Micah Khater discusses the intersection of race, disability, and incarceration in early 20th century southern US, focusing on how Black women in Alabama prisons used letters for resistance. They explore bureaucratic narratives of disability, challenges of engaging with state archives, historical prison escapes, and the importance of listening to those impacted for positive change.
Black women used strategic letters to challenge state views on disability in early 20th century Alabama prisons.
Medicalization of disability in carceral settings reinforced power dynamics and normalized violence through pathologizing resistance.
Archival research on incarcerated individuals like Pearl Finley highlights complexities in historical interpretation and emphasizes the need to critically engage with suppressed voices.
Deep dives
Black Women's Use of Letters as Resistance in Early 20th Century Alabama Prisons
Black women in early 20th century Alabama prisons used letters as a tool for resistance and negotiation with the state. Through these letters, they strategically positioned themselves as 'no use to the state' to challenge the state's understanding of disability and advocate for improved conditions or temporary release based on their disability status. The use of letters by incarcerated black women showcased their agency in navigating oppressive carceral regimes and asserting their demands for better treatment.
Power Dynamics in the Medicalization of Disability and Incarceration
The interplay between the medicalization of disability and incarceration revealed power dynamics within state institutions. Doctors and physicians were pivotal in assessing and categorizing individuals, often leading to terms like 'temporary insane' to rationalize or pathologize resistance or escape attempts. Medicalized non-compliance served as a tool to deny the experiences of incarcerated individuals, create preconditions for punishment, and reinforce violence within carceral spaces, shaping their representation and treatment.
Challenges of Historical Interpretation and Contextualization in Archival Research
Archival research on figures like Pearl Finley demonstrates the complexities of interpreting historical documents and contextualizing individual narratives within broader institutional frameworks. Investigating personal letters alongside official records sheds light on nuanced experiences and resilience against violent state practices. Understanding the limitations and ambiguities in archival materials reveals the importance of critically engaging with historical accounts to uncover suppressed voices and negotiate the power dynamics embedded in historical representations.
Strategic Letters for Parole Requests
In the podcast episode, the discussion revolves around the strategic nature of letters written by incarcerated individuals for parole requests. An example highlighted is a 32-year-old woman named Mary Alexander who wrote to the governor about her immobility and health issues, emphasizing her inability to work. The shift in her rhetorical strategy between her first and second letter reflects a nuanced approach in navigating the system, showing how emphasizing incapacity for labor influenced the state's response.
Intersections of Carceral and Economic Critiques
The episode delves into the intersection of carceral and economic critiques embedded in communications from incarcerated Black women. The conversation focuses on the labor regime within prisons, highlighting how Black women strategically positioned themselves regarding work capacity to negotiate release. It underscores the economic motivations behind state decisions and the lingering surveillance even after temporary parole, revealing a complex dynamic between labor, states' perceptions of productivity, and the vulnerabilities faced post-release.
This episode was originally released for Death Panel patrons on April 22nd. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a patron at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod
Beatrice speaks with Micah Khater about her award winning article on the intersection of race, disability, and incarceration in the southern US in the early 20th century, and her work documenting the history of how Black women experienced and theorized disability from within Alabama prisons.
Read Micah’s full article, “No Use to the State: Phrasing Escape and a Black Radical Epistolary of Disability in Early Twentieth-Century Alabama Prisons” (winner of the 2024 Toni Cade Bambara Article Prize from the Black Women's Studies Association) here:
dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/9662/8007
Transcript: www.deathpanel.net/transcripts/micah-khater
Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism
Find Jules' new book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here:
https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny
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As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod
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