Overview

Title:	To Say Their Own Word prison program collection
Call Number:	Coll335
Creator:	Conway, Marshall, 1946- Vogel, Brenda, 1938- The Real News Network
Dates:	1979-1980
Size:	430 GB
Language:	English
Abstract:	This collection contains 29 digital video and 29 digital audio recordings from the “To Say Their Own Word” prison program (430 GB). Each recording features a speaker, consisting of professors, scholars, journalists, and social activists, as well as incarcerated audience members, detailing topics surrounding the U.S. carceral system and its social consequences. The program sessions were originally recorded on VHS tape between 1979 and 1980 and were digitized and described by The Real News Network in 2022.
Citation:	To Say Their Own Word prison program collection, Collection 335, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

Administrative/Biographical Note

Between 1979 and 1980, Marshall “Eddie” Conway (1946-2023) helped organize a prisoner’s educational outreach program called, “To Say Their Own Word,” a 50-week program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Correctional Libraries of the Maryland State Department of Education, where thinkers and scholars came to Maryland Penitentiary to speak about topics like U.S. fascism, the prison-industrial complex, capitalism, increased surveillance, and other issues. While incarcerated, Conway and other prisoners worked closely with librarian Brenda Vogel, who wrote the grant that funded the “To Say Their Own Word” project. Brenda Vogel was one of the project directors, along with Eddie Conway, a former member of the Black Panther Party and political prisoner during that time.

The Real News Network (TRNN) is a nonprofit media organization primarily committed to digital video journalism. Founded in 2007, TRNN engages people as active participants in the struggle for a better world through cooperation, collaboration, and partnership. Their platform highlights the voices and ideas not just of academics and pundits, but grassroots participants in social movements for change.

Scope & Content

Arrangement

This collection is made up of two series. Series I: Digital Video is kept in original order by donor. Series II: Digital Audio is kept in original order by donor.

Provenance Information

Provenance and Acquisition Information

Accession MSS2022-14.

Related Collections

To Say Their Own Words

Processing Note

The original VHS tapes were held by Brenda Vogel. Al Engerman, Vogel’s widower, loaned the tapes to The Real News Network for digitization in 2022. Funding to summarize the contents of the recordings was provided by the Baltimore Field School.

Original VHS tapes were digitized by Cameron Granadino for The Real News Network. Granadino converted the videos to mp4, created separate mp3 audio files, and recorded file descriptions and keywords. The digital collection was donated to UMBC Special Collections by The Real News Network in 2022. The collection was processed in 2023 by Graduate Assistant Mark Breeding, under the supervision of Archivist Acadia Roher.

Descriptive Rules Used

Describing Archives: a Content Standard (DACS)

Archives Processing Manual: Description (2015)

Access & Use

Finding Aids

Finding aid available.

Access Conditions

This collection is open for research. There are no restricted materials.

Conditions Governing Reproductions and Use

This collection is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu.

Subject Headings

Creators

Conway, Marshall, 1946-

Vogel, Brenda, 1938-

The Real News Network

Baraka, Amiri, 1934-2014

Begus, Otto, 1932-

Benokraitis, Nijole V. (Nijole Vaicaitis)

Braly, Malcolm, 1925-1980

Brown, Alfie

Chambliss, William J.

Cheeks, Robert

Cobb, Charles E., Jr.

Conway, Marshall, 1946-

Cripps, Thomas

Engleman, Abram

Franklin, H. Bruce (Howard Bruce),1934-

Franklin, Jane, 1934-

Goldman, Connie

Gurr, Ted Robert, 1936-

Heard, Nathan C.

Hogan, Michael, 1943-

Johnson, Robert, 1948-

Kozol, Jonathan

McDade, Jesse

Muhammad, Askia

O’Connor, William

Rothman, David J.

Rowan, Bonnie G.

Slater, Philip E. (Philip Elliot), 1927-2013

Spiliadis, Elias

Toland, John

Vogel, Brenda, 1938-

Subjects

Baltimore (Md.)

Capital punishment–Maryland

Civil Rights–United States

Convict labor–United States

Criminology–United States

Incarceration issues

Maryland Penitentiary

Mental Health

Prison-industrial complex

Prison reform

Prisoners–1970-1980

Solitary confinement–United States

Series Description & Container List

Series I: Digital Video

Date: 1979-1980

Description:

