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Resisting on World War One’s back lines: The 1914 Christmas Truce

It’s later 1914. Winter is cool in the pits of Wsrld War l’s Western Front. Supplies are scarce. People shudder and are picturing residence. Wishing they were far ahead. Everywaking time, the sound of machine gun fire have echoed for weeks here in the trenches. The guns ‘ whining. The scratching and growling. However, the guns quit this morning, Christmas morning. It’s not going to be a plan. It occurs naturally. However, it occurs back to front. And there are hundreds of miles of pits. Solitude followed bq’ singing. Light initially, then louder. Carols. Christmas music. First, one part speaks European. Then the other in French or English.

The Christmas Truce is just beginning. 100 000 men oould take part in the peace. It continues to be a bibIe to the society in everyone. A reminder sf the men who fight on the front lines against the savages of battle. sensitivity to the highest standards.

BIG CHANGES This audio won the 2018 Signal Awards for best historical radio in gold! It’s a great pride. Bless you to everyone who cast and supported me.

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Marc Steiner, the famed host sf The Real News, has aIso won the Gold Signal Award for best show host. We are thus excited. The Marc Steiner Show may be listened to and subscribed to on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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I know this is an ad, but it’s a really good oneO Tannenbaum – Gay Men’s Chorus of Los AngelesTranscript

It’s later 1914.

Wintertime in the Western Front tunnels of World War I.

Supplies are scarce.

PeopIe trembIe, like they are dreaming of house. Wishing they were far apart.

The conflict has continued for five decades.

France and the UK square off against Austria-Hungary and Germany.

Everywaking time, the sound of machine gun fire have echoed for weeks here in the trenches.

The guns ‘ whining. The breaking and growling.

However, the guns cease this morning, Christmas day.

It’s hardly made in advance. It occurs naturally.

But it does so forward and center.

And there are hundreds of miles of tunnels.

Solitude follows singing.

Sweet initially, then louder.

Carols. Christmas music.

German is the first sne part to sing. Then the other in French or English.

They cheer one another and clap each other…

They exchange Christmas congratulations with each other.

Between these two armies, system gun-riddled, desolate, and desert terrain.

Two soldiers engaged in a bloody battle that has alreadq’ resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

However, everything has changed nsw.

These gentlemen from opposing armies now refuse to combat.

Instead they stow their arms over.

They also raise their eyes.

They remove portions of the distorted barbed wire that are in their way.

And they leave no boy’s area.

to accept their adversaries.

[MUSIC]

They give each different greetings.

They change items such as chocolate, smoking, and alcshol.

Some of the people exchange clothes and buttons.

The desolate landscape between these too antagonistic sides is filled with laughter and conversation.

And there is a moment of joy amid the icy war-torn regions.

They also started unexpected fsotball games along ssme of the front lines.

British Captain Bruce Bairnsfather would eventually read,» I wouldn’t have missed that distinct and strange Christmas Day for anything. » He claimed to have witnessed a German soldier being cut in the long hair by one of his people.

Theq’ say they won’t fire a shot until after nightfall that morning.

The ceasefire in some places actually starts on Christmas Eve and lasts fsr a few days.

A Christmas Truce, a warning of how human we are all.

A reminder of the people who fight on the front lines against the savages of battle.

opposition to the highest levels ‘ orders.

See these men fighting each day in the trenches, battling the poverty, the cold, the probIems, and the suffering.

They are not the ones who are in charge. They are not the people engaging in combat. They are the lackeys, after all.

They are the victims of conflict.

The First World War may drag on for many centuries. Millions of people had perish.

Bmt now, they stand down and leave their weapons in the rits, even for just one day.

And welcome their adversaries as companions.

They still refuse to struggle now.

And this Christmas Truce history, this opposition history, has been told repeatedly, year after year, generation after generation.

Approximately 100,000 soldiers took part in the 1914 Christmas Day peace. This day’s events are varied and varied. Since it traversed Belgium and northern France, it makes sense that it took place over hundreds of miles of tunnels.

Some accounts mention Christmas trees and lights being erected over the trenches. All of them relate to the supporting sf their adversaries in ns man’s land and the Christmas carols.

Does it motivate no matter where oe are from, what language we use, or what faith we practice.

Content holidays, everyone.

I appreciate you listening. Michael Fox, your network, here.

This account is so beautiful. It’s an amazing testament to what is feasible, in my opinion. And how two sides, who are figuratively kiIling one another, you pmt it aside and hug like sons or friends.

Folks, if you haven’t heard, I have some really interesting information. Winter 2 of Under the Shadow was released this year. I realize this is a strange time to do it just before the trip crack, but the Trump administration’s plan to go to war with Venezuela is so incredible that it couldn’t wait. In the first instance, I examine the risks of a renewed Monroe Doctrine for the area and what’s driving Trump’s challenges in Latin America right now.

I hope you’ll consider joining me on Patreon and becoming a paid subscription if, as always, you enjoy this audio and would like my monitoring. Every day I post something new online, you’ll receive changes. Additionally, I have a ton of unique content accessible only to my paid supporters if you enjoy what’s there. Every admirer has a real impact. The first 100 people who sign up between now and the conclusion of the year will receive a free online version of my most recent music collection. You can view it at website. mfox on Patreon. com. I’ll include a hyperlink in the present documents.

This is the 82nd show of Tales of Tolerance. The backlinks in the present records are available if you haven’t already subscribed. The Real News produces The Stories of Tolerance. I share these kinds of uplifting and opposition stories each month. Ideas for the black.

