Naptown People’s Radio

Elkhart Community Outraged after Cops Kill 17-Year-Old

Kayla Cowels, an organizer in Elkhart, Indiana joins the show this week to discuss the Feb. 8 killing of 17-year-old Bryan Ramirez Gomez, who died after cops Nicholas Ragsdale and Thomas Breneman shot him in a park.
Prompted by the April 8 nationwide day of action against the U.S. war on Iran, Dani Abdullah opens up our Naptown Breakdown by asking her co-host Derek Ford why, with all of the issues we face in this city, it's still necessary to keep up the fight to end the war. Their discussion brings out several reasons why we must keep the global situation in mind in our analysis and actions. They also cover the long-standing epidemic of fires in Indiana State Prison that have killed several inmates and are finally getting media attention before touching on Joe Hogsett's attempt to put the final nail in the coffin on Indianapolis' public schools.
For our main segment, Dani speaks with Kayla Cowels. A mutual and direct aid organizer in the Elkhart area and a PSL member, Kayla are other comrades are working closely with the family to get justice for Bryan Ramirez Gomez. That justice includes countering the Elkhart police department's lies and attempts to slander Gomez. Kayla speaks about who Bryan really was, describing his compassionate nature and outgoing personality, before addressing ways that listeners can help in the struggle.
Dani gives the Circle City Shout out to Haki Kweli Shakur, an organizer, historian, and revolutionary leader in the New Afrikan Independence Movement. In addition to serving as the National Spokesperson for the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika and for the August 3rd Collective, Haki is playing an active role in building the New Afrikan Freedom Campaign, a new initiative that is increasingly attracting younger people to the struggle for liberation.
Support Justice for Bryan:
Petition for an Independent Investigation for Bryan Axel Ramirez-GomezFamily GoFundMeVolunteer Signup FormVolunteer Contact: J4B.LLB@gmail.com
Show Notes:
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Free Lamonte Thomas Now! Justice for Jamar Thomas!

We're honored to have Veronika Williams and Keanda Young, loved ones of Jamar and Lamonte Thomas, join Naptown People's Radio this week to debunk the IMPD's lies and correct the media's narratives about the March 7 shooting downtown.
Our Naptown Breakdown covers IMPD Patrol Officer Gary Francis Hadden's assault on Noah Leininger, one of the organizers of the anti-ICE protest over the weekend. After an unknown man grabbed Leininger "rudely and insolently" before stealing his microphone, he saw it was a cop. Hadden told Leininger to give his badge number (H8306) and doubled-down when nearby City-County Councilor Jesse Brown asked him to do the same. As an organizer with a decade of experience in the city, Leininger told the cops “I'm sure this is not going to go anywhere. I have I have no faith in this, resulting in any discipline for this guy, but sure, I’ll try.” Hadden tried telling Leininger he needed a permit for the assembly, which wasn’t true. Nor was the demonstration blocking any points of ingress or egress for passersby and the roads were open for pedestrians. It was clearly the topic of the protest that triggered Hadden and his blue line.
There's good reason to keep in the streets against ICE. On April 27, ICE confirmed Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old immigrant, died the at the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana. According to an ABC News analysis of ICE data, this marks the 46th documented death of an immigrant detainee held in federal custody during the first 14 months of the second Trump presidency. We emphasize documented because we have heard from previous show guest Josi "Danny" Ortiz that he has seen his fellow inmates of whatever status rolled out as he was told it was "natural causes."
Our main segment features Stephen Lane, of the Indiana Black Librarians Network and PSL Indianapolis, interviewing Veronika Williams and Keanda Young about the story the police tried to bury and the media made no efforts to contest. The enlightening interview occurred just after the press conference organized by the Thomas family and the Indianapolis Liberation Center on April 2, which was the first time the media heard the truth. Veronika and Keandra came tot he Center to get the truth out there because after the shooting on March 7, one of their loved ones is dead, another is in police custody, and the still-unidentified white man who shot and killed Jamar Thomas is walking the streets as a free man.
The IMPD's narrative is simple: Jamar and Lamonte allegedly tried to rob a man with a gun. The shooter, still unidentified, claimed self-defense. And as a result, Jamar is dead, and Lamonte is locked up. In this interview, Lane dives into the remarkable discrepancies in the IMPD's accounts. We learn their "eyewitnesses" were friends of the shooter (although he met them as early as that night) while Veronika and Keandra affirm that the IMPD made no attempt to get any testimony from the Thomas family. Together, they reveal the numerous reasons why the IMPD's narrative, which the media has up until now parroted, is 100 percent false. Jamar and Lamonte Thomas engaged in an act of bravery against a drunk man brandishing a weapon in downtown Indianapolis at 2:00 am and threatening to "kill whoever." Jamar died a hero, Lamonte remains locked up as a hero, and the real criminal and his conspirators (the IMPD) continue walking the streets with guns and arms. 
Dani gives this week's Circle City Shout Out goes to Sammy Penaloza, the featured artist this month in the Fonseca-Du Bois Art Gallery powered by Arte Mexicano en Indiana. Sammy was born in LA but has called Naptown his home since 2006. He has been painting since childhood and has had his work featured at the Harrison Center. During a time of turmoil within the world as a whole, Sammy’s work challenges us to stay in touch with our humanity–to feel—to confront the things that are hard to put into words and experience them intensely. Come by the Center anytime during open hours to spend time with this beautiful yet demanding body of work.
As always, before wrapping up we mention some upcoming events at the Indy Liberation Center. We encourage you to sign up for our weekly newsletter not only to stay updated but in case we or another member-group have to mobilize our people for another emergency actions, demonstrations, or other interventions.
Events:
The Whispering Shelf and Indy Hope Packages Team UpFinal Meeting: Collective Study of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the OppressedCircle City Sangha Mindfulness MeetupEmancipatory Motions: Yoga for LiberationIntern with the Liberation Center this Summer!
Show Notes:
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Dr. Meleeka Clary Keeps Up the Fight Against Court Corruption