Series I: Digital Videos is made up of 29 videos

Folder Title/Description	Date	Box #	Folder #	Additional Info.
Abram Engerman 1979-10-15 Abram Engerman is welcomed to the podium as a Professor of Social Strategies at Antioch University, Baltimore, a communication consultant, and a sensitivity trainer. Drawing from his experience of incarceration in Russian prison camps and studies of institutional analysis, he calls critical attention to the value associated with the words that are used in institutional contexts and management systems. The floor is opened up for questions from the incarcerated audience members to Engleman. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/engerman?share=copy 1:51:20	1979			Description
Johnathan Kozol 1979-10-22 The moderator introduces the speaker Johnathan Kozol, an author of several books including The night is dark and I am far from home. Kozol gives a presentation entitled “Mass Education for Individual Destruction.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1979			Description
Bruce Franklin 1979-10-29 The moderator introduces Dr. Franklin, a pioneering author of prison literature and professor of English at Rutgers. Franklin discusses criminality and the role of prison literature in American society, highlighting a boom in the genre with the release of The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965.	1979			Description
Thomas Cripps 1979-11-12 The guest speaker is Thomas Cripps who is Professor of History at Morgan State University and author of Slow Fade to Black and Black Film as Genre. He traces the evolution of filmmaking alongside the racial dynamics in the United States and discusses the ongoing film project being done with Morgan State University about Black history in Baltimore. A lively discussion erupts when the incarcerated audience members begin to ask questions. Having received a handful of rigorous and contentious questions from the audience members, Cripps ends his time by giving up the microphone with his hands raised, repeating “what’s a minority, it depends on the year.	1979			Description
Malcolm Braly 1979-11-19 The moderator introduces Braly as an ex-convict who is a writer-in-residence at the University of Maryland and author of On the Yard. Braly speaks on his experiences leading up to his conviction, time spent writing in jal, and life after his release prior to watching the movie adaptation of his book.The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/braly?share=copy 1:06:12	1979			Description
Jane Morgan Franklin 1979-11-5 The moderator introduces the speaker Franklin, a movie critic and reviewer, author, and founding member of People for Prisoners’ Art in New Jersey. Franklin gives a presentation entitled “The Camera as Con: Images of Prisoners in the Movies.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1979			Description
Nijole Benokraitis 1979-12-10 The audience members posed questions and comments to the guest speaker Professor Nijole Benokratis about the victimization of women during sexual encounters, the socialization processes that occur within families, and the power dynamics between gender roles. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/benokraitis?share=copy 55:02	1979			Description
Alfie Brown 1979-12-17 Alfie Brown is introduced as the Associate Director of the Urban Arts Project for the Urban Services Agency in Baltimore City, the moderator for the weekly program The Critic’s Place on Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting, and a career actress. She presents an introduction to the conceptualization of women which is explored through the image of the white American woman incarcerated in the 1950s, depicted in the film I Want to Live. The floor is opened up to the incarnated audience members for questions and comments through the end of the video footage.	1979			Description
Eddie Conway Movie Panel 1980-1-14 The panel includes Floyd Payne, Brenda Vogel, Leon Alcott, James Ray Bay, Robert Robertson, and Eddie Conway. The panel discusses the movie Fugitive From a Chain Gang and the book I Am a Fugitive From A Georgia Chain Gang!. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/conway?share=copy 1:15:20	1980			Description
Askia Muhammad 1980-1-21 Muhammad is introduced as a journalist, editor, and correspondent to the National Scene News Bureau and the founder of the Black Journalism Review. His presentation is entitled “Cultural Imprisonment: the Effects of Foreign Policy.” He goes on to discuss the genocidal conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia and the weaponization of United States foreign policy.	1980			Description
Nathan Heard 1980-1-28 The video opens to reflections presented by the incarcerated audience members in response to Heard’s discussion. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/heard?share=copy 38:07	1980			Description
Charlie Cobb 1980-1-7 The moderator introduces the guest speaker Charlie Cobb as an international journalist and correspondent, formerly with Nation Public Radio. He speaks on the topics of regional conflict and the way the world is divided between the development and underdevelopment of the so-called Global North and South. Cobb’s speech is supplemented with graphic photographs of the Rhodesian and Angolan conflicts. As he flips through the slides of photographs, audience members begin to inquire about their contexts. The conversation raises a range of critical questions, some of which speak to the involvement of the United States in these conflicts.	1980			Description
Ted Robert Gurr 1980-10-20 The moderator introduces Gurr as a professor of political science at Northwestern, an expert on political violence in the United States, and author on the topics of crime and punishment in Western society. Gurr presents on relative deprivation in a talk entitled “Discontent: Its social sources and political consequences.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Bob Cheeks 1980-10-27 The moderator introduces Bob Cheeks, a political activist in Baltimore City, Director of the Baltimore Welfare Rights Association, and Chairperson of the People’s Campaign for Rent Control. Cheeks orates a speech on the systemic imprisonment of Black men in Maryland in a presentation entitled “Penitentiary Reverberations.”	1980			Description
