Under Lock & Key

Response to SNY critic article published in the July/August 2010 ULK, #15, p.5

As is typical, I have ruffled some feathers on the SNY yard when I pointed out my personal sentiments regarding the SNY/general population issue. I criticized both SNY/GP as a matter of fact and the SNY cat asked what have I personally done. He would have to look up this history of John Q. Convict, an aka I have written under in various publications and prison news letters. I have blisters on my fingers from doing others’ legal work and appeals as well as writing about what I experience and see. I am again on my way back to the SHU till I am paroled since I am not nor have I ever been one to be a passive submissive sheep nor am I in competition with anyone, I just keep it real.

It’s ironic but I have had five CDCR numbers and I have experienced a lot. Maybe I am crazy to rather go to the SHU than exist on an SNY yard but I started doing time in the 70s and prisoners were a lot different then. The misconception I see in the term “active” as that is a prisoncrat designation of gang members (prison/street). Read the regulations of the CDCR and you know. I have never been one to tell on myself yet I see prisoners do it all the time enhancing CDCR/California Department of Justice investigatorial files that exist, yet we will never access, as one can other confidential files via court order.

Do not get me mixed up, I am not “active,” I am “General Population” and I have seen how the California prisoner culture has succumbed to the tyranny of the prisoncrats with a whisper. Yes some get frightened and are keen to become SNY and bow to a perceived necessity in what I believe to be a misguided belief that such necessity forces conformity and that conformity allows for stability in which some can enjoy the “privileges” of visiting, canteen, telephones, packages. They are not rights that are guaranteed by the constitution. I elect to not conform in this prison environment.

I am a dissident who stands out and I am easily branded and locked back down but they always got to let me back out. I do not get visits or have money sent to me by choice, it’s so I do not subject my family to the harassment that visiting presents, and the CDCR does not collect 55% of every dollar my family sends to me. I tried to point out that we prisoners are all victims of picklesuit tyranny, and yes I feel like those who volunteer to go to SNY have abandoned the struggle to a certain extent. I see the victims of the picklesuits assume the face of the tyrants, be they GP/SNY self-righteous and intransigent, while assisting the picklesuits instigate conflicts.

There is not a lockdown situation in the state of California that I have not experienced, and I do not confuse unity with conformity. I have always believed that prisoners should unite around principals. I have recently been labeled a “terrorist” I am an activist and it is frustrating as hell to try and pull the coats of those in these prisons who have submitted knowingly and unknowingly.

I see that there is the need for the mending of broken spirits on both sides of the California prison divide which is no easy task since it will require the prison population to reshape itself and refuse the gratuitous gifts and reject the privileges used to co-op prisoners as well as the elimination of it being all about self. Prisons use prisoners working in the kitchen or selling out for a fix/hit of dope, utilizing that instinctual will to survive. I do not believe in leaders as they become the focus of compulsive collaboration with the opposition once they are identified, and they are not infallible and such leads to eventual disaster. Yet I have known that principled individuals avoid the natural vices such as greed, betrayal, and the misguided notion that one has to compete without exception as if it’s a healthy attribute. Such is and always has been, in my mind, a sad path to self-esteem, an illusion built upon putting ones foot on the neck of another which is what the pickesuits do, and it’s not lasting since when they fail to physically and emotionally break my will they become fearful and envious because I have endured what they themselves know they could not. Yes I have on several occasions learned to make due with nothing, making myself mentally and emotionally strong and I survive.

Kudos to any successful SNY litigator. I read Prison Legal News (PLN) each month for the past six years, noting all the successes published there, rarely seeing an instance in which a California prisoner received millions. Even though the state has deep pockets, that 12.2 million eludes my perusal. You should send the decision to PLN so they can publish it as your work.

I also want to point out a simple truth even though our comrades at MIM(Prisons) disagree. In my years of doing time, always General Population, I have learned to read people and I am rarely in error. I can and do note agent provocateurs and quislings as well as those who think they are well hidden and can not be spotted. It’s the nature of such individuals to expose themselves. I have never gone to the hole for harming another prisoner over the years I have served. It has always been an issue with the real enemy who has hoodwinked and bamboozled, coerced, pressured or otherwise manipulated the greedy and the weak; of which I am neither.

My view is that SNY prisoners who volunteered to go that route are their own worst enemy and the stigma attached is something that they will have to deal with, as those who dropped out, originally dropped in, when it was fashionable for you, and you were on the hooligan end claiming to be a gang member, telling the pig that you are a gang member, proud to be a gang member till the pack turns on you and then you don’t want to be a member any more or you find yourself in a position in which you are facing time and you choose to purchase leniency by telling on your sworn homeboys. But wait, not all SNYs have been snitches, but many have “debriefed” so I must say that the percentages speak for themselves in terms of those who allowed themselves to be used and manipulated to self-detriment. There are still some in GP hiding in the wings.

I was brought up believing that it takes a lot of balls to stand up to adversity and not compromise one’s principals. I am constantly educating myself in a variety of subjects. Yet I do not tell others who, what or how they should believe, we all make choices and some ultimately lead to some becoming SNY. I want to be quite clear that I am not any better or worse than any other human being on this earth. We all have faults yet the struggle has never died, it has been altered and manipulated towards personal gain. I am presenting my personal perspective from my years of experience. Though it is true I’ve never lived on an SNY/PC yard, they do put SNYs on the tier with GP in the ASU/SHU, to my dismay. I am an equal opportunity criticizer since while some focused on SNY, I spoke of both sides of the fence.

I noted years ago that the most illuminating and dangerous place in the prison was the law library as knowledge was power. Yet the time of spending 8 hours a day in the law library has been effectively reduced to one hour and thirty minutes a week if you are lucky and are PLU. I am not here to brag on myself but there are people on the streets thanks to me and new life was breathed into others whose cases were on the ropes.

