Federal Prisons

I’m sorry but I just now received your other paperwork; my unit had been keeping it with the STG (Security Threat Group). I would like to continue receiving information on this “so-called” prison system that’s here not to help us Inmates or Convicts out. I’ve been reading and it’s a shame how our family doesn’t know what’s going on. See I have it a lil harder because I’m a Freemason in the 3° and I’ve been traveling for 13 yrs and some of my Brethren that work in TDCJ look down at me and I’m only here for capital murder.

I write grievances every week and out of 123 I’ve written for myself only 2 came back undenied; and only 3 out of the 200+ I’ve written for other inmates. This Grievance System is nefarious and the officers’ malpractice here is opprobrious; the officers walk around here with no repercussions for their atrocious conduct. The crazy part is that we have security cameras up everywhere (no sound); but even though it’s all caught on film, there still is no action taken.

The United $tates has been waging a low-intensity war in Somalia for over a decade, and it’s only getting worse. U.$. bombings in Somalia have tripled since Trump took office. These bombings generally go unreported in the Amerikan press, but investigative journalist Amanda Sperber has helped bring what little information there is to light. According to her report, the administration has refused to explain to Congress its reasoning for the increased bombing campaign. The United States’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) reports claim only terrorists have been killed in these “targeted attacks,” while Sperger has spoken with victims on the ground who list young children and civilians as being killed. This has become the common result of the U.$. drone wars.

In 2017, President Trump issued a directive allowing AFRICOM to assassinate anyone it identified as a member of Al Shabaab. The new president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, is an Amerikan-trained puppet who has allowed AFRICOM to operate freely within the country. It is little wonder that Al Shabaab garners support with calls for national liberation in a country that has no free will independent of U.$. imperialism.

In addition to AFRICOM, it has been reported that the CIA is also assassinating people in Somalia, and their requirements for transparency are even more limited. While there are reportedly 500 Amerikan troops in Somalia these days, almost all operations, including the CIA, are run from the safety of the “Green Zone.” They use drones to do the killing, and then claim that everyone killed was a terrorist.

Southern Somalia is just one hotspot for AFRICOM-operated warfare on the continent of Africa. It is these secret imperial wars that comrades in United Struggle from Within are standing up against by joining the campaign to Shut Down AFRICOM. We must work to lift the veil of secrecy around these wars, and build an anti-imperialist movement that is capable of challenging these unnecessary deaths from within the belly of the beast.

As this issue of Under Lock & Key goes to print we will be tallying up the final count of petition signatures from our readers. These petitions will be submitted to the Congressional Black Caucus by the Black Alliance for Peace in April.

I personally said that to do some time in any Texas State prison is to do time in one of the nastiest and scariest places. I am not talking about gang affiliation, I am talking about the condition that we are living in and how we get treated worse than animals. I was on a farm that was infested real bad with rats and mice. Then a few years later, I got transferred to a nastier, dirtier unit infested with roaches and ants. We eat ice-cold food. They are supposed to feed us a hot tray, no no no, like I just told you, ice-cold food and beans or corn. And the vegetables are always spoiled. I have complained many, many times. I have had to tell inmates what is going on. Why we let them feed us like animals, but I came to find out that this is a program for inmates with mental problems. So now I know how they don’t care about us; feeding us and treating us that way.

On Sunday, 3 March, 2019, a fellow prisoner passed away in afternoon yard. One minute he was talking with his buddies, going around the track, the next he was on the ground not breathing. Not surprisingly, the COs took their good old time responding to the scene, even though the man dropped not even 100 yards from where they were stationed. It took medical staff 15 minutes to respond after the call went in on the walkie. Since then, I found out several things.

1. DOC staff are not put through CPR training at their academy. Only medical staff are mandated to take this training.

2. Prisoners are not permitted to do CPR on any persyn, even if trained on the streets, or even if they could potentially save a life. Serious consequences can and will result, if a prisoner performs CPR on anyone.

3. Medical staff admit that the man might have lived if the response time was seen the slightest bit faster.

4. DOC staff couldn’t give a shit about any persyn other than one of their own.

In 2018, about 1% of our subscribers in U.$. prisons donated money each month. Those comrades supplied about 2% of the funding for printing and mailing Under Lock & Key to prisoners across the country. If you include all money from comrades behind bars, including literature purchases, and MIM(Prisons) full operating budget, those comrades provided about 5.8% of our funds. This is not an insignificant portion of our budget, yet it remains relatively small considering our primary audience is U.$. prisoners.

We are still in the progress of exploring options for how to make ULK a monthly newsletter. While we hope to be more efficient with our resources as part of this campaign, there is little doubt our total costs are going to increase significantly. And the comrades in MIM(Prisons), who fund the vast majority of what we do, will not have the ability to cover such an increase. Therefore this expansion will have to stand on 3 legs: 1) partners who we hope will co-publish the new newsletter, therefore taking on some portion of the funding and distribution; 2) recruiting new distributors on the streets who will also contribute a monthly amount to fund the new newsletter; and 3) our existing subscribers in U.$. prisons.

Many years ago we reported that prisoners funded 4% of Under Lock & Key and set a goal of increasing that to 10%. Since then we’ve tracked donations separate from payments for literature or other services. Today, we have a ways to go to reach that modest goal of funding 10% of Under Lock & Key from comrades behind bars.

If you are a reader of ULK who thinks that doubling the frequency with which we can send communiques out to prisoners across the country is a needed expansion, please think about how you can organize to contribute to funding that expansion.

