MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
www.prisoncensorship.info is a media institution run by the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons. Here we collect and publicize reports of conditions behind the bars in U.$. prisons. Information about these incidents rarely makes it out of the prison, and when it does it is extremely rare that the reports are taken seriously and published. This historical record is important for documenting patterns of abuse, and also for informing people on the streets about what goes on behind the bars.
I am a prisoner at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri.
I’m currently being held in solitary confinement for our May 12 uprising
against the oppression and abuse inflicted on us by the administration
and guards.
For months, the administration had been keeping us locked in our cells
for 23 hours a day, in population! Using excuses of “short on staff,” we
are only allowed to either shower or call our loved ones for one
30-minute session per day. Our one-hour recs are cut to 45 and 30
minutes consistently. The inmate barber shop is closed. Visits are
canceled. Guards are verbally and physically abusive.
Until, on May 12th at dinner chow (2 hours late) at 7:30 pm, 288
prisoners participated in a mass sit-in, in peaceful protest to all of
the injustices. Instead of answering requests for talks with
white-shirts, all officers fled both chow halls and kitchen, leaving us
locked in, and grouped outside the windows and taunted us. The sit-in
quickly escalated into the largest “riot” in Missouri history,
consisting of a reported $4 million in damages, with the complex being
taken over and held for over 7 hours. Inside, only 2 people were
attacked before leadership and unity were established.
Countless abuses and injustices followed our return to custody,
including: remaining zip-tied for 7-9.5 hours, forced to urinate
ourselves, beatings, double-celling prisoners in single-man cells for a
week with no mattress or bedding, less than 1000-calorie daily diet
instituted for the entire camp for over 70 days, etc.
Through all this, the administration kept up its tricks of sowing hate
and dissension amongst prisoners in population by blaming the 3-month
lockdown on us by actually naming us to other prisoners in hopes of
retaliation). Visits were canceled, no canteen, etc.
However, those of us in confinement know the truth: in 2017, we had a
mass race-riot of Browns & Whites vs Blacks, and less than 12 months
later those same races, true those same prisoners, come together to
fight in unity against oppression! Me and about 20 other comrades came
together again in September 2018.
It is coming up on 6 months since our placement in seg and we are likely
to receive another 90 days just for good measure, but we are still
standing. There are 78 of us from the uprising in seg, and many of us
belong to one organization or another. When we are released we will
continue to spread and build on this unity that was formed under great
oppression. We will carry this momentum to bring all prisoners together
to face the true enemy!
We have seen and heard praise for our battle and victory in the struggle
throughout other max securities in Missouri. There have been other
uprisings that have followed ours at a couple mediums, (one was a
race-riot, but with guidance and support those aggressions can be
properly re-directed), and the administration is taking notice. The
five
principles of the United Front are taking hold in Missouri. We will
do our part to learn, share, teach and uphold them as we struggle
together in our war against oppression. I will do my part in not only
spreading the message to mi raza, but others as well. Unity is the key!
Viva la gente!
MIM(Prisons) responds: We printed
some
good discussion about these Missouri protests in ULK 65. This
writer highlights what is most important about these sorts of actions:
the learning by participants and observers about what prisoners can
accomplish with unity. By building the United Front for Peace in
Prisons, comrades in Missouri are building strength and unity, setting
up the conditions for stronger actions in the future.
Vita Wa Watu! This is one essay on my tactics to recruit Brothas and
Sistas for certain movements. Take the Day of Peace and Solidarity for
instance. I sent out letters to those that have a Genuine Love for me
and the Struggle and kept it real with them. I informed them that I
would be fasting for the 9th day of September because it was a day that
meant more to Oppressed and Lumpen than the Sabbath does to the Jews. I
told them that that day is a day of Peace in the Prisons around the
country and that it commemorated one of the biggest prison uprisings in
the states, and also that it was the last day of the now annual prison
strike.
Then I informed them that this Glorious Day meant that there would be no
beatings, rapes, stabbings, or any violence of the Oppressed against the
Oppressor and that it mean a lot to me if they would fast with me. I got
a few confirmations and still awaiting others.
Also, I let the Brothers here in Ad-Seg know the meaning of this day.
However, only one Soulja fasted with me. Nevertheless, the day was a
success here at Northeastern Correctional Center. Stay strong, Comrades.
I will join you again next year.
MIM(Prisons) responds: In ULK 64 we printed some
early
reports of actions on the September 9 Day of Peace and Solidarity.
We’re happy to hear about this work going on in Florida.
And this is a good example of sharing your tactics for organizing and
recruiting. The next issue of Under Lock & Key is devoted to
this topic and we’re seeking moreinput from readers about what’s worked
for you, and also what hasn’t worked. We can all learn a lot from our
practice and from the practice of others. Sum up your organizing
experiences and send them in for ULK. See ULK 63 for our
prior deep dive into this topic.
13 May 2018 – 208 prisoners of every race, background, group,
organization, etc. said enough is enough! We came together and sat down
in a peaceful protest. During dinner (chow hall) as usual the pigs not
only violated our constitutional rights (First Amendment freedom of
speech) but they also attempted to bully us by flex’n and threatening
us. That’s when our peaceful protest turned uprising. I wish y’all could
have seen the way all the guards (C.O.s, Sergeants, Lieutenants, etc.)
ran out the kitchen and chow halls. You would have thought they ran
track! Who the cowards now?
For the first time in Missouri history we united. The pigs see the end
of their control within our unity. In a matter of seconds we gained
control of the kitchen, both dining halls, property room, canteen
storage, the factory, forklifts, weapons, keys, phones, computers, etc.
