Mail ... is in violation of Department of Corrections Rule governing Mail (Inmate). The material has been rejected because it Contains material that threatens or is detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the facility, or facilitates criminal activity. Specific article(s) and page number(s) or material(s) considered objectionable: Maoist International [sic] Movement (MIM) Jan. 1995 #96, page two, "What is MIM?" Promote of armed revolution.
- Oregon State Corr. Institution, 2/3/95
PRISONERS ABUSED IN CALIFORNIA PRISONS
Greetings. I'm writing from Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit (SHU), where I'm serving 30 years plus 25-to-life. I just read MIM Notes 93 (10/94), which contained some accounts of torture and inhumanity being perpetrated in Amerika's prisons. I was glad to find a publication where these truths and realities are being printed, and figured I had a duty to immediately write you a letter to make known my own experiences in the California Department of Corrections (CDC) at Folsom Prison.
I arrived at Folsom in March 1991 and soon found myself in administrative segregation (ad-seg), "the Hole." Why? For exercising my Constitutional rights of free speech in a letter to an ACLU attorney, in which I was complaining about conditions at the prison. We were on a "state of emergency" lockdown at the time (no showers, no law library, no exercise, and sack lunch food). I was put in ad-seg where guards threatened my life. For two months I was locked down.
Then I was transferred to another yard. The bogus "write-up" was dismissed. A few months later, as I began involving myself in more legal and political activism. I was harassed constantly for a month (cell moves, searches, interference with privileges, etc.) until I stood up to the pigs and demanded some common respect and human dignity. How dare I have the audacity to act like a man with self-respect and pride! I was rushed and severely beaten by guards with billy clubs. Thrown in the hole and falsely charged with assault. That was 8/22/92.
Since that time, I have been shot at and had my life threatened by CDC officials, been beaten, tortured, framed for crimes, given additional prison time (I only had seven years for robbery) and facemasked, isolated, ostracized, etc. I have so far been given ten years to serve in SHU and will probably never get out as I've also been falsely labeled a "gang member." So I came to prison with "seven years," and should have paroled last year, but now I have a life term to solitary confinement and torture. It's only a countdown to death by deterioration or execution.
On 1/7/94 in a so-called "cell extraction," I was beaten and nearly crippled (head and knees beat with clubs). Upon arrival at Pelican Bay, when the convicts get off the bus, there's about 30 or so guards with clubs (two for each prisoner), and they have you put your nose on the wall while they scream out profanity, humiliation and rude jokes, just hoping you say something or turn your head so they can beat your head in. (Even though you're shackled and handcuffed). It's really sick witnessing these cowards getting their jollies doing this. Then you are placed in a cell, butt- naked, until some clothes are issued to you.
I could describe more details and additional atrocities, but what good will it do?! I guess only to demonstrate the necessity of resistance, and the consequences of it as well.
Please send me MIM Theory, party literature from Peru and the Philippines, etc., plus any additional info you feel I could use. I look forward to your reply.
From the dungeon,
- a California prisoner, 1/27/95
MC49 ADDS: You got the idea: exposing the imperialists' crimes helps to build public opinion for their eventual overthrow. Also, your experience of being punished for exercising your "Constitutional rights of free speech" shows why MIM says that there are no rights, only power struggles.
PRISONER REJECTS GUINEA PIG TACTICS
I trust this missive finds you all in positive health, a revolutionary train of thought and in the pursuit of liberation, justice and equality.
I can attest to the fact that our oppressors are at the acme of corruption, exploitation and genocidal tactics to undermine the Black masses through systematic chemical and biological warfare.
A prime example of what I'm speaking about is as follows: On 12/21/94, I went to the facility hospital and a nurse demanded that I submit to taking a routine T.B. test. But a routine T.B. test is annual, and I took one this year, before I had knowledge of what the real test consists of.
