MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
This past summer, we gathered commentary from our readers on the
student uprising against the genocide in Gaza, which is now expanding
across the region. These articles were used in a
pamphlet that many USW comrades received, and were all printed in Under Lock & Key
86.
Comrades on the streets distributed the pamphlet and ULK 86
to students (and non-students) in a number of regions across the
country. We attended rallies and speaking events, visited the remnants
of encampments and shared publications at conferences.
In general, the response was enthusiastic to the articles written by
prisoners, especially regarding solidarity with Palestine.
Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support (AIPS) maintained a presence at
Socialism Conference 2024 which took place in Chicago during the end of
August. Over 100 copies of ULK were handed out at the
conference, while also agitating against prisoner repression.
At a New York hacker conference, audience members eagerly grabbed
copies of the Palestine pamphlet at a talk on prison surveillance. The
speaker exposed most of the issues we discuss in our Prison
Banned Books Week articles. Ey also exposed how Securus has a patent
to use the phone numbers of prisoner contacts to track their spending
data. And Securus already provides location data to Correctional
Officers by phone number! We hope comrades can understand why we’re
sticking to snail mail. This also happened to be the only talk at the
conference where the speaker shouted “Free Palestine!”
At a southern California Palestine solidarity event comrades were
able to give out ULK 86 to a large group of students and
noticed that others would grab a copy on their way out. Reactions were
mostly positive with one criticism being that it may have been too tough
on the students. This was presumably referring to the critique
written by an outside comrade involved in the student movement.
Comrades have communicated with a number of student groups to solicit
responses or statements for this issue of Under Lock & Key.
While at least one group expressed interest, we did not get any reports
from students on the ongoing legal struggles and political repression
they are facing for this issue. It is clear more work is needed to
strengthen a connection between the prison movement and the student
movement. But progress is being made.
Decades ago, Under Lock & Key was a section in the newspaper
MIM Notes put out by the original Maoist Internationalist
Movement and its party in the United $tates. For a time, MIM distributed
newspapers on the streets at 20-30 times the amount they sent to
prisoners, and their paper came out every 2 weeks. Since MIM(Prisons)
launched Under Lock & Key in 2007, it has always been a
primarily prisoner newsletter. Though in the past we’ve estimated our
online readership to be bigger. A couple years ago we set the goal of
distributing as many newspapers on the streets as we do in prisons.
While not quite there, ULK 86 was by far the closest we’ve
gotten to reaching that goal.
If you want to help expand ULK distribution on the street,
send us $55 in cash or postage stamps with a return address and we’ll
send you 100 copies of the next ULK we print. ULK
currently comes out at the beginning of November, February, May, and
August.
As we go to press, the prospects of an inter-imperialist war loom
heavy once again. The upcoming U.$. presidential election contributes to
the uncertainty as various forces posture and attempt to exert
influence. What is clear is that U.$. imperialism is set on backing its
Zionist outpost in the Levant (Middle East) while the majority of the
world stand in opposition, and even most Amerikans want their government
to stop sending arms to I$rael.(1)
Despite public opinion, the imperialists are offering no presidential
candidate that will slow aid to I$rael. Military aid also continues
despite the United $tate’s own laws.
“ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees
bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked
deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of
the agencies even though they’re considered the two foremost U.S.
authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the
U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is
required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the
delivery of U.S.-backed aid. Days after receiving the reports, Blinken
told Congress, quote, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli
government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or
delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
“On [24 September 2024], the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
CAIR, called for Blinken’s resignation, accusing him of lying to
Congress.”(2)
I$rael received at least $12.5 billion in U.$. aid as of May 2024.(3)
And as the 2024 fiscal year comes to a close, they just announced
another $8.7 billion in military aid to I$rael in an aid package that
also includes $17 billion to “reimburse U.S. operations in response to
recent attacks.”(4) This came in the midst of increased attacks on
Lebanon and the killing
of the leadership of Hezbollah.
“Most of the aid—approximately $3.3 billion a year—is provided as
grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, funds that
Israel must use to purchase U.S. military equipment and services. …U.S.
aid reportedly accounts for some 15 percent of Israel’s defense budget.
Israel, like many other countries, also buys U.S. military products
outside of the FMF program.”(3)
Israel gets 78% of its arms imports from the United $tates.(3) This
circulation of capital into the U.$. economy is one reason why the
imperialists won’t offer an anti-war candidate. Meanwhile, family
members in Gaza send photos of bombs and military equipment used against
them stamped with “Made in USA”.
