MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
www.prisoncensorship.info is a media institution run by the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons. Here we collect and publicize reports of conditions behind the bars in U.$. prisons. Information about these incidents rarely makes it out of the prison, and when it does it is extremely rare that the reports are taken seriously and published. This historical record is important for documenting patterns of abuse, and also for informing people on the streets about what goes on behind the bars.
I have been incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corruption since
1997. Over these many years I have been confined to seven different
“camps” within the state of “Missery.”
I have seen prisoners maced and beat severely at Potosi Correctional
Center in the late 90s. Officers there would routinely chain prisoners
up “hog tied” like and leave them lying in their cells. Rather than move
prisoners that didn’t get along or otherwise weren’t compatible they
would make them fight and in two instances I know of, prisoners were
murdered by their cellmates.
All over the state it is common practice to place completely
incompatible people in a cell together. Guys with life without parole
being celled with prisoners with only a matter of months left in their
sentence.
At Crossroads Correctional Center I saw a sergeant kick a “chuck-hole”
closed on one prisoner’s arm. Another sergeant grabbed a prisoner in a
reverse headlock and dropped said prisoner on his face using all his own
body weight. Prisoners with asthma or other health problems are sprayed
with pepper spray.
All over the state it is common for prisoners to be “free-cased” for
violations or crimes they had nothing to do with because a scape-goat
was needed in a hurry to save face or out of animosity issues between
staff and prisoners.
At South Central Correctional Center prisoners were “free-cased” for
another prisoner’s murder because the institution needed scape-goats to
cover up their own incompetency in running a safe and secure ‘camp’ and
insufficient security equipment.
All over the state there are prisoners on a status termed “long term
mandated
single-cell
confinement.” This security status has no set end, no guidelines and
no governing policies or any unit set aside for such a special security
status. There are men on this status who have been confined solidarity
for over ten years.
At South East Correctional Center things are to a point where at the
time of this writing there are prisoners eating foreign objects such as
ink pens, screws, and any item obtainable (in one case the ear stem of a
pair of eye glasses) to express the need to be transferred away from the
tyrannical oppression found in this backward run facility.
All over the state prisoners are housed in single-man cell units with
prisoners with severe mental illness so they are subjected to round the
clock beating on walls and sinks, yelling and screaming, smearing and
throwing feces, urine, etc. Lights are left on or shut off per the whim
of the officers.
I am writing as a representative of the Five Percent Nation of Gods and
Earths(5PNGE). Although I cannot speak in authority on behalf of all
Five Percenters, I aim to show how our nation’s fundamental principles
are in line with those of the
United Front
for Peace in Prison.
The
first
principle of PEACE is in line with the third principle of “What we
will Achieve.” Peace being the absence of confusion and chaos within
ourselves, our communities, our nation, and the world. The attainment of
PEACE in any fashion stems first from education and the subsequent
enlightenment of the individual. Once the oppressed are emancipated from
the mental slavery that results from the thorough indoctrination of
self-destructive concepts presented by the imperialist elite, then we
can truly stand together and defend ourselves from the now known enemy.
The imperialist machine has done a great job of placing false labels
upon us to keep us separated rendering us unable to attain any true
Umoja amongst ourselves.
The first principle of “What we will achieve” (National Consciousness)
is in line with the principles of Unity, Growth, and Internationalism in
that national consciousness is the awareness that “we are all one
people, regardless of geographical origins and that we must work and
struggle as one if we are to liberate ourselves from the domination of
outside forces” and destroy white supremacy, white privilege and
imperialism once and for all. The labels Latino, African Amerikan,
Asian, and Native American only help to separate us and keep us from
realizing that we are only truly one people who share a common history.
Somos originales. As the descendants of the fathers and mothers of
civilization we have an obligation to humanity to restore the true
culture of communal living and peace.
Now although the 5PNGE seeks to unite people of color and firmly resist
white supremacy/privilege in all its forms, we do not exclude whites
from our ranks. This transition is difficult for many whites because
they are forced to realize that the overwhelming cultural history of
Europeans consists of colonialism, murder, enslavement, and general
exploitation of the world’s inhabitants. After coming under study and
rejecting this devilish, destructive legacy they have the opportunity to
join the struggle of the Original People and overthrow the Devils
Un-civilization (the imperialist machine).