I said no, because I am a conscientious objector to guinea pig tactics. She asked, "Well, do you know what that means?" I said yes, whenever someone demands that I submit to a test to see if the potency or efficiency of an anti-disease vaccine or antidote works - just as the guinea pig - then my moral sense and conscientiousness automatically objects! Especially when the needle is already prepared with the liquid substance in it and I didn't see where it came from....
What in hell do you think they would do to an entire prison population who the government defines as "outlaws" and people not fit for their society. They already tested a prison in Ohio as guinea pigs under a similar drug. And the infamous Attica prison here in New York.
Now with the corrupt history of exploitation in this country, how do they expect me to submit and cooperate with being victimized and oppressed? I refuse to be counted amongst the broken men! There are many comrades who are struggling against this repression, but the pigs have too many informants and ignorant cowards masquerading as men. Broken brothers with no sense of direction, chasing an Amerikan dream with white plastic faces, in a land dominated by pigs with white plastic faces. How is a brother like me supposed to react?
I've been in rebellion all my life. It would be counterproductive for me to stop combating the dehumanizing reality of these beasts' oppression. Even if I die in the struggle to transcend oppression and transform the savage conditions that we Black people face in Amerikkka, then the struggle must continue with greater effort to bring this oppressive force to its knees and demise. This is the dynamic of a revolutionary struggle formed out of perfect love for my beautiful Black Nation and perfect hate for the fascist pig and his dehumanized, devilish nation!
I've been held captive in these depths of hell since the age of 14. I'm now 20 and my mother thinks I'm too young to be filled with so much hate, anger and animosity. I told her, "Not when you experience a bay of pigs stabbing you in the back with a nine-inch knife and then they take it out three inches and call that 'progress.'" I beg your pardon! You don't repress an entire people 100 ways and take three ways off and call it progress. There's only one ultimatum, and that's liberation or death. The only thing the devil respects is fire and with the people as my witness, let's burn the pig to hell!
I'm still receiving MIM Notes; keep them coming. I also successfully started two study groups, using my personal books and literature on Mao, Fanon, George Jackson, Prosser, Turner, Castro, Marx, Lenin, Malcolm X, Kuumba, etc. I would appreciate any material on the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement, BLA and other revolutionary organizations. I also request Agents of Repression, The Dragon Has Come, Assata, Elaine Brown's Taste of Power, and Soul on Ice. Any of the above will be appreciated. I know there are many comrades who request material, and I understand MIM's financial situation, so all is good.
Peace comrades,
- a New York prisoner, 12/29/94
PRISONCRATS DIVIDE, BUT CANNOT CONQUER
Greetings comrades,
I just received the MIM Notes. And I would like to thank you very much for your time. Like I told you in other letters, I'm in the Baltimore Supermax. The same old shit is still going on here, now with a new warden. I have tried to build MIM in this supermax. I have tried to start a study group and tried to get MIM Notes into the library. But it is like this: the library here is not for us. And the inmates do not have anything on their mind.
Now the comrades, the ones who do come together, the pigs move us around. When pigs see some of us that have unity, they do not want us together, so they move us around about every three weeks. But us true brothers who are about the struggle, we will not give up. We keep moving on. We do not have any time for bullshit, so for the ones who want to be about the struggle, and be for real about the struggle, all is well. Time is for real, and we've got to be real.
In this supermax it is a must that we be in our most positive state of existence, mentally, physically, etc. It is a must that we be in sound mind and body at all times. We've got to keep head and shoulder above dumbshit. We who are true about the struggle here in the supermax, we know what time it is. Now for the ones who do not know what time it is, they will see the light one day. In here, all we have time for is to read, read and read. But most people in here just play all day and all night and talk a lot of bullshit. Can't they see that the pigs are making more and more supermaxes? ...
I'm going to end this letter for now, but I will get back at you again really soon. The struggle is my life, and in the struggle I remain. I leave you with the best of revolutionary regards. The struggle continues. Forward ever, backward never.