So since I was asked what I have done, well helping others and standing up to abusive prison staff and officials has resulted in my doing 100% of my term due to my concern for the similarly situated prisoner. Ethnicity never mattered, all came to me. Yet when I think about it I wonder if my sacrifices have been all for naught, as those who instilled the fortitude, stubborn tenacity, and courage to fight back in the 60s and 70s are flip-flopping in their graves about the conditions and backwards steps in California prisons. The ladies put up better fights and they as a result still get stuff that we don’t. Some of the prison population put privileges before rights so you enjoy your privileges while they keep chipping away your rights.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This letter is part of an ongoing discussion, started in ULK13, of the controversial issue of the potential for prisoners in Special Needs Yards (SNY) to participate in the anti-imperialist struggle. It is MIM(Prisons)’ position that prisoners in all situations can be induced to sell out and serve the needs of the system. And while we recognize the harm done by prisoners debriefing, going to SNY can sometimes involve less cooperation with the pigs than staying in an LO. We can’t condemn people for mistakes they made as youth trying to find a place. We need to unite with all who demonstrate, in practice, that they are on the side of the anti-imperialist struggle.

This comrade says he can read people, and is rarely in error. And to an extent we agree. We “read” people by applying work and line standards to our potential comrades. By judging how one completes their work and upholds their line we can judge them as a comrade. The error comes in when you think you know when someone is a cop or snitch or not. You trust people you shouldn’t and attack your friends. Even if these errors are rare, they tend to be the most serious. This is why general policies are superior ways to “read” people than looking at individual cases.

This comrade comments that s/he does not “believe in leaders.” We agree that security and hero worship are weaknesses of having leaders, and we should work to minimize both of them. However, we also must be materialists and recognize that leaders, including the writer, exist and that leadership is important. A leaderless movement ends up without clear direction and can waste the resources and energy of the masses. Leaderless movements (also known as anarchist) generally end up with de facto leaders - people who are not formally put in positions of leadership but who just take up the lead because of experience or line or a desire for power. These de facto leaders are far more dangerous than elected leaders because there is no mechanism to remove them from power. And this also limits the people’s input into the direction of a movement. For these reasons we affirm the communist principle of clear and formal leadership of the revolutionary movement and its organizations, while we work towards a society where no groups of people have power over others.

MIM(Prisons) held our first official congress in July of 2010 to clarify our priorities, renew our common commitment, and push our work forward. We reviewed work in key areas, discussed successes and failures and debated resolutions on new directions for the coming year. For the most part this congress focused on strategic and tactical priorities and the best way to advance our work. But these priorities are based in political line, and discussions of that line and the priorities it requires were a key component of the congress. Proposals related to new political line were also raised and those that were controversial were put on the table for study and debate in future discussions.

Distribution

The production and distribution of revolutionary materials to a potentially revolutionary class that is systematically denied educational materials is central to our work as a cell. Keeping Under Lock & Key as a regular publication reaching U.$. prisoners and maintaining other correspondence with prisoners topped our list of priorities. We also gave relatively high priority to our website, the second major leg of our distribution work.

Despite a number of small improvements and a consistent publication schedule, our distribution of Under Lock & Key slightly declined over the last year and a half. While the production and quality of ULK falls in our lap, we see its expansion as a responsibility falling largely on United Struggle from Within (USW). We encourage other comrades to make pledges to increase our subscribers behind bars as our comrade in the Black Order Revolutionary Organization has.

In order to reduce costs we have changed our policies so that new subscribers only get our introductory letter and one issue of ULK. To get more than that you must write us again confirming receipt or censorship of those items. Similarly, we are requiring our regular subscribers to tell us exactly what mail they have received, and when, each time they write us. If we can’t confirm you are receiving our mail we will stop sending it. By saving costs where we cannot confirm our effectiveness we will be able to expand our distribution to a larger subscriber base.

Over the last couple years we have seen a steady increase in the number of letters we have sent to prisoners. This is indicative of the expansion of our various smaller projects (other than ULK) with prisoners who are active participants in the movement. While readership online may be comparable (based on our limited statistics), the amount of work we see being done per reader from our paper literature is far greater.

Worldwide Web

Adding the etext.org MIM archive to our website greatly increased our content and eventually led to serious increases in readers. Yet we are still only getting around a sixth as many page views as they were getting in 2002. MIM had the most widely read Amerikan, self-described communist website at that time. This goes to show the damage done by political repression and privatization of the worldwide web.

Original content that MIM(Prisons) has added to the web that attracts the most attention is our censorship work and other services we provide to prisoners and their supporters. Many of our readers are utilizing our information to maintain better communication with their loved ones and to try to get information on what’s going on behind closed doors and barbed wire fences.

Items that are in demand that we need to improve are Spanish language material, artwork and cutting edge cultural reviews. We are dedicated to making all three more prominent on our website, but we need help from our comrades to keep producing great anti-imperialist art, to provide insightful reviews of movies and music that our readers might be interested in and to translate and edit materials into Spanish. Online readers will see improvements to the site in coming months.

While many are following the corporate bandwagons of Facebook and Twitter, we are interested in recent battles over net neutrality (the premise that the interests of the powerful can’t allow certain online content to get priority access to the public). Some have a theory of putting technology in command and worshipping the oppressors’ institutions and petty bourgeois trends, rather than building independent institutions of the oppressed with politics in command. As examples, Facebook, Twitter and Google all have direct relationships with the state department. How could these ever become serious tools for revolution? The real question is, how can we build serious tools for revolution in cyberspace?

Censorship

Distribution of literature to prisoners comes with the ongoing problem of censorship faced by MIM(Prisons) and our comrades behind bars. Our annual censorship report details the changes and accomplishments of the past year.

