. And so like that situation 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:42.080 of artificial scarcity is it's reflected on you know, the 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:46.560 outside of prison too, and you know, just hustle culture, 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.120 you know, housing scarcity, artificial housing scarcity, all kinds of 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.720 other artificial scarcity. And I think in prison it's like 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.680 a it's like a form of social conditioning where people 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.160 are being conditioned into this scarcey mindset in like a 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:04.160 really extreme way and being forced into this kind of 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:08.280 hustle mindset. And so like all of the things that 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:12.000 the prison administration kind of like trots out to justify 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.880 their new security quote unquote measures, which is just often 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:20.320 stuff like banning physical mail, you know, restrictions on visits, 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:25.840 restrictions on books, restrictions on showers, restrictions on anything you 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:29.600 know remotely humane about prison. Like these things are all 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.920 justified as security. And the things that they talk about 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.360 when they talk about security is like you know, drugs, 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.880 you know, prison commerce, things like this, And like, prison 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.760 commerce exists because of this situation of incredible scarcity that 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:48.319 the prison itself is like maintaining to begin with. And 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.640 the point of Eyewalk in part, like part of our 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:56.000 sort of mission and like strategy is to get people together, 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:01.199 get people like you know, talking about solidarity, connecting people 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.760 who have a kind of like minded kind of outlook 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.000 on things, so that we can start to form a 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:13.360 foundation for solidarity that is not based around the prison 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.920 economy as it exists, but rather based on like inside 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:22.040 outside solidarity, on like a you know, a humanistic socialistic 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:27.520 level in that sense, like there are stark similarities but 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.240 also very stark differences with you know, other groups that 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.040 do the same thing, right, Like, essentially a lot of 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.440 groups that arise sort of spontaneously that do that kind 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.439 of stuff tend to have a capitalistic nature to them, 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.360 and those are the groups that come with the state 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.120 refers to as gangs oftentimes, and there are different ones 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.440 and they do different things and they have unique cultures. 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.240 Like the term gang kind of flattens them all into one. 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.160 But yeah, they're they're all very different and have different 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.240 sort of survival adaptation mechanisms. 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.080 They're like large clicks. 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.400 I think that would like kind of be better from 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:12.480 a CDR since CDCR is like one of the most 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.240 largest human trafficking industries in the business. 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.319 They collect people, they work people for nothing. 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.520 And the revenue all goes back to them because no 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:28.120 matter what we spend, we spend it with CDCR. So 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.520 not only are you collecting fifty sixty thousand a year 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.280 per person, and the institution is overpacked so it carries 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:37.800 up to twenty five hundred people at a time. 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.760 These people are working for either dollars or cents. 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.000 And every dollar they have is invested back at CDC 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:49.400 are So it is one hundred percent financial gain for 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.080 CDCR no matter. 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:51.520 How to look at it. 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.520 Because they supply everything, they sell everything, everything goes right 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:59.880 back to CDCR at the cost of human lives, for medical, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.040 for food, the things that they give you is for 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.520 you to barely make it. And what it does is 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.920 it keeps you in the same kind of criminal mind state. 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.360 So you're a better criminal when you leave because you 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.000 have to do what you have to do to survive 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.960 in their And at forty fifty thousand dollars per person 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.920 a year, I feel like nobody should be hungry, nobody 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.040 should need shoes, nobody should need t shirts. Two bases 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.320 should be full sized, shampoos should be full size. They 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.760 invested thousands millions of dollars in mental health, and yet 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:36.079 the suicide rate is high there because a bruce rate 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.760 is high there, whether it's being abused by staff or 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:43.520 by inmate. Abuses twenty four hours around the clock in CDCR, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.600 and only a very few survive. And they don't survive 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.160 on scratch. They survive because they have a super will 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:54.920 to survive. So for me, that's where I was at. 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.640 I had a super will to survive, So I hid 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.320 in the cracks. I tried to do my barre minimal. 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.520 I stayed in groups and stuff. I fed my mind. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.839 I neursed my body the best I could. I took 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.120 care of my health the best I could. I just 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.760 stayed focused, but either to go see always I will 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:16.840 always have me always. I've been a member for almost 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.160 eight years now, eight nine years I was a member incarcerated, 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:21.720 and now I would be able. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.000 To talk to college and work through some of the 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.400 worst moments. He would refer me to other entities of 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:28.280 the organization for support. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.800 They would give me referrals to how to get me 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.000 books to take my mind out of places, refer me 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.080 to places that would give us papers and pen people 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.280 would help us with laws and stuff we didn't understand. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:40.160 Senless copies. 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:40.800 You know. 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.920 It was just really a platform for making you a 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:47.439 stronger individual in an awful situation. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.480 And for that I will always be grateful. And even 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.120 now that I'm no longer incarcerated. 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.880 In CCCDCR, I get to see the fruit of the 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:01.360 labor of everything this organization has given to the people 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.920 that are behind bars, and I'm so grateful. 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.679 Yeah, jail conditions in California, and I think a lot 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.640 of places are like even worse than prison conditions. And 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:13.719 I mean, I remember when I was visiting someone in 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.320 the Sacramento County Jail, and she was excited after multiple 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.280 years in the county jail to go to federal prison. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.800 She was like over the moon that she was going 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.800 to federal prison and getting out of the Sacramento County jail. 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.119 So I was wondering if you could describe the conditions 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.400 in the Presno County Jail and how we fixed them, 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:35.319 or at least how they kind of mickey moused it 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:37.880 for the entire time that you were there, just so 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:39.199 that this wouldn't happen again. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.480 So I was incarcerated. 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.000 I went back for re sentence, you know, my life sentence, 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:49.800 and that Fresnel County Jail is horrible. It's interested people 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.800 are dying daily. If you have nobody, you have nothing. 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.280 It was really sad. I asked callings. 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.960 I walked to get involved short time King. 