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.
Meet me at the library,
that’s where we bury lies.
That’s where we kill CIPWS miseducation;
that’s where we grow wings and fly.
That’s where we find essential self.
Where we turn into suns, and rise
that’s where they hide truths
and keep us mentally colonized.
They kept the slaves from learning to read,
the easiest way to keep them,
dehumanized.
They, the CIPWS,
is doing the same to prisoners,
if we don’t open our eyes, and realize,
that fighting CIPWS censorship
is the same as burying lies.
On 5 October 2024, about 150 people organized by the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3585
picketed to call for an end to paper mail in the Illinois Department of
Corrections (IDOC). Another protest is planned for October 17th.
The plague of drugs in U.$. prisons is real, and it has continued in states
where digital mail has been implemented. The claim of this “labor”
union that staff are being poisoned is not real. In neighboring Indiana,
a number of prisoners were threatened with isolation in torture cells
for mail
that we sent them that was accused of being drug-laced. Further
testing proved they were not. Meanwhile, there have now been a number of
cases of prison staff across the country claiming extreme medical crises
from contacting prisoner mail, following similar claims by street cops,
that have never been substantiated by medical professionals. It’s
interesting that this “labor” union is willing to stand out on the
street and picket for a policy that would give Correctional Officers a
monopoly on bringing paper into IDOC facilities.
Even much of the pro-labor union movement in the United $tates will
agree that cops aren’t workers, or the oppressed, but rather are the
oppressors, regardless of the question of surplus value. And Marxism has
always excluded the employees of the state from the proletariat in any
country. So it is of little surprise that the AFSCME would be pushing
this reactionary policy to eliminate education, resources and community
connection in prisons, even if it risks the very safety of their own
members.
MIM Distributors submitted the protest email below to Illinois DOC
Director Latoya Hughes. We encourage others to send emails or make phone
calls or send letters (especially if you are in Illinois). There are
more suggested scripts available from campaign initiators working with
Midwest Books to Prisoners.(2)
You can contact Director Latoya Hughes at:
latoya.hughes@illinois.gov
312-814-2121
Illinois Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
P.O. Box 19277
Springfield, IL 62794-9277
Dear Director Hughes,
I have recently been made aware that several Illinois legislators are
calling for an immediate cessation of non-legal paper mail being
delivered to people incarcerated in the IDOC. Our organization sends
paper mail to thousands of prisoners across the country and we object to
this effort to abridge our First Amendment rights to speech and
association, as well as those of the people in your prisons. We will be
sharing this letter with our members and supporters, especially in the
state of Illinois.
Books, newspapers, and other printed materials are a crucial source
of information, education and growth for people locked in prison.
Letters can be a rare thing to look forward to. Our organization runs
study programs, conducts surveys and regularly sends forms to prisoners
to get updates on their status. All of these programs rely on prisoners
receiving pieces of paper that we send them so they can fill out the
forms and return them. The impact of blocking such mail would be
massive.
We have been watching the spread of alarmism around drug-laced mail,
and have even had such baseless accusations made against our mail! Of
course testing proved the accusation false, just as it did in the recent
incident at Shawnee, where the testing by Marion Fire Rescue came back
false. We’ve also seen multiple cases where staff have claimed to have
gotten sick from handling mail, which have been proven to be impossible
claims multiple times now. The benefits of education and community
connection are proven to help ensure staff safety far more than these
imagined risks of being poisoned. Policy should be fact-based and should
not succumb to rumors and fear-mongering.
Again, I am writing this email to clearly state my complete
opposition to any and all proposals to halt mail delivered to
incarcerated people, and urge you not to move forward with this
proposal.
Dear Top Brass At U.$. Navy (Mr. Omnipotent Administrator),
You guys bicker about sexuality, abortion, gender issues, and
whatever non-stop. Let me fill you in on your rape revenge fantasies and
myths. Just ask the Florida Department of Corrections for my essay on
sexual privilege in amerikkka. They have it in my central file in
Tallahassee.
I quote Eldridge Cleaver in Soul on Ice:
“The Omnipotent Administrator conceded to the super-masculine menial
all of the attributes of masculinity associated with the body: strength,
brute power, muscle, even the beauty of the brute body. Except one.