An April 2024 Pew Research poll showed much lower opposition to
sending military aid to I$rael among Amerikans than other polls, but its
breakdown by age reflected who is out in the streets, and who is putting
their bodies on the line to stop the genocide here in the United $tates.
While 45% of 18-29 year olds opposed U.$. aid to I$rael according to
Pew, this number decreases with age, getting down to only 22% of
Amerikans 65+.(3) This conflict between the young and the old has been
reflected in the anti-imperialist movement for decades, and we see this
as the principal contradiction within the Amerikan nation where class
contradictions and the contradictions between male-bodied and
female-bodied people are generally not antagonistic.
The military-industrial complex (MIC) ensures politicians represent
economic interests by massive investments in lobbying:
“Lobbying expenditures by all the denizens of the MIC are even
higher—more than $247 million in the last two election cycles. Such
funds are used to employ 820 lobbyists, or more than one for every
member of Congress. And mind you, more than two-thirds of those
lobbyists had swirled through Washington’s infamous revolving door from
jobs at the Pentagon or in Congress to lobby for the arms
industry.”(5)
Weapons manufacturers have bigger budgets than those in charge of the
wars, and more influence than any other industry. In 2020, Lockheed
Martin received more money from the U.$. government than the budgets of
the State Department and the Agency of International development
combined. Meanwhile, more than 75 percent of the top foreign-policy
think tanks in the United $tates are at least partially funded by
military contractors. These weapons manufacturers are also deeply
involved in Hollywood movie production. This is why we think it is
misleading to use terms like “prison industrial complex” or “non-profit
industrial complex”. The size, influence and importance
to the U.$. economy of military production is not comparable to such
theories.(6)
According to statistics gathered by the National Defense Industrial
Association, there are currently one million direct jobs in arms
manufacturing compared to 3.2 million in the 1980s.(4) But we all
benefit indirectly in this country, and the east coast dock workers
agree:
“Dating back to World War 1, the ILA was always proud to note that
‘ILA Also Means Love America’ when it came to its “No Strike Pledge” in
handling U.S. military cargo at all its ports,” said ILA President
Harold Daggett, who served in the U.S. Navy and saw combat duty during
the Vietnam War. “We continue our pledge to never let our brave American
troops down for their valour and service and we will proudly continue to
work all military shipments beyond October 1st, even if we are engaged
in a strike.”(7)
While it is not clear exactly what the U.$. strategy is for I$rael
right now, two things remain true: 1. I$rael is an outpost for U.$.
interests in the Levant (which is rich in fossil fuels), and 2. weapons
production is a key prop to the U.$. economy by continuously increasing
the circulation of capital.
France announced it has ceased any military aid to I$rael to be
consistent with their calls for a cease fire. The United Nations called
on I$rael to withdraw its military from Palestine and Lebanon and
evacuate settlers from lands occupied since 1967 (124 countries voted in
favor, 14 against, 43 abstained). Weeks later, I$raeli troops fired at 3
UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon, injuring a number of UN
peacekeepers. Countries continue to join the International Court of
Justice case against I$rael, including Chile, the Maldives and Bolivia
most recently. Meanwhile, Nicaragua, an early signatory, has just cut
off diplomatic ties with I$rael.
I$rael has killed an estimated 8% of the population of Gaza after one
year of war and displacement.(8)
by MIM(Prisons) October 2024 permalink
150 Illinois Correctional Officers and their families lined the street
outside the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton to demand
digitizing prisoner mail
On 5 October 2024, about 150 people organized by the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3585
picketed to call for an end to paper mail in the Illinois Department of
Corrections (IDOC). Another protest is planned for October 17th.
The plague of drugs in U.$. prisons is real, and it has continued in states
where digital mail has been implemented. The claim of this “labor”
union that staff are being poisoned is not real. In neighboring Indiana,
a number of prisoners were threatened with isolation in torture cells
for mail
that we sent them that was accused of being drug-laced. Further
testing proved they were not. Meanwhile, there have now been a number of
cases of prison staff across the country claiming extreme medical crises
from contacting prisoner mail, following similar claims by street cops,
that have never been substantiated by medical professionals. It’s
interesting that this “labor” union is willing to stand out on the
street and picket for a policy that would give Correctional Officers a
monopoly on bringing paper into IDOC facilities.
Even much of the pro-labor union movement in the United $tates will
agree that cops aren’t workers, or the oppressed, but rather are the
oppressors, regardless of the question of surplus value. And Marxism has
always excluded the employees of the state from the proletariat in any
country. So it is of little surprise that the AFSCME would be pushing
this reactionary policy to eliminate education, resources and community
connection in prisons, even if it risks the very safety of their own
members.