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.120 They had put in to get some funny to help 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.080 people didn't have hygiens. It was very stinky and nasty. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.200 So they donated through me, and I bought the girls 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:20.840 their hygiens, shot poos conditioners too, pays, bought guys. 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.840 Of snacks and make them all little care packs. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:28.080 And I got to see the small amount of women 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:33.760 in my pod spring to life all because the organization cared. 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.120 All because somebody researched their heart and did a little 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:38.880 something different. 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.200 It made such a difference, Like they really all wanted 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.480 to be involved, Like how do I get involved with this? 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.320 But I left shortly after this all happened, so we 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.320 didn't really get to click it in because using the 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.920 phone and stuff in there is not like being in prison. 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.280 People are dying to get out of county jail. I 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.840 mean people are actually dying in the cells. One lady 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.280 was left to fester in her infestations of cysts and 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.040 stuff she had all over her body. She met another 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.560 lady in there that actually went out long responsive because 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.880 they said nothing was along with her, and yet she 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.960 had an internal disease she had been living with all 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.200 her life and they would not help her. And because 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:23.680 I don't know a lot, I'm not going to name 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.320 anything or anyone. I just know I was a part 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:30.600 of the situation. We were denied meals. Sometimes you were 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:35.080 too late, you didn't come. People were denying meds. You 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:36.040 should have been there. 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.040 People who couldn't even walk and they had no medical assistance. 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.800 People who were kicking, as we know, to kick alcohol 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.480 or hang on or crystal can be deadly. All they 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.760 would do is bring them gatorade one cup in the 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.560 middle of the night. But these people were throwing up 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.640 their guts, throwing up blood. It was crazy. It was 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.640 really sad in there. But like I said, the one 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:05.840 moment of joy was when I came in. I came 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:11.600 in and they literally contributed to making it a better 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:12.920 environment for us. 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:17.280 And we did something with that jail that in activist 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:21.240 vernacular or organizing vernacular, you could call it a phone 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:25.480 stop or a distribute distributed action. Yeah. So do you 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.760 remember what our demands were with the jail. I think 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.160 we had like four or five and they did. They 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:32.040 did most of them. 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:33.800 I know one was what medical. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.080 It's been so long, I don't quite remember everything. So 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:39.120 but I know the girls who were able to kyle 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.400 all walk and file complaints or tell people about what 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.800 was happening with them, and they would, you know, give 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.880 them resources and help them out the best they could. 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:53.800 Women started filing grievouses because they were actually being able 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:55.920 to receive information that would help them. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.520 Yeah. I just found what we won by the way 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.720 we won ofvolant Guard transferred from that unit. Undoubtedly they 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:05.200 were just transferred to another unit and then move back later. 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:10.200 Increased access to showers in clean water, provided mental health care, 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:14.080 put in repair work orders for showers and the television, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:19.040 and provided grievance forms. All that from just like what 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.320 I have to assume was like the Fresno County jails, 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:26.840 like first serious encounter with like public anger and scrutiny 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.040 in probably years. Not that people aren't angry at them 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.720 over this stuff, but like the way they just like 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:39.719 absolutely hopped too, is you know, in my experience, indicative 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.760 of people just used to getting away with it and 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.160 receiving very little pushback. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:46.640 I just wanted to say that I think it also 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:51.160 highlights the importance of mutual aid within our movement work. 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:56.959 You know, oftentimes in especially labor movement spaces, you hear 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:01.240 a lot of you know, focus on quote quote organizing 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.760 without recognition of kind of like the human element and 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:10.320 like the human connection aspect to it, and how you know, 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.280 in different kind of spaces, being able to break bread, 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:19.760 or if we can provide basic needs and supplies like 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.360 you know, for hygiene, or you know, I remember doing 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:28.439 COVID being able to provide folks who were incarcerated with soap, 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:34.480 right was huge, And it's those gestures. Some people challenge 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:39.240 that and say, well, that's not really organizing, right, Yes, 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:45.600 it is absolutely. It's recognizing our humanity, our basic needs, 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:50.360 and showing up to try to support each other. It's 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:54.480 not just quote unquote fighting, right and that kind of advocacy, 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.720 But advocacy is also about mutual aid and so trying 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.959 to live that, making sure we're meshing that with our 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:03.520 movement work is essential. 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.399 Yeah, I wanted to emphasize that, Like, it's not like 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.440 we sent some incredible amount of money to the to 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:10.399 Adro when she was in Trosono kind of jail. It 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:12.399 was like maybe one hundred bucks or like not even, 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.720 and yet it was able to do a lot of 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:17.280 stuff Autero. You do remember how much it was. 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.440 Well, I think it was seventy five bora. 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.120 It was one of in Yeah, So I mean that's 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.760 that's like one small example of how like when you're 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.720 doing prison solidarity you're able to do so much, like 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:35.159 you're able to have a tremendous impact for folks in 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.760 a way that you are not able to do in 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:42.639 any kind of organizing, at least for people in the 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.520 present moment, and that is something that really attracted me 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.080 to it as just kind of a spectrum headed person. 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.400 I was like, Oh, this is like a very good 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:56.480 labor cost to benefit ratio of like you can put 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.760 in the same amount of work and read like much 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.240 greater benefit for a great number of people. And that 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.160 I think remains true today is something that folks should 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:11.080 consider when considering whether prison solidarity is something that they'd 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:11.760 like to take her in. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:13.280 Thank you Collins. 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:17.720 The one thing I did remember more than anything out 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:22.119 of Collins and their organizations coming into our county. The 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.280 one thing I did see that you very get to 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:29.920 see in and incarcerated situations was in on our pod, 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:33.320 a glimmer of hope. They planted a seed when they 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:38.439 made it possible for us to fund help for people, 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.720 and the next time around people were donating a little bit, 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.120 people who had more were donating to make sure those 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:51.119 people kept things. I see unity in its greatest form 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:56.360 with culture difference, stigma difference, race difference. