Today, in honor of Black History Month, we remember Flo Kennedy, who was born on this date February 11, 1916, in Kansas City, Missouri. Kennedy was a lawyer, feminist and civil-rights activist. As a lawyer, she represented Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Assata Shakur, H. Rap Brown, and Valerie Solanas (for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol). In 1972 she formed the Feminist Party and filed an Internal Revenue Service complaint alleging that the Catholic Church violates tax-exempt requirements by spending money to influence political decisions. "I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady . . . & a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me."
She grew up at a time when the KKK was quite active in Kansas City. She remembered her father had to have a shotgun to keep them safe. "My parents gave us a fantastic sense of security and worth. By the time the bigots got around to telling us that we were nobody, we already knew we were somebody." As a young woman, she moved to Harlem and enrolled at Columbia. She was refused admission to their law school because she “was a woman.” She knew it was because she was black. So, she threatened to sue them and they admitted her. She was the only black person among the eight women in her class.
As an activist, she once said, "we have a pathologically, institutionally racist, sexist, classist society. And that niggerizing techniques that are used don't only damage black people, but they also damage women, gay people, ex-prison inmates, prostitutes, children, old people, handicapped people, native Americans. And that if we can begin to analyze the pathology of oppression… we would learn a lot about how to deal with it." As early as 1966, she was picketing and lobbying the media over their portrayal of Black people. She played a prominent role in the protest against the 1968 Miss America Pageant. After the Attica prison uprising, she said, “We do not support Attica. We ARE Attica.” She also participated in the 1973 protests at Harvard over the lack of women’s bathrooms. When asked why she participated in the pouring of urine on the steps of Lower Hall, she said, “I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady with a fused spine and three feet of intestines missing and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me.
In addition to her activism and legal work, Kennedy also acted in the films “The Landlord” (1970), adapted from Kristin Hunter's 1966 novel, and the independent political drama “Born In Flames” (1983), directed by Lizzie Borden. She also acted in “Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow” alongside Morgan Freeman.
Flo Kennedy, c1972, wearing a leather cowboy hat and vest, and a t-shirt that says “bullshit” while flipping the middle finger and smiling at the camera. By http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/files/images/kennedy.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36268845
The backlog in Courts is a major cause of over-crowding in prison(s), with a large proportion of prisoners on remand; that is, as yet not convicted of any crime.
You'll be unsurprised this has a gendered dimension; women are more likely to be on remand for non-violent crimes than men are.
The crisis in our justice system is multi-faceted, but hopefully James Timpson continues to work quietly to resolve these issues, even if much is outside his remit!
In an eerie deja-vu from 1981, Iranian media posting interview with captured rioters on TV and social media.
During the height of the civil war between supporters of BaniSadr/Rajavi and Khomeini that led to over 70k deaths, they used to broadcast such videos every night.
When I was in Evin prison in winter of 81, met some of them before they were executed.
These brings back the nightmares of my teenage times in IRI prison.
Interview with the 27 year old young woman who was recorded to bee walking around with a machete in the city of Sushtar in Khuzestan province before they attacked and killed several pro-government people and security forces.
she is supposedly admitted to "stripping a 17 year old by and setting him on fire" during the "interview".
Today in Labor History January 17, 1915: Lucy Parsons, anarchist and IWW cofounder, organized and led a hunger march of 1,500 people in Chicago. They carried banners saying, “We want work, not charity,” and “We refuse to starve!” Police attacked them with clubs and shot at them. Amazingly, no one was killed. They also arrested 15, including Parsons, for marching without a permit.
Photo of Lucy Parsons with the following quote: Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with a revolver or a knife, and lay in wait on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot the owners as they come out. Let us kill them without mercy, and let it be a war of extermination.
En prison, Sarkozy a appris à se servir d'un téléphone... (je vous jure que j'ai vraiment cru que cette version était un gag mais c'est le BAT de son bouquin)
Extrait du Journal d'un prisonnier, de Sarkozy:
Un téléphone était installé dans ma cellule
comme dans celle des autres détenus. II s’agis-
sait d'un poste fixe. Je devais me tenir debout
pour utiliser car il était fixé au mur a hauteur
d’homme. Son utilisation n’était guére aisée.
Personne n’avait la possibilité de m’appeler.
Je pouvais le faire, mais uniquement pour des
numéros qui avaient été préalablement enregis-
trés et agréés par 'administration pénitentiaire.
II convenait ensuite de composer pas moins de
dix chiffres qui constituaient autant de codes
nécessaires pour obtenir la ligne permettant enfin
d’atteindre le correspondant désiré. Un véritable
parcours du combattant.
Prominent Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti has been brutally assaulted by Israeli prison guards, according to information relayed to his family. It was reported that part of Barghouti’s ear had been cut off, and that his ribs, fingers & teeth broken during repeated rounds of beatings.
If you work at a federal prison and know about wrongdoing, we want to hear from you.
We’re especially interested in tips about the priorities of the Bureau of Prisons’ leadership, contracting and budget decisions, concerns about wrongdoing or abuses of power, and any info you can share to paint a fuller picture of what’s going on inside the bureau. https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/bop-bureau-prisons
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, with a judge claiming he was intent on escaping just days before he was set to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a #coup attempt.
The 70-yr-old politician was taken to the HQ of the country’s federal police in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest.