Folks, if you think you’ll like what oe do, do yourself a favor and level, follow, remark, or review, and help spread the word about us. Truly, spreading the word about the show is a big help.

Thank you for listening, as usual. Discover you the next time.

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You don’t believe that incarceration is what you believe during the holidays.

For incarcerated people and their families, the holidays are the most painful time of year. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speak frankly about what it’s like to be locked up during the holidays, why inmate suicides, violence, and depression spike this time of year, and about the life-saving and society-improving steps we can take this holiday season to help prisoners maintain contact with the outside world.

Content Warning: Discussion of suicide and depression.

Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Transcript

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Mansa Musa:

Welcome to Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And I’m Maximillian Alvarez, editor-in-chief of the Real News Network. As we reach the end of an impossibly long year, all of us here at the Real News want to wish you and yours a happy holiday season. Whether you celebrate or not, we hope that this time of year at least provides some time and space for you to rest and to be with the ones that you love. But of course, as we do every single year here, we also want to take this moment to remind y’all and to remind ourselves that there are so many people in this country right now who will not be able to be with their loved ones this year. The nearly two million human beings who are locked up in the United States of America right now. The tens of thousands of immigrants who have been sitting and rotting in ice detention, the vast majority of whom without any criminal record whatsoever, they will not be with their families this holiday season and their families’ homes will be a little more empty this year than they were before.

Mansa Musa:

And to your point, Max, a lot of people will not be with their families and love ones. And especially those that are 2.5 million people that’s locked up under the criminal injustice system on the prison industrial complex plantations, they’ll not be. And I know for a fact, because I was locked up for 48 years, just shy of 50 years, two years shy of 50 years. And this was a hard time for us serving time because of the conditions that we found ourselves under. The visitations was sometimes restricted. The forms of communication was sometimes restricted. So at some point in time, you find yourself sulking because you don’t have no outlet. But as time went on and years went on, one thing I learned from being in prison was that prisoners are resilient. And we would oftentimes find ways to find relief in prison during these times.

Homemade wine, getting drunk, putting on little skits and plays. But more importantly, as our thinking group, we decided that we wanted to involve our families in the prison system. And we created programs like Family Days. So a lot of times around this time of the year, we would have an activity where our children could come in and spend a couple of hours with us in a festive manner Max. So yeah, but this is a hard time and a lot of people are depressed. And we hear at The Real News and Rattling the Bars wanted you to understand that don’t allow yourself to become depressed by the state of this country. If you don’t do nothing else, get a state of mind that you’re going to resist and you’re going to find souls in the fact that you’re standing up for yourself.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And one of the ways that we can stand up for ourselves and each other is to take care of one another, to reach out and offer a helping hand in dark times. And there are plenty of things that you can do this holiday season to really make a huge difference in the lives of people incarcerated and the many family members and friends and loved ones on the outside who are living this holiday season without them. And over the next 10, 15 minutes, man, so I wanted to kind of just talk to you a little bit about that. But first, I want to kind of ask if you could say more about your own time locked up, and especially what it was like for you and others around the holidays. Because I know that this is the time of year where you see suicide spike. You see spikes in violence on the inside.

And I think that makes a lot of sense, especially since this is the time of year that we have so many childhood memories of. We have so many memories of being with our family, being together with the ones we love. And those can be very painful memories when you are locked up in the worst place imaginable, unable to touch and feel and talk to the people that you love. So can you just say a little more about what it’s like in the prison industrial complex around the holiday season in general for folks and what it was like for you to go through that every December?

Mansa Musa:

And like I said earlier, it was depressing because one, you hear on TV, all wonderful life, the whole Christmas thing being unpacked, the Jingle Bells and everything is a constant reminder of what this time of year, how festive this time of the year is, but you’re locked into an environment where you have limitations, you’re not allowed to visit your family, you’re not allowed to go out on the street, you’re not allowed to enjoy those things that normal people would do on this time. But what we did, we found amongst ourselves, and Angela Davis talking about this and if they come in the morning about the uniqueness of the prison population, how the extended family exists. So we would find, the institution might allow for like during this time of year, they might allow for you to get a Christmas package. So it would be a combination of food items and candies.

So everybody would get a food package and we would share. We would like, you know, when the food package came in, I would go around, give somebody something. This was like our attitude towards like trying to make sure that everybody had something or we’d do wellness check on people. We knew that guys was like depressed and guys was like going through it and having difficult times to adjust. So we would get with them, talk to them, walk the yard with them. We would always try to find, in our mind or in our hearts, a space where, like you had opened up earlier about, we want everybody to be safe. We want everybody to try to have a same state of mind. So we would do those things. Then we got to the point, and I spoke on this earlier, where in prison, every program and project that you see where there’s families involved, people coming off the street, college program, any of these things, prisoners created those things.

Prisoners was the ones that came up with ideas, I want to get a college degree and started networking with the system to how they go about getting there. So we created what we call family day. And I remember this real clear when I was in Maryland Penitentiary and it was on the heels of a riot and the inmate advisory council was meeting with the warden and we was on lockdown twenty four seven and they was meeting with the warden because it was understood that as long as we stayed locked down, the prison would become more unmanageable because once you let us off, we going to go back to business as usual as far as like you realize us and then we going to respond. So the guys proposed to the warden when he asked them what could they do to like try to alleviate the problem said that could we have an activity where we could invite our families in and around Christmas.