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.879 Gangs didn't exist at that time. I watched just come together. 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:05.000 We started having prayer socals, the pod became more positive, 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.560 and that all started with a heartfelt seventy five to 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:14.520 one hundred dollars. It brought people together and that never left, 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:17.280 that never left, And I think it's the same thing 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.680 in an incarceration situation, when you're in prison. When we 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:26.040 build our little inside organizations and we help each other. 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:27.520 We give hope to each other. 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.520 I am so grateful to be a member of such 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:36.080 a profound organization that believes in neighbor laws to help 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:41.040 us be treated fairly, abolishments of institutions because know God, 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:43.480 they need to reap a little bit of what they sow, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.320 and a hand and a heart that says we care 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:52.959 from across the mouth. And this organization reaches different parts 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:56.160 of the US, so it's not from one place, it's 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.399 it's a whole unit and it's I'm grateful to be 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:00.919 a part of it right. 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:05.440 And in fact IOWAK exists in the United States, we 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:11.280 have interests from some lobb belief in Canada, and there 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:16.360 is also established IWALK presidence in the UK, including Northern Ireland. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:30.600 What does it actually look like to be doing sort 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:33.320 of jail house law, to be helping people understand what 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.600 their rights are and trying to fight for better conditions 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:38.359 through the internal legal system. 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:43.840 I work for the Law Library in CDCR at Chachilla, SECWA. 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:50.360 SCCWF is the Central California Women's Facility, a California women's prison. 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:53.760 And I am what they call a jail house lawyer 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:55.960 because I helped a few people go home. 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:58.000 Not that I was brilliant. 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:01.960 I just comprehend very well and I articulate very well. 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:05.639 So by me working there, I got to learn first 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:10.840 hand law books and penal codes and processes, and it 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.520 was a wonderful thing. But it can also be a 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:18.359 sad thing because before you know, you make a lot 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:23.600 of mistakes, and those mistakes hurt people because people can't 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.400 afford lawyers. I mean I went in there with thirty 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:29.280 six to life, lost all my levels of my appeal, 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:31.560 and never thought I would ever see the light of day. 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:34.040 I knew I would die in prison, and a lot 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:37.359 of jail house lawyers helped me, and just it didn't 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:40.760 happen because financially I was not able to do a lot. 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:45.520 If it hadn't Gavin Knwsom, we sentenced me under exemplary programming. 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:49.240 Obviously I did a good program. I've done over one 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:52.160 hundred and fifty years old of their groups and I facilitate. 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:54.480 So I worked my way out. 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:58.480 But you got documentation in there that's probably twenty or 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:02.240 thirty years old, isn't even apply with the laws that 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:05.719 are today. People are using old documentation. The course are 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.520 rejecting them because they have the wrong paperwork. A lot 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:11.720 of things had been happening until some of us started 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.159 six oh two een, like we need the right paperwork. 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:16.879 We started fighting for that, and we started getting it, 0:24:17.400 --> 0:24:21.119 and people are now being able to see a glimmer 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:21.600 of hope. 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:24.399 It's all about for me, It's about the fight. How 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:25.280 bad do you want it? 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:25.960 You know? 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:28.000 I know what I would do to throw my life away? 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:30.320 What would I do to have my life back? 0:24:31.080 --> 0:24:34.680 You know, after I've yeah worked it out, the same 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:39.119 energy you put into it. It's the same energy you 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:40.639 got to put it into it to get out of it. 0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:43.359 If not a little bit more, did you talk a 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:46.000 little bit more about how you went about actually getting 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:49.439 the correct copies of the legal code, because that seems 0:24:49.520 --> 0:24:50.800 like just an absolute nightmare. 0:24:51.320 --> 0:24:52.280 No, it is a nightmare. 0:24:52.440 --> 0:24:55.680 When I first started, I had two incarcerations, two life sentences. 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:58.639 I just beat my second life sentences. I was a 0:24:58.760 --> 0:25:01.080 three striker, first. At that time, they didn't have a 0:25:01.119 --> 0:25:03.080 lot of paper and there was a lot of Rigoro 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:06.720 war going on because of the law was so inadically 0:25:06.840 --> 0:25:11.160 we put together just to please the people of the US, 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:14.119 but not to be fair all the way around. A 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:17.280 lot of people were getting life sentences for slices of 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:20.480 pizza and hawk dolls and you know, and I was 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:23.680 one of those people, don't get me wrong. So at 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:25.280 that time, there was not a lot a lot of 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:30.960 legal paperwork. The paperwork was so outdated they were giving 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:33.720 us and people started we started filing the pills. 0:25:33.760 --> 0:25:37.000 Hey, we have a right to the right paperwork? How 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:37.840 am I going to get home? 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:38.200 Yeah? 0:25:38.280 --> 0:25:39.879 If I don't, I'm a fight if I don't have 0:25:39.960 --> 0:25:43.280 the right forms to fight with. Or we would organizations 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:47.080 would print us paperwork out that we wrote out to 0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:48.800 and they would send us the right one in and 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:52.520 we would make copies in our own self at ten 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.679 cents of copy and put change the copy that they 0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:58.680 used to copy the copy and the original would be in. 0:25:58.800 --> 0:26:01.040 It was a lot of scheme inism, but it was 0:26:01.119 --> 0:26:03.840 worth it because we were starting to go home. The 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:05.400 paperwork was being updated. 0:26:05.640 --> 0:26:08.080 You know, they had a lawsuit because they did have 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:11.840 the right paperwork. They really started up dating then because 0:26:12.080 --> 0:26:13.879 we had some legal mongros. 0:26:13.960 --> 0:26:16.040 You know, lawyers go to prison too. 0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:21.680 So if I'm understanding this right, are you saying that 0:26:21.840 --> 0:26:23.960 they had the right paperwork they were just giving you 0:26:24.080 --> 0:26:24.600 the old one. 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:27.159 No, they had the wrong paperwork. 0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:29.920 So we were sending out for the right paperwork, throwing 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:32.600 away to old paper work and sliding the right paperwork in. 0:26:33.400 --> 0:26:35.760 The clerks that worked at the lawbrary. We would do 0:26:35.880 --> 0:26:38.400 anything to make sure we can go home, you know. Yeah, 0:26:38.720 --> 0:26:40.760 I mean, but like I said, we had people who 0:26:40.840 --> 0:26:41.760 used to be lawyers. 0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:43.880 I mean, if we had to wait a little bit longer, 0:26:43.960 --> 0:26:47.000 we could have had a president. I don't know. People 0:26:47.000 --> 0:26:48.560 were going to prison these days. 0:26:50.119 --> 0:26:53.200 Yeah, so, you know, but it was just that you 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:55.440 had to have a will to be a success, and 0:26:56.040 --> 0:26:59.000 it took organizations like a walking when I was there, 0:26:59.080 --> 0:27:01.919 I need a certain paper work and college will look. 0:27:01.760 --> 0:27:03.680 It up and reference for in send it to me. 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:07.440 You know, legal paperwork that would help us whether we 0:27:07.520 --> 0:27:10.879 were fighting for our jobs, not paying us right, or 0:27:11.080 --> 0:27:13.080 we can't get a hold of this paperwork for us 0:27:13.160 --> 0:27:16.480 to be free. Yeah, he would send it and I 0:27:16.560 --> 0:27:20.760 would spread it like fire, you know. Once she I'm 0:27:20.800 --> 0:27:23.600 a clerk. I make a hundred copies hoping I don't 0:27:23.640 --> 0:27:29.560 get caught. You know, it is what it is, and 0:27:30.040 --> 0:27:32.880 just trying to say why that was important. 0:27:33.560 --> 0:27:35.359 But I'm on this thing talking. 0:27:35.840 --> 0:27:39.600 I really want to hear Gigi's aspect, because she is 0:27:39.920 --> 0:27:44.960 like so superheroes. She's a great human being and she 0:27:45.240 --> 0:27:49.720 fights for incarcerated inmates, and she fights for labor rights, 0:27:49.760 --> 0:27:53.480 and she fights for her organization, and she fights for everything. 