Prison Radio · writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal earning international acclaim. In July of 1992, Noelle Hanrahan recorded Mumia Abu Jamal’s first radio commentaries from prison and secured

Prison RadioA PROJECT OF REDWOOD JUSTICE FUND

Know Your Rights and Fight for Them!

Noelle Hanrahan, Project Director

Tracy Rosenberg, Associate Director

Prison RadioPO Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94141 | Phone: 415-706-5222 | [email protected]

2 Prison Radio ANNUAL REPORT 2013

TRUTH Rigo O2 San Francisco, CA 140' X 55' Acrylic on Brick

Robert King Wilkerson,freed after 29 years in solitary.

www.angola3.org.

“We are fighting for the people to understand that we were framed for a murder that we are totally andcompletely, and actually innocent of.”

—Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, still innocent and in solitary after 40 years

Noelle Hanrahan andfilm Director Stephen

Vittoria at Prison Radiointerviewing Mumia for

the World Premiere of Long DistanceRevolutionary: A

Journey With MumiaAbu-Jamal. Through

prison interviews,archival footage,

dramatic readings, andaided by a potent

chorus of voicesincluding Cornel West,

Alice Walker, DickGregory, Angela Davis,

Rubin Hurricane Carter,Amy Goodman, Ramona

Africa, Pam Africa, LinnWashington, and many

others, this riveting filmexplores Abu-Jamal’s

life before, during andafter Death Row. ©

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Prison Radio ANNUAL REPORT 2013 3

The prisoners we work with have complete editorial freedom. Prison Radio seeks to amplify theiruncensored voices.

Prison Radio is a project of the Redwood Justice Fund,which was founded in 1990 by Tanya Brannan and Judi Bari.

One of our prison correspondents, Bomani Shakur(Keith LaMar) is on death row at the Ohio StatePenitentiary. He is innocent yet framed for murderin the aftermath of the Lucasville Uprising in 1993.

www.lucasvilleamnesty.org

Bomani Shakur on Ohio's death row.

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A Note from MumiaA few words in support of the efforts of PrisonRadio and Noelle Hanrahan its executive director,to raise funds to keep the wolf from the door. Ifyou are a long time listener to my commentariesyou have Prison Radio to thank for them.

In 1992 Prison Radio began recording from thestate dungeon at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. If youwalked in on us you would have thought you werein the control booth of a funky radio station. Wedid good work together, so good that NPR askedus to share our work with them, until they gotscared off. But Prison Radio has done far morethan pass me the mic, it has given us the hauntedvoices of jailed juveniles, incarcerated kids, thosewho are truly rarely heard. It has also told the story of women behind bars, for example AIDSpatients and survivors at the women’s dungeon inChowchilla, California. In short Prison Radio hasbrought you the voices of those behind the walls,the fastest growing public housing development inAmerica. For this and its other works it deservesyour generous financial support.

Thanks, for Prison Radio; this is Mumia Abu-Jamal


Prison Radio challenges unjust, racist and sexist police and prosecutorial practicesthat result in mass incarceration and the literal disenfranchisement of huge segmentsof our population. Prison Radio contributes these voices to documentaries, features,and movies and makes them available on our website and via subscriber newsletters.We broadcast on over 1,200 radio stations and reach millions of listeners andviewers. Prison contributors include Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sundiata Acoli, PatrickAngel Acunia, Mike Africa, Delbert Africa, Janine Africa, Lori Berenson, Robert C. Chan, Kevin Cooper, Bill Dunne, David Gilbert, Damien Echols, KennethHartman, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, and Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar), SpoonJackson, Kevin Rashid Johnson, Jaan Laaman, Michael Lamont Owens, LeonardPeltier, John Purugganan, Multulu Shakur, Hedi Smith, Herman Wallace, ChristianJ. Weaver, Dortell Williams, Albert Woodfox, Shaka Zulu, and hundreds of others.