Most of the prisoners on the ULK mailing list are not letting us know what mail they receive from us, making censorship very difficult to track. It’s possible the mail is not getting through but it’s just as likely that these subscribers are just not telling us about what they got. We also have a lot of prisoners write once and then never write again. To better focus where we spend money, and to improve our tracking of censorship, we are changing our policies as described above.

Correspondence

In the first six months of 2010 about a third of our mail came from repeat writers - prisoners who are in relatively regular contact. This is an increase from 2009, and we should push to continue to increase this percentage. While it is great that we get so much interest from new comrades, it is important that we engage our regular contacts in study and work. We recognize that as long as our materials are being read and, even better, shared then we are accomplishing our goal of building public opinion. Yet, while most subscribers may be passive learners at this stage, we see our task as a cell as facilitating the organization of prisoners, including the development of cadre level skills. Several specific congress proposals related to this work were passed and we hope to see increased engagement from our newer comrades behind bars in the coming year.

A key element of raising the level of political understanding and providing study opportunities to our comrades behind bars is the MIM(Prisons)-led introductory study group. This study group gains a lot of interest but for both logistical difficulties (censorship, moving, lack of stamps) as well as loss of political interest, we see a steep decline in participants over the course of each study session. To provide more frequent opportunities for study to new folks, and as a pre-requisite to the more serious introductory study group, MIM(Prisons) will start all new comrades in a shorter introduction study group (Intro Level 1) which will last two sessions and run approximately every 3 months. Successful completion of this study group will be required for admission into the more comprehensive, year-long Intro Level 2 class.

United Struggle from Within (USW)

United Struggle from Within (USW) is a MIM(Prisons)-led mass organization for U.$. prisoners. USW is explicitly anti-imperialist in leading campaigns on behalf of U.$. prisoners in alliance with national liberation struggles in North America and around the world.

This year, MIM(Prisons) opened a separate forum for USW leaders to develop the organization and strategize on campaigns. This was a step forward in the re-establishment of USW as an independent organization (following the dissolution of the Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika). The campaigns leaders develop will be advertised in each issue of ULK for rank-and-file USW comrades to keep abreast of progress and how to get involved. If necessary, MIM(Prisons) will send out notices to affected comrades regarding campaigns that are moving at a pace that is too fast for ULK. Comrades who want to receive such notices need to write to MIM(Prisons) to join USW.

The campaign to get grievances heard in California is one campaign that is resonating loudly, both there and in other states that have adopted similar campaigns. This is a great example of a campaign that was initiated by USW and promoted through regular articles in ULK. We believe that those in charge of prisoners should be held to the highest standards of conduct, as was done in socialist China, because of the extreme amount of power they have over other people. In contrast to socialist prisons and work camps in China, abuse is a daily occurrence in U.$. prisons. Therefore the grievance struggle is strategically correct in that it gives the state a chance to clearly take a position for or against this rampant abuse, which informs the prison masses as to what forms of struggle are necessary to achieve humane conditions.

Also related to USW, there is a ULK writing group, which is open to comrades who have completed the introductory study courses and are involved in writing projects with MIM(Prisons). At the congress we affirmed our commitment that USW should be producing short summary articles for Under Lock & Key reflecting struggles within the ULK writing group. Comrades have already seen the ideas from the study group reflected in the pages of ULK over the last year.

Prisoner Legal Clinic

MIM(Prisons) rarely has access to legal advice from experienced lawyers on the outside. In 2009 the Prisoner Legal Clinic (PLC) was formalized as another facet of USW for prisoners interested or experienced in legal issues. The basic goals of the PLC are to push our anti-censorship and anti-repression work forward, while also offering members a space to discuss specifics of their legal work. Members of the PLC write legal articles for ULK and contributed greatly to the legal strategy issue of ULK, issue 13.

If you are an active member of the PLC, you should expect an updated letter from us two or three times per year detailing our current projects and comrades’ questions/suggestions. Members of the PLC should also be contributing legal articles for ULK.

Release Program

At our congress, MIM(Prisons) reaffirmed our commitment to the Prisoner Re-Lease on Life Program. We recognize that our resources to advance this program are limited, and we have learned some valuable lessons over the past year through our work with released prisoners. We need to work more aggressively with prisoners scheduled to get out within a year, making it clear what resources are available and helping them do the research necessary to hit the streets as safely as possible. Prisoners with upcoming releases should contact our newly appointed release coordinator for more info.

United Front for Peace in Prisons

MIM(Prisons) is working on a United Front for Peace in Prisons with leaders of a number of progressive-minded organizations behind bars. The principal contradiction facing the imprisoned lumpen today is the prisoner-on-prisoner violence and conflicts that prevent any progressive work from happening. The United Front project is developing a statement of unity that groups and individuals can sign to join. This statement has been in progress for a long time, partly because we are trying to develop unity with a number of groups before we finalize it. If you are involved in any kind of peace or unity project where you are, please get in touch so that you can have input on this very important project.

Related work with a number of more advanced organizations will also result in the production of a book on the lumpen within the United $tates. Over the next year MIM(Prisons) will be printing draft chapters of this book to be distributed as pamphlets for comment from lumpen organizations and fraternal groups. The feedback will be incorporated into the final printing of the book which is targeted for 2011.

This book will advance our analysis of the class and national contradictions in the belly of the beast and how we can best utilize them in the interests of the oppressed masses of the world. It will serve as a survival guide for the lumpen, recognizing the necessity of internationalism to overcome the number one enemy of humynity: imperialism.

Conclusion

MIM(Prisons) plans to hold congress annually and we welcome submissions of proposals for new areas of priority as well as new political line from our comrades in United Struggle from Within and other United Front organizations. We also look forward to feedback on our work over the coming year so that we can continually improve and advance the struggle.