MIM Distributors submitted the protest email below to Illinois DOC
Director Latoya Hughes. We encourage others to send emails or make phone
calls or send letters (especially if you are in Illinois). There are
more suggested scripts available from campaign initiators working with
Midwest Books to Prisoners.(2)
You can contact Director Latoya Hughes at:
latoya.hughes@illinois.gov
312-814-2121
Illinois Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
P.O. Box 19277
Springfield, IL 62794-9277
Dear Director Hughes,
I have recently been made aware that several Illinois legislators are
calling for an immediate cessation of non-legal paper mail being
delivered to people incarcerated in the IDOC. Our organization sends
paper mail to thousands of prisoners across the country and we object to
this effort to abridge our First Amendment rights to speech and
association, as well as those of the people in your prisons. We will be
sharing this letter with our members and supporters, especially in the
state of Illinois.
Books, newspapers, and other printed materials are a crucial source
of information, education and growth for people locked in prison.
Letters can be a rare thing to look forward to. Our organization runs
study programs, conducts surveys and regularly sends forms to prisoners
to get updates on their status. All of these programs rely on prisoners
receiving pieces of paper that we send them so they can fill out the
forms and return them. The impact of blocking such mail would be
massive.
We have been watching the spread of alarmism around drug-laced mail,
and have even had such baseless accusations made against our mail! Of
course testing proved the accusation false, just as it did in the recent
incident at Shawnee, where the testing by Marion Fire Rescue came back
false. We’ve also seen multiple cases where staff have claimed to have
gotten sick from handling mail, which have been proven to be impossible
claims multiple times now. The benefits of education and community
connection are proven to help ensure staff safety far more than these
imagined risks of being poisoned. Policy should be fact-based and should
not succumb to rumors and fear-mongering.
Again, I am writing this email to clearly state my complete
opposition to any and all proposals to halt mail delivered to
incarcerated people, and urge you not to move forward with this
proposal.
It’s an instant messaging protocol with applications available for
all the most popular operating systems.
What are the benefits?
peer-to-peer: no central point of failure or interference
no metadata: related to point 1, no third party can see who you are
messaging, when or from where
encrypted: content of messages are encrypted
perfect forward secrecy: each message is encrypted with a separate key,
so that decrypting one message does not allow an attacker to decrypt
your previous messages (this is an advantage over GPG encryption)
What are the shortcomings of
Tox?
new/alpha software not all apps have full functionality (i.e. no group
messaging on Antox for Android), and software can be buggy
untested related to it’s newness as well as the relative complexity of a
full messaging app, the encryption/security of Tox is not as well tested
as GPG
peer-to-peer: This is not really a shortcoming, but you should be aware
that when you use Tox with someone, while no one else should be able to
see where you are messaging from, the persyn you are communicating with
has access to your IP address by default. This is much better than most
other apps out there, and it can mitigated by running Tox behind the Tor
network. Below are instructions for how to do this.
How to run
TRIfA behind Tor on an Android device
install Orbot and TRIfA both are available from F-Droid repositories if
you don’t have or don’t want to use Google Play Store
open Orbot
click the button to turn on “VPN Mode”
at the bottom where it says “Tor-Enabled Apps” click the little gear
wheel on the right
on the following screen check the box for TRIfA and any other apps you
want to be forced through Tor
hit the back arrow
in orbot click the big “Start” button.
once orbot has a connection to Tor open TRIfA app and follow
instructions for setting up your account
How to install Tox
messaging app in Tails OS
[NOTE: If you were already using Tox in Tails, you should back up
your config files before installing Tox again. Go to Places ->
Dotfiles, then hit ctrl-H, then go into .config folder and copy the
folder named “tox” and all its contents to your Persistent folder as a
backup.]
at login screen, first set up administrative password 1) click
the “+” under “Additional Settings”
2) click "Administrative Password"
3) enter a password you will remember in both boxes and click "Add"
enter your password you set for persistence and click “Unlock”
once it says “Settings were loaded from the persistent storage” click
“Start Tails”
go to Applications -> System Tools -> Synaptic Package Manager
you will need to enter the administrative password you set above (not
persistence password)
Synaptic will load the list of available software - will take a couple
minutes and requires network connection
click the search button and type in “qtox” or “utox” depending on
which client you want
Which should i pick?
