This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 141 JULY 1, 1997
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the
world's oppressed majority, and against the
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in
the service of the people. support it, struggle
with it and write for it.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. GERONIMO FREE AT LAST!
STRUGGLE AGAINST AMERIKA REPRESSION CONTINUES
2. WEST AFRICAN COUP UPSETS IMPERIALISM, PRESENTS
POTENTIAL REVOLUTIONARY OPPORTUNITY
3. LETTERS
4. EAST TIMOR REBELLION INCREASED AMID BOGUS
INDONESIAN ELECTIONS
5. SETTLER INTERESTS PROPEL NEW YORK PRISON
CONSTRUCTION
6. NEW REPORT OFFERS TORTURE UNIT INFORMATION
7. SENECA NATION STRUGGLE AGAINST NEW YORK
CONTINUES
8. FIRST NATIONS USE KANADIAN MONEY TO EXPOSE
GENOCIDE
9. ARGENTINA DIVIDE BETWEEN RICH AND POOR GROWS:
PROTESTS FORCE GOVERNMENT CONCESSIONS
10. NEWSFLASH: CIA RUINED BOURGEOIS DEMOCRACY IN
GUATEMALA
11. BUSINESS AS USUAL AT HARVARD ECONOMICS
12. ARTIST EXPOSES FBI FRAMEUP OF ED POINDEXTER
AND DAVID RICE
13. FBI CANCELS CALIFORNIA RECRUITING SESSION IN
THE FACE OF MIM/RAIL-LED STUDENT PROTEST
14. AMERIKAN "JUST-US" SYSTEM APOLOGIZES FOR
POLICE BRUTALITY
15. AMERIKA IGNORES THE MASSES' NEEDS: AIDS RATE
SOARS BEHIND BARS
16. INJUSTICE SYSTEM LETS WHITE PIG OFF
17. DENNIS BRUTUS JOINS EVENT TO BENEFIT BOOKS FOR
PRISONERS
18. MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
19. FRENCH ELECTIONS EXPOSE HYPOCRISY OF SO-CALLED
COMMUNISTS
20. U.$.-SOUTH KOREAN REGIME ROCKED BY STUDENT
PROTEST
21. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND
PRISONS
* * *
WHAT IS MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a
revolutionary communist party that upholds
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection
of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist
parties in the English-speaking imperialist
countries and their English-speaking internal
semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties
of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of
the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of
MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.
MIM is an internationalist organization that works
from the vantage point of the Third World
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans,
but world citizens.
MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups
over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM
knows this is only possible by building public
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.
Revolution is a reality for North America as the
military becomes over-extended in the government's
attempts to maintain world hegemony.
MIM differs from other communist parties on three
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution,
the potential exists for capitalist restoration
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in
this country.
MIM accepts people as members who agree on these
basic principles and accept democratic centralism,
the system of majority rule, on other questions of
party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is
universally applicable. We should regard it not as
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is
not merely a matter of learning terms and phrases,
but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208
* * *
GERONIMO FREE AT LAST!
STRUGGLE AGAINST AMERIKA REPRESSION CONTINUES
by MC234
On June 10, Geronimo ji Jaga Pratt, a Black
Panther Party leader, was set free on $25,000 bail
after 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't
commit. Two weeks earlier, a judge overturned his
conviction because the prosecution didn't notify
the defense that the key witness against Pratt was
also a FBI informant. That, and many other trial
irregularities were the tools of the FBI's war
against the Black Panther Party and this important
California BPP leader.
Pratt was set free while prosecutors try to get
the judge's decision to throw out the conviction
overturned. If this effort fails, the prosecution
can still attempt to retry Pratt. After 27 years
of agitation by Pratt and his supporters, the
truth about Pratt's framing by the FBI and his
whereabouts (hundreds of miles from the murder in
question) is well documented. A second trial would
be very difficult for the FBI and prosecutors to
win.
The government fears a free Pratt, as his
revolutionary politics and his story of his
framing are dangerous weapons against the
apartheid Amerikan government. Originally
sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, he has
been turned down for parole 16 times.
Eldridge Cleaver, the former Black Panther Party
Minister of Information called the decision to
release Pratt "a great testimony both to the
ultimate working of our judicial system and also
to his endurance." The first part of Cleaver's
statement shows that Cleaver didn't have
revolutionary endurance. In this case, Pratt
survived incarceration and remained a
revolutionary, whereas Cleaver quickly degenerated
in the 1970s, dropping Maoist nationalist politics
and taking up Christianity instead.
The Black Panther Party in its day would never
have called one small victory a "testimony the
ultimate working of our judicial system". While
the BPP would and MIM does celebrate this victory
for the people, neither organization has any
confusion that this victory was won by force of
the people in the court of the enemy.
MIM instead understands that this new trial is
only the result of sustained public outcry and
exhaustive legal work on the part of Pratt's
advocates. It is sometimes possible for
progressives to win individual battles like this
within the belly of the beast, even at this stage
in the struggle when the imperialists are stronger
than the revolutionaries. The very fact that Pratt
spent so many years in prison for the crime of
being a leader of the Maoist Black Panther Party
makes it clear that there is no integrity in the
criminal injustice system. The prison system
serves as a tool for social control for the
imperialist state.
MIM applauds this victory in Pratt's case and
reminds everyone that there are over 1.5 million
other people languishing behind bars including
many political leaders imprisoned for their
political work and beliefs. We have to be careful
to always place these important cases of
repression against political leaders in the
context of a system that criminalizes poverty and
defends imperialism. While fighting for the
freedom of political leaders like Pratt we must
also fight against the repression of the entire
criminal injustice system. We can not give the
imperialists the victory of calling Pratt's case
unusual as if such repression were not a common
part of the criminal injustice system.
Geronimo Pratt's comments upon his release
correctly focus on the work ahead of us: "It's
madness in there [prison]. You have political
prisoners on top of political prisoners. I'm only
one of a great many that should be exposed, should
be addressed."
* * *
WEST AFRICAN COUP UPSETS IMPERIALISM, PRESENTS
POTENTIAL REVOLUTIONARY OPPORTUNITY
by an MC and two RAIL comrades
The military coup waged against the Sierra Leonean
government at the end of May by a combined force
of the army, the rebel Revolutionary United
Front(RUF) and some freed prisoners has been
roundly condemned by international imperialism and
its neo-colonial allies in Africa -- particularly
the regionally dominant military government of
Nigeria and the West African "Peace Monitoring"
group ECOMOG. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest
countries in the world though its land is rich in
diamonds and minerals long exploited by English,
South African and other imperialists.
While MIM knows little about the RUF and the coup
leaders' line and agenda, we condemn the
imperialist military intervention in Sierra Leone
and the hypocrisy of imperialists labeling the RUF
and coup leaders as "terrorists" and "looters"
when the nation has been consistently looted by
imperialism since its formal English colonial
days. Imperialist intervention has held up the
screen of restoring democracy to the West African
nation. Sierra Leone is now, along with Nigeria,
part of the Commonwealth of Nations that comprise
the modern day English empire.
The so-called democratically elected government of
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah had been in power for
little more than a year when it was overthrown.
The RUF first took up arms against the government
in 1991. This struggle (and its repression by the
government) has claimed the lives of more than
10,000 people. Kabbah's was the first civilian
government in Sierra Leone in 30 years.(1)
The coup came after months of Kabbah's repeated
violations of a peace treaty he signed with the
RUF in November of 1996. Kabbah used hired thugs
instead of the military to fight the RUF.
According to the Panafrican News Agency, use of
this so-called alternate military and the special
treatment it received ultimately turned the
regular army against the government, and helped
garner support for the coup leaders. Kabbah had
also contracted with the notoriously vicious
"Executive Outcomes," a South African mercenary
outfit, to fight the RUF and seize the diamonds
under its control.(2)
IMPERIALISM ATTACKS VIA NIGERIA
With open support from the neo-colonial
governments that make up the Organization of
African Unity (OAU) -- including Mandela's South
Africa -- and the United Nations, Nigerian naval
forces assaulted the capital city of Freetown at
the beginning of June, killing nearly 100 Sierra
Leoneans.(3) "Maj. Gen. Victor Malu, the Nigerian
commander of ... ECOMOG, described Monday's
fighting -- which left at least 53 dead -- as
'skirmishes.' The real operation to flush out
Koroma has yet to begin, he warned."(4)
In response to the attack, according to Reuter
news, "several thousand people [waving] placards
and bunches of leaves as a sign of peace protested
against the Nigerians, saying they did not support
the May 25 military coup, but they opposed any
foreign interference."(5)
Amerikkka, England and other Western imperialist
countries had evacuated more than 1,000 of their
citizens from Freetown before the closure of air
and water space around Sierra Leone by the new
government. Said one U.$. State Department
official, "We have not taken a position of direct
support for the Nigerians. But we do support the
ambition, the objective, that the rebels cannot
win."(6)
Under the control of multi-national capitalist
organizations like the IMF and the World Bank,
regional powers like the Nigerian government
represent imperialism's interests, and do its
local dirty work. So the United Snakes may pretend
to be "neutral" about this military attack, but
Nigeria is not itself an imperialist nation
capable of exerting regional hegemony without U.$.
and other imperialist backing. According to the
Heritage Foundation, U.$. aid to Nigeria in 1996
was $26.8 million excluding IMF loans.(7) Before
the coup, there was at least one battalion of
Nigerian troops and some military advisors in
Sierra Leone under a military pact between the
Nigerian government and overthrown president
Kabbah, according to the Panafrican News Agency
(PANA). Nigeria's invasion is likely the
government holding up its end of the deal.
According to the CIA World Fact Book, "The mining
of diamonds, bauxite, and rutile is the major
source of hard currency [in Sierra Leone]." The
Fact Book goes on to say that "the government has
worked hard to meet its IMF-and World Bank-
mandated stabilization targets, holding down
fiscal deficits, and retiring much of its domestic
debt -- but at a steep cost in terms of forgone
capital investments and social spending."(8) Under
these conditions, it is ridiculous to speak of the
Kabbah government as a democracy.
The new regime is led by Maj. Johnny Paul Koromah
and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
"Koromah named the head of the six-year-old rural
rebel movement, Col. Foday Sankoh, as his deputy.
He appointed three members of Sankoh's movement to
the council, and at least seven army officers and
a handful of civilians."(9)
The neo-colonial state in a very poor country is
inherently weak; seizing power in a coup that is
not part of an overall revolution does not mean
there has been a deep change in the power
structure. A genuine revolution against
imperialist-backed forces is a national liberation
struggle in many areas of society -- including but
not limited to state power in the capital. So the
coup in Sierra Leone probably cannot be described
as a revolution even if the RUF/AFRC are
revolutionary. However, overthrowing the existing
state power definitely opens up a revolutionary
opportunity for the RUF or AFRC or some other
revolutionary force.
MIM is hopeful that the people of Sierra Leone
will be able to use this opportunity to move in
the direction of true national liberation, and we
urge all supporters of the people to oppose
imperialist intervention in the country.