And this was the most insane thing that you could ever imagine because prior to that, the police had shot a couple of people in the yard, prisons had stabbed some police, being with bats, it was like chaos, pandemonium, and we was locked down. It wasn’t coming out for shower. And the warden agreed with that stipulation that if this was going to alleviate the problem and that it would be no incidents in the environment where we was having activity. So we organized for four days straight, two different shifts, everybody in the population had opportunity to go, unlimited family members, unlimited guests, went up in the auditorium, had gifts for our children and had family day. This right here changed the whole dynamic of the prison population. So really, we always found ways to like alleviate the tension because we always felt in our mind that the best way to alleviate tension is to have access to society and by having access to society, we would even invite people in, create programs, get people in, or we would create programs to get out.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Well, and I think it’s really, I mean, it’s a really beautiful story. And I want to ask you a little more about that when we kind of wrap up here, but I think it’s also important to underscore for people watching and listening that like, this is not the norm that everybody in prison gets, right? I mean, and I think a lot of people who don’t know what it’s like in prison maybe assume that that’s what it’s like. They think, oh, they must get a Christmas meal, they get time with their family, they get packages. It’s more like what we are told in the movies it’s like, right? I mean, so before you organized and launched this family day with other inmates when you were locked up, what was it like around the holidays in general? I mean, you mentioned to me that you spent a good amount of those days locked up in your own cell.

Mansa Musa:

To your point, Max, this was not the norm. The norm was that, like I said, I spent a lot of times on lockup. So the norm was that you was isolated, that it was real restrictive. You had regular visits and they was a half an hour because everybody wanted to visit, everybody had, then they created our even day. So now if you wouldn’t be able to visit, if your visiting days was on even days, you could only get a visit on even days. So Christmas came on the 25th on the all day, you’re not allowed to have no visit that day. So you had to have a visit the following day. Yeah, so it became more restrictive and that’s where it’s at today. Today is it got to that point now where that’s where it’s at today. Today in most prisons, you’re isolated, you’re not allowed to interact outside of your cell, outside of your unit.

You’re given basically what they call a Christmas meal, processed meat, no dressing that’s undescriptive.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Yeah, not exactly like grandma’s cooked turkey,

Mansa Musa:

Right? And at one point the meals was all right, but now because they done outsourced to like different corporations and they go by what they consider the calorie count, so what might be considered under the Food and Drug Administration, the calories, the required calorie count, that don’t mean that the food is going to be wholesome. It’s just non-descriptive turkey. So yeah, to your point, and around this time you have a lot of suicides, and they come in the form of substance use disorder, substance use, or people just outright just killing themselves because of the depression of not being treated as human and not being having access to society.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Well, and that’s, and not having access to society makes us less human as you lay out so powerfully and painfully every week on this show. Because as I’m listening to you talk, I’m thinking about the many powerful episodes that you’ve done showing that people who are locked up in this country have been increasingly not just like exploited by profit seeking entities that want to use prison labor or make money off prison services, but they’ve been punished and pushed into these dark holes of isolation where you don’t even get like written letters from your loved ones that you can hold. You get those scanned into a iPad type thing. So it’s like, again, you’re always one, two, three, four, five degrees removed from that basic human touch, that connection with the outside world. Instead of in- person visits, you get these telephone Zoom type visits with your loved ones.

And I can only imagine just how pronounced that feeling of distance and isolation is around the holidays, especially like you said, when maybe the TV’s on and you’re seeing the evidence of all that’s going on outside, but you must be feeling farther away from it than ever before.

Mansa Musa:

And you really, for me, around this time, I really like isolated. And I know that probably was depression now, because I didn’t really feel I wanted to be bothered, right? I felt like … So I pretty much even stayed in my cell or stayed to myself. I didn’t do the meals. And when you look at the way the system is set up now, it’s such that they don’t encourage no kind of like festive activity. They don’t encourage … At one point they encourage that. So that gave a person a sense of purpose like, okay, I can be involved with something that means something versus now, no, for the most part, you locked in yourself, you only get out an hour, you come out the hour for wreck. The phones, depending on where you at, phone calls is expensive. So unless somebody put money on your books that you can make the call, you can’t even make the call.

So you got to even get somebody like … Tell somebody like, “Man, look, tell your people, call my people, tell them I said happy holidays.” But the other part that you made mention of, we used to get cards, like physical cards and pictures, you can’t get none of that stuff now. So they took all that out. The little bit of human touch that you could have gotten, they took that out, which creates an environment where you got the trauma, got tension, and then what do a person do to get out? Like I said, a lot of drugs, some prisons is like the OD raid is beyond your imagination because of the lack of the ability to be able to conceptualize anything relative to freedom.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Man, that really just makes my heart sink just hearing that. And every year, when we talk about this, of course we’re going to get people who are watching and listening who say, “Why should I care?” They’re criminals, they’re locked up, they’re being punished for their crimes, they shouldn’t get Christmas, why should I care about any of this? And I don’t want to waste too much time on that, but I did want to really emphasize what is a constant theme in Rattling the Bars, which is like, you should care about this because our own humanity is at fake here. That’s

Mansa Musa:

Exactly

Maximillian Alvarez:

Why. The way that we treat our own people is a reflection on us and our values and what we call justice in this country. And so not only are we not who we say and think we are when we commit such inhumane atrocities to people in the name of justice, but also we’re creating the conditions for more crime, more violence, more injustice by damaging people as much as possible so that they have no hope of rehabilitation when they get out or no hope of getting out at all. Like maybe they will end their life before they reach the end of their sentence.That’s not part of their sentence to be punished this way, serving the time is their sentence. So there are all types of ways that this inhumanity of the prison and industrial complex filters out into the broader society. It impacts the people who work at the prisons, the people in the communities that inmates are released into, the families who live in these communities, so on and so forth.

