Federal Prisons

29 July 2013 - The hunger strike seems to be struggling along. Corcoran Security Housing Unit stopped running yard for about a week. CDCR seems to be about to implement the “step down program” here at California State Prison - Corcoran SHU. And its so-called “conditional inactive release, monitored status” for guys who are being reviewed for inactive status by CDC DRB (review board). From what I’ve heard, guys aren’t biting on the “banana-in-the-tailpipe” bullshit.

Day 15 of the Death Row SHU (adjustment center) hunger strike. Almost 50 participating and the administration is scratching its ass in frustration, using every dirty track in the book (operational procedure [OP608]).

After 3 days we’re official hunger strikers. Within only 2 days we were getting set up to be declared “leaders” by a sergeant or lieutenant under the guise of negotiations. By day 5 the facility captain started sweating us. At this point our peaceful action shows potential to expose human rights violations due to imminent media attention, so prison officials hoping to cover things up deem this a disruption to facility operations while part of their clique forms an Institutional Classification Committee (ICC) which then threatens us with a Rules Violation Report based on their wild stretch interpretation of 15 CCR 3315 (a)(2)(L). This makes each of us a documented/validated participant in a Security Threat Group (STG) action (OP608, sec419 B.m.n.). If that fails to halt the advance of our struggle for basic human needs, CDCR’s playbook then calls for an intensified sensory deprivation program to be implemented (OP608, Sec. 419 C/Sec. 815). All this clearly demonstrates CDCR’s premeditated response to our peaceful action is the continuation of violent torture methods with malice under the guise of “security.”

Course of action: everyone simply states they have nothing to say. Thus, nobody provides evidence of being “leader” or “an organizer” through individual testimony. The open letter with its list of demands speaks for itself in behalf of us all, participating or not, while our non-violent participation in the struggle is an action which speaks louder than mere words. We’re simply allowing CDCR’s twisted response to unravel, thus exposing their premeditated malice which they have reworded in the OP608.

MIM(Prisons) has joined the many organizations and individuals who are demanding that the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) address the medical needs of prisoners throughout the hunger strike. These people are hired as public servants, and yet they allow people to suffer and die by denying basic medical care. We don’t know what the cause of Billy Sell’s death was, but we know a number of comrades who have known conditions that are not being addressed during the hunger strike. While those on strike are not getting the state-mandated medical checks.

In our years of experience advocating for U.$. prisoners, it has not been uncommon for Amerikans to say “let them rot” or even become belligerent towards us for something as benign as handing out a flier. It is no surprise then, that our comrades are reporting similar attitudes from the staff who are overseeing their well-being in California prisons.

This kind of oppression is exactly what the current prison movement needs to combat. There is a social force opposing the lumpen of the oppressed nations. And the only way to stop this abuse is for the lumpen of the oppressed nations to organize as a counter force, which means organizing in a different way than they have been in recent decades. Ensuring prisoner health requires survival programs organized by the oppressed populations themselves. These are rights that prisoners supposedly have in this country. But as we know, no rights are guaranteed unless you fight for them.

As the strike in California passes the 20-day mark, the tens of thousands of people who have completed their solidarity strikes need to be building more long-term institutions - study groups, health campaigns, legal assistance clinics, etc. These are the first steps towards building independent institutions of the oppressed, which are necessary because the existing institutions of the state will kill us.

11 July 2013 - As you well know we are demonstrating and will continue until demands or compromise is met!

As of now everything is running smoothly! All basic modified program - regular medical ducats, regular nurse/pill rounds, regular C/O security checks, nobody in my general area has complaints of negligent or abusive behavior.

Just got word of cell extractions being done to certain individuals in some buildings.

They’ve passed out CDC 128A forms regarding future discipline if behavior persists.

I received a letter from California Prison Focus in Oakland, it was almost one month 1ate! An obvious stall tactic. It was in regards to the 7/13 rally/march in front of CSP-Corcoran asking to let loved ones/friends know.