NOTES:
1.Mail And Guardian, 6 June 1997;
http://www.africanews.org/west/sierraleone/1997060
2 _feat2.html
2.http://www.africanews.org/west/sierraleone/19970
6 06_feat2.html
4.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/06/sierra.leone.ap/i
n dex.html
5. Reuter, 2June 1997.
6. Reuter, 3June 1997.
8.
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/factboo
k /sl.htm
9. Washington Post Online, 2 June 1997.
* * *
LETTERS
EBONICS DEBATE CONTINUED
MIM: You all know or rather should know that I
support any progressive revolutionary movement.
But you have me so angry it really doesn't make
sense. My outrage comes from your support of
Ebonics. I really can't believe you all would
support such a backwards political plot set out by
these fascist lackeys. Because if you look at it,
it's reactionary from beginning to end.
OK they want to make this an official language for
us Black People. That is a complete slap in our
faces. Because it is in a notion of regression. As
we all know this "broken English" was originated
by our Afrikan ancestors who were denied access to
learning anything except how to labor and how to
kiss the slave master's ass. They were not "dumb"
or "stupid" people. They just lacked the sources
and the proper training to master this "bullshit"
language. And at the time is was a strategic move
by the slave owners. Because the best slave was an
ignorant slave!
So to keep the slaves ignorant was the key to
keeping them slaves. Once the slaves were legally
allowed to read, things started changing very
quick. And I hate to say it but that was another
one of their plots. And that was to make education
accessible to Black people for the sole purpose of
integration. (Let them integrate and we still can
make money off of their labor). But one good thing
that it did do was that it allowed Black people
the opportunity to know and challenge oppressive
tactics before they were even put in effect. Good
example is the right to bare arms. The Black
Panther Party stressed this to the people, because
you had people who couldn't read who were thinking
if they carry a gun they would get locked up.
Now say ten years from now someone is raised by
this Ebonics. Do you think he/she would be able to
pick up a law book and understand it??? Not that I
care about this so-called LAW. But do you think it
could be done??? I don't think so! And you can
bet those fascist who run this country are not
gonna change their writs & legislatives for Ebonic
understanding people.
I could see if they said OK we're gonna let
Swahili be the official language of Black people
in the U.S. because this is something that really
is Our history. "Broken English" is a part or our
history that isn't even 600 years old. And what
the hell is so good about it that would make us
say we cherished it??? Really I don't care to much
about the English language. But I just hate to see
a people being taught ignorance is the best way to
become excellent. It's a political strategic move
to stop the Black kids from learning too much.
Because the same teachers who learn slang today
are gonna be lost tomorrow. Because slang changes
with each generation.
I shall end my missive on this note:
When little white girls and boys were talking that
"Valley Talk" and "Surf Slang" did you hear
anybody ready to make it an official language for
white people???
And I'm not just a S.C. Prisoner. My name is
Damue... which means Blood in Swahili...
--A South Carolina Prisoner, 10 Feb. 97
MIM RESPONDS: This letter writer raises some
contradictory arguments in his/her opposition of
Ebonics. First s/he says that Ebonics will lead to
Black people not being able to understand law
books and other such things but then s/he says it
would be ok if Swahili was the official language
of Blacks because this really is Black history.
But history has created a new nation within U.S.
borders that is not African but instead has its
own national features. Just because this Black
nation has not existed as long as those in Africa
does not make it any less legitimate. It is the
history of the oppression of the Black nation that
has created the language spoken by the people. It
is also this history that has created a distinct
Black nation, separate from the African nations.
MIM supports the recognition of Ebonics because
this represents a small recognition of the Black
nation as a separate nation from whites. We do
encourage Blacks and all oppressed people to learn
and use as much from the oppressor nation as
possible. But we agree with the letter writer's
opposition to integration. We see the best
opposition to this integrationist strategy is the
organizing for revolutionary national liberation
of the distinct nations within U.S. borders. This
includes the recognition that these nations have a
distinct national culture, language, economy and
territory.
DON'T FORGET YOUR MIM NOTES SUBSCRIPTION
***A year subscription to MIM Notes is $20 but
this newspaper does not have any corporate
sponsors or multinational advertisers and we need
your help. Follow the example of this comrade and
order or renew your subscription today.***
Dear Friends, Enclosed is $50 to renew my
subscription to MIM Notes for one year. Keep the
change.
Gratefully yours,
-- a comrade in the East
CORRECTION:
The headline "L.A. Rally commemorates 1980 U.$.
Kwangju Massacre" in MIM Notes 141 (July 1, 1997)
was incorrect. The rally referred to in the
article took place at Chosun University in Korea.
* * *
EAST TIMOR REBELLION INCREASES AMID BOGUS
INDONESIAN ELECTIONS
In Indonesia, the ruling party of the dictator
Suharto has just won its sixth election victory
since 1971 with 74% of the vote (1). Though this
statistic might sound like a mandate for his
power, these elections are anything but
democratic. The pro-Independence forces of
occupied East Timor have been especially good at
exposing the lack of democracy. They also engage
in armed rebellion in order to occupy police and
at disrupt the sham elections.
This is how the Indonesian elections work. First,
the government exercises extreme control over the
entire population by carefully controlling the
domestic media and arresting people who listen to
foreign radio.(2) Then it restricts the elections
themselves. Only two other parties were allowed by
the government to run. Government critics were
charged with subversion or barred from running for
the 425 seats in parliament, and the other 75
seats in parliament are reserved for the
military.(3) Finally, when the elections come
around anyone trying to protest them faces brutal
repression.
Indonesia occupies East Timor and has murdered
over a third of the population since the invasion
in 1971. The ongoing rebellion of the East
Timorese people against this U.$.- and Australian-
backed occupation has inspired national liberation
movements worldwide.(4) During this election the
Timorese rebels were especially active, staging
attacks in a number of towns. This resistance
meets with brutal repression from the Indonesian
military and tight security throughout East Timor.
Pro- Independence rebels from the group Fretilin -
- a revolutionary nationalist organization (5) --
staged a May 31 attack on a police truck that
killed 16 officers and a soldier returning from
"protecting" a polling place. (What this sort of
militarized "protection" of polling places
accomplishes is threat of force against the people
if they vote the occupiers down.) Election-related
protest by Fretilin has resulted in 36 deaths in
total, including nine civilians, five rebels and
22 policemen and soldiers.(5) The state has
responded with 130 arrests of alleged Fretilin
members.(6)
Maoists have always been strong advocates of
national self- determination, and unlike many
pacifists working on this issue strongly support
the struggle of the East Timorese to their
nationhood by any means necessary. People's war is
necessary if the East Timorese are to secure real
self-determination.
NOTES:
1. Reuters North American Wire, 8 June 1997.
2. The British Broadcasting Corporation, 6 June
1997.
3. Boston Globe, 30 May, p.A19.
4. For more of the military support by the U$ see
MIM Notes 136, 15 April 1997, p. 4.
5. For more info on Fretilin, see for example MIM
Notes 61, 96, 102, and 108.
6. Agence France Presse, 9 June 1997.
* * *
SETTLER INTERESTS PROPEL NEW YORK PRISON
CONSTRUCTION
by a RAIL comrade
New York governor George Pataki recently proposed
a plan for increased construction of prisons. The
plan includes 6,950 new prison beds and three new
maximum security prisons housing 1,500 prisoners
each.(1)
On May 14th, prison guards rallied in support the
proliferation plan. As the state steps up
construction on methods to oppress Amerika's
internal colonies and strengthen social control,
prison guard unions finally step up their activism
– activism to support these methods of repression
in order to swell their pockets. The rally was
focused against Democratic opposition to Pataki's
plans.
Assembly Democrats claimed that Pataki had
overestimated the state's need for new facilities,
claiming incarcerations are not increasing that
fast. But Democrats proved that the republican
agenda is not really different when revealed their
juvenile crime proposals. Both sides agreed that
the sentence for murder should be at least
doubled. They also agreed on conceding more power
to the court in juvenile cases. Democrats included
rehabilitation programs in their proposal, which
would "require a psycho-social assessment when a
youth enters the system, establish rural training
camps and formalize and strengthen post-release
supervision."(2) While Pataki wants to send
violent 16-year-olds to adult prisons, Democrats
want a 400-bed super-maximum facility for
juveniles and a 75-bed "shock incarceration"
facility.
No matter which combination of physical
containment and oppression the state chooses, the
effects will be about the same. Either way more
kids are going to spend more time locked up and
doped up -- creating a larger population of young
people with no opportunities. Similarly, it is
inevitable that more prisons will be built to fuel
the ever-growing prison industry, regardless of
which party claims victory.
If you want to see the capitalists' true attitude
toward the Amerikan prison system just check out
New York State's Corcraft webpage at
. This web page serves
as a catalogue to merchandise the many fine
products the state's prisoners are producing. As
soon as you sign on you'll see Pataki's smiling
face and a guarantee of the "pride" put into
producing these products. Whoever is proud of this
show of entrepreneurship, it sure isn't the
thousands of prisoners working for wages far below
minimum wage.
Still, slave labor is only a minor benefit that is
reaped by the snakes perpetuating this system. The
oppression of the Black, Latinos, and First
Nations is inherent in this demand for more
prisons. Even some Democrats have recognized that
"a get-tough plan for juveniles will inordinately
punish minority youths."(3) Meanwhile, settler
nation interests are further fulfilled in the
building and maintaining of these new facilities.
One piece of government propaganda was put out by
the Law Enforcement Officers Union which read,
"BUILD IT. THEY ARE COMING.", with a picture of a
prison hall in the middle. It goes on to say that
the new prisons are not for projected prisoners,
rather prisoners that are already on their way to
jail because of recent legislation. The ad urges
you to ignore why there are so many new prisoners
and whose interests that serves, and instead just
support the building of new prisons.
Meanwhile, bourgeois politicians will have you
believe that it is this increase in incarceration
that has brought down crime rates. But more often
than not, prison time will decrease a persyn's
opportunity to survive without breaking Amerika's
laws. It is better social conditions that lower
crime rates not locking people in horrible living
conditions.
The Union's ad implies that it is too late, and
that the only thing we can do is build more jails
to accommodate for what the state has done.
Meanwhile the state defends itself by claiming to
have lowered crime rates. It may be too late to
prevent the building of these jails, but it is
never too late to break the system which is
committing genocide through gulags and police
occupation and murder. As the goals and results of
imperialism become more clear we must use this to
our advantage to gain the attention of the people
who are brutally oppressed. It is not too late,
but the construction, enslavement, and oppression
will not end until the people join together to
overthrow the system that thrives on these
actions.
NOTES:
1. Times Union. 15 May 1997, p.B-2.
2. Times Union. 29 May 1997, p.A-1.
3. The Legislative Gazette. 2 June 1997, p.27.
4. Times Union. 5 June 1997, p.A-13.
* * *
NEW REPORT OFFERS TORTURE UNIT INFORMATION
The Monitoring Project of the National Campaign to
Stop Control Unit Prisons has produced an interim
report, The Use of Control Unit Prisons in the
United States, which provides a great resource of
information on these torture units. The report is
organized by state with information on how many
control units each state has, the conditions of
confinement, placement criteria, exit criteria,
location of the control units and contact
information for both the DOC and monitoring
activists when available. Anyone interested in
finding out what is going on in their state, or
interested in looking at the systematic use of
control units across the U$ should get a copy of
this report.