There was this single attribute of masculinity which he was unwilling to
relinquish, even though this particular attribute is the essence and
seat of masculinity: sex.”
The Omnipotent Administrator said “I will bind your rod with my
omnipotent will, and place a limitation on its aspiration which you will
violate on pain of death.”
I have been trying to follow the Palestinian liberation struggle for
some time now, well at least in the best ways I can behind enemy lines:
piecing bits and pieces of information together from the various media
sources that make it in here.
What strikes me the most at this juncture is the dialectic between
New Afrikan youth and Palestinian youth. Over here in the Amerikkkan
empire, New Afrikan youth, particularly New Afrikan male youth occupy
very unfortunate spaces in the Amerikkkan oppressor nation’s mental.
These youth dwell in the danger zone, spaces that are purely a figment
of the “white” imagination. This criminal Black youth label. This
“hyper-reality” is no more real than the emperor’s new clothes,
analogous to the rapist who takes the mentally ill patient back to the
scene of the crime, back to the moment of trauma, when the delusions
began. It is within the dark interiority of this lived nightmare, the
womb of the unforgiving chattel slavery regime enclosed within old style
colonialism that the New Afrikan male youth was conceived. This is
critical and informative for understanding mass imprisonment in New
Afrika.
This process of marking New Afrikan youth as criminal prisoners
essential to the functioning of mass incarceration is a mechanism of
social control operative under national oppression. For this repressive
institution to succeed, New Afrikan youth must be branded as criminal
before they are formally subject to this mechanism of control. This is
essential, for forms of explicit colonial control are not only
prohibited but are widely condemned. Capitalism evolved.
Both New Afrikan and Palestinian people are entrenched beneath the
boot of their colonizers without a state that is theirs to foster,
nurture, and facilitate their respective national liberation struggles
to actualize control over their destiny. Both face the repressive arm of
mass imprisonment to undermine and destroy their resistance efforts and
thus fine comb their national oppression nightmare.
The I$raeli colonial project is a direct extension of U.$.
imperialism. The U.$. penal system being the first and largest
experiment in humyn bondage, it is only fitting that this institution of
social control finds its way into the Palestinian lived experience under
I$raeli occupation.
Palestinian youth are the only youth that are formally subject to a
“military” court/detention system. Palestinian youth are not privy to a
civil court; that means when they go before a judge they are not
entitled to a lawyer, nor a translator even though the entire court
proceedings are in Hebrew – a non-Arabic language. And if they remain
silent, that means they plead guilty. So no civilian proceedings for any
Palestinian youth at all.
Many of these oppressed youth are taken during night raids from their
parents or adult supervisors to further facilitate intimidating
interrogation techniques. These parallel a lot of New Afrikan juvenile
situations as the school-to-prison pipeline. The harsh penalties for
simple offenses that are the rule, just the whole criminalization
process of entire neighborhoods/locations mirror U.$. law enforcement
imposition of gang injunctions/occupational patrolling of predominantly
New Afrikan neighborhoods in the United $tates of Amerikkka.
The I$raeli settler occupation project parallels Amerikkkan national
oppression of New Afrika with the language and practical application of
the tried and tired excuse of blaming the so-called “savages” for
provoking the “reasonable” and “peace loving” settlers into defending
themselves and the land “God ordained” them to have thus dehumanizing
and criminalizing a whole nation. The zionist regime’s actions against
Palestinian youth are nothing short of genocidal.
In the current news, it is important to note the essential role
played by the Palestinian youth, mostly under 18. The resistance
movement there is mobilizing their youth to stand up and struggle
forward. This is very important to glean lessons from, particularly
within the historical and contemporary social dynamics encircling
settler colonialism and national oppression in Occupied Palestine. This
is good for an application to the Amerikan empire. As ULK aptly
notes: the Black Panthers were mostly teenagers.
It’s an instant messaging protocol with applications available for
all the most popular operating systems.