No weight checks or medical checks as of now (5:00 pm). Institutional procedure not being followed.

Thank you.

13 July 2013 - Day Six: No weight/med-health checks as of now. Man down response time was thirty minutes yesterday. Rally/march is active outside the walls!

Regular C.O./Sgt/Med staff checks have ceased. Most of us are single cell by choice and won’t receive cellmates during demonstration. Nothing more we can do at this point. C.O./Sgt/Med staff definitely not following proper procedure.

Please contact my family if something happens to me.

MIM(Prisons) adds: Hundreds of people did rally outside of Corcoran State Prison on 13 July 2013 in the brutal heat to show support for the strikers inside. Those on the outside who want to support the struggle against torture in California prisons should contact state officials and voice your concerns and help spread the word through demonstrations and sharing information with others.

The reports above were delayed in reaching us, but is the most recent report we have from Corcoran. The latest from the CDCR is that 1,000 prisoners are still on strike in California early in week three. They reported over 12,000 who met their criteria for being on a hunger strike at the peak, and around 30,000 who participated on July 8th. They said only one prison had a significant work stoppage. There’s no way for us to get any better numbers than these, but the drop in numbers correlates with the reports we’ve been getting from some. That said 1,000 people is a lot to take it for the long haul. Outside support continues to rally with more progressive groups and individuals signing on as supporters and making public stands with a coordinated one day fast being coordinated for the end of July.

On 07-19-2013 all MDF hunger strikers suspended their hunger strike. Below are the demands that were met by MDF command staff:

DEMAND #1 was granted in full. Classification shall tell you in writing what you are being held in Ad-Seg for as well as program expectations to be released from Ad-Seg.

DEMAND #2 Command staff is working to come up with a free time schedule that follows title 15 standards. One part of this that is granted in full is that all detainees will be given an opportunity to empty their trash can EVERYDAY.

DEMAND #3 had 3 parts. Two parts were granted in full. MDF medical/mental health staff shall no longer conduct ANY type of appointment on the intercom system nor at detainees’ cell door where private medical issues are heard by others in violation of medical privacy laws (HIPPA). The third part of allowing Ad-Seg detainees’ to reach medical triage on the phone systems, as all other modules do, is still being worked on with command staff.

DEMAND #4 Command staff informed classification to ONLY house mentally ill inmates on D-module as a last resort.

DEMAND #5 was granted in full. ALL MDF detainees’ will be allowed to purchase ink pen fillers from canteen. Also necessary photo copies will be made for detainees’ filing court documents. These will be implemented in a reasonable time frame.

It is in good faith that we suspend our hunger strike and that MDF command staff will continue to implement our 5 Core Demands. MDF command staff has been very open to our ideas. With the exception of DR. DENNIS MCBRIDE who tried to guide detainees’ into refusing water as well as food.
We hope all other hunger strikers can get some much needed relief on their demands. If this does not occur we will resume our hunger strike.
Special thank you to our loved ones on the streets, all organizations and media outlets who covered our struggle, as well as Sarah Shroud, Shane Bauer- Welcome home & Dan Horowitz, Nicole, Lesli and Mikes sister.

MIM(Prisons) responds: See the original article announcing the Martinez demands where we address the shortcomings of their demands, which included segregating mentally ill prisoners. The victories here are small reforms riding on the coat tails of the central struggle here, which is to shut down long-term isolation. Control units were originally created to separate leaders from the general population. But this division has been two-fold in that now the interests of those in control units are not felt as dearly by those in general population. Even so, the last few weeks have shown a great level of consciousness among the whole prison population about the inhumane conditions those comrades in SHU and Ad-Seg face. We hope those who stood up in Martinez continue to support that struggle, which is really central to the prison movement itself. Without a prison movement, prisoners have no real means of addressing abuse, which can be so common in prison.