The National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons
was formed in December of 1994. As they state in
the introduction "We all understood that we were
looking at a galloping and dangerous trend, but
none of us knew its extent." The group is both an
activist and monitoring organization.
The introduction to the resource gives some
important background on control units:
"It is clear that the use of isolation has
expanded considerably. It is equally clear that
the behavior modification control unit experiment
has resulted in the building of thousands and
thousands of isolation/sensory deprivation cages
in "Supermax" prisons. This report does not
identify who is housed in these units, but our
anecdotal information is revealing. Currently this
form of isolation is clearly used for political
prisoners and prisoner activists, and for
jailhouse lawyers. We are also seeing a
disproportionate number of the mentally ill,
including young people whose emotional state has
become critical as a result of this enforced
desolation. Isolation is also frequently used for
death row prisoners. Perhaps the fastest growing
population to find themselves suddenly living in
these control unit-model cells are the very young
who have received extraordinarily long sentences.
They are often charged with alleged "gang-related"
activity. We have also had reports of one such
unit in a juvenile facility, and another in a
county jail. Clearly then, we are looking at a
deliberate and concerted movement to force an
increasing number of men and women prisoners to
live in the most unnatural and unimaginable
conditions."
There are only five states in the country that do
not appear to operate control units. (This is not
certain because the classification methods used by
various states made it very difficult for the
activists to collect accurate information in many
states). These five states are Georgia, Montana,
Nebraska, North Carolina, and Vermont.
MIM agrees with the National Campaign activists on
the importance of fighting the repression of
control units and a crucial part of this fight is
having information on the enemy. To get involved
in MIM and RAIL activism against the criminal
injustice system contact your local distributor.
To get a copy of this report or to participate in
this monitoring project write to Bonnie Kerness at
the American Friends Service Committee, 972 Broad
Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102.
* * *
SENECA NATION STRUGGLE AGAINST NEW YORK CONTINUES
by an RC
New York State has continued to press for a sales
tax on tobacco and gasoline sold to U.$. citizens
on First Nation territory. Although conflict
between New York State and the Seneca Nation has
reached a climax and calmed down, the issue
remains unresolved.
In light of recent incidents, a comrade visited
Cattaraugus territory. The Seneca territory is
comprised of rural, low-cost housing and less than
a dozen gas station/smoke shops. These shops are
the Senecas' means of surviving under the
imperialist system. Foreign banks' refusal to
grant loan or mortgages keeps members of the
Seneca nation in housing they can only pay for in
full.
UNREPORTED POLICE BRUTALITY
The bourgeois press was reluctant to report on the
constant presence of state troopers during the
blockade of Seneca territory. But members of the
nation were very willing to expose police
occupation to neutralize the Nation. The area was
under constant, heavy police patrol throughout the
period of the blockade. There were many
confrontations between protesters and police,
including many Seneca arrests. During the
occupation, the troopers would drive by flashing
spotlights and whooping; making "war cries."
There was also an incident on the Akron territory
where a cop performed a hit and run on a First
Nation member, fortunately the victim was all
right.
The police actively interfered in the lives of the
whole nation. There were periods when no one was
allowed through the road blocks. Children were not
allowed to go to school and dialysis patients
could not receive treatment. Ambulances from
outside the territory were stopped and not allowed
in -- leaving the nation with one ambulance for
emergencies.
A volunteer firefighter with whom RAIL talked said
she and others were stopped and harassed by armed
troopers. Even more ridiculous was the story of a
preschool bus that was stopped by a police
blockade. When the cops got on the bus they asked
for ID from the 3 to 5-year old children.
During the blockade an older womyn began
videotaping the cops' activities. They immediately
tried to chased her away. She refused to stop. A
neighbor went out to help her but was ordered to
leave. The pigs claimed he had entered the nation
from outside, but his house is clearly located on
Seneca territory.
Children who lived near the roadblock reported
being threatened by the cops numerous times.
After the blockade ended, pigs continued to stop
trucks from entering the Nation by stopping them
at the NY border with Pennsylvania. Meanwhile
troopers drove into gas station parking lots to
intimidate.
After the arrest of numerous protesters, state
officials offered to drop the charges if the
Senecas would sign a treaty giving NY the right to
control the nation's economy. The people responded
by filing brutality charges against the cops. The
police present at the rally came in full riot
gear, ready for a confrontation. The cops had
charged the crowd of protesters with batons,
shields, and helmets. The nation is also filing a
civil suit against the state to gain justice for
the children who were not allowed to go to school.
SUPPORT FOR SENECA AGAINST BLOCKADE
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
The Seneca Nation itself is united against New
York State imperialist attacks. As they work to
prevent the state from stealing everything they
have left, the Seneca have gained support of many
neighbors because of the role of Senecas in the
local economy. The blockade had a harsh effect on
neighboring restaurants and businesses because the
Nation serves as a tourist attraction with its
tax-free gas and tobacco. Also local businesses
depend on the patronage of Seneca nation members
which was decreased because of the blockade.
One persyn reported that over 5,000 postcards and
petitions were sent in protest, between the
Senecas and these supporters. One store was
handing out slips of paper with Gov. Pataki's
phone number on it. The number was flooded with so
many calls that Pataki's office stopped taking
calls regarding the tax issue.
[MIM adds: But we do not rely on the fair-weather
support of the white nation for the struggles of
the oppressed. It is true that in cases like this,
the interests of the white nation and the
oppressed nations sometimes intersect – we support
the oppressed using the white nation's interests
to the advantage of anti-imperialism.]
Faced with strong unity, the state continues to
resort to deceitful ways of winning this struggle.
NY state has tried holding First Nation people as
ransom in an effort to get them to sign the
treaty. The state also resorts to negotiating with
lackeys when it cannot sit down with legitimate
representatives of the people.
The Senecas have been forced to continuously
listen to the state say one thing and do the
other, as they live in fear of the future of their
land and future. The state says that it observes
the treaties the U.$. has made with First Nations.
But New York ignores its promise to grant the
First Nations sovereignty, free of taxes. On May
22 Gov. Pataki publicly announced his wish to
grant this 'right' to First Nations once again. As
many watched to see Pataki's true intentions, he
showed them on May 30 when he ordered the state to
appeal the court ruling that stopped the tax
collection. Pataki's spokeperson called it "just
an effort to clarify the law" and said if the
state wins "it wouldn't mean anything."(1)
One Seneca womyn asked why the state is attacking
them, is it "because we're a minority or supposed
to be subservient to the state?" That seems to be
Pataki's plans and all of the U.$. dealings with
First Nations and other victims of imperialism.
One persyn interviewed said the state never
stepped in to protect family businesses from Wal-
Mart but now they are suddenly interested in small
businesses' competitive ability when the First
Nations are the competitors. After seeing how the
local businesses depend on the Seneca smoke shops,
it is quite clear that those businesses are only
an excuse to attack the First Nations. Both the
introduction of large retailers such as Wal-Mart
and the stealing of First Nation wealth help in
the accumulation of capital by the imperialist
nation.
Many Senecas recognize that an economy supported
by smoke shops and gasoline sales is not
sustainable, but it is all they have. Even so they
are willing to risk losing their jobs in order to
maintain their land and their freedom. Over 130
people lost their jobs during the blockade period
at one company visited. That didn't force them to
sign the state's agreement. The Seneca nation is
not going to back down in front of the imperialist
power that threatens them. MIM and RAIL are
building independent institutions of the oppressed
as a means of supporting and promoting national
liberation of the oppressed nations. We publish
articles like this to build public opinion in
favor of the just struggles of the oppressed. MIM
and RAIL work to build our unity with the Seneca
Nation and all First Nation people as we prepare
to fight against the evil empire.
NOTE: 1. The Buffalo News. 31 May 1997.
* * *
FIRST NATIONS USE KANADIAN MONEY TO EXPOSE
GENOCIDE
by MCB52
The Toronto Globe and Mail, Kanada's so-called
"national" newspaper (which is in fact only
"national" in the sense of serving the oppressor
nation within Kanada, not its internal colonies)
was very distressed by the claims of a certain
report released recently. First Nations surrounded
and occupied by Manitoba authored and distributed
a report documenting the federal government's
campaign of genocide against them. The genocide
itself was not what got the Globe and Mail riled
up; rather, the imperialist press was upset that
they used Health Canada money to fund the project.
The Globe and Mail's headline in their only
article addressing the "Genocide in Canada" report
showed an absurdly lopsided presentation of the
harms done to each party in Kanada's imperialist
history and practice toward the colonized First
Nations: "Native's attack paid for by Ottawa:
Aboriginals used Health Canada cash to send
foreign embassies allegations of 'genocide'."
The paper never explains why it deigns to keep the
word genocide in quotes (while not putting in
quotes the word attack), never bothering to
actually refute what First Nations say about the
reality of national oppression within Kanadian
borders. To show us how far out the report is, the
paper quotes Terrance Nelson, a councilor of the
Roseau River First Nation (part of the Ojibwe
nation), in the report: "The term genocide in
this document is used to describe the results of
modern-day Canadian policy and laws. Every year in
Canada over one thousand indigenous people die in
unnecessary, preventable, and unnatural deaths."
Leaving all the harsh stuff in quotes, the Globe
and Mail portrays it as too absurd to merit a
response.
Nelson's statement is actually entirely straight-
forward. It refers to the conditions of a huge
unemployment and incarceration rate, exacerbated
by the pushing of alcohol on First Nations and
then inadequate medical care. After not providing
jobs for First Nation people, the Kanadian
government then prevents them from creating their
own jobs, raiding casinos and other profitable
businesses to keep them from being too lucrative.
The forced poverty and incarceration, and
subsequent drug pushing, is modern-day genocide.
About forty thousand Kanadian dollars from money
allocated by Health Canada for the purpose of
developing a community health plan for First
Nations surrounded by southern Manitoba went into
publishing the report. The Globe and Mail
insinuates that this is off-topic to the
development of a health program, but it is in fact
central to improving the health of First Nations
that we have a clear understanding of Kanada's
genocidal actions.
As for the report's distribution among the
embassies, Nelson explained that this was also
part of building that awareness: "I think the
halo needs to get a little dimmer around here.
Canada's been very, very vocal about human-rights
violations in other countries. It's now the turn
of these countries to look at what Canada's done
in its own back yard."
Rather than refuting the allegation of genocide,
which would hardly be possible, the Globe and Mail
makes a personal attack on Mr. Nelson and deflects
attention to the Kanadian government's pressing
charges against him over tax-free cigarettes. The
paper does quote his correct response: "First
nations must be allowed to exercise the rights
they have without facing constant RCMP
intervention." And so the paper's diversion gets
right back to the central point of this and other
indigenous issues, whether it is regarding
information about health or control over the goods
and services distributed on sovereign land:
exposing, opposing, and building in opposition to
imperialism is central to improving the condition
First Nations across North America.
NOTE: The Globe and Mail. 14 May 1997, p. 6.
