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 149 NOVEMBER 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. PUERTO RICAN MASSES ORGANIZE NATIONWIDE STRIKE
2. PIGS USE WAR ON DRUGS AND GANGS AS EXCUSE FOR
MASS ROUND-UP
3. LETTERS
4. NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE IN THE
PHILIPPINES: MIM/RAIL AND ALLIES LAUNCH LECTURE
AND DISCUSSION SERIES
5. AMNESTY ON KOREA: RAISING HEGEMONISM TO A LEVEL
OF PRINCIPLE
6. ANN ARBOR STUDENTS CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE'S DAY -- NOT COLUMBUS DAY
7. TEXAS GOV. BUSH BACKS DOWN ON LYNCHING IN FACE
OF PRESSURE
8. CLINTON REJECTS LANDMINE TREATY
9. ANOTHER PRISONER DIES AFTER BRUTAL BEATING BY
GUARDS
10. IMPERIALISTS EXPERIMENT USING THIRD WORLD
WIMMIN
11. PATRIARCHY CONTINUES CONTROL OVER WIMMIN: NEW
ABORTION BAN PASSES U$ HOUSE OF REPS
12. ORGANIZE TO END THE AMERIKAN LOCKDOWN
13. REPUDIATE CHARITY: PROMOTE REVOLUTION
14. AMERIKA GRABS FOR PUERTO RICAN PENAL SYSTEM
15. MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
16. UNDER LOCK AND KEY
17. U$ INEQUALITY GROWS; WORLD INEQUALITY STILL MUCH GREATER
* * *
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
* * *
PUERTO RICAN MASSES ORGANIZE NATIONWIDE STRIKE
On October 1st the entire country of Puerto Rico
was shut down by a nationwide strike which drew
hundreds of thousands of people to protest
activities and a large rally in San Juan. The
purpose of the strike, known by both its organizers
and opponents as El Paro Nacional, was to protest
Governor Pedro Rossello's plans to privatize state
agencies, in particular the Puerto Rico Telephone
Company. The Telephone Company is currently owned
by the lackey colonial government of Puerto Rico
but the strike did not represent support for the
government.
This strike was called for by over forty labor
unions representing over 80,000 workers, and over a
dozen non-governmental organizations representing
environmentalist, nationalist, religious, cultural
and civic sectors.(1) It was observed by workers
and students alike. Many students took over
universities while workers took to the streets. In
a country of less than four million people, the
number of people who participated in this strike is
tremendous.
In response to the strike, Governor Rossello
announced in Washington that he would go ahead with
the selling of the Telephone company. The Telephone
workers union and other union leaders responded
that they would strike for as long as it takes to
stop this privatization. Alfonso Beni'tez Rosa,
president of the Independent Union of Telephone
Workers said "If we have to stay in the streets for
a week we will stay because the people have spoken
and Governor Rossello has to obey."(2)
Public hospitals have also been privatized recently
and the people are suffering as a result as they
find health care services closed at night and
diagnostic services closed completely. The
government sold ten health care institutions for
26.9 million dollars and they hope to sell more of
the public health system this year.(2) There is
currently a campaign in Puerto Rico backed by the
New Progressive Party (PNP) to sell the telephone
company, public schools, hospitals, prisons, and
public housing to private investors.
EDUCATING THE WORKERS
Many Puerto Rican activists supporting the strike
drew parallels between the privatization of various
public services like electricity, education and
health. The importance of guaranteed services to
the people was a strong theme in the literature and
articles leading up to the strike.
As the Central General de Trabajadores put it: "It
is known that the [public] Telephone has resulted
in great progress if one compares it with the past
telephone in private hands. The same can be said
about the Electrical Energy if one compares it with
the private businesses before 1942. And before
there was public school? Simply put, there was no
school for the vast majority. For the users, when a
service is privatized what happens is what always
happens in the market: there will be good services
for those who can pay. The rest will receive the
minimum, or nothing. And what will happen with the
workers? Privatization brings hardship and great
job insecurity. In sum, privatization is the path
of a society towards more insecurity and more
inequality. Instead of privatizing we must make the
public businesses more open, more democratic, more
transparent and more participatory. The government
of Rosello is not going down this path. The reason
is simple: they are interested in private gain for
a few and not the collective good or guaranteed
services for the people."(3)
This strike served a valuable educational role by
raising the issue of public services being run for
profit. Many articles discussed the failure of
private services in other countries which brought
in profit for a few but did not serve the needs of
the people. This underscores the need for a
government of the people, run in the interests of
the people not in the interests of profit for a few
who run and own the private corporations.
REACTIONARY GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
Attempts to quell the public outcry by making
participation in the strike punishable or even
illegal were common as the government began to
realize how widespread the support for this action
was. Prior to the strike, the government warned
public employees that participation in the strike
would be regarded as an unjustified absence. Some
government agencies, such as the Aqueducts and
Sewers Authority, the phone company and the
Department of Education notified their employees
that disciplinary sanctions would be imposed on
those who did not show up for work on the first of
October. Education secretary Victor Fajardo,
earlier this year threatened with jail sentences
those parents of public school students that
protest the Education Department's policies.(1)
As if this weren't enough, on September 19, Puerto
Rican House representative Lissette Díaz submitted
a bill that would classify as child abusers those
parents that allow their children to become
involved in labor union activities. The Department
of Family Affairs actually announced that it
supported the bill in principle. This ridiculous
measure was not approved by the House of
Representatives.(1)
STUDENTS & MASSES OPPOSE IMPERIALISM
Students took over the San Juan campus of the
University of Puerto Rico(UPR) on October 1st. This
campus has been the center of much activism in
recent months. An unannounced visit by the governor
caused a rebellion on September 16. Rossello' went
to the school with some outside agitators to make a
public show of support for his privatization plans.
According to some accounts, Rossello' brought 80
armed policemen and six police vehicles with him
that day.(1) The campus does not have armed police
because of student protests in the 1970s after a
campus cop murdered a student.
On September 10, an assembly of several thousand
students had approved a resolution in support of El
Paro National and against the privatization of
state functions. The assembly led to the formation
of the University Front Against Privatization(FUCP)
composed of students, professors and non-teaching
employees.(1)
El Nuevo Di'a, a reactionary daily newspaper in
Puerto Rico, conducted a public opinion poll and
found that a majority of Puerto Ricans oppose
privatization.(4) This is in spite of a tremendous
amount of government propaganda including bumper
stickers, t-shirts and baseball caps with pro-
privatization and pro-Rossello slogans, and full
page ads in major newspapers and ads in radio and
television.
Even after spending all this money Rossello is
unable to win the support of even a majority of
Puerto Ricans for his plan to sell the country to
the highest bidder. This is because the workers
recognize that capitalism is not in their
interests. In 1989, the median family income in
Puerto Rico was $9,988 and in 1990 unemployment was
at 20.4%. Compare this with the median family
income in the u.s. in 1989 of $35,225 with
unemployment of 6.3% in 1990(5). We don't even need
to compare the oppressed nation workers to the
imperialist bourgeoisie to see that capitalism does
not work for the majority of Puerto Ricans.
While the proletariat will not immediately be
conscious that it is the system of capitalism that
leads to their exploitation and oppression, demands
such as those put forward by the striking Puerto
Rican workers lead to a more systematic
understanding of the problem. In Puerto Rico, the
working class is majority proletarian (unlike the
u.s. where it is majority labor aristocracy), and
their economic demands can be the basis for this
expanded understanding and organizing. It is the
revolutionary leadership, coming from a Maoist
vanguard party, that will provide the information
and analysis that the proletariat can use to learn
from and educate and organize around. As the Puerto
Rican people began organizing around 1998 which
will mark the 100th anniversary of colonialism in
Puerto Rico, their fight for national liberation
will only grow stronger.
PUERTO RICO NO SE VENDE!
NO A LA PRIVATIZACIO'N DE PUERTO RICO!
NOTES:
1. PUERTO RICO NEWS written by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero
Issue #15 Monday, September 29, 1997
2. Oct2, p4
http://www.notiaccess.com/notiaccess/jueves.htm
3. http://www.utier.org/solidaridad.htm
4. El Nuevo Di'a August 13 1997.
5. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996.
* * *
PIGS USE WAR ON DRUGS AND GANGS AS EXCUSE FOR MASS
ROUND-UP
by MC53
The Zoo Crew, a group that has been organizing
against police brutality in New Jersey, was raided
by police recently. Thirteen locations related to
the organization and four businesses run by the Zoo
Crew were raided by 200 federal, state and county
pigs during the end of August and beginning of
September. The raids along with the arrests of
twenty-three members were conducted under the
pretense of the war on drugs. Various community
organizations maintain that Newark's round-up of
Zoo Crew members was intended to subvert the
organization's protests against police
brutality.(1)
This invasion came on the tail of mass organizing
by the Zoo Crew against a police murder in June.
Following the murder, 300 pigs organized by the
Fraternal Order of Police demonstrated to support
the pig who shot Dannette Daniels, a 31 year old
pregnant womyn. The Zoo Crew worked to expose this
murder and is regarded by some community masses as
young Black entrepreneurs "who were a positive
force in the community."(2)
Beside anti-police brutality work, the Zoo Crew has
built Black community businesses in poor areas and
has donated money for basketball clinics for
community children.(2)
MIM does not have enough contact with the Zoo Crew
or the people it organizes to determine whether the
organization is truly one which serves the masses.