On June 29, 2013 a Black Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional officer with the last name Ford used his handcuffs on a Latino/Mexican prisoner as if the handcuffs were brass knuckles. Officer Ford punched the prisoner repeatedly in the head. Fellow prisoners who witnessed this heinous act requested to be given witness statements. Captain Vincent, Lieutenant Sutton, and Sergeant Landrum refused to produce witness statements. This is just one more incident adding to a long list of human rights abuses and violations that have taken place on the Estelle Unit located in Huntsville, Texas.

We have found through our experience that the Grievance Program is corrupt in Texas prisons. Nevertheless, in order to maintain a record of the incident and preserve the right to file 42 US 1983, total exhaustion of administrative remedies is a must per the corrupt PRLA law. I and many comrades in Texas and beyond have written the U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division - Special Litigation Section. I’ve gotten back the same form letter response over 6 times! They ain’t doin’ shit! The abuse continues.

Handcuffs being used as brass knuckles!!? Ranking supervisors refusing to pass witness statements!!? These are criminal acts. There is an ongoing conspiracy to cover up said illegal acts in Texas prisons.

I have discovered a “formula” that works very well in reference to combating these oppressors in Texas, especially when they band together in order to cover up blatant acts of abuse and humyn rights violations by TDCJ employees:

1. Media coverage - form bonds and relationship of trust and respect with journalists.
   
2. Prisoner rights activists - we all need free world helpers.
   
3. State and federal legislators - you must seek an authority higher than the prison administrators.

This 3 step formula is good for all states but the specifics will change by geographic location. However, at this time our focus is on Texas! Step 1s don’t work, Step 2s are a joke. O.I.G.? Impotent. Executive Director Brad Livingston, Texas Board Chairman Oliver Bell, all T.D.C.J. offices and entities operate under the same program and that is cronyism, nepotism, obstruction of justice tactics and cover-ups.

Who is ordering TDCJ to downplay and coverup acts of abuse and barbaric acts of violence aimed at prisoners? Answer: Texas State Attorney General Gregg Abbott! He is at the top of the food chain and remember he is running for Governor in Texas. It is time for the Attorney General’s office to be held accountable for all these heinous acts of violence being perpetrated by TDCJ employees with no accountability.

Putting Theory into Practice

I’ve set forth the formula, now it is time to fill in the blanks so we may test our model.

Media/Journalists

1. Brandi Grissom - Managing editor/journalist, The Texas Tribune, 823 Congress Ave, Suite 210, Austin, TX 78701
   
2. The Texas Observer, Attn: Emily DePrang - Staff writer, 307 W. 7th St, Austin, TX 78701
   
3. Austin American Statesman, Attn: Mike Ward - Journalist, 305 S. Congress, Austin, TX 78704
   
4. The Prison Show!, Kathy Griffin Grenan, Hank Lamb, KPFT-FM 90.1, 419 Lovett Blvd., Houston, TX 77006

Prison Activist Organizations

1. Texas CURE, Attn: Joan Covici-Michael Jewell & Friends, PO Box 372, Barleson, TX 76097
   
2. Attn: Quanell X & Krystal Muhammad, SHAPE Community Center, 3815 Live Oak, Houston, TX 77004

Legislators - at this time Estelle Unit is starting to register on the radar, let’s help it along

1. Texas State Senate, Senator John Carona, PO Box 12068, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711
   
2. Texas State Senate, Senator Wendy Davis, PO Box 12068, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711

Comrades, all of this information is meaningless and useless if you do not test it - practice it! Let’s consider a quote from our esteemed Comrade Fred Hampton: “You might say, ‘well the way I feel, people ought to be able to walk around naked because rape is love.’ That’s idealism. See what I mean? You’re dealing in metaphysics. You’re dealing in subjectivity, because you’re not testing it with objective reality. And what’s really wrong is that you don’t go test it. Because if you test it, you’ll get objective. Because as soon as you walk out there (naked) a whole lot of objective reality will vamp down upon your ass and take whatever you have. So whenever this happens, this is when people get a whole lot of mistaken ideas. That’s why a lot of you can’t understand and can’t agree with a lot of what we said. You’ve never tried it.” He continues later saying “That’s what the Black Panther Party deals with. We’re not metaphysicians, we’re not idealists, we’re dialectical materialists. And we deal with what reality is, whether we like it or not.”