* * *
ARGENTINA DIVIDE BETWEEN RICH AND POOR GROWS:
PROTESTS FORCE GOVERNMENT CONCESSIONS
by MC17
Since April there have been protests in Argentina
against widespread poverty and unemployment. In
early June, these escalated to a series of
roadblocks in a number of provinces. In Jujuy
province, the protesters won government
concessions in the form of 12,000 new jobs in
return for an end to the road blocks. But this
settlement did not come before over 180 people
were injured in clashes between the protesters and
police.
The more than 20 roadblocks across Argentina came
in response to violent police action against
shanty dwellers blocking a highway in Jujuy. State
workers in Jujuy went on strike in sympathy with
the roadblocks. There was also violence at an
earlier roadblock by jobless oil workers in the
province of Neuquen. In other recent protests,
teachers went on a hunger strike over the
education budget, and students took to the streets
in Buenos Aires demanding more cash and action on
jobs.(1)
After two weeks of violence in Jujuy, student
protests in Buenos Aires and nearby La Plata, and
trouble in such other cities as Cordoba and
Mendoza, the Peronist government offered some
concessions to protesters in Jujuy. First it
offered 1,500 jobs, then raised the offer to
10,000 low-paid, short-term jobs, and finally
agreed on 12,000.(2,3)
These protests forced President Carlos Menem to
acknowledge some of the social problems in
Argentina. But at the same time he condemned the
protesters, saying that the bad conditions don't
justify "extremist" actions.(4) Menem blamed the
current 17.3 percent unemployment rate on old
policies of previous governments which gave
"artificial occupation to tens of thousands of
people." But the Peronists have been in power in
Argentina since 1989. These past eight years prove
once more that despite claiming to be interested
in the social welfare of the people, the followers
of Juan Peron are just upholding another variation
of imperialist domination.
ECONOMIC BOOM MEANINGLESS FOR THE MAJORITY
The government of Argentina has been publicizing
its so-called victory in achieving financial
stability and economic growth by pulling in many
foreign investors. In Buenos Aires' financial
district, foreign banks invested over $2.0 billion
buying out Argentine banks in just two weeks.(5)
In late May banking giant HSBC Holdings Plc said
it will buy all of the local Roberts Group,
including Banco Roberts, for between $600 million
and $688 million. Days before, Spain's Banco
Santander SA said it would buy 35.06 percent of
Banco Rio for $594 million, giving it voting
control. A couple of weeks earlier, Spain's Banco
Bilbao Viscaya SA's Banco Frances bought 71.8
percent of retail bank Banco de Credito
Argentino.(5)
But the price stability being touted by the
government has been accompanied by increased
unemployment, poverty and inequality. Economist
Miguel Angel Broda, writing in El Cronista, said
that since 1974 the poorest 30 percent of society
has seen its income drop 25 percent while the
richest 10 percent's income has grown 31.5
percent. From 1994-96, the poorest 30 percent's
income shrank 10.7 percent.(5) Some of the sugar
and steel towns in Argentina are experiencing
unemployment upwards of 37%.(2) This is added to
the 14% underemployment rate.(6)
While the imperialist lackeys in the Peronist
government sell of the country to the highest
international imperialist bidder, the people of
the country suffer. This is the inevitable result
of the expanse of monopoly capital into Third
World countries. Capitalism is not good for the
health and welfare of the people, it only serves
to exploit the people, stealing their labor power
so that the foreign capitalists can get rich. The
only solution is a revolution to overthrow
imperialist domination and install a Maoist-led
socialist government.
NOTES:
1. Reuters, 28 May 1997.
2. Reuters, 30 May 1997.
3. Reuters, 29 May 1997.
4. Reuters, 31 May 1997.
5. Reuters, 3 June 1997.
6. Inter Press Service, 27 May 1997.
* * *
NEWS FLASH:
CIA RUINED BOURGEOIS DEMOCRACY IN GUATEMALA
"After five years of promises, the CIA two weeks
ago released a fraction of its classified files on
the coup it ran in Guatemala in 1954." These
documents prove what MIM and other communists have
said about U.$. democracy -- that is democracy for
the white and the rich, but Pentagon/CIA rule of
the world's majority.
The U.$. government claims to support "democracy"
in the world, but it lies. It only supports
elections when pro-U.S. puppets win, because the
people of those countries have had their arms
twisted enough to cry "Uncle! (Sam)" The people of
Nicaragua recently re-experienced this strategy of
Uncle Sam when other countries votes for
politicians not quite favorable enough to U.$.
imperialism.
Now even the Boston Globe can admit the truth:
"140,000 Guatemalan citizens died or disappeared
during the 35 years of of civil war that followed
the coup, most at the hands of a murderous
military forced backed by the United States."
The U.$. CIA overthrew President Jacobo Arbenz
Guzman in June, 1954. Unlike the situation of most
puppet governments in the Third World, the Arbenz
government achieved power through elections.
Documents just released show the United $tates
organized the Guatemalan military to get rid of
Arbenz, and that the United Fruit company was the
main beneficiary.
Often people ask MIM why be communists instead of
democratic socialists. The coup in Guatemala in
1954 and the bloodshed that followed is a typical
case why democratic socialism has no chance of
working. It's to the point now where the United
$tates only chooses from amongst various dictator
puppets, supporting Marcos at one time or Noriega
in Panama at another time only to get tired of
them if they show the least bit of independence.
The world's people are so used to this un-
democratic state of affairs now that the Third
World needs a lengthy stage of new democracy just
to get used to the idea of being without
imperialist rule. Without armed uprising prepared
to deal with the U.$. military and CIA, the voice
of the people cannot be heard. "Democratic
socialism" becomes a fig-leaf excuse for majority
rule of rich white people over the rest of the
world.
NOTE: Boston Globe 8 June 1997, p. d2.
* * *
HARVARD ECONOMICS PROFESSORS: BUSINESS AS USUAL
MIM has long noted that at Harvard University
there is no political science department, just
"Government." There people train to become high-
ranking government officials. They do not
understand the science of political behavior
except to the extent that it lands jobs in the
U.$. government, which means understanding how to
flatter the administration the right way.
Now it turns out this is true of "economists" at
Harvard as well, who should be named, "mode of
production adjusters" or just investment experts,
because even the U.$. government found itself
embarrassed that a tenured Harvard professor named
Andrei Shleifer was investing in Russia by making
use of insider information he obtained from taking
charge of the privatization of the government.
For some time, a major center for the study of
global political economy at Harvard has been an
extension of the U.$. government. Old CIA money
transferred to the AID found its way into the
Harvard Institute for International
Development(HIID). It is that HIID which just lost
$14 million of a $57 million contract for
consulting in the privatization of Russia.
True, Harvard has a multi-billion dollar endowment
and so it can afford to hire some professors to
study things for their own sake while funded from
what used to be apartheid profits and what today
is just general super-exploitation. However, the
government offers Harvard tens of millions at a
time to do work on this or that project, so
Harvard goes beyond its endowment's possibilities
and becomes more and more an extension of the
government, just another agency in the Clinton
administration or the Bush administration before
that.
The political scientists and economists get jobs
privatizing Eastern Europe and Russia. Those
studying hard sciences can get military research
work. People in biology and medicine have their
choice of government or pharmaceutical work -- and
all of this is done in the name of academia. In
this environment, the "applied" side of knowledge
means swamping academia with profit motivations
and the politics of profit.
China's Cultural Revolution involved the world's
most profound discussion of intellectuals seen in
the world yet. There is no getting around the
facts that intellectuals depend on agricultural
workers to feed them and manufacturing workers to
clothe them. What those intellectuals accomplish
for society depends on how they are organized.
Under capitalism we must distrust the liberal arts
intellectuals for coming up with reasons why there
should be classes and certifying the class
structure with degrees, but also we must distrust
the applied side dependent intellectuals who put
forward what is profitable to themselves.
NOTE: Boston Globe. 21 May 1997.
* * *
ARTIST EXPOSES FBI FRAME-UP OF ED POINDEXTER AND
DAVID RICE
SANTA BARBARA, CA --- 100 Black College Men, RAIL
and MIM sponsored a presentation by performance
artist Kietryn Zychal which exposed the case of
two former Black Panther Party members and the
true nature of the Amerikan justice. Zychal has
devoted years researching this particular case and
is committed to proving the innocence of Rice and
Poindexter. The presentation included her own
videotaped interviews with former Black Panther
Party members Ed Poindexter and David Rice and was
followed by a discussion.
The following case concerning former Black Panther
Party members, Mondo we Langa (formerly known as
David Rice) and Ed Poindexter, exposes the FBI's
infamous COINTELPRO-initiated (Counter-
Intelligence Program) operation against them. The
FBI's COINTELPRO, which acts as a tool of US
imperialism, specifically targeted progressive,
revolutionary organizations and movements such as
the Black Panther Party, for the purpose of
silencing those movements that demand self-
determination. This case clearly indicates that
white Amerika's prevailing war on the oppressed
Black nation continues even after the
disintegration of the Black Panther Party.
Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa were convicted in
1971 of killing an Omaha cop, although a great
deal of evidence proves otherwise. On August 17,
1970, police responded to a 911 emergency call
claiming that the caller had witnessed a womym
being dragged into a vacant house. Upon entering
the front of the house, the five officers noted
that a suitcase was lying on the porch. The
suitcase exploded when one pig accidentally
triggered it. He was killed by the explosion.
By the end of August, the police conjured up a
handful of possible suspects. Among them were
Duane Peak, a 15 year old adolescent, and National
Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF) members David
Rice and Ed Poindexter. The NCCF was an off-shoot
of the BPP.
While being detained, Peak allegedly "confessed"
and stated that Rice and Poindexter had
masterminded the bombing and that [Peak] merely
delivered the suitcase to the vacant house, making
the 911 phone call. Thereafter, Rice and
Poindexter were also detained. In the Amerikan law
enforcement system, the police systematically
coerce confessions or information out of people
through employment of threats with violence or
prosecution. Peak himself was threatened with the
prospect of going to the electric chair if he did
not testify and cooperate with the pigs. At
present time, Duane Peak has disappeared.
The happenings and hearing in the court were
rigged. Discrepancies in confessions and evidence
arose. Despite the defense's requests for
acquisition of the 911 tapes, none were produced,
for the Omaha police department felt it could be
used to their disadvantage. The transcripts were
destroyed. The police documents used as evidence
in the case which bragged about finding arms and
explosives in Rice's house were flawed-the
documents lacked the name of the person
responsible for the discovery, lacked concrete
pictures of the confiscated weapons in their
original place upon discovery. Rather, police
documents showed a picture of the contrabands in
the back truck of a police car in front of the
police station. Moreover, the mere fact that Duane
Peak's stories were altered over seven times gives
reason for a hidden conspiracy devised by law
enforcement.
On September 28, 1970, Duane Peak took to the
stand and shocked the courtroom by denying that an
August 10 meeting with Poindexter and Rice at
Rice's house to go over plans concerning the
bombings never took place. Following a sudden
recess called by the prosecution, Peak returned to
the courtroom, clearly showing signs of recent
physical abuse. His eyes were red and puffy,
hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Court
transcripts show that upon the defense's
questioning of whether a police beating had taken
place during recess, Peak had answered
affirmative. Despite Peak's statements, both
Poindexter and Rice were convicted of murder and
sentenced to life imprisonment. The two men's
imprisonment demonstrates what happens when even
the legacies reminiscent of the BPP are perceived
as a threat to white Amerika.