Since 1990, Prison Radio has been at the very forefront of the movement challengingmass incarceration. We have built a diverse nationwide and international constituencyof activists some 10,000 strong. We challenge the mainstream media to tell thetruth and to tell the whole story about this nation’s reliance on imprisonment as aform of social control. We care deeply about building a strong enough infrastructureand providing long term sustainability that allows us to create effective and strategicprograms that will challenge existing systems.

Prison Radio and its director Noelle Hanrahan are responsible for the voice andwritings of Mumia Abu-Jamal earning international acclaim. In July of 1992,Noelle Hanrahan recorded Mumia Abu Jamal’s first radio commentaries fromprison and secured a major market book deal for his first book Live From DeathRow. Prison Radio has continued our commitment to prison voices by bringingvoices from inside to the airwaves through interviews, books pamphlets and film.The men, women, and youth inside that we work with retain complete editorialfreedom of their interviews and writings.

We have hired staff this year with an emphasis onbuilding our revenue and donor constituency as well as our earned income stream. Noelle Hanrahan is thePresident of the Board of Directors of two nonprofits,The Redwood Justice Fund and the Quixote Center.Prison Radio is a project of the Redwood Justice Fund.We are seeking to diversify our funding with anemphasis on sustainability.

Mumia Berlin Mural by Peter Sandell


Prison Radio Goals & ObjectivesPrison Radio, a project of the Redwood Justice Fund, was founded in 1990 tochallenge mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of men and women in prison. Our educational materials are a catalyst for public dialogue and activism.Prison Radio combines investigative reporting with a large scale public educationcampaign. Our purposes are to:

• Challenge mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of prisoners

• Help shift public opinion toward a more humane view of prisoners

• Help spur public motivation to look at core system issues that create crime and poverty

• Help expose the injustice of the prison industry.

Lynne Stewart, whilefighting her appeal,spoke publicly on behalfof Mumia Abu-Jamal at the Bay Area launchof his newest book“Jailhouse Lawyers” City Lights Books.

Lynne Stewart, 73, arenowned human rightslawyer is currentlyserving a ten yearsentence at FMCCarswell, TX. Her felonyconviction for providingmaterial aid to aterrorist was as a resultof her defense work forSheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. Please signher petition forcompassionate release:www.lynnestewart.org

“There is no silence deepenough

No black out dark enoughNo corruption thick enoughNo business deal big enoughNo politicians bent enoughNo heart hollow enoughNo grave wide enoughTo bury your storyAnd keep it from usLove from a short

distance”

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Prison Radio: Our Past, Present and FuturePrison Radio began in 1990. The same year we produced “You Can’t Jail the Spirit,”a thirteen-part radio documentary covering all forms of political imprisonment, anda series of programs on women with AIDS at Valley State Prison for Women inChowchilla, California.

We have consistently worked to inspire, catalyze and conduct grassroots organizingand activism. For each project, we work in collaboration with, or initiate, grassrootsorganizing efforts to develop and implement lasting social change.

We wrote, produced and distributed “Know Your Rights,” a CD in Farsi and Englishgeared toward communities targeted after September 11th. We were key organizerswith Judi Bari on her lawsuit against the FBI. Noelle Hanrahan planned Judi’smemorial in 1997 and carried on the case Bari v. USA through the RedwoodJustice Fund. Bari’s estate won a 4.4 million dollar jury verdict against the FBI in 2002.

For the past 23 years we have been key advocates for Mumia Abu-Jamal and he hasbecome one of the most prominent political prisoners in the world.

In addition to breakingdown the barriers betweenthe inside and outside of the prison system, we conduct extensivegrassroots work withfamily members ofprisoners who work with us.

We are key organizers in the national andinternational movementfor recognition of politicalimprisonment and for anunderstanding of massincarceration and racismin the U.S.