qTox, because uTox seems to crash every time you change settings in Tails, however, uTox is the lighter one, so slow computers might prefer it
https://github.com/qTox/qTox
https://github.com/uTox/uTox
NOTE: the versions available in the stable debian repos will often be older than the latest versions on github, you can install the latest version but this guide will not cover that
right-click on the package you searched for and click “Mark for
Installation”
it will ask if you want to install additional required packages, click
“Mark”
click “Apply” button, then click “Apply” on the screen that comes up –
it will now download and install tox packages
you should get a Tails popup asking if you want to Install Every Time -
click that and this will occur automatically next time you boot Tails
you can close Synaptic
Run qTox by going to Applications -> Internet -> qTox (or uTox)
create a Tox ID - password protect it in settings->Advanced
Set tox up to use Tor
IN qTox: click the gear in lower left and go to Advanced settings
1) uncheck enable IPv6 and uncheck enable UDP (probably already off)
2) Proxy type: SOCKS5
Address: 127.0.0.1
Port: 9050
3) Click "Reconnect" - wait a bit and the circle next your name should turn green when you connect (also probably in your top menu bar)
IN uTox go to: settings->Advanced
1) Proxy (SOCKS 5) Address: 127.0.0.1 Port:9050
2) Force uTox to always use proxy
3) turn off Ipv6
4) turn off UDP
NOTE: sometimes changing these seems to cause uTox to crash, the important setting is the proxy to make sure it's connecting to Tor
Shutdown qTox/uTox IMPORTANT: must do this before the
below!
local/temporary dotfiles in RAM are found here: /home/amnesia/.config/
permanent persistent dotfiles folder is here:
/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/
These files/folders are probably hidden. To see them, if you are in the
file folder view click on the icon with three horizontal bars at the top
and check the box to show hidden files.
To find these folders in a finder window: Click on Other locations at
the bottom, then select computer. There you will see live and home
folders
You need to move the tox folder and all its contents from the first
location to the second. There should be two files in the tox folder:
“tox_save.tox” and “utox_save”, then as you add friends files will be
created for their info and your conversations if you choose to have
conversations saved in the app.
The first time you do this copying over you will need to create the
.config folder in the /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/
location if it’s not there already.
Command to use in terminal window when in the folder you want to copy
TO: cp -r /home/amnesia/.config/tox
/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/
NOTE: Doing this using sudo (root user) will change file ownership to
root. File ownership MUST be amnesia.
To check file ownership in Terminal:
$ls -lah
To change file ownership in Terminal:
$sudo chown amnesia:amnesia
Connecting with others
To connect with others you must send them your Tox ID. This is not your
name, your name is for display purposes only.
click on your name/status in upper left
you should now see your Tox ID as a long string of characters and a QR
code, you can copy the long string into an PGP encrypted email and email
it to your contact (if in persyn/on mobile they can scan the QR code, or
you can send the image to them)
if someone send you their Tox ID, in qTox click the “+” in bottom left
and paste the code in “Add a Friend” -> Tox ID, similarly in uTox,
paste your friend’s Tox ID into the Add Friend at bottom left.
click “send friend request” and wait for their response - this is best
done when you know the friend is online because you must both be online
to exchange messages
Updating utox
Tails will automatically install the latest version available in the
debian stable repo. Installing newer versions is beyond the scope of
this guide.
Troubleshooting utox
in Tails suggestions
No persistence between tox sessions: You are not keeping persistence
between tox sessions, but instead end up with a new ToxID each time you
run tox.
Delete the tox files from BOTH .config locations above
Reinstall tox
Run tox: it will create new files into your local .config folder
Shut down tox. Move new tox_save.tox and utox_save over to persistence
.config folder
Try rerunning tox to see if your ID is persistent within a tails
session. If so try restarting tails to see if it is persistent now.
Tails is an operating system that is focused on anonymity for the lay
persyn. It is relatively user-friendly, especially once you get it
installed. It is unique in that whatever you do on Tails is not saved on
the hard drive, unless you setup a PERSISTENT folder on the USB. It
should be installed on a USB stick, and does not affect whatever
Operating system you currently have. You can use your Tails USB stick,
once you have it set up, to boot Tails on any desktop or laptop
computer. However, Macs are difficult and require more work to setup. If
that is hard for you I’d consider getting a different machine.
8GB minimum flash drive (bigger USB stick would be necessary for
optimal work so make sure it has space for persistence storage)
A computer with the following:
Approx. 2GB RAM
A 64-bit x86-64 compatible processor
The ability to start from a flash drive
Tails OS will not work in Mac models that use the Apple M1 chip.
Tails OS can work with computers with less than 2GB RAM but might behave
strangely or crash.
Download Tails (Approx 1.5-2.0 hours) There are two ways to download
tails, we will first go over how the method of installing without a
pre-downloaded Tails flash drive.
