Peter B. Collins Presents Dan Berger
America is #1 in incarceration, and many people aren’t aware of the political prisoners in our penal system. Berger’s new book is a concise overview of groups and individuals who have been convicted and sentenced for life or lengthy terms. We discuss Mumia Abu-Jamal and members of the Black Liberation Army and Black Panthers, Puerto Rican independence activists, Native Americans including Leonard Peltier, and the new generation of political prisoners since 9/11. We refer to this letter from Texas death row inmate Ray Jasper, who is next in line to be executed, and personalizes the disproportionate conviction rate and sentences for African Americans. At the end of the show, you’ll hear an archived message from Leonard Peltier set to a song by Robbie Robertson.
*Dan Berger is an assistant professor of comparative ethnic studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington at Bothell. His work focuses on race, prisons, and social movements in U.S. life and history. His new book is The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States (PM Press) and his website is www.danberger.org
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