Bradley Manning’s belief in transparency, accountability, and the truth iscourageous and inspiring. He is currently on trial and faces life in prison.www.bradleymanning.org


Why Your Solidarity MattersYour actions create a culture of resistance and empowerment, and expandknowledge of mass incarceration and racism. Mumia Abu-Jamal’sinformative weekly radio essays offer a perspective on national andinternational issues rarely heard in the mainstream media. It really is amiracle, but somehow we get Mumia’s voice on more than 1,200 radio stations worldwide.

In 2012 we recorded over 150 radio essays and interviews, breaking news onDemocracy Now! and commentaries about the Arab uprisings, politics, financesand resistance. We have also facilitated interviews with Noam Chomsky, AliceWalker, Susan Sarandon, M1 of Dead Prez, Amy Goodman, Danny Glover, TomMorello, and many others. Breaking through censorship is harrowing. Mumia’saccess to the phone is circumscribed — but he makes a great effort to call 2–3 times a week. When he calls us — his words can reach the world. You canenable that life line to remain open. Your gifts can help Mumia Abu-Jamal’svoice transcend the walls of prison.

We broadcast on Pacifica stations, Democracy Now! (on 1000 radio and TVstations), Free Speech Radio News (on 85 stations), and hundreds of other radiostations. We fill daily requests by activists for audio, images, and information. Wemaintain a complete catalog of Prison recordings broadcasts (over 3,500 essays),free for download and dissemination on the web at www.prisonradio.org. Each and every week we work with grassroots organizations to produce messages fromMumia for local organizing events. We license Mumia’s words and images to recordand film companies, and to artists such as Goapele, Michael Franti, Tom Morello,Immortal Technique, and Quincy Jones III.

We have worked with artists including Emory Douglas, Mac McGill, Juana Alicia,Eric Drooker, and Santori Productions, Lisa Roth, and many design firms. In2012–13, we produced and promoted all of his books, and the new Movie “Mumia:Long Distance Revolutionary.” And we helped publish the new pamphlet Messageto the Movement. Our staff member Lori Berenson translated it into Spanish andwe were able to add a new poem by Alice Walker “Occupy Mumia’s Cell.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal atS.C.I. Mahanoy duringone of his first contactvisits after 281⁄2 years insolitary confinement.He is now serving a lifewithout possibility ofparole sentence.

Mumia Abu-Jamal AM8335 301 Morea RoadFrackville, PA 17932


Joann Walker, being interviewed by Prison Radio, in 1990, at the Valley StatePrison, Chowchilla CA. A leader and an AIDS educator in prison.

Our three albums feature amazing collaborations and pull together new voicesreaching over a million listeners. On “All Things Censored,” we feature DorothyAllison, Howard Zinn, and Cornel West, among many others. And on the CD“175 Progress Drive,” we feature rare pre-incarceration broadcasts of Mumia’s streetreporting and interviews with Hugh Masekela, Bob Marley and Jimmy Carter. Thefirst CD was produced in collaboration with Jello Biafra’s Alternative TentaclesRecords and the punk rock band “Man is the Bastard.” It features Assata Shakurand others.

Currently Mumia’s recordings are produced by Noelle Hanrahan and recorded onlocation or via telephone using a Telos Delta 100 Interface and HX1, a TascamC222 CD Burner and HHB CD Burner, and a two massive Furman PowerConditioners. The audio is edited, equalized, and mastered in Protools digitalstudio with Waves noise filtering software.

The distribution andamplification of Mumia’svoice, image, and words is critical to creating the conditions for anexpanding massmovement.

We believe that publicvisibility for Mumia’s caseand all it represents willfurther the movement to expose racism in thecriminal justice systemand end the use of thedeath penalty.


Key PersonnelNoelle Hanrahan, P.I. is an investigative journalist, private investigator, andDirector of Prison Radio. She is the producer of the theatrically released featuredocumentary “Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal.”She spent her formative radio years at KPFA Radio, in Berkeley, California. Aneditor and producer of many Mumia Abu-Jamal projects, including All ThingsCensored (Seven Stories Press), and three CDs on AT Records. Noelle attendedStanford University and graduated with a B.A. in Gender, Race, and Class Studies,and received an M.A. in Criminal Justice from Boston University.