The 5PNGE finds independence through the second principle of “what we
will achieve”: community control. This consists of regaining control of
the educational, economic, political, media, and health institutions
within our communities for ourselves. We must have control on the
collective level so that we can maintain and advance the civilization.
The current political/socio-economic system does not serve us as a
people because it was not established for us. The United $nakes of
Amerikkka (as well as all other imperialist countries that make up
un-civilization) was born on the backs of the exploited class. It is
futile to rely on the slave masters for substance when we have in us the
tools to sustain ourselves in a more productive manner than any program
the current system may provide.
Now although ULK serves as a forum for political and
revolutionary discourse, it is the responsibility of all within the
5PNGE as well as all other LOs as part of the United Front for Peace in
Prison to educate those individuals still blinded by the propaganda of
the mainstream. Revolutionary education will build revolutionary minds
equipped with the tools to make revolutionary actions. Remember
P.E.A.C.E. Positive Education Always Corrects Errors.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Overall we have a lot of unity with this
comrade, which demonstrates the ability of organizations with different
ideologies to unite on common principles. We agree it is the goal of the
United Front for Peace in Prisons to unite lumpen organizations in the
struggle while pushing them to a higher level of political action and
understanding. We hope that others with 5PNGE will take up this
comrade’s call for unity of the oppressed and all who oppose
imperialism. 5PNGE takes a religious focused approach to the struggle,
while Maoists use the scientific method based in dialectical
materialism, but when we both arrive at the same anti-imperialist
conclusions then we we have fundamental unity at this stage in the
struggle.
I’m reporting from Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP). I’ve been engaged in
the last 16 months educating our comrades to the increasingly aggressive
tactics California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
has taken in the course of systematically depriving us of every human
and civil right a prisoner is supposed to retain. I’ve also been
attempting to strengthen communication and, aside from a select few,
have been met with complacency and apathy.
We few have organized effective communication with one another and have
used creative strategies to combat certain conditions we’ve been
experiencing. At first, utilizing the 602 grievance process was only met
with rejections, so we took our well written 602s (grievances) that used
Department Operations Manual (DOM), California Code of Regulations (CCR)
Title 15, California penal code, and U.S. law, and bypassed the lower
level institutional coordinators and submitted copies to:
Governor Brown, State Capitol, Ste. 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814
CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate, 1515 S. St., Ste. 330, Sacramento, CA
95811
CA Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Capitol Bldg, Rm 4005, Sacramento, CA
95814
Inmate Appeals Branch, Chief CDCR, PO Box 942883, Sacramento, CA
94283-0001
And other relevant heads of department and politicians. The outcome
has led to a spotlight shining down on KVSP administrative staff with
official reprimands and supplemental memorandums and addendum. Warden
M.D. Biter has been reprimanded to the effect of: stop superseding the
DOM, CCR, and other applicable state and federal law, and to honor the
CDCR 22 written request process that was formulated after the 2011
hunger strikes, and 602 grievance process. I’ve only been told this and
cannot provide documentation, but it comes from reliable sources within
administrative staff who are against the institution head’s policies.
Ever since these reprimands have supposedly taken place, there has been
a notable change in everything. Our 602s are being accepted for review,
22 forms are being answered within time limits, program has resumed on
modified procedure, and our food is adequately proportioned. We’ve had
no cases of staff misconduct, threats of any kind, or adverse
retaliatory actions from administration, from January through today’s
date of 5 June 2012.
I’ve created a private law library of essential regulatory content and
political value which has been utilized and facilitated by interested
prisoners and we are accumulating knowledge.
These are still initial stages and our struggle needs lots of work, but
even minor accomplishments are boosting morale. I encourage everyone to
take the steps we’ve taken and stay strong and diligent. Keep records,
daily logs, and file immediate complaints of misconduct.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This prisoner is setting a good example of how
to push forward the legal struggle for basic rights. And this article
provides some good advice for California prisoners working on the
grievance
campaign demanding that grievances be addressed. Improving
conditions within which prisoners live and organize is an important step
in the struggle against the criminal injustice system. We know these
reforms will only bring short-term relief, as the system itself serves
the interests of the ruling imperialists and so substantive change will
not come until we overthrow imperialism. But these battles are important
for both education and the successes they bring.