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:55.320 And I would really like to hear her. I haven't 0:27:55.359 --> 0:27:57.919 heard her much. I don't like to hear her side. 0:28:00.840 --> 0:28:03.200 You are incredible, and I just I just want to 0:28:03.240 --> 0:28:07.000 listen to you. Thank you, and you are, you know, 0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:09.880 the one that we are taking notes from. So thank 0:28:09.960 --> 0:28:13.080 you for everything that you do and everything that you 0:28:13.160 --> 0:28:15.680 did will incarcerated and everything that you're doing now. 0:28:16.359 --> 0:28:18.479 Just so just so you know that we are all 0:28:18.600 --> 0:28:20.879 inspired by you. Always. Thank you. 0:28:21.720 --> 0:28:25.399 I you know, as someone who has been in the 0:28:25.520 --> 0:28:30.560 legal field for many years, you really the more you're 0:28:30.680 --> 0:28:38.680 around legal professionals, specifically lawyers, you learn how little they 0:28:38.840 --> 0:28:42.200 actually do. I think a lot of the times are 0:28:42.320 --> 0:28:46.120 perception of civil rights and just movement work. 0:28:46.400 --> 0:28:48.360 We think of lawyers. We think of big. 0:28:48.320 --> 0:28:51.920 Organizations right that have been you know, those big gains 0:28:52.000 --> 0:28:55.640 in the courts, But the reality is that the real 0:28:56.720 --> 0:29:01.840 work happens on the ground, grassroots, and so in the 0:29:01.960 --> 0:29:07.560 case of our prisoner movement, it happens behind those bars, 0:29:07.680 --> 0:29:12.240 behind those concrete walls. And when it comes to the 0:29:12.360 --> 0:29:16.440 most vulnerable, as you kind of go down right in 0:29:16.600 --> 0:29:19.920 terms of how impacted folks are, there are less and 0:29:20.120 --> 0:29:24.320 less lawyers that are willing to do that work, and 0:29:24.600 --> 0:29:26.960 definitely less. 0:29:26.840 --> 0:29:28.000 That are even able to. 0:29:28.720 --> 0:29:32.480 They just don't bother, you know. And so what you 0:29:32.680 --> 0:29:37.960 really see when it comes to jail house lawyers is 0:29:38.160 --> 0:29:43.240 that they said, we can't depend on these privileged class 0:29:43.480 --> 0:29:48.560 of people to fight for us, let alone free us. 0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:55.160 So they've taken it into their own hands. And that's 0:29:55.360 --> 0:29:59.600 why it's such an honor for organizations like Eyewalk and 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:03.000 and our members to be able to support in that 0:30:04.200 --> 0:30:09.640 hands on participatory defense model, where it truly is about 0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:14.800 it's understanding that our liberation will not come from external hands. 0:30:14.840 --> 0:30:17.760 It will come, you know, internally, will come from us 0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:23.480 who are impacted, and so supporting each other is what 0:30:23.720 --> 0:30:27.360 is going to make the difference. And I sound so simple, 0:30:27.440 --> 0:30:32.240 but sometimes it looks like sending in a book, an article, 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:37.760 pulling up supporting evidence that someone can use, right, doing 0:30:37.880 --> 0:30:41.360 some research and sending it in. And California has. 0:30:41.240 --> 0:30:43.840 The Racial Justice Act, which is opening. 0:30:44.120 --> 0:30:47.360 A pathway for a lot of folks to reopen their 0:30:47.480 --> 0:30:51.520 cases and have some resentencing done. And a lot of 0:30:51.560 --> 0:30:55.560 folks are, you know, being free now because of that legislation. 0:30:55.880 --> 0:30:58.280 And so you know, how can we support in that way? 0:30:58.840 --> 0:31:02.680 But also I always go back to building the relationship 0:31:02.760 --> 0:31:06.520 with the folks inside, because sometimes it looks like writing 0:31:06.960 --> 0:31:09.440 a letter of support for folks. 0:31:10.520 --> 0:31:13.120 I mean, you can tell when someone. 0:31:12.960 --> 0:31:16.080 Writes a letter that didn't have a relationship with the 0:31:16.160 --> 0:31:18.680 person who needs a letter, right, But the opposite is 0:31:18.680 --> 0:31:22.560 also true. You can really tell when someone actually has 0:31:22.640 --> 0:31:25.560 a relationship with that person. It comes to life what 0:31:25.720 --> 0:31:30.959 you're writing and you feel that connection, right, So truly 0:31:31.240 --> 0:31:35.440 building those relationships, those friendships, how use some of our 0:31:35.560 --> 0:31:40.240 comrades inside, I bigger with and we fight and we 0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:42.880 make up, you know, and we're there for the ups 0:31:42.920 --> 0:31:45.479 and downs and we give each other advice. And it's 0:31:45.640 --> 0:31:48.720 true friendships that we built behind those walls. And that 0:31:48.880 --> 0:31:52.800 alone is also a form of radical love and a 0:31:52.920 --> 0:31:56.360 radical part of this movement to form those bonds with 0:31:56.640 --> 0:32:02.560 those who the system tried to bury alive, and circling 0:32:02.680 --> 0:32:07.600 back to jail house lawyers and how our incarcerated neighbors 0:32:07.720 --> 0:32:11.840 have taken control and a lead of their own defense. 0:32:12.480 --> 0:32:17.200 How important it is for us to be plugged in 0:32:17.520 --> 0:32:22.880 on the outside to different advances or regressions. 0:32:22.320 --> 0:32:25.000 When it comes to the legal system, because. 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:28.480 Oftentimes we need to recognize that to be able to 0:32:28.760 --> 0:32:32.720 ignore policy, to be able to ignore what's happening in 0:32:32.760 --> 0:32:36.320 the streets, is a tremendous privilege. It's not impacting you 0:32:36.920 --> 0:32:40.120 when you are impacted. You cannot ignore what's happening around. 0:32:39.840 --> 0:32:42.240 You because it's happening to you, right. 0:32:43.400 --> 0:32:46.240 And so for us, if we feel like we're not impacted, 0:32:46.760 --> 0:32:49.400 even though we are, because it's all interconnected struggle, right. 0:32:49.920 --> 0:32:52.880 But if we feel like maybe we don't need to 0:32:52.920 --> 0:32:59.320 pay attention to struggles or advancements that could be used 0:32:59.360 --> 0:33:04.760 by people inside, then we're really privileged and we're failing 0:33:05.240 --> 0:33:08.400 are our neighbors inside. So I just hope that we 0:33:08.480 --> 0:33:11.480 can recognize that and understand that it is an obligation 0:33:11.640 --> 0:33:16.880 of ours to move through life in a way that 0:33:17.360 --> 0:33:21.680 is thoughtful of those who who could use our support 0:33:21.800 --> 0:33:24.720 and who we could empower because they don't have the 0:33:24.800 --> 0:33:28.760 same access to that information or the resources. 0:33:29.400 --> 0:33:32.000 And so in many ways, that's what I walked us. 0:33:32.360 --> 0:33:35.680 And there's just something so powerful about getting out a 0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:39.360 piece of paper and pen and writing a handwriting letter, 0:33:40.000 --> 0:33:44.400 stuffing an envelope with literature with zine, or sending a 0:33:44.480 --> 0:33:49.200 book inside and putting that stamp on the envelope. It 0:33:49.280 --> 0:33:52.680 feels like a material manifestation of your solidarity. 0:33:53.560 --> 0:33:55.200 Oh no, that was awesome. 0:33:56.600 --> 0:34:00.880 Yeah, if it's okay, I'd like to dig into some 0:34:01.520 --> 0:34:05.360 details on the sort of state of the civil rights 0:34:05.440 --> 0:34:08.800 liberalism as we know it here in California, because I 0:34:08.840 --> 0:34:12.320 think like we glossed over certain things that I'd like 0:34:12.440 --> 0:34:16.000 to clarify are not acts of benevolence on the part 0:34:16.040 --> 0:34:18.440 of the state and are in fact acts of just 0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:21.239 kind of like self glazing on their part, and like 0:34:21.520 --> 0:34:23.239 things that they do to sort of pat themselves on 0:34:23.320 --> 0:34:26.839 the back and then move on. So, I mean, first 0:34:26.840 --> 0:34:31.040 of all, Audra mentioned that Gavin Newsim had something to 0:34:31.120 --> 0:34:33.719 do with her release. I just wanted to circle back 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:36.960 to that and point out that he's also completely screwed 0:34:36.960 --> 0:34:39.239 over some of our members, like gone completely out of 0:34:39.320 --> 0:34:42.840 his way to use his like what it's basically like 0:34:42.960 --> 0:34:46.080 a veto power over parole that should not exist, and 0:34:46.120 --> 0:34:50.239 it's just like set up to yeah, create like me. 0:34:50.360 --> 0:34:53.160 I mean, like this is how Gavin Newsim does everything 0:34:53.200 --> 0:34:55.799 in California. He's like, if I'm going to either take 0:34:55.800 --> 0:34:58.759 an action or not take an action as governor, is 0:34:58.800 --> 0:35:02.680 there any possibility that my action or inaction could make 0:35:02.800 --> 0:35:05.200 me look bad later on the national stage to people 0:35:05.280 --> 0:35:07.800 that are not my current constituents when I'm running for president. 0:35:08.239 --> 0:35:11.160 And he always does what he thinks is going to 0:35:11.920 --> 0:35:14.080 create the least risk and make him look good to 0:35:14.200 --> 0:35:17.200 a national audience rather than to his current constituents. And 0:35:17.320 --> 0:35:20.239 that is pretty clearly what happened with another one of 0:35:20.280 --> 0:35:23.520 our members recently. So yeah, fuck Evan Newsom. Actually, why 0:35:23.560 --> 0:35:24.200 does he even have. 0:35:24.360 --> 0:35:27.520 The power to overratee parole? Why does that even exist? 0:35:27.960 --> 0:35:28.719 A's absurd? 0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:31.920 I don't know. Yeah, you'd have to talk to some 0:35:32.080 --> 0:35:35.960 sort of like California constitutional historian to learn that. 0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:36.919 Yeah. 0:35:37.680 --> 0:35:39.080 The other thing I want to talk about was this 0:35:39.239 --> 0:35:42.480 Racial Justice Act thing. So this is something that on 0:35:42.640 --> 0:35:45.160 its surface it sounds really radical. So first what they 0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:48.239 did was like in twenty twenty, when, as we all know, 0:35:48.360 --> 0:35:51.960 nothing in particular was happening, they passed this law called 0:35:52.000 --> 0:35:54.840 the Racial Justice Act that was like, hey, if you're convicted, 0:35:55.800 --> 0:35:59.480 but it was like due to racial animus or like 0:35:59.560 --> 0:36:02.080 the length of the sentence perhaps, and if not, the 0:36:02.200 --> 0:36:05.200 conviction itself is due to like a racial bias. You 0:36:05.280 --> 0:36:08.520 can you can try to prove that or not prove it, 0:36:08.640 --> 0:36:10.840 but like do what's called a prime of fates are showing, 0:36:10.840 --> 0:36:13.160 which is like the lowest level of you know, demonstrating 0:36:13.200 --> 0:36:16.200 something in court, and then we'll just like let you 0:36:16.320 --> 0:36:18.480 go based on that alone. Right, So that's wow, where 0:36:18.480 --> 0:36:19.000 are you radical? 0:36:19.080 --> 0:36:19.200 Right? 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:22.040 Okay, So a couple things. First of all, that was 0:36:22.120 --> 0:36:25.359 only from the future ontward, so that was not retroactive. 0:36:25.719 --> 0:36:28.160 Later there was outcry about that, and so they came 0:36:28.239 --> 0:36:29.799 back and were like, oh, okay, yeah, all the people 0:36:29.840 --> 0:36:31.799 in prison now can do it too. So the thing 0:36:31.880 --> 0:36:33.200 is this is also the kind of thing that can 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:36.640 like overwhelm the courts. Right, So, like the way that 0:36:36.719 --> 0:36:39.480 this is being done in practice is like you get 0:36:39.520 --> 0:36:43.440 one shot at this. Ever, Yeah, as I understand it, 0:36:43.960 --> 0:36:47.400 and just like appeals. You get different amounts of appeals 0:36:47.400 --> 0:36:50.319 I think based on the conviction. But like basically if 0:36:50.360 --> 0:36:53.080 you fuck it up, like you're done, because the courts 0:36:53.239 --> 0:36:55.799 are limited in their capacity and need to be able 0:36:55.840 --> 0:36:57.840 to move on to hear other people's saying, and of 0:36:57.880 --> 0:37:00.680 course people file it and it's it's not good, it's 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:03.880 not done well. And like the infrastructure to violate your 0:37:03.960 --> 0:37:07.800 rights is like better funded all the time. Meanwhile, the 0:37:07.880 --> 0:37:11.960 institutions to like defend your rights are typically not publicly 0:37:12.080 --> 0:37:15.680 funded at all outside of like the court's proper and 0:37:17.080 --> 0:37:19.840 you know, maybe there's certain government agencies in some states. 