The Reality

The reality in Texas prisons is we the lumpen underclass are being degraded, dehumanized, mistreated, and abused. The persons who are in positions to protect us from such abuses are turning a blind eye to our plight. We are being murdered, raped, and beaten by the very people who are being paid to provide safety. The only way to combat this is by shedding light on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Attorney General’s Office who is 100% culpable in regards to these crimes against humanity.

MIM(Prisons) is the tip of the spear. I am only one of many hands wielding the spear. I close with a quote from Chairman Mao: “Our point of departure is to serve the people whole-heartedly and never for a moment divorce ourselves form the masses, to proceed in all cases from the interests of the people.” Mao Zedong, On Coalition Government

If we put as much time into this fight as we do on the domino table or the rec yard, change will come in Texas. The comrades in California are a stellar example of solidarity in action. As Eric B. and Rakim used to say “Follow the Leader!”

All Power to the People!

In the Security Risk Group (SRG) unit in Connecticut they have taken toothbrushes that we were allowed to have, we only have one jumpsuit, and even if we’re sweaty we are required to put the jumpsuit on. All prisoners are supposed to have 2 uniforms. We are denied religious services, we are denied schooling, and they have taken an electric socket out of the cell. We were denied library access even though this prison has one of the best libraries in the state, and we get no contact visits even though most prisoners have no tickets. SRG lumpen organization membership has tripled since 2005; 40% of the prisoners who come here are not really a part of any group but end up leaving a member. Some prisoners will get affiliated on purpose to come to the gang block to become a member. This unit is a hoax and a way for the pigs to get paid more.

When I first went to SRG in 2008 we went outside every day and had regular toothbrushes, visits 7 days a week, and this was at a supermax, Northern Correctional Institution. In September 2008 they moved the SRG block here to Corrigan. We had two uniforms. I only lasted 4 days and was sent back to Northern as a “threat member” (SRGTM Block). Slowly they took TVs, CD players and finally the revoking got so bad, they applied handcuffs on us during phase 1 of the SRGTM program (a lotta komrades including myself have a civil suit over it).

Both programs, SRG and SRGTM, consisted of 3 phases. Now they are combined so there’s only one program called SRGMP (Security Risk Group Member Program) merging both programs and now there’s 5 phases. Phase one and two are done at Walker Correctional Institution and phase 3,4, and 5 are done here. Due to the merger there are more rules and ways to threaten and make a komrade stay longer. This SRG hoax needs to be destroyed. There is no need for all this extra funding. Or to be punished for one’s beliefs. As long as we are not breaking any of this country’s man-made capitalist laws.

How are prisoners allowed 3 visits in phase 1 and 2 but only 1 visit in phase 3,4, and 5? We are tired of being experimented on! Would a letter to the governor and Department of Justice change anything? We will see. Connecticut SRG prisoners are not allowed to start petitions, we get tickets for it. All need to march to the capitol’s front steps in Hartford, Connecticut and protest the oppression being put on political prisoners in this SRGMP. When we get political it makes it harder for pigs to explain why they’re oppressing us or why they need this SRGMP.

MIM(Prisons) adds: We have reported on this abusive treatment of prisoners classified in a Security Risk Group in Connecticut in previous articles. This ongoing pattern of abuse will require unity among the many prisoners being oppressed by the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Pushing prisoners into lumpen organizations is common in prisons, and it often keeps different lumpen groups divided and fighting each other rather than focusing their power on the real enemy: the criminal injustice system itself. This is the purpose of the United Front for Peace in Prisons, to build peace among the lumpen and unity for the fight against the injustice system. We call on our comrades in the SRGMP to work with your organizations to join the UFPP and build the anti-imperialist movement.