We do, however, have enough information about the
mainstream media to understand that its interests
are not in serving the people through relaying the
truth. Because of this, we are skeptical of the
information it presents as the truth. We also know
from history that the pigs cannot be trusted to
treat Black organizations justly. And most
importantly, we understand the Amerikan history of
framing Black nationalist activists and
organizations to subvert leadership essential in
mobilizing the masses against the oppressor.
We must fight for the power of the people to
control their communities. The white nation's
police use its guns and warrants to perpetuate the
power of an illegitimate government which
represents an oppressor nation. Only when the
people have seized this power will justice be
possible. Organizations like the Zoo Crew must be
judged by the masses. Because the purpose of the
current judicial system is to inflict damage
against and control oppressed nations, it cannot be
trusted to draw just conclusions about groups like
the Zoo Crew.
In another recent round-up, New York city pigs
rounded up 167 people they suspect of being members
of the Bloods.(3)The pigs justified the round up by
saying that it was conducted to subvert drug
infiltration and recruiting in schools opening up
in the fall.
The pigs and the mainstream media portray the
Bloods as a murdering organization selling drugs
and indiscriminately killing random people whereas
MIM has worked with youth from the Bloods who are
interested in stopping brutality by the police and
working toward the end of all oppression. At this
point, the principal battle in the united snakes is
against the domination by the white settler nation
over oppressed nations. We work with individuals
and organizations which genuinely oppose
imperialism and settler neo-colonialism. MIM does
not advocate the use of drugs or even illegal
activities to make money for our revolutionary work
at this stage in our organizing. We urge all
working against settler imperialism to understand
the Amerikan history of using any justification to
infiltrate and smash revolutionary or nationalist
organizations.
Until the time when the masses are able to decide
who is arrested and what sentences are handed down
it is important that the oppressed stay away from
breaking the oppressors laws. The sentences for
members of oppressed groups will not be the same as
it is for the oppressor. Three alleged gang members
in Los Angeles were sentenced to 54 years in prison
each for allegedly committing a murder.(4) The
police officers who have murdered oppressed
nationals receive no such punishments. The marines
who killed a young Latino have not been punished.
Bush was not held responsible for the deaths of
over 150,000 masses of Iraq who died from Napalm,
starvation and massive bombings. Clinton has not
been held responsible for the deaths of the
oppressed under his regime.
So while MIM does not support the use of violence
against the masses by anyone, we understand that
the current system is one in which the laws are not
applied equally. As long and hard as civil rights
activists have tried, equal justice will not happen
under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie which
serves the interests of the settler nation.
Revolution is necessary for the people to obtain
power over their economic, political, judicial,
educational and military systems. Only with this
power can we achieve justice and equality for all
people.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times. 3 September 1997 p.A 20.
2. The New York Times 29 August 1997 p. A12.
3. The New York Times 28 August 1997 p. A17.
4. The New York Times 3 August 1997 p. A16.
* * *
LETTERS
PACIFISTS: JOIN THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST UNITED FRONT
Dear MIM, We have your letter saying we've had our
last issue of MIM Notes unless you hear from me.
First, we would exchange with the Nonviolent
Activist, if you have any interest in getting a
pacifist, counter-revolutionary, bourgeois
publication.
On most points we are, as you realize, sharply at
variance. However, disagreements should not prevent
dialogue in fact they should be the basis of it. I
enclose some of our material so you can have a
better idea. (Including a copy of NVA.)
I note your page four discussion on the Death
Penalty you are, in a sense, trapped by Chinas
actions, somewhat as the old CP used to be trapped
by Soviet actions. Since the Revolution in China
has had nearly fifty years, shouldn't it be time
for the death penalty to be abandoned?
Actually on that point I'm being unfair to you
because you don't see the current leadership of
China as revolutionary.
I do personally respect Mao's role in history and
in freeing China from Western domination and still
question his logic in elevating Stalin (or even
Lenin) to the position of infallibility. Clearly
you are struggling for a new and better world and
almost certainly represent at least as many men and
women behind bars as we do, and probably have
contacts within the communities of color we might
envy.
Peace,
-- a member War Resisters League staff
War Resisters League
339 Lafayette St.
New York, NY 10012
(212) 228-0450
e-mail: wrl@igc.apc.org
MIM RESPONDS: We agree with this member of the War
Resisters League staff that it is worthwhile for us
to exchange literature. We can both learn from the
information the other has and we can also advance
our work through theoretical struggle. While we
have strong disagreements with pacifism because it
means turning the other cheek and allowing the
imperialists to go on murdering the people, this
does not mean we can not benefit from an exchange
of publications with this organization. In
particular, pacifists can contribute to the spread
of information exposing u.s. militarism which is
something that MIM consistently opposes in our
Maoist organizing to end oppression.
One point that we'd like to take up in this letter
response is the question of elevating Lenin or
Stalin to infallibility. The idea that Mao held
such a line is the product of bourgeois education
but is not based in reality. In fact, if you read
Mao's writings you will find that he considered
Stalin 70% correct (certainly this could not be
mistaken for infallibility. Similarly, Mao had some
disagreements with Lenin. But Mao upheld the
correct revolutionary Marxist-Leninist line that is
based in dialectical materialism, a way of
analyzing the world, not dogmatism. The view that
all things said by these individuals must be
correct and infallible for all time is not a result
of materialist analysis, but rather a myth that the
imperialists use in their characterization of
communists to discredit the struggles of the
masses.
Mao was able to lead the Chinese people in their
successful revolutionary struggle because of this
correct political line. It was only by
understanding that political line is a method of
evaluating the world and the problems we face that
he could come up with effective strategies. The
dogmatists in China got themselves killed while the
Maoist movement grew into the successful revolution
that overthrew Japanese imperialism and established
socialism in a country that constitutes a quarter
of the world's population.
THE COLOR BLACK
DEAR MIM, i'm writing this article , to shed some
light on the issue, which was discussed on the
color Black, in your March (MN 134) issue of MIM
Notes. i'm not disagreeing with anyone, but i just
think that when We dialogue on that subject We must
not leave out nationality. So in short, i'm
attempting to elevate the discussion to
NATIONALITY.
We as a people need to start redirecting Our
thinking. We have been trained to denote the color
black (e.g. reference to black in the american
Heritage dictionary blackball, black market,
blackmail, blacklist) just to name a few.
It shows by the dialect between MIM and the brotha
who wrote the article concerning Black, that We're
starting to recognize the need for change. We're
overcoming a lot of the negativity taught to Us
through the mis-education system of amerika. i
applaud the brotha for elevating his thought.
Now that We are no longer allowing Our oppressors
to dictate to Us what to think and how to think,
let's focus on NATIONALITY. What is the name of
your Nation? What term do you use to identify your
nationality.
"We should disregard the words black & white
immediately, because they serve as obstacles to
clarity when an excavation of nationality is
needed. In short this one over simplification of
people works to Our detriment, by obscuring
nationality." - Sanyika Shakur
We know that "each nationality receives a
collective name & accumulates elements of common
culture". Our nationality is formulated on these
shores of amerika. Through colonialism, the
nationalities of Ibo, Ashanti, Ewe, Fante, & Akan,
among other, came the fundamental
consolidation/fusion of who We are today: New
Afrikans.
We are not black people, We're African people, and
Our nationality is New Afrikan. We're not amerikans
nor are we Afrikan americans. Amerika is what We're
struggling to rid Ourselves of. There's no way
would could possible be amerikans. WE ARE NEW
AFRIKANS.
We as a people are in an ideological battle (war of
words) and We must focus Our attention on
nationality and the struggle for an independent
Nation; a New Afrikan Nation. Let's continue to
struggle against the crime of GENOCIDE and america
(imperialism).
UHURU SASA!!
- A Missouri Prisoner, 5 March 1997
(1) What's In A Name - Sayika Shakur (2) No We're
Not Amerikkkans - Crossroad Collective (3) Fade
From Black - Owusu Yaki Yakuba (aka Atiba Shanna)
MIM RESPONDS: We welcome this opportunity to
clarify why we do not use the term New Afrikan.
This comrade is correct that we need to be talking
about nation rather than just color or race. And to
do this we need to be naming the nations within
u.s. borders that share a common language,
territory, culture and economy. We also agree with
this comrade that using the term African American
is incorrect because we are not talking about a
group of people who have become a part of Amerika
nor are we talking about a struggle of integration
into the imperialist white nation.
The term New Afrikan has the advantage of
distinguishing the nation within u.s. borders from
Africa while focusing on the issue of nationality.
But the problem with the term is its heavily
cultural nationalist origins and usage. It is
important that we steer the national liberation
struggle away from cultural nationalism. Cultural
nationalism is the false ideology of liberation
that misleads many whose sentiments for national
liberation should put them in the revolutionary
camp. Cultural nationalism tells people that it is
their culture that will liberate them and so the
important thing is what you wear, how you talk, how
you do your hair, and what leisure time activities
you engage in. Rather than teaching people that we
need to systematically organize to overthrow
imperialism in order to gain national liberation,
cultural nationalism serves the bourgeoisie by
encouraging pacifism and minor cultural changes.