Well after a few hours the phones start to ring. Guess who’s calling?
The warden and highway patrol. For the first time they listened to our
demands. They respected us. They feared our unity. They was at our
mercy.
On our own terms we surrendered 8-9 hours later. After we got our point
across.
Note: 90% of guys in our peaceful protest turned uprising have outdates
ranging between a few weeks and 15 years. So only imagine if the outcome
was the other way around. 90% of us could have been locked to the board
(life without?).
Due to us striving so fast and hard we left administration not only
confused but also emotionally off balance. Being that this never
happened before in Missouri history they acted off impulse and violated
every constitutional right you can think of. Which led to KC Freedom
Project lawyers starting a class action lawsuit on our behalf against
Missouri DOC. The media has been on fire regarding this.
Update? We still on lockdown! We still receiving brown bags (sack
lunches). They say it was $3 million worth of damage. They making us do
1 year. We damn near 6 months in.
Administration is still up to their tricky ways. They have attempted to
divide and conquer us by destroying all the guys’ property that was in
the hole and told them we did it. Also telling all the guys in GP it’s
our fault they are locked down still. So yeah the struggle continues.
By the way, there have been two other uprisings of this kind since we
kicked it off. If we can unite here in Missouri where unity has never
existed then any state can.
Another Missouri prisoner wrote:
It has been 13 months since the prisoners bonded together, Black, White,
Native and brown (Chicano) and kicked off a riot at Crossroads
Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri, causing over a million dollars
in damage. What did it accomplish?
Prison property got damaged that your families who are tax payers
(and you too cause you pay taxes on your canteen items) are going to
have to pay for the damages.
You injured one another with violent acts and all it accomplished is
enemies, and lockdown of the prison.
Supposedly two housing units are to be cleared out for the creation of
SHU units. They are supposed to lock up all the gang leaders and violent
soldiers.
As of now, this is all just rumor, but every time Missouri prisoners
show acts of violence via riots, the prison gets stricter. For example,
the 1985 riot in the old Missouri State Penitentiary caused them to
build a supermax housing unit.
When are we gonna learn that we are hurting ourselves more ways than one
by these acts of violence? When I was advocating peaceful protests with
demonstrations of how to shut the prison system down, nobody in Missouri
wanted to participate. But you go off on your own and committed this no
nonsense act of violence against your brother, your friends, your
families, and jeopardized everyone.
It costs $85 million a year to keep the U.S. prisons up and running. The
government is not producing this money to keep the prisons going. So
where is the money coming from? Let’s see now, in Missouri it’s coming
from Missouri Vocational Enterprise (MVE), the sign shop, the printing
shop, the license plate plant (tag plant), the furniture factory, the
chemical plant, information technology (IBM program), the braille
program, the laundry, the cooled-chill plant (cold food storage), the
shoe factory, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDot work
release) and the newly implemented paneling factory.
The above-mentioned factories are multi-million-dollar industries per
year. They are paying you pennies. So what a couple of these jobs pay
between $150 and $300 per month. If you peacefully protest by refusing
to go to work in these factories, either they are going to pay you at
least minimum wage where you will be making at least $340 a week, or
they are gonna bring in civilians to do the work, in which case the
factories are going to have to be uprooted and moved because most
civilians are not coming inside the prisons to work. So to shut down a
beast like the U.S. prison system is to shut down their economy – that
is, the very thing that’s bringing them money to keep the prisons open
is the very thing that can shut it down.
This just doesn’t begin and end with the prisoners. The prisoner has to
survive. He has to eat. So the people in the free world are going to
have to support the prisoner financially. Family, friends, advocate
organizations are all going to have to pitch in and support the prisoner
financially. That means to stop working we have to buy food to eat. To
stop using the phones and tablets, we need stamps, envelopes, paper and
pens to write letters that cost money. So the free world must understand
that for us to make these sacrifices, then society is going to have to
make sacrifices to assist us.
So Missouri prisoners, society (family, friends, organizations,
advocates, etc.), stop going about things the wrong way and do them like
they should be done in order to get results.
I go home next year on parole, but I do not leave my fight behind. There
is a bigger world out there, which means a lot more opportunities to
fight. I am going to find resources and seek out that they join me in my
quest to do away with this beast. I will need their support mentally,
physically, spiritually and above all, financially. With this, Comrades,
I hope to see you on the other side, working with me and supporting me
from the inside and outside.
In struggle–In solidarity Arm raised–clenched black fist
MIM(Prisons) responds: A lot of folks talk about how hard it is
to get people to unite behind bars. The prison controls everything from
day-to-day comfort to release dates. And that’s powerful incentive to
conform. Then they introduce drugs and other distractions to pacify the
population. They pay off snitches to keep an eye on activists. And they
lock organizers down in solitary confinement. Still, faced with all
these barriers, prisoners can and do come together to protest.
Conditions at Crossroads CC were bad enough to inspire this action. And
while the outcome wasn’t all positive, the class action lawsuit and
attention of the public has forced the Missouri DOC to admit that
prisoners are suffering significant restrictions due to short staffing.
The comrade criticizing this action for its lack of focus and random
acts of violence and destruction is right that often these sorts of
actions lead to more repression. Though peaceful protests are also often
met with increased repression. This debate over tactics in prison
protests is one that should be happening within all prisons across the
country. We hope the comrades at Crossroads will learn from this action
and move forward in greater unity towards future actions that will be
even more effective.