0:37:20.239 --> 0:37:24.120 But then like private civil rights attorneys are who have 0:37:24.280 --> 0:37:27.000 the option to be kind of the real civil rights defenders, 0:37:27.120 --> 0:37:30.160 and they get funded based on like court fees that 0:37:30.280 --> 0:37:33.160 are like set by the government. Right, and so the 0:37:33.239 --> 0:37:38.400 government like creates these systems where you know, the legislature 0:37:38.520 --> 0:37:41.960 essentially has the power to decide how much money a 0:37:42.040 --> 0:37:45.279 civil rights lawyer is going to be able to get 0:37:45.360 --> 0:37:48.760 practicing civil rights law by like suing the cops and stuff. 0:37:49.680 --> 0:37:54.000 In California and probably elsewhere, it's already like been settled 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:57.680 that like if you do a civil rights case for 0:37:57.840 --> 0:38:00.680 something happening on the street, and then you do the 0:38:00.719 --> 0:38:02.840 same civil rights case for like the same thing happening 0:38:02.880 --> 0:38:04.879 to people in prison, You're going to make less money 0:38:05.280 --> 0:38:09.200 when it occurred in prison, basically. And you know, maybe 0:38:09.280 --> 0:38:14.560 some legal person has a finer, you know, detailed analysis 0:38:14.600 --> 0:38:16.920 of that than what I just said, But that's essentially 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.280 my understanding. And I did work for for some attorneys 0:38:20.320 --> 0:38:22.560 who practice is kind of law at one point, so 0:38:23.480 --> 0:38:27.640 that is pretty egregious, yea. And yeah, I mean I 0:38:28.000 --> 0:38:30.239 think that like there's there's a lot of stuff in 0:38:30.360 --> 0:38:33.960 the kind of abolitionist sphere that is really kind of 0:38:34.040 --> 0:38:37.080 like nails on a chalkboard to me, And I think 0:38:37.120 --> 0:38:38.960 a lot of other people who tend to take a 0:38:39.040 --> 0:38:42.080 more like radical yet like radical in the long run, 0:38:42.160 --> 0:38:44.520 yet day to day pragmatic approach. I mean one of 0:38:44.560 --> 0:38:48.840 those things is like the nonprofit route basically, or like 0:38:48.920 --> 0:38:51.680 the five oh one C three route, where you you know, 0:38:51.800 --> 0:38:55.640 staff up, hire a bunch of people. If you started out, 0:38:55.920 --> 0:38:57.959 you know, being in the same class as the people 0:38:58.040 --> 0:39:01.279 who are in prison, you like propel yourself out of 0:39:01.320 --> 0:39:05.520 that class by doing this if you're successful, and then 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:08.440 like things deteriorate from there as far as relationships go 0:39:08.880 --> 0:39:11.879 with people who are impacted. And then the other thing 0:39:12.080 --> 0:39:15.680 is like there's this strain of abolitionists who are like, well, 0:39:15.680 --> 0:39:20.200 we're the truest abolitionists because we just believe in like 0:39:20.360 --> 0:39:24.719 infinite second chances basically, and so like we sometimes get 0:39:24.800 --> 0:39:27.240 questions of like, how are you different from other abolitionist groups. 0:39:27.640 --> 0:39:29.600 So I would say, yeah, like a, we're not afraid 0:39:29.640 --> 0:39:31.640 to like pick people out. But it's like, you behave badly. 0:39:32.560 --> 0:39:37.600 I walk like you're talking, like you're out, Like that's 0:39:37.640 --> 0:39:40.000 not the same as throwing someone in prison. All the 0:39:40.080 --> 0:39:41.320 people will make that equivalence. 0:39:41.840 --> 0:39:45.000 I love this, but I do have to go. I 0:39:45.080 --> 0:39:47.320 appreciate you guys allowing me a chance to speak. 0:39:47.600 --> 0:39:48.759 Thank you so much for doing this. 0:39:49.239 --> 0:39:54.160 I appreciate calling your support. I appreciate your support for 0:39:54.239 --> 0:39:57.239 a Lowdness on your podcast. I would just want to 0:39:57.239 --> 0:39:59.959 say one thing. When I was incarcerated, I would write, 0:40:00.280 --> 0:40:03.520 and Collins helped me start me a little website because 0:40:03.520 --> 0:40:06.640 I would write my emotions. I don't know if I 0:40:06.719 --> 0:40:09.480 can leak that website. Can I say what that website is? 0:40:09.600 --> 0:40:11.000 In case you guys want to look at it. 0:40:11.320 --> 0:40:12.120 It's your website. 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:14.080 Okay, thank you. 0:40:15.080 --> 0:40:20.040 It's adras A U d r A S Real Thoughts 0:40:20.360 --> 0:40:24.560 r e A L Thoughts with the S dot WordPress 0:40:24.600 --> 0:40:28.760 dot com. And it talks about my trauma, my prison 0:40:28.840 --> 0:40:31.600 life and everything. It has pictures and everything, And it 0:40:31.600 --> 0:40:34.160 would not be possible if it was not for Colins. 0:40:34.600 --> 0:40:37.000 It was my way of forming a support group from 0:40:37.239 --> 0:40:39.960 inside out. But I have to go because I do 0:40:40.120 --> 0:40:40.840 have somewhere. 0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:41.000 Else to be. 0:40:41.200 --> 0:40:44.120 It's been great having you here, Adra, Yeah, it's been 0:40:44.200 --> 0:40:45.480 it's been amazing having you here. 0:40:45.760 --> 0:40:46.759 I really appreciate it. 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:47.279 Yeah. 0:40:47.440 --> 0:40:51.200 I love Gg Collins. Thank you guys so much. 0:40:51.360 --> 0:40:54.360 I'll talk to you later if you're comfortable with the 0:40:55.400 --> 0:40:57.040 only if you're comfortable with it before you go, Do 0:40:57.080 --> 0:41:00.120 you want to tell me and the audience what her 0:41:00.480 --> 0:41:03.000 third strike was? Allegedly yes. 0:41:03.520 --> 0:41:09.480 I was sentenced in nineteen ninety four for sales of 0:41:09.600 --> 0:41:13.520 a twenty dollars piece of cocaine and I was given 0:41:13.600 --> 0:41:17.319 twenty five to life plus a five year enhancement. This one, 0:41:17.600 --> 0:41:21.640 I was sentenced to thirty six to life for second 0:41:21.719 --> 0:41:24.960 degree robbery. A lady say I robbed her while she 0:41:25.200 --> 0:41:28.520 was with her child, and then she recanted that story 0:41:28.719 --> 0:41:32.759 in court. I still was sentenced to thirty six to 0:41:32.880 --> 0:41:37.120 life because she couldn't find her forty dollars that she lost. 0:41:37.680 --> 0:41:40.720 There's a lot behind it. Actually, me and my partner 0:41:40.760 --> 0:41:43.640 at the time were co defendants. He was let off 0:41:43.960 --> 0:41:46.920 because he hadn't been in trouble in California, which was 0:41:47.000 --> 0:41:49.480 a good thing because he really was innocent. But I 0:41:49.640 --> 0:41:51.960 had to spend almost sixteen years on my life in 0:41:52.080 --> 0:41:55.279 prison for a crime I did not commit. It has 0:41:55.400 --> 0:41:59.200 its pros and as cons I'm a better human being today, 0:41:59.400 --> 0:42:02.120 not because it's CDCR, but because of me and the 0:42:02.200 --> 0:42:06.000 support system that I had while incarcerated in CDC, and 0:42:06.360 --> 0:42:08.440 it just made me a stronger person. They say, if 0:42:08.480 --> 0:42:11.360 it doesn't break you, it'll only make you stronger. So 0:42:11.760 --> 0:42:15.239 for anybody out there in the incarcerated world, don't give up, 0:42:15.560 --> 0:42:17.680 because if this doesn't break you, it will only make 0:42:17.760 --> 0:42:21.439 you stronger and you will get out because I did. 0:42:21.840 --> 0:42:24.080 And it's not always by the means that we think 0:42:24.160 --> 0:42:27.040 it will be, but when it's time, it happens. I've 0:42:27.239 --> 0:42:29.520 lived in the system long and I've lived a life 0:42:29.840 --> 0:42:33.200 span as a human being. I spent more time incarcerated 0:42:33.520 --> 0:42:34.840 for little stupid things. 0:42:35.480 --> 0:42:38.080 No murders, no mayhems. 0:42:37.560 --> 0:42:42.040 No beat ups, no DUIs, no nothing, none, nothing like 0:42:42.160 --> 0:42:46.800 that thinks that no one should ever see prison walls behind. 0:42:46.880 --> 0:42:50.319 But I did, and like I said, I was made 0:42:50.360 --> 0:42:51.240 the stronger. 0:42:50.920 --> 0:42:54.680 Because of organizations like you who support me. There were others, 0:42:54.800 --> 0:42:55.440 but you. 0:42:55.520 --> 0:42:57.799 Guys were the most impact in my life. You came 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:00.800 in my life like a whirlwind and straightened everything. I 0:43:00.920 --> 0:43:03.279 helped me straighten my thoughts out in my life. You 0:43:03.360 --> 0:43:06.000 helped me in many ways because you didn't come in, 0:43:06.680 --> 0:43:10.040 get overwhelmed and take off. You stayed the long call. 0:43:10.360 --> 0:43:13.440 Your organization is not an organization that quits. 0:43:13.880 --> 0:43:16.000 It's we're gonna get some more to help us. 0:43:15.960 --> 0:43:18.320 Fight type of thing going on. And there's not a 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:21.000 lot of organizations like that. They get overwhelmed. It's too 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:23.719 much going on. We ain't got enough manpower. You guys 0:43:23.800 --> 0:43:26.920 only had people and you were making movements. And I 0:43:27.040 --> 0:43:29.680 don't understand correctly. I think you guys wrote a letter 0:43:29.760 --> 0:43:32.120 for a friend and supported her through board. 0:43:32.760 --> 0:43:34.640 Now she's out in the free world. You know what 0:43:34.680 --> 0:43:35.080 I'm saying. 0:43:35.480 --> 0:43:38.680 So you guys change lives because you don't give up 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:41.640 on life, and for that, I hope you guys be 0:43:41.760 --> 0:43:45.040 around one hundred thousand years from now and I'll always 0:43:45.120 --> 0:43:45.680 be a member. 0:43:46.080 --> 0:43:47.279 You guys have a great thing. 0:43:48.360 --> 0:43:51.480 Luckily prisons aren't around for one hundred thousand years. 0:43:51.760 --> 0:43:53.839 But we love the odra. Hell yeah. 0:44:04.640 --> 0:44:06.680 I just want to add when I clarified, like about 0:44:06.719 --> 0:44:09.200 the Racial Justice Act, I don't want to you know, 0:44:09.320 --> 0:44:10.440 applaud it as. 0:44:10.480 --> 0:44:13.520 A victory of the system, like they're not really victories 0:44:13.960 --> 0:44:17.520 when the systems will exist, right, But I just want 0:44:17.560 --> 0:44:19.320 to say that it is still our duty to know 0:44:19.440 --> 0:44:24.040 when we can find those little kind of avenues for some. 0:44:24.200 --> 0:44:27.200 Momentary reprie for some people, and that can look like 0:44:27.560 --> 0:44:31.840 some creative ways. During COVID, we actually created hundreds of 0:44:31.920 --> 0:44:36.480 pockets for incarcerated folks so that they can actually file 0:44:37.080 --> 0:44:40.360 some tax documents and get their stimulus checks. 0:44:40.520 --> 0:44:43.920 Oh, which was major, right, So a ton. 0:44:43.840 --> 0:44:47.840 Of people were able to get their stimulus checks while incarcerated. 0:44:47.920 --> 0:44:50.520 Do you know how far that went? 0:44:51.600 --> 0:44:53.960 So it's just like those kinds of creative ways, you know, 0:44:54.440 --> 0:44:57.800 we often think, you know, we drive past a coffee 0:44:57.800 --> 0:44:59.360 shop and we're think, oh, yeah, my mom loved that 0:44:59.400 --> 0:45:02.040 coffee shop. We just hope that if we can make 0:45:02.080 --> 0:45:06.080 these connections with incarcerated neighbors. Then we can you know, 0:45:06.280 --> 0:45:09.320 as we're going through the world on the outside, we 0:45:09.480 --> 0:45:13.040 also make those connections like, oh, you know what, sumulus checks. 