January 2011 will be a legislature year in Texas. A petition has been put on the internet to ask our state leaders to reform the Texas parole board system, a tyranny agency ruining thousands of lives, in prison and in our own society. For some years now, since the mysterious death of David Ruiz (a Brown brother who achieved federal action to demand prison reform in Texas) we continue to raise awareness of the new and old injustices of the “justice” system as it pertains to parole.

Texas prisoners are not granted parole, even though they have done everything possible to be eligible for parole as required by their Inmate Treatment Plan (ITP). When the judge, the lawyers for both sides, and the offender all agree to a sentence, why does the parole board have the right to deny the parole because they decide the prisoner hasn’t served enough time? Doesn’t make sense or seem fair, does it? Prisoners have a time calculated date which is the parole eligibility date and those having met their ITP requirements should automatically make parole on that date. As the system works now, prisoners can not know whether they can exercise their special review rights, effectively ask for a review, or even know why or if they have been turned down, because they do not have access to their files. It is impossible for anyone to know if they have been falsely or wrongly accused of a transgression while incarcerated. If information has been erroneously placed in the file that may actually belong to another prisoner, or if their parole is being thwarted by a campaign by others they won’t know. They can not know if rules have been violated or if evidences that would prove their worthiness for the privilege of parole is actually in their file.

Good time is currently not calculated or used to achieve parole or financial compensation for prisoner labor. At present it is awarded but discounted as part of the parole process (ignored and not honored), meaning modern day slavery is going on. The system currently continues to vindictively punish even the “ideal” prisoners who have been rehabilitated (which supposedly is the goal of the incarceration) making them wonder why they keep trying and causing them to lose all capacity for hope as the promised parole is disregarded and becomes one setback after another. In addition it callously wrecks the lives of families and children of prisoners who suffer needlessly while trying to find some reason for the parole board’s coldness and tyrannical practices acting above the laws of the land.

Taxpayers are being robbed of funds by the corrupt parole practices. Prisoners in Texas seem to be the exception to the 13th amendment of the U$ constitution abolishing slavery as a large amount of capital is raised by the prison work generated by the incarcerated people now in prison. However, in the united states of america we should not allow slavery for state and corporate profit. It is criminal in itself to keep prisoners incarcerated for financial benefit by enslaving inmates past their parole eligibility date when they prove that they have gotten rehabilitated and qualify for parole release.

If you want to help change these parole injustices, please have your families and friends go to the following website and sign the petition: www.petitiononline.com/tcb123/petition.html
Also please have them write each one of their representatives.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with this prisoner that the parole system in Texas, and throughout the criminal injustice system in the U$, does not work, not even by the laws of this illegal government. We find the demands in the petition agreeable in that they would lead to a general reduction in imprisonment in Texas.

However, disagree with the common misperception that the U$ prison monstrosity is driven by a desire to exploit prison labor. Certainly the workers benefiting from their well paid jobs running the prisons have an interest in denying parole, and the politicians who want the votes of the workers and their families, share this interest. But as we explained in an article on the U.$. prison economy, prison labor can offset some of the costs of imprisonment, but prisons are not profitable. They are a tool of the government that both provide jobs for the mostly oppressor-nation labor aristocracy workers while providing social control of the mostly oppressed nation population that is incarcerated. The U$ prison system is a massive suck on superprofits extracted from the Third World to pay staff and provide basic needs for those imprisoned. This is one of the costs of operation the imperialists are willing to pay, not something they are making money off of. That an industry has developed around this massive project is only a product of this reality that helps tie labor aristocracy interests to the imperialist state.

Greetings to everyone standing up for prisoners and human rights. My red fist goes to all MIM social or prison reformers who continue to carry truth, facts and hard struggles in their hearts against a democracy that does not serve all equally but serves the few rich imperialist greedy elites. MIM(Prisons) is speaking hardcore about a reality destroying many all over Amerika, especially those in prison of Black or Brown crimes, also known as the “War on Drugs.” I am not trying to justify that smuggling or selling drugs should be permitted. Yet thousands now sit in prison with long harsh prison sentences that usually don’t even balance out to such drug crimes. For example, in Texas the court judge gives you a certain prison sentence for drug crimes so that when you’re up for parole the parole will be denied for reasons like “excessive amount.” These reasons will be used each time you go for parole, not only violating Texas parole board policies but state law and U$ Constitution Amendments like the double jeopardy clause.

The Fifth Amendment of the U$ Constitution states, “…nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb…” This clause assures three basic protections: it protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, it protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and finally it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.

Violating the double jeopardy clause qualifies as a constitutional violation in satisfaction of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, Pub. L. No 104-134. 110 Stat. 1321. When evidence indicates the parole board has violated the U$ Constitution the matter may be reviewed by a Federal Court pursuant to §1983.

2011 will be a legislature year. Black, Brown and other brothers in prison in Texas should ask their family and friends to protest such failed parole policies, state laws or constitutional amendments, now broken by this war on drugs by homeland terrorists calling themselves our nation’s leaders.