Focusing on the economics of prisons reveals the ridiculous scale of the
criminal injustice system. As the writer above notes, it would be a
significant financial loss to the state if they were forced to hire
non-prisoners for all the jobs prisoners are doing. And this is
financial leverage that prisoner workers can use to their advantage.
But to debate the value of this tactic we need to first be clear about
the scope of prisoner labor. The state of Missouri 2018 budget allocated
the Department of Corrections over $725 million. About the same as the
previous year, which was up $50 million from 2016.(1) The state would
have to allocate even more money if no prisoner labor could be used to
help run the prisons, or produce products that are sold to generate
revenue. But that prisoner labor is still a small part of the total cost
of running prisons.
As we showed from
data
collected from prisons across the United $tates, in general, losing
prisoner labor would add about 10% to the cost of running prisons.
Prisons are mostly subsidized by states’ budgets. The labor from
prisoners just doesn’t come close to covering that cost. So while there
is definitely economic power in those jobs, shutting down prison
industries won’t shut down prisons.
We don’t aim to just improve conditions. In the end we know the criminal
injustice system keeps taking away rights, doing what it can to make
prisons a place of suffering and complacency. But this protest showed
the people involved that they have the power to take collective action.
As the original writer notes, the prison can see their downfall in the
unity of the prisoners. This lesson of the importance and power of unity
is what will hopefully fuel ongoing organizing.
August 2018 – September 9 is expected to be big! No violence, everyone
has agreed to be at peace. In USW we support!
We are upholding the five principles of the United Front here in
Missouri. We’ve been effectively organizing, uniting, educating, etc. as
a part of the program for peace, unity, growth, internationalism, and
independence. And as a result, prison violence has dropped dramatically.
We thank you for giving us a way to transmit positive energy and reduce
conflict among prisoners. We now have 5 maximum security prisons on
board, helping to raise the consciousness of the confused youth and
building unity amongst the older captives. As we focus ahead, we see a
future filled with love, freedom, and peace. We pray that you will
continue to help us transform our people so that together we can
strengthen our organizing for liberation.
I received ULK 63! I was so glad to hear from you all. This issue
really laid it all out for my guys, so I made 45 copies and passed them
out, then instructed each member of UZI (United Zulu Independence
Movement) to do the same.
Three days later I called a meeting in the gym to discuss in-depth what
each bro had read in this new issue of ULK about UFPP. The
responses I received were beautiful. The young Crips now believe that
the lumpen in California, who they mimic, are seeking to unite instead
of separate. They now see that the gangs are fighting against the
oppressor.
Missouri is a slow state, so they were still set on fighting each other,
until they witnessed me and my New Afrikan Tribe moving under the
sciences of peace, unity, growth, internationalism, and independence. We
trade evolutionary material, we speak about communism, we teach each
other to use the law as a tool to build doorways to freedom, and now
your newsletter just explained everything that I’ve been telling these
young Crips about the need to stop the senseless gang bangin’, riots,
and territorial disputes on the yard caused by the COs.
Thank you! ULK Thank You! Now these bros see that the struggle is
real. I have to get back to work. Will write more soon. Can’t stop!
Won’t stop!
I was placed in administration segregation and stripped of my privileges
(contact visits, phone calls, canteen, personal property, etc.) for the
reason of investigation. A violation of my “due process” rights, as I am
punished before being found guilty of anything. Other prisoners under
investigation are stripped of their privileges as well. Investigation
can last up to 6 months or longer. The investigator most usually takes
as long as they want to speak to us. I was placed in housing unit 2 and
the conditions are extremely hostile and cruel.
There is a rodent infestation due to trash not being cleaned and food,
juice, coffee and milk cover the floor most of the day or longer. The
mice live in the hall and the utility closest between cells. (This
rodent infestation is rampant in all housing units and the chow hall).
We are forced to live in cells with individuals who many times do not
get along with each other, mostly on purpose. As of 8-17-18, many
convicts request protective custody (PC) to get out of these hostile
cell arrangements, but due to the overcrowdedness of the administration
segregational housing units, these is no where else the inmate can be
placed. If an inmate refuses the same cell he came out of, he is
punished with a conduct violation and disciplined.
Convicts, including myself, are forced to sit on an iron bench with our
hands handcuffed behind our backs, attached to the bench, as well as our
legs shackled to the bench with no alternative. The handcuffs and
shackles are so tight that our hands and ankles result in bloody
incisions and bruises. Mostly, medical refuse to check on the prisoner’s
health and well-being. By policy, medical is supposed to check prisoners
in handcuffs and shackles to make sure they’re not in pain. They refuse
to comply or look past the fact our wrists are bleeding. We are refused
all meals and water as well while on the bench, and are limited bathroom
breaks, sometimes resulting with inmates urinating or defecating on
themselves.
Once inmates per unit request PC, the correctional officers refuse to
pull other inmates, in possible danger, out or they maliciously pepper
spray them. This is a denial of our rights to PC and 8th Amendment,
which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. These units hold 72
inmates each and there are 3 of them in 2 houses.
Convicts in need of PC were determined not to live in cells 24 hours a
day with people who may cause them problems or harm. Prisoners “rode”
the bench for over 144 hours (handcuffed and shackled). August 23, 2018
seemed to break convict’s spirits.
On 8-23-18, around 3:00 p.m., up to about 6:00 p.m., the Correctional
Emergency Response Team (CERT) came and proceeded to brutally assault
inmates. All this is on cameras in housing unit 2 A, B and C wing at
above time. Benches, holding cages and some showers were full of
convicts awaiting compatible cells.