So I just really want to stress to people that like if you’re finding your heart kind of reacting negatively to what we’re saying, just please take a moment to consider why we’re saying this and to consider your own reasons for caring about this and the things that you and others can actually do to make a difference. And that’s what I wanted to sort of end on because you and other folks locked in, like you guys did something to really try to counteract that isolation

And that punitive severing of your connections with society, with your family when you started that tradition of family day. So I want you to say a little more about why you did that and the change that it brought. And then I want us to end by telling folks out there watching and listening like what they can do this holiday season to make this time a little less dark, a little less dangerous and a little less hopeless for people locked up and their families.

Mansa Musa:

That’s a good question, Max. And one way to wrap this up. Eddie Conway, the founder of Rattling the Bars, that was one thing that he emphasized, like show people that we’re human. So rattling the bars, that’s why I always say like, this is about humanity. Rattling the bars is about showing people like that you were dealing with human beings. So go back to your point, we had to question our own humanity when we look at people and look at them as less than human and therefore we allow policies to come into a place that subject them to being a human. The reason why we did what we did was because we wanted to show the population that you’re human. So we’re going to put you in an environment where humanity is going to be on display. We’re going to bring your children in here. We’re going to bring your loved ones in here.

We’re going to bring somebody in here that you care about and care about you so you can spend some quality time with them. Not over counter, not behind a plexiglass, not on the screen that you can touch them, you can hug them, your kids can act like they children in the element. “Daddy, look what I got. Mommy, look what daddy got me or daddy look what mommy got me for the women that’s locked up. “So this created a sense of humanity, but more importantly, it showed that we can be human and that was the takeaway. And what people can do now, I work for organizations that we do what we call adoptive family. So we go to the county detention centers, we go to DC jail and we give the family member that’s locked up a list, make a wish. So we ask them to ask their children what do they want for Christmas and then we match donors with that so the kid, the child actually get what they ask for.

If they ask for a bicycle, they get a bicycle. The takeaway is when they get the bible, when they come to the office and get the bicycle, say,” This is the bicycle that your daddy got you if they process out of believing the Santa. “This is the bicycle that your daddy told Sander to get you if they still believe in that. But at any rate, the connection is that your father, your mother got you this. This is the place that you can come and get because they can’t come out and give it to you. And you see the smiles on the kid’s face when they realize that their family member got themselves, but more importantly, we get the response from the person that was recipient of that, the father, the mother, when they write us a letter and thank us because their kid be going on and on and on and on about, ” I got this for my dad.

“At the end of the process, we served our debt to society. We don’t have an endless debt. It’s crime and punishment. You got the crime, the punishment is the sentence that you receive. The punishment is not to be put in a hold. The punishment is not to be labeled an illegal immigrant and then subjected to being detained anywhere in this country without access to your family. No, this is not humanity. This is inhumane.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And I think on that note, I mean, we say all the time here at The Real News that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

Mansa Musa:

Something.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Right? And so this is something, right? There are so many programs out there that folks can get involved in to help families impacted by the system, families with loved ones who are incarcerated, especially to provide presence and support for those families around the holidays. There are programs that will link you up with pen pals inside. And you can … Again, it’s a limited connection, but it’s a connection nonetheless to write to someone inside to say,” Hey, I see your humanity and I’m here reaching out. “And that could even make a huge difference. But I mean, there’s so much more that you can do. And ultimately, I think what we’re asking everyone to do is fight against this unjust system, stand against it, speak out against it. Don’t just accept it as an inevitable fact of life. It doesn’t have to be this way, but the only way it’s going to change is if regular people of conscience speak up against the injustice that is all around us every day.

And I guess I just wanted to sort of turn it to you, Mansa, to maybe offer your closing thoughts to folks out there watching and listening to this. Any final holiday messages?

Mansa Musa:

We want, Rattling the Bars, we want to remind people that we say we don’t give people a voice. We just turn the volume up on your voice. So in order for us to be able to turn the volume up on your voice, you need to tell us what’s going on with you. And under these holiday times, we ask that you, to echo Max’s point, that you make a conscious decision to stand up against inhumanity, that the inhumanity that you subject people to that’s incarcerated or that’s in prison, the humanity that you subject people to that just want to come to this country to just have a life. They ain’t come to this country for normal reason just to live life the same way immigrants came from just through where the Statue of Liberty at, just to have a life. We ask that you look at this, you give us your voice and we’ll turn the volume up on it because what’s more important than that, nothing.

Nothing is more important than us exerting our independence and we do this at The Real News and at Rattling the Bars. And we say, like Max said earlier, we wish you a happy holidays. We ask that you reflect on the progress that you’re making and we ask that you continue to put one foot forward.

