Federal Prisons

On December 22, 2009 a guard was assaulted, and I am accused. I was attacked by a hoard of guards. If you have ever seen a bunch of wild animals during a feeding frenzy that is exactly how they acted. I was taken to the floor, there were 13 to 17 guards on top of me. This one supervisor named Germond sprayed me directly at point blank range with a long blast of chemical agent (pepper spray - mace) the powerful chemical effectively took all of my air and went up my nasal passage, of my frontal lobe, he then shook the can and saturated my face with another longer blast, all over my face. The chemical becomes very hot once it touched your skin, burning ever hotter, the more air it is exposed to.

A Guantanamo type mask was placed over my entire head, effectively cutting off my ability to breath even further, coupled with the fact that I had over 1200 pounds on top of me. I could not expand my diaphragm and I was on the verge of blacking out. Actually suffocation via asphyxiation. I was fortunate that I had my arms to the front, and with every ounce of my strength I was able to turn enough to get some air. This one guard was violently punching me in the jaw, another one was drop kneeing me (standing up and dropping down on me with his knee). There was someone trying to hurt, if not break my legs, while yet another one was trying to break my fingers, I had to make a fist to prevent this.

They finally put leg irons and handcuffs on me, the leg irons were so tight I was unable to walk. I was suppose to be put under cold water to decontaminate me. Instead they put me under hot water, which caused excruciating pain as the chemicals got into my pores. And this was done on purpose just to cause me pain. Due to the leg irons being so tight I was unable to walk, so they dragged me down this quarter mile long hallway. I was put in this dirty filthy cell, in all the years of doing time I have never been in a cell that was a foul as this one was, it smelled like the den of a wild beast, there was dried blood, urine and spit on the floor and walls. The toilet had crud on the outside, and about an inch on the inside. I was chained to a bed, 4 pointed. They have managed to transform the use of this therapeutic, mental health procedure, to a form of punishment and torture, and it was amplified in my case by chaining one of my arms up and down which is reported to cause pain, and did cause me pain. And such practice is in violation of the DOC’s own policy.

As they were putting the chains on me, these two sad excuses for human beings, named Sisk and Thomas were putting their feet on the edge of the bed to gain leverage, so they could pull the chains as tight as physically possible, to assure I would be in maximum pain. They applied so much pressure, they hyper-extended my collar bone, which remains painful and swollen. I was 4 pointed over night, and it was probably the longest night of my life. Every second in pain and being burned by the chemicals on your face. I was denied water by Lt. Germond, as though this was not enough, my cloths were ripped and cut off of me until I was totally naked, the cell was colder than a refrigerator. A useless cotton porous blanket was put over top of me, but my feet were only inches away from the back wall, which was like a block of ice, you could feel the cold radiating from the wall as much as a foot away. I was truly afraid that my feet would become frostbitten. I was unable to sleep the entire 12 hours I was chained.

Once they removed me from the stationary chaining, I was 3 pointed, placed in handcuffs, leg irons and a tether chain which connected the hands to the feet. And the tether chain was short chained, another illegal procedure applied to keep you bent over, unable to stand erect, and causes pain in your lower back. I was left like this for 4 days. The floor was dirty and made of concrete, and I had no socks or shoes. The toilet could only be flushed from the outside, and in 9 days it was only flushed 4 times. The first couple of days I was not fed at all, it was not until an internal affairs officer came did they start feeding me. (This guard named St. John led the charge not to feed me.) Soon after they started feeding me, the guards started urinating and spitting in my food, so I did not eat anything but drink the milk and juice for the next nine days.