- a Maryland prisoner, 12/20/94
PRISONER RAPS BOURGEOIS MEDIA
Letters to the Editor The Atlanta Constitution P.O. Box 4689 Atlanta, GA 30302
Dear Editor:
Don't you people ever get tired of bamboozling the public? People rely on the press for *factual* information and all they seem to receive is driveling, one-sided propaganda.
I'm an inmate at USP Atlanta, serving a sentence that expires in 2006, and what's being imparted as "factual" information to the public just isn't true. Contrary to what was printed, there were not 180 inmates in C-Block when Officer Washington was assaulted. Every inmate here, unless medically unassigned, is required by Bureau of Prison Policy to have a prison work detail. Work Call occurs at approximately 7:45 a.m., and other than a few inmates that work second and third shift details, the units are practically empty. What was reported was just nonsense. If there had been 180 inmates in C-Block when Officer Washington was assaulted, there would have been a line standing a the Lieutenant's office waiting to inform on the inmate or inmates involved. The simple fact of the matter is (and you can bet the FBI is aware of this) that whomever assaulted Officer Washington was able to do so stealthily, without prying eyes: a conclusion which is supported by the fact that Officer Washington's assault occurred so quickly that he could not activate his body alarm - an action which only requires a press of a button. This indicates that he was "moved on." To be "moved on" like that requires both preparation and privacy.
Your paper also reported that there were 85 officer-related assaults here within the last year. This is another piece of statistical garbage. The type of incidents included in this statistic is much like this: An inmate gets into a verbal altercation with a Corrections Officer for whatever reason. The inmate is thrown to the floor for "security reasons," and his head placed in a choke-hold, while an assisting officer cuffs the inmate's hands behind his back. Instead of immediately releasing the choke-hold, because the inmate is now under mechanical restraint and of no harm to himself or anyone else, the Corrections Officer applies a little more pressure in vindictiveness. Somehow the inmate gets his mouth in the right place and tries to take a bite out of his antagonist's arm. Of course, the officer lets loose. But he doesn't stop there. He stands up and begins to kick the inmate about his head and body with steel-toed boots, and continues to do so until he is either pushed off by a more responsible officer or tires himself out. Pictures are subsequently taken of the inmate's injuries, the bruises and abrasions. This now places the Corrections Officer in an awkward position. Unless he files an incident report against the inmate for a physical altercation the Officer initiated, he may get transferred to another facility for using excessive force. With the issuance of the Incident Report, his excessive force is deemed as justifiable and the inmate is placed in segregation.
Another example is the jerk in uniform who unnecessarily puts his hands on an inmate, in violation of BOP Policy, and gets pushed away. This officer also claims he was "assaulted" to cover his butt.
These are the type of incidents your paper reports to the public as being 85 officer-related assaults. While the facts are that most of these "assaults" could have been avoided if Corrections Officers had followed BOP Policy and Procedure, instead of thinking they're in a Tough Man competition. The true fact is that there has not been a "serious" officer-related assault here since 1987, and it has been 12 years since an officer was killed.
As for Officer Washington, I doubt if the public will ever be told the true reason behind his death. It will be more in line with the BOP's propaganda doctrine to mislead the public into believing that what happened was a random assault for arbitrary and capricious reasons. They will never tell you that Officer Washington was investigated for having made advances to female visitors here. That he had a smart mouth, a bad attitude, and had a habit of behaving in a non- professional manner with inmates. And they won't tell you that even this wasn't the reason someone laid in wait for him and pealed his head.
Why don't you, the media, demand an inquiry and find out the truth? Or don't you think the public has a right to know about how many officers are on the take in here?
Don't you think the public has a right to know that based on media-generated hysteria over rising crime, they have been bamboozled into taking away our "hope." Don't you think the public has a right to know the true facts?
FACT: There are more inmates serving longer sentences than any other time in the history of this country, and it is doing *nothing* to stem the allegedly rising crime rate.
FACT: There are more inmates serving "life" sentences, without the possibility of parole, than any other time in the history of the United States, and these "life sentence" laws are not having any deterrent effect.