Director, clinical psychologist, actress, model, paralegal, and activist Dr. Meleeka Clary joins the show this week to discuss her 16-year long battle against her ex-husband and the Indiana courts.
Our Naptown Breakdown starts with two encouraging updates. First we hear a message from Shaka A. Shakur that he sent after finally receiving a copy of his book, Manifestations of Thought: When the Dragon Comes (1804 Books). Up next is an update from our phone zap for Jose “Danny” Ortiz, who alerted us to ongoing medical neglect at Miami "Correctional" Facility. We received confirmation that an Ombudsman is going to Miami prison to investigate the situation. However, we need to keep the pressure on so be sure to keep calling, emailing, and sharing the phone zap. Finally, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford discuss another incident of the IMPD lying and highlight a press conference by the family of Lamonte and Lamar Johnson hosted by the Indy Liberation Center on April 2.
For our main segment, Dr. Clary speaks on what compelled her to write, direct, and act in her award-winning film, "Three Corners of Deception," which is partially based on her own experience and available for streaming on Prime. For over 16 years, her ex-husband, Attorney Michael Gosh, has conspired with various judges to stalk, attack, and bankrupt Dr. Clary. This entire time, she has fought vigorously. In 2024, ANSWER Indiana and other member-groups of the Indy Liberation Center joined her struggle. Dr. Clary is now going on the offensive, and she and Derek discuss how Gosh and his latest collaborator, Attorney Jane G. Cotton, illegally and absurdly used a copyrighted image of Dr. Clary against her. As the interview was recorded before her March 27 court date, toward the end of the show we receive an update based on one of our organizers who attended the hearing with Dr. Clary.
This week's Circle City Shout Out goes to the Quills Coffee Shop workers who recently unionized their shop on 941 N. Meridian St. Baristas are now  part of Service Employees International Union branch 32BJ SEIU. Quills' workers remind us of what people can do when we come together and organize.
Events:
Phone Zap: End Medical Neglect at Miami CFFirst Friday: Exploring the Extremes with Sammy PenazolaCircle City Sangha Mindfulness MeetupPedagogy of the Oppressed: Collective Study Meeting 3Sunday Yoga for LiberationSummer ’26: Intern with the Indianapolis Liberation Center
Show Notes:
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Revolutionary Women and Medical Crisis at "Miami Correctional Facility"