Immediately after the incident every Tom, Dick and Harry was writing false disciplinary reports on me. The purpose was to keep me without my radio. That is how their sick twisted minds work as they try to break me. I am also without my property, and they are keeping me isolated. But you may rest assured, I actually see it as a badge of honor. I was moved after 9 days to what amounted to the Ku Klux Klan’s den, run by the Grand Dragon, Captain Chaill. As the head goes, so goes the body. They have been, and continue to subject me to all kinds of unsavory and discriminatory treatment, not giving me my out of cell exercise, forcing me to go out in inclement weather without being adequately dressed, coming up with all kinds of arbitrary and capricious rules that only apply to me. Once in that unit they started urinating in my coffee. I prepared some samples of the coffee and sent them to the state police, governor, commissioner, warden and the Grand Dragon, to be tested for DNA. The Grand Dragon came to my cell with a larger contingent of guards and put me back into the same filthy type cell in isolation. The charge was using the mail to send my sample. He lied and said that I purported it to be a sample of my urine sent in retaliation. These cells are supposed to be used to control someone being violent. He used it solely as punishment and retaliation. (I was kept in chains again for 3 days, the same filthy, dirty, cold cells. In order to sustain his lie, the Grand Dragon discarded my written description of what I was sending, he further ripped the top off the document in order to hide what had been written, and then as a final move threw away the actual evidence and took instead a very bad black and white photo. And even after i presented all of that to the D.R. board they still found me guilty, in triple fashion of a kangaroo court.)

They have destroyed all of my legal cases by mixing all of my documents together. It would take a team of forensic scientists or a team of archaeologists to get them back in order again, I’m not even going to try. I am just going to allow the cases to expire and file a lawsuit. In closing my motto is: that which does not kill me only tends to make me stronger.

Please write to:

Governor Jode Rell
State Capitol Building
Hartford, CT 06106

Commissioner of Corrections
24 Wolcott Hill Rd
Wethersfield, CT 06109

A new report from the NATO allies revealed the true story behind drone attacks in Afghanistan. A few months back the man of change, Obama, ordered strikes killing three or four Taliban fighters and one hundred and forty some-odd civilians, among them children and wimmin. What a change for the people of the u.$. and the rest of the world! What a change for the oppression of wimmin in Afghanistan! Change came to the Afghan people in the form of 30,000 more troops to oppress, kill and torture them on their own land.

All this was done under the noses of amerikans without a protest. What happened to all those protesters under the Bush administration? The war against the oppressed has not stopped. Have they given up? That is the exact result when people trying to change an oppressive system do not have the right strategy or understanding of how to go about it.

What the Afghan and Iraqi brothers and sisters are going through is what occurred to the Mexica, Incas, Tainos and the rest of the native people of the land now called the Americas.

The capitalist system must destroy, oppress, kill and exploit in order to sustain itself. That is why the united snakes has two war fronts at the same time. We must not allow the destruction that the Iraqi and Afghan people are facing. We must fight to stop the continuation of oppression and exploitation of the rest of the world.

So far, the only way available to stop the exploitation and oppression of humyn beings by other humyn beings is through the formation of a government with a communist philosophy. This is a government we need to struggle harder to form, because the existence of the people of the world is at risk.

You, who believe in caring for your people, study communism. You, who want to help other people and nations, don’t wait until a natural disaster hits as the one in Haiti. Study socialism. You, who consider yourself a revolutionary, don’t be half-way revolutionary. Revolutionaries are constant causers or helpers of change. Be that every possible moment of your life.

Let’s change the capitalist society into a socialist society, and then the socialist into a communist and beyond as we reach communism. For the better well-being of our children’s future, brothers and sisters.

note: World Focus with Daijit Dhaliwal. PBS. February 5, 2010.

MIM(Prisons) adds: Today, reports emerged of a u.$./NATO bombing that claimed to be an attack on Taliban fighters, but it turned out to be a civilian convoy and 33 people were killed. Uncounted tens of thousands of people have been killed in Afghanistan since the u.$. occupation began in 2001.

This comrade applies the concepts of line, strategy and tactics to an international issue well in this article. We also commend h for writing an article on international news, and encourage others to follow this example, making connections between the prison struggle and the struggle of oppressed people around the world.