MIM(Prisons) recently concluded our annual Congress, where our membership came together to realign our strategic orientation to continually improve our productivity and effectiveness supporting the anti-imperialist struggle behind bars. This report is to give our readers a better idea of how MIM(Prisons) supports their struggles, and our plans for the upcoming year.

Correspondence

Although we are not able to respond personally to every letter we receive, we have a lot of mail going out to prisoners including bi-monthly ULK, form letters addressing frequently asked questions, study group and campaign mailings, and books, magazines and study packs. On average we are sending out at least one piece of mail for every letter we receive. In addition to our correspondence through the mail with prisoners, the writings from Under Lock & Key are on our website www.prisoncensorship.info. Traffic to the news on our website has doubled this year!

One way that we track our success in expanding influence inside Amerikan prisons is by counting subscribers to Under Lock & Key. We know that most copies are read by many people, but the number of subscribers is a good indicator of our influence and growth from year to year. We want to see our subscriber list grow so that we can ensure each issue reaches as many people as possible. This is a key tactic to spread revolutionary education and build the anti-imperialist movement.

Since the formation of MIM(Prisons) we have seen a steady increase in our numbers of ULK subscribers, but this year that trend reversed. Between our last annual congress in July 2012 and the congress this year, our readership is down by about 17%. After continuously increasing our number of subscribers for years, we may have finally hit a ceiling. In the last year, MIM(Prisons) volunteers have not made any significant changes to the way we work with prisoners. We write more on how to overcome this challenge below.

United Struggle from Within

A large part of our discussion at Congress was centered around our support for the anti-imperialist mass organization for former and current prisoners, United Struggle from Within (USW). Where MIM(Prisons) can’t physically do necessary organizing work, USW is our feet on the ground. This section outlines some of the successes and progress of USW, as well as deficits where there needs to be improvement.

Compared to our USW membership statistics from Congress 2012, USW appears to be getting larger and more stable. This is a huge advance. The struggle to liberate people of the world from capitalism and imperialism can’t just be taken up when it sounds fun or exciting, or when you have the spare time. The more comrades inside who understand this, and make a long-term commitment to doing as much as they can to liberate the most oppressed people in the world, the better off we will all be in the long run. We encourage those who have dabbled in USW work to keep up your commitment, and continually check page 12 of Under Lock & Key for ways to plug in. If you’ve already gotten ten people to send out grievance petitions, why not get ten more, or try to push it to the next level? If you’ve already got a local study group going, why not send us a report on how you did it so others have a better idea how to start one up in their conditions? To be considered an active USW member, you have to have put in some kind of USW-related work in the last year. This is the most lax yet reasonable requirement possible, and shouldn’t be difficult for people to adhere to on a long-term basis as long as they have a genuine interest in ending oppression for everyone worldwide.

Developing Leadership

USW Leaders are those who are not only participating in the campaigns organized by others, but come up with ideas for how to push the struggle forward where they’re at, and organize others to do so. Even one individual taking on a leadership role increases the anti-imperialist struggle exponentially in that state or facility. A USW Leader makes incredibly significant contributions to our overall work, and we provide as much support for them as we can. The pages of Under Lock & Key are a good place to look for ideas on what campaigns to push where you’re at, but a great USW Leader also analyzes their conditions and shapes campaigns as needed to have the most success among their organizing base.

Increasing Subscribers

For a couple years we have been tracking how new subscribers are referred to us. In a change from past years, this year active recruiting by prisoners has led more people to sign up for Under Lock & Key than ads or MIM(Prisons) work. Even referrals that came from MIM(Prisons) work is catalyzed by someone signing up for our newsletter or engaging with us on some level. Without the efforts of prisoners, we can’t get literature into a facility.