Mumia Abu Jamal, producer, writer and on air talent is an award-winningjournalist and radio commentator living at SCI Mahanoy in Frackville,Pennsylvania. Despite his incarceration he calls Prison Radio every week ready torecord another of his groundbreaking essays. A world renowned author and one ofthe main prisoners with whom we work, Mumia has written seven books includingLive from Death Row, Death Blossoms, All Things Censored, Faith of Our Fathers, We Want Freedom, Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the USA, TheClassroom and the Cell, and the new pamphlet Message to the Movement. These bookswere produced in conjunction with Prison Radio and are bestsellers. They havebeen translated into nine languages. Mumia holds a B.A. from Goddard Collegeand an M.A. from California State University Dominguez Hills. He has producedover 3,000 radio essays that are available at www.prisonradio.org.

Noelle Hanrahan withAmy Goodman beforeAmy interviewedMumia in March 2009,at the office of PrisonRadio. A Judi Bari EarthFirst mural by MartinTravers is in thebackground.


Tracy Rosenberg has worked as Media Alliance’s Executive Director since 2007.She has organized and advocated for a free, accountable and accessible mediasystem, focusing on the protection and sustainability of alternative media outlets,monitored the mainstream media for accuracy and fair representation, and facilitatedthe training of numerous nonprofit organizations and citizen’s groups in effectivecommunications. She also worked at Pacifica Radio as a program coordinator,facilitator and community election supervisor. She currently sits on the boards of theAlliance for Community Media Western Region, the Pacifica Foundation andCommon Frequency and serves on the anchor committee of the Media ActionGrassroots Network. She is thrilled to be a part of Prison Radio beginning in Aprilof 2013.

Carole Seligman is a lifelong antiwar activist, socialist, active supporter of freedomfor Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kevin Cooper, Lynne Stewart, and other political prisoners;co-editor of Socialist Viewpoint magazine; retired elementary school teacher; afounder of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal; and the office manager for Prison Radio.

John Judge is a lifelong anti-militarist anti-racist activist, fundraiser andcommunity organizer. He attended the first community meeting in defense ofMumia Abu-Jamal in Philadelphia following Mumia's arrest in 1981, and workedwith him at Community Newspaper there. John is an independent researcher,lecturer and author and is co-founding the Museum of Hidden History inWashington, DC. He recently raised funds for Maryland Citizens Against StateExecutions for their successful campaign to repeal the death penalty. John works inthe Washington, DC high schools to counter military recruiters and opposes theinjustice of both civil and psychiatric imprisonment for political purposes. He doesPrison Radio constituency outreach.

Jennifer Beach is a long-time supporter of political prisoners including Mumia.She has supported Prison Radio Project since its inception and is delighted to beback in a formal affiliation. She has worked with many political and communityprojects over the years in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently teaches Englishcomposition at San Francisco State University. She is the Prison Radio’s artistliaison.

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Prison Radio Operational Capacity “20+ yrs. fighting for justice and freedom”

Weekly recording of radio essays and statements, 150+ recorded and distributed in 2012. Two studios: Prison Radio East and West with Protools workstations,Waves Noise reduction. Available studio time for prisoners to call is approximately60 hours a week.

Filemaker Pro Server Database with 8,400 constituent donors and organizers. YMLP Eblast Cloud-based List Serv of 4,600.

Two websites: www.prisonradio.org and www.mumia-themovie.com.

Theatrical release of feature documentary Long Distance Revolutionary: A JourneyWith Mumia Abu-Jamal. Produced by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. Archival preservation of a library of 3,500 original and unique recordings from the incarcerated nation.

