Under Lock & Key

At the end of every year, MIM(Prisons) does an assessment of our work and finances and we plan for the new year. We also solicit reports, criticisms and self-criticisms from USW comrades. We were a little late on that this year, so perhaps we will have more for next issue of ULK.

While most are finding it hard to predict what the next Trump regime will bring, it is clear from this choice that imperialism is in crisis. The uncertainty and threat of instability from things like tariffs, deportations and defunding important social programs do not bode well for the future of U.$. imperialism or stability of the current world order of U.$. domination. There are clear cracks in the latter, despite 2024 being a series of short-term victories for the U.$. empire in the Levant.

The coming upheaval of the current system requires preparation and organization. Since the dissolution of the original MIM in 2008, we cannot say that the MIM has seen significant growth. The prison ministry did accomplish a lot in the decade from 2008 to 2018, reaching new heights in MIM’s prisoner support work. In U.$. prisons we saw significant growth and some amazing actions of mass solidarity. As long-time readers know, MIM(Prisons) took some major setbacks in 2020 and we’ve been regrouping since. In that period we’ve successfully expanded our online recruitment. We’ve also seen a significant growth in MIM line in online communities that MIM(Prisons) has never or no longer participates in (meaning promotion of MIM’s 3 cardinal principles). This has come along with a general growth in “Maoist” groups popping up, evolving and dissolving, though most of these groups do not uphold the 3 cardinals. All of this indicates change in favor of the growth of our forces here on occupied Turtle Island.

Assessing 2024

In the last few years we have revamped and relaunched all of our educational programs for prisoners, which were all non-operational by 2020. We’ve also begun running them online. In 2024, we saw another significant expansion of our educational engagement with prisoners with the relaunching of our study group for USW leaders through the University of Maoist Thought (UMT). Meanwhile, every year, comrades inside and outside continue to complete our intro study courses. These education programs are the first step to building the leaders we need to grow our movement.

Beyond just education, 2024 marked the beginning of the intentional building of the MIM-led united front. By MIM-led we mean ideologically, not a centralized organization. While still in its early stages, these discussions have been fruitful, involving people in cadre orgs and mass orgs that are doing real work in the anti-imperialist movement outside of prisons.

To be prepared for the changes to come, we must continue on these fronts. We must educate more allies into leaders, through both study groups and pushing them to engage in practical work. And we must continue to develop our networks and infrastructure to support real fighting forces in the future.

In 2024, our readership in prisons has continued its steady decline dating back to 2016 now. We didn’t receive a lot of feedback last year on the possible causes of this, but some factors include: drugs, tablets, digital mail, more long-term isolation, and a general decline in the prison movement.

We had less prisoners write us in 2024 than any other year in our existence. This translated to another decrease in donations. A few years ago we accomplished our longstanding goal of having prisoners fund 10% of ULK costs. This seemed to be a result of Covid money. Since then donations have returned to the more normal rate, but with less people writing us that’s an overall decrease in donations. The percent of ULK costs covered by prisoner donations dropped to about 4.2% in 2024, down from 11.5% in 2022.

On the other hand, this summer we distributed far more copies of ULK on the streets than ever before as part of our effort to link the prison movement to the student movement for Palestine. We got close to our goal of matching distribution inside prisons. And our donations from outside supporters (outside of MIM(Prisons)) reached an all time high as well to help pay for those papers.

Overall, our budget was very stable between 2023 and 2024, and much of the small increase was due to us expanding our operations in other locations.

Other than continuing our regular publication of ULK each season, we also put the finishing touches on our paper “Why the International Communist Movement (ICM) Must Break with the Legacy of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM)”. This paper is an important summary of the MIM struggle against the Revolutionary Communist Party(U$A) in the realm of the ICM, pointing out key differences between us and the various revisionists claiming Maoism to this day.

New for 2025

We have a number of things planned for this year already.