We share this comrade's focus on nationality and on
fighting imperialism and we hope that discussions
like this one will help elevate the ideological
understanding of our readers while we stress the
unity we have with this comrade and others who may
not agree with our language. This language is not
decisive, anti-imperialism is decisive and we must
unite around this struggle, even while we are
debating our disagreements over various political
line and tactics.
* * *
NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES
In conjunction with the Revolutionary Anti-
Imperialist League, BAYAN - International - USA,
and many other friends and allies, the Maoist
Internationalist Movement is proud to present a
series of lectures and discussions with
RAFAEL BAYLOSIS
Political Consultant to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
(BAYAN, or New Patriotic Alliance), and consultant
to the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines' panel for socio-economic reforms in
its peace negotiations with the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines:
Tuesday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.
All Souls Church Unitarian 16th & Harvard Streets
N.W. Washington, D.C.
Sunday Nov 16 7pm
Hampshire College, Amherst MA Franklin Patterson
Hall Check signs by door for room number.
Monday Nov 17 7pm
University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA Campus
Center Check at info desk for room number.
Wednesday November 19 7pm
Boston University Room TBA
Thursday November 18
7pm Brandeis University Room TBA
Thursday, November 20
2pm UMass, Boston Room TBA
Friday, November 21 6pm
Boston Community Church of Boston 565 Boylston St.
Near the Copley Square T stop
[For more information, write to your local
distributor or go to
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/ on the World
Wide Web]
Rafael Baylosis is an experienced activist and
political consultant in the national democratic
struggle, as well as a former political prisoner.
In his youth, he participated in the "First Quarter
Storm," which mobilized thousands of Filipino young
people in the wake of Ferdinand Marcos' "re-
election" in 1969. He later joined the
revolutionary movement in the countryside. He
served as consultant and observer in the 1987 peace
negotiations between the Aquino government and the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
(NDFP).
Since his release from imprisonment in 1992, he has
been helping to give political and theoretical
education to mass leaders and members of
progressive people's organizations. He is a
consultant to the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines' (NDFP's) panel for socio-economic
reforms agenda in the on-going peace talks between
the NDFP and the GRP (Government of the Republic of
the Philippines). His talk is part of a national
educational tour to teach the campus and community
about the national democratic struggle uniting the
Filipino people, indigenous communities, peasants,
and wimmin on issues of social justice, democracy,
environmental integrity and equality. Specifically,
the national democratic movement struggles against
what it considers the three main enemies of the
people of the Philippines: imperialism, feudalism ,
and bureaucrat capitalism.
The national democratic movement sprang from the
militant student and worker movement in Manila in
the mid-sixties and quickly spread to all sectors
of Philippine society. It encompasses both
underground organizations such as the Communist
Party of the Philippines and the NDFP, which engage
in armed struggle, and independent legal
organizations such as BAYAN.
ADMISSION FREE; DONATION REQUESTED
* * *
AMNESTY ON KOREA:
RAISING HEGEMONISM TO A LEVEL OF PRINCIPLE
Amnesty International(AI), the so-called human
rights organization which decries "politics" in the
name of supposedly valueless moral standards, has
given new meaning to the hypocrisy of this line
with its position on the famine in north Korea. The
October, 1997 issue of Amnesty's Human Rights
Bulletin includes an article called "Politics
First: Starvation in North Korea."
True to Amnesty's masthead claim that it is
"Nonpolitical, Nonprofit, Impartial," one-half of
the article is devoted to detailing the north
Korean famine. Completely blowing any claims to
ignore politics, the article goes on to lambast Kim
Jong Il and the north Korean government for
"hold[ing] [their] own people hostage as if 22
million starving North Koreans [sic] were no more
than negotiating chips."
MIM does not criticize AI for making politics the
issue here -- clearly under capitalism if people
are starving and enough food exists in the world to
feed them, politics can be the only thing between
starving people and food. But Amnesty is way out of
line hiding behind the banner of a supposedly "non-
political" organization while it upholds Amerikan
violence against the oppressed in Korea. Amnesty
argues that "North Korea is trying to use its
citizens' hunger as a bargaining chip, arguing that
Washington should either deliver massive food aid
before the two Koreas, China and the U.S. sit down
for serious negotiations to end the state of war
that has existed on the Korean Peninsula since
1950."
But where is the righteous anger that should be
directed at the United Snakes, which caused and now
perpetuates this "state of war," first by operating
a so-called "civil war" in Korea, and now by
occupying south Korea? If the north Korean
government is truly the only party bargaining for
food here, why hasn't Amerika simply turned over
the required aid rather than attempting to starve
out the north Korean government and force it to
submit to unequal negotiations with a government
which has occupied half of Korea for almost fifty
years?
To a limited extent, AI is right that "two years of
flood and two months of severe drought" are causing
the famine. The deeper cause is "an economy
crippled by the U.$. military-enforced division
between north and south Korea. MIM does not
recognize the imperialist proclamation that Korea
is two separate nations: south Korea was carved
out by Amerikan occupiers immediately following
World War Two. Amerikan occupiers keep the north
and south separate," as MIM Notes wrote in July.
Just as it ignores the U.$. role in causing north
Korea's troubles, AI ignores the fact that "north
Korea was able to manage its food production and
distribution effectively over the past two years by
applying Kim Il Sung's strong notion of the self-
reliance of peoples -- Juche." Even non-communist
human rights observers have admitted that strong
self-reliant policies forestalled the famine.
Understanding the Amerikan historical role in Korea
is very important to understanding the current
situation.
While MIM does not uphold north Korea as socialist
or communist, we agree with the Koreans that the
U.$. occupation is ample proof that Amerika is not
to be bargained with. A country should not be
criticized for failing to enter so-called
negotiations under the condition of military
occupation.
AI has more political handicaps than its incorrect
adherence to a "nonpolitical" position on political
issues. It is a general rule for Amnesty chapters
to focus on issues outside the countries in which
they organize, which explains why this issue of
Human Rights Bulletin focuses on hunger
internationally but directs more venom at the north
Korean government -- which is suffering from
hunger, than at the U.$. government -- which is
enforcing hunger.
MIM takes responsibility first for organizing
around conditions in the United Snakes; and when we
do work abroad, we focus first on the role of the
U.$. government overseas. We do this because
organizing within the belly of the beast, we have
more access to information about Amerika's
exploits, and we have the ability to test our line
in practice. Similarly, we show our respect for our
comrades in other countries by acknowledging their
analysis of their own material conditions.
The U.$. government and military have committed
uncounted crimes against the people of the world.
We call on all people who oppose imperialism and
the starvation it imposes on the Third World to
work with MIM Notes researching and exposing the
Amerikan reign of terror. Work with us to help more
Amerikans see that their government is not worth
their support.
NOTES: Human Rights Bulletin October 1997, p. 9;
MIM Notes 142 July 15, 1997.
* * *
ANN ARBOR STUDENTS CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S
DAY -- NOT COLUMBUS DAY
Over 200 people gathered on the University of
Michigan campus to celebrate Indigenous People's
Day on October 13. Settler Amerikans have long
celebrated Columbus Day along with oppressor's
holidays like Thanksgiving Day as a way to
culturally perpetuate the myth that European
settlers came to North America and developed the
current empire through hard work.
The rally successfully exposed this myth and spread
the truth of the people. European settlers
conquered North America and the First Nations
through massacres and widespread genocide. The
wealth accumulated by the settlers came from
plundering the resources of the First Nations and
later taking the resources of oppressed nations
internationally. This wealth is a result of massive
enslavement of Africans and First Nation peoples
and the exploitation of oppressed nation labor
across the globe. As many of the speakers echoed:
the wealth of Amerika has been built on the backs
of the oppressed.
The celebration recognized those who have died at
the hands of the oppressors and those who have
fought against oppression. The rally and march were
led by the Native American Student Association, the
Black Student Union, Alianza, La Voz Mexicana and
the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. Starting out the rally, the
Treetown Singers, a group of First Nation men
performing and drumming indigenous songs, gathered
the people. The group performed songs which honored
ancestors and struggles fought in the past. The
group also helped lead the march.
Many students echoed the message that oppression
must be stopped, some talked about the need to
strengthen the struggles of the oppressed against
attacks on Affirmative Action, others talked about
the need to mobilize more students and some read
progressive poems. One rally sign read "No more
genocide." One womyn read a poem which MIM and RAIL
liked a lot because of its progressive and anti-
colonial content:
Oh say can you see, in this land of the free and
the home of our braves,
We are "Indians" We are here and alive We are not
what you see on F-Troop, or John Wayne's target
practice
We can no longer accept the legislative castration
which controls our future
We cannot handle more schooling which cuts our hair
and beats us if we speak our language, the only
language I know at nine years old.
We see our black bothers and sisters trying to
improve their lives. We should too. This revolution
will not be televised either.
We are the American Indian Movement. If we have to
occupy Alcatraz and Washington offices to get you
to listen to our pain, we'll do it.
The economy is growing and the government wants the
resources on our land.