Illinois has followed in the steps of
California
and Virginia. On June 3, 2012 twenty-three political prisoners went on
hunger strike together in protest of various administrative issues at
Pontiac Correctional Center. On the same day I.A. interrogated all of
the strikers in an attempt to frame the strike as “gang activity.”
Pontiac Correctional Center exists in Illinois for the sole purpose of
isolating prisoners from each other and the world. The vast majority of
prisoners here are in segregation. As part of the administration’s
oppression against us we are beaten, unfed, given inadequate law
libraries, isolated, and much more. All of this is being protested by
the strikers. From Palestine to California and Virginia to Illinois the
revolution against tyranny and despair, extortion and exploitation,
oppression and capitalism is growing stronger.
In the name of revolution, solidarity, and struggle.
George Zimmerman
In a letter from a long-time reader of Under Lock & Key we
received an interesting criticism of the general political movement
around the shooting of unarmed Black youth, Trayvon Martin. While he did
not criticize MIM(Prisons) directly, some of the comments apply to the
the
article by cipactli on Trayvon Martin printed in ULK 26
which he had not yet seen when he sent the letter. One of the main
points of criticism is based on Zimmerman being half Latino – a point
that cipactli’s article does not address. The article in ULK 26
identifies Zimmerman with white supremacists. This is a correct
categorization of his actions which manifest the results of a lifetime
of racist education, but there is a more subtle point to be made about
race and national oppression when these crimes are oppressed nation on
oppressed nation.
There are some fundamental points on which we disagree with the reader’s
critique. He writes that “it’s long past time for us all to stop
speaking in the terms of the racist color codes used to identify human
beings like any other commodity in order to facilitate marketing and
manipulation.” We see the national contradiction as alive and strong
within the imperialist United $tates, and it is certainly possible for
one oppressed nation to participate in the oppression of another. In
fact, it is possible for individual Blacks to rise to positions of power
within the imperialist state and help repress the Black Nation as a
whole. Barack Obama is an obvious example of this. Those comprador
individuals from oppressed nations who want power and wealth, even at
the expense of their nation, do not provide evidence that we can move
beyond the national contradiction which is what drives attitudes and
practices of racism.
As we explained in ULK 26, the
national
contradiction is still principal in Amerika today. While not called
out in the letter, underlying our disagreement on nation is a
disagreement on class: MIM(Prisons) sees clearly that the vast majority
of Amerikan citizens are not part of the proletariat. Their material
benefits from imperialism have put them squarely within the exploiter
class.
Every persyn in this country sees the stereotypes of Black youth as
hoodlums, dangerous and destined for prison. Zimmerman is no different.
And so it is a result of national oppression that unarmed Black youth
can be killed by cops and vigilantes while the imperialist state does
nothing. Studies have shown that Amerikans (of all nationalities), when
asked to identify or imagine a drug criminal, overwhelmingly picture a
Black person. This is statistically inaccurate: they should be picturing
a white youth. (See our review of
The New Jim Crow for more on this topic).
The state would prefer that oppressed nation youth kill each other, as
this is a more efficient approach for the state and it helps reinforce
the stereotypes about the dangerous hoodlums who must be locked away. By
hesitating to pursue Zimmerman for the death of Martin the state is
treating him more as a white man than a Latino.
This reader criticizes the many people who have come out to demand
“Justice for Trayvon” but didn’t step up when Oscar Grant was murdered
by police officer Johannes Mehserle. “A cold-blooded execution that met
all the elements required to convict Mehserle of premeditated murder
beyond a shadow of a doubt! A murder for which he only served one year!
Where’s the hue and cry for Mehserle’s blood!” This is a fine argument,
but one which again underscores the national oppression in Amerika which
leads to racist stereotypes of Blacks (and other nationalities) that
results in racial profiling and police brutality targeting these
groups.(1)
The reader concludes with some good points about the criminal injustice
system, “After being railroaded into prison for a crime the police
committed, I’ve learned that nearly a third of my fellow prisoners are
innocent, with another third convicted by unlawful police and
prosecutorial tactics. All of you out there are just one arrest away
from the horror show that is justice in America. You don’t have to do
anything, except be in the wrong place at the wrong time and, then, even
white privilege won’t save your ass!” But the reality is, if you are in
the wrong place at the wrong time and you are
Black
you are significantly more likely to get thrown in prison or killed.