Currently, a one-year subscription to Under Lock & Key costs about $10 to fulfill. We don’t know what that number will be under the new scenario yet. The goal of funding 10% of ULK could be reached by 10% of prisoners who receive ULK contributing $10 per year. Remember we only have 1% of our subscribers donating right now, covering about 2% of the costs. We need at least ten times more of you to step up to help make this goal attainable. Contact us for info on how to donate by check our MO.

You can put me in the jailhouse
But I’ll look at it as a clubhouse
You can give me a violent shove
But in the end I’ll rise above

You can call me an inmate
But I still won’t show you hate
You can make me wear this ugly green
But when my bid is done and over I’ll burn it with kerosene

You can show me disrespect
But I’ll laugh and still show you respect
You can show me your rage
But I will not engage

You can violate my mail
But I’ll remember I’m in jail
You can restrain me with your chain
But I will stay sane

I may be beaten down
But I’ll never be broken

I have been incarcerated 27 years now and most of my time I’ve spent on “Safe keeping.” We are usually discriminated against by both inmates and officers. I have experienced verbal insults and threats and shortened food in the chow hall. Complaining does no good and the grievance system is a joke where the complaint comes back “officers deny all allegations.” I guess some people feel the need to vent their frustrations out on others to relieve their own problems, but I wonder why people can’t treat others properly.

Medical here is strange; we wait in a cage for hours to see a “provider” who offers aspirin or other generic medication at the cost of $100. I have seen many times where they misdiagnose a prisoner or even find no problem when the person later finds out he has cancer.

I am on solitary confinement and need your assistance on legal matters. How to sue the people that are mistreating me by refusing to feed me or leaving me without water for days, and no clothing. Thank you for your help.

Dear fellow fighters for Justice and for what’s right. By the time this Missive reaches you I hope and pray that it finds you in the best of health and spirits; that you are being blessed abundantly above all you could think or imagine. I am writing to you in regards to the Texas Pack. This current administration (i.e. wardens, majors, sgts, etc) are blatantly disregarding all guidelines and protocol set forth by the A.C.A. (American Correctional Association) and TDCJ itself.

Here at French Robertson Unit we just came off a 30 day lock-down and were denied hygiene and correspondence privileges per the Administrative Directive (AD-03.31). Some offenders have received major disciplinary cases and don’t have the opportunity to attend their own hearing. Due process violation. I could give you a laundry list of things and violations committed but I would need more postage! The crux of the matter, unembellished, is that the wardens and ranking staff are in direct contravention to guidelines TDCJ adopted and instituted. These established rules and principles are for the protection and enforcement of private rights for the employees and officers, as well as for the offender population. I humbly ask that you send me the Texas Pack.

By a bit of serendipity, I recently ran across the contact info for MIM(Prisons) and on a whim subscribed to the newsletter without fully understanding what I was to receive. After reading ULK 66 (the first response to my initial request) I feel inspired to offer my first thoughts of the movement in hopes it may aid in future recruiting.

First and foremost, I tend to be distrustful of any organization, especially those with strong viewpoints. However, this fear was greatly abated by the statement that members need not agree with all points of the group so long as they do not actively oppose them. I feel this is an incredible strength of USW, and inclusion in any individual organization is a powerful tool for recruitment. It projects confidence by saying “we don’t have to control your views” and encourages those who are close to, but not in, alignment with said views to sit and listen to what you have to say.

Secondly, I was impressed by the article/response format and self-criticisms. As an extension of the first point, it shows that USW practices what it preaches by allowing uncensored articles to be published, and independently it shows that no one, party leaders included, is above reproof. In my opinion, any organization willing to hold its members/leaders responsible for their actions is a cut above. We are all human, and prone to human error. To pretend otherwise is a discouragement.

My one word of criticism would be the use of jargon which made some articles obfuscated. I’ve written this article to mirror the way I normally speak, without regard to what my readers may understand, to help illustrate this point. While I have no doubt many readers will understand all my words, I’m sure there will be many who are put off by my use of uncommon terms. The same is true of any specialized language. While most words can be looked up in a dictionary (although lumpen still puzzles me), I think it is best to use simple language in recruitment material, or be sure to include a quick definition hear the beginning.

I hope these observations will prove helpful to others. May your words match your deeds, your deeds match your values, and your values match your beliefs.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This is a good reminder to all writers for ULK that we should try to write in language that is accessible to our readers. Sometimes it will be necessary to use a word like “lumpen” because it is the only word that describes what we are talking about. But even then we can try to define our words in context. Sometimes we receive article submissions that are clearly written by well educated folks, but which seem to be showing off their vocabulary, and making it much harder to read than necessary. So we agree that writing as you would speak is a good general guideline.

With that said, we welcome everyone to submit articles to ULK regardless of your writing skill and political education level. We often get letters from folks who are hesitant to submit articles until they get more education. We suggest instead to just write about something you know. If you see some abuses at your prison, write about that. If you see some good organizing going on where you’re housed, write about that. Start from what you know based on your real world observation, and add political analysis to that as you are comfortable. We can always help with the analysis, and we are happy to help with your writing too. But if you write like you talk, chances are it will come across as readable and make for a good article.

Let us know if you need a copy of our writers guide which gives you some helpful tips on language and format and topics.

And here’s a definition of First World lumpen, the term we most commonly use: The class of people in the First World who are excluded from the productive process. By virtue of living in the First World this class, on average, receives more material benefits from imperialism than the global proletariat. As such their interests are not the same as the exploited classes and we do not include them in the “lumpen-proletariat.” But their conditions in many ways parallel those of the lumpen-proletariat standing in stark contrast to the majority of the First World populations.