The exodus of corrections officers from federal prisons to ICE comes amid shortages of critical supplies, from food to personal hygiene items, for both staff and inmates.
Today in Labor History November 19, 1915: Joe Hill, IWW organizer and song writer was executed by a Utah firing squad after being convicted of murder on trumped-up charges. His final message from prison was “Don’t mourn, Organize!” His ashes were supposedly sprinkled in every state of the union, except Utah, because he had said, "I don't want to be found dead in Utah." They were also sprinkled in Canada, Sweden, Australia and Canada. Some of his most famous songs were “The Preacher and the Slave,” “The Rebel Girl,” “There is Power in a Union,” “Casey Jones, the Union Scab,” and “Mr. Block.” In 1988, an envelope containing his remaining ashes was discovered.
Linocut print (1979) depicting Joe Hill, by famed IWW artist Carlos Cortez. His story is told in brief at the top of the poster, alongside the address of the IWW. He holds a paper reading 'If we workers take a notion, we can stop all speeding trains, every ship upon the ocean, we can tie with mighty chains, every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill, fleets and armies of all nations well at our command stand still'.
Today in Labor History November 11, 1919: Armed "patriots" from the American Legion attacked and destroyed the IWW labor hall in Centralia, Washington, killing five. They then kidnapped, tortured, castrated and lynched Wesley Everest, a WWI veteran and an IWW organizer. No one was ever prosecuted for Everest’s murder, but 6 Wobblies (IWW members) were convicted of killing an American Legion and spent the next 15 years in prison, as a result.
Mural depicting Westley Everest and the Centralia Massacre, in Centralia, Washington. The mural shows Everest rising from his grave, surrounded by items that reference the Industrial Workers of the World.
Il a osé le dire: "La prison "c'est dur, c'est éreintant", a confié Sarkozy aux juges de la cour d'appel de Paris qui examinent sa demande de remise en liberté. L'ex-président décrit un quotidien "répétitif, morne et difficile", tandis que son avocat insiste sur la "grande souffrance et la grande douleur" de cette incarcération, décrivant "un cauchemar insupportable". Et Sarko qui défendait le tout carcéral quand il était au pouvoir...
"Look at the immense joy and overwhelming happiness of my nephew and his entire family when they were finally reunited after two long years of him suffering, being tortured, and beaten in the occupation’s prisons. Words cannot describe the deep happiness and relief I feel seeing them together again 😀❤️❤️🙏"
Today in Labor History October 3, 1981: A hunger strike by Irish nationalists at Maze Prison in Belfast, over deplorable conditions, was called off after seven months and ten deaths. Striking prisoner Bobby Sands, who was elected to parliament from his jail cell during the hunger strike, eventually died from his protest.
A memorial mural to Sands along Falls Road, Belfast. He has long hair and is smiling, in a red sweater. Reads: Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular role to play. ...Our revenge will be the laughter of our children. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=540784
#fensterfreitag#windowfriday No, this isn't a romantic window of a holiday cottage, but the window of a prison cell in the "Gevangenpoort (prison gate)," a medieval prison in The Hague. Since 1882, the building has been a museum about the history of the building and the prison system. The cell shown here was for the wealthy and the nobility. For the common people, there were small, dark, windowless cells in the basement, sometimes holding as many as 15 men. But food there was free. If you had (payed for) such a beautiful cell with a window and a view, you had to have your own food brought to you. You could also bring your own furniture and servants! Today, all kinds of torture instruments are displayed in this room. That lovely wood-burning stove was used to heat branding irons! #photography#history#fotografie#fediverse#prison#historic#denhaag#thenetherlands#nederland#museum
Photo of a corner of a room, with a white plastered wall on the left containing an open window. The window is split into two sections that open inward. These two windows have red-painted wooden frames and stained glass panes. The windows themselves have crosswise iron round mullions. The light shines into the room. On the right, part of an iron wood-burning stove is visible.
Sarkozy va aller en prison, même en cas d'appel de sa part. Le tribunal lui a quand même évité le mandat de dépôt immédiat, qui l'aurait envoyé en taule juste après l'audience. Il va pouvoir faire des au-revoir déchirants à Carlita et ses enfants. L'intermédiaire Alexandre Djouhri, condamné à 6 ans de prison, n'a pas eu droit à tant d'égards. Comme dit la droite, Nicolas va payer...
During the birdsite's heyday, it was a place where we engaged with other people who cared about sending #books to incarcerated #readers. We followed and retweeted #prison book programs in the US, Canada, UK, and France. We also chatted with many of our volunteers and supporters.
We love Mastodon, but are finding it a bit lonely. We would love to follow other groups that send books to people in #prisons. Does anyone have recommendations for whom we should follow?
Three times a year, 30 people at the Missouri prison where Jeshua Noel is incarcerated are chosen for what's known as a family restoration visit — a chance to wear your own clothes, eat food brought in by loved ones, and take a walk or play games with them. Only those who've met certain behavioral criteria are eligible, and then it's luck of the draw. This year, Jeshua was lucky. He describes what it was like. "It was beautiful to see my mother, grandmother and wife outside, to show them my temporary home. But I’m angry that reconnection is a controlled reward in prison, held just out of reach like bait."
We all build our own prison ...
https://anonsys.net/photo/20745695596900f85b423e2743739897-1.png ...