I was standing in a holding cage, 2C, face and chest exposed (due to the
designs and patterns on cage) under PC awaiting a compatible cell. SCCC
Correctional Officer (CO) Benevitez and Jefferson City Correctional
Center (JCCC) CO Ousley told me that the JCCC officers “had something
for me”. (I had been convicted of 1st degree assault on correctional
officer in JCCC; received 20 years; currently appealing) JCCC Officer
Talest (referred to as Bull) then came to my cage and maliciously
emptied about 3 small cans and 2 big cans of pepper spray directly into
my face. JCCC, SCCC, Ozark Correctional Center, as well as other
correctional officers take me to the ground, handcuffed me and proceeded
to brutally assault me. About 10 officers or more, all of them 180 to
250 pounds, struck me with closed fists in the facial and body area,
stomped and kicked me, elbowed me, twisted my toes and ankles, twisted
my fingers back tearing ligaments, choked me and drove their knees into
my back. CO Davis ran from nowhere to join the assault.
Inmates claim the officers were screaming, “This is what you get when
you fuck with JCCC”. Officers then “hog tied” me, picked me up by my
throat and ankles and carried me to Housing Unit 2A (H.U. 2A was flooded
with sewage water due to broken toilets and sprinklers). Officers then
threw me on the ground by cell 106, pulled the inmates out of 106 and
picked me up and threw me to the concrete floor in 106. They then
proceeded to beat me and shove my face and nose in water where I could
not breathe. They punched, kicked, and stomped all parts of my body,
especially my facial area. They twisted my finger and emptied a can of
mace into my buttocks area. One officer urinated on me, they took my
restraints off and left, whooping and hollering, “That was for Officer
Post” and “don’t fuck with JCCC”. They then left me in a pool of bloody
sewage water. I was denied any medical assessment. Nurse Courtney, who
was working, told me, “Fuck your medical assessment, I hope you die”. I
did not receive a conduct violation to support their use of force
assault.
Officers then came and put my enemy (who I had requested PC from) into
the cell with me. I then declared PC and they refused to pull me out. My
enemy then held the food port, stuck his head out with my PC note at med
pass to get me pulled out. I then went to “ride” the bench. During a
restraint check, nurse Christine G. refused to check my restraints,
denied me medical attention, and quoted from the “Bible” Romans 13:4 “It
is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evil doer”. When nurse
Barker came in, I declared a medical emergency for broken nose and
broken fingers. She claimed, “Broken bones is not a medical emergency”.
My face was drenched in blood. Later, I declared a medical emergency for
chest pains. I can’t remember what nurse seen me, but she checked my
vitals and said I was “OK”. I told her about my injuries and she said,
“So what”. I was finally placed in cell 113 with a guy named Ben.
My injuries include possible broken nose, torn ligaments in my hands and
finger, and I’m extremely traumatized. Prisoner [X] was standing in a
holding cage in 2C (his whole body and face exposed due to design and
pattern of cage) maliciously maced intravenously, pulled out the cage
and beat ruthlessly by about 10 officers. His injury included a broken
toe.
Prisoner [Y] was in 2C-240 and was maliciously pepper sprayed, pulled
out the cell and his legal materials twisted.
Prisoner [Z] was in 2A-202 maliciously pepper sprayed and ruthlessly
beat by about 10 officers. The main instigator was CO Applegate of SCCC.
Not sure of his injuries, but when I seen him he looked like the
“Walking Dead”. Face, arm, and elbows black and purple.
These attacks were organized by Warden Jeff Norman, Michelle Buckner and
Conrad Sutton. Other prisoners were attacked as well.
After these brutal assaults, some inmates were bullied into living with
incompatible prisoners. The pigs have 3 TV’s in the wings and are turned
on if we are “good”. The same movie is played over and over all day
long. The movies usually portray the imperialists oppressing and
slaughtering the proletariat. It was used as a brainwash mechanism to
control the feeble.
On a bathroom break, I was slammed to the ground on my jaw by CO
Callhoun. I was then written up for a 19.1 (Creating a Disturbance).
Everyone under PC felt there was nothing they could do and went back to
their cells. I stayed on the bench. On 9-1-18, I was taken to Housing
Unit 1B-122 for 2 2’s (guard assaults). The violations claim I slipped a
handcuff and assaulted 2 officers by striking them numerous times in
face and body with closed fists and knees. When in actual reality COI
Riggs, COI Karr and Serge Herndon assaulted me. COI Riggs striking me in
face with closed fist. I went one week in nothing but boxers and socks.
No mattress. By the grace of Yaweh one convict got a sheet to me. Mail
room staff Keli Ann Burton has been confiscating all his outgoing and
incoming mail. I’m under “Security Orders” and denied medicals sick cell
essentials, cleaning supplies, and told at all meals to lay face down on
my bunk with arms behind my back and legs crossed to receive a “Suicide
Bag” of food, while I’m not suicidal.
Us convicts ask for the administration to resolve certain issues as
follows:
Relief of overcrowding in administration segregation (Ad-Seg) units
by: –limiting investigation to 45 days. –letting individuals out
of Ad-Seg after their disciplinary segregation terms are –Ending
long erm Ad-Seg (which is used in Missouri as punitive in addition to
disciplinary segregation).
Access to incentives found in other Missouri Prisons for those
assigned to long-term indeterminate Ad-Seg confinement and those placed
under investigation. –Possession of personal property (appliances,
books, clothes, etc.). –Ability to buy food items from canteen and
all hygiene products.
Access to privileges to those placed under investigation –Ability to
use the phone at least 3 times a week. –Allowed contact visits at
least twice a month.