What are the benefits?
peer-to-peer: no central point of failure or interference
no metadata: related to point 1, no third party can see who you are
messaging, when or from where
encrypted: content of messages are encrypted
perfect forward secrecy: each message is encrypted with a separate key,
so that decrypting one message does not allow an attacker to decrypt
your previous messages (this is an advantage over GPG encryption)
What are the shortcomings of
Tox?
new/alpha software not all apps have full functionality (i.e. no group
messaging on Antox for Android), and software can be buggy
untested related to it’s newness as well as the relative complexity of a
full messaging app, the encryption/security of Tox is not as well tested
as GPG
peer-to-peer: This is not really a shortcoming, but you should be aware
that when you use Tox with someone, while no one else should be able to
see where you are messaging from, the persyn you are communicating with
has access to your IP address by default. This is much better than most
other apps out there, and it can mitigated by running Tox behind the Tor
network. Below are instructions for how to do this.
How to run
TRIfA behind Tor on an Android device
install Orbot and TRIfA both are available from F-Droid repositories if
you don’t have or don’t want to use Google Play Store
open Orbot
click the button to turn on “VPN Mode”
at the bottom where it says “Tor-Enabled Apps” click the little gear
wheel on the right
on the following screen check the box for TRIfA and any other apps you
want to be forced through Tor
hit the back arrow
in orbot click the big “Start” button.
once orbot has a connection to Tor open TRIfA app and follow
instructions for setting up your account
How to install Tox
messaging app in Tails OS
[NOTE: If you were already using Tox in Tails, you should back up
your config files before installing Tox again. Go to Places ->
Dotfiles, then hit ctrl-H, then go into .config folder and copy the
folder named “tox” and all its contents to your Persistent folder as a
backup.]
at login screen, first set up administrative password 1) click
the “+” under “Additional Settings”
2) click "Administrative Password"
3) enter a password you will remember in both boxes and click "Add"
enter your password you set for persistence and click “Unlock”
once it says “Settings were loaded from the persistent storage” click
“Start Tails”
go to Applications -> System Tools -> Synaptic Package Manager
you will need to enter the administrative password you set above (not
persistence password)
Synaptic will load the list of available software - will take a couple
minutes and requires network connection
click the search button and type in “qtox” or “utox” depending on
which client you want
Which should i pick?
qTox, because uTox seems to crash every time you change settings in Tails, however, uTox is the lighter one, so slow computers might prefer it
https://github.com/qTox/qTox
https://github.com/uTox/uTox
NOTE: the versions available in the stable debian repos will often be older than the latest versions on github, you can install the latest version but this guide will not cover that
right-click on the package you searched for and click “Mark for
Installation”
it will ask if you want to install additional required packages, click
“Mark”
click “Apply” button, then click “Apply” on the screen that comes up –
it will now download and install tox packages
you should get a Tails popup asking if you want to Install Every Time -
click that and this will occur automatically next time you boot Tails
you can close Synaptic
Run qTox by going to Applications -> Internet -> qTox (or uTox)
create a Tox ID - password protect it in settings->Advanced
Set tox up to use Tor
IN qTox: click the gear in lower left and go to Advanced settings
1) uncheck enable IPv6 and uncheck enable UDP (probably already off)
2) Proxy type: SOCKS5
Address: 127.0.0.1
Port: 9050
3) Click "Reconnect" - wait a bit and the circle next your name should turn green when you connect (also probably in your top menu bar)
IN uTox go to: settings->Advanced
1) Proxy (SOCKS 5) Address: 127.0.0.1 Port:9050
2) Force uTox to always use proxy
3) turn off Ipv6
4) turn off UDP
NOTE: sometimes changing these seems to cause uTox to crash, the important setting is the proxy to make sure it's connecting to Tor
Shutdown qTox/uTox IMPORTANT: must do this before the
below!
local/temporary dotfiles in RAM are found here: /home/amnesia/.config/
permanent persistent dotfiles folder is here:
/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/
These files/folders are probably hidden. To see them, if you are in the
file folder view click on the icon with three horizontal bars at the top
and check the box to show hidden files.
To find these folders in a finder window: Click on Other locations at
the bottom, then select computer. There you will see live and home
folders
You need to move the tox folder and all its contents from the first
location to the second. There should be two files in the tox folder:
“tox_save.tox” and “utox_save”, then as you add friends files will be
created for their info and your conversations if you choose to have
conversations saved in the app.
The first time you do this copying over you will need to create the
.config folder in the /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/
location if it’s not there already.
Command to use in terminal window when in the folder you want to copy
TO: cp -r /home/amnesia/.config/tox
/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/
NOTE: Doing this using sudo (root user) will change file ownership to
root. File ownership MUST be amnesia.
