RATTLING THE BARS
Rattling the Bars, hosted by former Black Panther and political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, puts the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it.
Rattling the Bars offers an honest look at the lives of prisoners, returning citizens, their families, and their communities. With Rattling the Bars, by presenting hard data and real-life stories, we examine and seek to shift public opinion around the misconception that incarceration, punishment, and increased policing make cities safer—the truth of which has been disproven by countless studies. The series examines the history and root causes of the current so-called justice system. It showcases individuals and communities nationwide who are grappling with real solutions to problems created by the prison-industrial complex.
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Black mass incarceration in the so-called Free State
Maryland holds itself up as a progressive state when it comes to criminal justice, but a recent report highlights a stark reality: Maryland incarcerates Black people at more than twice the national rate.
Recent episodes
The government murdered Fred Hampton. Will it ever be held accountable?
The individuals responsible for the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark have passed away, but the government apparatus designed to persecute dissenters, from the Black Panther Party to water protectors at Standing Rock, is still intact.
Charlie Cobb: ‘Protest is necessary… but it is not sufficient.’
Forty years ago, longtime civil rights activist and journalist Charlie Cobb spoke to prisoners at the Maryland Penitentiary as part of the “To Say Their Own Words” program. Four decades later, Eddie Conway speaks with Cobb about the news industry, internationalism, and how the world has changed since 1980.
‘Bring Sundiata home’: The case for freeing elderly political prisoners
Sundiata Acoli has been locked up for 48 years. At 84 years old, and after contracting COVID-19 in prison, Acoli’s health is suffering—and a coalition of friends, family, and faith leaders are calling for him to be released before it’s too late.
To Say Their Own Words
Eddie Conway reconnects with thinkers and scholars from the 1980 “To Say Their Own Words” series he helped organize at Maryland Penitentiary, and discusses how their predictions about surveillance, the prison-industrial complex, and impending U.S. fascism resonate today.
Refusing to vaccinate prisoners is both cruel and dangerous
Prisons and jails are hotbeds of coronavirus contagion—for incarcerated people and staff, but also for the wider community. Prioritizing them for vaccinations is a humanitarian and public health necessity.
MLK Day 2021: The monsters are here, but the movement lives on
Reclaiming the radical legacy of MLK and the unknown millions who made the civil rights movement is a constant struggle. Now, more than ever, we must take up that struggle and carry on that legacy.
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