Open up Tor Browser (if you don’t already have it:
https://www.torproject.org/download/)
Go to the link: https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html
Choose which operating system you are downloading Tails from (this
is the operating system you are using currently to open up a
browser)
Click “Install From MacOS” under “Download and Install”
Click “Let’s Go!”
Verify your download by clicking “Verify Tails” and choosing your
Tails file
Install Tails (Approx 30 min)
Download “Etcher” (the instructions page would tell you to use GNOME
Disks if you are on Linux; skip this step if you already have Etcher
downloaded)
Plug in the 8GB USB stick where you want to install Tails.
Click “Select Image”
Choose the USB Image you downloaded earlier. Etcher should
automatically start saving Tails onto your USB disk. Otherwise, click
the “Change” link to choose a different USB stick in which you would
need another 8GB USB stick.
Click “Flash”
Enter your password if asked
The installation takes a few minutes. After installing, Etcher
verifies the installation.
Close Etcher.
Congratulations! You have downloaded TailsOS onto your USB
stick!
Print out the next instructions for opening Tails.
Starting TailsOS (Approx 15-20 min)
Shut down your computer and plug in your Tails USB stick.
Identify your boot menu key. (This will depend on your manufacture
company; search for this info online, or look at your boot screen before
your OS loads to get it. Common examples: ESC, F2, F12)
Turn on the computer and immediately press several times the first
possible Boot Menu Key identified in step 2
If the computer starts on another operating system or returns an
error message, shut down the computer again and repeat step 3 for all
the possible Boot Menu keys identified in step 2. If a Boot Menu with a
list of devices appears, select your USB stick and press Enter.
If the computer starts on Tails, the Boot Loader appears and Tails
starts automatically after 4 seconds.
Create Persistence Storage (This is a MUST!)
Your welcome screen should show up. Select your language and
keyboard layout in the Language Region section. Click “Start
Tails.”
Specify a passphrase of your choice in both the Passphrase and
Verify Passphrase text boxes.
Click “Create”
Review the list of features - turn on Personal Data, Browser
Bookmarks, Thunderbird, GnuPG, and Dotfiles (and anything else you
want)
Click “Save”
2. Email Address (Est. 5
minutes)
Before we can get started we will need an email address. You can
check the list of providers at https://privacytools.io/providers/email/
for suggestions. We obviously use posteo.net, which accepts cash payment
in U.$. dollars for easy anonymous payment. You can use a Posteo email
with Thunderbird, the email app on Tails.
If you go with a ProtonMail email, keep in mind you cannot use it
with Thunderbird unless you pay for ProtonMail Bridge.
For most of those options you will need to use a web browser with
JavaScript enabled to register. This is a potential attack vector. So
even though you are in Tails, using Tor to connect, you would be best to
set up your email at an anonymous/public internet connection. Once we
set up Thunderbird you will not need to log in via the website
anymore.
You do not want to pick a username that anyone would connect with
your bourgeois identity. And you obviously don’t want to use an account
that is connected to your school, work, home, etc.
By creating an OpenPGP key, you will be able to ensure that your
emails are fully encrypted. You will have a private key and a public
key. The public key is how others address emails specifically to you.
The private key is so that only you can read the emails that are
addressed to you. If you want to receive email, you decrypt it with your
private key. If you want to send it you encrypt your message with the
public key of the person you are sending it to (this can be done
automatically by Thunderbird).
You can manage your OpenPGP keys using Kleopatra (which you can find
in Applications).
REMINDER: You must have persistence turned on above
for any of the stuff below here to be saved.
To create your PGP key pair go to: File -> New Key Pair
Enter in your email account and your nickname. You can set the key to
never expire, if you want. You do not have to change any of the other
settings.
To export your private key, right click the key you made under GPG
keys. Choose “Export Secret Keys”. You will use this file below to
import into Thunderbird. (Yes you can create a keypair directly in
Thunderbird, but you will probably want to use it for other things so we
recommend the above.)
4. Thunderbird (Est. 15
minutes)
When you start up Thunderbird, you will want to enter your email
address and password and set up the IMAP(receiving) and SMTP (sending)
connections based on the info given by your email provider (see their
help page). We recommend not saving your password in Thunderbird and
entering it each time. Use KeepassXC to securely store any passwords for
email, PGP, and other accounts.
In order to set-up Thunderbird with your PGP keys, go to the top
right corner of thunderbird. Choose ≡ ▸ Tools ▸ OpenPGP Key Manager.
Import your secret key (which is the same as your private PGP key).
