Podcast Summary

Podcast: Reveal
Episode: The Strike That Broke a Supermax Prison
Date: September 13, 2025
Host: Al Letson
Producer/Reporter: Michael Montgomery
Collaborators: Directors Joe Bill Munoz and Lucas Gilkey (“The Strike” PBS documentary)
Major Voices: Jack Morris, Michael Saavedra, Brian Perry, Keramet Ryder, Dolores Canales

Overview of the Episode

This episode of Reveal unpacks the gripping inside story of the largest prison hunger strike in U.S. history, launched by men held in solitary confinement at California’s supermax Pelican Bay State Prison. Focusing on the firsthand experiences of Jack Morris and fellow participants, the episode traces decades of isolation, the unlikely alliances formed across racial divides, and the years-long battle for prison reform. The narrative highlights the deeply personal toll of indefinite solitary and shows how collective action - led by those deemed "the worst of the worst" - forced California to end its harshest confinement policies.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Life in Pelican Bay’s Supermax "SHU" (Security Housing Unit)

• Introduction to Solitary Confinement: Jack Morris, after decades in windowless cells, is transfixed by the colors and snow outside a Tehachapi cell window during a prison transfer ([01:43], [02:28]).
• Description of Isolation: Reporters and former inmates describe the SHU as bunker-like, silent, and disorienting ([04:42], [05:24]).
  • Quote: "Man, that loneliness will kill you. That thing wrap around you like a long blanket, man." – Michael Saavedra & Jack Morris ([05:34])
  • Quote: "Short periods of time seem to drag on forever. Long periods of time fly by in an instant." – Brian Perry ([05:49])
• Path into Solitary: Many ended up in the SHU on indirect or tenuous gang association evidence—“guilt by association” ([09:53]).
  • Quote: "There's other people in this picture that have been validated, and you're with them. Therefore, this picture also identifies you as being a gang associate." – Jack Morris ([09:53])
• Indefinite Terms and Torturous Conditions: Once labeled, inmates could spend decades in solitary without recourse or meaningful review ([11:53]).
  • Quote: “You go to solitary confinement at Pelican Bay indefinitely for, it turned out, decades, with no recourse.” – Keramet Ryder ([11:53])
• Surviving Solitary: Different survival strategies: reading, math, religion, legal work, but always the crushing routine and loss of memory ([13:17], [14:22]).

Building an Unlikely Coalition for Change

• Structural Divides and Imposed Hostilities: Prison officials placed rival gangs together to "keep them divided" ([17:00]).
  • Reversal of Strategy: Needing human contact, prisoners slowly broke down racial and group barriers ([17:25], [17:57]).
    • Quote: "[We] need to be able to stimulate our minds...Over time...people started to treat each other with some humanity." – Jack Morris ([17:25])
• Seeds of Resistance: Shared suffering led to dialogue and study of past hunger strikes (Bobby Sands, Ireland) ([18:16]).
• Covert Organizing: Messages passed via “kites,” toilet pipes, and the prison’s mail system to spread plans and connect with outside activists ([18:46]).

The First Hunger Strike (2011)

• Core Demands: Decent food, educational programs, end to group punishment, alternative exits ("parole") from the SHU, and ending long-term solitary ([19:21]).
• Getting the Gangs on Board: Overcoming skepticism among rival groups took years ([19:49]).
  • Quote: "Some of the ABs protested...We don't beg to get out of here...Don't show no weakness. There was so much opposition." – Jeremy Beasley (paraphrased by Jack Morris) ([19:49])
• First Strike Begins: On July 1, 2011, 6,000 prisoners refused meals. Guards tried to tempt them with special foods; no one broke ([20:32]):
  • Quote: "It's the 4th of July and ... it was stacked high with watermelon and chocolate milk ice cream ... But there wasn't a single taker." – Jack Morris ([20:32])

Escalation, Negotiation, and National Attention

• The Summit: After several weeks, top corrections official Scott Kernan met with strike leaders—a rare, humane face-to-face encounter ([23:41]–[26:19]).
  • Quote: "They're in an incredibly vulnerable position … but they're not in a cage...that face-to-face conversation...he's talking to them like they're humans." – Keramet Ryder ([25:26])
• Partial Reforms: Some concessions were granted (e.g., sweatpants, annual photos), and the strike was called off, but core issues remained ([26:39]–[29:10]).
• Impact Beyond Pelican Bay: The hunger strike prompted public hearings, national scrutiny of solitary confinement, and outside protests ([29:24]).
  • Quote: "It was solitary confinement, torture...all of a sudden Congress was having hearings." – Brian Perry ([31:11])
• Peace Treaty: Incarcerated leaders negotiated a truce among racial groups—an unprecedented move to maintain unity ([32:03]).
  • Quote: "We have a non-hostility pact...We have no animosities." – Jack Morris ([32:03])