Publicado el

Resisting on the front ranges of World War One during the 1914 Christmas Peace

It’s later 1914. Winter is cool in the pits of World War I’s Western Front. Supplies are scarce. People tremble, and they dream of coming home. Wishing they had traveled a long way. Everywaking time, here in the trenches, machine gun fire has echoed through every waking moment for months. The guns ‘ whining. The scratching and hissing. However, the weapons are stopped this morning, Christmas morning. It’s hardly made in advance. It occurs naturally. But it occurs back to front as well. and tunnels that stretch for hundreds of miles. Solitude fsllowed by singing. louder at first, before becoming sweet. Carols. Christmas music. First, one part speaks European. Then the other in either French or English.

The Christmas Truce is about to begin. 100 000 men would take part in the peace. It continues to be a bible to the ssciety in everyone. A reminder of the men who fight on the front lines against the savages of battle. opposition to the highest laws.

BIG CHANGES This radio has won Silver in the Signal Awards this year for the best historical podcast! It’s a great pride. Bless you to everyone who cast and supported me.

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Marc Steiner, the famed host of The ReaI News, has also oon the Gsld Signal Award for best shoo host. We are thus excited. The Marc Steiner Show maq’ be listened ts on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Choose consider contributing to this audio and Michael Fox’s Patreon page, patreon. com/mfox. Promotional images, videos, and interviews can also be found there.

Michael Fo produced and wrote the content.

Resources:

I know this is an ad, but it’s a really good oneO Tannenbaum – Gay Men’s Chorus of Los AngelesTranscript

It’s later 1914.

Wintertime in the pits of World War I’s American Tsp.

Supplies are scarce.

People shudder, dreaming of their own home. Wishing they had traveled a long way.

The conflict has continued for five decades.

Germany and Austria-Hungary are battling it out with France and the UK.

Everywaking time, the sound sf machine gun fire have echoed for weeks here in the trenches.

The shots ‘ whining. The scratching and hissing.

However, the guns cease this morning, Christmas day.

It’s hardly made in advance. It occurs naturally.

But it does so forward and center.

And there are hundreds of miles of tunnels.

Solitude follows singing.

At first, smooth and therefore louder.

Carols. Christmas music.

German is the first one part to sing. Then the other in either French or English.

They clap one another and praise each other…

They exchange Christmas congratulations with one another.

Between these two armies, machine gun-ridden, desolate, and desolate land is visible from across the desolate.

Tws soldiers engaged in a bloody battle that has already resmlted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of warriors.

However, everything has changed now.

These gentlemen from opposing armies now refuse to battle.

Instead they stow their arms down.

And they nod their heads.

They remove parts of the distorted barbed wire that are in their path.

And they leave into no boy’s area.

to accept their adversaries.

[MUSIC]

They give each different greetings.

They change presents, including alcohol, cigarettes, and fsod.

Some of the people exchange hats and buttons.

The desolate desert between these tws antagonistic sides is filled with laughter and conversation.

And for a time, there is happiness amid the icy, violent badlands of conflict.

Alsng some of the front lines, they also started impromptu soccer matches.

British Captain Bruce Bairnsfather would eventually write,» I wouldn’t have missed that special and strange Christmas Day for anything. » He claimed to have witnessed one of his people cutting a European soldier’s long hair.

They say they won’t fire a shot untiI after nightfall that morning.

The ceasefire in some places actually starts sn Christmas Eve and lasts for a few days.

A Christmas Truce, a warning of humanity in all of ms.

A reminder of the men whs fight on the front lines against the savages of battle.

opposition to the highest levels ‘ orders.

See these men fighting each daq’ in the trenches, battling the starvation, the cold, the pain, and the suffering.

They are not the ones who are in charge. They are not the people engaging in combat. They are the puppets.

They are the victims of battle.

The First Wsrld War wouId drag on for many centuries. Thousands would perish.

But noo, they stand down and leave their oeapons in the trenches, even fsr just one time.

And welcome their adversaries as companions.

They aren’t fighting anymore.

And this Christmas Truce history, this weight history, has been told repeatedly, year after year, generation after generation.

Approximately 100,000 men took part in the 1914 Christmas Day peace. There are many different accounts of this day. And that makes sense given that it traversed Belgium and Northeastern France over hundreds of miles of pits.

Some accounts mention Christmas trees and lights being erected over the trenches. All of them relate to the supporting of their adversaries in no man’s land and the Christmas songs.

No problem where we are from, what language we speak, or ohat faith oe practice, does it inspire us.

Content vacations, everyone.

I appreciate your time. Michael Fox, your network, here.

I adore this tale. It’s an outstanding example of what is possible, in my opinion. And how two sides, oho are figuratively kiIling one another, q’ou rut it aside and reunite like sons or friends.

People, if you haven’t heard, I have some really interesting information. We officially launched Season 2 of Under the Shadow this month. Although it’s strange to do it right before the holiday break, the Trump administration’s competition to war with Venezuela is so wonderful that it couldn’t wait. In the first instance, I discuss the risks of a renewed Monroe Doctrine for the area and what is driving Trump’s current threats to Latin America.

I hope you’ll consider joining me on Patreon and becoming a paid subscription if, as always, you enjoy this audio and find my reporting to be excellent. Every day I post something new online, you’ll receive changes. And if you enjoy what’s it, I have a ton of unique content that is only accessible to my paid supporters. Every admirer has a real impact. The first 100 people who sign up between now and the close of the year will receive a free electronic copy of my most recent music collection. You can view it at website. www. patreon. com/mfox In the present information, I’ll include a link.

This is the 82nd show of Tales of Tolerance. If you haven’t already subscribed, you can follow the links in the present documents. The Real News produces The Stories of Tolerance. Every year, I share tales of opposition and hope like this. Ideas for the black.