Import the MIM(Prisons) public key. (see:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/openpgp-thunderbird-howto-and-faq#w_i-have-never-used-openpgp-with-thunderbird-before-how-do-i-setup-openpgp)
In order to import our public key, copy it from here:
https://www.prisoncensorship.info/contact
Make sure to include the full header and footer identifying it as a
PGP Public Key Block. Paste it into the Text Editor and save the file.
Then use the Thunderbird instructions above to import our public key
like you did your own.
Afterwards, go to the top right again. Choose ≡ ▸ Account settings ▸
End to End encryption. It’ll say none, select your private key (it’ll
read like a bunch of numbers and letters).
On that same page under “Default settings for sending messages” check
“Enable encryption for new messages”. You may want to check “Sign
unencrypted messages”.
Under Advanced Settings, it’s best to check all 3 options.
Now, you can send an email and it’ll automatically encrypt your
messages with the other persons public key, and decrypt messages sent to
you with your private key!
Tox is a messaging app we use on Tails. For more details on how to
install it:
https://www.prisoncensorship.info/article/computer-security-setting-up-tox-messenger/
Communists among demonstrators protesting the murder of Nasrallah by
I$rael in Sidon, in southern Lebanon
28 September 2024 – Protestors gathered across the world to mourn the
killing of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a founding member and leader for 32
years of Hezbollah (the Party of God) in Lebanon.(1) We know some
readers in U.$. prisons will be mourning as well. Nasrallah was the
strongest anti-imperialist voice among world leaders for a generation.
And the recent killings of Lebanese and Palestinian political leaders
have been significant victories for I$rael, at least in the
short-term.
Over 1,000 people have been killed, including Hezbollah’s top
leaders, and 6,000 injured by a series of attacks by I$rael on Lebanon
in the last couple weeks. These included exploding pagers and
walkie-talkies, as well as massive bombing strikes. Amidst these
attacks, the Communist Party of Lebanon has called for national unity to
focus on fighting I$rael, at a time when Lebanon faces its own crisis in
government. They pledged to not let I$rael (and the United $tates, we’d
add) separate the struggle of Lebanon in support of the Palestinian
struggle.(2)
Hezbollah, however, has been the lead party defending Lebanon and
Palestinians from I$rael for decades. They have proven there is still a
progressive role for bourgeois forces to play today, even in our
highly-developed imperialist world.
Nasrallah had a clear analysis of U.$. imperialism:
“America itself is the decision maker. In America, you have the major
corporations; you have a trinity of the oil corporations, the weapons
manufacturers and the so-called ‘Christian Zionism.’ The decision making
is in the hands of this alliance. ‘Israel’ used to be a tool in the
hands of the British, and now it is a tool in the hands of America.”
The Samidoun Palestinian prisoner solidarity network commented on
Hezbollah’s role in the liberation of political prisoners of I$rael:
“Sayyed Nasrallah’s leadership and struggle was also directly
connected to the prisoners’ movement and the liberation of the prisoners
of the Zionist regime. From the liberation of Khiam prison by the
victorious Lebanese resistance in 2000, liberating the torture dens of
the occupiers and their collaborators and turning it into a museum of
honour for those who struggled and sacrificed there, to the repeated
prisoner exchanges achieved by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Resistance,
including the 2004 prisoner exchange, which liberated 400 Palestinian
prisoners as well as 23 Lebanese, five Syrians, three Moroccans, three
Sudanese, one Libyan and one German-British prisoner jailed by the
Zionist regime. These exchanges, in which Sayyed Nasrallah himself
played a major role, illustrated once again that the only viable
mechanism available to liberate the prisoners in occupation jails is to
liberate the land and to achieve an exchange.”(3)
Hezbollah arose from the 1982 I$raeli occupation of Beirut. MIM
founders organized to oppose that 1982 occupation at a time when MIM was
just emerging.(4) The war in 1982 also forged the Joint
Leadership, in which the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine joined
forces and attempted to further unite the Palestinian liberation
movement away from conciliation.(5) During the 2006 war between Lebanon
and I$rael, MIM condemned RCP=U$A, various alt media, and the U.$. state
department for attacking Iran and Hezbollah using gender.(6) In 2024,
the imperialists are circulating clips of Nasrallah making comments
calling for punishment for adultery and homosexuality. We salute the
“Queers for Palestine” in the United $tates who recognize the children
being bombed in Gaza and now Lebanon are a lot more gender oppressed
than any of us are here in the belly of the beast.