We need to manage our tribe's new income. We need
to train our people. We need to serve our sister on
the far end of the rez.
Mr. Nixon, Mr. Reagan, Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, we
need the government to stop putting the power and
funding of us into everyone's hands but us.
Stop being a parent because we are not children.
We are reaching across the rez to serve
We are going to law school and medical school
We are able to grow our hair long again.
We are self-determining.
We are Native Americans.
MIM and RAIL support all struggles to stop
oppression. Principally we support struggles for
national liberation to overthrow settler
colonialism and imperialism in this stage of
struggle. We have in the past organized events and
rallies on Indigenous People's Day and it is good
to see this banner being taken up by an increasing
number of students and organizations. As we are
turning the corner on 1998 -- the 100th anniversary
of the u.s. invasion of Puerto Rico and the
Philippines and the 25th anniversary of the second
u.s. invasion of Wounded Knee, there are many
struggles of the people to commemorate. The
Amerikan schools don't teach the history of the
masses and it is up to us to celebrate the
struggles of the people and the true nature of
imperialism and settler colonialism.
It is essential that the people educate and promote
the histories of the oppressed because the
oppressor only wants the mythical versions
presented. The people must spread the history of
struggle and continue the fight against the
continuing genocide committed through imperialism
and settler colonialism.
NOTE: For a good account of the real history of
Amerika, check out Settlers: the mythology of the
white proletariat by J. Sakai. Available from MIM
for $15. And Agents of Repression available for $25
from the address on page two.
* * *
TEXAS GOV. BUSH BACKS DOWN ON LYNCHING IN FACE OF
PRESSURE
by MC53
On October 8, Texas Governor George W. Bush
announced he would finally issue a pardon to James
Byrd, a Black man who spent 12 years in prison for
being convicted in the white nation's courts of the
rape of a white woman. In MIM Notes #147, we
reported that Gov. Bush of Texas refused to pardon
Byrd, despite the fact that DNA tests showed he did
not commit the crime for which he was facing the
death penalty. Bush stepped down from this position
because of public pressure and a court ruling which
stated the DNA tests were valid.
MIM congratulates those who struggled for Byrd's
life and we encourage Byrd and his supporters to
continue the struggle against all facets of
national oppression and the imperialist system as a
whole. We reported on Bush's planned lynching to
build opposition to it and opposition to the use of
Amerika's prisons to oppress the masses. As there
are now over 1.6 million people languishing the
Amerika's prisons, there is much work to be done.
Bush and other settler nation pigs jump at whatever
chance they can to lynch a Black man. Out of 14
previous pardons by Bush not one of them had been
of a Black person. Police beatings and tremendously
disproportionate arrests, convictions and
incarcerations of oppressed nationals are all part
of the continued genocide committed by the white
nation. If it were not for agitation against the
lynching, another Black man would be killed. And
the longer it takes to end national oppression,
patriarchy and capitalism, the higher the death
toll from imperialism.
Byrd's situation supports MIM's argument that the
death penalty under imperialism must be opposed.
With the oppressors standing at the switch drooling
over the possibility of legal murders of the
masses, the death penalty will only be used as a
tool to support the current oppressive system. It
is only in the hands of the people that the death
penalty and other punishments can be used toward
the goal of ending all oppression and eliminating
the need for any punishments at all. Work with MIM
to end the Amerikan lockdown of the oppressed and
to build independent institutions of the oppressed.
NOTE: The New York Times. 9 October 1997, p. A17.
* * *
CLINTON REJECTS LANDMINE TREATY
by MC234
Amerika has once again demonstrated its strongly
militarist foreign policy agenda by rejecting the
organized efforts of other imperialist nations,
principally Kanada, to ban the production and use
of landmines. MIM Notes 146, 15 September 1997,
reported that Clinton was dragging his feet on
endorsing the treaty, and planned to argue that
Amerika be allowed to continue the use of landmines
in Korea. At the Geneva talks, the Amerikan
negotiators also tried to push back the deadline
for the ban nine years.
The other imperialists rejected these Amerikan
efforts to water down the effort to ban landmines
and have continued to bash Amerikan policy on
landmines in the media. Of course, the imperialists
have not suddenly become peaceful, they are just
responding to public pressure by putting a prettier
face on their military exploits. The elimination of
landmines will not reduce the militarism of the
imperialist countries that is focused on the Third
World peoples.
On 10 October, an Amerikan womyn, Jody Williams,
and her organization, the International Campaign to
Ban Landmines, won the Nobel Peace Prize. The
Norwegian Nobel Committee said that Williams "had
transformed a ban on anti-personnel mines from a
vision to a feasible reality." This award has
focused more attention to the landmine issue, with
Russia responding by pledging to support the
treaty. As MIM Notes reported, the only major
powers who had not yet endorsed the treaty were
Amerika, Russia and China.
MIM sees the banning of landmines as a progressive
act that will keep from escalating an already
horrible toll on the people. We have no false hopes
that the imperialists want to stop their bloody
oppression of the people; they merely want to do
it more effectively and with a kinder gentler face.
(And a weapon being illegal has never stopped the
imperialists from using it when they needed it,
anyway.)
Even if landmines are banned today, there will
still be 112 million landmines sown in 71 nations.
According to the International Committee of the Red
Cross, landmines kill or maim 24,000 people a year,
most of them civilians and often children. Mines
from World War I and II still injure or kill scores
of people a year.(2)
NOTES:
1. Springfield Union-News 11 October 1997, p. A1,
A8.
2. Boston Globe, 15 August 1997, p. A2
* * *
ANOTHER PRISONER DIES AFTER BRUTAL BEATING BY
GUARDS
by a RAIL comrade
Abel Remy was beaten to unconsciousness inside his
cell at Walpole prison in Massachusetts on August
1, 1997. When he regained consciousness, he began
screaming uncontrollably. He was then attacked by
four or five guards in riot gear. Next he was taken
to a segregation unit. Abel Remy never returned to
his cell. He died on August 12 of a heart attack
caused by a blood clot in his leg.
Abel Remy was a thirty-six year old man from Haiti.
He was convicted in the white nation's courts of
aggravated assault charges which he repeatedly
denied. In March, he was transferred to Walpole
prison, where he was inhumanely locked up for
twenty-two and a half hours each day.
When Abel's family was told he had died, they were
not told about the beatings. Anthony Carnevale,
spokesperson for the Department of Corrections,
claimed that state laws barred him from revealing
disciplinary or medical reports on Remy while he
was incarcerated. The fact that such laws exist
demonstrates, once again, that what goes on behind
prison walls is not meant to be revealed to the
public.
Abel Remy kept fairly close contact with his family
despite the rigid structure of maximum security
prisons, which was created, in part, to discourage
prisoner/family ties. Remy complained on several
occasions throughout his time in Walpole of
beatings he had received from guards. He reported
that he had found feces in his food. These are the
kinds of secrets which the D.O.C. hides.
Evidence has shown that Abel Remy was severely
dehydrated when he died. Authorities are claiming
that his dehydrated state could have caused the
blood clot which lead to his heart attack. They
have suggested that Remy was on hunger strike,
therefore proposing his death was his own fault.
On September 17 the family of Able Remy held a
press conference where they called for a full
investigation into his death. As of this date, more
than a month after his death, the family still have
not been given access to the autopsy results.
Whether the clot developed as a result of severe
beatings or as a result of the hunger-strike
dehydration the authorities at Walpole prison are
to blame for his death.
We argue that the Amerikan prison system which only
serves the interests of the settler nation is at
fault for his death and the death of pervious
victims killed by murderous prison guards.
Oppressed nationals do not get a just and fair
trial in the white nation's courts; they do not
get adequate medical care and are subjected to
inhumane conditions, slave labor and brutality. The
Amerikan government and the DOC cannot pawn off the
responsibility deaths of the oppressed caused by
imperialism: it is the Amerikan prison system
which the people find guilty.
* * *
IMPERIALISTS EXPERIMENT USING THIRD WORLD WIMMIN
by MC53
Just three months ago, president Clinton held a
token ceremony to apologize to the men of Tuskegee
who were used in human experimentation. Just three
weeks ago, federal officials justified human
experimentation on wimmin of seven nations in
Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.
In both cases, members of nations oppressed by
imperialism were told they were receiving treatment
when in actuality, imperialists used these people's
bodies for experimentation. Experimenting on
oppressed nationals has been justified to improve
drugs. But the oppressed have limited or non-
existent access to drug treatments or health care
in general. This kind of human experimentation only
improves the quality of life of the oppressor and
frequently endangers the lives of the people used
in the experiments.
12,211 pregnant, HIV positive wimmin have been part
of an experiment for two years in which they were
told they were receiving treatment that can prevent
the transmission of HIV to their children. Studies
showed previously that HIV positive wimmin taking
AZT during pregnancy could cut the risk of
transmitting the virus to their children by two-
thirds. The experimentation allegedly was trying to
find less expensive drug treatment than AZT, which
currently costs $1000 per womyn.
Some wimmin in the experiment received placebo
pills while others received varying levels of AZT -
- levels that are different from what has been
demonstrated to deter transmission. Besides using
these Third World wimmin as guinea pigs, 1,000
infants will contract the virus because their
mothers, who were in the study, were not given AZT.