A recent report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement cited
at
least 110 Black people killed by Amerikan cops and security in the first
half of 2012.(2) This is in a country where the FBI reports around
400 police killings each year, total!(3) Just as Blacks are about half
the prison population in a country where they make up 12% of the
population, they appear to also be about half the police killings. So in
fact white privilege is alive and well. It doesn’t work for everyone,
the injustice system rounds up plenty of whites, but disproportionately
Blacks, Latinos and First Nations are victims. This is a statistical
truth that is not disproved by individual incidents that are exceptions
to the rule. Statistics and thinking at the group level are important
requirements for a scientific analysis of society, which in turn is
necessary to transform our reality.
Who are we… Peasants from the slums/ The ghettos, the
streets Where we love drug lords & hate bums/ Drug up &
get numb/ Party to hide our embarrassment Trying to live
lavishly/ As the tears stream down From momz face she’s treated
savagely/ But still we’re lost & brainwashed I can afford a
ounce of weed/ But can’t buy the baby shoes when in need/ I can
slang dope to fend for the kids/ But can’t teach them some
respect Cause the slave pen is where I live/ Who are we… Some
thugs & gangstas/ Or fakes & wankstas/ Oblivious &
ignorant Cold-hearted & impenitent/ Broken-hearted &
belligerent But intelligent & benevolent/ But we only show the
malevolence…why?/ Cause where we from weakness only leads to
violence/ Funerals, head shots/ Dead homes & dead cops/ Who
are we… Lovers & haters, givers & takers/ My mind says
it’s time To change who we are/ From the only things being
important is money, clothes & cars/ To cherishing our women
instead of sluts, hoes & broads/ To being brothers instead of
niggas/ To pullin good mass-movements instead of pulling
triggas/ Selling dope is so old, only makes you hot instead of
cold/ With ice, don’t sell your soul cause it’s a hellava
price/ Revolution is the only solution/ The only
resolution/ Fight for what’s right/ Fight for your life/ A
soldier, warrior, survivor/ A man, a woman, a sister, a brother, a
rider?/ Who are you…
When one is imprisoned and kept away from society for a rather long
period of time, it’s not unnatural to feel as if you’re beginning to
lose your bearings, and it’s not unnatural for one to seek help from
“medical professionals.”
What is considered unnatural however is to speak of the plight of the
oppressed. I found this out the hard way when I went to my annual
psychiatric review. To be “mentally-ill” or depressed when one is from
oppressed nation origin and imprisoned is perfectly normal. However, to
be perfectly normal or “sane” under the oppressive conditions of
imperialism is certainly abnormal. One cannot be of oppressed nation
origin and imprisoned and be content. Depression is a completely
appropriate state of mind when oppressed by imperialism; there can be no
other reaction.
As stated above I attended my annual psychiatric review and was
introduced to the four member committee. I was asked a series of
questions. How did I feel? Have I experienced any depression lately? Am
I suicidal? I answered their questions as quickly and concisely as
possible. I felt I passed their test with flying colors. As I was about
to be excused however one of the psychiatrists stopped me from leaving
and asked me if we could talk about my revolutionary tattoos. My first
instinct was to ask him what my tattoos have to do with my “mental
health.” However, I felt it might look bad to not cooperate so I agreed
to stay.
The psych wanted to know what they meant. I simply stated that they were
political symbols and took it no further, but he pressed and wanted to
know exactly what they meant. S/he kept pressing and at this point I
once again thought, “what the hell do my political beliefs have to do
with my mental health?!” I figured I’d play their little game and see
exactly what they were trying to get at.
I was asked why I choose to have this artwork on me. I replied that they
were simply expressions of my solidarity with the oppressed and
exploited of the Third World. But why did I feel the need to show my
solidarity? “Because” I stated, “they’re oppressed and exploited,
they’ve been oppressed and exploited and they’re gonna continue to be
oppressed and exploited for the foreseeable future!” “Oh, is that all?”