Our third episode celebrating Women's History Month feature includes co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford discuss more of their women revolutionary heroes and an urgent segment of "Dispatches from Behind the Wire" where we hear from an inmate at Miami Correctional Facility about the horrendous and routine medical neglect he and his fellow inmates–including ICE detainees–face on a daily basis.
First, our Naptown Breakdown pinpoints two ways the state is preparing for possible social and political unrest. Gov. Mike Braun signed HB 1343, enabling him to command a police force that answers directly to him through our National Guard. Starting July 1, Braun can use these forces without the consent of local elected officials. The state of Indiana does not need even one more cop, especially here in Indianapolis with our regular increases to the police budget. This will give more money to the cops who tailed 17-year-old Trevion Taylor, a Black youth, and his friends after they left an anti-ICE protest at Warren Central School. They pulled the car over and immediately threatened to kill him. Out of the 11 cops involved, only one is under "internal investigation" for aggressively yelling "I will kill you!" at Taylor. As of the last reporting, the cop remains protected behind the shield of anonymity. Further, the officers involved have 809 uses of force incidents per the IMPD. We know that thanks not to the IMPD’s intentionally misnamed transparency portal but through MaskOff12.com.
Dani and Derek dive deeper into the prison boom in Indiana that's flying under the radar of the mainstream press. When they broke ground in late 2023 on the New Northwest Correctional Facility, the budget already skyrocketed from $600,000 to $1.27 billion. DOC officials said it would replace the current Northwest Correctional Facility and the notorious Indiana State Prison just under 20 miles away in Michigan City. Now, DOC officials are walking that statement back. According to the Indianapolis Capital Chronicle, they intend to keep ISP fully operational for an indefinite period of time. That means they intend to lock even more of our neighbors for longer periods of time. The IDOC website makes perfectly clear, writing their "population numbers will go back up" and their "releases are decreasing."
For the main segment, Dani and Derek share more of the women revolutionaries who inspire them the most. This week, Dani picked Nguyễn Thị Bình, who fought as a leader and diplomat during the French colonial occupation and later joined the National Liberation front (or Viet Cong), rising to join the Central Committee and to serve as Vice-Chairperson of the South Vietnamese Women's Liberation Association. Once the Vietnamese won the war, she was part of the delegation to the Paris Peace Conference and is the sole woman who signed the 1973 Peace Accords officially declaring the Vietnamese triumph over U.S. imperialism. She is still politically active today.
Inspired by Haki Kweli Shakur, a New Afrikan organizer, historian, and fellow-member of the Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign, Derek picked Queen Mother Audley Moore. Her life, which spanned from 1898 to 1997, witnessed a century of the Black (and later, New Afrikan) Liberation struggle in the U.S., and played a pivotal role in linking the earlier phase of the Black struggle in the 1920s-30s to the next iteration in the 1960s-1970s. Derek discusses the basics and social conditions of her political development, from her attraction Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and her long membership in the Communist Party USA, which she joined after the International Communist Movement adopted the "Black Belt Thesis" in 1928. Within two years, she was one of the most important members of the CPUSA's Upper Harlem Branch, a role she used to forefront the struggles of Black people and women. She built personal and political relationships with Claudia Jones and other leading Black women. However, as this progressive trend within the Party grew the Party leadership started downplaying the Black Belt Thesis, eventually liquidating the line altogether. She left in 1950 and the exact reasons remain unknown. After all, this was long after the Party retreated from their revolutionary line on Black and women's liberation.
Dani and Derek discuss her key role in determining the designation of "New Afrikans." As one former escort to Queen Mother recalled, she would often say: "Chinese are from China, Germans from Germany," but there is no "Black country," so our territorial basis for our nation is Afrika, but one formed throughout a particular social development. They also touch on the many ways she expressed her feminism, from her presence and command to her belief that the new nation should include polygamy and the right of men to marry multiple women. development. Finally, they touch on how the CP's political form of organization continued to inform her organizing efforts throughout her life.
Stay with us for an urgent segment of "Dispatches from Behind the Wire," where we speak directly with Jose "Danny" Ortiz who details the inhumane medical neglect he and his fellow inmates continue suffering at the Miami "Correctional" Facility's medical ward. The Hoyt lifts have been down since December 2025. The first time Ortiz got out of his bed was for a visit in March where several guards had to help him into a wheel chair. Around 10 inmates have been impacted by this situation, which deprives them of attending church, interacting with fellow inmates, accessing the law library, participating in educational programs, and more. His fellow inmates are forced to lie in their own urine and fecal discharge for days.
Meanwhile, the ICE detainees don't have access to toilets at all. The guards told them not to interact with the detainees, but in a minor yet significant act of solidarity they let them use their restrooms as they please. Their attempts to divide inmates are failing but this does nothing to alleviate the intense suffering of callous "Correctional Officers," and prison administrators.
We can change this! See the show notes for a phone and email-zap campaign to ensure our people behind bars are treated with dignity and respect! This is a longstanding and easily-correctable issue. We won a minor victory after discovering an inmate subjected to similar treatment at the same prison in May 2025. 
Events:Phone/Email Zap: End Medical Neglect at Miami Correctional Facility!Pedagogy of the Oppressed Reading Group (pt. 2)Sunday Liberation Center YogaSummer ’26: Intern with the Indianapolis Liberation Center
Show Notes:
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Women Revolutionaries to Inspire a New Generation