As whitehouse.gov removes all Spanish-language content, we are excited to announce the relaunch of our Spanish page (or section) that will start in ULK 89. We already have a Spanish version of our current letter introducing United Struggle from Within and MIM(Prisons), and will have a Spanish version of the intro study course level 1 soon. So if you know people who are interested in studying with us in Spanish have them write in for that. We are also looking for incarcerated translators to help contribute to this important project.

We are already making progress in 2025 towards our unachieved goal of establishing local AIPS chapters with local outreach, regular meetings, educational events, and campaign support for comrades inside. This should continue to expand our ability to correspond with prisoners and attempt to rebuild interest in U.$. prisons around our work.

We will be pushing the September 9th Day of Peace and Solidarity, on the anniversary of Attica, on the streets in the forms of fasting, political work and study, and possibly larger events as we have promoted inside prisons for a decade now. We have not seen much activity around this inside prisons in recent years, so we hope this will inspire that again and that we can reinforce each others’ efforts around 9/9.

The relaunch of our study group for USW leaders has been very successful overall. Specifically, it has brought together some of our most enthusiastic and advanced thinkers within the New Afrikan Independence Movement, creating momentum around more proactive work in that realm. We will be continuing this study and looking to produce work from it for the broader movement.

Join Us

Imperialism will keep providing opportunities for resistance as its internal contradictions only continue to heighten. It has been some time since we’ve seen real opportunities within the United $tates, and it remains one of the most stable places in the world. Yet, now is the time to build. Opportunities are close enough that people are getting interested in real change, but we must build before real crisis ensues and the existing dominant forces sweep away our efforts because we were not prepared.

Since 2020 we’ve seen a persistent slow and steady growth. We need your help to sustain that growth into the future.

The methods of oppression are ever evolving to suppress the masses. The people must realize that revolution and resistance is a science, not rooted in emotion. Being a prisoner of war, enslaved by the state of Illinois, I have learned that resistance to my oppression must be calculated and strategic.

To all comrades held by the beast, learn the law! Stop allowing the State to offer you meaningless distractions that prevent you from fighting against this system. We must learn to use the weapons we got. Understand, comrades, the pigs are trained and equipped to handle any form of physical resistance, but they lack any true method to handle a revolutionary mind.

Resist by challenging all conditions of your enslavement, use their laws against them. Utilize every tool available to you. All peer advocates/jailhouse lawyers must unite to teach all that they know. Don’t let false titles keep us from uniting. Don’t let organizational ties, race, ideological stance, or religion stop us from coming together to fight against this system.

We must be organized and disciplined in our approach. Educate yourselves, train your mind & bodies, read every day! Write every day! Fuck that TV or tablet, get in the law library! All corporate media is a lie! Unburden yourself from that illusion. A pig’s nature is to consume uncontrollably, don’t be a pig or a pig sympathizer by allowing their oppression of you to go unchecked! Master everything you commit yourself to studying, revolutionize your mind. If the system doesn’t fear your physicality, it fears your mind, or should I say, the potential of what your mind can become!

“The heart of a soldier with the brain to teach a whole nation…” 2pac/No More Pain

In Solidarity

Some of the problems I have run into organizing are being targeted by administration for conducting a study group. Some times there’s too many people interested for the space available, then when you’ve got 15-20 people huddled up and no violence is occurring, it scared the C.O.’s They are not used to that type of unity and they don’t encourage anything that has to do with building a collective consciousness. I try to do study groups in smaller circles and more discreetly because some dudes are eyes and ears for the oppressor. Repression is not a good thing at all and I must say that before I continue. However, when they do crack down, that’s when I pay close attention because certain responses help me inventory the caliber of men I’m studying with. The ones who know and understand the full magnitude of what the consequences can be for orchestrating a study group but are still willing to carry on are my type of comrades. In other words, the targeting helps me see who’s who.

As far as the question of being surrounded by enemies, we can list the various forces inside prisons similar to classes/nations outside because there are different types of people and not everybody is on the same page. For example, if in the prison I am housed at I did a united front for Palestine solidarity, certain people would not even consider it because that’s not the level of struggle they are interested in. But if I did one for, let’s say, advocating for more quality programming inside the institution, you will see a different crowd. Even in this crowd, you will have some who fully identify with capitalist principles (even fascism) and their oppressor.