The War on Drugs is not only a failed war on drug dealers, but against our families and communities, especially the Brown barrios and Black ghettos which many have always called home. The war on drugs sole purpose was to be able to create a new home, called prison, now filled with prisoners for drug crimes under harsh laws of sentencing ruining thousands of lives. And even our nation seems to be under attack by a democracy that serves more the rich than the poor or needy ones. I encourage others to draft protest petitions or letters and have their loved ones send them to John Whitmore who is a Texas Senator in charge of The Sunset Commission looking into this kind of prison violation.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We condemn this practice of refusing prisoners parole based on their original sentence, but we can learn from history that elections are not the answer to the problems of the oppressed. The imperialists and their supporters will be elected, and candidates truly serving the people will never gain any real power in the United $tates through elections. However, we can exert pressure on the criminal injustice system through protest letters and actions. Sometimes we can win small gains for the people through these struggles. And there is nothing wrong with using election time to push a progressive cause, just keep in mind that many legislators get elected on a “get tough on crime” platform. All this rhetoric is bullshit that has nothing to do with the reality of crime and punishment in Amerikkka, but the publicity is important to politicians so they are probably less likely to take progressive action in an election year if it might make them look “soft on crime.”

Brothers we got to correct our backward thinking. You call yourself OGs? Black gangsters got no lore for a Black-men, never have, but you play the script well? OG why blind our youths with lies, false hope, why give them guns to do your dirty work? OG you leave prison wrap up with the right knowledge, but jump right back in the life, and call yourself an OG, but in prison you was fumbata now you are Mac-G. This madness got to stop whatever street tribes you claim: South, East, West, North, and in between, we got to rise above stop lying to our youths, like this is the best of lives being in these concentration kamps, doing time have never been cool, now these kids think it’s part of life in order to get OG status. This false status got to die.

This is a call to all older OGs to say stop this false status among our youths. Here in Tennessee we are reversing the old time order of things, we refuse to be followers of reactionary ideals. Our family falls in line with comrade brother George Jackson ideals, Mr. OG please kill that statue. The law of the land is very real. Mr OG you will be judged by your deeds. The klan loves your status, cause they know you will continue to let our youths kill one another. The STG also love your status. Tag by your name Mr OG-Gangster.

This war is real, as the blood that flows on the streets. Mr. OG our youths look up to us inside of these concentration kamps. The judicial system don’t care about our youths, we got to save them from this madness. They listen to us and they want to be like us. I’ve spent half my life in prisons and saw these OGs play the role real good. This system has always been a sanctuary to preserve and proliferate the criminal mentality.

Mr OG, let’s rise up, you are the shot caller. Want to kill someone? - hit that criminal mentality - kill it, and bring to life the revolutionary mentality. As comrade brother George Jackson said, we got to transform the criminal mentality into a revolutionary mentality. Let’s save our kids. In doing so we also save ourselves. To deceive others is reprehensible, to deceive ourselves is a damn tragedy.

I am writing in hopes of bringing awareness to your followers regarding some of the injustices being forced upon prisoners housed within the administrative segregation units(ASU) in Z-unit. The circumstances below have unfortunately become the norm. Z-unit is officially referred to as the zoo due to the fact that it is a habitat fit for animals. We don’t expect five star treatment because we are in prison. We know this and we are grateful for all that comes our way.

A major issue around here is mail. It is often late and quite frequently lost. Pictures, books, and magazines tend to often come up missing, but we are usually not provided with notices of disapproval. The thing is, when the mailroom confiscates something as contraband, they send you a notice of disapproval that allows you the opportunity to send home or donate whatever it is. So if the mailroom does not enclose this form in your envelope, then it is not them who steals the stuff, right? This issue is currently being reviewed at the director of CDCR’s level of the 602 inmate appeals process in Sacramento, California.

High Desert State Prison(HDSP) is located in the mountains of Northern California. The winters are long and unforgiving. Temps often drop to 20F with gnarly winds, snow and ice. Since we are not provided with adequate winter clothing to defend against the literally numbing cold, we are forced to choose between freezing for three hours on the days they do choose to run yard or stay in our cells month after month. This too is being looked into by means of the grievance process.

HDSP is an unrelenting environment. Z-Unit is entirely worse. The way it was designed deprives one of all stimulation. The architects sure did a good job on designing an oppressive atmosphere. There is no window to the outside, simply a mere slit in the roof that leads to another skylight twenty feed higher. Looking out of the cell door all one can see is an all white wall five feet in front of you, the only contact you have is that of your cell mate, but that quickly becomes stale and strained.

TVs and radios have been authorized by the state since 2005, allowing purchases by inmates for entertainment purposes, but this has yet to be put into effect by the administration here in High Desert. Inmates who are fortunate enough to purchase books, magazines, newspapers etc., often have to wait upwards of a month after they are here to actually receive them. And when they’re finally passed out, all reading material gets circulated throughout the entire tier. To say the least, we put everything to good use when we have it.

In spite of that, at one point, we were provided one book a week (better than nothing, I’m not going to front) by means of a tiny book cart. But that has ceased as of June 3 and to top it off, we are provided a slap in the face with two measly cross-words each week.

Without stimulation, internal anguish tends to set in. It has been clinically proven and well documented that in as little as two weeks in this type of environment, the average individual shows signs of stress, depression, anxiety, frustration, PTSD, anti-social symptoms and SHU syndrome. These conditions and the mental impact/ side effects they entail are the major cause of violence, both self-inflicted and in-cell combat. The mental imbalance is such that in September or October 2009 an individual committed suicide in his cell. In December 2009 another prisoner did the same, just to give a couple examples.

The impact this setting imposes has been acknowledged by the administration, for they have hired “psych-techs” who walk down the tier twice each day every day. How much does each psych-techs cost the state each year?

Prisoners have exhausted the appeals process and will continue on the right path to keep doing so, however, we are met with resistance at every level. More often than not, when you have proper grounds for a grievance, your appeal will somehow get lost. And when you write internal affairs asking them to submit it for you so that it won’t be “lost,” the warden will inevitably get at you letting you know that if you go that route then your grievance will not be processed. But it never gets processed anyway. Real fucking jerks, I know, not only this, but due to the insufficient nature and complete disregard on appeal coordinator’s behalf, there is currently a lawsuit pending against the state. What can I say? We’re trying.