To check file ownership in Terminal:
$ls -lah
To change file ownership in Terminal:
$sudo chown amnesia:amnesia
Connecting with others
To connect with others you must send them your Tox ID. This is not your
name, your name is for display purposes only.
click on your name/status in upper left
you should now see your Tox ID as a long string of characters and a QR
code, you can copy the long string into an PGP encrypted email and email
it to your contact (if in persyn/on mobile they can scan the QR code, or
you can send the image to them)
if someone send you their Tox ID, in qTox click the “+” in bottom left
and paste the code in “Add a Friend” -> Tox ID, similarly in uTox,
paste your friend’s Tox ID into the Add Friend at bottom left.
click “send friend request” and wait for their response - this is best
done when you know the friend is online because you must both be online
to exchange messages
Updating utox
Tails will automatically install the latest version available in the
debian stable repo. Installing newer versions is beyond the scope of
this guide.
Troubleshooting utox
in Tails suggestions
No persistence between tox sessions: You are not keeping persistence
between tox sessions, but instead end up with a new ToxID each time you
run tox.
Delete the tox files from BOTH .config locations above
Reinstall tox
Run tox: it will create new files into your local .config folder
Shut down tox. Move new tox_save.tox and utox_save over to persistence
.config folder
Try rerunning tox to see if your ID is persistent within a tails
session. If so try restarting tails to see if it is persistent now.
Tails is an operating system that is focused on anonymity for the lay
persyn. It is relatively user-friendly, especially once you get it
installed. It is unique in that whatever you do on Tails is not saved on
the hard drive, unless you setup a PERSISTENT folder on the USB. It
should be installed on a USB stick, and does not affect whatever
Operating system you currently have. You can use your Tails USB stick,
once you have it set up, to boot Tails on any desktop or laptop
computer. However, Macs are difficult and require more work to setup. If
that is hard for you I’d consider getting a different machine.
8GB minimum flash drive (bigger USB stick would be necessary for
optimal work so make sure it has space for persistence storage)
A computer with the following:
Approx. 2GB RAM
A 64-bit x86-64 compatible processor
The ability to start from a flash drive
Tails OS will not work in Mac models that use the Apple M1 chip.
Tails OS can work with computers with less than 2GB RAM but might behave
strangely or crash.
Download Tails (Approx 1.5-2.0 hours) There are two ways to download
tails, we will first go over how the method of installing without a
pre-downloaded Tails flash drive.
Open up Tor Browser (if you don’t already have it:
https://www.torproject.org/download/)
Go to the link: https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html
Choose which operating system you are downloading Tails from (this
is the operating system you are using currently to open up a
browser)
Click “Install From MacOS” under “Download and Install”
Click “Let’s Go!”
Verify your download by clicking “Verify Tails” and choosing your
Tails file
Install Tails (Approx 30 min)
Download “Etcher” (the instructions page would tell you to use GNOME
Disks if you are on Linux; skip this step if you already have Etcher
downloaded)
Plug in the 8GB USB stick where you want to install Tails.
Click “Select Image”
Choose the USB Image you downloaded earlier. Etcher should
automatically start saving Tails onto your USB disk. Otherwise, click
the “Change” link to choose a different USB stick in which you would
need another 8GB USB stick.
Click “Flash”
Enter your password if asked
The installation takes a few minutes. After installing, Etcher
verifies the installation.
Close Etcher.
Congratulations! You have downloaded TailsOS onto your USB
stick!
Print out the next instructions for opening Tails.
Starting TailsOS (Approx 15-20 min)
Shut down your computer and plug in your Tails USB stick.
Identify your boot menu key. (This will depend on your manufacture
company; search for this info online, or look at your boot screen before
your OS loads to get it. Common examples: ESC, F2, F12)
Turn on the computer and immediately press several times the first
possible Boot Menu Key identified in step 2
If the computer starts on another operating system or returns an
error message, shut down the computer again and repeat step 3 for all
the possible Boot Menu keys identified in step 2. If a Boot Menu with a
list of devices appears, select your USB stick and press Enter.
If the computer starts on Tails, the Boot Loader appears and Tails
starts automatically after 4 seconds.
