Remember and Resist – Day of Remembrance
Not Yo’ Butterfly – Nobuko Miyamoto
Nobuko Miyamoto is an activist, music and dance artist, who found her political and artistic voice in the Asian American movement. As a child, she and her parents were incarcerated in the internment camps. Later, she performed on Broadway and has since produced many creative works. Over the past few decades, Miyamoto has been facilitating workshops to encourage her community to tell their personal stories. Listen to Miyamoto’s reflection of the past year and the importance of expressing your story. (more…)
Voting from Jail with a Disability
About 40% of jail inmates nationwide reported having at least one disability, according to a Department of Justice study. Jordan Landry, a visually impaired inmate at King County jail, was able to vote from behind bars. Darya Farivar is a Community and Legislative Liaison at Disability Rights Washington, who helped Landry with the accommodations he needed to do so.
Producer: Yuko Kodama and Jesse Callahan
Image: Disability Rights Washington
Unmute the Commute: A Home for Buttercup
Washington has a handful of prisons scattered across the state – so if you’re convicted of a crime in Spokane, you may end up incarcerated in Clallam Bay or Shelton. This can mean a long trip for family members or spouses. Produced by Max Wasserman.
Featuring: Linda Paz (Matthew House)
Incarcerated Women: Fines and Fees
Do financial obligations levied on current and former incarcerated people penalize the poor? A majority of people locked up are either poor or unemployed, prior to incarceration, according to the Prison Policy Initiative’s compilation of data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Fines, fees, and restitution payments pile up for many people leaving prison, making it nearly impossible to find a way out of poverty. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama speaks with Alexes Harris, a University of Washington Sociology Professor who researched monetary sanctions on incarcerated people for her 2016 book, “A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as a Punishment for the Poor“. Harris shares her thoughts on inequality and the intersection of poverty and incarceration.
Incarcerated Women: Rehabilitation
What is society currently doing to rehabilitate the incarcerated? Abigail Blue is the former executive director of The Birth Attendants: Prison Doula Project, which closed over 5 years ago, saw the plight of incarcerated pregnant women on a daily basis, at the Washington Correctional Center for Women. She reflects on her experiences working with the incarcerated and the topic of rehabilitation with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama. In this segment, Yuko Kodama also speaks with Shontina Vernon, a local artist who was formerly incarcerated. Vernon shares her view of rehabilitation after she served time as a 10 year old in Texas.
Incarcerated Women: Sustainability In Prisons Project
The Sustainability In Prisons Project is just one of a number of programs available at Washington prisons to offer training and educational opportunities for inmates. You’ll listen to incarcerated women at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor from 2015 describing their work in this program.
Photos by WCCW and Yuko Kodama
- Mini Greenhouse 2) horticulture beds 3) seedlings 4) WCCW grounds 5) Inmate horticulture Program Participant, Buffy Henson 6) Horticulture Program Manager, Ed Tharpe, 7) WCCW beehive 8 & 9) Inmate Apiary Program Participant, Tiffany Williams
Incarcerated Women: Cancer Walks in Prison
Relay for Life is an organization that organizes cancer walks, generating money to fight cancer. This donation fueled operation makes a positive impact on inmates who have choose to organize to fight cancer. Pamela Lorenz, an inmate at the Washington Correction Center for women, participated in such a program while incarcerated and shares her experience with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama.
Incarcerated Women: Prison Food
This KBCS series on Incarcerated Women takes a look at prison food. You’ll hear about how food is prepared at Washington Corrections Center for Women. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with inmates at Washington Correctional Center for Women about food preparation at the facility.
Incarcerated Women: Juvenile Prison
Listen to what it feels like to be a minor behind bars on our KBCS series on Incarcerated Women as KBCS’s Yuko Kodama speaks with Shontina Vernon, a local artist who was formerly incarcerated in Texas, at age 10.