In our second episode celebrating Women’s History Month, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford bring one of the women revolutionaries they study and admire to the table, women who made significant contributions to the anti-imperialist struggle through united fronts, in the theoretical and practical terrains. They didn’t share their choices with each other, so what results is a spontaneous and authentic dialogue that is informative, relevant, and at times amusing. As Dani says, this episode of Naptown People’s Radio hopes to inspire a new struggle of women in America and across the world and heighten their consciousness of the need for a militant, unified campaign around the burning demands of the day.
First, however, our Naptown Breakdown starts with the massive $4 billion data center approved by the Metropolitan Development Commission on March 18. Our hosts note how even a quick scan of media coverage on data centers in Indianapolis shows widespread opposition and zero support from the people. The Sabey Corporation’s petition to build a massive center in Decatur Township—a proposal that the Decatur Township Civic League rejected last month with a vote of 95 opposed and two in favor—passed narrowly with the support of Indy Economic Development Inc., an entity tied to the city government and chaired by Mayor Joe Hogsett. The only remaining procedural obstacle concerns the precise economic incentives Hogsett and his economic development gang will offer Sabey; what kind of obstacle the people will pose remains an open question.
The escalating U.S. war on Iran hit home on March 12 when a service member from Indiana was killed during a refueling mission to support operations against Iran. Seth Koval of Mooresville is among the hundreds of U.S. service members killed and thousands wounded as the war enters its third week. To defend its sovereignty, in the first week Iran destroyed 150 missile launch platforms, 23 Patriot Air Defense Systems, 36 aircraft and helicopters, and almost 50 percent of the U.S.’s weapons stockpiles. At the time of recording, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down a U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jet operating in Iranian airspace. Iran’s military also struck down over 100 drones since the latest attack began and the U.S. is set to deploy thousands more “boots on the ground” in an unpopular and illegal war that is directly against the interests of the people of the U.S.
The contemporary moment in which the U.S. no longer maintains unipolar dominance over the world order is similar to the era in which our two featured revolutionaries organized. In the main segment, Derek leads a discussion about Naptown’s own Shirley Graham before Dani turns to one of Graham’s contemporaries, Trinidadian-born Claudia Jones. The two concentrate on Shirley Graham’s influence on her second husband, W.E.B. Du Bois (particularly her role in correcting his early support for Japanese colonialism in China and Korea) and position Graham as a mother who helped shepherd the next generation of New Afrikan/Black revolutionaries in the U.S.
Shirley Graham and Claudia Jones were not only good friends but close comrades in the Communist Party. Across this part of the segment, Dani highlights Jones’ theoretical work, including her theory of “super-exploitation” of Black women workers, and its political implications. Dani and Derek show the key distinctions between Jones’ politics and contemporary “politics” of intersectionality before discussing her comradely political critiques of the CPUSA during its later years when it abandoned the struggle for Black liberation in the U.S. Throughout the segment, our co-hosts highlight how Graham and Jones can help inform today’s efforts to organize a revolutionary socialist and anti-imperialist movement.
Finally, the Indy Liberation Store (which is part of and helps support the Indy Liberation Center) is honored to be among the 37 bookstores featured in the 2026 Indy Indie Book Crawl between March 18 – 22. Listen to the end to hear about this weekend’s extended Store hours and special programming at the Indianapolis Liberation Center.
Events:
Indy Liberation Store: Indie Indy Book Crawl Extended HoursPedagogy of the Oppressed: Study Group IPatriarchy, War, and Homelessness: Indy Hope Packages AssemblyPoetry as Protest Open Mic NightLiberation Forum: War is a Women’s Issue at Home and AbroadSummer ’26: Intern with the Indianapolis Liberation Center
Show Notes:
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Beyond Mutual Aid with Rissa Wilson