At which point I lost temporary control of my emotions and strongly
stated: “Yea, that and the fact that they’re currently being massacred
across the globe!” The committee then collectively jumped and stared at
me as if I was indeed crazy for saying these truths.
The psych then attempted to further bait me and get me to incriminate
myself by asking me if I felt the need to show my solidarity in any
other way. To which I simply laughed and stared in h judgmental
hate-filled eyes and said “of course not, I’m in prison.” But what if I
wasn’t in prison? And of course I laughed and just said no.
S/he then accused me of being a gang member, to which I immediately
objected and said “no, I am not a gang member!” But the bald-head, the
tattoos and last but not least the fact that I’m from the oppressed
nations certainly means that I’m a gang member. S/he then asked me what
I’m in prisyn for. I told h the truth and told h that I’m in prison for
“gang violence.” S/he then repeated that I was a gang member. “No!” I
once again corrected h. I explained to h that while I once was a gang
member, I no longer am today. However, s/he insisted and asked me if I
was in solidarity with the Third World when I was on the streets. I told
h of course not. I was in solidarity with myself and my “gang”. “So
you’ve changed?!” Of course I changed, everybody changes. To which s/he
then looked at me curiously and asked if I’d ever been in an insane
asylum. “No” I stated. “Would you like to go to one?” “No” I once again
stated. I was quite simply surprised that s/he would threaten me so
openly. I was then excused.
The implication is clear. To speak of the plight of the oppressed and
exploited Third World masses, one must be “crazy.”
Recently I was informed that my nación is now considered a Security
Threat Group (STG) here in the state of Texas. Not because we are doing
anything that’s criminal, but because the system knows that we have the
potential to make change possible for all, which they see as a direct
threat to their institution. For years we have been around, but now they
see more and more of us getting tuned in to our doctrine, becoming aware
of the de-humanization of the system. So it seems that they want to slap
us with this label. Recently in an article published in ULK
there was a fellow Black Panther, who is here with me, informing you all
that the Gang Intelligence staff have also classified them as an STG in
the state of Texas.
All I can say to those manitos and manitas doing time representing
[these groups]: there is nothing new under the sun! Keep underground not
because we have a sense of guilt, but because by watching and studying
history we made ourselves a threat and now the system is ready and
waiting to take us out just like it does with so many others. The war on
STG is real and the tracking mechanism they use is serious, inside and
out.
¡Trucha! Always be aware and make the right decisions.
Remember, just because you are in general population doesn’t mean that
the future is going to be the same. This goes for all the lumpen class.
Prepare yourselves for that ripple effect because the war on so-called
STGs is going to get much more repressive.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade is right that the prisons throw
around the “security threat” label as an excuse to lock down conscious
prisoners organizing against the system. We get many
letters
talking about this happening in states across the U.$. In addition, the
“security threat” label is used to keep
Under Lock & Key
out of prisons. This
censorship is so
common that every issue of ULK finds many copies returned to
us, in some cases banned from entire facilities.
This writer gives good advice to be very careful about what information
we reveal. We don’t need more good comrades locked up in segregation
just for their lumpen organization affiliation. Don’t make it easy for
the pigs. Don’t give them any information.
Recently I was transferred to High Desert State Prison in obvious
retaliation for my legal and political activities. The state fostered
the misguided notion that by transferring me they would:
Undermine or silence the struggle at one prison and
Silence me upon arrival at the other
This has proven an incorrect analysis.
Upon arriving in what is openly hostile territory it became apparent
that the possibility of unifying the population existed due to the
commonality of complaints. The result is that not only has the
population become unified ideologically (i.e. the need for action) but
they have actually mobilized toward that end.
Some of the common issues include:
Absence of regular medical attention
Denial/refusal of medication and mental health care for mentally ill
prisoners
Physical and sexual abusive behavior by the pigs
Starvation-size portions of food
Inadequate law library access
Denial of access to religious accommodations
Forced housing creating hostile, dangerous, and potentially lethal
results
Thus far we have made progress on the medical issues and, to a
lesser extent, the food. The pigs are suddenly not so aggressive as
well. But we’re fed children’s portions – maybe. Some have, with just a
little effort, taken up the struggle with the knowledge that it is a
protracted struggle, but by working together and refusing to accept
degradation we can cause change and we can make our lot more humane and
ultimately more just.
