Category Archives: COVID-19

Author, Colonialism, COVID-19, Feminism, gender, Health, Misogyny, Neurodiversity, Parenting, Prisons, Race, Racism, Sexism, Solitary Confinement

Reclaiming Our Power: Aishah Shahidah Simmons on her work and anthology, Love WITH Accountability

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This week I am very excited to present an interview done with Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who is a writer, community organizer, prison abolitionist, and cultural worker who has done just an immense amount of work over the years to help disrupt and end the patterns of sexual abuse and assault within marginalized communities. In this interview we talk about a lot of things, her background and how she came to be doing the work she’s doing right now, how better to think about concepts like ‘accountability’, what doing this work has been like for her as an out lesbian woman, and about her book “Love WITH Accountability, Digging Up the Roots of Childhood Sexual Abuse” which was published in 2019 from AK Press.

This interview feels very important for me right now, because we are in a time of overturn, tumult, stress, and uncertainty, and I think that in order for us to really be able to knuckle down and go in this for the long haul it’ll be imperative for our radical communities to take solid care of ourselves and of each other. I hope you get as much out of hearing Aishah’s words as I did conducting and editing this interview.

Before we get started, as a content notice: we will be talking about some difficult topics in this interview. I will do my best to repeat this notice at regular intervals, but please do take care and treat yourself kindly (however that looks).

If you are interested in seeing more work from Aishah, visit our blogpost or scroll down to the show notes! We will post all the links in those places.

If you are interested in reading her book, Love WITH Accountability, AK Press is doing a limited time sale on all their books on their website. Visit akpress.org for more info.

To help support community bookstores at this time of greater economic precarity for such places, consider visiting our affiliates Firestorm Books, who are currently doing online sales from their brick and mortar location. More about how to order at firestorm.coop!

To keep up with Aishah, for updates on future projects and more:

@lovewithaccountability Instagram

@afrolez on Twitter

Love WITH Accountability FaceBook page

Aishah Shahidah Simmons Cultural Worker FaceBook page

To support our guest, in a time where much if not all of her income is in peril:

PayPal: to Afro Lez Productions

Venmo: @afrolez

Some more ways you can see our guest’s past work:

NO! The Rape Documentary, streaming for $1 on her website

Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from within the Anti-Violence Movement book that she is in.

No Name Book Club where Love WITH Accountability was picked as one of the books for March.

https://lovewithaccountability.com

And so many more links on her website!

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Music for this show by:

Philip Glass – Metamorphosis 1 (mixing by William)

Clutchy Hopkins – LAUGHING JOCKEY – Story Teller 2012

COVID-19, Health, North Carolina, Prisons

Being Out Here For The Prisoners in NC / Mesh Networks

Being Out Here For The Prisoners in NC / Mesh Networks

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This week we feature two portions to this podcast bonus, two abolitionists in North Carolina talk about detention issues during and after Covid-19. Then Grant Gallo of Sudo Mesh talks about community mesh data networks and alternative infrastructure for autonomy.

For a radio edition of this prison conversation for broadcast, reach out to us at our email. Our main broadcasting segment for this week is an interview William did with Aishah Shahidah Simmons, the editor of love WITH accountability: Digging up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse (AK Press, 2019) which will be available soon for download by participating stations and in our podcast stream.

Incarceration in NC

First we’ll hear from two prison activists based in the Durham and Asheville, North Carolina about critical situations around incarceration in this state including but not limited to the Covid-19 outbreak. Jules is a member of Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross, a local abolitionist group that works around popular education around incarceration and anti-repression for movement work.  Katie is an anarchist legal and anti-prison activist.

NLG Guide To Your Rights During Covid-19 Pandemic.

Covid-19 Prison zine by BRABC

Regional groups working on this to keep an eye on include:

Peer-To-Peer Internet Infrastructure

After that, you’ll hear Grant Gallow from Sudo Mesh talk about Peoples Open Network and Disaster Radio. We’ll hear about collaborative, community mesh network projects as peer-to-peer internet in general and about the idea behind Disaster Radio, a minimalist digital messaging system in case the cellphone, landline or power grid goes down in a dire circumstances. You can find out more at the website, disaster.radio

NC Prison Phone Zaps

Statewide: https://brabc.blackblogs.org/2020/03/22/phone-zap-for-north-carolina-prisoners/

Durham County Jail: https://twitter.com/NCResists/status/1242938703871442947?s=20

Various Other Prison Phone Zaps By Region of so-called US

The following is an incomplete list. Stay tuned to ItsGoingDown.org for a more up-to-date and comprehensive listing of ongoing phone zaps and campaigns

Announcements

BRABC Remote Film Night

From the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/503825183570471/

Join us for a film screening and discussion of the short documentary film “Condemned,” which tells the story of Bomani Shakur (or Keith Lamar) who is on death row for five murders he did not commit or play any part in during the 1993 Lucasville Prison uprising.