Create Persistence Storage (This is a MUST!)
Your welcome screen should show up. Select your language and
keyboard layout in the Language Region section. Click “Start
Tails.”
Specify a passphrase of your choice in both the Passphrase and
Verify Passphrase text boxes.
Click “Create”
Review the list of features - turn on Personal Data, Browser
Bookmarks, Thunderbird, GnuPG, and Dotfiles (and anything else you
want)
Click “Save”
2. Email Address (Est. 5
minutes)
Before we can get started we will need an email address. You can
check the list of providers at https://privacytools.io/providers/email/
for suggestions. We obviously use posteo.net, which accepts cash payment
in U.$. dollars for easy anonymous payment. You can use a Posteo email
with Thunderbird, the email app on Tails.
If you go with a ProtonMail email, keep in mind you cannot use it
with Thunderbird unless you pay for ProtonMail Bridge.
For most of those options you will need to use a web browser with
JavaScript enabled to register. This is a potential attack vector. So
even though you are in Tails, using Tor to connect, you would be best to
set up your email at an anonymous/public internet connection. Once we
set up Thunderbird you will not need to log in via the website
anymore.
You do not want to pick a username that anyone would connect with
your bourgeois identity. And you obviously don’t want to use an account
that is connected to your school, work, home, etc.
By creating an OpenPGP key, you will be able to ensure that your
emails are fully encrypted. You will have a private key and a public
key. The public key is how others address emails specifically to you.
The private key is so that only you can read the emails that are
addressed to you. If you want to receive email, you decrypt it with your
private key. If you want to send it you encrypt your message with the
public key of the person you are sending it to (this can be done
automatically by Thunderbird).
You can manage your OpenPGP keys using Kleopatra (which you can find
in Applications).
REMINDER: You must have persistence turned on above
for any of the stuff below here to be saved.
To create your PGP key pair go to: File -> New Key Pair
Enter in your email account and your nickname. You can set the key to
never expire, if you want. You do not have to change any of the other
settings.
To export your private key, right click the key you made under GPG
keys. Choose “Export Secret Keys”. You will use this file below to
import into Thunderbird. (Yes you can create a keypair directly in
Thunderbird, but you will probably want to use it for other things so we
recommend the above.)
4. Thunderbird (Est. 15
minutes)
When you start up Thunderbird, you will want to enter your email
address and password and set up the IMAP(receiving) and SMTP (sending)
connections based on the info given by your email provider (see their
help page). We recommend not saving your password in Thunderbird and
entering it each time. Use KeepassXC to securely store any passwords for
email, PGP, and other accounts.
In order to set-up Thunderbird with your PGP keys, go to the top
right corner of thunderbird. Choose ≡ ▸ Tools ▸ OpenPGP Key Manager.
Import your secret key (which is the same as your private PGP key).
Import the MIM(Prisons) public key. (see:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/openpgp-thunderbird-howto-and-faq#w_i-have-never-used-openpgp-with-thunderbird-before-how-do-i-setup-openpgp)
In order to import our public key, copy it from here:
https://www.prisoncensorship.info/contact
Make sure to include the full header and footer identifying it as a
PGP Public Key Block. Paste it into the Text Editor and save the file.
Then use the Thunderbird instructions above to import our public key
like you did your own.
Afterwards, go to the top right again. Choose ≡ ▸ Account settings ▸
End to End encryption. It’ll say none, select your private key (it’ll
read like a bunch of numbers and letters).
On that same page under “Default settings for sending messages” check
“Enable encryption for new messages”. You may want to check “Sign
unencrypted messages”.
Under Advanced Settings, it’s best to check all 3 options.
Now, you can send an email and it’ll automatically encrypt your
messages with the other persons public key, and decrypt messages sent to
you with your private key!
Tox is a messaging app we use on Tails. For more details on how to
install it:
https://www.prisoncensorship.info/article/computer-security-setting-up-tox-messenger/
Organizations in Occupied Turtle Island organizing under the label of
Palestine solidarity take various tactics and ideological positions. A
great portion of these efforts are negative, representing leftist
organization-building and guilt-soothing for populations who benefit
from imperialism.(1)
Still, there is much to be appreciated in Palestine solidarity
organizing. The fact that as a class, U.$. workers are wedded to
imperialism as a labor aristocracy(2), does not mean that select
individuals and segments of the same class, such as youth, immigrants
and members of oppressed nations, don’t have a righteous impulse to
rebel against genocide.(3) Further, drawing the line between practicing
manufactured discontent to gain social capital (for example, peaceful,
permitted and policed “solidarity” marches, or gathering social media
clout) versus genuine rebellion (involving significant self-sacrifice)
can be a difficult strategic question and a complicated moral matter.