I still have my parole problems, but if they insist on keeping me caged,
then I shall make myself a cost-ineffective exhibit and I will make this
zoo as oppression-resistant as I can.
[Update from 6/20/2012] We submitted a grievance petition tailored
specifically to the Nevada system, which has been circulated and “signed
on to” by several prisoners thus far with numbers growing. We will be
organizing a
similar campaign over lack of food and medical/health issues.
My writing will not analyze Black Nationalism per se, rather it aims to
address the “national question” itself. My position comes from a Chicano
perspective, which I hope adds to the theoretical sauce surrounding the
idea of national liberation and the development of the oppressed nations
ideologically, whether they be from the Brown, Black or Red Nations here
in the United $tates. In the contemporary prisoner, one sees an
awakening to truth and meaning amidst a state offensive to deprive
millions of humyn dignity and freedom. The roundups, ICE raids and
fascist laws (reinforced with putting the data of millions of oppressed
across the U.$. into the state intelligence files preparing for future
revolt and repression) has added to the swirl of these times for people
to become politicized, and prisoners are no exception.
The struggle in the ideological arena is just as vital as that with the
rifle, and perhaps more difficult. Out in society – where people have
more social influences – ideas, experiences and thought can bring more
diverse views into the sphere of theory. Often times the prison
environment, in its concentrated form and social makeup, has more
limited ideological influences. This is a trap that prisoners should
guard against in developing a political line. There will always be
ideological “yes people” in prisons, especially amongst one’s own circle
of friends or comrades. This could also be said of the limited contacts
in the outside world that most prisoners have.
The “national question” is one that is not exclusive to the Black
Nation; it is something that Raza and others are wrangling with as well.
My critiques here are related to the national question in the United
$tates in general, and not specific to the Black Belt Thesis (BBT) that
Rashid addresses in his article.
In the section titled “The Black Belt Thesis and the New Class
Configuration of the New Afrikan Nation,” Rashid describes comrade J.V.
Stalin on the national question as follows:
The [Black Belt Thesis] was based on comrade J.V. Stalin’s analysis of
the national question as essentially a peasant question. Unlike the
analysis put forward by Lenin, and more fully developed by Mao, Stalin’s
analysis limited the national question to essentially a peasantry’s
struggle for the land they labored on geographically defined by their
having a common language, history, culture and economic life together.
Hence the slogan “Free the Land!” and “Land to the Tiller!”
Just to be clear, J.V. Stalin defined a “nation” as follows:
A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people,
formed on the basis of language, territory, economic life, and
psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.”(1)
This definition continues to stand as what defines a nation today and to
deny this is simply a deviation. Comrade Lenin was not alive to see the
development of the anti-colonial struggles and thus in his view
oppressed nations could not be victorious on their own accord, but
Stalin taught us differently. At the same time Stalin also stated that
should a people no longer meet any of these criteria of a nation then
they are no longer a nation.
In this section, Rashid refers to a “Great Migration” of Blacks out of
the rural south and across the United $tates, which he uses, or seems to
use, as justification for not having “need of pursuing a struggle to
achieve a New Afrikan nation state, we have achieved the historical
results of bourgeois democracy…” Just because a people migrate across
the continent does not negate a national territory so long as a large
concentration remains in the national territory. For example, if the
Mohawk nation continues to reside in the northeast but a significant
portion of their population spread out “across America” and become urban
dwellers, their nation remains in the Northeast no matter how much they
wish to be Oregonians or Alaskans. But what really seemed grating in
this section was the last paragraph, which reads:
To complete the liberal democratic revolution and move forward to
socialist reconstruction the proletariat must lead the struggle which is
stifled by the increasingly anti-democratic, fascistic and reactionary
bourgeoisie. The bourgeois are no longer capable of playing a
progressive role in history.