The history of the anti-imperialist united front in the region is
beyond the scope of this article. But the region has certainly
demonstrated the expediency of uniting classes on the basis of national
liberation to fight imperialist occupiers. Hezbollah has remarked in the
past that their alliances are closer to some Marxist groups than certain
Islamist groups. This shows the emptiness of those in the imperialist
countries who want to pit Marxism against Islam on principle. Nasrallah
also wrote that Muslims have the duty to provide charity support to any
Palestinian taking up armed struggle – Marxist, nationalist or any other
shade.(7)
A Hamas spokespersyn responded to the death of Nasrallah saying that
it will not make I$rael any safer:
“Is Israel’s problem with armed groups with limited agendas that can
be eliminated by killing their leaders, or with peoples who have rights
that they have been striving to achieve for decades and have not stopped
or surrendered despite the killing of many leaders? Has any resistance
group disappeared after the assassination of the leaders?”(8)
Despite these recent losses by the oppressed nations in the Middle
East, Hezbollah won the war with I$rael in 2006, killing as many
soldiers as I$rael did without all the civilian deaths caused by I$rael
in Lebanon. Just as the war on Gaza, one year out, has not been an easy
victory for I$rael, further escalations into Lebanon will certainly not
be either. Hezbollah and Ansar Allah (Supporters of God) in Yemen
continue to be the front line of the struggle against genocide in
Palestine and against U.$. imperialism in general.
You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill the
revolution!
We hope those who have been following our series of articles this
week have been both angered by what is going on inside U.$. 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.
The Florida Department of Corrections has been on a censorship
tirade, which
serves as a nice compliment to their habit of banning books.(1). The
FDOC has a rule (Section 15 of 33-501.401) which authorizes the
impoundment or rejection of any publication which “depicts how to make
an instrument to apply a tattoo … describes tattooing techniques … or
contains a tattoo pattern or photograph …”
ULK’s have been censored because certain pages “Could be used as
tattoo patterns.” That is, the FDOC has the right to censor any
publication which contains anything which could possibly serve as a
pattern for a tattoo, and whether it could be a tattoo pattern is up to
their discretion. Their censorship “rules” say “censor whatever you
want!”
Not a single one of our publications has ever listed tattoo patterns.
We print the art that prisoners send us, and images that help express
the articles they accompany. We have a recommendation for the FDOC:
prisoners could use their cell bars as tattoo patterns. How about you
remove them?
In the last four years, of all the prison systems where we’ve sent 10
or more books, Florida has the highest rate of censorship at about 30%
of books or pamphlets (excluding our newsletter and letters to
prisoners). Meanwhile only 26% of books we’ve sent to Florida in that
time have been confirmed received by the prisoner. The week before
Prison Banned Books Week, JPay returned some articles we printed and
mailed to a reader after many publications we sent were censored. JPay
enclosed FDOC censorship forms in each envelope that were not filled,
therefore not providing any justification for returning our mail. We
give Florida a grade of D for their mail policies and practices. They
are one of the worst, but not as bad as states that block any piece of
mail we send in.
We will continue to be censored so long as we reveal the oppression
in the United $nakes. We will fight it until the oppressed have been
liberated.
1: Patricia Mazzei, 22 April 2023, “Florida at Center of Debate as
School Book Bans Surge Nationally”, The New York Times
There are 65 organizations who have signed on to the 2024 Prison Banned Books Week
campaign. What unites us is a belief that there is good in lifting
the restrictions on literature that U.$. 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.
Yesterday we published a recent prison
book ban list from North Carolina. Today we will analyze and publish
a banned literature list from the Pennsylvania Department of
Corrections.
The state of Pennsylvania holds around 40,000 people in its prisons,
compared to 30,000 in North Carolina. Yet Pennsylvania has only 398
currently banned titles compared to North Carolina’s 480. The
Pennsylvania list is not refreshed each year, with some items being
banned as far back as 2012, so it seems that overall North Carolina bans
more books/publications. Across Pennsylvania school districts there were
186 banned
books in 2022/2023 school year. Again, we see that prisons are
banning more literature than schools are.
click to download the Pennsylvania DOC banned book list
There is a lot of overlap between Pennsylvania and North Carolina’s
lists. Pennsylvania seems more aggressive in banning sexual content,
which accounted for at least 130 of the 398 titles on their list. (Note:
On both lists we do not have reasons for the censorship, and we did not
confirm the actual content of each item.) Unlike North Carolina, we did
not see any “street novels” or “urban fiction” on the Pennsylvania list,
so this was the biggest difference, perhaps accounting for the shorter
list. Street novels rival pornography on the North Carolina ban
list.
