Texas Guards Encourage Oppressed Nation Fights
On or around 31 July 2012 there was a small scale race riot on the Estelle Unit which is located in Huntsville, Texas. Sad to say it was Brown on Black and a New Afrikan prisoner was killed. As a member of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party I hate to see two oppressed groups going at each other while the oppressor remains unscathed and ignored.
Nevertheless, the extremely reactionary prisoncrats took this opportunity to show us what they’re all about. About one week after the incident we were placed on a special disciplinary lockdown and fed “Johnnies” seven days a week. These weren’t any normal “Johnnies,” they were concentration camp like rations. An example of one meal that actually sparked a group demonstration across all color and race barriers was: 1 corn dog, a small biscuit with a sliver of peanut butter and jelly and 10 or 12 raisins! I myself wrote a letter to the Assistant Warden, Steven T. Miller, shedding light on the sub-par meals and asking him if the administration was using food (or the lack thereof) as a means to torture prisoners or as a draconian behavior modification tactic.
Once the administration became aware that the focus was now on them they immediately prepared and delivered more food and I have never ever seen that response before. However, I must say the meals being served were way beneath the caloric intake requirements set forth by the ACA (American Corrections Association). This particular incident took place on 15 August 2012 and it was the last meal served that day.
There is an ugly under-current of racism that exists here in Texas prisons. Many white male officers take pleasure in seeing Brown men and Black men attack each other. As conscious people in struggle against prisoncrat imperialists, we must realize we do ourselves a great dis-service by attacking each other. It is not just about white male officers in Texas, it’s about all of them that wear these confederate-army-gray uniforms. They beat us, degrade us, dehumanize us, and refuse time and time again to set us free. Who is the real enemy?
Lastly, one of the main keys to maintaining the peace amongst oppressed groups is respect! We can’t talk to each other any kind of way, and we can’t treat each other any kind of way! Remember that violation of the rules of respect among human beings can be deadly.
Would you believe that one month prior to this race riot and death white male officers were caught encouraging prisoners to make “shanks”?! The New Afrikan prisoner was killed with a homemade shank! These officers in Texas are very wicked.
MIM(Prisons) responds: It is a sad result of the criminal injustice system in Amerika that oppressed nations must demand the right to peace. But as this, and many other stories from behind bars demonstrate, this is the reality we face. And this is why the first principle of the United Front for Peace in Prisons is Peace. The United Front is fighting to unite the oppressed: “We organize to end the needless conflicts and violence within the U.$. prison environment. The oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so that we fight each other instead of them. We will stand together and defend ourselves from oppression.”
Correction from the author 9/31/2012: The dead prisoner in this report was not New Afrikan, he was Mexican.