First, the proletariat in its original sense for the most part does not
exist in the United $tates. In addition, the Trotskyite approach of
relying on the Amerikan “working class” is a waste of time. Amerikan
workers are not a revolutionary vehicle - they are not exploited when
they are amongst the highest paid workers in the world. How can those
seeking higher pay for more or bigger plasma TVs and SUVs be relied upon
to give all that up for “socialist construction”? And my view does not
come unsupported by the ideological framework that Rashid claims to
represent. Engels wrote to Marx in 1858:
The English proletariat is actually becoming more and more bourgeois, so
that this most bourgeois of all nations is apparently aiming ultimately
at the possession of a bourgeois aristocracy and a bourgeois proletariat
alongside the bourgeoisie. For a nation which exploits the whole world
this is of course to a certain extent justifiable.(2)
So even back in Marx and Engels’s day the English proletariat was
already bourgeoisified. Imperialism has developed far more since 1858,
further concentrating the wealth disparity between the oppressor and
oppressed nations globally.
In the section titled “The Revolutionary Advantages of Our Proletarian
National Character,” the idea is put forth of “building a multi-ethnic,
multi-racial socialist America.” Although I am not opposed to
multi-ethnic organizing, I also don’t negate the usefulness of
single-nation parties. One has to analyze the concrete conditions in the
United $tates. The historical development of the social forces may not
agree with this approach, and just because it may have worked in some
countries it may not apply to this country. It obviously didn’t apply to
South Africa, another settler state. In Azania the Pan Africanist
Congress seemed to forward the struggle more than other groups, in
particular the integrationist African National Congress that took power
and changed little for Azanians. Huey Newton himself understood this,
thus the
Black
Panther Party was a single nationality party, with internationalist
politics. Of course, at some point things will change, but the
advancement of imperialism and a long lineage of white supremacy and
privilege remains a hurdle still too huge for real multi-ethnic
organizing advancements at this time in the United $tates.
In the section “Separation, Integration or Revolution,” what is put
forward for liberation is to overthrow “imperialism and play a leading
role in the global proletarian revolution and socialist reconstruction.”
This, Rashid states, is “our path to liberation.” This smacks of First
World chauvinism. The International Communist Movement (ICM) will always
be led by the Third World proletariat. The ICM is dominated by the Third
World and our voice in the First World is just that, a voice, that will
help advance the global struggle, not lead. The idea of First World
leadership of the ICM is classic Trotskyism.
In the section “Reassessing the National Liberation Question,” in
speaking of past national liberation struggles, Rashid points to them
having an “unattainable” goal. Yet countries like Vietnam, northern
Korea, as well as Cuba come to mind as being successful in their
national liberation struggles. [China is the prime example of liberating
itself from imperialism and capitalism through socialist revolution. Of
course, Huey Newton himself eventually dismissed China’s achieving of
true national liberation in his theory of “intercommunalism” that the
NABPP-PC upholds - Editor]
Rashid goes on to say, “Even if we did manage to reconstitute ourselves
as a territorial nation in the”Black Belt,” we would only join the ranks
of imperialist dominated Third World nations – and with the imperialist
U.S. right on our border.” Here it seems the idealist proposition is
being put forward that an oppressed nation could possibly liberate
itself to the point of secession while U.$. imperialism is still
breathing. So long as U.$. imperialism is still in power, no internal
oppressed nation will emancipate itself. So the thought of the
imperialists being on one’s border will not be a problem as at that
point in the struggle for national liberation imperialism will be on no
one’s border.
In this same section, Rashid quotes Amilcar Cabral, who posed the
question of whether national liberation was an imperialist creation in
many African countries. Now we should understand that the imperialists
will use any country, ideology or leader if allowed (Ghadaffi found this
out the hard way most recently) but we should not believe that the
people are not smart enough to free themselves when oppressed. The white
supremacists put forward a line that Jews are in an international
conspiracy creating revolution and communism. These conspiracy theorists
look for any reason to suggest that the people cannot come to the
conclusion to decolonize themselves.
Later in this section the question is asked if the “proponents of the
BBT expect whites in the ‘Black Belt’ to passively concede the territory
and leave?”