Frustration got to the point that on June 14 and 18 about 35-40 cells boarded up to get cell extracted so they could voice their grievance. Unfortunately, we must expose ourselves to such gruesome protests, yet we are still not acknowledged. Moreover, on June 14-15 and again on Aug 2-9, prisoners housed in Z-unit went on hunger strikes. It seems like the light at thee end of the tunnel cannot be seen.

Many of the prisoners housed in Z Unit (about 80%) are awaiting transfers to other segregation units; however, some of these individuals have been enduring such dire circumstances upwards of two years.

To date, we have a select few of us on a writing campaign. Our object is ultimately to get our voice heard. So far, we’ve had a little success. Primarily, the Prisoner Activist Resource Center(PARC) is an organization currently working close with the prisoners housed in Z-Unit. Earlier this year, they led an investigation of this prison, but now they’ve planned one specifically for Z-Unit. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

This investigation has been published by SJRA Advocate. Also the AFSC has an open investigation on this prison’s now obsolete Behavioral Management Unit (BMU), the same setting just a fancier title. The BMU investigation has been published in two newspapers: the Sacramento Bee and the Fresno Bee. We are hoping to get Z-unit added to that investigation.

On July 27, 2010 a mass hunger strike took place at California State Prison - Los Angeles County (CSP-LAC) in which close to, if not well over 1000 prisoners participated. This mass hunger strike was successfully organized directly under the noses of pigs and their collaborators. The purpose of this strike was to protest and call attention to another of the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) oppressive and unconstitutionally sponsored pilot-programs in which prisoners are being forced to endure an average of 23 hours a day, seven days a week, confined in closed quarters.(1)

Whispers and murmurs were heard and acknowledged within certain circles concerning the impending hunger strike the week before-hand, however nothing was certain, or set in stone with regard to the actual date and time of the scheduled event outside of the strike organizers. Willing participants were advised not to exit their cells for either breakfast or dinner services during the period of no less than 24 hours in advance of the strike. This tactic of putting people up on game solely on a need-to-know basis was done specifically with the purpose of minimizing leaks and to prevent information from reaching prison administrators’ ears. The strike was originally intended to last for a minimum of 72 hours. This was because it takes a minimum of 72 hours before CDCR officials in Sacramento must be notified by prison officials of the ongoing hunger strike. Only then are prison doctors required by Title 15 regulations to begin the tedious and time consuming work of weighing strike participants and giving medical exams.

Building 3 on facility C was the first housing unit to initiate the protest as they are the first building to walk to chow. Other buildings were instructed to immediately follow suit whether they then walked to chow or got cell-fed. The quiet was eerie as well as defiantly deafening as cell after cell refused to step out for feeding. Only then did it become immediately apparent to the pigs that something was up. The yard was immediately put on lockdown as pigs scrambled to find out exactly what was happening. All so-called MAC reps(2) were ordered to report to the facility program office in order to speak to the Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain.

Conditions Leading to Strike

As I stated during the beginning of this article, this hunger strike was the result of C-facilities’ administrators, the prison warden, and quite possibly Sacramento officials’ direct refusal to allot prisoners here the required minimum of hours per Title 15 regulations of physical exercise outside of our cells. The California Code of Regulations explicitly states that inmates who are to be considered security threats to their institution are to be allotted no less than one hour a day, five days a week (Monday thru Friday) of physical exercise outside of their cells. This info can be found in CDCR Title 15, 3322, Length of Confinement (a), 3331 conditions of detention (h) avid 3343 Conditions of Segregated Housing (h). The above mentioned regulations are designated for prisoners being forced to participate in said programs. However, C-facility prisoners at CSP-LAC are not considered safety and security threats, but instead are designated general population per the Title 15. Therefore the question to be begged here is, why are general population prisoners being subjected to such long and concurrent periods of time inside of our cells without meaningful physical exercise? General population prisoners must be given a minimum of ten hours of P.E. outside of our cells Mon - Fri according to old Title 15 regulations, however the CDCR has conveniently wiped this regulation from the Title 15 in order to get away with violating constitutionally upheld decisions.

This is a question which has continually been asked at this gulag since this yard officially opened back in September of 2009. Pigs and officials alike have stated that the yard program will improve once the yard officially opens, or that they’re currently “working on it”. However, the real reason that there is no yard here is quite simply that they just don’t want to run it. Period.

Back in January 25, 2009, then-Captain Fortson released an ill-devised memo in an attempt to quell the prison masses’ demands for yard. In this memo Fortson stated that “no more than 100 IM’s on each side (as per safety ratio) and that all buildings will have yard 2x per week.”

First of all, there is no way in hell that they can adequately provide physical exercise for all 1000+ prisoners when the yard is kept to a maximum capacity of 100 prisoners at a time, or 200 prisoners even, as of late. Also, with all the bullshit that goes on around here as well as the purposely delayed and cancellations of program, it is simply impossible for prisoners to receive anywhere near the ten hour minimum or five hour minimum for that matter of required physical exercise outside of our cells. This isn’t rocket science people, and it isn’t incompetence either. It is an arbitrary application of the safety & security doctrine. Why? Because in his ill-devised memo which will come back to bite CSP-LAC officials in the ass, the good Captain does not elaborate on this “safety ratio.” And why does he not? Because there is no safety ratio, only a failed attempt to dupe the prisoners into buying the illegitimacy of their own oppression.

Finally, prisoners here got tired of patiently waiting to be given the right to exit their cells for meaningful physical exercise, so we decided to do something about it.