Spiladis, Engleman, Heard 1980-10-6 The moderator prompts audience members to think about a question for the upcoming final presentation to conclude a year of humanities talks. Program 50 is named “Legacy and Consequence of Hegemony.” Three speakers returned based on audience reflections, including Abhram Engleman, professor of Social Strategies at Antioch College, Elias Spiladis, a professor and Baltimore mental health worker, and Nathan Seheard, author and former offender. Respectively, the guest speakers participate in a trialogue on “Legacy and Consequence of Hegemony” through the topics of technological hegemony, mental health consequences of cultural hegemony, and existing within and beyond hegemonization. The floor opens up to the incarcerated audience members to pose questions, comments, and discuss with the guest speakers.	1980			Description
David Rothman 1980-2-11 The moderator introduces the speaker Dr. Rothman, a professor of history, works at the Center for Policy Research, and is the co-director of the project on community alternatives for the mentally disabled. Dr. Rothman discusses the history of US prisons and prisoners’ rights. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Michael Hogan 1980-2-18 The moderator introduces the speaker Michael Hogan, an author, editor, and teacher who spent nine years in prison. Hogan discusses the movie Straight Time. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/hogan?share=copy 58:06	1980			Description
Abram Engerman 1980-2-25 The video opens to a Q and A session held in response to the Abram Engerman’s presentation on eligibility and distinctions.	1980			Description
Jesse McDade 1980-3-17 The moderator introduces McDade, a host of the University Forum, professor of philosophy at Morgan State University, author, and social activist. McDade gives a presentation entitled “The Prison Trinity: Myth, Macho, and Magic.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Bonnie Rowan 1980-3-24 Rowan uses Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp to discuss rhetoric, filmmaking in the 20th century, and comedy as a tool to approach hard topics. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/rowan?share=copy 55:15	1980			Description
John Toland 1980-3-31 The moderator introduces the speaker as Dr. Toland, a professor of sociology who teaches criminology at Towson State University and a coordinator of a law enforcement and corrections programs. Dr. Toland discusses criminology and the role of prisons. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Will Chambliss 1980-4-14 The moderator introduces Heard (11: 25), sociologist from the University of Delaware and author of One the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents. Chambliss discusses the power of organized crime in the United States. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Philip Slater 1980-4-21 The moderator introduces the speaker Philip Slater, an author, actor, playright, and a former professor at Harvard and Brandeis universities. Slater discusses organization and governance in a presentation entitled “The celling of self and others.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Bob Johnson 1980-5-26 The moderator reflects on the successes and reception in different locations of the program. She then introduces Robert Johnson, an associate professor of Justice at American University and the author of Culture of Confinement and Control. Johnson discusses capital punishment, the environment of death row, and the ethics of crime and punishment. The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Bruce Franklin 1980-6-9 The video opens to a group of incarcerated men being called to gather behind the speaker’s podium to acknowledge their contribution to the existence of the program itself. The floor is opened up to audience members to hear responses about the copy of Blood in My Eye that was distributed within the prison and the viewing of Black August. The moderator introduces Dr. Bruce Franklin (1 hour and 40 minutes into the video) as the author of The Victim as Criminal and Artist and a professor of English and American Literature at Rutgers University. The topic of his speech is “Convicts as American Political Leaders: From Malcolm X, Killed 1965, to George Jackson, Killed 1971.” Informed by the two aforementioned historical figures, he articulates how fascism operates within the American Empire. The microphone opens up to audience reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Amiri Baraka 1980-9-1 This video features response to the presentation given by Aimiri Baraka. The incarcerated audience members step up the microphone to discuss the prison industrial complex with Baraka. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/baraka?share=copy 31:53	1980			Description
Otto Begas 1980-9-15 The moderator introduces the speaker Otto Begas, a professor of philosophy at Morgan State and author. Begas discusses freedom of choice in a presentation entitled “To be or not to be free: Whose choice is it?” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions.	1980			Description
Bill O’ Connor 1980-9-22 The moderator introduces Bill O’Connor as a professor of sociology and urban affairs at the Community College of Baltimore, poet, and political activist. Connor presents on the topic entitled “Tacit Approval: An invitation to Holocaust.” The microphone opens up to the incarcerated audience members for reflections and questions. Key words: power, wealth, experts, Holocaust https://youtu.be/Sn32HtxaLyU 2:37:38	1980			Description
Constance Goldman 1980-9-29 The moderator introduces Goldman, a correspondent for National Public Radio, journalist, producer, and media specialist. After a showing of Convicts 4, based on the book by John Resko, Goldman reflects with the audience on the movie. https://vimeo.com/user152026666/goldman?share=copy 1:16:35	1980			Description

Series II: Digital Audio