It’s the job of communists to answer these questions, drawing those who
can be allied in a united front under the leadership of the global
proletariat.
In the United $tates, only small percentages of the country ever will
protest for progressive causes, and usually only a few thousand people
are liable to turn up at anti-imperialist protests, if we’re lucky. But
even this small size of protest crowds can be confusing. We see large
events put on in the name of helping Palestine and, ignoring the lack of
ideological unity required for such crowds, perceive that there is a
strong movement against genocide here. To move how? Against which
genocide? You’ll find that the larger the event, the less likely it is
for such questions to be answered.
Let’s examine one specific way this numbers game is lost among the
U.$. left. A very common protest narrative goes something like this: X
city/institution is partnering with Israel. That partnership uses funds
which could otherwise be spent “on our community” (healthcare, jobs,
public resources). Therefore, we must divest from Israel and invest back
into “our community”. The messaging behind agitational work tells the
organizers, audience and onlookers at protests the purpose and goals of
the work: they represent the ideology pushing our practice forwards.
Here, this oft-repeated messaging about divestment explains that
everyone should join the cause to reclaim what is theirs from an immoral
misappropriation.
This narrative about redirecting resources away from genocide and
towards “community” can be found in endless settler-left slogans such as
“build more schools, not bombs!” or “money for jobs and education, not
for war and occupation!” All such ideas revolve around the mythos of the
Amerikan “community”: a fictitious multi-national concept in which,
abstracted from the violence at the base of the Amerikan colony and the
national conflicts therein, we can imagine harmonious and communal ways
of life involving sharing our resources. This imagination goes back to
the root of settler consciousness in Occupied Turtle Island which
imagines a “Thanksgiving” where the colonists shared food with the First
Nations rather than poisoning, raping and murdering them by the
millions.
An almost identical narrative is wielded by referencing the “tax
dollars” spent on Palestine-solidarity campaigns’ targets, begging
Amerikans to rise up against a supposed misuse of money which is
otherwise rightfully owed to them. This relies on the same conceptual
basis as a “community.” If we believe this narrative then absent
specific policy mistakes (such as funding Israel) there would exist the
basis for peaceful redistribution of the spoils of genocide and
imperialism, and this would be a righteous redistribution. At the base
of these common yet mistaken ideas are 1) a genuine impulse towards
fascism by U.$. citizens who wish to become even more wealthy compared
to the Third World, and 2) ignorance regarding the source of global
wealth disparity to begin with.
We cannot resolve #1, the fascist impulse among a majority here,
without overturning imperialism and settler-colonialism entirely. To
address #2 however, we can study how “communities” in Occupied Turtle
Island are literally built and sustained off of genocide, slavery and
imperialism, especially regarding the “average jo.” There are two main
groups in the United $tates: the settlers and the oppressed nations.
Euro-Amerikan settlers have been a consistently reactionary group for
the past five centuries as their life here is founded on slavery and
land theft.(4) They are the numeric majority of the U.$. population and
have consistently subjected the First Nations, New Afrika and the
Chican@ nation with oppressive, genocidal campaigns.(5)
These oppressed nations on the other hand vacillate between
progressive and regressive tendencies depending on proximity to the
spoils of imperialism. Independence movements among oppressed nations
represent a progressive impulse wishing to sever connections with U.$.
imperialism, whereas participation in DEI (Diversity, Equity &
Inclusion) initiatives, reforming political parties and redistributing
wealth to the oppressed nations represent an integrationist trend which
serves to either enlarge the (petty-)bourgeoisie of these nations at the
expense of their oppressed masses or incorporate swaths of the nation
into the capitalist-imperialist world system.(6) Overall there are
substantial parts of oppressed nations here who still face genocide
while other portions steadily receive a bit more of the imperial
pie.