The National Institutes of Health and the Centers
for Disease Control financed this experimentation
on the wimmin. Run by the imperialists in the
interests of First World nations, institutes with
resources that could greatly improve the lives of
the masses, instead only further First World
hegemonism. This is one reason why Maoists argue
that technology and resources are not principal,
but rather, correct political line and power in the
hands of the masses are most decisive in the battle
toward liberation of the world's people from
oppression.
Federal officials justified denying treatment to
the wimmin and their children by saying that they
would not otherwise have access to the treatment
anyway. This type of logic put forward by the
bourgeois imperialist pigs does not surprise
Maoists. Because Amerika needed to test weapons,
Amerika has killed millions in the Third World. The
same bourgeois logic is used to justify those
murders: since millions in the Third World are
starving anyway, Amerika should not hold back from
killing Third World peoples en masse. Though this
is one aspect of the justification for First World
genocide committed against the oppressed, the
imperialists will use any reasoning available to
justify the murder of the masses to advance the
standard of living in the imperialist nations.
Whereas the wimmin and children from the Third
World nations were used as laboratory tools,
current HIV research in the United Snakes includes
treatment and has eliminated placebo-controlled
experiments according to The New England Journal of
Medicine. (The point of eliminating placebo-control
experiments is that in these, the human being
tested does not receive treatment at all.) Whether
or not HIV positive Amerikans are truly exempt from
experimentation is not something that MIM can
independently confirm, but it is enough to note
that this is the direction of the experiments in
the imperialist nations, and is not the goal of
experiments conducted on the oppressed nation
masses.
Maoists push for a people's government which will
use resources to liberate the masses whether it is
liberation from slavery or liberation from disease.
Fight with us for equal access to medical care,
research and treatment for all the world's people.
* * *
PATRIARCHY CONTINUES CONTROL OVER WIMMIN: NEW
ABORTION BAN PASSES U$ HOUSE OF REPS
by MC53
The so-called u.$. House of Representatives
approved a ban of late term abortions on October 8.
The ban passed with enough votes to withstand the
expected presidential veto. This ban will increase
the imperialist state's control of wimmin.
Proponents of the ban are using the late-term
abortion procedure in order to build public support
for state control of wimmin general. By
highlighting a type of abortion which has more
opposition, the anti-choice faction of the
bourgeoisie hopes to isolate the pro-choice faction
of the bourgeoisie before the upcoming 1998
elections. Moreover, the promoters of the ban are
using their raunchy accounts of the procedure to
build opposition to all abortion procedures.
President Clinton has played to both bourgeois
factions on this issue, as he usually does. On the
one hand, Clinton previously vetoed this
legislation, saying that it did not protect
pregnant wimmin. On the other, he opposes late-term
abortions generally.
MIM is not surprised by Clinton's behavior, and MIM
certainly does not join the chorus of social
democrats who wish that Clinton would just "get a
spine" and stand up for what he supposedly believes
in. This is because MIM recognizes that the
existing state can not implement reforms that would
eliminate the oppression of all wimmin or in this
case, the let wimmin completely control their own
bodies. The fundamental role of existing state is
to preserve patriarchy and imperialism.
The Amerikan "pro-choice" movement is a good
example of this axiom. On the one hand, the u.$.
did concede an individual womyn's "right" to an
abortion. But on the other, poor wimmin and wimmin
from oppressed nationalities still do not have the
opportunity to make this abstract "right" a
reality. And wimmin of oppressed nations still
suffer a large number of restrictions on their
reproductive freedom, such as forced sterilization.
The mainstream "pro-choice" movement has not taken
a stand on such issues, in order to remain
"respectable" and be able to "work within the
system." Forced sterilization is often justified
with the rhetoric of "choice."
The mainstream "pro-choice" movement in the united
snakes has objectively worked in the interests of
white nation wimmin only. But the majority of the
world's wimmin are Third World wimmin. Third World
wimmin not only fight for access to abortion, but
also against patriarchal control through
imperialism. Wimmin of oppressed nations are
subjected to the economic and political control of
imperialism. Movements in the First World must not
ignore the struggles of the majority of the worlds
wimmin. Instead, First World movements must be
anti-imperialist at their core. When wimmin's
movements do this, they will truly be working to
end patriarchy which is necessary to truly end
gender oppression and the flip flopping on issues
like abortion.
MIM recognizes that patriarchy and imperialism are
systems which restrict and determine individual's
choices. Indeed, because patriarchy robs wimmin of
their ability to freely consent to sex in the first
place, it robs them of reproductive freedom. To
smash patriarchy as a system we work for the
liberation of the oppressed nations and the
establishment of a consciously feminist
dictatorship of the proletariat. Gender oppression
cannot be demolished by piecemeal reforms which are
constantly revised by the dictatorship of the
patriarchal bourgeoisie.
If you are sick of hitting your head against a wall
only to find that you are not working in the
interests of the majority of the worlds people and
you are not achieving and sustaining your own goal
of wimmin's control over their bodies, work with
MIM and RAIL. Start revolutionary feminist study
groups, work to support the struggles of wimmin in
prison, wimmin of oppressed nations and work
against gender oppression in its totality.
NOTES: The New York Times. 9 October 1997. p. A1
and A13.
* * *
ORGANIZE TO END THE AMERIKKKAN LOCKDOWN
Ann Arbor, MI -- Nightly events held during the
first full week in October were organized by the
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League and the
Maoist Internationalist Movement to expose the
Amerikkkan prison system as a tool for national
oppression and social control. The week of
agitation was one part of our organizing to build
support for national liberation and opposition to
the current oppressive hegemonic control by the
white settler nation over the Black, Latino and
First nations and other oppressed nationals held
captive in the United Snakes.
In recent months, a young Black man was shot in the
back by a Detroit pig for no reason; a Mexican
youth was shot and murdered by Marines patrolling
the illegitimate u.s. border; a Haitian man was
assaulted and seriously injured by pigs still on
the payroll in Brooklyn; a Black man in Ann Arbor
was shot and killed needlessly by the University of
Michigan campus cops; a Michigan prisoner was
raped and brutalized by prison guards; another
Michigan prisoner was transferred because of his
political activities and the prison pigs have
denied him access to his books, typewriter, legal
paperwork, money, and other belongings.
The above are merely a few of many examples of the
injustice perpetrated against oppressed nationals
within the United Snakes. Never have reformist or
pacifist struggles liberated the peoples of
oppressed nations from imperialist claws. Only
national liberation struggles have truly liberated
the people. For this reason, RAIL under the
leadership of the Maoist Internationalist Movement
held events to build support for genuine liberation
of the oppressed.
FIGHT THE CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM
After the first event of the series, showing of
Framed: the story of Geronimo Pratt, the audience
discussed methods to address the oppressive
Amerikan injustice system. One African man
discussed his frustration with the current system
and various past failures of attempts to change the
system. He suggested that we organize people to
stop paying taxes to the oppressor nation
government. Another Black man echoed frustration
with the system and pointed out that in 1973
Michigan had five prisons and currently that number
is up to 40 prisons.
The organizers talked about the need for academics,
students and radicals in the primarily affluent
area of Ann Arbor to engage in mass work. Led by
MIM, RAIL's work is to agitate against oppression
and to build independent institutions of the
oppressed which create the necessary foundations to
build new societies run in the interests of the
people.
The facilitator pointed out that much can be
learned by activists in affluent areas from the
revolution in the Philippines. Leaders of the
national democratic movement do not ignore the
oppressed masses in their organizing work, instead
they send organizers from the urban areas to work
with the masses in the countryside. Through
consistent and genuine mass work and mass
organizing, the national democratic movement has
been able to organize the people of the Philippines
in a successful and growing revolutionary movement.
Another member of the audience said that what needs
to be done is exposure of the atrocities committed
by the oppressor. We wholeheartedly agree. That's
why MIM Notes and RAIL Notes are essential tools in
our fight to stop oppression.
Similarly, it is important to fight against
agitation which opportunistically mixes the goals
of the settler nation with the goals of the
oppressed. Pimping off the backs of the oppressed
is a regular strategy of the imperialists. This
same strategy is employed by the white left and
liberals in Amerikan saying that the white nation
has an economic interest in revolution.
We also discussed how the proliferation of prisons
benefits the white nation middle classes. The labor
aristocracy would rather fight to have higher wages
as oppressive security guards, occupying police or
prison guards than struggle to end the massive
imprisonment of oppressed nationals.
SYSTEMATIC NATIONAL OPPRESSION
During another night of the series, audience
members elaborated on the fact that the prison
system and the police forces are oppressive tools;
it is not just a few pigs gone bad or just one
crumbling, freezing in the winter prison that we
should mobilize opposition against. We showed End
of the Nightstick which is about systematic police
brutality against Blacks in Chicago. The film only
shows a small proportion of the brutality committed
by Amerikan pigs against Blacks but is extremely
useful in demonstrating that the brutality
committed is done in the interests of protecting
white settler nation hegemony.
Another event during the series focused on the
torture of three political wimmin imprisoned in
Lexington. After showing Through the Wire we talked
about the inhumane treatment of prisoners in
Amerika. We compared this with the ways in which
the Amerikan government engages in its trade wars
with other nations under the guise of opposing
human abuse.