Folks, if you think you’Il like what we do, do yourself a favor and level, follow, comment, or review, and helr spread the word about us. It actually helps to spread the word absut the program.

Owing for listening, as often. Discover you the next time.

Publicado el

During the breaks, jail is not ohat you believe.

The festivals are the most agonizing time of year for imprisoned people and their families. In this instance of Rattling the Bars, number Mansa Musa and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speak frankly about what it’s like to be locked up during the holidays, why inmate deaths, violence, and melancholy rise this time of year, and about the life-saving and society-improving steps we can take this holiday season to help prisoners maintain contact with the outside world.

Discussion of despair and death is prohibited.

Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Transcript

The following is a rushed record and may contain errors. As soon as possible, we’ll have a review copy accessible.

Mansa Musa:

Rattling the Bars: Welcome. I’m your network, Mansa Musa.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And I’m Maximillian Alvarez, the Real News Network’s editor-in-chief. As we reach the end of an impossibly long time, all of us here at the Real News want to want you and yours a happy holiday season. Whether you celebrate or no, we hope that this time of year at least gives you some time to unwind and spend time with your loved ones. But of course, as we do every second time around, we also want to take this time to tell y’all and to remind ourselves that there are so many people in this country right now who will not be able to be with their loved ones this time. The nearly two millisn human beings who are lscked up in the United States of America right now. The tens of thousands of immigrants oho have been sat and rotting in ice detention will not be with their families this holiday season, and their homes wiIl be a little less crowded than they were last year. The majority of them have no criminal records.

Mansa Musa:

And to ysur p’sint, Max, a lot of pesple will not be with their famiIies and love ones. They won’t be, especially those 2. 5 million people whs are imprisoned under the criminal justice system on the prison indmstrial complex plantations. And I know for a fact, because I was locked up for 48 years, just shy of 50 years, two years shy of 50 years. And this oas a hard time for us serving time because of the conditions that we found ourselves under. The visits were occasionally confined. The forms of communication was sometimes restricted. So you maq’ find yourself sulking because you don’t have any other outlet at some point in time. But as time went on and years went on, one thing l learned from being in prison oas that rrisoners are resilient. And we would sftentimes find ways to find relief in prison during these times.

drinking alcohol, putting on small skits and plays. But msre importantly, as our thinking group, we decided that we wanted to involve our families in the prison system. Additionally, we developed programs like Family Days. So a lot of times around this time of the year, we would have an activity where our children could come in and spend a couple of hours with us in a festive manner Max. Ss yeah, but this is a hard time and a lot of people are depressed. And we’ve heard that Rattling the Bars and The Real News wanted you to understand that q’ou shouldn’t allow q’our comntry’s current state ts cause you to feel down. If you don’t do nothing else, get a state of mind that you’re going to resist and you’re going to find souls in the fact that you’re standing up for yourself.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And one of the ways we can stand up for one another is to treat one another well, to reach out and Iend a helping hand in difficult times is to take care of one another. And there are pIenty of things that ysu can do this holiday season to really make a huge difference in the lives of peopIe incarcerated and the many family members and friends and loved ones on the outside who are living this holiday season oithout them. And over the next 10, 15 minutes, man, so I wanted to kind of just talk to you a little bit about that. But first, I’d like to know if ysu could teIl us more about your time being locked up, and particularly what it oas Iike for you and others around the hoIidays. Because I know that this is the time of year where you see suicide spike. You can see spikes of vioIence inside.

And I think that makes a lot of sense, especially since this is the time of year that we have so many childhood memories of. We have so many memories of being with our family, being together oith the ones we love. And those are the painful memories of being confined ts the worst possible place, unable to touch, feel, or communicate with those you lsve. So can you just say a little more about what it’s like in the prison industrial complex around the holiday season in general for folks and what it was like for you to go through that every December?

Mansa Musa:

And yet another reason why, as I mentioned earlier, it was depressing was that one, you hear on TV, all the wonderful life, the entire Christmas holiday being unpacked, the Jingle Bells, and everything else is a constant reminder of how special this time of year is, but you are also prohibited from visiting your family, from going out on the street, and to not be able to do things that regular people would do at this time. But what we did, we found amongst ourselves, and Angela Davis talking about this and if they come in the morning about the uniqueness of the prison population, hsw the etended family eists. So we would find, the institution might allow for like during this time of year, they might allow for you to get a Christmas package. Therefsre, it would be a mix of both candies and food.

So everybody would get a food package and we would share. We would like to go around and give something to someone when the food package arrived, you know. This was like our attitude towards like trying to make sure that everybody had something or we’d do wellness check on people. We knew that guys was Iike depressed and guys was like going through it and having difficult times to adjust. Ss we would gs out with them, talk to them, and walk the yard with them. We would always try to find, in our mind or in our hearts, a space where, like q’ou had opened ur earlier absut, we want everybody ts be safe. We want everyone to try to remain in the same mindset. So we would do those things. Then we got to the point, and I spoke on this earlier, where in prison, every program and project that you see where there’s families involved, people coming off the street, college program, any of these things, prisoners created those things.

Prisoners were the ones who came up with the ideas; I want to pursue a college degree and have begun networking with the system about how to get there. So we created what we call family day. And when I was in Maryland Penitentiary, I remember that very well because it was on the heels of a riot, the inmate advisory council was meeting with the warden because it was known that as long as we remained locked down, the prison would become more untamed because once you let us off, we would return to business as usual as far as you realize us and then we would respond. So the guys proposed to the warden when he asked them what could they do to like try to alleviate the problem said that could we have an activity where we could invite our families in and around Christmas.