Different initiatives will attract different people. I feel like it’s important to dichotomize because not everybody is qualified for revolutionary work. You’ve got some people who are so broken and battered they will utilize this as an opportunity to gain favor with the oppressor. United fronts can be formed that resolve around us understanding our personal experiences within the criminal injustice system and putting it in a larger context of abolishing the prison system and all other oppressive, capitalist-imperial systems. By us connecting this link to the outside world, we will see how these systems overlap and the need for a united front for all the oppressed. The fight continues.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Last issue we asked for feedback on what it was like to build support for Palestine in prisons. As this comrade indicates, it can be a hard sell. Focusing on quality programming can be a better place to start, but it is not inherently going to build the movement. More programming can lead to more state control over what prisoners are doing with their time, more brainwashing. So such a campaign would need to have a component where you were also building programs, or just space for discussion, that serves the movement for it to be a progressive campaign. That is, a campaign that serves the international proletariat rather than something that just helps a small group of people get jobs when they’re released or whatever. Campaigning for Palestine is much more inherently internationalist in its content, and it does not present these challenges – it presents the challenge of being harder to mobilize people around instead as comrades in Texas and Florida have also reported.

I recently read a writing titled: “Law, Prison and Double-Double Consciousness: A Phenomenological View of the Black-Prisoner’s Experience” by James Davis III. This led me to write the following:

“What I pondered was my own double-double consciousness! The development of the”New Afrikan” within the greater black populace of captives. From the taking of the Afrikan attribute(s)’s learning of Ki-Swahili, the mandated study of all things dealing with black culture, history and struggle, to the daily remaking of one’s world view through study and application…the identity of “New Afrikan” implores one to rise above the lowly station of inmate, of n-word.”

In reading this piece by Mr. Davis, I was reminded of the innate power of a man. The power to literally reinvent oneself within an environment designed to annihilate the soul of a man. Prison(s) are created with a purpose to force a human to willingly acquiesce to half-man existence.

To develop a double-double consciousness is to resist such inferior station(s), to be a man! One who stands on principle(s), personified purpose, and willingly accepts his responsibilities to both uplift and reeducate the masses, which is a revolutionary ideal!

To embrace a revolutionary ideological precept is to strive even harder at evolving this “double-double consciousness”. Aside from the aforementioned character improvement(s), the revolutionary-minded man immerses himself in all things dealing with progressive politics and the science of struggle.

As his prison cohorts grow comfortable living captive man half-lives (i.e. embracing typical prison activities: gambling, drug usage, etc.) the revolutionary-minded captive creates a compass of consciousness which guides him daily. He spends his time always pushing himself to excel, regardless of tasks or conditions.

This is the cat who aligns with other men who reject the half-lives and/or inferior designations expected of the captive class. Whenever he/they are seen, they’re reading something, writing something, attending college, engaging in some form of constructive dialogue, or physically training their bodies. Forging his new self: the unbroken, unbowed man that’s living and potentially dying, upon revolutionary standards and practices.

The identification of oneself as a militant, as a revolutionary theorist, anchors oneself. As those around him list to-and-fro, uncertain of their next move(s), the innate belief within the mind of the man moving by a revolutionary compass is that he represents something greater than himself. That he is a soldier that happens to be behind enemy lines if you will: captured! It is through this perception, that he re-imagines his reality, and in turn finds purpose in his every action. He discovers the reservoir of resistance within which moves him to set his personal bar of daily exemplary conduct higher than those around him. Understanding his calling, devoting himself to the people. To meeting their needs.

I find all of the above to be quite close to describing myself. Though admittedly, I fall short of the mark most days. Being human, with all of the subjectivisms that accompany it, at times, my objective conditions threaten to overwhelm me. Yet it is the will to win, to resist the “colonial mentality” which has historically impacted my ilk, propels me to stand firm. Existing within a perpetual mode of resistance!