How it Went Down

Now, according to the so-called MAC reps who met with the facility heads immediately following the hunger strike, the administration stated that we’d certainly “gotten their attention.” They were then given the captain’s “word” that he would look into the issues and that things would change. However, if the MAC reps wanted the honor of an audience with the warden then they’d have to instruct all prisoners participating in the strike to give up the struggle. This was complete and total bullshit as it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that the pigs only wanted us to break it down and stop striking. This point was made very clear by a tiny minority within the organizers and insiders. They advised the MAC reps not to break it down, but instead to go around and tell everybody to keep striking. Unfortunately, perhaps out of real stupidity or just plain cowardice, the Executive Body MAC reps capitulated and went around telling people to end the hunger strike after a measly six and a half hours. Any continued act of resistance to the administration in the form of the hunger strike, or any other means by isolated individuals would’ve been futile as the vast majority of the population had already ceased. The damage was done.

Among the organizers and insiders there was a small minority who were against this mass action at this time, not only because they didn’t believe that the objective conditions were entirely conducive for such measures as today’s prisoner is programed to be docile and take a lot of crap, but also because they foresaw precisely the type of capitulation that ended up taking place. Furthermore, this small minority gathered that if indeed some organizers were hell-bent on kicking off this hunger strike then they might as well go one step further and instead call for a mass sit down and follow it with a hunger strike, as this would cause more havoc and confusion to the pigs, plus, they’d have to immediately justify their secondary response to Sacramento, as opposed to the 72 hour hunger strike requirement. It is the small minority’s belief that this would have been the correct approach. Unfortunately, the majority of the organizers won out with their idea. Disappointed but still determined to at the very least help organize the strike, solely for solidarity purposes, the small minority encouraged others to join in. Of course there is much more to this story, but due to security purposes it will remain confidential.

In the end as a result of the strike we are now on lockdown. Also, the Executive Body MAC reps were almost all sent to the hole for suspicion of being the organizers and leaders of the strike. This is of course ridiculous as we all know that MAC really stands for Man-Against-Convict. And so now we await to see what happens in light of these events. Will the administration keep their word? Highly unlikely. While the Executive Body rots in the hole, the real leadership is still on the loose in the population, like fish blending into the sea. Prison administrators are confused if they believe they can organize and keep us in check in a top down structure with their MAC reps. Instead we organize from the bottom up, from the masses to the masses.

If nothing else readers of this article should take away one thing, there are no rights, only power struggles.

Notes:
(1) The one hour per day outside the cell is typically spent as follows: 15-20 minutes allotted to and from the dining hall for AM feeding, 15-20 minutes to and from the dining hall for PM feeding with the occasional five or ten minute delay, alarms, etc. In fact, when not on lockdown or “modified program” we in the general population receive an average of 2-3 hours of meaningful P.E. with recreational and exercise equipment, once a week.
(2)MAC Rep stands for “Mens Advisory Council.” These MAC reps are voted into their positions by the population and are expected to voice prisoners concerns to administration. However, their real purpose as far as the administration is concerned is to keep the population under firm control and subservient.

Reading the many articles in Under Lock and Key, I realize daily how hopeless our battle against injustice, inhumane conditions and the current American system itself, may seem. I continuously hear so many say we can’t change it. They are wrong. They are weak and apathetic. We (prisoners and all Americans) must awake a revolution - no, not in the commonly accepted sense, not an attempt by one group to overthrow another to assume power. We need a revolution of the most profound kind, a revolution of the national soul and psyche, because if we continue to quietly submit to the injustices of this country, this system, with no opposition, then the limits of the tyrants will be absolute, acquiesced to by the very people who they oppress. Yes my brothers and sisters, it will be terrible to watch, torturous to be involved in, yet unquestionably destined to triumph if we (prisoners and Americans) will once again band together as one and rise to the call. I am certain of this because of my belief and faith in us, as prisoners, people, and Americans. William Faulkner once said, “It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe man [and Prisoners] will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.” We are that Man and Woman. Rise to the call of freedom and justice.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with this prisoner that it is important that we believe in humynity and our ability to rise above what we have accomplished (or failed at) in the past and create a society free of oppression. However, we do not just take this on faith, we base it in the history of humynity, the struggles of the oppressed always fighting to rise out of oppression. And we do not share this comrade’s faith in “Americans”. As a whole Amerikans are bought off with the profits of imperialism and have a material interest in maintaining this system of exploitation and oppression. It is not their humyn nature that will lead people to rise above oppression, it is their desire to fight their own oppression that will ultimately bring down imperialism. We can learn this lesson from history, and so we should not place false hope in the bought-off Amerikan population as a whole. With that said, we do work to win over the minority who will join the cause of the good of humynity, against their own material interests, and we will continue to educate and organize petit-bourgeois people to that end while working for and with the truly oppressed and exploited.

As revolutionaries who are conscious and active in the national liberation struggles of oppressed nations’ anti-imperialist movement in general and in the United $nakes in particular, there is a need to understand the motive forces controlling our lives and how these relate to oppression.

As materialists we believe that knowledge is key to understanding these forces. The masses read bourgeois newspapers and media and take up the political line of the imperialists without really consciously knowing. I’m speaking here of the politically unconscious. For example, after 9/11 there were many oppressed nations prisoners saying “we need to bomb those terrorists and kill them all, them dudes are crazy.”

Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Huey all taught us that we need to develop independent media institutions of the oppressed to build public opinion for revolution. It is with this thought in mind that I am proposing that all members and associates of the United Struggle from Within work to increase the subscriptions and readership of Our independent media outlet, Under Lock & Key. How do I suggest we do this? By (1) getting prisyners in your unit or prison to write in and request to be on the ULK mailing list, (2) making copies, if possible, and circulating them, and (3) having friends, family members, other groups, etc., send money in for subscriptions and check out MIM(Prisons)’s website. My persynal goal is to get 50 prisyners to write in and request a subscription over the next six months.