Another significant day was when David Rice turned
himself in to the police station after being
underground for several weeks. In a photograph
captured by the Omaha World-Herald, Rice was
pictured standing stagnant, with both hands in his
pants pocket, waiting for the elevator. Later,
prosecutors would argue that traces of materials
from dynamites were found on the clothing of both
Rice and Poindexter. However, when both of their
hands were examined for traces of explosives, a
chemist from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms confirmed that there were none present.
In her presentation, Zychal pointed out that in
the photograph, Rice's hands were deep into his
pockets on a sweltering day. Yet the police
claimed that Rice had at that exact time dynamite
in his pocket. Following the police department's
argument then, wouldn't Rice have an overwhelming
amount of explosive material residue on his hands?
Who are the pigs trying to fool?
Despite the evidence that points to the corruption
and miscalculations of white America's defense
strategy, two innocent comrades were incarcerated.
Between May 5, 1970 and September 6, 1970, there
took place a series of bombing occurrences in Des
Moines, Omaha, and Minneapolis. In Central Iowa,
five bombing incidents took place within a six-
week span. The fact that the Omaha police opted
not to take these other occurrences into notice,
as well as their disregard in attempting to
connect these bombings with the similar one that
took place in Omaha, clearly proves that the
conviction of David Rice and Ed Poindexter was a
main objective in a deliberate, well-devised plan
to repress the NCCF.
Despite the evidence for Rice and Poindexter's
innocence, our two comrades have been living in
silent struggle in Amerika's slave prisons for
nearly 26 years. It is time to get the word out
about their frame-up; it is time to be conscious
of all the struggles of the countless oppressed
people forced to slave away in obscurity.
* * *
FBI CANCELS CALIFORNIA RECRUITING SESSION IN THE
FACE OF MIM/RAIL-LED STUDENT PROTEST
SANTA BARBARA, CA. -- On May 21, around twenty
students gathered to protest a scheduled
recruiting session by the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) on the campus of the
University of California at Santa Barbara. The
rally, as well as the publicity leading up to it,
helped to educate the broader university community
about the terrorist tactics the FBI uses against
progressive and revolutionary groups -- and why it
uses them.
News of the rally also made its way to the FBI,
which promptly canceled their appearance. Of
course the rally happened anyway -- shutting down
one recruiting meeting does not mean the FBI is
defeated, and the rally was still a valuable
public-opinion building tool.
RAIL and MIM initiated the rally. One of the
publicity flyers included the following text:
"The mainstream media and the FBI itself portray
the FBI as a high-tech, professional crime-
fighting organization, combating crazy individuals
who kidnap defenseless girls or persecuting
vicious mobsters. But in fact, the FBI has
principally been a political police from its
inception. The FBI attempts to forestall, curtail,
and repress political dissent through
surveillance, harassment, and violence.
"The FBI's COINTELPRO (Counter-Intelligence
Program) infiltrated and spread misinformation
throughout many radical organizations throughout
the 60s and 70s. COINTELPRO was instrumental in
the assassination of Black Panther Party leader
Fred Hampton and the frame-ups of Geronimo Pratt
and American Indian Movement activist Leonard
Peltier. When the united states expanded its
covert war in Central America in the 80s, the FBI
stepped up its harassment of anti-war and other
activists within u.s. borders. The harassment
included crank calls, break-ins, death threats,
infiltration, FBI visits to activists' family and
employers -- and in at least one case, a bombing.
On May 24, 1990 the FBI blew up Earth First!
activist Judi Bari's car, and then had the
audacity to blame the bomb on Bari herself.
"The crimes of the FBI here within u.s. borders
are clearly linked to the system it defends: u.s.
imperialism. U.$. imperialism must continually
wage war to defend its markets, labor forces, and
natural resources. Reagan: El Salvador,
Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Bush: Panama and Iraq.
Clinton: Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, and... ? The FBI
makes sure that opposition "at home" will not
interfere with these conquests. Those who impose
u.s. military intervention abroad must also oppose
the domestic militarism of the FBI -- and those
who oppose the FBI's crimes should also oppose the
dastardly system which makes it necessary."
During the rally, a MIM supporter gave a talk
describing how the FBI continues to spy on,
intimidate, and terrorize activists even after the
demise of COINTELPRO. The supporter emphasized
that exposing the FBI's past crimes and current
plans is an important task. On the one hand, we
need to understand the FBI's tactics in order to
defuse them. On the other, if we can build public
opinion against FBI terrorism, we can make the FBI
think twice before implementing its most extreme
plans. (These extreme plans include concentration
camps for anti-war activists in case the u.s.
invades another country.) This rally was a small
preemptive strike in the battle for public opinion
and the room to organize.
* * *
AMERIKAN "JUST-US" SYSTEM APOLOGIZES FOR POLICE
BRUTALITY
by Otis
Police brutality runs rampant in amerika. No more
is to be expected from those hired to maintain the
u.$. system and trained in the effective use of
weaponry. However, amerikan patriots have joked
about 'keeping power in check,' since they
successfully stole this land from the hands of the
indigenous. Some recent cases bring these false
attempts at 'the people's government' to light as
being the worthless and oppressive capitalist
tricks that they are.
"One of the motives that local governments have
for making sure that police officers do not
brutalize the citizenry is the threat of financial
liability. In a recent 5-4 ruling that set aside a
$800,000 judgment won by an Oklahoma woman in a
police abuse case, the U.S. Supreme Court diluted
that motive."(1) The womyn sued because she was
beaten by a pig -- the nephew of the county
sheriff, who had a record of misdemeanors and
civil rights' violations.
Mainstream media shows their lackey nature when
they state: "While the court's ruling relaxes
local governments' financial liability in cases of
police brutality, it does not relax their moral
responsibility. Law enforcement agencies must make
clear that excessive force will not be tolerated,
and they should decline to hire as police officers
people who have histories of crime and violence,
no matter who their uncle might be."(1) This
liberal 'condemnation' of one pig bastard and/or
one set of pigs, hardly addresses the systematic
bankruptcy that allows such 'excessive force' to
happen. The police are an armed body charged with
defending the ruling imperialists' property. They
occupy oppressed nations like a foreign army
occupies territory. The social role of the police
causes police brutality, not a few "bad apples."
In another case "A Utah inmate's mother is
expected to bring a lawsuit against the state
Department of Corrections involving alleged wrong-
doing of prison staff and the psychiatrist who
ordered her. . . son restrained in a chair for 16
hours. After Michael Valent was released, a blood
clot from his leg then lodged in his lung, killing
him. Utah Corrections officials admit prison
psychiatrist, David Egli, violated prison rules by
failing to examine Valent while the prisoner was
restrained in the chair." Again, the state
official had a long history of abusing his power.
However, the u.$. injustice system has decided
that the hiring of such criminals is only illegal
when the victim's injuries are a "plainly obvious
consequence" of the hiring decision.(2) What they
meant to say is "we'll find any damn way to not
punish the criminals who work for us."
'Justice' Richard Howe wrote: "If prisoners were
allowed to bring actions against medical personnel
for negligence, personnel might be more easily
manipulated or threatened and breakdowns of
discipline might occur." He is right. The amerikan
corporate-war machine routinely uses "excessive
force" to keep the majority of the world's
population properly under control. But oppression
breeds resistance. The entire parasitic system of
imperialism depends on exactly those people who
are brutalized by imperialism. They certainly have
the desire to dismantle this system, and through
anti-imperialist and socialist revolutions, they
will overthrow it.
NOTES:
1 The Houston Chronicle 4 May 1997.
2. The Salt Lake Tribune 4 May 1997.
* * *
INJUSTICE SYSTEM LETS WHITE PIG OFF
In Springfield, Massachusetts, the District
Attorney decided not to pursue criminal charges
against a white Springfield police officer caught
on videotape kicking a Black suspect who was being
held on the ground by other officers. This
decision follows a ruling by a judge clearing the
pig, Officer Jeffrey Asher, of charges of assault
in this March 20 incident. The conduct of Asher
was legal, according to the criminal injustice
system, because the man the pigs attacked was
allegedly resisting arrest. According to the pigs,
he was resisting arrest at the same time he was
being held on the ground by two pigs and kicked
repeatedly by Asher. In the eyes of the pigs, a
Black man raising his hands to his head to keep
blows away from his face would be resisting
arrest. (See MN 137 for more info on this story).
This case once again demonstrates that the pigs
are an occupying force in the oppressed nations
within U.S. borders. There is no system of justice
for the oppressed under imperialism. Only by
organizing to overthrow imperialism and its
occupying police force will we be able to
establish a system of true justice for the people.
* * *
AMERIKA IGNORES MASSES' NEEDS:
AIDS RATE SOARS BEHIND BARS
by an RC
New statistics have been released showing that
"AIDS now infects the nation's prisoners at nearly
six times the rate of the rest of the
population."(1) The same statistics reveal the
inadequate care and prevention of infectious
disease within the injustice system walls, and the
level to which the U.$. is continuing its genocide
of oppressed nations.
The reasons formulated for lack of treatment focus
around both inadequate health administrators and
no money to pay for the new protease inhibitor
drugs that are now available to AIDS patients
outside prisons. Where at one time AIDS was
considered a disease easily treated by a primary
caregiver, new complications connected with the
virus require AIDS specialists to administer
drugs. Protease inhibitors need to be taken
regularly without interruption, or resistant
strains of HIV will be bred. With the new policies
of transferring prisoners around (see June 1st
issue of MN), the treatment wouldn't be effective
as anything more than an excuse to keep prisoners
behind bars longer. Fourteen states have mandatory
testing for inmates, and most prisons will only
continue prescriptions for prisoners who were
already taking the drugs before sentencing. And
now the cost to treat an HIV infected patient has
risen from $2000 to $13,000.(1) But with Amerika
prioritizing global militarization and overseas
financial domination increased health care in
prisons is unlikely.
"Concerned" proponents of increased AIDS care in
prisons are voicing a need to follow through on
what they call the "ethical duty" to abide by the
laws which call lack of health care cruel and
unusual punishment. But the prison system is not
focused on abiding by ethical rules, it thinks it
is "ethical" to torture and imprison more Black
men than apartheid South Africa. The majority
white Amerikan nation benefits from the prison
system which locks up potential revolutionaries
and keeps the nationally oppressed within strict
confines of the police state. As one supervisor at
a wimmin's prison said "the patients were going to
die anyway and therefore [I don't] understand why
people kept involving themselves in their
care"(1).
The one call that could increase the spending in
the prison system is the fact that these are
people too that are infected and that will be
released with that infection. However this will
probably just increase national sentiment to use
prisoners as humyn guinea pigs for drugs to be
sold on the white market rather than as real
humyns in need of real medical care.
RAIL's response to AIDS in prisons is to organize
for the liberation of oppressed nations from
imperialism. We look forward to the day when an
anti-imperialist society will prioritize the
masses' health over pharmaceutical company
profits. Such a society will never prioritize
repression over basic humyn needs. Eventually, we
also hope to participate in a justice system which
revolutionizes the people under its authority
rather than brutalizes them.