0:45:13.360 --> 0:45:14.600 Oh you know what, how do we. 0:45:14.840 --> 0:45:19.640 Get our incarcerated comrades to get those two? Right? Making 0:45:19.719 --> 0:45:23.200 those connections with the people that you build bonds with 0:45:24.000 --> 0:45:25.040 it's really important. 0:45:25.520 --> 0:45:25.719 Yeah. 0:45:26.440 --> 0:45:29.520 Yeah, Can I go on a rant that covers most 0:45:29.560 --> 0:45:32.040 of the notes that I have that I haven't covered yet? 0:45:32.120 --> 0:45:32.640 Yeah, go for it. 0:45:32.880 --> 0:45:37.560 Okay, thank you. Prison organizing is tremendously popular with people 0:45:37.600 --> 0:45:40.839 in prison, and a lot of people on the quote 0:45:40.880 --> 0:45:45.080 unquote left or just with humanitarian sentiments on the outside 0:45:45.400 --> 0:45:49.080 are really great at you know, encouraging us and being 0:45:49.200 --> 0:45:51.279 like what you're doing is awesome and kind of giving 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:54.120 us that like moral support which does help. And also 0:45:54.239 --> 0:45:57.640 you know, subscribing to our newsletter and sometimes doing phones 0:45:57.640 --> 0:46:00.480 apps and stuff like that. But generally it is tremendously 0:46:00.560 --> 0:46:04.920 difficult moving people from passive to active support in this 0:46:05.160 --> 0:46:08.600 kind of organizing. Typically, I think there is that kind 0:46:08.640 --> 0:46:11.480 of out of sight, out of mind factor going on 0:46:11.760 --> 0:46:14.279 for a lot of people, and I think there are 0:46:14.560 --> 0:46:18.440 organizing avenues out of that that I think we are 0:46:19.000 --> 0:46:22.239 you know, always exploring new new ways to kind of 0:46:22.320 --> 0:46:25.920 try and make those connections in an experiential kind of 0:46:26.000 --> 0:46:28.480 way rather than just like have you thought about how 0:46:28.520 --> 0:46:31.239 these things are connected, but like actually making it like 0:46:31.320 --> 0:46:32.320 real for people. 0:46:32.160 --> 0:46:32.320 You know. 0:46:32.880 --> 0:46:36.279 But we have just found that like the most stalwart, 0:46:36.719 --> 0:46:41.080 steadfast people in this struggle for the most part, are 0:46:41.120 --> 0:46:43.879 people you know directly impacted by it, are people who've 0:46:43.880 --> 0:46:47.200 been to jail in prison or who have like close 0:46:47.280 --> 0:46:51.960 family members who are often currently there or were recently there. 0:46:52.600 --> 0:46:55.239 And so you know, we'd love to hear from you, 0:46:55.400 --> 0:46:57.920 if that's you in particular, we'd love to hear from you, 0:46:58.320 --> 0:47:00.920 love to plug you in. We are speaking, you know, 0:47:01.000 --> 0:47:05.520 from California, But again, the organization exists across the United 0:47:05.560 --> 0:47:11.239 States and aspirationally Canada as well and the UK, and 0:47:11.320 --> 0:47:15.200 there are also other prisoner solidarity organizations with a similar orientation, 0:47:15.400 --> 0:47:17.560 so it's not like we're doing something totally unique and 0:47:17.680 --> 0:47:22.080 unheard of here. There's something called gg slash BO in Germany, 0:47:22.560 --> 0:47:25.279 which is also like a union for prisoners, and I 0:47:25.360 --> 0:47:28.000 want to say there's pretty similar stuff in Spain to 0:47:28.520 --> 0:47:32.200 associated with the anarchist movement there. In the United States, 0:47:32.239 --> 0:47:35.600 I think people are probably pretty familiar with like political 0:47:35.719 --> 0:47:39.320 prisoner support or like support committees for groups like the 0:47:39.400 --> 0:47:44.360 Minnesota fifteen or the Prairie Land Defendants and situations like that, 0:47:45.080 --> 0:47:47.720 And that's really valuable and really important. And no movement 0:47:47.840 --> 0:47:50.640 that like doesn't look after its people when they're in prison, 0:47:50.880 --> 0:47:53.279 like is a serious movement that will go anywhere at 0:47:53.280 --> 0:47:55.720 the end of the day. So that work really really matters. 0:47:56.280 --> 0:47:59.840 And I think that when people hear us as Iowa 0:48:00.080 --> 0:48:03.120 repeat one of our mottos that like all prisoners are political, 0:48:03.440 --> 0:48:07.440 they don't quite necessarily get the analysis there. I mean, 0:48:07.520 --> 0:48:09.759 for one thing, like you know, I'm going to give 0:48:09.840 --> 0:48:12.560 the spiel from the ground up. I guess for a second, 0:48:12.680 --> 0:48:16.520 like crime as an artificial category, like what a conviction 0:48:16.719 --> 0:48:20.239 says on paper is not like reflective necessarily of what 0:48:20.360 --> 0:48:23.200 really happened. And there has yet to be I think 0:48:23.280 --> 0:48:27.080 some really damning like study about this, just because there 0:48:27.200 --> 0:48:31.000 just hasn't been a study. But it is widely understood 0:48:31.040 --> 0:48:34.160 that like essentially all women in prison have suffered some 0:48:34.480 --> 0:48:37.840 kind of abuse in their lives, and almost all of 0:48:37.920 --> 0:48:41.560 the women in prison for murder murdered an abuser of 0:48:41.680 --> 0:48:46.320 either themselves or their kids or both. And in my book, 0:48:46.600 --> 0:48:50.359 that ain't a crime. Yeah, but Gigi maybe if she's 0:48:50.760 --> 0:48:53.800 if she wants to, can talk about how narrow the 0:48:54.040 --> 0:48:57.759 self defense rule actually is. And this is something that 0:48:57.920 --> 0:49:01.839 is like a popular myth, like the self defense rule 0:49:01.920 --> 0:49:04.800 is actually really wide, and like, if you know someone's 0:49:04.840 --> 0:49:06.960 coming to kill you, you can kill them first and 0:49:07.040 --> 0:49:10.480 it's not murder. Absolutely not true. I actually had a 0:49:10.880 --> 0:49:13.960 manager at a job. He was doing a training on 0:49:14.080 --> 0:49:17.600 something completely unrelated, I assure you, and he was just 0:49:17.640 --> 0:49:19.560 sort of going off and he was like and he 0:49:19.680 --> 0:49:22.800 was this fucking macho prick, right obviously based on what 0:49:22.840 --> 0:49:25.160 I'm about to say, but like he was like, oh yeah, 0:49:25.200 --> 0:49:27.320 like if I anyone attacks you in the middle of nowhere, 0:49:27.360 --> 0:49:29.839 you should just like kill them if you have the chance. 0:49:29.960 --> 0:49:31.880 And then there's only one story being told. And I 0:49:32.040 --> 0:49:34.840 was like, yeah, so that would be murder and he 0:49:34.960 --> 0:49:36.440 was like, well, not if they attack you first, and 0:49:36.560 --> 0:49:40.600 I'm like, yeah, it is actually, you know, like if 0:49:40.640 --> 0:49:43.200 there's just a body and you're like, yeah, you talk 0:49:43.239 --> 0:49:45.239 to me, like you should not assume that you will 0:49:45.280 --> 0:49:47.160 just get away with that, Like that is not how 0:49:47.239 --> 0:49:49.719 things work at all. Yeah, GD, do you want to 0:49:50.440 --> 0:49:53.040 elaborate on the self defense rule and what it is 0:49:53.160 --> 0:49:54.239 versus what people think it is. 0:49:54.960 --> 0:49:58.960 Yeah, so it's really important for us to understand that 0:49:59.280 --> 0:50:03.360 are doctrines in the United States are created to have 0:50:04.000 --> 0:50:08.919 loopholes for those in power and to be very convoluted 0:50:09.200 --> 0:50:14.000 and impossible to benefit from for those who are poor. 0:50:14.560 --> 0:50:18.160 So when it comes to the self defense doctrine, we 0:50:18.360 --> 0:50:27.640 actually have seen that it is disproportionately unavailable to victims 0:50:27.960 --> 0:50:33.160 of domestic and intimate partner violence. We have seen it 0:50:33.360 --> 0:50:39.680 disproportionately unavailable to black and brown men, to trans and 0:50:39.800 --> 0:50:43.880 non gender conforming neighbors. And a big part of that 0:50:44.000 --> 0:50:49.560 reason is because a complete self defense claim has six 0:50:49.760 --> 0:50:54.880 really important elements. You know, you cannot be like the 0:50:54.960 --> 0:50:58.920 first aggressor, there's distinctions between the use of deadly versus 0:50:59.080 --> 0:51:05.120 non deathly, a reasonable belief that the level of force 0:51:05.239 --> 0:51:09.520 that you use was necessary to protect yourself. But also 0:51:09.719 --> 0:51:15.120 this concept of proportionality. Right. We've seen that absolutely impact 0:51:16.080 --> 0:51:20.000 and am using DV cases because of this kind of 0:51:20.320 --> 0:51:26.719 concept of imminence. Right, So, if someone was being abused 0:51:26.960 --> 0:51:30.760 for a long time by their partner or their spouse, 0:51:31.680 --> 0:51:37.280 and you know, our psychology as humans are psyche sometimes 0:51:37.680 --> 0:51:41.360 you know, sometimes we snap. Right, If you didn't snap 0:51:41.800 --> 0:51:46.880 in the moment as a reaction to you know, being 0:51:47.760 --> 0:51:51.560 harmed in that moment, right, if your brain didn't make 0:51:51.640 --> 0:51:56.480 the proper calculation, that defense is not available to you. 0:51:57.080 --> 0:51:57.200 Right. 0:51:57.760 --> 0:52:05.400 There's so many, fortunately, bars to actually being able to 0:52:05.840 --> 0:52:11.279 cleiming self defense in a successful way, and it's very intentional. Unfortunately, 0:52:11.400 --> 0:52:16.640 it was intentionally designed that way to avoid the most 0:52:16.760 --> 0:52:20.480 vulnerable from using it. For example, there's this kind of 0:52:20.640 --> 0:52:26.040 concept of perception of threat, right along with proportionality. Right, 0:52:26.280 --> 0:52:31.000 So if someone is taller or maybe physically larger than 0:52:31.040 --> 0:52:36.640 their abuser, then there's this concept that, well, is. 0:52:36.840 --> 0:52:38.680 Your abuser actually a threat to you? 0:52:40.600 --> 0:52:40.759 Right? 0:52:41.760 --> 0:52:44.160 And so there's just so many ways in which the 0:52:44.320 --> 0:52:50.360 law has not actually caught up with our new knowledge 0:52:50.560 --> 0:52:53.400 when it comes to the psychological effects of living with 0:52:53.560 --> 0:52:57.960 intimate partner violence, the impact that it has on our 0:52:58.080 --> 0:53:03.719 reaction times, right on the cycles, on the challenges for 0:53:03.880 --> 0:53:07.759 many survivors to be able to even compile long term 0:53:08.120 --> 0:53:11.800 proof of abuse, et cetera. Right, we can go on endlessly, 0:53:12.360 --> 0:53:17.759 and so unfortunately, I think it's just a reflection of 0:53:17.960 --> 0:53:23.560 our legal system again, just created to bar those most 0:53:23.640 --> 0:53:28.200 vulnerable for many protection and it's really just there so 0:53:28.360 --> 0:53:32.000 that those who have the resources and those who have 0:53:32.920 --> 0:53:39.440 the control of social norms, right, those like young white 0:53:39.560 --> 0:53:44.640 men who have been perceived by juris as kind and innocent. 0:53:44.719 --> 0:53:50.239 Right, Kyle Rittenhouse, exactly right. That's who our laws were 0:53:50.320 --> 0:53:53.480 designed to protect, not our individuals. And so that's just 0:53:53.600 --> 0:53:58.280 just tie into our understanding of incarceration in this country 0:53:58.480 --> 0:54:03.640 and how it's truly not a reflection of what really happened. 0:54:05.280 --> 0:54:09.000 Most of the time. It's void of context and it's 0:54:09.200 --> 0:54:11.959 just out right in Jess. 0:54:12.840 --> 0:54:15.920 Yeah, And there are a couple resources I think for 0:54:16.040 --> 0:54:17.920 people to check out if you're more interested in this. 0:54:18.080 --> 0:54:20.759 I Mean, one question is like, how many people are 0:54:20.840 --> 0:54:22.920 in prison right now who are straight up innocent? And 0:54:23.000 --> 0:54:26.560 the straightforward answer is, we have no idea. And you know, 0:54:26.760 --> 0:54:28.839 as a rule, we just tend to take prisoner's word 0:54:28.920 --> 0:54:30.880 on stuff. I mean, what everyone else does is just 0:54:30.960 --> 0:54:34.160 take the cops word on stuff, frankly, including the news. Oftentimes. 0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:39.120 A big part of what we do is we are 0:54:39.239 --> 0:54:44.880 available to give comment to journalists when possible around certain 0:54:45.680 --> 0:54:51.600 jail and prison disturbances or actions that people in prisoner 0:54:51.719 --> 0:54:54.359 jail have taken to defend themselves against you know, quote 0:54:54.440 --> 0:54:57.760 unquote the law, the people you know, torturing them essentially 0:54:58.680 --> 0:55:01.600 because oftentimes, you know, local news in particular will just 0:55:01.640 --> 0:55:05.520 be straight up stenographers for whatever the police press releases. 