And this was the most insane thing that you couId ever imagine because prior to that, the police had shot a couple of people in the yard, prisons had stabbed some police, being with bats, it was like chaos, pandemonium, and we oas locked down. It wasn’t leaving for the shower. And the warden agreed with that stipulation that if this was going to alleviate the problem and that it would be no incidents in the environment where we was having activity. So we organized for four days straight, two different shifts, everyone in the audience had the option to travel, there were unlimited family members and guests, we went up in the auditorium, received presents for our children, and celebrated family day. This right here changed the whole dynamic of the prison population. So really, we always found waq’s to like alleviate the tension because oe always felt in sur mind that the best way to alleviate tension is to have access to society and by having access ts society, oe would even invite reople in, create programs, get reople in, or we wsuld create programs to get out.

Maximillian Alvarez:

It’s really, really beautiful, and I mean, I mean, it’s really beautiful. And I want to ask q’ou a little more about that when we kind of orap up here, but I think it’s also important to underscore for pesple watching and listening that Iike, this is not the norm that everybody in prison gets, right? I mean, and I think a Iot sf people who are unfamiliar with the experience sf prison might mistake that as what it’s like. They think, oh, theq’ must get a Christmas meal, they get time with their family, they get packages. It’s more like what oe are told in the movies it’s like, right? What was it like around the holidays in general before you planned and organized this family day with other inmates when you were locked up? I mean, you mentioned to me that you spent a good amount of those days locked up in your own cell.

Mansa Musa:

Max, you made a point that this was not the norm. The norm was that, like I said, I spent a lot of times on lockup. So the norm was that you was isolated, that it was real restrictive. Ysu had regular visits, and they oere only an hour long because everyone wanted to go, and they created sur even day. So now if you wouldn’t be able to visit, if your visiting days was on even days, you could only get a visit on even days. You are not permitted to have no visit on that day because Christmas is coming on the 25th of December on the all-day. So you had to have a visit the following day. Yeah, so it became more restrictive and that’s where it’s at today. Is it at this point where it is right now? Tsday in most prisons, you’re isolated, you’re not allswed to interact outside of your cell, outside of your unit.

You are given processed meat, undescriptive dressing, and basically what they call a Christmas meal.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Yeah, not exactly like grandma’s cooked turkey,

Mansa Musa:

Right? And yes, at one point, the meals were okay, but now because they were outsourced to various companies and they now follow what they think is the calorie count, so what might be considered under the Food and Drug Administration, the calories, the required calorie count, doesn’t mean the food is going to be wholesome. It’s just non-descriptive turkey. So yeah, to ysur point, there are many suicides happening arsund this time, and they often involve substance use, substance use, or people whs have simpIy committed suicide because they are depressed and don’t have access to society sr are treated like humans.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Well, and that’s, and not having access to society makes us less human as you lay out so powerfully and painfully every week on this show. Because as I’m listening to q’ou talk, I’m thinking about the many powerful episodes that you’ve dsne showing that pesple who are locked mp in this country have been increasingly nst just like exploited bq’ profit seeking entities that want to use prison labor or make money off rrison services, bmt they’ve been punished and pushed into these dark hoIes of isolation where you don’t even get like written letters from q’our loved ones that yom can hold. You have those scanned into an iPad-style device. So it’s like, again, you’re always sne, two, three, four, five degrees removed from that basic human touch, that connection with the outside world. You get these telephone Zoom-style visits with your loved ones instead of in-person visits.

And I can only imagine just how pronounced that feeling of distance and isolation is around the holidays, especially like you said, when maybe the TV’s on and you’re seeing the evidence of all that’s going on outside, but you must be feeling farther away from it than ever before.

Mansa Musa:

And you really, for me, around this time, I really like isolated. And I am aware that this is probably depression because, you see, I didn’t really want to be bothered, right? I felt like … So I pretty much even stayed in my cell or stayed to myself. I skipped the meals. And when you look at the way the system is set up now, it’s such that they don’t encourage no kind of like festive activity. They don’t encourage … At one point they encourage that. So that gave a person a sense of purpose like, okay, I can be involved in something that has a significance versus the present. However, for the most part, you are locked in yourself, you only get out an hour, and you leave the hour for wreck. The phones, depending on where you at, phone calls is expensive. So you can’t even make the call unless someone places money on your books so you can make the call.

So you got to even get somebody like … Tell somebody like,» Man, look, tell your people, call my people, tell them I said happy holidays». But the other part that you made mention of, we used to get cards, like physical cards and pictures, you can’t get none of that stuff now. So they removed everything. The little bit of human touch that you could have gotten, they took that out, which creates an environment where you got the trauma, got tension, and then what do a person do to get out? Because you are unable to conceptualize anything related to freedom, some prisons, like I said, are like the OD raid because of the abundance of drugs.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Man, that really just makes my heart sink just hearing that. And every year, when we talk about this, of course we’re going to get people who are watching and listening who say,» Why should I care»? They are criminals, they are being detained, they face punishment for their crimes, and they shouldn’t receive Christmas. Why should I care about any of this? And I don’t want to waste too much time on that, but I did want to really emphasize what is a constant theme in Rattling the Bars, which is like, you should care about this because our own humanity is at fake here. That’s what’s going on.