To the extent that anyone here enjoys it, the First World lifestyle
includes housing, food, medicine, transportation and extensive
leisure-time bought from the blood of indigenous peoples and
manipulation of global labor prices which under-pay workers in the Third
World and deprives them of basic necessities.(7) An over-accumulation of
profits in the United $tates has led to excess money supply and higher
domestic wages: the surplus available to create a complacent consumer
base beyond the settlers alone.(8) This is why wages here are
approximately 10x normal wages in Palestine. Thus while some U.$.
workers suffer under national oppression, they are almost all economic
oppressors of the Third World.(9)
So if we convince the majority here that they are actually
impoverished through imperialism, or would be enriched through its end,
we are misrepresenting the facts and tarnishing the cause of Palestinian
liberation. When imperialism inevitably falls, internationalist forces
in the imperial core will probably be encircled by fascism: citizens
here attempting to cling to lifestyles and social roles which can no
longer exist, led by whichever elements of the bourgeoisie can rally
them around new extractive outlets to replace old imperialism. The
faster we can pull away from self-interested economic thinking here, the
faster we will eventually construct socialism. The more here who search
for their own best interest through the fall of imperialism, the longer
such a task will take.
United front work in the imperial core on behalf of the global
proletariat will involve grappling deeply with the labor aristocracy and
the settler nation. We must investigate this majority’s interests as
they unfold in street protests, unions, universities and even prisons.
We shouldn’t reject them wholesale: we should condemn their economic
gluttony while simultaneously uniting those who will commit to fighting
on the behalf of the international proletariat. We must educate each and
every Amerikan who will listen about how their wealth comes from
genocide and how their lives will change when imperialism finally
falls.
Having rejected the fantasy of an abstract, multi-national Amerikan
“community,” we could instead support the many progressive causes
belonging to the oppressed nations here who have suffered under genocide
like Palestine. But such campaigns must be specific in their slogans and
selection of organizing base, as well as how to relate to those with
varying proximity to imperialism. Connecting progressive campaigns such
as those against police brutality, which predominantly affects oppressed
nations, to Palestinian sovereignty is a righteous cause. Trying to
connect Palestine to the reactionary dissatisfaction of everyday
Amerikan workers, especially settlers, is a recipe for fascism and
genocide.
Notes: 1. A
Million Tiny Fleas “The Anti-War Movement that Wasn’t” Substack, Jun 13
2023. 2. Cope, Zak “Divided World Divided Class” Kersplebedeb
2012, pg. 9. 3. The
Dawnland Group, “A Polemic against Settler Maoism”, MIM (Prisons)
website, June 2024. 4. Sakai, J. “Settlers: The mythology of the
White proletariat from mayflower to modern.”(2014). Kersplebedeb. 5.
Maoist
Internationalist Ministry of Prisons, “Proletarian Feminist
Revolutionary Nationalism” June 2017, pgs 96 – 108. 6. Labor
unions from oppressed nations integrating with settler and imperialist
labor unions is an important historic evidence of this trend. See:
Sakai, J. “Settlers: The mythology of the White proletariat from
mayflower to modern.”(2014). Kersplebedeb, pgs 152 – 174. 7. Jason
Hickel, Christian Dorninger, Hanspeter Wieland, Intan Suwandi,
“Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global
South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015,” Global Environmental Change,
Volume 73, 2022. 8. Cope, Zak “Divided World Divided Class”
Kersplebedeb 2012, pg 200. 9. Undocumented migrants, prisoners,
homeless people, and the chronically unemployed lumpenproletariat are
generally not economic oppressors.
Comrade Grim was spot on with what was said about the ideas and
ideals driving Christian Zionism generally and as it manifests itself in
the prison tablet space.
Regarding the group Grim mentioned by name, Real Vida TV, i
was able to work closely with Real Vida while organizing on behalf of
Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. At the time their line on solitary confinement was
that they saw it as torture and that it should be shut down in its
totality. This matched Our own line on solitary confinement and Real
Vida was willing and did assist us in spreading Our message, connecting
us with interested groups and opening their platform up to us and our
supporters. At the time it was only an audio radio show, not a podcast,
and there were no tablets. They also acted as communication assistants
helping us make important contacts with each other from plantation to
plantation as we organized a state wide hunger strike against solitary
confinement. All this is to say that at the time we had a working
relationship, regardless of their Christian Zionist beliefs.