What we can do now is build for socialism and
create independent institutions of the oppressed
that can work to alleviate part of the burden of
AIDS and destroy the rest of the symptoms of
imperialist oppression.
NOTES:
1. The New York Time, 26 May 1997. pp. A1 & 28.
More information on protease inhibitors found at:
http://www.hivatis.org.
* * *
DENNIS BRUTUS JOINS EVENT TO BENEFIT BOOKS FOR
PRISONERS
Dennis Brutus spoke and read poetry at RAIL's
benefit to raise money for Books For Prisoners.
The event featured local poets and musicians with
progressive political messages. Brutus
enthusiastically supported the program and agreed
to headline the event. The expenses were kept low
and all profits went to Books For Prisoners. We
send books like Revolutionary Suicide, Agents of
Repression, Settlers, as well as MIM Notes and MIM
Theory to prisoners along with Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist classics in order to help revolutionize
comrades under lock and key and aid in their
efforts to organize. RAIL thanks all those
supporting our efforts to increase the political
material we can send to prisoners and invite more
friends to come out and build a stronger program
serving our comrades' needs on the path to
building revolution.
As a formerly exiled South African poet and
political activist, Dennis Brutus continues his
work in the U.S. where he is a professor at the
University of Pittsburgh. At the benefit Brutus
discussed some experiences from South Africa as
well issues of oppression and discrimination here
in the U.S. He stressed that the abolition of
apartheid in the law books does not represent the
true situation in South Africa. He also expressed
his disbelief in the concessions that have been
made between the South African government and the
so-called activists. Brutus read a few of his
poems and discussed the poems' backgrounds and
significance.
Other performances included folk music and poetry
written by former political prisoners as well as
prisoners who are still currently locked up. One
performer brought smiles to some faces as he read
from his collection of letters to corporations
questioning their political alliances and actions
in a very condescending way. This person also read
the response letters from the corporations, which
were even more humorous. The event successfully
raised a significant amount of money and RAIL
collected more books to be delivered behind bars.
Brutus helped out the program with a generous
donation as well. Write to the address on page two
to find out how you can strengthen our
Revolutionary Books for Prisoners program.
* * *
MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO PUBLISH ONLINE:
AMERIKAN SCHOLARS OPPOSE FREE SPEECH
Amerikan scholars are starting to complain loudly
that they are not getting enough credit for the
work they do on the Internet. Professors and
students are saying that they should get credit
towards tenure, or their degrees, for work they do
online such as moderating or editing mailing
lists, and editing or writing for online
publications. These Net publication advocates call
themselves more progressive than the stodgy
academic establishment, but really they are just
so many more anti-free-speech advocates with
different arguments for the same reactionary
program.
Access to Internet publications is often much
easier than access to the paper versions, and this
is one reason Academic institutions take Net
publications less seriously than they do paper
ones. Anyone with a computer and a phone line can
point their web browser to an online journal and
read it, which makes the universities suspect that
if these publications are being given away free
maybe they aren't worth reading.
While the academics belly-ache about how unfair it
is that they can't get credit for their online
work, MIM treasures free and easy access to the
Internet. MIM has often talked about the
democratic potential of the Internet, where anyone
with a computer and a telephone line can
automatically distribute their writings to
hundreds of thousands of people. We communists
treasure our access to the Internet as a place
where we can reach more people with our politics
more cheaply than we can using any print medium.
The academics don't share our enthusiasm for the
Internet because they value private ownership of
their ideas over democratic public discussion. If
the scholars really want to argue against
University stodginess, they should be pushing for
more open discussions where students don't
jealously guard their ideas from one another,
rather than pushing for more and different ways to
patent individual thoughts and calling that a
progressive agenda.
NOTE: The Chronicle of Higher Education 9 June,
1997.
WORLD WIDE WEB REVIEW
INJUSTICE LINE
http://home.earthlink.net/~ynot/index.html
Injustice Line is a valuable resource for
activists beginning to investigate the Amerikan
criminal injustice system. This website includes
graphics illustrating the hypocrisy of the united
$nakes' stated devotion of liberty in the face of
this country's actual dedication to imprisoning
the oppressed (albeit from a libertarian
perspective), several anecdotes about injustice in
the Amerikan courts and prisons, statistical proof
of how grossly over-represented Black men are in
Michigan prisons, and links to other legal and
activist resources relating to prisons and
criminal justice.
The purpose of Injustice Line is to let viewers
"read news stories about injustice in America, and
learn what is really going on behind the claims of
liberty, justice for all, due process of law,
equal protection of the laws, etc. And, you have
the chance to submit your own stories." While
Injustice Line focuses on the United Snakes, and
specifically on Michigan because it is based in
Detroit, it welcomes contributions from all over
the world.
The principal problem with Injustice Line is that
it fails to look at state power in a consistent
way. Rather than understanding that individual
abuses of police and judicial power grow naturally
out of a government which was formed to foster and
protect a capitalist economy, Injustice Line
focuses on individual abuses of power and argues
that they have no place coming from a government
which claims "to be fair, or to be working on your
behalf."
MIM's favorite part about Injustice Line, and
other websites like it, though, is that it is a
place for anyone with a story about injustice to
publicize their case and agitate for justice. One
story about an individual unfairly convicted of a
rape includes names, addresses and phone numbers
of the convicted prisoner and his family and the
prosecuting attorney and judge in the rape trial.
One graphic on the Injustice Line homepage is a
drawing of George Washington's face on the left,
and of Bill Klinton's face on the right. The
caption reads "The man on the left grew marijuana.
The man on the right smoked marijuana. Neither one
was ever arrested for his marijuana "crimes."
Guess how many people were not as lucky, and were
actually arrested last year for marijuana?" The
answer is that 482,000 people were arrested in
1995 on marijuana-related charges. The text goes
on to make a libertarian argument for drug
legalization.
MIM also opposes the criminalization of drugs
because as Injustice Line points out, the United
Snakes government is so corrupt it has no
legitimate policing authority; enforcement of drug
laws also disproportionately imprisons oppressed
nationals. But the fact that the U.$. government
forbids drug use is not enough of a reason for MIM
to support it. Rather than fight for your right to
get high, MIM believes that activists have much
more important struggles to take on: like fighting
for the international proletariat's right to
decent food, clothing, shelter, health care and
education.
Injustice Line recognizes that Blacks are wrongly
imprisoned at a much greater rate than whites. The
site also implicitly recognizes that just as
Blacks are wrongly imprisoned much more than
whites, they do not have as much access to the
means of protesting their imprisonment as whites
do. It is vital that activists who recognize the
importance of political protest build institutions
which can be used as a means of protest. This is
why we publish a newspaper--we cannot rely on the
bourgeoisie to allow us the means to build a
movement against imperialism. We must build
independent institutions of the oppressed as a
means of organizing.
MIM has sharp disagreements with Injustice Line's
libertarian political analysis. Libertarians
approach politics in terms of individualism and
individual rights, which means spending a lot of
time on the question of the current government not
protecting the rights of individuals. MIM
approaches politics from the question of state
power-- who is in state power determines who
decides what rights individuals have, and how well
those rights will be respected. So while Injustice
Line focuses on how inconsistent the Amerikan
criminal justice system is with the Amerikan
declaration of independence, MIM focuses on the
need for the proletariat to seize state power and
form a state which will have as its principal goal
provision for basic human needs.
Injustice Line is developed and maintained by a
libertarian lawyer in Detroit, MI, who begins his
introduction to the site with Plato's definition
of justice: "Plato defined justice as each person
getting his due. Of course, there are many
possible forms of injustice. Each time someone
cheats you out of what you deserve, there has been
injustice."
There is nothing wrong with saying that it is
unjust to deny someone something they deserve, but
this leaves the whole question of how to decide
who deserves what open. MIM argues that the
Amerikan government must cheat the international
proletariat out of what it deserves if Amerika is
to survive. Amerika lives at the expense of the
rest of the world and cannot coexist in justice
with the world population. But libertarian
thinking leaves the author of Injustice Line
unequipped to make this analysis of the united
snakes, and s/he instead writes:
"Other people can treat you unjustly. But at least
your tormentors normally are working in their own
self-interest. They are not pretending to be fair,
or to be working on your behalf. When your own
government acts unjustly, it is all the more
galling."
This is a serious shortcoming of the Injustice
Line perspective. While the site encourages
readers to understand the extent of Amerikan
disregard for equality under the law, it tells
them that this disregard is something surprising,
that their government should be treating them
better than this.
MIM Notes tells its readers: don't be surprised
when you read about Amerikan injustice, be angry!
Don't expect to reform this imperialist system,
organize to overthrow it! Readers should check out
Injustice Line for accounts of Amerika brutalizing
its internal colonies under cover of the law
(there is a link to the Injustice Line site and
other good political resources on MIM's website at
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/links.html).
Then contact MIM to find out how you can organize
against this system.
* * *
FRENCH ELECTIONS EXPOSE HYPOCRISY OF SO-CALLED
COMMUNISTS
by MCB52
The little imperialist bout that was the French
elections in early June resulted in slight change
in the make-up of the government, but real
communists must point out that the increase in
seats for the "Socialist" party and the
"Communist" party has nothing to do with changing
imperialism. Though these parties advocate a
somewhat different divvying up of the imperialist
pie, neither is any improvement for the source of
that wealth, the world's oppressed.
The New York Times is not concerned about the
participation of the Communist Party of France
(PCF) in the new government, a good indication
that we have no reason to be pleased. The New York
Times assured readers that "with the Soviet Union
long gone, the French Communists are no longer the
totalitarian colossus they seemed to be in the
decades immediately after World War II."(1)
In fact, the demise of state capitalism in the
USSR is pretty irrelevant to the meaninglessness
of the name "Communist" for that party. It's true
that for some time the PCF supported the social
imperialism -- socialism in words, imperialism in
deeds -- of the Soviet Union. But even by the late
1960s it was clear that the PCF would generally
support the "right" imperialists (France, for
example), and not the "wrong" one, the USSR. The
PCF went from advocating "Peace in Vietnam"
(rather than "Victory to the Vietnamese" as the
progressives of the time were doing) in the 1960s
to open support for French militarism as long as
it provided jobs to French people in the 1990s.(2)
The Socialist party and its splinters gained
almost 200 seats, the Communists gained 14, and
the Greens gained 8, making that coalition a
majority over the outgoing Conservative
coalition.(3) Though they may seem further "left"
with their talk about "equality" of income and the
like, we have to remember that only French
citizens and not French neo-colonial subjects are
included in the equalizing process. The call for a
still higher standard of living for the French
will feed the demand for stronger imperialism to
extract more loot from neo-colonies. Like Tony
Blair of the Labor party of the UK that only cares
about imperialist workers, the so-called
socialists and communists of France care only
about their "own" nation and are an enemy of the
workers of the world.
NOTES:
1. New York Times, 4 June 1997, p. A6.
2. Read about the PCF's reactionary stands in the
1960s in "The Pitfalls of French Anarchism: May
1968" in MIM Theory 8: Anarchist Ideal and
Communist Revolution available from MIM for $6.