In looking back, I can really see that I’ve been in a state of rebellion my entire life! That I have never been one of those “go along to get along” type of brothas. Unfortunately, this ingrained sense of recalcitrance has led to many years of imprisonment and designations by those of the oppressor class, as being anti social and/or suffering some mystery “personality disorder”. To not be a shoe shine boy, a buck dancing coon, a tom! The conventional roles assigned to the U.$. man/woman of color! Is to be castigated by those in power, and/or positions of authority.

I now fully comprehend this whole “double-double consciousness” as it pertains to myself individually and my New Afrikan/black kinfolk! Collectively! All colored folk whom live in capitalist society, which is governed by those who use race and class as measurements of worth! Not only adjust to the double consciousness of faux citizenry…they also develop their own “double-double consciousness” to cope!

However, the one brutal fact which distinguishes the U.$. Black man/woman from any other ethnic groups is the historical miscarriage of chattel slavery! Our socio-cultural creation of a double-double consciousness is our collective survival mechanism if you will. A way to figuratively stay rooted in our Afrikan beginnings! Whilst literally standing on the shoulders of the many, many activists, struggle-ists, revolutionaries, and average citizens whom were wounded, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered! For daring to dream of having freedom, justice and equality! We repay the debt to our martyrs by clinging fiercely to their memories, living within our “cocoon’s” of double-double consciousness! Forging bonds with other forward thinking folk of Afrikan ancestry. And then, united in purpose, teach others how to “escape” our half life existences! Moving towards a revolutionary ideology and corresponding actions as the conditions reveal the time to manifest them! I stand firm within the confines of a satanic creation! Striving to be the catalyst for progress and change. As I survive, only through my own “double-double consciousness” cocoon.

MIM(Prisons) adds: Davis’s double-double consciousness is a product of alienation through oppressive structures. These oppressive structures isolate people from “the world”, putting them in a new reality, with new rules and norms, that are generally worse than “the world” they know in every way. This is in contrast to prisons in socialist China – where people were encouraged (you might say coerced) to study the outside world, to better understand their own actions and find a new way to be in that world that is in line with the interests of the people. In a socialist prison, criminals can focus on struggling with themselves because they aren’t forced to struggle against the oppression of the prison environment first.

We offer comrades support in developing the consciousness that is in rebellion against the oppressive system. We offer Under Lock & Key as a forum to connect with and share ideas with other like-minded individuals. We have our Revolutionary 12 Steps that is one tool for those trying to transform themselves into new people. And we have books on revolutionary societies like China, and their prison system, and how they were able to radically transform a whole society. So if this comrade’s essay resonates with you, get involved and get plugged in with these resources today!

i enjoyed comrade Grim’s article on Christian Zionism and the prison tablet propaganda. i wanted to comment a little since Grim asked for comments from TX comrades.

Comrade Grim was spot on with what was said about the ideas and ideals driving Christian Zionism generally and as it manifests itself in the prison tablet space.

Regarding the group Grim mentioned by name, Real Vida TV, i was able to work closely with Real Vida while organizing on behalf of Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. At the time their line on solitary confinement was that they saw it as torture and that it should be shut down in its totality. This matched Our own line on solitary confinement and Real Vida was willing and did assist us in spreading Our message, connecting us with interested groups and opening their platform up to us and our supporters. At the time it was only an audio radio show, not a podcast, and there were no tablets. They also acted as communication assistants helping us make important contacts with each other from plantation to plantation as we organized a state-wide hunger strike against solitary confinement. All this is to say that at the time we had a working relationship, regardless of their Christian Zionist beliefs.

However, this changed after Operation Al-Aqsa flood. Personally speaking i couldn’t even listen to the garbage they were spewing let alone look past it. Ties were severed. To me the question of the Third World proletariat and the Palestinian nationalist struggle far out-weighs the U.$. prisoner class-based struggles.

