New Abolitionists Radio: The Die Jim Crow Music Project & Healthcare Is A Prisoner’s Human Right

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Tonight we will be joined by two artists who are working with our host Maxwell Melvins, on the “Die Jim Crow” project. Joining us tonight are artists Fury Young and B.L. Shirelle.

“Die Jim Crow is a multimedia concept album about the black American experience in the era of mass incarceration. It is the first album ever recorded in multiple U.S. prisons.

The full length Die Jim Crow LP will be released in 2020 with an accompanying documentary and book. The LP features 20+ original tracks written and performed by currently and formerly incarcerated musicians from across the country. The majority of the lyricists and vocalists on the Die Jim Crow LP are self-identifying as black. Musicians of all backgrounds – formerly or currently in prison – contribute composition and instrumentation.

The contributors to Die Jim Crow are lifers, southerners, northerners, old timers, youngsters, guilty, innocent. They are in for a variety of charges and are judged not by their records, but by their characters. The binding line is that they have all served time in prison.

The project’s title was inspired by Michelle Alexander’s landmark book The New Jim Crow (2010), which equates the U.S. prison system to a modern-day racial caste system similar to the old form of Jim Crow segregation in America.” Read more…

During the second half hour of the show we will focus on prisoner’s human rights and specifically their healthcare and the lack of inclusion of prisoners in the issues that Presidential candidates are presenting to US voters. What is the quality of care prisoners currently receive? How many prisoners have medical needs neglected? Can prisoners who have Medicaid lose that coverage upon arrest, conviction and what they’re after prison healthcare needs? Are they eligible for programs being touted by presidential candidates like Medicare 4 All?