If you would please support us convicts by expressing these claims to
the Missouri Department of Corrections, we would greatly appreciate it.
Also, expose our sufferings and 8-23-18 to the media, Fox 2 News,
Channel 5 News, WNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC and mainstream newspapers. Myself,
as well as others, will keep pushing. Some of us are litigating 1983’s.
I’m a politikal prisoner warehoused at the State of Missouri’s most
repressive slave plantations (Crossroads Correctional Center). It’s name
(Crossroads) alone sounds like a cemetery and it does literally feel
like one.
The institution is still on lock-down from a riot that took place 5, 6
months ago where no one was injured but millions of dollars in property
damage occurred.
The conditions that led up to the rioting still exist today and are even
worse today. Basically, we are locked down in our cells all day and none
of our daily needs are met. For example, they transferred me here last
week as a punishment from another camp and placed me in ad seg despite
me not having any conduct violations (write-up). They refused to bring
me my ad seg allowable soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste for six (6)
days, but gave the other transfers theirs the same day.
So, I sent my case worker numerous kites requesting grievance forms,
which she denied me. I’m on high blood pressure medication, which I
should have received the first day I arrived, yet medical staff
continues to ignore my request. When I arrived here, they gave me
another prisoner’s used and dirty underclothes and bedding when everyone
knows that you’re supposed to be issued new underclothes and can be
issued used outer garments. Again, I sent my caseworker a kite for a
grievance complaint and a legal request form to order prison policies
and legal case law to challenge these conditions and was again denied.
I’m on a certified religious diet meal plan, yet they refuse to
recognize it at this camp despite having documentation proving that I’m
on the diet plan. (Please note: A white prisoner next door to me
receives his CRD-meal 3 times a day).
We are dealing with gangsters here. Gangsters who have been allowed to
do whatever they feel like doing and outside of what prison regulations
mandate without being challenged or corrected. And if you bring
attention to this abuse of authority, they calculatingly and
systematically isolate you and target you with more abuse.
Please send me something to read, i.e. newsletter, prisoner resource
guide, anything that will keep my spirit and mind up.
I’m writing because I have received my first issue of ULK, and I
am going to tell you about how I became who I am, and what I am. It
started in 2010 at South Central Correctional Center with a brother by
the name of Supreme. At that time I was 21 years old and didn’t want to
hear a thing from no one cause I thought, “you can say what you want but
it don’t mean a thing if you can’t show it.” I never used to listen to
nothing until he started talking to me and on top of that he was showing
it to me. So I can see that it was true.
Once I started to see what he was showing it all came to me and I said
to myself “this is a brother I can believe and count on when I’m in
need, and need help against the pigs.” Because at that time I was having
problems with the pigs and they were giving me hell back to back and I
didn’t know what to do about it. He saw it and started helping me and
showing me how to go at it with them. I saw what he was showing me was
working, so now I’m a believer. He’s an older brother and I respect him
a lot for what he did.
I have had a lot of guys tell me things and couldn’t show it. They say
“look at the message and not the messenger,” but sometimes the message
don’t mean a thing if you can’t show it. I had a guy tell me one day,
“yeah man we all should write some letters to people outside. I don’t
think it’s gonna work but we can do it anyway.” See! That right there
told me a lot, that he didn’t even believe what the fxxk he was saying,
so why should I believe that would work?
Now I listen to the ones that show and tell and I make sure I do the
same. I never feed anyone bull because I don’t let anyone feed me bull.
And I have a lot of brothers that show and tell. One, a political
prisoner, does a lot to help all of the brothers that he can. So I give
a lot of love to brothers like him and Supreme.
I liked the whole issue of ULK 62 for May/June and I am letting a
lot of other brothers read it too. I have read some of your ULKs
in the past but I never had a chance to write to you guys and it seemed
like noone ever heard of your paper. I realized that there are a lot of
guys in prison that are not doing their job, the job of educating other
brothers. So now that is why we have a lot of b.s. where everyone is
against each other. We see this again and again in all of Missouri
prisons. I don’t know everything, and I’m still learning, but as I go on
I try my best to help all of the other real brothers gain knowledge.
I know just as well as you know that we have a lot of guys that are
faking and trying to bring the movement down working with the pigs. I
can tell you a lot of dudes don’t like me because I tell it like it is
and I don’t hold nothing back for no one. A lot of these guys are just
all talk, they act like they are something they are not, but see they
don’t like that I’m about all of that and some, I practice what I
preach. I want to help all of the brothers that I can and I mean it and
I show it too. So guys don’t like me because I show and tell for real! I
want to thank you at MIM(Prisons) for your time and allowing me the
chance to talk with you all and the reading material you all send me to
help me more. I’m still growing.
Keep on fighting the fight, never give up. To all the brothers and
sisters of the struggle: a warrior never gives up. Freedom is what we
make it.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This article is especially interesting to
us because it’s easy for such a long-term project as ours to sound like
what this comrade is criticizing above. “[W]e all should write some
letters to people outside. I don’t think it’s gonna work but we can do
it anyway.”
We write letters to prison administrators to defend our right to send
prisoners our literature, and a lot of the time it doesn’t go anywhere.
We run the grievance campaign, and often times we’re just sent in
circles between the Inspector General, Ombudsman, and the warden. But
we’re not discouraged. We already have strategic confidence in our work,
because we’ve studied enough history to know that what we’re doing today
will pay off in the long term. Engaging in the endless bureaucracy is
tolerable because we already understand how it relates to the big
picture.