They’re the most reactionary manifestation of the christian prison ministries and also one of the most popular. A lot of their videos are widely discussed afterwards and i’ve had more than a few disputes and even fisticuffs surrounding the B.S. they spew. The cold truth is that as MIM(Prisons) says, not all prisoners are swayed by this garbage. But the Palestinian struggle has unearthed the reactionary, patriotic amerikkkan spirit among the lumpen here. What i observe is that only the most politically and socially conscious prisoners side with the Palestinian struggle, and this is the minority.

The tablets play a role in that they have very limited selection of voices and ideas, particularly on this sort of issue. Pando App dominates the landscape and prior to March 2024, when podcasts were uploaded onto all tablets, Pando was basically the only source of entertainment. i have filed complaints concerning discrimination in content that is available on the KA Lite app, which is an education app that has a wide variety of scientific and hard historical factual knowledge, but the prison admin has to allow permission to download content. My complaint came after observing that there was no content concerning Africa, the Black Liberation struggle, and anti-colonial revolutions. Although these videos have been made by the app creator, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has not allowed us access to the content. i also filed a complaint on the podcast platform for similar reasons but pertaining solely to Palestine.

The final comment is that outside comrades have to begin to get their content on the music and/or podcast platforms. i sent a previous note to MIM(Prisons) on how to do that with the Securus people.

Firewater of USW also responded: Grim, read your article in ULK 86. I totally agree with you about the Christian religion and these “evangelists” supporting mass murder and exploitation around the world. The people at Real Vida are real nice folks, but they are brainwashed and misguided like all Christians. We need to be able to copy what they do only for our revolutionary work.

We need to be doing what Real Vida is doing but like you said the Christian Zionists have a monopoly on these tablets and it needs to be broken up! I was in medium and high security and all we could watch was “Pando App”, which is nothing but Christian Evangelists and we have an FYI App that is run by TDCJ and is all Jesus all the time!

TDCJ is run by these Christian Chapels and they oppress other religions such as Muslim, Native American, Eastern religions, etc. The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Unitarian Universalists’ Prison Ministry said that the “PANDO” App would not allow the CLF to participate. Probably because the PANDO folks are right-wing evangelical kooks and the CLF and UUA are extremely liberal organizations.

Grim is right on when ey talks about the genocide of Turtle Island and the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth’s treasures. They love to tout capitalism as the greatest engine of wealth ever created. But it’s like Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the farm animals are ruled by their newly formed governance of PIGS!

I have received two much-needed documents from you: “How to Form an Effective Study Group” and the “Revolutionary 12 Step Program” during the holy month of Black August. During Black August (B.A.) there were three young neophytes who also embarked on the journey of Kebuka (remembrance) by studying the works and examples of ancestors, comrades and many of the beautiful souls that sparked the momentous flow of resistance.

Prior to B.A., I was invited to a think tank class where the serious minded men here can come into a space to talk, think and reflect on solutions to problems that plague the prison population and society at large.

After attending a few of the sessions I realized the class lacked a starting point to build and grow on.

However, I shared the 12 Step Program with the facilitator, and the brothers all agreed that the layout was a great format and that the five principles of the United Front for Peace in Prisons enumerated on page 2 of ULK should be the pillars that hold this class.

Thanking you for all the tireless work that’s being put in.

We hope those who have been following our series of articles this week have been both angered by what is going on inside U.$. prisons and inspired to action. (see campaign link below to read previous articles)

MIM(Prisons) is in a period of growth, after some setbacks. In recent years we’ve gradually reinstated each of our 3 different levels of correspondence study courses for prisoners. Just this summer we put out a long-planned Reference Guide that contains historical timelines, maps and a glossary to provide background for many of the things we talk about regularly. We’ve released the Revolutionary 12 Steps Program and Power To New Afrika, both written by prisoners, in the last couple years. We continue to put out Under Lock & Key every three months. And we’ve updated a number of other study packs and resources. And we do it all out of our own pockets and volunteer time. So if you can spare some money or some time to support us it can go a long way.

By the time this series of articles reaches most of our readers inside, in Under Lock & Key 87, the holiday season will be approaching. In that spirit and inspired by all this talk about banned books, we are pledging to mail out more books this winter than any other winter in the 2020s so far!