While the proportion of referrals from prisoners did increase, our overall level of new subscribers went down. We know that most of our new subscribers find us through other prisoners, either from a copy of ULK that you have passed around or from a recommendation you make personally to them to get in touch with us. This means that you, our readers and supporters, have a big hand in determining how many people get to read Under Lock & Key. We call on you to step up your work in this area. This is an easy but critical way that you can contribute to building the anti-imperialist movement against the criminal injustice system. You should pass your copy of ULK around, leave it in the day room, or put it on the library cart or wherever you can so that others might pick it up. You can write to us for extra copies of ULK if you want to distribute them in your prison. If you send us names of people who tell you they are interested in a subscription, we will add them to the mailing list. Spread the word however you can. After all, the six-month subscription is free to prisoners!

On our end, we have contacted every prisoner resource guide we know of and asked them to tell their subscribers about the work we do. If you know a resource guide or newsletter that we are not listed in, please write to them and ask them to add us! In Pennsylvania a USW comrade gave our information to the Graterfriends newsletter, and we received a major spike in new subscribers from that one plug alone. Now Pennsylvania is getting more access to this important political perspective.

ULK Sustainers

This year as part of our work with United Struggle from Within we initiated a ULK Sustainers group. A ULK Sustainer is someone who recognizes the importance of this newsletter and puts their money where their mouth is. One copy of Under Lock & Key costs about $1 to print and mail. To cover your issue of ULK you could pledge to send in $1 per issue. To cover your issue and one other persyn’s, you would send in $2 per issue. If you want to sign up to be a Sustainer, just tell us and we’ll send you more info. You can always send us donations without committing to a pledge, but if you want to send checks the easiest way is to become a ULK Sustainer.

The past couple months have been spent developing the structure of the Sustainers arm of USW, and at Congress we were able to establish a concrete financial goal: More ULK! According to the Reader Survey we have been collecting for the past couple issues, there is a high demand for more Under Lock & Key content. From now on, whatever financial contributions we receive that aren’t for something else specific (purchasing literature, study group payment, etc.) will go into the Sustainers fund. When we have enough money donated, whether in stamps or checks, we will run 4 extra pages in Under Lock & Key. It should cost about $250 to reach this goal, each issue. We will determine the content of these extra pages based on what people requested in the Reader Surveys, or if you send a donation you can even help determine the content by telling us what you want to see more of.

Campaigns

One big campaign USW has been pushing since 2010 is the Petition for the Proper Handling of Grievances, which is currently available for use in eleven states. Comrades in California and Texas have been pushing this campaign forward into the courts and to those outside the prison walls. We’ve been reporting on the ongoing successes, challenges, and tactical approaches of these campaigns in the pages of ULK as we learn of them. The states currently participating in this campaign are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas.

Another campaign that is taking off with renewed energy this summer is for the end to long-term isolation. This campaign has been one we’ve focused on since our founding, and look forward to its development in the coming months.

Education Behind Bars

An ongoing goal of USW has been to expand prisoner-coordinated study groups. This year we are aware of more active prisoner-led study groups behind bars than at this time last Congress. Yet we still don’t have an idea of how active they are, and our influence on these study groups is minimal.

MIM(Prisons) can’t provide all the political education that’s needed through our mail-based study groups, and some people can’t participate in our study groups due to censorship. Therefore, we are going to be making a more conscious effort to support prisoner-led study groups by sending literature, soliciting reports, and engaging in political dialogue with the groups. If you run or work with a study group inside, let us know and we can plug you in for free study materials and political guidance.

USW comrades will still need to take on the task of finding people to study with and making sure you stay engaged. We recommend you aim to have weekly study group meetings if possible. Our comrades behind bars need to take the leadership here, but we can help.(1)

Advances in Available Literature

For the most part, our glossary of compiled political terms is ready for distribution. Other study packs we have made available in the last year are study questions for Fundamentals of Political Economy by Shanghai Press, Fundamental Political Line of MIM(Prisons), and a study pack made by Rashid of the NABPP-PC, Historical & Dialectical Materialism.

We are also pleased to announce that the salient chapter of our forthcoming book on the lumpen class in the United $tates is out in draft format. It has taken a lot of work and time to get this chapter together, and we look forward to the feedback we receive. Our goal is to print the rest of the book next year.

