Randolph (Randy) Riley is a prison activist, writer, and community leader from Cherry Brook, Nova Scotia. As an organizer, he led the Black August prison strike in 2018 and has been active in campaigns about jail phone costs, religious rights, and labour. His work has been published with CBC, Halifax Examiner, Nova Scotia Advocate and other venues. His essay, “Many a Thousand Gone,”co-written with El Jones, is published in the bestselling book Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada.
He is a co-founder of the Black Power Hour radio show collective on CKDU 88.1FM (which can be heard online at ckdu.ca) and his work on prison abolition has been presented at national and international conferences.
Randy appealed his conviction which initially resulted in a split decision in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. This allowed the case to be heard in the Supreme Court of Canada. In November, 2020 the court rendered a unanimous decision and Randy’s conviction was vacated.
In March of 2021, Randy was finally released on bail. For the first time in nearly a decade, he is able to live and move outside of prison walls. However, he still does not have freedom, as he is monitored by an ankle bracelet and still faces the possibility of being convicted yet again by the Nova Scotia justice system. Please follow this site for updates on Randy’s case and information on how you can help advocate for justice for Randy.
The Black Power Hour
Randy is a co-founder of The Black Power Hour, a radio collective focused on prison liberation. BPH is directed by and towards incarcerated people.
BPH airs on CKDU 88.1FM Wednesday nights from 9-10:30PM (AT). Topics on the show include historical, political, and cultural topics focused on Black people.
BPH provides court and community support for incarcerated people and their families. Some of the initiatives begun by prisoners through BPH include a school supply drive for families of incarcerated people and our annual Christmas toy drive. In 2019, BPH provided toys for over 35 families as well as gift certificates and Christmas dinners for the parents. Partners on the Christmas toy drive include Elizabeth Fry Society Mainland and Women’s Wellness Within.
BPH has presented at national and international conferences, including the Beyond the Bars conference at Columbia University in 2017.
In 2018, BPH was the organizing site for the Burnside Prison Strike. BPH aired programming throughout August on Black August, prison strikes and liberation. The BPH core team is Randy Riley, El Jones. Reed “iZrEAL” Jones and Todd McCallum.
Bios
In his work with the East Coast Prison Justice Society, Randy was contracted to edit and revise a resource manual for the Halifax Family Court project “Where To Go For Help”. Randy collaborated with a black-owned design agency — DW Creativ to design a more inclusive cover for the manual that was more representative of Nova Scotia’s diverse heritage.
Randy Riley’s organizing, from behind bars, has been a crucial facet of Black freedom struggle in this country. The solidarity he has shown –from captivity– for other prisoners, migrant detainees, and victims of police brutality should be a lesson for anybody with the privilege to live in comparative freedom.
Robyn Maynard
Here is Randy at the Transformative Journeys for Racial Justice event hosted by Dalhousie University, with keynote speaker Angela Davis (former Black Panther) holding El Jones’s book “Abolitionist Intimacies” based on her years of work with incarcerated people and their journey through the Justice system. During question period Randy asked the question: “how did you stay strong in the face of injustice while going through your court proceedings?” Speaking to Angela’s representation of herself in court during the 1970 trial, she faced and was later acquitted of all charges.