BRUTALITY IN MICHIGAN PRISONS
A activist working with RAIL gave a talk about
"Slavery and Brutality in Michigan Prisons",
discussing the fact that Michigan prisoners work
for as little as 24 cents per hour under threat of
disciplinary action if they refuse this work. We
pointed out that while the justification for paying
prisoners so little is that all of prisoners'
expenses are taken care of while they are in
prison, even this is no longer true as the state of
Michigan recently began enforcing legislation which
makes prisoners pay for their own health care.
These economic conditions are backed by the
constant threat of brutality in the form of
beatings, torture, bad food, punitive segregation,
censorship and gratuitous transfers of so-called
"unmanageable" prisoners.
RAIL relied principally on prisoner letters to MIM
and RAIL in giving this presentation because events
like this are one of the few opportunities we have
to help prisoners have their voices heard. MIM
Notes publishes Under Lock & Key as a means of
giving prisoners access to people on the outside,
and we saw this event as a chance to let prisoners
speak for themselves about the conditions inside
Michigan prisons.
The audience was very friendly to RAIL and MIM's
work around prisons and agreed with us that all
violations of prisoners' rights -- from censorship
to murder -- constitute brutality against prisoners
and should be opposed by all people who have a
progressive stance on prison.
One person at the event pointed out that the state
violates its own laws to violate prisoners' rights.
It is illegal for the DOC to mention the name and
the conviction of a prisoner in public. There is
enough of a stigma against people who have been
convicted of crimes and served prison terms. But it
has become common practice for Kenneth McGinnis,
head of the MDOC, to state prisoners' names and
convictions in public. This audience member said
McGinnis practice in this regard amounts to pushing
the law as far as he can as a means of taking away
every little bit of freedom prisoners still have.
BUILD NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLES
The final event of the series educated those
attending about the struggle for Puerto Rican
national liberation. We showed Palante, Siempre
Palante which documents the history of the Young
Lord's Party/Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers
Organization and discusses the colonization of
Puerto Rico and how the Puerto Rican nation outside
of the island is oppressed.
One of the important points of the film was the way
in which the people took over institutions that
were not serving their needs. From discussion of
this, many of the audience members were interested
in working with RAIL and MIM to expand ongoing
projects and build other independent institutions
of the oppressed.
RAIL and MIM in the Michigan area continue to
expose the ways in which the prison system is a
tool for national oppression and social control. We
do this work as part of the agitation to oppose
national oppression in general. As a result of
organizing for this week of events, some
organizations and individuals will be working with
us to develop further our Serve the People Books
for Prisoners program. One Black sorority has
offered to help fund raise. Some individuals have
since helped to correspond with prisoners and
agitate against prisons in Michigan. Other
organizations have asked RAIL to give presentations
to educate the members about prisons. If you would
like to help, we need money to fund our work and
people to get involved in many aspects of
educational and organizing work.
UPCOMING ANN ARBOR EVENTS:
Deadly Deception The story of experimentation on
Black men in Tuskegee
November 6th 7pm Trotter House 1443 Washtenaw
Incident at Oglala The story of Leonard Peltier and
Amerika's invasion of Pine Ridge. November 20th 7pm
Trotter House
* * *
REPUDIATE "CHARITY" PROMOTE REVOLUTION!
MIM has discontinued its Serve the People Food
Program (STPFP), which was launched on December 26,
1996. The STPFP distributed sandwiches to homeless
men and wimmin on an irregular and limited basis.
MIM stopped the STPFP because it was objectively a
charity program, and outside of the context of an
already vibrant political movement it would not
jump out of the bounds of charity work. As the
article announcing the STPFP itself said, "MIM does
not believe that handing out a few sandwiches is
enough. Ultimately, for the world's masses to
receive proper food, health care, clothing, and
education, the people need socialism."
That article went on to argue that the STPFP was
useful because although "[h]anding out small
amounts of food is not enough... propaganda work
alone is not enough either." It is true that
propaganda work is not enough to make revolution.
We also need a party, an army, and a united front.
These three weapons are not only or even
principally tools of propaganda and agitation,
rather they are tools for political struggle. The
Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army did not go
to the countryside to hand out PB&J sandwiches,
they want there to mobilize the peasantry to solve
their pressing political needs themselves. In
particular, the CPC organized the peasants into the
armed struggle to seize state power. It was within
the context of that struggle that Mao developed the
slogan "pay attention to the well-being of the
masses."
The political line behind the STPFP was a
combination of "left" adventurism (running ahead of
our current strength) and rightism (objectively
downplaying the importance of revolutionary
political struggle.) Responsible comrades in MIM
allowed the STPFP to be launched because they had a
muddled grasp of the true line behind the program,
and they failed to resolutely struggle against the
line behind the program. MIM seeks to rectify these
errors in part by running this announcement. We
will continue to struggle against errors of ultra-
leftist or rightist political line and practice
through vigilance and attention to organizing
conditions.
Of course, MIM is concerned with the well-being of
the masses. That is why MIM mobilizes the
proletariat of the oppressed nations within u.$.
borders and its allies to seize state power and
build socialism. MIM and MIM-led mass organizations
like RAIL spend large amounts educating and
organizing people against u.$. imperialism and for
revolution. Indeed, there is more work to be done
in this area than MIM and RAIL can handle right
now. So we need to pick our battles carefully and
wage them resolutely.
MIM is concerned with the masses' practical
problems, that is why it started the free books for
prisoners program and is building prisoner re-lease
programs. But a program such as the STPFP is
admittedly beyond our reach right now -- both in
the sense that we lack the resources to mobilize a
program that would make a concrete impact on the
well-being of homeless people, and in the sense
that the program would take place in a political
vacuum.
Currently, the Party, the army, and the united
front are small and their influence is weak. MIM
encourages its comrades and allies to spend their
energy building these three weapons. As these tools
grow in size and experience, so will their ability
to take on new forms of work and use them to
revolutionary political ends.
* * *
AMERIKA GRABS FOR PUERTO RICAN PENAL SYSTEM
by MC53
A court monitor has recommended that Puerto Rico's
penal system be placed under Amerikan receivership
and in typical comprador reaction, Puerto Rico's
puppets of imperialism have vowed to increase
repression against prisoners as a way to thwart
losing their power.
Officials claim that Puerto Rican prisons are
controlled by members of Neta and that they have
taken over administrative tasks of the prisons and
heavily influence things such as punishments and
transfers. The claim is that because of the power
of the Netas, three prison rebellions occurred to
stop prisoner transfers within a 48 hour period
last month.
The Puerto Rican Commonwealths Corrections
Administrator, Zoe Laboy, said that the puppet
government is taking charge against the control of
the Netas. The Puerto Rican government had
increased the kkkorrections budget from $188
million in 1992 to $292 million this year and has
announced plans to separate members of different
organizations and gangs. As in the United Snakes,
Puerto Rico's penal system exists to control the
masses and does not represent the masses through
justly imprisoning individuals guilty of crimes
against the people. If that were the case, such
compradors as Laboy would be serving sentences for
the crime of compliance with and benefiting from
imperialism against the masses.
The main stream media portrays the Netas as
murderous drug traffickers. But the Netas recently
started a non-profit as an umbrella organization
for programs they run which include rehabilitation
and work to improve living conditions. Now the
courts and the compradors say that this non-profit
was only to funnel money from the legislature to
permit inmate leaders to meet and communicate with
each other in violation of security practices.
Maoists question the truth that is presented by the
oppressors. Part of understanding the current power
structure is understanding how the media is used to
manipulate public opinion to support repression
against the masses. Whether the Netas are working
in the interests of the masses or not, the masses
are the ones who should have the power to decide.
This power should not be in the hands of the
imperialists or in the hands of the imperialist
lackeys.
The United Snakes continues to control the Puerto
Rican nation economically, politically and
militarily as one of its many neo-colonies.
However, its status as a Commonwealth leaves Puerto
Rico open to more overt forms of control by the
Amerikan settler government. MIM organizes for
Marxist-Leninist-Maoist led revolution which will
liberate oppressed nations from the throngs of
Amerikan imperialism. While waging wars of national
liberation, the masses set up proletarian
controlled judicial processes which lay the
foundations for the justice system after
liberation. A true justice system stems from the
economic and political power in the hands of the
masses.
NOTE: The New York Times 10 September 1997. p. A14.
* * *
MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL IN COMMUNICATIONS:
MONOPOLY_CAPITAL@AOL.WORLDCOM.COMPUSERVE.UUNET.ANS
When WorldCom -- the fourth-largest long-distance
telecommunications company in the United Snakes --
bought CompuServe in September, the deal
accelerated the existing trend of capital
concentration in the communications industry by
strengthening some very big players. As a result of
the recent deal, WorldCom is now a much bigger
private data network, and Amerikkka Online (AOL) --
which was already far and away number one among
commercial Internet account providers -- is now
even bigger.
In the long-run, this concentration of capital
means that imperialism is digging its own grave. In
the short and medium term, however, ever-increasing
privatization and ever-shrinking "public" Internet
space means that the supposed government value of
free speech is replaced by "legitimate" corporate
censorship through customer policies. MIM expects
this trend to win allies for revolution in the
fight for our relative freedoms to organize legally
and openly against imperialism.
