Michigan's Kinross Prison Strike: Reflections from Inside (w/ Fred Williams)

Rustbelt Abolition Radio

'Michigan's Kinross Prison Strike: Reflections from Inside' is an exclusive archive of audio interviews with people currently incarcerated in Michigan who witnessed and lived through the historic September 2016 prison strike. In this segment we hear the voice of Fred Williams. Fred Williams is a poet, emancipatory educator and abolitionist correspondent imprisoned at Michigan's Kinross Correctional Facility. His dispatch covers the poor systemic conditions that those inside face at the hands of the Michigan Department of Corrections, and particularly in the newly re-opened and renamed Kinross prison. Last September, increasing frustration led to a work stoppage and then a spontaneous march, when the facility declined to provide full meals in the face of the stoppage. Fred describes how the administrative staff told strikers that "some of your demands can only be granted by suits in Lansing," before housing unit officers fled their posts for the control center and the emergency response team entered the grounds with live ammunition. You can hear more voices from this report on our feed or by visiting www.michiganabolition.org. This collection of interviews was produced by Rustbelt Abolition Radio with the help of MAPS: Michigan Abolition & Prisoner Solidarity. Original music by Bad Infinity.