Our first episode in celebration of Women's History Month features social worker and Indy Hope Packages coordinator Rissa Wilson.
After co-hosts Dani Abudllah and Derek Ford provide a quick history of the socialist origins of Women's History Month, Rissa and Dani provide an overview of Indy Hope Packages before getting into the finer details. They discuss how they took inspiration from the Black Panther Party's community outreach program, the distinction between mutual aid and direct political-aid," and their 10-Point Program and how it guides their work. Because Hope Packages was born after the successful defeat of a local anti-homeless ordinance in fall 2020, the two also provide updates on Indiana Senate Bill 285. The Bill, which became a law on March 5, criminalizes homelessness and gives the cops free reign to fine, arrest, and harass our homeless neighbors.
Indy Hope Packages and other organizations are fighting back. One way for young people to get involved is to intern at the Indianapolis Liberation Center this summer. Applications are open and will be considered on a rolling basis. Apply today!
"The Breakfast for Children program. We are running it in a socialistic manner. People came and took our program, saw it in a socialistic fashion not even knowing it was socialism. People are gonna take our program and tell us to go on to a higher level... Not theory and theory alone, but theory and practice. The two go together." - Fred Hampton on the Black Panther Party's community programming.
Show Notes:
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What's Iran's Real Crime? Indy Hits the Streets

On this special episode, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford provide the broader context necessary for understanding why progressives must take a firm anti-war stance and support Iran's right to self-determination. And after several months Shaka A. Shakur is back for another segment of "Dispatches from Behind the Wire" to remind us to defend oppressed nations in the u.s. and urges us to learn from the people of Minneapolis.
On the heels of the latest U.S. acts of war against Iran, one of which included the illegal assassination of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the people of Indianapolis mobilized emergency demonstrations days apart. Both were part of nationwide coordinated days of action across the country to demand an end to U.S. aggression against Iran and to defend Iran's right to self-determination and national sovereignty.
Given Iran's political, military, and economic strength, as well as their historical record of defying attempts at foreign intervention, the prospects for a regional or even larger-scale war are real and dangerous. At the same time, both Democratic and Republican parties not only support but have engaged in acts of war against the Iranian people. As recent as 2024, the Biden administration agreed with, if not supported, Israel's illegal bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Syria, which killed dozens of Iranians. In 2021, Biden's administration dropped bombs on Iranian military advisers in Syria. The only matter up for debate concerns the means to overthrow the legitimate government Iran and replace it with one subservient to U.S. interests.
Abdullah and Ford discuss the reasons why, ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the U.S. political establishment has maintained a consensus that it must be reversed. They also cover the contradictory character of the revolution and the current Iranian government, covering both its progressive and reactionary character and history. Along the way, they bring to light unknown and downplayed acts of solidarity between Iran and oppressed nations across the world and here in the u.s.
We are excited to hear from our comrade Shaka A. Shakur, who returns for our "Dispatches from Behind the Wire" segment after several months spent on lockdown at River North Correctional Facility. Shaka calls for education about and organizing against the new $1.2 billion prison under construction in Westville, Indiana, the site of the world's second Super-Maximum Security Prison. Shaka and Derek discuss the relationship between mass incarceration, imperialism, and ICE terror. Finally, Shaka provides talking points to help bring everyday people outraged at the Trump regime into the struggle, thereby creating the broader mass movement required to achieve the social transformation we need.
If you support Indy's only independent, anti-war, and socialist podcast, please like, leave a comment, share, and donate to help build the struggle!
Show Notes:
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Breaking the IMPD's Media Monopoly: Still Fighting for Adam Sykes