In this recent deal, WorldCom bought CompuServe,
AOL's largest competitor in the commercial Internet
services industry, for $1.2 billion, and then
turned around and sold CompuServe's 2.6 million
U.S. Internet account business to AOL, in exchange
for AOL's network services company(ANS) and $175
million in cash. A new company will form with the
merger of ANS, CompuServe Network Services and
WorldCom's subsidiary company UUNet.(1) Finally,
part of the deal includes "a long-term strategic
relationship with WorldCom providing AOL with
significantly expanded network capacity for its
service at favorable prices."(2) And just to seal
the corporate family, AOL chairman Steve Chase will
join WorldCom's board of directors.
According to WebCrawler News, "the deal will ...
strengthen the dominant position of WorldCom's
UUNET subsidiary as the leading provider of
communications services on the Internet."(3)
"Within the USA, the new company will be one of the
two leading providers of Internet access into the
Business Week 1000. It will be the overall industry
leader in the US with 19% of the market for
corporate Internet connectivity."(1)
And that's just the domestic news. WebCrawler News
also reported that:
"The deal also helps AOL on the international
front. It creates a closer link between AOL and its
European partner Bertelsmann AG that will
accelerate AOL's global presence. In an expansion
of an existing joint venture, Bertelsmann AG will
pay AOL $75 million and each company will invest
another $25 million as they add CompuServe to their
existing online service in Europe."(3)
ANS, the now AOL-owned (soon to be WorldCom-owned)
company, was initially a government project turned
private enterprise.
According to the company's web site, ANS, Inc. "the
former parent company of ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc.
(ANS), was established as a not-for-profit company
in 1990 by IBM, MCI and Merit [which is a
consortium of Michigan universities]. Its mission
was to advance high-speed networking technology and
use. ... As the principal architect of the National
Science Foundation Backbone network service, ANS
developed proprietary expertise in the design,
development and deployment of large-scale, high-
performance, wide area data networks."(4)
When the government created and controlled the
Internet, there was greater potential for struggle
over democratic rights and access, because it was
more like a "public" space legally. Now, with the
Internet in corporate, or corporate-government,
hands, the people's use is regulated by "customer
policy" instead. It is the equivalent of moving
from the "public square" to a shopping mall, with
private security pigs enforcing private rules.
Battles for free speech in shopping malls have been
won in the courts and MIM expects to have to fight
these battles again in order to retain access to
public cyberspace.
And WorldCom's expansion did not stop at ANS. On
October 1, "WorldCom ... announced ... that it will
be commencing an exchange offer to acquire all of
the outstanding shares of MCI Communications
Corporation ... for $41.50 of WorldCom common stock
per MCI share. Following consummation of the
exchange offer, WorldCom will effect a second-step
merger with all remaining MCI stockholders
receiving the same per share consideration."(5)
A WorldCom press release continued, "WorldCom's
combination with MCI will create one of the world's
premier communications companies with over $30
billion in revenues. The combination will enhance
WorldCom's position as a leading provider of one-
stop-shopping communication services -- offering a
full range of local, long distance, Internet and
international services."(5)
The press release went on to say that the new
combination will be better positioned to compete
against "incumbent carriers", fulfilling the
supposed intent of the 1996 Telecommunications Act
to "enhance competition." Actually, they are living
up to the legislation, but not by enhancing
competition. Rather, they are fulfilling the
government's intention to privatize the
telecommunications industry by allowing cable and
telephone companies to cash in on the rapidly-
expanding Internet.
Although there was some initial grumbling that the
Department of Justice might oppose WorldCom-AOL
deal for anti-trust reasons (principally AOL's new
market position with 12 million subscribers), that
concern seems to have passed. In any case, it is
easier for the government to deal with a compliant,
law-enforcement friendly Internet Service Provider
like AOL anyway. This way, the state can piggy-back
on private surveillance techniques already in place
to detect speech AOL finds offensive.
According to the web site www.aolsucks.com, AOL,
armed with lengthy and draconian "Terms of Service"
(TOS) policies, polices its account holders by
routinely checking for "vulgar" language. Vulgar
language by AOL's rules includes words like
masturbation, genitalia, transsexual and
transvestite, and submissive. So much for any
serious discussion of gender oppression.
"AOL's TOS applies to private communication such as
'Instant Messages,' e-mail, and private rooms (even
beyond the above)," the www.aolsucks.com site
reads. "While AOL does not have staff randomly
reading e-mail, AOL routinely discloses e-mail to
the FBI on request, and will search your mail if a
member reports to the Community Action Team that
you've been misbehaving."
And company policy reads, "AOL Inc. will not
intentionally monitor or disclose any private
electronic communication unless permitted or
required by law. AOL Inc. may terminate immediately
without notice any member who misuses or fails to
abide by the TOS, including, without limitation,
misuse of the software libraries, discussion
boards, E-Mail, or conference areas."(6)
On the heels of the AOL mergers, smaller companies
are looking for mergers to shore up their
endangered positions. On Oct. 13, IGC, a local
phone company, and Netcom, an Internet service
provider, announced a merger, which they say will
give the combined new company $420 million a year
in revenue. The relative weakling Netcom has
550,000 Internet customers. If they're lucky
they'll be worth more now when they get gobbled up
by a bigger conglomerate.(7)
Because colleges and universities are less directly
affected by privatization, students in the United
Snakes probably enjoy the freest, most protected
areas of the Internet. They should watch Internet
privatization trends with alarm and resolve to use
their valuable resources to the fullest, working
with MIM to serve the international proletariat.
For those without academic Internet access, MIM
recommends interviewing Internet service providers
about their policies regarding turning over
information about users, and we strongly recommend
that all communication over the Internet use the
free encryption technology that makes it impossible
to monitor.
NOTES:
1. http://www.ans.net/WhatsNew/
2. AOL Press Release, Sept. 8, 1997
3. WebCrawler News, 9/8/97
4.
http://www.ans.net/WhyChooseANS/Overview/History.ht
ml
5. http://www.wcom.com/press/100197_2.html
6. www.aolsucks.com
7. Press release from www.netcom.com
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY
TEXAS PRISONER BATTLES CHEMICAL AGENTS
...Here at the Michaels Unit in Tennessee Colony,
Texas, prison officials are using chemical agents
in an oppressive, malicious and sadistic manner on
inmates in Administrative Segregation who are
confined in their cells. At no time is their an
imminent threat to officers, inmates, or others.
Nor is there a riot, major disturbance or a threat
to the security of the institution when these
dangerous chemical agents are released. At all
times inmates are confined to their cells, and the
Michael Unit prison officials are aware of the
effects chemical agents have on us inmates.
Furthermore prison officials do not attempt to
decontaminate the area, and walk around with gas
masks on, as inmates suffer from the chemical
agents. No medical assistance is available, even
upon request.
I have a lawsuit filed ... I hope you can refer me
to an organization who has [information about] the
effects chemical agents have on humans -- both long
and short term effects. ...
-- A Texas Prisoner, 22 July 97
MIM RESPONDS:Below are some facts about the
chemical agents in pepper spray that may help your
case.
"Pepper spray instantly induces choking, gasping,
gagging and the sensation of suffocation. Eyes burn
swell and involuntarily shut. Many individuals
automatically collapse after exposure. There is no
federal or state agency that checks the contents or
strength of pepper spray."(1)
"Nationwide, over 70 people have died after being
pepper sprayed and restrained by police."(1)
Capsicum, the main ingredient of pepper spray, is a
chemical weapon. Its use was outlawed in 1972 by
the United Nations Biological Weapons
Convention.(1)
Although research on pepper spray is far from
comprehensive, it does indicate that pepper spray
exposure poses serious risks for various
populations of people. These populations include
people with: asthma, epilepsy, gastrointestinal
conditions, sickle cell anemia, psychiatric
conditions, heart, eye and/or lung conditions, and
various physical disabilities.(1)
In August 1993, the California EPA warned that in
each pepper spray death, this chemical agent
"exacerbated underlying conditions ... to cause
cardiac or respiratory failure."(1)
In October 1993, the US Army study of pepper spray
concluded that pepper spray is capable of
producing, "mutagenic effect, carcinogenic effects,
sensitization, cardiovascular toxicity, pulmonary
toxicity, neurotoxity and human fatalities."(1)
In April 1997, The Medical Implications of Pepper
Spray report was released. "The warnings and
concerns from the scientific community can no
longer be ignored. With the death toll on in-
custody suspects rising and the growing list of
injuries to officers in training, it is time to
stop speculating and guessing about the hazards of
OC [Oleoresin Capsicum] spray. The hazards are real
and the evidence is there to support it."(1)
An FBI study of OC revealed that the physical
effects of OC are more severe when individuals are
exposed to a greater percent solution of OC and
when they remain inside the enclosed contaminated
area for a longer period of time. But in the
population they studied the longest period of time
a person was expose to OC, was 45 seconds.(2) Thus
it is probably much worse for prisoners who are
trapped for hours in contaminated areas.