Five mailings to our constituents a year featuring timely case updates andcommissioned artwork, petitions, letters, cards, stickers:

• Mumia Abu-Jamal weekly radio essays and speeches

• Lucasville Five including Siddque Abdullah Hasan

• Lynne Stewart, if direct access is not possible, then notable people reading her writing

• Recordings by the 30 Men and Women serving life sentences. We are recordingand distributing the audio book “Too Cruel and Not Unusual Enough, edited byKenneth Hartman (lifer) and Bomoni Shakur (Keith LaMar)

• Kevin Cooper, California Death Row

• And several U.S. political prisoners including Mutulu Shakur, David Gilbert,Shaka Zulu, Chip Fitzgerald, Sundiata Acoli, Bill Dunne, etc.

Alice Walker duringfilming of Long DistanceRevolutionary

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2013 Studio and Office Maintenance Goals• Website revitalization — increased searchability & increased functionality

for archives $5K

• Development of products, and shopping cart on website. Rollout of 15 products. $8K

• Capitalizing on organizing opportunities created by the release of Long DistanceRevolutionary. Compiling and updating database and strategizing how to createconnections between listeners, movie-goers and website audiences. $15K.

• Prison Radio Staff support of all logistics of rollout of Long DistanceRevolutionary, is 15 hours a week. From press list generation, to Educators outreach, to foreign rep education, to script writing for the extras on the DVD package. $30K

• Staffing an associate director position for succession planning and expandingbreadth of operations $36K

• Creation of an archival database, and transfer of materials to permanent storage.Preparation for delivery to an academic institution. $15K per year five years $75K

Total Direct Costs we anticipate incurring $181,060.

Positions 2013Director, Producer, Engineer Noelle Hanrahan 55hrs Office Manager, Engineer Carole Seligman 20hrsAssociate Director, Recording Engineer Tracy Rosenberg 20 hrsOutreach Worker, John Judge 8hrsArtist Liaison, Jennifer Beach 5hrsRecording Intern, Neil Carman 15hrsRecording Engineer, Miles Montalbano 8hrsOffice Assistants: Naomi White, Joanne Cabello, Karen Rudolph 5hrsMural Painting, Arthur Simmons and Karen Rudolph project basedTranslation Spanish, Lori Berenson 2hrs Business Development, Shawn Berry Lift Economy 2 hrs a weekWeb Development, Colab Cooperative as needed.

Tech Collective IT as neededThree Summer Internships, Copyright and Royalty Intern

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Please take some timeto read these twobrilliant essays “OregonPrisoners Driven toSuicide by Torture inSolitary ConfinementUnits”, and “PoliticalStruggle in the Teeth of Prison Reaction:From Virginia toOregon” Socialism and Democracy, 2013Vol. 27, No. 1, 78–94

www.rashidmod.com


Income — 2013Constituents via mail series $44,000Major donor gifts $90,000Licensing $2,000Sales $8,000Cleaning fee $1,200Grants $45,000Constituent Outreach Phone $20,000

Total Projected Income $210,200

Expenses — 2013

Personnel Project Coordination $45,000Studio Production $20,500Office Staff and Associate Director. $35,000

Other Expense Administrative Overhead $15,460Computers/software $10,000Rent $6,600Meetings/Conferences $6,500Products $8,000Office Equipment/Supplies $3.500Postage, Shipping $9,000Printing, Photocopying $8,000Telephone $6,500Travel $7,000

Total Expenses $181,060

Prison Radio Projected Budget — 2013


The Redwood Justice Fund is a non profit organization dedicated to the defense ofthe environment and of civil and human rights secured by law. Established by JudiBari in 1994, the foundation embraces a wide array of environmental and socialjustice projects including:

• Prison Radio, which challenges mass incarceration and racism by airing the voicesof men and women in prison.

• Purple Berets Advocacy & Education Project, a women’s rights organizationdedicated to obtaining equal justice for women.

• Redwood Summer Justice Project, which defends the rights of environmentalactivists targeted by violence and disruption. In particular, RSJP supported “JudiBari vs. FBI,” a federal civil rights lawsuit.