However, this comrade’s skepticism underlines the importance of how we
recruit new people. Our strategy ultimately is to build unity and
confidence among the oppressed masses. Busy work (sending letters just
to send them) does not have this effect. Even if we don’t expect an
immediate positive response from admin, if people just see us as wasting
their time and resources, it’s going to discourage them even more and
cause them to distrust us.
Part of encouraging people is in picking battles that are winnable. Part
of it is in framing these battles as a piece of our larger struggle.
Part of it is in showing historical successes and broadening people’s
vision. And part of that is relating our goals to the perspective and
values of the people we’re attempting to recruit.
Revolutionary greetings of love, dedication and resiliency to all
freedom fighters and fearless front line generals, soldiers and warriors
who dare to struggle and sacrifice for liberty, freedom and equality
from behind the walls, fences and cages of genocide and oppression. As
we continue to raise awareness and lift up our voices so that we may be
heard on the issues of systematic racism and economic exploitation in
the criminal justice system, as well as prison slavery, police killings
and brutality. We continue to see an evil and determined enemy dig in
its heels in the name of white supremacy.
I am a Missouri prisoner who has been imprisoned for 32 years. I am
educated with a paralegal degree. With my credentials, I have a legal
clinic of 10 comrades. We have taken it upon ourselves to do separate
booklets of individual civil complaints such as: censorship, religion,
cruel and unusual punishment (prison conditions) etc. We will be sending
those to MIM(Prisons) upon their completion. We have made censorship our
first priority, and already sent this one in to MIM(Prisons).
However, we only have an ex-amount of time in the law library, so we
have to copy case-law (hundreds of them) and take them back to our cells
and work on our booklets. Our resources are limited and we need help! So
if any of my comrades know of places that will send “unlimited” printed
caselaw to us, please contact MIM to pass the message on.
MIM(Prisons) responds: These comrades are setting an example of
how to make your work impact more than just one persyn. Many can benefit
from concise information on how to fight specific legal battles. The
first guide created by this group, fighting censorship, is a good
example of this as it ties directly into a problem that the
revolutionary movement behind bars faces regularly – the censorship of
our literature. Under Lock & Key and other lit that we send
in is often rejected and our only recourse is grievances and legal
challenges. Because of the critical role that revolutionary education
plays in our organizing work, we prioritize this legal battle. And we
distribute a censorship guide to all who have our lit rejected.
We have a few cautionary notes to those working on this legal project
and others who are interested in taking up similar legal work. First,
there are many guides already out there for prisoners, so anyone putting
time into this type of project needs to start by making sure you’re not
duplicating work.
Second, as with our anti-censorship work, it’s important that we tie our
legal work to our revolutionary organizing. There are many legal battles
that prisoners are fighting, but these can be a distraction from the
larger struggle if we don’t tie them to the reality that the legal
system isn’t going to make real or substantive change for us. We might
win a few censorship battles, but we’ll never effectively stop
censorship through the imperialist courts. We use the censorship
struggle to highlight the hypocrisy of imperialism and underscore their
fear of revolutionary education, while making some room for us to reach
people with politics.
We need to be organizing people to use legal battles as a part of the
larger campaigns that the movement prioritizes. We can attempt to use
the courts to our advantage, but our goal in the long run is to
dismantle the imperialist courts and replace them with a system of
people’s justice.
U.$. imperialist leaders and their labor aristocracy supporters like to
criticize other countries for their tight control of the media and other
avenues of speech. For instance, many have heard the myths about
communist China forcing everyone to think and speak alike. In reality,
these stories are a form of censorship of the truth in the United
$tates. In China under Mao the government encouraged people to put up
posters debating every aspect of political life, to criticize their
leaders, and to engage in debate at work and at home. This was an
important part of the Cultural Revolution in China. There are a number
of books available in this country that give a truthful account, but far
more money is put into anti-communist propaganda books. Here in the
United $tates free speech is reserved for those with money and power.
In prisons in particular we see so much censorship, especially targeting
those who are politically conscious and fighting for their rights.
Fighting for our First Amendment right to free speech is a battle that
MIM(Prisons) and many prisoners waste a lot of time and money on. For us
this is perhaps the most fundamental of requirements for our organizing
work. There are prisoners, and some entire prisons (and sometimes entire
states) that are denied all mail from MIM(Prisons). This means we can’t
send in educational material, or study courses, or even supply a guide
to fighting censorship. Many prisons regularly censor ULK
claiming that the news and information printed within is a “threat to
security.” For them, printing the truth about what goes on behind bars
is dangerous. But if we had the resources to take these cases to court
we believe we could win in many cases.
Denying prisoners mail is condemning some people to no contact with the
outside world. To highlight this, and the ridiculous and illegal reasons
that prisons use to justify this censorship, we will periodically print
a summary of some recent censorship incidents in ULK.
We hope that lawyers, paralegals, and those with some legal knowledge
will be inspired to get involved and help us with these censorship
battles, both behind bars and on the streets. For the full list of
censorship incidents, along with copies of appeals and letters from the
prison, check out our censorship reporting
webpage.
Virginia DOC
The Chair of the publications review committee for the VA DOC, Melissa
Welch, sent MIM(Prisons) a letter denying ULK 56, and then the
next month the same letter denying ULK 57. Both letters cite the
same reasons:
“D. Material, documents, or photographs that emphasize depictions or
promotions of violence, disorder, insurrection, terrorist, or criminal
activity in violation of state or federal laws or the violation of the
Offender Disciplinary Procedure.