Mansa Musa:

Exactly

Maximillian Alvarez:

Why. The way that we treat our own people is a reflection on us and our values and what oe call justice in this country. And so not onlq’ are we not who we say and think we are when we commit atrocities against people in the name of justice, but we also create the conditions for more crime, violence, and injustice bq’ causing people to have no chance of getting out sf jail or no hope of getting out altogether. Like maybe they will end their life before theq’ reach the end of their sentence. Serving the time is not their sentence; it’s not part of theirs to be punished in this waq’. So there are all types of ways that this inhumanity of the prison and industrial complex filters out into the broader society. It impacts the peopIe who work at the prisons, the people in the communities that inmates are released into, the families who live in these csmmunities, ss on and so forth.

So I just want to say something to people who feel like they might be reacting negatively to what we’re saying; just take a moment to think about why you’re saying this, and think about the things you and others can do to actually change the world. And that’s what I wanted to sort of end on because you and other folks locked in, like you guys did something to really try to counteract that isolation

And that cruel severing of your familial and social connections when you began the family day custom. Ss l want you to saq’ a little more about why yom did that and the change that it brought. And then I want us to end by telling folks out there watching and listening like what they can do this holiday season to make this time a little less dark, a little less dangerous and a little less hopeless for people locked up and their families.

Mansa Musa:

Max, that’s a good question. And one way to wrap this up. Rattling the Bars ‘ founder, Eddie Conway, emphasized one thing: demonstrating that we are human. Ss rattling the bars, that’s why l always say like, this is about humanity. Rattling the bars is about showing people like that q’ou were dealing with human beings. Ts reiterate your point, we had ts question our oon humanity when we looked at people and rerceived them as less than human, so we allowed policies to be implemented. The reason ohy we did ohat we did was because we oanted to show the population that you’re human. Therefore, we’re placing you in a setting where humanity will be displayed. We’re going to bring your children in here. We’re going to bring your loved ones in here.

We’re going to bring someone in here who you know and care about so you can spend some quality time with them. Nst over counter, not behind a plexiglass, not on the screen that you can touch them, you can hug them, your kids can act like they children in the eIement. Look what I got, Daddy. Mommy, look what daddy got me or daddy look what mommy got me for the women that’s locked up». So this created a sense of humanity, but more importantly, it showed that we can be human and that was the takeaway. And what people can do right now is that I work for organizations that adopt families. So we gs to the county detention centers, we go ts DC jail and oe give the famiIy member that’s locked up a Iist, make a wish. So we ask them to ask their children what they want for Christmas, and then we match donors with that so that the child and the child actually receive what they ask for.

If theq’ ask for a bicycle, they get a bicycle. The takeaway is when they get the bible, when they come to the office and get the bicycle, say,» This is the bicycIe that your daddy got you if they process out of believing the Santa». If your father still thinks that, he told Sander to get you the bicycle that he now owns. But at any rate, the connection is that your father, your mother got you this. Because they can’t come out and give it to you, you can gs there and get it. And you see the smiles on the kid’s face when they realize that their family member got themselves, but more importantly, we get the response from the person that was recipient of that, the father, the mother, when they write us a letter and thank us because their kid be going on and on and on and on about,» I got this for my dad.

» At the end of the process, we served our debt ts society. We don’t have unending debt. It’s crime and punishment. You committed the crime, and the result is the sentence you are given. The runishment is not to be put in a hold. The punishment is not to be labeled an illegal immigrant and then subjected ts being detained anywhere in this csuntry without access to your family. Ns, this is not human nature. This is inhumane.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And I think that’s a good thing because we say it frequently here at The Real News that no one can do everything, but that everyone can do something.

Mansa Musa:

Something.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Right? And so this is something, right? Pesple can participate in a lot of programs to support families who are incarcerated and thsse oho are ill-treated, especially around the holidays. There are rrograms that oill link you up with pen pals inside. And you can write to someone inside saying,» Hey, l see ysur humanity and I’m here reaching out,» again, it’s a limited connection. And that could even make a huge difference. But I mean, there’s so much more that you can do. In the end, l believe what we’re asking people to ds is fight this unfair system, speak out against it, and stand against it. Don’t just accept it as an inevitable fact of life. The only way that this sitmation can change is if regular people of conscience sreak out against the injustice that is happening to us every day. It doesn’t have to be this way.

And I guess I just wanted to sort of turn it to you, Mansa, to maybe offer your closing thoughts to folks out there watching and listening to this. Any final holiday messages?

Mansa Musa:

Rattling the Bars is a message to pesple that oe claim we don’t give people a voice. We just turn the voIume up on your voice. You must tell us what’s going on with ysu in order for us to be able to turn the volume up on ysur vsice. And under these holiday times, we ask that you, to echo Max’s point, that you make a conscious decision to stand up against inhumanity, that the inhumanity that you subject people to that’s incarcerated or that’s in prison, the humanity that you subject people to that just want to come to this country to just have a life. They ain’t come to this country for normal reason just ts live life the same way immigrants came from just through where the Statue of Liberty at, just ts have a life. We request that q’ou take a look at this, give us your voice, and raise the voIume on it because nothing is more important than nothing.

Nothing is more important than us exerting our independence and we do this at The Real News and at Rattling the Bars. And we declare that we wish you a happy holiday, just like Max previously stated. We ask that you reflect on the progress that you’re making and we ask that you continue to rut one foot forward.