n 1980, TRNN’s Eddie Conway helped organize a prisoners’ educational outreach program called “Say Their Own Word,” where thinkers and scholars came to Maryland Penitentiary and spoke about topics like impending U.S. fascism, the prison-industrial complex, capitalism, increasing surveillance, and many other issues that have become even more pressing today. These speakers included Amiri Baraka, Askia Muhammad, Bruce Franklin, Nijole Benokraitis, and Charlie Cobb.

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. Transcripts of panel presentations were developed in 2023.