One thing we would add in regards to line is a deeper analysis of the protesters and other amerikans who claim to oppose the occupation of Afghanistan. For those who are serious, we must push a more radical agenda and a studying of Maoism and communism as the writer does. But what holds back most amerikans is that they don’t have a life or death interest in opposing imperialism. On the contrary, amerikans benefit from imperialism, so condemnations of war often come in the form of moralistic verbal protests, with little power or force to back it up. That said, our strategy must be adapted to this situation and we must focus on organizing the minority within u.$. borders that can be organized against imperialism. We must organize that minority around anti-imperialist demands that serve them and move them to committed struggle, and we must connect that to the struggles of the international proletariat, which are the foundation of communist revolution. We will explore these ideas more in our upcoming newsletters focused on strategy and tactics.

A California comrade who has long thought we should do an issue criticizing the rcp=u$a writes:

I disagree with MIM however on one fine point in the article where you state that “many still see the rcp=u$a as representing Maoism because their populist politics gives them a greater public face in many areas (inside u$ prisons is one exception to this).” Do you mean to imply that the rcp doesn’t hold much sway in u$ prisyns because the masses here know better? If this is the case then I would say no, they do appear to at the very least to have some kind of foothold in CA prisyns.

I’ve noticed more people than there used to be are familiar with the rcp’s rag, but not many. Some even spew their distractionist rhetoric. Of course I debate them but there’s only so much that can be said to those who already believe avakian to be the “great man of hystory.”

Since the upcoming ULK will be centered on strategies & tactics, the exposing of the rcp’s counterrevolutionary activities might be able to play some kind of role. They must be beat back to the hole from which they came! I hypothesize that the rcp is siphoning off many potential revolutionaries from inside the prisyns. Might this be MIM’s assessment as well? The deadly rcp strategy of substituting eclecticism for dialectics is I believe at the heart of their strength and success. Would you agree?

A Missouri comrade also responded:

I wanted to briefly respond to something that comrade Wiawimawo said in the article Revisiting RCP Revisionism in ULK 12. The comrade said many of the readers of ULK are not grappling with the questions facing Maoism today. And those that cannot distinguish Maoism from right opportunism of groups like the rcp=u$a have not yet grasped it.

I am not refuting what this comrade said, I just want to say that a lot of the readers lack the information and some have never been involved in revolutionary activity. We would hope that comrades would become inspired from reading ULK to go on to study harder and learn faster. But again, there is a lack of authentic material. I have quite a bit of material and none from the rcp=u$a, so even I can’t really argue against their line when I haven’t read shit they’ve wrote. I haven’t seen a Revolutionary Worker or Worker’s World in years. The same for the Burning Spear.

At the same time, it is on us to teach those who will listen and I believe that ULK is doing a tremendous job and the Book to Prisoners Program is also a great resource.

In the last couple years, MIM(Prisons) has stepped in to re-establish the prevalence of Maoist literature available to the prison movement. This came after years of inconsistency as the Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika degenerated. The need for this literature is clear from this discussion. So supporters who can provide money or other resources to expand this work should reach out to us.

We agree with our CA comrade about the importance of combating revisionism as part of building a strong movement. While the author of that article was lamenting the need to spend time on such work, it would be idealist to expect otherwise. However, as our MO comrade points out, most of our readers are not familiar with the rcp=u$a anyway. To focus an issue of our newsletter on them would give undo attention to the topic. An issue reviewing many different political lines would be more useful, as most readers will find lines that they have come across.

We do not believe that the prison masses know better than to follow the rcp=u$a, that is why we thought it important to print that review. We do believe that MIM has had much more influence on the prison movement, despite its weak points. So MIM Thought is more likely to be identified with Maoism inside prisons than on the streets in the united $tates where rcp=u$a will be.

And yes, we agree that rcp=u$a eclecticism serves its popularity. Even among prisoners, the hard line of MIM loses us many friends. But we aren’t looking for friends, we’re looking for real allies who will stand strong for the revolutionary road.

The point made by Wiawimawo was not to say that you must understand the difference between MIM(Prisons) and rcp=u$a in particular, but rather that you must understand why the MIM line is correct in general. If you don’t you will fall for the eclecticism of rcp=u$a or any other snake oil salesman that comes along.