We have also made progress expanding our library and reducing our costs to reproduce important historical texts for our Free Books to Prisoners Program.

Spanish Development

In 2010 we set a goal of improving our Spanish language material. Our translators and Spanish editors are an invaluable part of that goal and we thank them for every Spanish article in every issue of Under Lock & Key. Within the year we plan to release the book Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán, which was primarily authored by comrades of the United Struggle from Within. This book is written in English, but has acute relevance for many of our Spanish-speaking comrades in prison and out. Comrades hope to begin work on a Spanish translation once it is complete.

Since 2010, we have compiled Spanish literature packs, which include Que es el MIM? and Teoría del MIM 1: Los Proletarios Blancos? as well as old copies of the newspaper Notas Rojas.

Recently, USW comrades translated the entire magazine MIM Theory 10: Labor Aristocracy into Spanish, and we will soon have it available on our website for distribution. It is a raw translation, and has not been edited, but we hope someone who is fluent in Spanish and revolutionary theory will clean it up.

Prisoners Legal Clinic

The Prisoners Legal Clinic (PLC) is a legal-resource-compiling group that focuses on legal battles that push forward our overall strategy of building independent institutions to overthrow imperialism in favor of the world’s oppressed majority. If you have legal experience and want to contribute to this aspect of our struggle, write us to plug in.

MIM(Prisons) does not have the legal resources or education to generate comprehensive legal information, especially compared to the liberal-“left” organizations such as California Prison Focus or Columbia Human Rights Law Review. But we do attempt to fill in the gaps where we think their help guides are potentially lacking. In the last year we have cleaned up and published online three help guides, which we also distribute to our subscribers behind bars: “Access to Courts.” “Isolation in Texas,” and “Grievances and Exhaustion.”

Besides identifying deficits in existing resources, another area the PLC can grow is where our PLC contributors themselves see areas of the law to exploit for our own purposes. One contributor, from the American Prisoners Association (APA), submitted a pamphlet to us titled “You, Prison Officials, and Contract Law.” In this pamphlet, APA outlines their theory on how to use contract law to defend the rights of prisoners, including defending against violations of grievance procedures. We are distributing this pamphlet as part of our Free Books for Prisoners Program, and encourage other PLC contributors to look it over, put it into action if they think it is sound, and tell us how it worked out.

Moving Forward

In the coming year we will focus on finishing a number of large projects that have been in the works. As we do so, we ask USW comrades to continue to expand our work in the ways described above. If we can achieve both sets of goals that we have laid out, we anticipate great success in our movement going forward.

As of the MIM(Prisons) July congress we had received reader surveys back from 5.6% of our subscribers over the last 3 issues. The survey is printed in this issue of ULK and if you have not yet responded, please take the time to do so. It asks for some basic persynal information and also for feedback on the content of ULK. Our goal is to assess who is reading ULK and what we can do to improve the content. So far, the survey respondents overall represent a distribution of prisoners in line with the general prison population, with a few exceptions consistent with the focus of our work. We will be looking at that information in more detail in the future but for this article we want to summarize the feedback on ULK content.

In response to our question about what people like best about ULK, the most popular response (27%) was “all of it!” We appreciate the enthusiasm of our readers. More specific responses that were popular included a lot of support for the unity demonstrated by ULK articles (10%), the stories about other prisoner’s work and organizing (9%), and the prisoner participation in writing ULK (4%). There was also a lot of appreciation for state-specific rules, legal information and reporting (6%). Thirteen percent of survey respondents liked best the core mission of ULK (which people described as Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, internationalism, reporting the truth, or just “the mission”). In addition we saw responses in support of book reviews, culture, Spanish, country-wide and world news reporting, and general education.