FACT: Recent studies prove that although the U.S. prison population has more than doubled from 1980 to 1990, the numbers of violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and assault) stayed relatively constant.
FACT: The U.S. presently has the highest incarceration rate of all nations in the First World, at a rate of 658 people incarcerated per 100,000.
FACT: There are over *one million* people incarcerated in the United States, and this figure grows larger daily.
FACT: Recent studies prove that more prisons and long-term sentences do not act as a deterrent in the prevention of crime.
FACT: Inmates are being warehoused in overcrowded facilities for longer terms, facing no relief in sight, resentment, and an atmosphere of violence and abuse that Correction Officers perpetrate, create, cultivate and encourage among inmates.
FACT: Over 50% of the present Federal prison population is incarcerated for a violation of the new drug laws.
FACT: Over 85% of this 50% are Black and Hispanic.
FACT: As much as 25% of this 50% are incarcerated with sentences in excess of ten years for possession of narcotics in amounts less than one ounce.
FACT: There is just as much drug trade occurring behind the walls of the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, as there is on the streets.
FACT: There is heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, steroids, needles and syringes, prophylactics, guns and ammunition, and these things are brought into here, in quantity, by corrupt correction officers profiting at the expense of our misery.
These are the cold, hard facts!
To use a biblical expression, you reap what you sow. If things continue as they are, there will be an incident where hundreds of slavering brutes, of society's creation, breach these concrete barriers and invade your apathetic little lives to return upon you the miseries and atrocities you, society, have suffered upon us under the guise of "justice."
You reap what you sow. Inmates serving life sentences will eventually realize that as long as they are serving a sentence which they can never complete, they cannot be subjected to the penalties of a consecutive sentence, such as a death sentence imposed for killing a corrections officer, and go on a rampage slaying a corrections officer every other day.
But maybe this is what you, society, need. Maybe then, the combination of misery (experienced by the families of the slain officers) and death will make the $27,500 annual salary seem less alluring and suggest to the American public that more and larger prisons, and longer sentences are not viable alternatives as a replacement for less employment resulting from the demise of Cold War industry. When prisons cease to be "big business" and a means of re-employing those left unemployed by a declining military, defense industry and production industry, productive alternatives to long-term incarceration will be sought.
You reap what you sow. The bottom line is that society needs to accept responsibility for their actions (and for Officer Washington's death). The media, being their voice, needs to provide facts, instead of manipulating the public with repetitious propaganda designed to induce hysteria, so that productive decisions are made instead of band-aid solutions.
Is violence the only way to get your attention?
A corrections officer was killed: the first here in 12 years. The first "serious" assault since 1987. According to BOP sources, this is the most violent prison in the United States. What does this tell you? Don't you get the message? People, human beings, are dying; being *murdered*! And there will be more deaths; more murders.
The blood of Officer Washington is on your hands, Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Your band-aid solutions were responsible for his death. You are all accessories to his murder, just as surely as if you had taken the hammer and struck the killing blow yourselves. You have created a system without hope; one where life is cheap and death is commonplace. And there will be more deaths, more murders, and you will be equally responsible. Unless you initiate constructive change. Society, through the media, screamed that parole did not work. Of course it did not work: it was a system designed to promote the inmate's failure, not his successful re-entry and re-incorporation into society. But instead of debugging it and changing it so it performed its primary function, you scrapped it and decided to warehouse humans for longer periods and require that they serve 85% of their lengthy prison sentences.
Officer Washington's blood is on your hands. And you need to accept the reality of the situation: that there will be more blood and more deaths unless you take action. What is needed is for you, society, to wake up! Pay attention. Get concerned. Demand change. Find "productive solutions." Demand "productive solutions" and refuse to settle for anything less. It is your right as constituents in a democratic society. Because you need to remember that this blood won't wash off with quaint phrases, band-aid politics, or poor excuses. You need to ask yourselves what seeds are you sowing now? And are you prepared to harvest the plants that grow?
How about a reality check?
- a Georgia prisoner, 12/27/94