3. New York Times, 3 June 1997, p. A8.
* * *
U.$.-SOUTH KOREAN REGIME ROCKED BY STUDENT PROTEST
Political protests once again rocked the u.s.-
backed regime of Kim Young-sam in south Korea
during the first week of June. Only four months
after a month-long general strike, over 10,000
students took to the streets of Seoul and demanded
that Kim Young-sam resign from office and publicly
reveal who financed his 1992 election campaign.
Anti-Kim protesters chanted "Bring down Kim Young-
sam!" and "Reveal the Election Funds!" in the face
of violent police repression. The pigs beat one
student so badly s/he required brain surgery and
set another student on fire.
The liberal bourgeois Korean National Congress for
a New Politics (NCMP) claims that Kim's campaign
was bankrolled to the tune of $80 million by the
Hanbo Group, a multi-million dollar steel
consortium, and $300 million from former President
Roh Tae-woo. The legal limit for campaign
contributions is $42 million.(1) Earlier this
year, many members of Kim's New Korea Party, Kim's
government, and Kim's son were exposed for their
involvement in a huge bribes-for-loans corruption
scandal with the now bankrupt Hanbo group, many
executive employees of which have recently
received prison terms for corruption.
The protests at the beginning of June were led by
the Hanchongnyon, the southern Korean Federation
of University Student Councils. The Hanchongnyon
has a history of anti-imperialist and progressive
activism. Last August Hanchongnyon called for the
withdrawal of 37,000 us troops from Korea and for
unification with northern Korea (see MIM Notes,
Sept. 15, p.1, "Korean Students Take On
Imperialist Paper Tigers.") Last January, they
came out supporting the Korean workers' general
strike.
The u.s.-south Korean regime stepped up its
repression of the Hanchongnyon in the wake of
recent protests. Korean pigs have launched a huge
manhunt for 300 student leaders. So far, 60
students have been arrested. Last August, Korean
police militarily attacked a non-violent pro-
unification gathering at Yonsei university and
arrested 151 student leaders.
As part of their attempts to justify these
draconian tactics, the south Korean police and the
bourgeois press claim that the students have
killed several policemen. But in at least one
case, the policeman was actually run over by a
police vehicle. Hanchongnyon leaders issued a
statement which expressed regret over the death of
the officer, but squarely blamed the Kim regime
for his death. "We ask that the murderous and
corrupt Kim Young-sam regime take full
responsibility and resign," the statement said.(4)
RAIL applauds the student movement of southern
Korea for exposing the so-called democracy of
southern Korea as a sham. True democracy for the
Korean people cannot be realized as long as more
than 30,000 u.s. troops are on Korean soil to
enforce the division of the Korean people and make
sure the south Korean regime obeys its master. Nor
can true democracy for the Korean people be
realized under a bourgeois system which grants
leadership to the tiny clique with the most money.
NOTES:
1. Korea Herald News. 7 Aug. 96, 21 Aug. 96, 2
June 97, 5 June 97, 6 June 97.
2. New York Times. 31 May 97, 1 June 97, 2 June
97.
3. Reuters. 31 May 97, 1 June 97, 2 June 97, 4
June 97.
4. The Japan Times, 6 June 97.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
UNITY DISCUSSION CONTINUED
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Dear Comrades at MIM, Revolutionary greetings and
a clenched fist salute! While reading "Under Lock
and Key" in the January 15, 1997, #132 Issue, I
ran across a letter written by a comrade in
Pennsylvania (Red Alert! Revolution Postponed in
Pennsylvania). I was struck the instant I laid
eyes upon this letter. I know exactly how he
feels. My fellow incarcerated brothers here are
very similar to those he is attempting to educate.
The inmates in Arizona are quite pacified and
extremely uneducated when it comes to the
revolutionary ideas of MIM.
I am attempting to spread the word, as well as MIM
Notes, to those I come in contact with. Not much
progress, I'm sorry to report. But that's where my
point comes in: IT'S OK!! Not everyone is going
to be open to the truths we tell. Lest we forget,
this country spread such propaganda throughout the
"Cold War" with state-capitalist Russia that even
the word, communism, causes automatic withdrawal!
Not all is lost, however!!
We are planting the seeds today that bring about a
bountiful harvest tomorrow. Our mission right now
is to raise the consciousness of the public. We
can't do that overnight. But like our comrade,
RCG1 stated, "The greatest of waterfalls starts
with one drop of water." Be strong and lead by
example. Others will notice, and awaken to the
cause. The revolution is very much alive!!
Don't let anything dissuade you or distract you
from the path that is before you, comrades. We
shall be victorious. And, one day, we will all
stand side by side and join the masses to dispel
the oppressors from before us! The people WILL BE
TRIUMPHANT!!! DON'T BE DISCOURAGED, COMRADES!! ALL
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!
Your Comrade in Captivity,
-- An Arizona Prisoner, 27 Feb. 97
UNITE AGAINST OPPRESSIVE CONDITIONS
I am writing concerning the conditions here at
Northern Correctional Institution in March of '95
and since my arrival here I have been a victim of
racism and physical assaults. I have also
witnessed the same treatment toward other black
and latino prisoners. The conditions here at
Northern Correctional Institution are nothing more
than a form of mental genocide (torture) designed
to prevent as from rehabilitating ourselves.
All prisoners at Northern Correctional Institution
phase 1 are subjected to a 23 hour lock down. We
are being warehoused and deliberately isolated
from our loved ones and families. In addition
there are no programs at all-nothing-just total
confinement 23 hours a day. The effect on one's
mental state is very serious. Many of the brothers
confined in this racial concentration camp are
from Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and other
surrounding cities. Some brothers' families will
never be able to visit them and assist them in
fighting the conditions because of geographic
distance involved.
Thus it is important for all concerned political
as well as other organizations and the churches to
motivate them to raise the issue of mental
torture. And we who are the victims of this
dehumanizing treatment must also come together
with unity and strength and collective thoughts to
determine how we must approach the situation here
at Northern Correctional Institution.
Now just to give you a few details that took place
with me being verbally and physically abused by
different white officials who work here at
Northern Correctional Institution. On May 3, 95 at
10:15pm, I was in my cell, talking to a few
brothers that lived on the same block with me,
when this white nurse named Debbie Kindess and
another nurse named Erinn Dolan (who is also
white) came on the block to bring someone their
medication. Now, my next door neighbor, threatened
to kill himself. The two nurses then went and told
a white male lieutenant by the name of B. Beeman
that I made the threat to do harm to myself.
About a half hour later, 6 correctional officers
who were all white, as well as the two nurses and
the lieutenant came to my cell door. [The
lieutenant] told me in a very loud and harsh voice
to put my hands out the slot in my cell door so
that I could be cuffed and chained to the bed. I
tried to explain to the lieutenant that I was not
the person who made the comment, but it was the
other brother who was in the block with me.
The next thing I knew I was maced with tear gas
and beaten for almost 20 minutes. After all the
beating, I was put in a cold shower with all my
clothes on. Then I was chained down to a steel bed
frame for 18 hours in soaking wet clothes in a
freezing cold cell, that still had the scent of
tear gas in it. As a result of these 2 white
nurses being racial, I was treated with cruel and
unusual punishment.
After all that I went through, on the next day,
May 4, 95, the guy who originally made the threat
[to kill himself] ended up cutting his arms,
wrists and other parts of his body.
Now ever since that incident, these 2 nurses
Debbie Kindess and Erinn Dolan have been verbally
abusing me by making racial statements, such as
calling me horse, monkeys, etc. I have also been
denied medical treatment from these 2 nurses.
[These nurses] who still have not been questioned
from their supervisor or any other high rank
official about their unprofessionalism they have
been showing toward me, as well as other black and
latino prisoners.
I have written numerous complaints about these 2
nurses. But no action has been take to resolve
this racial issue, which is well know to Northern
Correctional Institution's high ranking officials
such as: Warden Giovanni Gomez; Nurse Supervisor,
Jean Walden, Major Krajniak, Captain Case, Captain
Chapdelaine and a host of others. They are a part
of the same system and refuse to confront one of
their staff members, which is all based on
protecting the system for the injustice that
they're showing toward myself as well as other
prisoners.
I would like for this matter of racial hostility
and injustice from this Institution to be know to
the whole public as well as an investigated case.
I shouldn't have to live under these very serious
and racial conditions..
-- A Connecticut Prisoner, Dec. 20, 1996
CALL FOR UNITY
We as: Black Men and Women, Latin Men and Women,
Asian Men and Women, Indian Men and Women,
Hispanic Men and Women have been treated
murderously and torturously and sadistically by
White Americans and Anglo Europeans. We have to
stop patronizing Whitey all the time. We have to
Patronize each other. We have to stop using drugs
in prison and use hacksaw blades instead if we
have the means.
We have to get rid of manual labor for prisoners
and make them go to prison in school until they
are able to read and write. We have to forgive
prisoners when they do things against us our of
ignorance, especially when they come and
apologize.
The war is against the lackeys of the United
Snakes. Prisoners stop robbing and stealing from
each other, especially when you do it to people
who are of color and a minority in the U$.
Prisoners think of home, think of escape.
All prisoners locked up for child molesting should
stay in prison and do their time. All prisoners
who are locked up for killing GOOD Black Brothers
and Sisters and other minorities killing each
other in the U$ should stay in prison and do their
time. I am locked up for robbing white
Amerikkkans, the ones who benefit from my
forefathers and mothers who were slaves in the U$.
I have over 18 years in the Maryland House of
Corrections (MHC) Annex. I am not a racist, but I
want fair treatment for all human beings. I have
been locked up too long for this shit. I know you
people have too. Fuck Capitalism, Power to MIM and
the masses.
To MHC Annex, Do not kill another prisoner for
some Bullshit. The pigs disrespect us all the
time. If you want to kill someone, kill a pig.
Many Black Brothers have died in the Annex, but no
pigs. I tell you what. If you have nothing to lose
lifers, kill a pig.
-- A Maryland Prisoner, 6 April 1997
MIM RESPONDS: While we agree that the principle
enemy of the struggle is Amerikkkan imperialism,
we do not suggest that random killing of pigs is
the answer. We agree that prisoners should unite,
educate themselves, practice good health and get
organized. Random killing of pigs by lifers will
not solve the problem of oppression in the U$ or
its prisons. At this time, the revolution benefits
most from study groups, exposing the crimes of the
real criminals -- the imperialist pig oppressors,
and political organizing.
Additionally, MIM argues that all prisoners are
political prisoners. The means that the arrests,
convictions and sentences as well as the laws
themselves are political tools to control
oppressed nations. The injustice system in the
country does not enforce its laws equally for all
people within its borders. The police use the laws
to incarcerate members of the Black, Latino and
First Nations, to oppress them and maintain the
dictatorship of the bourgeois. We do not encourage
singling out people convicted of certain crimes
and say that they deserve their punishment. We do
not recognize the U$ injustice system fit to dole
out the appropriate punishments, since they are
greater criminals themselves. Until the system
serves the interests of the oppressed at its very
root, we can neither trust the pigs, lawyers and
judges to incarcerate people correctly for crimes
nor can we trust the system to help people to
actually rehabilitate and become productive
members of society when they are punished for
crimes. Under the current system of settler nation
domination, the criminalization of poverty and
national status serves the interests of the
oppressed and the crimes committed by the
oppressor criminals are the principal crimes for
which punishment is due.