One year ago on February 25, IMPD cop Grant Snyder shot and killed Adam Sykes, a young father. February 25, 2026 marks one year since IMPD officer Grant Snyder shot and killed Adam Sykes on the Near Eastside of Indy. Anniversaries risk becoming rituals of mourning, but this episode marks it as the first time in recent history that the people organized to take on the IMPD. Stephen Lane, who worked closely with Adam's mom, Nikki Schumpert, joins the show to discuss the independent investigation that exposed the police's lies.
First, for this this week's Naptown Breakdown co-host Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford cover the recent death of an ICE detainee at the Miami Correctional Facility, the U.S.'s increasing military aggression against Iran, and the latest with the proposed Metrobloks AI data center.
Our Circle City Shout Out goes to Gabriela Mojica, a Mexican-born artist and an 18-year resident of Indy. With over 30 years of painting experience, Gabriela’s work is deeply inspired by her heritage, expressing a vibrant love for Latin culture through color and texture. Recently, Mojica had an event at the Indy Liberation Center with our Fonseca-Du Bois Gallery in which attendees not only learned how to make pinatas but were able to transform a beloved tradition into a powerful tool for justice by creating ICE officer pinatas, shaping paper, paste, and purpose into symbolic pieces against ICE terror.
Whether you’re an artist, an ally, or someone ready to stand up, your hands are needed in this movement too.
Show Notes:
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The Solitary Justice Project with Leon Benson

This week we have a special episode featuring a discussion between Derek Ford and our comrade Leon Benson—an artist, author, producer, exoneree, and a good friend of the people joins the show ahead of the official launch of "The Solitary Justice Project."
Before pivoting to the launch, which will take place at the Shri Thanedar Community Center in Detroit on February 28, they discuss the unfortunate circumstances that brought Leon to Indianapolis this weekend: the celebration of for comrade Kwame Shakur. About three years his junior, Leon recalls them growing up together. He tells one particular story in which Kwame attacked to Correctional Officers for mistreating a prisoner. He was charged with attempted murder and beat the case pro se. After his release, they kept in touch and Kwame dedicated his autobiography to Leon. 
Leon served 25 years incarcerated for a crime the IMPD knew he didn't commit and was the first person exonerated after the Marion County Conviction Integrity Unit's founding. Much of that time was spent in solitary confinement, which brings the two to a discussion about the terror and trauma of the practice that is widely regarded as a human rights abuse and a violation of the UN's Mandela Rules. While the stories of making it through solitary are inevitably triumphant, the degradation and suffering the state subjects our people to must be put to an end.
Leon and Derek discuss their own trauma as Leon breaks down the different kids, including chronic and vicarious, as well as collective.
Be sure to keep an eye on the Solitary Justice Project, make it to their Detroit debut if you can, or wait until it makes its ways to Indianapolis as it inevitably will.
Show Notes:
Support Naptown People’s RadioSupport the Indianapolis Liberation CenterShop the Indy Liberation StoreShop the Shaka Shakur StoreIndianapolis Liberation CenterCoalition to Free Vernon Bateman

Minneapolis: The People are Too Big to Fail

This week, Jay Grillo gives a first-hand account of the sustained anti-ICE uprising in Minneapolis.
In the first segment, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford signal the potential danger in a likely alliance between Indiana and ultra right-wing Turning Point USA. Turning Point, founded by Charlie Kirk, is a project dedicated to silencing dissenting research and silencing faculty and teachers who stand up for justice by threats of violence. They next turn to the IMPD's violent assault and threats to kill 17-year-old Trevion Taylor, a Black student who was driving a car with friends after participating in an anti-ICE walkout and protest on Feb. 6 near Warren Central High School. They put IMPD's refusal to immediately release the bodycam footage of the attack to the family and public in recent historical context.
They end on a positive development: Shaka A. Shakur is awaiting transfer away from River North Correctional Facility, where he and other inmates have been on Marshall-law lock-down for months, to a lower-security prison. Derek references how Shaka ends the recent statement we just received, titled "Can Anyone be Illegal on Stolen Land?" Shaka calls for the struggle to connect ICE, killer cops, national oppression and national liberation struggles together with a revived anti-mass incarceration movement. After all, ICE has subjected our people to since its founding in March 2003, the cops have been subjecting our communities to on a greater scale for a longer period of time.
We're excited to hear from PSL Indianapolis member and videographer Jay Grillo, who recently returned from supporting the people of Minneapolis as they continue standing defiantly in the face of ICE's murderous rampage. After discussing Grillo's background and how they got involved in activism and the Party, Grillo relays the high level of energy and sophisticated degree of spontaneous organization and structures the people there quickly collectively built, the impact of the “No Business as Usual” tactic, and the issue of safety at mass uprisings.
Finally, this week's Circle City Shout Out goes to Hear Her Voice and particularly its founder, Tyrah Kingcade, or Nairobi X. Hear Her Voice is a transformative healing space dedicated to empowering individuals impacted by trauma, addiction, incarceration, and systemic injustice. They especially focus on issues of re-entry and fighting the impacts of the racist mass incarceration system in the U.S. They recently released a new workbook, titled Hear Her Voice Recover Workbook: She Rises, Her Time, Her Turn, available as an affordable paperback here and on Amazon.
Events:
Capital Class: Session 6Circle City SanghaLiberation Yoga
Show Notes:
Hear Her Voice StoreSupport Naptown People’s RadioSupport the Indianapolis Liberation CenterShop the Indy Liberation StoreShop the Shaka Shakur StoreIndianapolis Liberation CenterCoalition to Free Vernon Bateman