0:55:05.600 --> 0:55:08.319 I mean, they'll often also just refer to things as 0:55:08.480 --> 0:55:12.080 riots that are not Like if people sit down and 0:55:12.280 --> 0:55:15.759 like refuse to leave the lunch area or like the 0:55:16.560 --> 0:55:20.239 you know, like the central sitting area, they will refer 0:55:20.360 --> 0:55:22.640 to that as like a riot, even if no one 0:55:22.800 --> 0:55:26.040 is like throwing punches and just to sort. 0:55:25.800 --> 0:55:29.680 Of circle labor. If you refuse to work, you get 0:55:29.760 --> 0:55:34.239 punished for it. It's not necessarily optional, right. It is 0:55:34.400 --> 0:55:39.400 absolutely slavery, not just because of the conditions and because 0:55:39.520 --> 0:55:44.080 of the you know, poor payment basically lack of payment, right, 0:55:44.600 --> 0:55:48.360 but because you are forced to work or you get punished, 0:55:48.800 --> 0:55:51.200 and sometimes it goes on your record that could actually 0:55:51.440 --> 0:55:55.440 impact you for any kind of parole opportunities, et cetera. 0:55:56.000 --> 0:56:01.080 So it is punitive, it is exploitative, and there's nothing 0:56:01.840 --> 0:56:03.160 more than slavery. 0:56:03.719 --> 0:56:07.879 Yeah, to also touch base on, yeah, like the fact 0:56:07.960 --> 0:56:10.319 is it's slavery. I think that's like we and other 0:56:10.680 --> 0:56:13.279 organizers have done a pretty good job. I feel like 0:56:13.560 --> 0:56:16.399 of like getting that fact into the mainstream and being 0:56:16.480 --> 0:56:19.320 like yeah, like this is slavery, like period, end of sentence. 0:56:19.360 --> 0:56:23.920 It is legally and material slavery. And now we're entering 0:56:24.000 --> 0:56:27.399 this process in which states like Colorado, for example, are 0:56:27.480 --> 0:56:29.759 passing laws that's like yeah, so we're just like abolishing 0:56:29.840 --> 0:56:32.359 this slavery thing. And it's like it's like the apparatus 0:56:32.440 --> 0:56:35.319 to deprive people of their rights has not itself been 0:56:35.360 --> 0:56:39.000 disempowered in any way, and so they're just like waving 0:56:39.040 --> 0:56:41.799 a bond over this system of slavery, being like it's 0:56:41.880 --> 0:56:44.920 not now like okay, you know what I mean. So 0:56:45.040 --> 0:56:47.719 like when we demand, you know, abolish the thirteenth, it's 0:56:47.800 --> 0:56:50.040 like that's like kind of a long term, like strategic 0:56:50.520 --> 0:56:54.560 like legal demand, but just because a state, like I 0:56:54.880 --> 0:56:57.120 feel like this is being recuperated into the kind of 0:56:57.239 --> 0:57:01.640 like self congratulatory you know, like like foe civil rights 0:57:01.760 --> 0:57:04.640 like liberalism at this point, because like states are like 0:57:04.719 --> 0:57:07.799 abolishing their version of the thirteenth and then being like cool, 0:57:08.560 --> 0:57:10.560 our work here is done. Oh but you didn't do 0:57:10.640 --> 0:57:15.680 anything actually right, And Colorado in fact still forces people 0:57:15.760 --> 0:57:19.160 to work in their prisons and it is illegal technically, 0:57:19.360 --> 0:57:22.720 but like it ain't quite as illegal as you know, 0:57:23.120 --> 0:57:25.400 it ain't the same type of illegal when the state 0:57:25.520 --> 0:57:27.200 is doing it right, the state is not in fact 0:57:27.240 --> 0:57:30.000 gone by its own laws in practice. Yeah, and I 0:57:30.080 --> 0:57:33.600 mean also juxtaposed like everything that Jigi just said about 0:57:33.680 --> 0:57:37.960 self defense with like the excuses that cops are allowed 0:57:38.000 --> 0:57:41.480 to give when they shoot people out out at random. Right, 0:57:41.680 --> 0:57:44.720 it's like, oh, well, the standard for a human being, 0:57:45.280 --> 0:57:48.440 you know, killing another human being is it has to 0:57:48.520 --> 0:57:51.200 be like in mutual combat, like you have to be 0:57:51.320 --> 0:57:54.720 using proportionate for da da da da da, whereas like 0:57:55.400 --> 0:57:57.200 a cop can just be like well I kind of 0:57:57.280 --> 0:57:59.919 thought that he was holding something or whatever. So yeah, 0:58:00.280 --> 0:58:03.400 and as far as organizing goes, I mean, people, I 0:58:03.520 --> 0:58:06.200 just want to say, people take lots of actions. So 0:58:06.320 --> 0:58:09.760 a lot of the form that our organizing takes is 0:58:09.840 --> 0:58:12.640 like we establish ourselves as a presence. We have our 0:58:12.720 --> 0:58:15.600 incarcerated members. They give us information about what either they 0:58:15.800 --> 0:58:18.040 or other groups of people are doing. Other people on 0:58:18.120 --> 0:58:21.080 the outside know about us. They give us information about 0:58:21.080 --> 0:58:22.920 what's going on in places, and we are kind of 0:58:23.000 --> 0:58:27.160 known as like the prison labor organization that like does 0:58:27.200 --> 0:58:29.800 stuff around us, And there really isn't as far as 0:58:29.840 --> 0:58:32.600 I'm aware, a kind of organization that like does that 0:58:32.760 --> 0:58:37.040 direct support specifically around labor issues anywhere else in the 0:58:37.160 --> 0:58:40.600 United States, again outside of the local level perhaps. So Yeah, 0:58:40.640 --> 0:58:43.280 what we do is we pressure the prisons and jails 0:58:43.320 --> 0:58:47.160 to give into the prisoner's demands. And they're not necessarily 0:58:47.280 --> 0:58:49.600 going to like be like, oh, well, now that we've 0:58:49.600 --> 0:58:51.480 heard from the public, we will do all the demands. 0:58:51.600 --> 0:58:53.080 But like you heard the list of stuff that we 0:58:53.160 --> 0:58:55.640 read off about the Fresno jail, Like that was a 0:58:55.680 --> 0:58:59.280 surprising list of stuff, and they weren't actually striking or anything. 0:58:59.680 --> 0:59:02.120 And so so oftentimes because of the power and balance, 0:59:02.200 --> 0:59:04.000 it does sort of just make more sense for us 0:59:04.040 --> 0:59:08.439 to just pressure the prison directly, regardless of whether there's 0:59:08.480 --> 0:59:11.320 a strike or not. But people do go on strike 0:59:11.400 --> 0:59:13.640 in prison and do work slow downs in prison and 0:59:13.720 --> 0:59:17.000 all that kind of stuff, And it helps to have 0:59:17.200 --> 0:59:21.800 an outside like buffer and like support team and like 0:59:22.440 --> 0:59:25.440 a relational network of support, just like it does with 0:59:25.560 --> 0:59:28.800 other workers, right, Like building that kind of network of 0:59:28.920 --> 0:59:32.760 mutual aid and respect and support is what makes more 0:59:32.880 --> 0:59:36.200 action possible. And so that's what we kind of seek 0:59:36.320 --> 0:59:39.560 to do. And prison solidarity is something that is also 0:59:39.680 --> 0:59:42.400 not one directional. You know, you probably got a sense 0:59:42.480 --> 0:59:45.000 of this, you know, in the snippets with Odra. But 0:59:45.800 --> 0:59:48.160 we learn a lot from our inside numbers. We learn 0:59:48.320 --> 0:59:52.240 life changing lessons from our inside members a lot, and 0:59:52.440 --> 0:59:56.360 they learn from us too. But we always tell new members, 0:59:56.480 --> 0:59:58.280 like especially you know, if they don't have a lot 0:59:58.280 --> 1:00:00.200 of experience with prison or whatever, it's like, do not 1:00:00.280 --> 1:00:03.919 approach this or from like a paternalistic standpoint, Like, yes, 1:00:04.240 --> 1:00:06.000 they have a lot to learn, but so do we, 1:00:06.320 --> 1:00:09.440 And relationships and lessons go both ways. And also like 1:00:09.560 --> 1:00:12.800 prison admins are just incredibly vulnerable to public scrutiny, Like 1:00:12.920 --> 1:00:15.040 we heard how bad things are there, and it's like 1:00:15.400 --> 1:00:18.360 they don't want people knowing this, like they have just 1:00:18.440 --> 1:00:22.440 skated by on like the kind of general Reagan eighties 1:00:22.600 --> 1:00:25.400 vibe of like oh yeah, this is actually part of 1:00:25.480 --> 1:00:28.680 the punishment, like this entire time, and like that is 1:00:28.720 --> 1:00:31.160 still their mindset. It's like, yeah, it's prison isn't supposed 1:00:31.160 --> 1:00:33.120 to be fun. What do you mean we need to 1:00:33.160 --> 1:00:36.480 give people toothpaste? Like that is still like their attitude 1:00:36.520 --> 1:00:39.520 to the tea and we need to intervene in that 1:00:39.560 --> 1:00:42.520 because that's really terrible. Actually, yeah, and you know, this 1:00:42.680 --> 1:00:46.600 is an authoritarian country like straight up for the less 1:00:46.640 --> 1:00:49.240 wealthy half of the population, and this is like a 1:00:49.320 --> 1:00:52.040 huge part of that. And we can't just like not 1:00:52.240 --> 1:00:55.680 challenge the prison system and then do like radical organizing 1:00:55.760 --> 1:00:57.920 of any other kind and be like, yeah, we can 1:00:58.000 --> 1:01:00.480 just ignore this prison thing. It surely will not come 1:01:00.560 --> 1:01:01.720 to eat us at any point. 1:01:02.360 --> 1:01:02.520 Right. 1:01:03.160 --> 1:01:06.400 There's also this kind of myth of like labor as rehabilitation, 1:01:06.560 --> 1:01:08.960 which is just like a you know, kind of calvinist 1:01:09.120 --> 1:01:11.960 sort of you know, humbug. But it's like, you know, 1:01:12.040 --> 1:01:13.760 we've already established that a lot of people in prison 1:01:13.800 --> 1:01:16.400 didn't do anything wrong, but like for those who did, 1:01:16.880 --> 1:01:19.520 like you know, within whatevery mortal framework you're using like 1:01:19.720 --> 1:01:22.520 if you're if you're someone who like goes around causing harm, 1:01:22.840 --> 1:01:25.200 how is like performing labor going to make you not 1:01:25.320 --> 1:01:30.160 that person? It's not. They're just producing surplus value, right, Yeah, 1:01:30.440 --> 1:01:32.919 So that's total bull shit. And uh and it's also 1:01:32.960 --> 1:01:34.480 you know, it's just kind of like this this old 1:01:34.600 --> 1:01:37.880 fashioned eighteen hundreds logic of like coorehouses and shit, you know, 1:01:38.040 --> 1:01:41.720 like make them work, We'll make everything better somehow. And 1:01:42.080 --> 1:01:44.640 as for being sued, like we know that the persons 1:01:44.680 --> 1:01:47.440 hate being sued. The people who really see them the best, 1:01:47.760 --> 1:01:51.040 oftentimes are jail house lawyers, and we know that they 1:01:51.120 --> 1:01:53.080 hate that because like they will straight up try to 1:01:53.120 --> 1:01:55.440 have those people killed. Not only will they try to 1:01:55.480 --> 1:01:57.960 have those people killed, they will try to have any 1:01:58.080 --> 1:01:59.880 kind of prison staff reguard. That like grows a con 1:02:00.360 --> 1:02:01.920 and it's like, yeah, this thing that we did is 1:02:02.000 --> 1:02:04.680 kind of fucked up. Like I can't say with certainty, 1:02:04.800 --> 1:02:08.480 but like those people have died under suspicious circumstances. Just 1:02:08.560 --> 1:02:11.680 to contextualize it, like the prison adminsphere of public scrutiny 1:02:11.840 --> 1:02:15.800 like so much. And whenever we do something like this 1:02:16.040 --> 1:02:19.240 that is like sustained and like strategic and involving a 1:02:19.280 --> 1:02:22.640 lot of participation, which it's unfortunately not always and we 1:02:22.720 --> 1:02:24.160 need to work on that. And that is part of 1:02:24.160 --> 1:02:28.040 building a like staunch support base right is doing these 1:02:28.080 --> 1:02:30.800 distributed actions in a way that is like really sustained, 1:02:31.920 --> 1:02:36.640 so you know, we communicate with specific people and apply 1:02:36.760 --> 1:02:40.240 it pressure to the institution directly without going through any 1:02:40.320 --> 1:02:43.960 kind of like proper channels necessarily which tend to just 1:02:44.200 --> 1:02:50.520 do nothing. But doing this, we have stopped jail house 1:02:50.600 --> 1:02:54.760 lawyers from being killed. We have gotten firefighters at the 1:02:54.920 --> 1:02:59.200 Central California Women's Facility their time credits, which the prison 1:02:59.360 --> 1:03:01.160 was like dragging the feet on giving them to the 1:03:01.280 --> 1:03:03.280 extent that like it was actually going to affect when 1:03:03.320 --> 1:03:06.320 they got out, like they were having like six months 1:03:06.360 --> 1:03:09.640 of time that they like weren't applying like eight months 1:03:10.080 --> 1:03:11.960 from like their current get out time, you know what 1:03:12.000 --> 1:03:16.360 I mean, Jesus. And so we fixed that. We have 1:03:16.440 --> 1:03:19.280 gotten multiple people like real medical care as opposed to 1:03:19.440 --> 1:03:22.520 like fake medical care. There was actually a kitchen strike 1:03:22.600 --> 1:03:25.680 that we didn't we didn't directly support, just because it 1:03:25.800 --> 1:03:28.120 like happened too quickly. Like I just I think I 1:03:28.240 --> 1:03:30.680 gave some like advice, but that was about it. And 1:03:30.840 --> 1:03:33.000 like they just like stopped paying them. Like in california're 1:03:33.000 --> 1:03:34.720 supposed to make like eight cents an hour or whatever, 1:03:35.120 --> 1:03:36.360 and they just were like, we're just not going to 1:03:36.400 --> 1:03:38.920 pay you your eight cents anymore, but eight since an. 1:03:38.880 --> 1:03:40.919 Hour is too expensive for you as a person could 1:03:41.040 --> 1:03:43.919 fuck it off. God, Jesus Christ to hate these people. 