Certainly, rcp=u$a is recruiting people who might have otherwise worked with the Maoist movement. That could be said about a number of groups out there. But we aren’t too worried about that. We are confident in our political line, which makes us strong. Other groups will come and go, or if they have state funding they will stay and stagnate. But only the correct ideological line can build a new prison movement that has real power.

I started reading [The Straight Scoop from Charlie Daniels (see excerpt below)] with the thought, “Oh, he has some good music” and ended up with the, “never again will I listen to country music.” All country music is patriotic, racist pig rhetoric. Take old Toby Keith’s bullshit soldier songs.

Motherfucker, Charlie Daniels, those Taliban have been victims, their land was invaded, their wives and children murdered… Let’s see your pussy ass go through that and not have a heart attack!!!

It’s his conviction that he’s so right that’s frightening. And he is amerika. The epitomy of the average amerikan right there. Ignorant, proud, uppity, evil, wrong!

The Straight Scoop from Charlie Daniels… I’ve just returned from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Naval Air Station base where we did three shows for the troops and toured several locations around the post visiting with some of the finest military personnel on planet earth. The kids seemed to really enjoy the shows and especially liked “This Ain’t No Rag, It’s A Flag” and “In America.” … The truth is that these scum bags [Taliban detainees] are not only being treated humanely, but they are probably better off health wise and medically than they’ve ever been in their lives.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Charlie Daniels is taking up the Michael Moore (maker of the film Sicko) amerikan populist line on health care. MIM(Prisons) calls for the u.$. to provide universal health care to all people in countries under u.$. occupation, while white nationalists get indignant because a thousand prisoners of war get medical attention while they are tortured in long-term isolation. Daniels thinks long-term isolation is humane, and is pissed off that they are getting such good health care. This is amerikan chauvinism at its finest as our comrade points out.

Any humynist would be pissed off that the only way Third World people have been able to get decent health care under imperialism is by being captured and tortured by the imperialists. At home, with their family, such care is not available. Racists like Daniels and Moore think Afghans and other Third World people get what they deserve, while amerikans need more when they have access to Viagra, boob jobs and an endless list of medical technology that is purely recreational and not related to survival.

The time has come
to pick up that gun,
in your mind.
Leave the petty differences behind.
Utilize your mind
to find that ideological line,
or shit will never change
in here
or out there.
It’s all the same.
Prisyners to confusion and mass distribution.
Pollution of the mind.
So take the time,
to take a look around.
Ask yourself,
who’s the real clowns?
Us or them?
Pigs united
are hard to be divided,
but the masses united
will never be divided,
or defeated.
So come together as one.
Leave the stupid shit behind.
Find that ideological line.
If you’re really a rider,
prove it.
Ride that ideological line.

You ain’t a soldier!
You’s a poser!
What you soldiering for?
Fame and glory?
That story’s getting old.
What’s that man really talking bout?
Spouting consequences to stupid nonsense.
He’s only kidding,
while you’re doing his bidding.
So what’s he really talking bout?
What’s his politics about?
Fame and glory?
That same story!?
Homey please!
Tell you what?
Pick up those books,
and get a hook.
Ain’t nobody talking about revolution,
except the Maoist Internationalist Movement,
and the United Soldiers from Within,
because the Movement move men,
to bigger better things.
The mission?
Prisyn liberation from within.

Children colored by a different sun,
then 500 yrs under the gun.
Hystorically speaking,
we are all the same.
If you will use your mind,
then you will find,
that our hystories are intertwined.
We’ve all been enslaved,
and we’ve all been colonized.
We’ve all been exploited.
Are we not still slaves
to their relations of production?
Are our peoples still not exploited
for their class consumption?
Hystorically speaking,
from a materialist viewpoint,
we are all the same.
So, Brown and Black
we must all attack,
the division amongst the masses
so there can be
no division amongst the masses
only two classes.
Us vs. them.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) responds here to a comrade’s petition for the proper handling of grievances in California. This governmental body may be helpful in pushing our campaign forward if they receive several petitions from different participants, enough to “determine whether a pattern or practice investigation is warranted.” Participants in the grievance campaign should mail copies of their signed petitions to each party listed on the campaigns page so that we are maximizing the effects of each signature.