However, this changed after Operation Al—Aqsa flood. Personally
speaking i couldn’t even listen to the garbage they were spewing let
alone look past it. Ties were severed. To me the question of the Third
World proletariat and the Palestinian nationalist struggle far
out-weighs the u.s. prisoner class-based struggles.
They’re the most reactionary manifestation of the christian prison
ministries and also one of the most popular. A lot of their videos are
widely discussed afterwards and i’ve had more than a few disputes and
even fisticuffs surrounding the B.S. they spew. The cold truth is that
as MIM(Prisons) says, not all prisoners are swayed by this garbage. But
the Palestinian struggle has unearthed the reactionary, patriotic
amerikkkan spirit among the lumpen here. What i observe is that only the
most politically and socially conscious inmates side with the
Palestinian struggle, and this is the minority.
The tablets play a role in that they have very limited selection of
voices and ideas, particularly on this sort of issue. Pando App
dominates the landscape and prior to March 2024, when podcasts were
uploaded onto all tablets, Pando was basically the only source of
entertainment. i have filed complaints concerning discrimination in
content that is available on the KA Lite app, which is an education app
that has a wide variety of scientific and hard historical factual
knowledge, but the prison admin has to allow permission to download
content. My complaint came after observing that there was no content
concerning Africa, the Black Liberation struggle, and anti-colonial
revolutions. Although these videos have been made by the app creator,
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has not allowed us
access to the content. i also filed a complaint on the podcast platform
for similar reasons but pertaining solely to Palestine.
The final comment is that outside comrades have to begin to get their
content on the music and/or podcast platforms. i sent a previous note to
MIM(Prisons) on how to do that with the Securus people.
Firewater of USW also responded: Grim, read your
article in ULK 86. I totally agree with you about the Christian
religion and these “evangelists” supporting mass murder and exploitation
around the world. The people at Real Vida are real nice folks, but they
are brainwashed and misguided like all Christians. We need to be able to
copy what they do only for our revolutionary work.
We need to be doing what Real Vida is doing but like you said the
Christian Zionists have a monopoly on these tablets and it needs to be
broken up! I was in medium and high security and all we could watch was
“Pando App”, which is nothing but Christian Evangelists and we have an
FYI App that is run by TDCJ and is all Jesus all the time!
TDCJ is run by these Christian Chapels and they oppress other
religions such as Muslim, Native American, Eastern religions, etc. The
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Unitarian Universalists’ Prison
Ministry said that the “PANDO” App would not allow the CLF to
participate. Probably because the PANDO folks are right-wing evangelical
kooks and the CLF and UUA are extremely liberal organizations.
Grim is right on when ey talks about the genocide of Turtle Island
and the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth’s treasures. They love to
tout capitalism as the greatest engine of wealth ever created. But it’s
like Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the farm animals are ruled by
their newly formed governance of PIGS!
Without any
Bias
Honestly
Look at the social construct of unjust justice
And what do u see
I could say there’s nothing I see
But broken promises and shattered dreams
Or so it seems
From the depth of the penitentiary
Steel and concrete is all there is
For me to see
But this ain’t about me
Not specifically
See
The steel and concrete
Is only
The surface
Look beneath
And I’ll find purpose
that’s tryin’ tirelessly
2 overcome it’s life changin’ mistakes
Or are they truly
Just the breaks of the slum
Where the conflicts
Of life reside
The ones that come from
The quote-un-quote
Wrong side
That side
Where they movin’ pack after pack
Around the clock
None stop on the block
Chasin’ greenbacks until u get them racks
Greenbacks on top of greenbacks
Racks from the other side of the tracks
Where the so-called killers kill
And the drug dealers deal
Where the so-called robbers rob
And the Grinch of Christmas steal
Murders and thieves
Are societies stereotypes of an unwanted
Community
A Community that only wants equality
With an opportunity
Instead of bein’ misunderstood
Fathers, sons, daughters, sisters
Brothers and mothers
This racially biased society
That don’t see any good
In this community of poverty
U and me
Are the ones usually forgotten
And not accepted by society
As if we can’t change for the better
U and me
What a shame on society
for turnin’ its back on a community
That’s a result of steel and concrete.