Hear from Rattling the Cages creators Eric King, Sara Falconer, and Josh Davidson about creating this oral history project, the importance of inside-outside collaboration, and how replicating these oral histories is something you can do, too. Members of the Certain Days calendar collective, Sara and Josh talk about a quarter century of creating this calendar, building relationships with our political prisoners, and why our support matters.

Published by AK Press, Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners is a project of abolitionists Josh Davidson and Eric King. The book is filled with the experience and wisdom of over thirty current and former North American political prisoners. It provides first-hand details of prison life and the political commitments that continue to lead prisoners into direct confrontation with state authorities and institutions.

If you missed the previous panel discussions you can watch the recordings here.

Eric King is a father, poet, author, and activist. In December 2023 he was released from the supermax ADX prison after spending nearly ten years as a political prisoner for an act of protest over the police murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He was held in solitary confinement for years and was met with violence by guards throughout his incarceration. Eric has published three zines: Battle Tested (2015), Antifa in Prison (2019), and Pacing in My Cell (2019). His sentencing statement is included in the book Defiance: Anarchist Statements Before Judge and Jury (2019). Eric now works as a paralegal for the Bread and Roses Legal Center.

Sara Falconer is a communications strategist living in Hamilton, Ontario. She has been creating publications with prisoners since 2001, including the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar. Sara wrote the introduction to Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners.

Josh Davidson is an abolitionist, a member of the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar collective, and also part of the Children’s Art Project with political prisoner Oso Blanco. Josh edited Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners. He works in communications with the Zinn Education Project, which promotes the teaching of radical people’s history in classrooms and provides free lessons and resources for educators.