Please see our get involved page for ways to donate and other ways to help out. Outside supporters can help us make this happen by sending cash or stamps, helping acquire in demand books like dictionaries, Black Panther Party, or Marxist classics, or by volunteering in various ways. All of the new publications listed above have been censored in various prisons, even the Reference Guide was censored in Michigan’s Thumb Correctional Facility for being more than 12 pages long! So continued campaigning and legal support is much needed.

Prisoners can help us get more books out by taking the steps to join our Serve the People Free Political Books to Prisoners Program. Get others to sign up for a subscription to ULK or become a distributor of ULK in your prison. Let us know what organizing work you are doing, what your local study group is discussing, what questions are coming up for you and your comrades. By doing these things you can receive books to help with your local work and studies. We have books on Black/New Afrikan studies, Chican@ studies, First Nation studies, gender, economics, history of Chinese socialism, the Soviet Union, books by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao and more.

As we approach the end of Prison Banned Book Week we are pausing our campaign, which has been going on over the last couple months, to support prisoners in Pendleton Correctional Facility, Indiana. Supporters should stop gathering signatures and mail out any remaining postcards soon.

It was reported to MIM(Prisons) that 6 prisoners were threatened with drug charges, and torture in long-term isolation, for mail received from MIM Distributors. The mailroom claimed smudges of ink (that were obviously from the printer) were indications that the mail was laced with drugs. Of course, subsequent testing of the mail proved there were no drugs on them. This type of treatment has earned Indiana state a grade of D for their mail censorship, not an F because most letters do get through as does some literature.

In response to these threats, comrades in Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support (AIPS) and other supporters hit the streets with a postcard campaign. We told people about what was going on, and asked them to sign a postcard and mail it to the administration. The postcards called out the political repression and demanded that it be stopped. Dozens of postcards were mailed to the Pendleton Administration, from near and far away, over the last couple months.

In the midst of the postcard campaign we received news that the threats had seemingly been dropped. But censorship has continued and a lawsuit is still being pursued. One of the comrades targeted at Pendleton says:

“I have not received Under Lock & Key 86 mailed out [1 month ago]. I’ve written the mailroom 2 times now and as of today have not received it.”

Ey did receive our article on the postcard campaign, which has been copied and distributed around the prison. Ey says:

“Thank you all for bringing this injustice to light!”

Thanks to the comrades on the outside who supported this campaign. We are declaring this phase over, but will continue to report on the happenings in Indiana prisons.

Outreach Report

In one locale, over 35 petitions were collected alongside distributing ULK 86 directly to passerbys. There was substantial immediate enthusiasm for discovering a publication written by prisoners, especially regarding solidarity with Palestine. Each persyn AIPS met was interested both in receiving a newsletter as well as signing a petition to mail.

AIPS also maintained a presence at Socialism Conference 2024 which took place in Chicago during the end of August. Here, over 100 copies of ULK were handed out and dozens of postcard petitions were signed by those interested in the struggle of prisoners. It was also encouraging to see those on the outside were interested in learning about the abuses and injustices prisoners face, either through attending panels hosted at the conference or by talking directly with passer-bys.

While there was no negative reception, no recipients in either location were familiar with ULK or MIM(Prisons). Only very few recognized the MIM name from prior exposure. It is indicative of a low tide in the movement here that most are completely unfamiliar with anti-imperialist prisoners. This represents an opportunity and responsibility to publicize our work and recruit more volunteers.

Among this small sample of the public, found tabling in busy urban areas, at local leftist events, or at the aforementioned conference, there were multiple people who were very enthusiastic about the newspaper and our work in spite of lacking all prior familiarity. This welcome enthusiasm also resulted in some “pig questions”: those which, if AIPS answered publicly, would inevitably feed valuable information to the pigs (in other words, agents of the state). The size of a political group, their location, and their leadership structure are examples of questions unnecessary to answer in order to work with others. That information only helps enemies who wish to study, surveil or even infiltrate anti-imperialist organizations. And we don’t say this to pretend that we are a big organization but rather to encourage people to do the work that they see as the most correct.

