Hi there,

The job of a journalist is to go to where the silence is — especially when those in power seek to silence voices that question or challenge power. That is what we do at Democracy Now! day in and day out, and we're able to do it because of financial support from people like you — people who trust and depend on our independent reporting. If you believe that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, please donate today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Critical Resistance — Prison Reform

Listen
Media Options
Listen

This weekend a major conference took place at the University of California, Berkeley. It was called Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison-Industrial Complex. One of its chief organizers was Angela Davis. Jailed as a Black Panther in the 1970’s, prison issues have long been her major focus.

The movement for prison reform is growing. Several months ago, a similar conference was held in Boulder, Colorado. While hundreds were expected, 2000 people attended the rally.

On April 2, 1994, Bill Tate learned that his son Preston had been killed. First he was told another prisoner had shot Preston. He then learned it was a guard.

Guests:

  • Bill Tate, son killed by prison guards.
  • Asha Bendele, poet, author of the upcoming book, The Prisoner’s Wife.
  • Angela Davis, Professor, History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz, a former member of the Black Panther Party and one of the organizers of the Critical Resistance conference.

Related Story

StoryMay 16, 2025“They Want to Silence Me”: Columbia Student Mohsen Mahdawi on ICE Jail, Palestine, Activism, Buddhism
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top