Indiana Admits Sending Vernon Bateman to Prison with No Evidence

Vernon T. Bateman joins the show to discuss the latest developments in his fight for exoneration.
This week's Naptown Breakdown highlights a recent Mirror Indy/Indy Star investigation uncovering that, for more than a decade Mayor Joe Hogsett, used no-bid contracts that benefited his friends and those with ties to the Democratic Party. Hogsett won his first term as Mayor with a proposal called “Disclose Indy," which directly targeted then-Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican whose non-competitive bidding practices were regularly covered in the press at the time. In 2015 he promised that "betray the public trust, you deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law." Disclose Indy also included a two-term limit for the Mayor. Guest co-host and organizer Lindsey Holtgrave sheds additional light on the situation before turning to the recent inspiring anti-ICE protests. She highlights positive developments in the movement over the past two years, particularly in terms of the people's consciousness and leadership.
Artist, author, and community advocate Vernon T. Bateman joins co-host Derek Ford to discuss a major breakthrough in his fight for freedom. On January 13, the Lake County Prosecutor's Office headed by Bernard Carter admitted the State tried and convicted Bateman in 1998 without any evidence tying him to the alleged "crime." This contradicts trial testimony from the Prosecution's witnesses during the trial. Shockingly, however, the Judge sided with the Prosecution and denied Bateman's motion for DNA testing to confirm his innocence. Nonetheless, the State's admission they sent Bateman to jail for 30 years without any DNA evidence is a major step forward. Sign the petition to support Bateman here!
Finally, this week's Circle City Shout Out goes to the youth of Minneapolis, the country, and here in Indianapolis for walking out to protest ICE, even without any legal rights to do so. However, young people have always been at the forefront of social change and even revolutions. When Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto, they were only 29 and 27 years-old respectively. Leila Khaled was just 15 when she joined the Arab Nationalist League and at age 23 was the first woman to join the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. Huey P. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party when he was 24.
That’s why we view everything here as an opportunity to train a new generation of fighters and activists. And we have several ways to do so this week. So shout-out to the youth eager to learn how to best fight for justice and to those willing to teach (and learn from) them!
Events:
Capital Class: Session 4 (virtual)Heart and Heritage: New Hispanic Cultural Hub Debuts with Group ShowCircle City SanghaSunday Liberation Center Yoga
Show Notes:
Support Naptown People’s RadioSupport the Indianapolis Liberation CenterShop the Liberation Center StoreShop the Shaka Shakur StoreIndianapolis Liberation CenterCoalition to Free Vernon Bateman

The Midwest: Flyover States or States of Rebellion?

In this episode, Lucas Lee joins co-host Dani Abdullah to discuss the upcoming mayoral elections and analyze the unknown history of working-class solidarity and uprisings in the Midwest.
The Naptown Breakdown discusses so-called “Voice of Progress” Vop Osili’s announced mayoral candidacy. Although current Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett will not seek re-election, Osili and Hogsett maintain close ties and Osili continue to defend Hogsett’s culture of patriarchy and misogyny. Osili’s ongoing silence and his 2025 removal of Lauren Roberts during a June 9 City-Council hearing.
In today’s main segment, Dani and Lucas discuss the pivotal uprisings of the Midwest that have happened in the last 20 years, from Ferguson to Minneapolis. While some may refer to this region as the ‘flyover states’ as organizers we know that almost anything is possible. Often labeled as slow and uneventful cities, the Midwest experienced some of the largest uprisings that later spread to the rest of the U.S. and the world. They analyze Indiana’s history of uprisings like the 1919 U.S. Steel Strikes, which saw workers of different national identities uniting for the benefit of the working and oppressed classes. Despite a common narrative that this uprising was plagued by “race riots” that pitted workers against each other, the real history is an exceptional one of solidarity the ruling class wants buried.
Show Notes:
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