The Pennsylvania list also differs in that it lists titles that were
permitted after being reviewed. There were 664 titles that were listed
as permitted, giving greater insight into how they implement their
rules.
Like North Carolina, tattoo books/magazines were often banned, along
with topics like art, guns, hacking, drugs and martial arts.
Pennsylvania had more prisoner advocacy related materials on their ban
list (like Prison Health News), as well as newspapers that
cater to prisoners. They also had more reference books and business
related books for some reason (like Legal Forms for Starting and
Owning Your Own Business). The obvious political motivations of
censorship come through in items like Stop Law Enforcement Violence
Against Women of Color and Trans People of Color.
While North Carolina seemed to only target The Final Call
and Under Lock & Key there is a much broader list of
newspapers that have certain issues banned in Pennsylvania. At the top
of that list are The San Francisco Bayview, Workers
World, and Under Lock & Key. Other than Under Lock
& Key itself, there were no other items on the ban list that
MIM Distributors distributes to prisoners, though some were on the
permitted list. This mostly conforms with our records that show
Under Lock & Key is almost the only thing that has been
noted as censored or not received in recent years. The one item that
shows up on our list a couple
times for Pennsylvania censorship is our Maoist Glossary.
As mentioned previously,
most of our mail is never confirmed received or not.
Digital Mail Makes
Physical Mail Harder
Censorship is challenging to track in the state of Pennsylvania. By
law, authorities are required to send us notice of any censorship when
it does occurs, but in practice this is uncommon if not rare. The
overwhelming majority of our censorship cases in PA consist of mail
simply disappearing in the system. What makes tracking censorship so
challenging is that this missing mail includes letters that we send
prisoners detailing the history of mail we’ve sent to them and when we
sent it. Sometimes we have to resort to mailing the cellmates of the
prisoners we were trying to contact. It’s amazing how well anger at the
police can be communicated just through handwriting.
The fact that Pennsylvania seems to be quietly censoring our glossary
aligns with the fact that their tablets provided through GTL do not
offer any dictionaries among the 8805 titles available. Only 112 books
are free on those tablets. These numbers are from Freedom of Information
Act research by prisonbannedbooksweek.org, which also reveals that PA
has a contract for $50,000,000.00 with GTL that includes kickbacks for
“all annual revenues for music, e-messaging, games, lobby deposit fees
and ebooks up to $4,350,000” at 22.5%. While kickbacks are interesting,
note that at best the state is getting about 8% of the money back that
they are giving to GTL to run their prison tablets. State bureaucrats
are motivated to balance budgets, but it’s not like the state is making
money on this deal. It is only GTL that is walking away with profits,
not the state, and definitely not the families of prisoners who are
paying exorbitant fees for these services. The comrade who sent us this
ban list wrote:
“I bought this GTL tablet model number TG0802 in January of 2019 for
damn near $160.00. But since ViaPath took over GTL a year ago or so, the
price has dropped down to $80. But these are refurbished tablets. When I
get released I will send it back to the company via the form paying only
shipping and handling. Then you get a brand new one without all the
D.O.C. settings and restrictions on them… Every song I bought will be on
it too.”
It is nice that they have an option to allow you to keep your
purchases after release from prison, but we wouldn’t recommend keeping a
tablet with a cellular data receiver, camera, GPS and microphone on it
from Global Tel*Link after your release.
Thanks to the new digital mail system, Pennsylvania DOC now has three
different addresses to send mail to requiring one to identify the type
of mail as either General Incoming Correspondence, Photographs,
Publications, Photo Books, Official Documents, Original Transactional
Documentation, Legal Mail (which can be either “For Attorneys” or “For
Courts/Court Entity”), or Miscellaneous.
Under Lock & Key 83 is the only recent issue on the
“DENIED” list in Pennsylvania for the reason “Information contained on
page 15 speaks of rising up against authority.” Yet every recent issue
has been censored for some prisoners, showing that this ban list is only
a piece of the censorship going on in Pennsylvania. In recent years this
censorship is a combination of mail just gone missing as mentioned
above, or mail returned and stamped “REFUSED: Go to WWW.COR.PA.GOV”,
implying that we are not following the mail rules. But when you go to
their website, the mail rules clearly state that newspapers go to the
facility, and many PA prisoners receive them this way. But alas, some
mailroom supervisors disagree with the rules.
Despite all these confusing hoops that prison mail must go through,
like elsewhere, drugs are more widespread than ever in Pennsylvania
prisons. Rampant drug use and censored books and letters are just two of
many indications of the failure of U.$. prisons to do anything positive
for society.