Most prisyners are poor and will readily write in for any type of reading material that they can get free. Our duty is to appeal to that particular material interest as a way to spread the word and share knowledge.

I believe that the more people become exposed to new ideas, programs, etc., the better chance we have of bringing them into the movement. After all, a lot of people simply don’t know. So they can’t be held accountable for their actions. By exposing people to the real world we take away their excuses and they have to make a conscious choice – to be on the side of the oppressed or the oppressor. Educate to liberate!

MIM(Prisons) responds: Our principal task in preparation for socialist revolution in the United $tates is to build public opinion and independent institutions of the oppressed to end imperialism. Under Lock & Key is an independent institution that builds public opinion, primarily among the imprisoned lumpen. USW provides more content for ULK than any other group, and we would encourage comrades to take up this call to begin a real campaign to expand distribution everywhere that USW is active.

We want to echo this comrade’s call for financial support as we just completed discussions of how to better ensure that our distribution methods are effective and resources are not wasted. MIM(Prisons) has no paid staff and we work with a very small budget with no funding from outside institutions. Therefore, donations sent go a long way.

While prisoners are often indigent, oppressed nations in the United $tates benefit materially due to imperialism (they get the crumbs from the king’s table), so we wouldn’t say that the only thing holding many people back from joining the anti-imperialist movement is their ignorance, as this comrade does. However, s/he is correct to say that exposing people to revolutionary ideas will enable and force them to consciously choose what side to be on. So push the revolutionary movement forward and help expand the distribution of Under Lock & Key!

First off, let me just sympathize with the many innocent individuals behind these gates. Remain strong my people.

The North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDC) is targeting the same exact groups that the California Department of Corrections is targeting: the Muslims, 5 Percenters, Disciples, Crips, Bloods, Moors, Mexicans, and all other non-Amerikans. What gets me though is that everyone knows this, yet do not take the initiative to give their Nations (organizations) a more decent look. I do not feel any sympathy for a group of people who’s soulful intentions are to destroy humynity. Most of these gangs, groups, religions, etc. have more negative energy within them than they do positive. Why can’t someone start up a food drive or something for Haiti using the CRIP Nation’s name (Coloreds Rising In Power) or the BLOOD Nation?

We as gangstas are not making sure that first our house is cleaned, secondly, we are protected, and lastly, that what we represent is receiving a positive acknowledgment from this country. Every time you turn on the television a member has managed to put yet another negative look on the Nation. Stanley “Tookie” Williams was killed by the government, not because of the things he did, but rather, the things that other Crip members were doing. Basically, homies got the “G” killed.

Now, I understand that things can’t be controlled after a certain action has taken place, however, we can determine what and when things happen. Gangstas are leaving graffiti, bandanas, and all other sorts of clues for the government to make their cases with. We are supposed to be secretive yet visible.

Inside the prison system, gang members are showing off tattoos, signs and scars. They are admitting to being affiliated and also are telling staff who else is a part of these Nations. There is not one secret kept within these Nations anymore. It’s all just a fun game now. These so-called “Big Homies,” OGs, 5-star Generals, and Lieutenants aren’t pursuing a positive outcome of change. They just love controlling other individuals.

While the gangstas in Cali may be seeking relief from the oppression, the so-called gangstas in North Carolina have grown content with such oppression. Is there any group fighting for the validated members locked up around here? These dudes will hurt each other before they think about helping one another.

About a year ago an indigenous prisoner was murdered by a so-called Crip. Guess how many Crips got charged? Eight! These niggers started snitching on each other. I stay as far away as a I can from the bull jive.

It’s just so sad to see so many brothas lost. They believe this gang thing is BLOOD vs. CRIP. I tell them that it is not. It is BLOOD and CRIP. We are 1 Nation together. Divided we aren’t anything.

MIM(Prisons) responds: One of the contradictory aspects of the popular language is the use of the term “nation” to refer to a collection of sets. This comrade wants to unite Blacks as one “nation,” but goes on to refer to various “nations” among the lumpen, many with Black members. The lumpen organizations took on this language following the righteous revolutionary nationalist movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In this period, organizations represented Black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chinese and First Nations, and they all worked with each other as allies. Their power came from their correct understanding of national oppression. Today, these groups going around calling themselves “nations,” fighting each other, are often part of the same nation, and almost all of them are from the oppressed. When they start recognizing the oppressor as their enemy, then we’ll see the kind of power our predecessors had.

This comrade also mentions trying to receive positive recognition within this country. Within one’s nation, among the oppressed nations, that is a righteous goal. But Amerika is never going to recognize the oppressed nation youth organizations as positive as long as they represent their interests as oppressed people. The ALKQN has struggled with this exact problem. Even the Black Panthers, who didn’t have the same internal contradictions that the ALKQN has, faced general condemnation from Amerika, though they certainly found allies among a minority.

We wouldn’t go so far as to say that the state killed Tookie because of what other Crips were doing. We do agree that they used the anti-people activities of groups like the Crips to justify killing Tookie, not to mention to justify locking up 1 million other Black men across the United $tates. But Tookie was killed because he represented true rehabilitation from a misled gangsta youth into a righteous Black nationalist.

When Tookie was killed in 2005, MIM Notes wrote, “The Crips developed within a certain social and historical context. Tookie took part in leading the formation of the Crips after living his life in a certain context, just like the conditions of his life later led him to repent and take on a new purpose in life. The unscientific idea that bad people are just bad cannot explain why Tookie engaged in anti-people activities as a youth, but then turned around to be a positive member of the community later on. In upholding this mantra avoiding scientific explanation, the state ultimately decided that Tookie was just faking his redemption. This was a ridiculous lie.” (MIM Notes 329, p.1) Tookie should be upheld as an example for the criminalized youth of today.