In response to the question about what our readers would like to see more of in ULK, the most popular response (11%) was requesting state-specific information (every prisoner wants more information on their own state). We can only increase the content about your state if you take action and write about what’s going on there. We rely on our readers for all of the state-specific reporting in ULK. So this is a response we hope comes from comrades who are sitting down now to write articles for the next issue.

There were also a lot of requests for resource lists (9%) and legal information (9%). This is not part of our core mission for Under Lock & Key. We do run the Prisoner’s Legal Clinic to help fight key legal battles, such as the censorship of political material. But MIM(Prisons) core mission is to build the anti-imperialist prison movement, and so we prioritize communist political organizing. We do not have the labor or funding to provide general resource lists and legal assistance in addition to our core work. We know there are not many groups out there doing this, but resource lists and legal assistance will ultimately only provide band-aids to a fundamentally broken system of imperialism. And anti-imperialist organizing is even more scarce in prisons than legal and resource work.

The only other area of significant interest from a number of prisoners was around historical political theory. We had requests for more information on communist history, Maoist theory, and Black Panther Party history (10% total). Additional suggestions from readers for specific areas of expansion included: art, control units, current events, international news, poetry, practical organizing information, Spanish, U.$. government reporting, and issues faced by the elderly, wimmin and LGBTQ prisoners. Lastly, a general request for more ULK was echoed by several respondents without any specific areas of focus.

A few prisoners responded to some of the survey questions requesting that ULK be “less racial”, and “stop generalizing whites as oppressors” while one respondent liked “your hate against white people.” These responses represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the MIM(Prisons) political line around nation. We do not hate white people, we hate the imperialist system which kills, tortures and oppresses the majority of the world’s people for the wealth and enjoyment of the minority. We are scientists and we see clearly that in the United $tates the white nation is part of the minority of imperialist allies leading global oppression. But we also can see that the majority of the people in Russia before the revolution in 1917 who were oppressed were “white.” It is not skin color that determines people’s status as oppressor or oppressed. However, because of national oppression in the world today, we do see whole nations of people oppressed as a group by other nations. The white nation in the U.$. is part an oppressor group, and there are many oppressed nations in the Third World. From an economic perspective, the other nations within U.$. borders are also part of the oppressors (New Afrikans, Chican@s, etc.), but these groups also face national oppression and so have some interest in anti-imperialism. It’s a complex system, that requires careful analysis and cannot be boiled down to race or hate against white people. We hope these readers will engage with us further for study to understand our position.

Revolutionary Greetings!

Today marks day 10 of the hunger/work strike - only a few of us in the entire cell block of 50+ men [in one of the Pelican Bay Security Housing Units] are still on hunger strike. Most went 7 days and a few went a couple of days more and now we are down to a few.

The prison has been telling people who go out to medical etc. that “everybody is eating.” One person was told “All of the short corridor is eating” and this was on the 4th day. Everyone knew it was bullshit. Then today on Democracy Now! we heard that many here are still striking.

Today is the 10th day and the prison has still not weighed us, they said all protocol is out the window and they are now going by what Sacramento says. Even while we listened to Democracy Now! in the middle of the program on the hunger strike the signal was mysteriously interrupted and switched over to classical music for the best part of the show when the people were speaking on our behalf but the part where the CDCR spokesman slandered us was played just fine.

Our current treatment shows that we receive our treatment ultimately from the state, the prison is just the arm or tentacle but the state makes the decisions even in regards to prisoners who are in torture kamps from California to Guantanamo and beyond.

I have gone ten days so far on hunger strike and refused a total of 30 meals and I have not been weighed, nor have I had my vitals checked, no blood pressure check nothing! These maggots run around giggling and acting like this means nothing, pigs, nurses all these employees act the same. I have seen more concern over commercials for a dog pound.

All this tells me that in any future hunger strikes, here in Pelican Bay or anywhere in prisons, people must not set a 3 day or 1 week date as many will only do the bare minimum. One needs to always set it as go as long as you possibly can! Because the state does not understand anything else, we must deepen our commitment for justice! Nothing else will get us to the victory lane.