“F. Material that depicts, describes, or promotes gang bylaws,
initiations, organizational structure, codes, or other gang-related
activity or association.”
Pennsylvania DOC
Last issue of ULK we reported on the censorship of
ULK57 in Pennsylvania. After sending a protest letter to appeal
the decision we had a rare victory! From the Policy Office, PA
Department of Corrections:
“This is to notify you that the publication in issue does not violate
Department Policy. As such, the decision of the correctional institution
is reversed and the inmates in the PA Department of Corrections will be
permitted to receive the publication. The correctional institutions will
be notified by the Policy Office of the decision.”
If anyone in PA hasn’t received ULK 57 yet, let us know and we
will send another copy to you.
Pennsylvania SCI-Camp Hill
From a prisoner we were forwarded a notice of incoming publication
denial for ULK 57: “create a danger within the context of the
correctional facility” p.21, 24
The description quotes sentences that can’t be found within ULK
including: “PREA system strip searches for harassment in PA”, “Black
prisoners deserve to retaliate against predominantly white ran system”,
and “This is a excellent reminder of PA importance of fighting.” They
are making up text as reasons for censorship in Pennsylvania.
Texas - Bill Clemens Unit
A prisoner forwarded us a denial for ULK 57 “Page 11 contains
information that could cause a prison disruption.”
In March 2017, our study pack Defend the Legacy of the Black Panther
Party was censored for
“Reason C. Page 9 contains information that could cause a strike or
prison disruption.”
This adds to the growing list of our most important literature that is
banned in the state forever, including Settlers: Mythology of the
White Proletariat and Chican@ Power and the Struggle for
Aztlan. We need someone with legal expertise to challenge Texas’s
policies that allow for publications to be banned forever in the state.
Florida - Santa Rosa Correctional Institution
A prisoner forwarded us a notice of impoundment of ULK 57. The
reason cited: “Pages 1, 11, 14, 15, & 17 advocates insurgency and
disruption of institutional operations.”
We appealed this denial and got a response from Dean Peterson, Library
Services Administrator for the Florida DOC, reiterating the reasons for
impoundment and upholding the denial: “In their regularly scheduled
meeting of August 30, 2017 the Literature Review Committee of the
Florida Department of Corrections upheld the institution’s impoundment
and rejected the publication for the grounds stated. This means that
issue will not be allowed into our correctional institutions.”
Florida DOC
Following up on a case printed in ULK 57 regarding Florida’s
denial of the MIM(Prisons) censorship pack, for no specific reasons. We
received a response to our appeal of this case from the same Dean
Peterson, Library Services Administrator, named above.
“From the number of the FDC form you reference and your description
of what happened it is apparent the institutional mailroom did not
handle the Censorship Guide as a publication, but instead handled it in
accordance with the Florida Administrative Code rule for routine mail.
As such, the item was not impounded, was not posted to the list of
impounded publications for any other institution to see, was not
referred to the Literature Review Committee for review, and thus does
not appear on the list of rejected publications. That means that if the
exact same Guide came to any other inmate mailroom staff would look at
it afresh. In theory, it could even be allowed into the institution.
…
“The Florida Administrative Code makes no provision for further review.”
Florida - Florida State Prison
ULK 58 was rejected for what appears to just be a list of titles
of articles, some not even complete:
PGS 6 Liberation schools to organize through the wall (talk about the
hunger strikes) PGS 8 DPRK; White Supremacy’s Global Agenda PGS
11 Case law to help those facing PGS 19 White and gaining
consciousness
Florida - Jefferson Correctional Institution
Meditations on Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth: New Afrikan
Revolutionary Writings by James Yaki Sayles was denied to a prisoner
at Jefferson Correctional Institution because “inmate has received a
second copy of the same edition of this publication violating chapter
33-501.401 (16)(b) and procedure 501.401(7)(d).”
Washington state - Coyote Ridge CC
The invitation to and first assignment for our correspondence
introductory study group was rejected by Mailroom Employee April Long
for the following reasons:
“Advocates violence against others and/or the overthrow of
authority. Advocates that a protected class or group of individuals
is inferior and/or makes such class/group the object of ridicule and/or
scorn, and may reasonably be thought to precipitate a violent
confrontation between the recipient and a member(s) of the target group.
Rejected incoming mailing from MIM. Mailing contains working that
appears to be referring to law enforcement as ‘pigs’ it appears to be
ridiculing and scornful. There is also a section in mailing labeled
solutions that calls prisoners to take actions against prison industries
and gives specific ideas/suggestions. Nothing to forward onto offender.”
A recent study assignment for the University of Maoist Thought was also
censored at Coyote Ridge. MIM(Prisons) has not yet been informed of this
censorship incident by the facility. The study group participant wrote
and told us it was censored for being a “copy of copyrighted material.”
The material in question was published in 1972 in the People’s Republic
of China. Not only did that government actively work against capitalist
concepts such as copyright, we believe that even by the United $tates’
own standards this book should not be subject to censorship.
Washington state
Clallam Bay CF rejected ULK 58 because: “Newsletter is being
rejected as it talks about September 9 events including offenders
commencing a hunger strike until equal treatment, retaliation and legal
rights issues are resolved.”
Coyote Ridge CC rejected ULK 58 for a different set of reasons:
“Contains plans for activity that violates state/federal law, the
Washington Administrative Code, Department policy and/or local
facet/rules. Contains correspondence, information, or other items
relating to another offender(s) without prior approval from the
Superintendent/designee: or attempts or conveys unauthorized offender to
offender correspondence.”
