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From the Cold Jaws of Prison

Various Artists
From the Cold Jaws of Prison

"What you will hear on this recording is a cry of a people for justice and human dignity. You don’t know what freedom is unless you’ve experienced the chains from which to break free." The poems and music presented on this album were written and compiled by African American incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people held in three prisons in the New York system—Attica, Rikers Island, and the Tombs. Their work speaks not only of the conditions faced in prison but to the broader African American experience outside prison walls.

*Content Advisory: The liner notes to this album include language that dehumanizes incarcerated musicians. Smithsonian Folkways has updated our descriptions of albums recorded in prisons to avoid frameworks that wholly attach artists’ identities to their experience in prison. This album is a historical document of not only the stories of its performers, but of the racism of the prison system and the music industry at that moment.
For our policy on controversial recordings, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Track Listing

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101
Cathedral n/a 03:09
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102
The Junkie n/a 02:45
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103
A Word to the Hip n/a 03:37
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104
Daddy, Daddy Come Dig Me n/a 06:51
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105
Lord I Want to Be a Christian n/a 03:22
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201
An Open Letter n/a 08:04
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202
I'm a Dreamer n/a 04:10
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203
Screaming n/a 04:37
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204
He Arose n/a 03:47