• Women’s Justice Center, which advocates for Latina victims of violence againstwomen in Sonoma County, California.Judi Bari: Federal

District Court —Oakland, CA

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The RJF board of directors are:

Tanya Brannan, Esq. — Executive Director of RJF, Director of Purple Berets, civil rights attorney

Jeff Ott, R.N. — Activist, organizer, public health nurse, musician

Karen Rudolph, Esq. — Director of Two Rivers Circle (an indigenous filmproduction company)

Noelle Hanrahan, P.I. — Director and Producer, Prison Radio

Ben Saari — Free Mind Media member. Santa Rosa Copwatch, founder KWTF


Giving to Prison RadioKnow your rights and fight for them. Help us build a culture of resistance!

Please consider a gift of

�� $50 �� $150* �� $350 �� $1000 �� $10,000

Make checks payable to Prison Radio/Redwood Justice Fund.*with a gift of $150 or more, receive the brilliant new feature Film “LongDistance Revolutionary: A Journey With Mumia Abu-Jamal” DVD withgroundbreaking extras.

Send your donation to: Prison Radio Box 411074San Francisco, CA 94141

To make a secure credit card donation through PayPal, go to www.prisonradio.org

Join our Eblast mailing list by emailing us at [email protected] or bysigning up using the Join us button at www.prisonradio.org and you willreceive a $10 coupon for items at the Prison Radio store.

Boots Riley of the Coup interviews Mumia

Abu-Jamal in our SanFrancisco Studio.

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We Need Your Help!You can play a key role in keeping prisoners’ essays on the radio. Please continueyour support of Mumia’s brilliant broadcasts:

�� $500 covers the production and engineering of one radio essay

�� $2,500 gift will support two feature interviews with prisoners conductedby public intellectuals such as Michelle Alexander or Amy Goodman

�� $10,000 will complete a audio book project, seed a movie, or rescue abook from going out of print

�� $25,000 will heighten Prison Radio’s ability to connect with constituentsthrough expanded Alerts, Petitions, Eblast and web develop, so that wecan maximize our searchable and accessible website providing all of ourwritings and recordings on demand

�� If you or your family foundation were able to give $50,00 to $150,000, wecould begin a five year project to master, annotate, archive, preserve, andpublish over 3000 prisoner essays.

Prison RadioPO Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94141 | Phone: 415-706-5222 | [email protected]

Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey With Mumia Abu-Jamaldirected by Stephen Vittoria and produced by Noelle Hanrahanhas opened to packed houses from coast to coast. Earning rave reviews.

“Tracing the path of abrilliant journalistwhose message cannotbe silenced...Vittoriatriumphantly heraldsAbu-Jamal’s return tothe political scene as a rallying cry for analternate politicaldiscourse.”

— Variety

“Coverage of publicdiscourse in the UnitedStates often makes itseem as if the onlyideologies still in thegame were the farright and the moderateeverybody else. But“Mumia: Long DistanceRevolutionary” is proofthat there are stilloutspoken championsof views too radicalizedto qualify as left-wing:people distrustful oflaw enforcement, thepolitical system, thejustice system, thenews media and thevery notion thatAmerica is at heart the land of the free.Getting a concentrateddose of activists likeAngela Davis and DickGregory, academics like Cornel West andMichelle Alexander,and the many othertalking heads in thisfilm is certainly abracing change fromthe usual back-and-forth of the eveningnews.” — Neil Genzlinger,

The New York Times

Take Action. Get Alerts. Hear Mumia every week. Join our Eblast mailing list by emailing us at [email protected] or by signing up using the Join us button at www.prisonradio.org andyou will receive a $10 coupon for items at the Prison Radio store.

Documents

Prison Radio · writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal earning international acclaim. In July of 1992, Noelle Hanrahan recorded Mumia Abu Jamal’s first radio commentaries from prison and secured