Canada
We received the following report from a Canadian prisoner who had sent
us some stamps to pay for a few issues of ULK to be mailed to
Canada.
“A few months ago, on July 18, I received notice from the V&C
department informing that five issues of ULK had arrived here for
me. The notice also explained that the issues had been seized because of
a Commissioner’s Directive (764.6) which states that ‘[t]he
institutional head may prohibit entry into the institution of material
that portrays excessive violence and aggression, or prison violence; or
if he or she believes on reasonable grounds that the material would
incite inmates to commit similar acts.’ I grieved the seizure, among
other things, citing the sections on page 2 of ULK, which
‘explicitly discourage[s prisoners] from engaging in any violence or
illegal acts,’ and citing too the UFPP statement of peace on page 3,
which speaks of the organizational aim to end needless conflicts and
violence within prisons.
”Well, I can now report that my
grievance was upheld and that all copies of ULK were released to
me, but not without the censorship of drawings deemed to portray or
promote the kind of violence described in the above-cited Commissioner’s
Directive. It’s a decision I can live with for now.”
Missouri
We got reports from two people that the blanket ban on ULK in
Missouri was removed and ULK 58 was received. If you’re in
Missouri and still not getting your ULK, be sure to let us
know.
Michigan - Richard A Handlon CF
ULK 58 was rejected because “Articles in Under Lock & Key
contains information about criminal activity that might entice criminal
activity within the prison facility - threat to security.”
Illinois - Stateville CC
ULK 58 was rejected because: “The publication appears to:
Advocate or encourage violence, hatred, or group disruption or it poses
an intolerable risk of violence or disruption. Be otherwise detrimental
to security, good order, rehabilitation, or discipline or it might
facilitate criminal activity or be detrimental to mental health.
Detrimental to safety and security of the facility. Disrupts order.
Promotes organization and leadership.”
On Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at or around 7:50 a.m. COII Cara Brashers
said, “You can only wear one pair of boxers to the showers”. I became
agitated telling her that I have been going to the shower with 2 pairs
of boxers and a towel underneath tied around my waist since my arrival
in housing unit #1 a year prior, as a way to protect my modesty from the
gawking eyes of sick, twisted and demented voyeurs (staff as well as
residents) who stand in their doors body lusting. I stepped back into my
cell getting nowhere and complied. I began to walk quickly to the shower
cell and they began to yank the tether (i.e. leash) attached to the
handcuffs, “You need to slow down”. I explained that it was no reason to
stop in the middle of the wing and could we process to the shower. “You
can go back to your cell, mister”, and attempted to man handle me and
force me to the ground. I wasn’t going to allow them to slam me on my
face, so I politely walked them back up the stairs and asked, “So you’re
going to treat me like this? You want to play games? We can play them.”
They attempted to manhandle me again but weren’t successful.
I walked into my cell and placed my hands through the feeding port and
one of the guards began to twist my hands and wrists violently. I
snatched back and with my uncuffed hand held the tether and asked, “So
ignorance is the only way to get some attention?”, and demanded to see
the shift commander. While this was occurring the handcuff key was
broken and lost, so they were in disarray. CO Postelwait attempted to
swindle me into coming out of my cell. I agreed to give him the cuffs
back. I took a 15 minute wash up in my sink. Afterwards I made Taubah,
and prayer. The Functional Unit Manager, Troy Wade, began to bang on my
door which has written on it, “In Prayer” and ruffed up without
incident. All of my belongings were taken from me. To make matters
worse, everything had mace on it.
I was made to stand naked in the strip cage while they contacted medical
about me having my athletic supporter for my swollen groin and to be
assessed. A contracted nurse came by the name of Jessica Williams who
works for Corizon. I began to tell her that I was having an adverse
effect to the gas and show the peeling skin and blisters on my hands and
arms. I was refused medical treatment, boy oh boy, I had to smile to
quell the anger because I was in no position to strike.
I was placed back in cell without it being cleaned. Gas and more was
everywhere. Sink, toilet, walls, floor and my only place of salvation;
the bunk.
Thirty minutes later I had an attorney visit. I was escorted up to the
visiting room, smelling of mace and wheezing. My hand and arm felt weak
for some reason too. I told my public defender, Brandon Swartz, whom I
have already reported to the Office of the Chief of Disciplinary Council
for providing ineffective assistance of counsel just sneering he said,
“Yeah, I hear you just had a use of force.” I began to explain what
occurred was unjustified, I was ignored.
So here I sit. I have a pad and pen courtesy of my young Kiwe comrade,
and with the assistance of a person affiliated with the blood street
tribe giving me toothpaste and toothbrush. Also a European brother,
who’s the complete opposite of me gave brand new socks. All of this and
more after countless hours of moving 3 twelve foot sandbags and a
mattress from in front of my door, coupled with eluding the pigs.
As I sat, I looked past skin color, lightening bolts, tattoo blue and
read flags, I seen something: UNITY. Despite of our differences, we had
one thing in common. We were resistant to oppression in one way, shape
or fashion. This was enough.
I don’t know if I’ll make it out of the hole, let along prison. One
thing I do know is, I will not be treated like a slave and not resist. I
will not be happily paraded around in nearly transparent underwear. I
will not cower nor accept defeat. I will not, I will NOT!
I’m still alive and pushing. Kicking cuz I can’t stop, won’t stop. Even
if I could, I wouldn’t. They’re attempting to break me. I may bend in
the wind but I will never fold. Mojo of a simba. I am for the struggle,
our struggle. Pumaja sisi Shinta! I shall not refuse my hand nor break
my stride, this oath shall kill me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chulewa!