The important thing is that prisoners should work
together against the common enemy, the
prisoncrats. Work with MIM for revolution by
educating and organizing yourselves and exposing
the oppression you face.
EXPOSE PIGS, POLITICIZE THE MASSES
A letter of special interest, ["Michigan divide
and conquer"] that appeared in the August 15, 1996
issue of MIM Notes in the section reserved for
prisoners, written by a Michigan State prisoner
merits a few comments.
The prisoner writes that a fellow comrade was
labeled a "snitch" by the pigs, hoping to
manipulate and instigate other prisoners to kill
him. "Unlawful methods and practices that are as
old as the institutions themselves are very much
in vogue throughout most federal and state prisons
and have become a favorite weapon of the pigs.
Countless prisoners have met their untimely and
unwarranted death at the hands of other prisoners
as a result of the criminal intervention by the
pigs." The guilty pigs should be held accountable
and should answer for the crimes created and
instigated by the state for not legitimate
penological reasons other than to justify the
building of more joints and nourish their
perverted whims.
For example in the November issue of Prison Legal
News there appeared an article entitled, "The
Pelican Bay Factor", that seemed to document how
the pigs manipulated the different prison gangs in
California to slaughter each other in order to
generate public support to justify building the
joint [Pelican Bay State Prison]. Criminal
activity that clearly rises to being, was murder
to justify to the public building a lockdown
penitentiary and sanctioned by the state.
Nevertheless, our comrades at MIM Notes and other
revolutionaries should make use of such criminal
activity by state criminals. Expose the lawless
prison tyrants and create a mass situation to
politicize the masses and haul them pig asses in
court to answer for the crimes even though it
would still be bourgeois justice.
The principal contradiction facing all prisoners
at this point in time is clearly between the
limited freedom available to all citizens and
imprisonment. A principal task of all prisoners is
to expose the double standard of bourgeoisie
justice in this country. The pigs throughout the
country are being allowed and sometimes rewarded
for committing crimes against the most oppressed
sectors of society in their total and absolute
control.
-- A Colorado Prisoner, 24 February 1997
MIM ADDS: This article does a great job at showing
the classic ways that pigs try to manipulate
prisoners into killing each other, and then use it
as an excuse for more prisons.
We agree that revolutionaries should expose these
tactics of oppression use the information to
politicize and organize the people. While we may
support reformist appeals for justice, history
proves they are mostly ineffective. The Rodney
King trial is a classic case in point. Instead,
our main focus of anti-prison work is to unite all
who can be united to smash imperialism and all its
tools of oppression.
The contradiction between imperialism and
oppressed nations is principal. Thus the principal
contradiction for prisoners is between prisoners
and their imperialist captors. Prisoners principal
tasks are to expose this oppression, educate
themselves and organize for revolution.
PIG TACTIC: ANTI-GANG UNITS
A CALL UNITY IN RESPONSE TO ANTI-GANG UNITS
Fellow Comrades, [I am] writing in regards to an
article that I had the privilege to read.
"Criminal injustice system resists challenges to
anti-gang units" (MIM Notes, No. 125: Nov. 1996).
First and foremost, La Familia, Latin Kings and
Nita are all considered to be organizations, not
gangs. Brought forth to protect the rights of all
Latino prisoners.
The article was very much needed for. In voicing
your opposition to these discriminatory tactics
being used against us by these pigs, in print, you
are opening up many avenues with the assistance of
the concerned communities in Massachusetts and
beyond. And that is very much needed.
I am a Latino prisoner being held in the
Department of Disciplinary Dungeon on the grounds
that I was a known "Gang" leader of La Familia and
that I was going to start a gang war behind prison
walls. (How that can be done while being locked
down 23 hours a day has me perplexed.) This was a
well thought about set-up to keep me out of
commission for several years for several reasons.
(Divide and conquer non-manipulative, strong
minded Latino brothers with vocals.)
I've been in the hole since 1995. I lasted only 6
days in population before I was set up. When I
returned to population, these Devils were
distributing forms that we had to sign admitting
gang members hip and at the same time renouncing
it in order to get moves out of these control
units. Obviously I did not agree so they felt it
better if I was far away as possible while they
put this plan into effect.
My issue is that we (the Latino peoples) very much
appreciate your concern for our rights and your
help in getting the outside world involved in this
struggle, but to have outside assistance one must
have the full support of all the prisoners behind
the walls. For without inside struggle the outside
struggle will prove to be meaningless "in the eyes
of these Devils."
The unity is breaking apart little by little as
the Administration continues to break the souls of
these young brothers who were not properly
educated. The discrimination is obviously a major
issue concerning these control units. You stated
that 90% of those housed in the control units are
Latino. It is more like 98%.
If brothers are not willing to face these ongoing
problems like me and continue to allow these pigs
to control them by form of manipulation, scare-
tactics, and promises then those who were willing
to sacrifice will sacrifice in vain.
I ask of all the Latino brothers and sisters (all
oppressed peoples) incarcerated in the
Massachusetts prison system to rise up, come
together and fight, not only for your rights, but
also your respect.
Forget about all these minor differences that we
may have against one another and if you want to
get in contact with those of the different
Organizations and lets bring ourselves together as
one.
"Together we stand, divided we fall" Thank you for
your support.
We hope that others will grasp our concept.
In the struggle,
--Familia Representative, A Massachusetts
Prisoner, Jan. 4, 1997
MIM RESPONDS: For the most part we agree with the
above letter. The one exception is that the
statement "to have outside assistance one must
have the full support of all the prisoners behind
the walls." We encourage prisoners to unite but
disagree that all prisoners must be united in
order to give outside support to prisoners. MIM
and RAIL's many publications expose the atrocities
of prisons and the Injustice system. Often this
helps prisoners better understand their oppression
in seeing who their real enemies are. We on the
outside know the tremendous revolutionary
potential of prisoners and will support and guide
it. We can not wait for all prisoners to recognize
this potential before acting.
BUCK THE CROOKED SYSTEM
Dear Brothers of Struggle, In MIM Notes #125, I
read an article titled "Criminal injustice system
resists challenges to anti-gang units". I can
identify completely with the article.
Currently I am on Administrative Segregation for
"Posing a threat to the safety and security of the
institution, threatening conduct, collusion,
creating a disturbance and/or inciting a riot, and
creating a health, safety and/or fire hazard."
I have those charges just because I am a Crips
gang member. I and eight others are being held on
security threat group status for no other reason
than the fact that we hang out together. I alone
am on SSR (Substantial Security Risk) status
because I am admittedly the leader of my set. We
are all charged for nothing. Being a gang member,
or in my case the leader of a gang, is not a
crime.
What the pigs fail to realize is that gang members
like me and mine make the world go around. There
ain't no such thing as bring in that world and
escaping what was meant to be. It's called fate.
The so called "powers" of Amerikkka need to wake
up so they can analyze, recognize and realize that
they can't escape the inevitable. Gang banging
ain't a fad, it's a culture. Pigs need to start
accepting the fact that it ain't gonna go away. In
actuality, it's getting stronger as the days go
by. That's why they say the "G" is strong and the
world is weak.
The pigs also say that Crips are always causing
"unreasonable disturbances". That's not true
because any trouble or disturbance I have ever
caused, seen, or taken part in had reasons behind
it. No matter how superficial they may have been,
you could always find it if you opened your eyes
wide enough.
I want everyone to realize that gangs are not just
a Black or Latino thing. My father is Puerto Rican
and my mother is White. I have seen shit from all
points of view. I have seen Black, White, Latino,
Chinese, Japanese, or any other race, creed,
nationality as gang members.
I am down with anything that will buck the crooked
system. I have received no help from internal
affairs, the chaplain, or the grievance counselor
on this matter. This blatant disregard for our
rights as human beings must be stopped!
Since I have been on lock-up I have been slapped,
pinched, kicked, spit upon, tripped, cursed, --
you name it and it's happened to me. This prison,
McCormick Correctional Institution, is in South
Carolina. These pigs are from the country and do
not know anything about gangs. Then how could they
hope to prevail against us? They locked nine of us
up and let 79 more of us at the yard, out of 1100
inmates.
Thank you for your time comrades,
-- A South Carolina Prisoner, 25 April 1997
MIM RESPONDS: MIM agrees that gangs are not
criminal or a fad, but a culture created to deal
with imperialist oppression. MIM does not agree
that gangs are strong, and the rest of the world
is weak. Instead we recognize that gangs are a
lumpen proletariat force with great potential for
political organizing. Oppressed nations comprise
the majority of the world's population. The
contradiction that the majority of the world is
oppressed by the minority of the imperialist
nations is a contradiction which will help lead to
the downfall of the evil empires of imperialism.
The state and the media have gone to great efforts
to criminalize gangs and oppressed nationals
within U$ borders. Prisoncrats will often label
politically active prisoners as "gang members" or
"security threats" in order to isolate them to
prevent prisoners from organizing.
Revolution is inevitable, but it is not fate. Most
of the world's people are oppressed by
imperialism. Gradually they are educating,
organizing and building for revolution. People
will not take oppression forever and will rise up
for revolution. The revolution starts today with
political agitation and organization.
* * *
MIM ON PRISONS AND PRISONERS
MIM seeks to build public opinion against
Amerika's criminal injustice system, and to
eventually replace the bourgeois injustice system
with proletarian justice. The bourgeois
injustice system imprisons and executes a
disproportionately large and growing number of
oppressed people while letting the biggest mass
murderers - the imperialists and their
lackeys - roam free. Imperialism is not opposed to
murder or theft, it only insists that these crimes
be committed in the interests of the bourgeoisie.
MIM does not advocate that all prisoners go free
today; we have a more effective program for
fighting crime as was demonstrated in China prior
to the restoration of capitalism there in 1976. We
say that all prisoners are political
prisoners because under the dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie, all imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to exert
revolutionary leadership and conduct
political agitation and organization among
prisoners – whose material conditions make them an
overwhelmingly revolutionary group. Some prisoners
should and will work on self-criticism under a
future dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian standards.
***WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT
PRISONERS***
*1. Struggle with, work with, finance and join
MIM.
The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow
the system under which capitalists profit from the
exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the
best way to do this is to build a Marxist-
Leninist-
Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up
their
power without a fight.
*2. Finance MIM's prison work. Our biggest bill
each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades
who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it.
So
if you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
*3. Distribute MIM Notes and Notas Rojas. Bring
the
voices of prisoners and their supporters to as
large and wide an audience of people as possible.
Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips.
*4. Start or join a prison support group. MIM can
provide advice and resources to help you build
public opinion for prisoners and their struggles.
*5. Fight censorship, beatings, torture and other
fascist outrages. Under Lock and Key often
features
the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies.
Work with the friends and let the enemies know
you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists
to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this
list).
*6. Stay in touch. Keep us informed of pro-
prisoner
work you do. Our readers might find it educational
or inspirational.
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