Hosts: Monica Trinidad & Page May
Guest: Victoria Law
Date: 11/27/2017
Length: 55:10 

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Episode 35: Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women with author Victoria Law

Did you know that the first mass clemency won in 1990 for 25 domestic violence survivors incarcerated for self-defense happened because of incarcerated women organizing themselves on the inside? Or did you know that in the 1970's, a California women's prison cancelled a Christmas visit with incarcerated women & their children with no explanation. The women then broke windows, dragged Christmas trees outside into the yard,   set them on fire, and refused to go back inside in protest! Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women provides much-needed documentation of collective organizing and the daily struggles inside women's prisons. We sat down with the author of this book, Victoria Law, and discussed her process in compiling these important, hidden stories of resistance and survival of incarcerated women in the U.S. ​

Key Questions: 

1. What patterns of resistance & specific stories of struggle are documented in this book?
   
2. What is clemency? What is a pardon?
   
3. How did prison systems respond to organized resistance inside prisons?
   
4. How did people organize and resist within solitary confinement?
   
5. What does this book suggest for organizers, either inside or outside, on how we can work together and support each other?