Panel: Teleway 411: Queer Perspectives on the Prison Industrial Complex

A panel of formerly-incarcerated comrades gathered by representatives from the Bay Area-based prisoner support organization A.B.O. Comix in conversation around the experiences of queer and trans people impacted by the U.S. prison system. Panelists Sirbrian Spease and Brian Meegan are celebrated contributors to the A.B.O. Comix library of publications. All panelists are also guests on current and future seasons of the A.B.O. Comix podcast, Teleway 411. The first five-episode season was released during Pride Month of 2022 and the second season will hit the airwaves in 2023.

Watch on YouTube.

Sirbrian Spease is a formerly-incarcerated, East Coast-based artist and author of The Boy of Hearts, the first of a three-part autobiography series from A.B.O. Comix publications.

Brian Meegan is a formerly-incarcerated artist and personal trainer whose work is featured throughout the Queer Prisoner’s Comix Anthology series from A.B.O. Comix publications.

A.B.O. Comix staff Casper Cendre and Ollie Mills will also be available to answer questions about the process of recording interviews with panelists as well as currently-incarcerated LGBTQ+ artists for their podcast.

A.B.O. Comix is a collective of creators and activists who work to amplify the voices of LGBTQ prisoners through art. By working closely with prison abolitionist and queer advocacy organizations, we aim to keep queer prisoners connected to outside community and help them in the fight toward liberation. The profits we generate go back to incarcerated artists, especially those with little to no resources. Using the DIY ideology of "punk-zine" culture, A.B.O. was formed with the philosophy of mutual support, community and friendship. Our collective is working towards compassionate accountability without relying on the state or its sycophants. A.B.O. believes our interpersonal and societal issues can be solved without locking people in cages. Our mission is to combat the culture that treats humans as disposable and disproportionately criminalizes the most marginalized amongst us. Through artistic activism, we hope to proliferate the idea that a better world means redefining our concepts of justice.  

Teleway 411 is a project of A.B.O. Comix. A.B.O. HQ is located at 411 26th in Oakland, between the iconic streets Telegraph and Broadway; it was here that the idea for a podcast featuring longform interviews with our incarcerated collective members was born. The Teleway is much more than a portmanteau of the two street names; it is an interdimensional teleportation system that allows us to make the connections with queer and trans artists in prison that make up our interviews. The Teleway primarily transports information, giving listeners the 411 on life inside prison for our passengers. The U.S. prison system disappears people from society, effectively dissolving their individuality and erasing their humanity. Teleway 411 works against this insidious practice by traveling through space and time to connect with guests serving sentences in the realm of brick and barbed wire. The Teleway is a vehicle for human connection, providing an outlet for those who have been silenced to share their stories. Our heart-to-heart conversations shed light about the reality of life inside the prison system, directly from those experiencing it. 

Connect: 

A.B.O. Comix - Website | A.B.O. Comix - Twitter | A.B.O. Comix - Instagram 

Teleway 411 - Website | Teleway 411 - YouTube | Teleway 411 - Instagram