Bomani was recently scheduled for execution in November, 2023. His many advocates and loved ones called for a month of action in April to publicize the biased legal process that led to Bomani’s conviction, involving gross prosecutorial misconduct including failure to provide exculpatory evidence during discovery as required by law.

** A link will be posted in the facebook event on the day of the screening that people can click to join at the event start time! **

After the film we’ll hold a discussion including how people can support Bomani in continuing to fight for his life.

For more information about Bomani and his case:
– https://www.keithlamar.org/condemned
– https://www.revolutionaryabolition.org/news/month-of-action-for-bomani/

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playlist

activism, Anarchist, Bail Funds, Capitalism, Colonialism, COVID-19, Health, IWOC, Prisons

COVID-19 and the Prison System: 5 Voices from the Front Lines of Resistance

COVID-19 and the Prison System: 5 Voices from the Front Lines of Resistance

Download Episode Here

Today we have a show about COVID-19, specifically how the pandemic is being handled in prisons and detention. This show includes a lot of voices, and we structured it that way in order to both include as many perspectives as we could and also to take some of the expectation that interviewees speak to us for an extended period; everyone who is working on this is very busy and we wanted to respect that.

In this show you’ll hear from:

– Rebekah Entralgo who works with the non profit Freedom for Immigrants,

– Finn, a healthcare worker and member of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADR) working in an outbreak epicenter here in North Carolina,

– Elijah Prioleau who is incarcerated at Waupun Correctional in Wisconsin, where there is a COVID-19 outbreak and they are currently on lockdown,

– and JM and Nikkita of (among other groups) COVID-19 Mutual Aid in Seattle, which is at the outbreak epicenter in the Pacific Northwest.

Because I couldn’t include everything that each person said in full, and frankly that was the hardest part about editing, I’m making a page on our collection at archive.org which will include each interview in full. Just give me until tomorrow to get that up, cause my eyes are starting to cross from all the radio related screen time!

Many thanks go out to everyone who was interviewed, and a special thanks to Ben Turk and the folks at Forum for Understanding Prisons who passed along his phone call with Elijah. More about them, their updates, and lists of demands can be seen at prisonforum.org

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To write to Elijah at Waupun Correctional, address letters to:

 

Leon Elijah Prioleau 420053

Waupun Correctional Institution

PO Box 531

Waupun, WI 53963-0351

To get plugged into mutual aid efforts in Asheville, you can follow the Asheville Survival Project on Facebook, and if you are interested in donating to these efforts in our town the venmo is @AVLsurvival.

List of people and projects that I’m aware of who are boosting prisoner’s voices right now:

Kite Line Radio, which has a Coronavirus call in line for people who are both impacted by incarceration and by Coronavirus, that is 765-343-6236

Rustbelt Abolition Radio, which is amplifying the voices of incarcerated people always.

Forum for Understanding Prisons where you can go to prisonforum.org for up to date information and their list of demands.

Fight Toxic Prisons (FTP)

IWOC (Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee), literally all chapters

FTP and IWOC are making a Prison Support Hotline for COVID-19, to donate go here!!

List of people and projects that I’m aware of calling for immediate end to ICE detention:

Freedom For Immigrants

The TransLatin@ Coalition

Plus many others!

Links from our guests:

Freedom For Immigrants:

https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/

For accurate health related news:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

World Health Organization

To support Elijah in Waupum Correctional:

look for updates on http://www.prisonforum.org/

Seattle:

@covid19mutualaid ON INSTAGRAM

COVID-19 Mutual Aid on Facebook

Fundraiser for people who cannot access state resources in Seattle

PARISOL

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Music for this episode in order of appearance:

Y’all Ain’t Ready – J Dilla – 2005 Welcome 2 Detroit Instrumental

Lataa – Kid Jha – Kalevala

Welcome 2 Detroit – J Dilla – 2005 Welcome 2 Detroit Instrumental

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