Ray Hill's - The Prison Show
has been broadcast on Houston's
Pacifica radio station KPFT 90.1 FM
weekly since March, 1980.
has been broadcast on Houston's
Pacifica radio station KPFT 90.1 FM
weekly since March, 1980.
You can tune in on Friday nights
at 9:00 p.m. - Central Time.
Celebrating 30 Years On The Air!
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The Prison Show
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During the first hour of the program Ray, the gang, and sometimes special guests discuss current issues and review the week's mailbag.
In the second hour we take the calls that make the show so special, as the callers connect to talk to their family members, friends
and loved ones within the Texas prison system. We are all then somehow able to form together to become one large family through our
common experience.
We begin accepting long distance calls at 9:20 PM
and local calls at 10:00 PM Central Time.
The number to call is (713) 526-5738.
and local calls at 10:00 PM Central Time.
The number to call is (713) 526-5738.
As
Ray frequently says, "Business is good," so should you get a busy signal,
just make that redial button work!
just make that redial button work!
Listen to the most recent show!
EXECUTION WATCH
Is produced
by Elizabeth Ann Stein on
Pacifica's KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, HD-2.
The program, hosted by Ray Hill, airs at 6 PM Central Time any day someone is executed in the Texas death chamber.
EXECUTION WATCH is designed to counteract the virtual news blackout in the mainstream media when prisoners are executed.
The program, hosted by Ray Hill, airs at 6 PM Central Time any day someone is executed in the Texas death chamber.
EXECUTION WATCH is designed to counteract the virtual news blackout in the mainstream media when prisoners are executed.
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a network of over 100 affiliated stations and five independently
operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations. Many other U.S. and Canadian community radio stations also
carry Pacifica on a program to program basis. The first public radio network in the United States, it is operated by the Pacifica Foundation, with national headquarters in Berkeley, California.
Gerald Bates who wrote "The Prison Show with Ray" - the show's theme song - was an ordinary hardworking Houston musician with an exceptional
heart and remarkable talent for songwriting. He was on his way to a late-night gig when the radio in the van began receiving the call-in
part of The Prison Show.
To those of us who do the show it was an ordinary night of ethos, pathos and eros in the lives of those who love those in Texas prisons, but to Gerald it was the stuff of song writing. He sat in the parking lot of the venue and wrote the song we have used as a theme for many years.
Gerald Bates caught the real magic of The Prison Show's second hour. Gerald's health began to fail soon after writing the song and his own struggle for life equals that of those whose voices he enshrined in his art. The Prison Show will be eternally grateful for Gerald Bates and his contribution to our efforts to lift the spirits and expose the suffering of those behind the fences and bars in Texas prisons.
To those of us who do the show it was an ordinary night of ethos, pathos and eros in the lives of those who love those in Texas prisons, but to Gerald it was the stuff of song writing. He sat in the parking lot of the venue and wrote the song we have used as a theme for many years.
Gerald Bates caught the real magic of The Prison Show's second hour. Gerald's health began to fail soon after writing the song and his own struggle for life equals that of those whose voices he enshrined in his art. The Prison Show will be eternally grateful for Gerald Bates and his contribution to our efforts to lift the spirits and expose the suffering of those behind the fences and bars in Texas prisons.
Listen to our theme song
Citizen Provocateur:
Ray Hill's Texas Prison Show
Ray Hill, Jailhouse Jock
Segment from LOGO TV's The Advocate
The following was written and then emailed to The Prison Show by Massoud after he saw the documentary when it was broadcast on KUHT
PBS Channel 8 in Houston, Texas. It is presented here with his kind permission.
Ray Hill, Citizen Provocateur is a compact documentary
that contains many layers of social and political issues which are directly related to our own lives on many levels. Just like the
Supreme Court case Hill V. Houston, which is mentioned in the film, this documentary will still be a true reflection of a dark era
of crime and punishment in history and an educational source many years from now.
This is the story of Ray Hill, a citizen who gets the strength to fight against injustice from the goodness and courage of average people and also from his awareness of the flaws in the system.
In this documentary we see young innocent faces, we hear hopeful voices, and we learn how The Prison Show plays an important role in bringing moments of love and sanity to prisoners and their suffering families on the other side of the walls which separate them. Through many different images and dialogues we learn that The Prison Show on KPFT is a place for healing, maturing and ultimately a path to freedom. Citizen Hill shows us a rational way that media, in this case radio, can be used in the service of average people.
But this documentary is more than an introduction to a prison show. It shows that it is the responsibility of all citizens to seek the truth about themselves and their government and how to take the very first steps toward changing the status quo, either by shouting at oneself in the mirror or cursing at the police to stop beating up an innocent man. The documentary is about the evolution, progress and success of an engaged citizen who always smiles.
Ray Hill, Citizen Provocateur also deals with the subject of gays and lesbians both inside and outside prison. The problems of gays and lesbians in prison is an issue which the officials in charge don't like to talk about and sometimes even arrogantly deny exists.
Through this documentary we hear stories and statements that can be shockingly disturbing for an average viewer. The documentary points out that incarcerated people were not really surprised regarding the news of torture and abuses in Abu Ghraib prison since they see it on a daily basis in US prisons, even today. The documentary lays out facts that are not easy to dismiss.
I see this nicely edited documentary as an introduction to the full life of Citizen Ray Hill. I hope there will be follow up documentaries after this. Our youth, in particular, need to learn from Citizen Hill's experience how to use the media to fight back against injustice and how to become the voices of the voiceless - something that Ray Hill has skillfully and successfully managed to do for decades.
Massoud
This is the story of Ray Hill, a citizen who gets the strength to fight against injustice from the goodness and courage of average people and also from his awareness of the flaws in the system.
In this documentary we see young innocent faces, we hear hopeful voices, and we learn how The Prison Show plays an important role in bringing moments of love and sanity to prisoners and their suffering families on the other side of the walls which separate them. Through many different images and dialogues we learn that The Prison Show on KPFT is a place for healing, maturing and ultimately a path to freedom. Citizen Hill shows us a rational way that media, in this case radio, can be used in the service of average people.
But this documentary is more than an introduction to a prison show. It shows that it is the responsibility of all citizens to seek the truth about themselves and their government and how to take the very first steps toward changing the status quo, either by shouting at oneself in the mirror or cursing at the police to stop beating up an innocent man. The documentary is about the evolution, progress and success of an engaged citizen who always smiles.
Ray Hill, Citizen Provocateur also deals with the subject of gays and lesbians both inside and outside prison. The problems of gays and lesbians in prison is an issue which the officials in charge don't like to talk about and sometimes even arrogantly deny exists.
Through this documentary we hear stories and statements that can be shockingly disturbing for an average viewer. The documentary points out that incarcerated people were not really surprised regarding the news of torture and abuses in Abu Ghraib prison since they see it on a daily basis in US prisons, even today. The documentary lays out facts that are not easy to dismiss.
I see this nicely edited documentary as an introduction to the full life of Citizen Ray Hill. I hope there will be follow up documentaries after this. Our youth, in particular, need to learn from Citizen Hill's experience how to use the media to fight back against injustice and how to become the voices of the voiceless - something that Ray Hill has skillfully and successfully managed to do for decades.
Massoud
If you would llike to purchase a copy of Citizen Provocatuer: Ray Hill's Texas Prison Show, you may request it via email