I’m not a proponent of the Black Belt Thesis, but speaking in regard to
national liberation I can answer this question quite clearly. As this
writer alludes to, there may be a “white backlash.” But in any national
liberation struggle anywhere on the planet there is always a backlash
from those whose interests are threatened. When the oppressed nations
decide to liberate themselves in the United $tates the objective
position of the reactionaries will be to fight to uphold their white
privilege. This privilege relies heavily on the state and the culture of
white supremacy in Amerika. So their choice will be to support the
national liberation struggles, as real white revolutionaries will do, or
to side with imperialism. But there will be no sympathy for oppressors
in any national liberation struggle.
Asking the question of what do we expect whites to do is akin to asking
the revolutionary post-Civil War, when many were cut off from
parasitism, “well do you expect the people to stop exploiting ‘their’
field workers?” Do you expect Amerikan workers to stop being paid high
wages gained through the exploitation of the Third World? Do you expect
the pimp to stop pimping the prostitute? Do you expect the oppressor
nation to give up their national privilege? To all of the above I say if
it’s what the people decide, then YES!
Real white comrades not only will support the oppressed to obtain
liberation in a future revolution, but most do so in their work today,
even though they are a small minority compared to the larger Amerikan
population. By that time in the distant future hopefully more people
will have been educated and converted.
It is the task of conscious prisoners to develop a political line that
propels the imprisoned masses forward via concrete analysis, not just of
prison conditions, but of conditions outside these concentration camps
as well. Oppression in imperialism is a three-legged stool that includes
class, nation and gender. Thus we must develop our political line
according to these concrete conditions. Our line should be grounded in
reality. Our society is still very much segregated along class and
national lines, particularly in the fields of housing, education and
freedom.
Indeed, over half the people living within two miles of a hazardous
waste facility are Brown, Black or First Nations.(3) In many high
schools in the inner city Brown and Black youth are forced to share one
textbook for 3 or 4 students, while their parents are jailed
when they attempt to enroll their children in “better off” schools which
unsurprisingly are predominantly white.(4) The prisons are no different,
nor the “justice system.” Of the 700,000 who were reported to have been
stopped and frisked in New York City last year, 87% were Latinos and
Blacks even though whites make up 44% of New York City’s population.
When we develop a political line we must challenge it on a materialist
foundation in order to sharpen things up in a positive way, but it must
not be detached from reality. Only in this way will we identify what is
palpable in the realm of national liberation.
As Lenin said, “it is fine, it is necessary and important, to dream of
another or radically different and better world – while at the same time
we must infuse and inform our dreams with the most consistent,
systematic and comprehensive scientific outlook and method, communism,
and on that basis fight to bring those dreams into reality.”
MIM(Prisons) adds: The original article by Rashid is in response
to the New Afrikan Maoist Party and cites the Maoist Internationalist
Movement as another party promoting the Black Belt Thesis. While MIM
certainly never denounced the Black Belt Thesis, they recognized the
crumbling material basis for seeing it through in the post-Comintern
years that Rashid points to in his article. It is worth noting that more
recent statistics show the New Afrikan population since 1990 has
increased most in the South, where 55% of New Afrikans live today and
that in the Black Belt states a much higher percentage of the population
is New Afrikan than in the rest of the country.(5) MIM did publish an
interesting discussion of the
land
question for New Afrika as an example of a two line struggle in
2004. Ultimately the land question must be determined by two conditions
which we do not currently have: 1) a Black nation that has liberated
itself from imperialism, and 2) a forum for negotiating land division in
North America with other internal semi-colonies free from imperialist
intervention.
In his article, Rashid responds to our critique of his liquidating the
nationalist struggle in the book
Defying
the Tomb. In doing so he speaks of a Pan-Afrikan Nation, which is an
oxymoron completely liquidating the meaning of both terms.
Pan-Afrikanism is a recognition of the common interests of the various
oppressed nations of Africa, often extended to the African diaspora. You
cannot apply the Stalin quote given above to New Afrika and Pan
Afrikanism and consistently call both a nation.
But ultimately, as the USW comrade criticizes above, the liquidationism
is strongest in the NABPP-PC line on the progressive nature of the
Amerikan nation. It is this dividing line that makes it impossible for
our camps to see eye-to-eye and carry out a real two line struggle on
the question of New Afrikan land.