AIPS comrades encountered some popular confusion about MIM(Prisons)’s line on (non)exploitation of prisoners. Some people thought MIM(Prisons) was fighting against the for-profit prison system. Most prisons are not private. And even companies like JPay, Securus, and GTL that are profiteering off prisoners are making very small amounts of money compared to the cost of running the criminal injustice system, which the Prison Policy Institute put at about $182 billion. MIM(Prisons)’s actual line is that prisons are an immense cost to Amerika: a cost sustained for the purpose of social control, especially for the national oppression of First Nation, New Afrikan and Chican@ liberation movements. In the end, this cost is worthwhile if Amerika is able to prevent the masses of oppressed nations from fighting for autonomy in land and resources. But still, the benefits yielded are not profits in terms of capital but the containment and suppression of the internal semi-colonies within the United $tates. Imprisonment is a form of absolute immiseration that we think of in the realm of genocide rather than exploitation. The suppression of rebellious groups helps the settler Amerikan nation maintain its position on top. AIPS incorporates this understanding in our prisoner correspondence and campaign work.

There are 65 organizations who have signed on to the 2024 Prison Banned Books Week campaign. What unites us is a belief that there is good in lifting the restrictions on literature that U.$. prisoners have access to. Without having asked all of the participants, we’d wager that we all agree that by understanding the past and understanding the ideas of others, that people can better understand our present and act on it in a way that benefits humynity overall. There are certain ideas that we may take from the Age of the Enlightenment that we all share.

Finding Truth in Books

Where many of the organizations in this campaign probably disagree with us is in seeing that each piece of literature has a class character to it. As part of our world view as Marxists, we recognize that, in a class society, there is class character in everything humyns create..

There is an adage that the truth is hidden in books. But as we’ve discussed before, not all books are true or based in materialist science.(1) In a sense, we go to the library and read books to bury the lies within books and all around us. We must understand different arguments and ways of thinking in order to see their accuracy or fallacy.

Rather than think of the “marketplace of ideas” where a bunch of people bring their individual thoughts to compete with others (the individualist view), we see a war between two main class positions in the realm of ideas (and elsewhere) – that of the bourgeoisie vs. that of the proletariat. There is a reason why prisoners are the most restricted readers in this country, and why New Afrikan, Indigenous and Chican@ literature are targeted as “Security Threat Group” material.

Cultural Revolution

If there is one phenomenon that defines Maoism, it is the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) in China (1966-1976) and the lessons learned from it. But wait, didn’t they like burn books and punish academics during the GPCR?

In essence, the GPCR was an unleashing of almost a billion people to participate in the war between the proletarian and the bourgeois lines in politics and production. Not only that, this was a people that were more than 90% illiterate before the liberation of China by the Communist Party in 1949.

“My conclusion… was that China had made greater progress in liberating masses of people from illiteracy and bringing millions some knowledge of scientific and industrial technique than any nation had ever done in so short a time.

“…By 1960… about $2,600,000,000) was devoted to education and science, or fifty percent more than the direct budgetary military expenditure….

“In 1960 United States expenditure on education at all levels was less than four percent of the national income, or slightly less than the $18,000,000,000 Americans spent for alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

“In 1957 Premier Chou En-lai had estimated illiteracy over the whole country at seventy percent. Mr Tsui said that by 1960 the percentage had been reduced… to about sixty-six percent for the rural areas and twenty-four percent in the cities.”(2)

By 1979, three years after the GPCR, illiteracy was down to 30%.(3) Yet the GPCR is known in the United $tates for shutting down schools and attacking professors. These things were central to the student struggles on campuses across China. And in these struggles there were Red Guard factions taking up different positions and political lines, fighting against each other. Students were challenging the hierarchical roles in the university and the traditional methods of study, without always having the answers. There are even documented cases of Red Guards burning religious books as a means of attacking reactionary ideas. But this was not a coordinated effort by the state as is happening in prisons and schools across the United $tates today, the so-called “land of the free”. We can see parallels to the critiques of the Chinese student movement in the United $tates today where “right to an education” is being used to silence protests against U.$. arms being used for a genocide in Palestine.