The Historic 2013 Hunger Strike

• Scale and Unity: On July 8, 2013, about 30,000 prisoners across California launched a hunger strike—the largest in U.S. history ([33:35]).
  • Quote: "Nowhere in the history of the United States had this ever taken place." – Jack Morris ([33:42])
  • Memorable Reactions: Guards were unnerved by the unity across old divides ([33:08]).
• Physical and Mental Collapse: Participants described deteriorating health, deaths (one protester died by suicide), and the near-mystical will to keep going ([34:16]–[36:00]).
  • Quote: "My legs, my muscles, I felt weak, shaky...Soon my brain realized it wasn’t getting food, and I started to feed off myself." – Jack Morris ([34:16])
  • Quote: "After the first month, you don't think about it no more. You're just trying to stay awake...But in the back of my mind, not giving up. I'm not going to give up." – Michael Saavedra ([36:00])
• After 60 Days: Medical intervention loomed (including force-feeding orders). Legal action and outside pressure piled up ([36:41], [39:04]).

Victory and Aftermath

• Legal Settlement: Under intense pressure, California agreed to end indeterminate solitary confinement ([39:27]).
  • Quote: "The settlement marked the end of indefinite solitary confinement in California prisons..." – Al Letson ([39:36])
• Reintegration: Jack, Michael, and others moved out of the SHU. Their struggle defined parole board findings and gave them chances to re-enter society ([42:39]).
  • Personal Growth & Remorse: Jack reflects on his crime and the meaning of freedom ([42:39]).
    • Quote: "His name was Julian Insignia. Every day I say his name ... I could feel him in my soul..." – Jack Morris ([42:39])
  • Quote: “I didn’t submit. I didn’t conform. You didn’t break me, so I could walk with my head high out here.” – Michael Saavedra ([44:34])
• Resilience & Advocacy: Both men became outspoken advocates for reform, working to help other formerly incarcerated people, and fighting to limit solitary to a 15-day maximum in California ([47:12], [47:54]).
  • Impact on Others: The culture shifts inside prison meant more men could pursue education, programs, and second chances ([49:22]).
• Ripple Effects: The hunger strikes contributed to nationwide conversations and new legislation on solitary confinement ([45:02]).
  • Quote: “People who were in solitary for 30 years are out in their communities doing good work, just living every day as an argument against these conditions...” – Keramet Ryder ([44:40])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Survival in Solitary:
  • "That loneliness will kill you. That thing wrap around you like a long blanket, man." – Michael Saavedra ([05:34])
  • "I had resigned myself to death in a windowless concrete box. How do you fight that?" – Jack Morris ([06:04])
• On Becoming Organizers:
  • "We all began to realize that our existence was being suppressed by the same person." – Jack Morris ([17:57])
• On Hunger Strike Unity:
  • "To be on the same page at the same time was super powerful and it scared the out of them." – Michael Saavedra ([33:08])
• On Public Impact:
  • "They flipped the script ... all of a sudden Congress was having hearings on solitary confinement." – Brian Perry ([31:11])
• On Life After Release:
  • "I didn't submit. I didn't conform. You didn't break me, so I could walk with my head high out here." – Michael Saavedra ([44:34])
  • "When I watch the film, it reminds me of why I fly around this country and go to visit prisons...Plus, they got my good side." – Jack Morris ([47:12])

Important Timestamps and Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |--------------|-------------------------------------| | [01:43-03:29]| Jack’s first moments out of Pelican Bay; singing “White Christmas” at Tehachapi | | [04:42-06:15]| Descriptions of the SHU, loneliness, survival mechanisms | | [09:53-11:53]| Gang association, “guilt by association”, the validation process | | [17:25-18:07]| Breaking racial divides, building trust and unity among prisoners | | [19:21] | The five core demands of the strike | | [20:32] | The strike begins; guards try to tempt hunger strikers | | [23:41-26:19]| Negotiations with corrections official Scott Kernan | | [29:24-32:03]| Outside movement, legislative and legal change, peace treaty | | [33:35-34:16]| 2013 hunger strike, 30,000 prisoners join | | [36:00-37:17]| Strike takes a physical toll, possibility of force-feeding | | [39:27-39:36]| Legal settlement ends indefinite solitary | | [42:39-43:43]| Jack Morris and Michael Saavedra parole, life after prison | | [44:34-45:26]| Former SHU prisoners become advocates | | [47:12-49:22]| Film screening Q&A, Edwin’s testimony—benefits of peace and unity inside | | [50:10-50:47]| Jack and Michael’s current advocacy work |

Closing Thoughts

The episode paints a vivid, humanizing portrait of individuals long demonized as “worst of the worst.” Their courageous, strategic resistance—enduring deprivation and building unlikely alliances—spurred legal, social, and cultural change, with effects reaching far beyond the prison walls. The podcast ends with Jack and Michael advocating for further reforms and working to help other formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives, becoming powerful voices against the overuse of solitary confinement.

For further information and links to the documentary The Strike and related resources, visit revealnews.org.