When we succeed with a campaign under imperialism, we are making more room for revolutionary organizing. When prison administrators, courts, and the DOJ obstruct or are non-cooperative in achieving our campaign goals, we have still drawn attention to an unresolvable problem with the status quo, as well as brought more people into the struggle against oppression. Whether the DOJ becomes involved in this battle or not, it is still important to spread the campaign as much as we can under this unjust system.

Dear Reader,

Open your eyes, close your ears sometimes, and focus on your surroundings. What I am trying to say is that we have been spending more time listening to what others around us are speaking about than opening our own eyes to the big picture. Crip is not a gang, it is a foundation that represents the understood individuals; “Controlled, Respectful & Intelligent People.” I am a leader of the Rolling 60’s Crip Foundation. I am standing on my own two feet cause no one else will stand for me but me. I am also a member of the Moorish Science Temple.

We are our own worst enemy but some of us don’t realize it until it’s too late. We spend a lot of time worrying about the next person when our main concern should be self. A lot of us don’t know our own true self, but we think we do. We will never gain the understanding of self, unless we stop oppressing one another. As a leader I ask that we focus more on self than each other.

I know it’s hard because of the way we’ve become adapted to the prison institution. Love, live and let go of the situations between one another and let’s give the system a run for its money.

A very big question that raises eye brows is why do those that play that tuff role worry about going home early so much? The answer to that question is, in my opinion, that they are afraid to fight the system but will fight each other. That’s because they know that fighting each other makes them look tuff. No. Not at all in my eyes. All that says to me is that we are more ignorant than the system makes us out to be. The system wants us to be at each others’ throats. Why do ya’ll think that when we stand up for each other they become heated? But when they suit up and call a team to intimidate us a lot of us fold out of fear of being hurt & locked up in segregation. Heck, we are already locked up, what else can they do to us?

Martin Luther King didn’t have a weak dream, he had an uplifting dream for us to stand together and fight those who oppress us. Let us rise and fight for what we stand for as human beings.

MIM(Prisons) adds: The principle contradiction in the world today is that between the imperialist nations and the oppressed nations. This is an antagonistic contradiction, that must be resolved by the latter overtaking the power of the former. But before we get there, there are other contradictions that the oppressed face.

In prisons, the principal contradiction is among the people, as this comrade explains. The resolution of this contradiction requires those working for unity overcoming the mindsets of division. Sometimes those mindsets will be found in the oppressor, but currently they are very common among the oppressed. So there is a dialectical process occurring right now as people are starting to step back to see the big picture, to consider why they do what they do. Unity begins with the individual. Transforming oneself into a new revolutionary persyn is always happening simultaneously as we work with others to build unity and promote change on a larger scale.

Humyns are social beings that face large problems in how our society is structured. So focusing on yourself can’t address these problems. But for those who are still part of the problem, there is a great need to take a step back and reflect on oneself and how you fit into the greater society. Soon you will realize that there are many roles you can play, and you do not have to remain stuck in the one that has been taught to you.

While we know that MLK’s ideology cannot solve antagonistic contradictions within imperialism, his strategies may be very applicable to the needs of the prison movement at this stage in a country that claims to uphold freedom and civil rights.

Everything you are
is everything I hate
Everything you love
is everything I ain’t
I want to live
you are already dead
I struggle to achieve revolution
Divesting knowledge like you do bread
The day your obese heart stops
and all you know ceases to exist
I’ll still be sweating truth
Your daughter my wife, you not missed
Keep me here for years
but know the longer I stay
my mind’s building the future
how it’ll be one day
Understand I’m a man now
not that weak confused child
What pain you caused me growing up
will return, boomerang, anything but mild
For now I sit
starved, rattling my chains
but I’m stronger for this
You weaken by the day!