Interestingly, after praising Chinese literacy in the quote above, Edgar Snow quotes a U.$. Library of Congress staffer stating that the Chinese concept of education “is not distinguishable from indoctrination, propaganda and agitation.”(2) This is where we would again stress the class perspective, and how propaganda is in the eye of the beholder:

“Westerners perceive Chinese education under Mao as”propaganda,” because it encourages values and goals which contradict the goals of capitalism. These values and goals taught in China during the Cultural Revolution were consistent with the building of socialism. Education in Western nations is not perceived as “propaganda” by those who, consciously or not, agree with the goals of capitalism/imperialism and patriarchy. Similarly, advertising for capitalist products, while recognized as very influential on people’s opinions and actions, is not perceived as “brain-washing” by those who benefit from capitalism and have therefore decided to tolerate it.”(4)

The totalitarian control of corporations like Global Tel*Link, JPay, and Securus over what prisoners read, write, listen to and communicate with people outside is a good example of what our society accepts.

Allyn and Adele Ricket wrote about their experience as prisoners in China for providing intelligence to the United $tates Government. This is one of the best accounts of the Chinese socialist approach to education/re-education. They were imprisoned during the early years of the revolution and witnessed the change in approach, partially due to changing conditions (the new government had been established and prisoners were less rebellious) and partially due to lessons learned. “By 1953… the authorities acknowledged that their former overemphasis on suppression had been a mistake.”(5)

Their description of staff at their prison sounds unbelievable to a U.$. prisoner:

“he always seemed to have time to listen to the troubles of one or another of the prisoners or to do countless little things which showed how serious he was in looking out for the welfare of his charges.”

At first Allyn Rickett thought this was a bit of a propaganda show, but this incident changed eir mind:

“I looked through the crack in the palisade built around our cell window to obstruct the view. There was Supervisor Shen patiently going along the line turning every article of the prisoners’ clothing to make certain they would be dry by the time we were to take them in after supper.”(6)

Regarding censorship, the Ricketts also compare the news in China over time and to the Amerikan press:

“Publication of news is determined by its usefulness in increasing the people’s social consciousness and morality and furthering the Communist Party’s program for the development of the country. Therefore the content of the news is limited to what the authorities feel will serve these ends.

“To our mind, no matter how sincere in their purpose the authorities may be, in violating the principle of the right to know they are taking a dangerous step. …One of the most encouraging recent developments in China has been a liberalization of this concept of a controlled press. [written in 1957]

“…Our experience in living in and reading the press of both countries has led us to the conclusion that the Chinese today are still receiving a clearer picture of what is happening here than the American people are of what is taking place in China.”(7)

Ten years later the GPCR will begin and “big character posters” were promoted as a way for the masses to express their grievances against Party officials, or other issues they faced. The Chinese experiment in socialism was unique in how it regularly attempted to open up mass participation in ideological struggle and in organizing society as far as could be tolerated without creating chaos. And even then there was some chaos, which is what the GPCR is usually criticized for.

The press is a battleground for class struggle. In a condition where all the books were bourgeois, the socialist government had a lot of work to do to catch up. And this was done largely in face-to-face study groups, whether on campuses, on farms or in prisons.

The ideas of the old system must be surpassed, but not erased. Marx showed how different economic systems gave birth to subsequent systems, and how the ideas evolved to reflect those new systems. This is all important to the understanding of humyn history and to the development and continued advancement of humyn knowledge.

<sup>Notes: 1. Melo X, August 2022, Are Ideas in a Book Materialist?, Under Lock & Key 79.
2. Snow, Edgar, 1970, Red China Today, Random House: New York, pp.229-231.
3. MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT POSITION PAPER ON VIOLENCE, PART II, 26 August 1992
4. MC5, November 1999, Myths About Maoism.
5. Ricket, Allyn & Adele, 1973, Anchor Books: New York, p.235.
6. Ibid., p.236-7
7. Ibid., p.331</sup>