History

352 | Crisis and Neglect

The U.S. was shaken this week by the death of Lashawn Thompson in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail.  He had been moved to the psychiatric ward after being jailed on a simple battery charge.  Physically healthy when he was arrested, he was left in a cell infested with bed bugs and other vermin.  Michael Harper, an…

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349 | The Origins of Cop City, Part Three

This week we continue sharing a panel hosted by Haymarket Books on the abolitionist struggle to stop Cop City.  In this section, we hear Hugh Farrell in conversation with Sarah Haley, a leading historian of Black feminism in the South, organizer Kwame Olufemi of Community Movement Builders, and journalist Micah Herskind. Haley roots contemporary resistance to…

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343 | Policing Sex

This we continue our conversation between Micol Seigel and Anne Gray Fischer about her recent book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification, an account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of police power. [ Here are our previous episodes ] with Anne…

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341 | Rikers is Deadlier Than Ever

Today’s episode highlights the campaign to close Rikers jail in New York and continues our conversation with Anne Gray Fischer about the intertwined stories of policing, the surveillance of women’s bodies, and the creation of the racialized American ghetto.  Both Sy, an organizer against Rikers, and Gray Fischer, extend the histories of control and racial…

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338 | Sex Work at the Birth of the Ghetto

We are pleased to continue sharing a conversation between Micol Seigel and Anne Gray Fischer. Fischer’s powerful book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification, was published in 2022, and is an account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of police power.  In this…

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337 | Policing Womens’ Bodies

We are pleased to share the first part of an interview between Anne Gray Fischer and Micol Siegel.  Fischer’s powerful first book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification, was published earlier in 2022, and is an account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of…

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336 | In Memory of Russell Maroon Shoatz

December 17th marked two years since the passing of Russell Maroon Shoatz. He was a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a soldier in the Black Liberation Army. After twice escaping from prison, and twice being recaptured, Shoatz was held in solitary confinement for more…

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311 | The Old Atlanta Prison Farm

This week on Kite Line, we return to Atlanta’s proposed “Cop City”- a police training facility set to be built over a vast urban forest. People from across the city and the country have been organizing against its construction, which would make it the largest police training facility in the United States.  People have been…

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310 | No Reforming Them- Jarrod Shanahan on Rikers Island

This week, we share the final part of a conversation about Rikers Island between Bella Bravo and Jarrod Shanahan. Shanahan is a writer, activist, and professor of Criminal Justice based in Chicago. He has previously appeared on Kite Line to discuss mass incarceration and the George Floyd rebellion. We are speaking again today about his…

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309 | Captives with Jarrod Shanahan, Part One

This week, Bella Bravo speaks with Jarrod Shanahan, a writer, activist, and professor of Criminal Justice based in Chicago. Shanahan has been on previous episodes, discussing mass incarceration and the George Floyd rebellion. We are speaking today about his new book Captives: How Rikers Island Took New York City Hostage. Captives recounts the last seventy years of…

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