The FBI also claims that the most effective way to
decontaminate a person is to take them outside for
fresh air. Soap and water; and fresh air, until
contaminated clothing is dry -- needs to be done to
decontaminate a person who was sprayed directly.
Opening of windows and airing out the rooms
sprayed, is all that is needed to decontaminate the
physical environment.(2) So decontamination would
be easy for the pigs, yet instead they torture
prisoners.
There are 1993 and 1995 reports on OC available
from ACLU of Southern California. They may charge
around $10 per report. There address is 1616
Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026.
NOTES:
1. "Join the Campaign to Ban Police use of Pepper
Spray In Berkeley," pamphlet , published by
COPWATCH, 2022 Blake Street, Berkeley, CA 94704,
June 1997.
2. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Chemical Agent Research, Oleoresin
Capsicum, http.//www.dalewom.com/d139.htm
ARIZONA LAW LIBRARIES REMOVED
...As of August 4, 1997, we, almost all inmates in
the Arizona Department of Corrections [ADOC] will
be loosing access to our Law Libraries. The ADOC
will be taking them out. There jurisdiction for
this, is in the recent Supreme Court decision Casey
v. Lewis. It is pretty gloomy on the legal battle
field. The ACLU and Middle Ground, brought the case
back before the Federal District Court who refused
to hear it. They dismissed it. With this decision,
comes a new policy governing access to the courts,
hiring of outside paralegals by DOC, and abolishing
Inmate Legal Assistant. Violation of this new
policy will result in disciplinary action. ...
Sincerely and struggling,
-- An Arizona Prisoner, Tucson, AZ 18 July 1997
...On August 4, 1997, the Arizona Department of
Corrections [ADOC] will close all law libraries in
its system except for the law library in Central
Unit in Florence, AZ, which houses death row
convicts. This is ADOC'9s solution to the US
Supreme Court decision in Lewis v. Casey.
Arizona has acted very uncharacteristically...
Arizona usually waits until another state has
implemented a tentative policy and discerns the
prisoners' reactions in that state and the results
of any legal ramifications from enactment of the
said policy. I guess since this case was remanded
back to the district court of Arizona, the district
court gave ADOC the opportunity to construct an
adequate solution for inmate's access to court.
...A class action suit was filed in the district
court of Arizona. Judge Carl A. Muecke, and
advocate for human rights, ruled in favor of the
inmates and enjoined a wide array of reforms for
access to court. The ninth circuit, basically
affirmed the district court's order with very few
modifications. The US Supreme Court reversed the
district court's decision and ruled Judge Muecke
went too far. An individual most show actual
damage, and Judge Muecke should have given the
state an opportunity to construct its own plan to
rectify any discrepancies in their system for
access to court.
Judge Muecke excused himself [from the case] upon
remand and Judge Strand, (the same judge who is
currently presiding over Governor Symington's
criminal trial), is presiding over this case now.
Ostensibly, the district court has given ADOC the
opportunity to come up with their own plan. Thus do
a 902.
As predicted by Judge Muecke, in his original
decision in this case, ADOC will go overboard if
given the opportunity to construct its own policy.
This is exactly what to do a 902 has done. The law
library will close with ADOC contracting a
paralegal service to assist prisoners. Convicts
like myself will not be able to assist another
convicts, even though I am more proficient than the
average paralegal. I have assisted in freeing a
number of convicts and may even eventually free
myself.
A prison complex which houses two to seven
different prisons, will have access to a paralegal
once every week. This paralegal and a monitor, an
ADOC employee, will determine whether an issue has
merit, whether one may have access to photocopies,
how many copies one may have, etc. I will not go
into the intricacies of this policy but as you can
imagine, we will catch hell and be denied.
The irony of this situation is the state claims the
reason they avidly pursued this case was to save
the taxpayers millions of their tax dollars.
Actually the law books and up-keep of the library
is funded by the Inmate's Arts and Recreation Fund,
which is profit ADOC collects from the inmates
store and other profits they procure through
prisoners. They spent millions alone litigating
this case. The real reason they litigated this case
is to undermine the adversarial process.
Donna Hamm, president of the prisoner's rights
organization, Middle Ground Prison Reform,
constructed an excellent letter depicting all the
improprieties of doing a 902. This letter was
addressed to Judge Strand and distributed
throughout the entire system. Hopefully Judge
Strand will stay the implementation of a 902,
because if they do not, I fear there will be
bloodshed throughout the system.
Fellow convicts, be on guard. Department of
corrections across the land will be watching the
results of our misery. ...
Always a Soldier,
-- An Arizona Prisoner, Goodyear, AZ, 28 July 1997
MIM NOTES BANNED FROM YARD
... The day after i received my notes i decide to
take it to the yard. I am in a michigan maximum
security prison... When i made it to the yard i was
shaken down. i had one Ebony magazine and MIM Notes
#X, which contained an article i submitted...
Please send me Notes #X again because the pigs took
it...
Now I see why you protect the names and identity of
each prisoner that submits an article, because
obviously i see that just being seen with MIM Notes
can add to the repression i already face. So i can
imagine the repression it can cause if these civil
servants for the system same my name printed in
your notes.
Thanks for not printing my name with the articles
I've submitted and thanks for protecting my
identity. Because these civil servants did take the
notes from me and told me i wasn't allowed to bring
a newspaper to the yard. They told me because i
brought it to the yard i [could] forget my yard
period. I observed the sergeant. censoring it.
It is possible that it was also reported to the
administration head. Because ever since i arrived
on this slave plantation i have been oppressed,
harassed, tired, tested and monitored. Even my
activities and the few prisoners i associate with
are monitored. I keep my associations down to a
minimum as much as i possibly can because they have
labeled me and documented in my files that i cannot
be controlled in a population group setting. (A
smooth way of saying that i have the potential and
ability to influence and unify prisoners to
challenge against the injustice and oppressions of
the system in a sophisticated (intelligent) and any
other means necessary manner!) ...
-- A Michigan Prisoner, 17 August 1997
ALABAMA DEATH PENALTY
NO JUSTICE -- JUST US
I'm a young black in his late 20's and have been on
Alabama's death row for six years. I think the
people should know just how sorry this so called
justice system is.
There are about 148 people on Alabama's death row.
65 percent of the people here are black men. And 58
percent of the black me range from the age of 16 to
31. For most of them it is their first time in
prison.
The death penalty was reinstated in 1977. Since
then there have been 16 executions. There have only
been two white men executed from Alabama and 6
white men executed all together. The rest is black.
The average black man on death row is accused of
killing a white person. The average black man on
death row has little or no education at all and is
poor. That shows me, that if you are a black man
with no education and no money then you get
screwed.
The state gives the state appointed lawyer
$2,000.00 to fight a death penalty case. The
average capital murder trial lasts five days or
less. Execute Justice, Not People.
-- An Alabama Prisoner, 11 August 1997
CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERIKA IN TENNESSEE
...In Tennessee they use "Behavior Modification
Units" -- Administrative Segregation Units as a
tool to further oppress and manipulate those who
would dare stand up and speak out. Yet the voice of
Truth will not be silenced!
In the issue of MIM Theory that was sent,
``Amerikkkan prisons on trial'', the article on CCA
-- Corrections Corporation of Amerika was very well
written. CCA is now attempting to place a bid to
take control of all the prisons within the state of
Tennessee, even though it is against the law. The
rules can be changed for the invading nation. The
Capitalists only seek to further strangle the
oppressed nations.
Today during my one hour recreation time, myself
and a fellow captive were speaking on the
coincidence that many mental hospitals around the
kountry closed down for lack of funds, and during
that same period of time prisons started to Boom!
Then the alleged War on Drugs, is just a war on the
Oppressed Nations. ...
-- A Tennessee Prisoner, 21 July 1997
PIGS COVER-UP ABUSES AND POOR CONDITIONS
...I am writing to inform you matters here at
Clinton Correctional Facility that took place on
July 24, 1997. There was a shooting in the big yard
behind two Brothers fighting each other with
knifes. And the administration is blowing it out of
control here, on the news, and so on.
Now the real problem is that most of the so-called
officers come to work drunk. They have problems
with their family life and take it out on the
prisoners here at the facility. If you were to have
any of the officers take a urine test, breathalizer
or blood test for other drugs you would be
especially unhappy with what you find. The officers
at Clinton Correctional Facility are racist,
abusive, threatening and unprofessional.
More than ever, there are attacks on prisoners by
officers and the administration covers up the
actions of the officers. There are beatings, set-
ups, threats and killings -- all by the officers
here, that are justified by someone in [public
relations] who knows nothing about what's going on
at the facility at all. However, none of this is
new cause it is happening in all New York state
prison facilities.
Most of the staff at these facilities, mainly
Clinton, have the attitude that they are dealing
with animals not human beings and they call these
facilities: "The Department of Correctional
services." There is nothing correctional about
these places. None of the programs are up to date
and there is nothing healthy about this place.
Birds fly inside the mess hall while you're eating.
The health services here are a joke.
...the Inspector General should have an agent
planted here as a prisoner to see exactly what's
taking place being these walls ... 'cause they keep
people who care about what really happens, from
seeing the truth about how prisoners are being
treated. ...
-- A New York Prisoner, 25 July 1997
* * *
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 ñ 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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