1:03:44.480 --> 1:03:47.400 Yeah, I mean this is just the nature of exploitation. Yeah, 1:03:47.440 --> 1:03:49.440 Like they're always just trying to like, oh, we've gotten 1:03:49.480 --> 1:03:52.040 away with a million things. Let's get away with a 1:03:52.080 --> 1:03:54.800 million and month things. Yep, you know, like it's it's 1:03:54.960 --> 1:03:58.520 it's the nature of oppression and exploitation, right, But yeah, 1:03:58.560 --> 1:04:00.240 so they struck and they won back their eighth since 1:04:00.280 --> 1:04:04.000 an hour, and there was a slowdown that you can 1:04:04.080 --> 1:04:07.600 read about in Prison Reports, which is like a movement 1:04:07.680 --> 1:04:11.080 news outlet where people did a slow down. People that 1:04:11.160 --> 1:04:14.280 were producing, like the boxers for other prisoners I believe, 1:04:14.640 --> 1:04:17.440 did a work slow down about two years ago, eighteen 1:04:17.480 --> 1:04:19.920 months ago or so. And this was just to get 1:04:19.960 --> 1:04:22.360 access to the commissary. So like they were making good 1:04:22.480 --> 1:04:26.400 money by like prison standards, but like the commissary closed 1:04:26.640 --> 1:04:29.280 while they were still working, and so they couldn't spend 1:04:29.360 --> 1:04:33.920 their money, oh Jesus, Yeah, and so they did a 1:04:33.960 --> 1:04:37.000 slowdown to like fix that. This was part of California 1:04:37.120 --> 1:04:42.200 Prison Industries Authority, which like is the manufacturer of oftentimes 1:04:42.280 --> 1:04:45.880 first resort for like all kinds of like furniture and 1:04:46.040 --> 1:04:49.480 other supplies for the state of California, including the UC system. 1:04:49.840 --> 1:04:51.880 And this is often the case with other states as well. 1:04:52.400 --> 1:04:55.800 And we also just are disseminating helpful info all the time, 1:04:56.080 --> 1:04:59.000 like with that legal info. It's like if you show 1:04:59.080 --> 1:05:01.320 up with like a bunch of like radical literature and 1:05:01.480 --> 1:05:03.880 like some legal info to like a puncture. People are like, 1:05:03.960 --> 1:05:07.000 why you have legal info befooring as well, but like 1:05:07.200 --> 1:05:08.919 in prison, it's like, yeah, you're gonna find some people 1:05:08.960 --> 1:05:11.360 interested in the radical info and like that stuff. People 1:05:11.400 --> 1:05:13.919 are interested in it too, But like the legal info 1:05:14.120 --> 1:05:16.560 is what people really want because it is more practical. 1:05:16.640 --> 1:05:19.560 It's like, you know, we of course we distribute information 1:05:19.640 --> 1:05:23.800 about the IWW and about solidarity, unionism and and you know, 1:05:23.880 --> 1:05:26.120 feminism and all kinds of other stuff, you know, the 1:05:26.160 --> 1:05:28.680 Black Panthers, you know, the whole nine. But like what 1:05:28.760 --> 1:05:31.480 people really do want, because it's the most practical, is 1:05:31.600 --> 1:05:34.120 like how do I sue the prison? How do I 1:05:34.840 --> 1:05:38.320 legally hack my way out of this beast? And like 1:05:38.520 --> 1:05:40.760 it works, and a lot of our best and like 1:05:41.320 --> 1:05:44.800 brightest outside members who were once inside members, like they 1:05:44.840 --> 1:05:48.120 didn't just wait for their sentence to expire. They like 1:05:48.280 --> 1:05:52.520 had to file grievances and like take every opportunity to 1:05:52.720 --> 1:05:55.360 like be the prison's worst op to the point that 1:05:55.440 --> 1:05:57.800 the prison was just like just the fuck out already, 1:05:57.960 --> 1:05:59.080 like enough of this person. 1:05:59.560 --> 1:06:02.960 Yeah, so yeah, that's most of what I got how 1:06:03.000 --> 1:06:05.680 can people support y'all and get involved more. 1:06:06.080 --> 1:06:09.040 So, definitely, folk should visit us at incorsulative workers dot 1:06:09.280 --> 1:06:12.320 org and we will provide those links, and definitely sign 1:06:12.400 --> 1:06:16.360 up for our newswatter where we give some updates on 1:06:16.840 --> 1:06:20.120 what's happening inside in a safe way to protect our 1:06:20.200 --> 1:06:24.360 members inside and their organizing work, but also hear about 1:06:24.520 --> 1:06:28.120 you know, work happening across the country and across the 1:06:28.160 --> 1:06:28.720 world as well. 1:06:29.240 --> 1:06:31.760 I would also, I guess just add that we really 1:06:31.800 --> 1:06:36.400 want labor union nets and healthcare workers and lawyers and 1:06:36.520 --> 1:06:41.640 law students and researchers to plug into our website because 1:06:41.760 --> 1:06:44.640 there are spaces just and reporters and journalists, I should 1:06:44.680 --> 1:06:46.920 say as well, to plug into our website because there 1:06:46.920 --> 1:06:49.440 are spaces for just them. That doesn't mean that we 1:06:49.480 --> 1:06:53.120 don't want other people signing up too, but those professions 1:06:53.160 --> 1:06:57.320 I think, in particular, you know and educators also have 1:06:57.400 --> 1:06:59.880 a lot of impact and like a lot of relationship 1:07:00.520 --> 1:07:03.240 direct and indirect to the system that we want to 1:07:03.320 --> 1:07:07.800 kind of zero in on and do something with. And 1:07:08.000 --> 1:07:11.320 the website elaborates on that. If you're addicted to Instagram, 1:07:11.800 --> 1:07:14.720 you can follow us there at Incarcetrated Workers and also 1:07:14.920 --> 1:07:18.720 at thea underscore Iwalk or California. But if you're not, 1:07:19.160 --> 1:07:21.800 then good for you, and instead you should sign up 1:07:21.800 --> 1:07:22.880 to our email newsletter. 1:07:24.200 --> 1:07:25.520 Yeah. I will leave it at that. 1:07:26.240 --> 1:07:30.080 In sure, let's burn it down amazing. 1:07:31.160 --> 1:07:34.400 Now, before we go, I want to mention something extremely 1:07:34.440 --> 1:07:37.400 important that we'll be covering in more detail in a 1:07:37.520 --> 1:07:41.800 later episode, which is the planned twenty twenty seven National 1:07:41.920 --> 1:07:45.360 Prisoners Human Rights Strike plan to run from May Day 1:07:45.400 --> 1:07:49.120 to juneteenth and twenty twenty seven. We're going to talk 1:07:49.320 --> 1:07:52.040 more about this in a later episode and get more 1:07:52.080 --> 1:07:54.520 of the history of the twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen 1:07:54.640 --> 1:07:59.200 prisoner strikes that I walk and jail House Lawyers Speak, 1:07:59.240 --> 1:08:01.600 who we're going to be reading a statement from in 1:08:01.680 --> 1:08:04.560 a second we're involved in. But for now, I'm going 1:08:04.640 --> 1:08:07.600 to close this episode by quoting the statement released by 1:08:07.720 --> 1:08:12.800 Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, why we strike. A political storm is 1:08:12.840 --> 1:08:15.840 sweeping through many prisons across the nation, as the prison 1:08:15.960 --> 1:08:20.439 class plainly see the hidden mechanisms of a system designed 1:08:20.479 --> 1:08:24.640 to dehumanize the imprisoned population. For too long, many of 1:08:24.760 --> 1:08:27.280 us were kept in the dark about the machinery behind 1:08:27.320 --> 1:08:32.160 our confinement. How law enforcement district attorneys politicians and judges 1:08:32.960 --> 1:08:36.679 win elections on platforms of mass imprisonment and how private 1:08:36.760 --> 1:08:40.640 interests and rural economies profit off our bed counts. Our 1:08:40.720 --> 1:08:44.519 captive bodies are weaponized through prison based gerrymandering, where our 1:08:44.600 --> 1:08:47.080 numbers are used to swell the political power and draw 1:08:47.200 --> 1:08:50.840 federal funding into rural districts, all while stripping us of 1:08:50.920 --> 1:08:56.479 any voter representation. Through these exceptional clauses, the prison class 1:08:56.560 --> 1:09:01.200 is relegated to conditional citizenship, a status where constitutional rights 1:09:01.240 --> 1:09:04.400 are granted at the pleasure of the state. When officials 1:09:04.439 --> 1:09:08.360 can openly discuss transferring imprisoned citizens to foreign prisons without 1:09:08.439 --> 1:09:12.639 constitutional barrier, it is because these exception clauses have already 1:09:12.720 --> 1:09:16.520 stripped the prison class of the full protections of citizenship. 1:09:16.960 --> 1:09:21.320 Behind the razors, this legal disenfranchisement is paired with the 1:09:21.400 --> 1:09:26.360 reality of living in unventilated, boiling cells during climate extremes, 1:09:27.120 --> 1:09:32.400 enduring endless so called staffing shortage lockdowns ordered by prison crats, 1:09:33.240 --> 1:09:37.160 washing militarized roundups and ice attention centers, and seeing poor 1:09:37.200 --> 1:09:40.200 people funneled into plea deals simply because they cannot afford 1:09:40.320 --> 1:09:44.160 cash bail or paid legal defense. The traffic extends beyond 1:09:44.200 --> 1:09:47.640 the walls. Thousands on thousands of people in prison who 1:09:47.720 --> 1:09:50.880 meet the basic parole requirements are repeatedly denied parole by 1:09:51.000 --> 1:09:55.320 arbitrary boards citing quote the nature of the original crime 1:09:55.640 --> 1:09:59.320 end quote, a static reason that never changes, solely to 1:09:59.439 --> 1:10:03.960 maintain prison bed quotas even upon release. The karstural state 1:10:04.040 --> 1:10:09.679 traps formerly imprisoned people under supervision, debt, electronic surveillance inco monitors, 1:10:09.960 --> 1:10:12.640 and restricted probation and parole systems that serve as a 1:10:12.720 --> 1:10:16.800 revolving door back to a cell the core demands. While 1:10:16.800 --> 1:10:20.599 the full ten national demands remain active, strike organizers across 1:10:20.680 --> 1:10:24.920 committed states are focusing on three core demands. One and 1:10:25.240 --> 1:10:29.599 legalized slavery. Repeal the exception clause at a thirteenth Amendment 1:10:29.640 --> 1:10:32.680 to the US Constitution. This is the cause that last. 1:10:32.720 --> 1:10:37.639 Slavery is punishment in prisons. Two Restore voting rights. Repeal 1:10:37.760 --> 1:10:41.960 exception clauses such as Section two of the fourteenth Amendment 1:10:42.080 --> 1:10:45.760 that striped voting rights from confined citizens, pre trial detainees, 1:10:45.920 --> 1:10:51.240 and former felons. Three free all the political prisoners in 1:10:51.320 --> 1:10:56.000 the US prisons. Thank you all both for doing this 1:10:56.160 --> 1:10:59.080 work and for fighting this fight, and for being on 1:10:59.200 --> 1:11:01.200 the show, and I hope we all go out into 1:11:01.240 --> 1:11:03.840 the world and fight for workers everywhere, wherever they may. 1:11:03.800 --> 1:11:05.240 Be, and then fought. 1:11:08.720 --> 1:11:11.200 It Could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media. 1:11:11.400 --> 1:11:14.400 For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 1:11:14.520 --> 1:11:18.040 coolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 1:11:18.160 --> 1:11:21.720 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 1:11:21.800 --> 1:11:24.080 now find sources for it Could Happen Here, listed directly 1:11:24.160 --> 1:11:26.400 in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.