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.
Just recently, the national grievance petition that I drafted got
published in several newspapers. Then our cell block got raided multiple
times, and cellphones were confiscated. Well the C.O.’s put the searches
off on my organizing and blaming me for the raids. As a result, a XXXX
gang member stabbed me 5 times in the back with an ice pick. I am
recovering fine but it just goes to show how far these fascists will go
to shut me up.
Next, I would like to update you on these petitions. So on 8 May 2020
citizens in Raleigh, N.C. did a vehicle protest blaring horns, marching
with signs in front of Central Prison in Raleigh & prisoners on the
inside went on a 3 day hunger strike and refused to lock down at the
facility.
On 9 May 2020 many protests broke out at the Neuse Prison inside and
outside demanding N.C. prisoners’ human rights.
On 10 May 2020 women prisoners at NCCIW also protested on the inside
while dozens of cars blared their horns outside of the prison in
solidarity and marched in front of the prison until local police from
two agencies were dispersed to break the crowd up.
Prisoners are tired of being restricted from writing to other
prisoners of the opposite sex. Tired of paying $10.00 for prison rule
violations, restrictions on who can send us money, life sentences and
all the b.s. time we are being sentenced.
We’ve been here, at least some of us. Our last issue of ULK
was ULK 69, which came out in October 2019. In that issue we
announced a planned pause to launch a new newsletter in January. Those
plans fell apart in December when most of those
comrades left the project.
Wait, i’m new, i never even got ULK 69
If you wrote us for the first time after we mailed out ULK
69 you should have got some kind of response from us. Many new
subscribers were only sent a back issue of ULK and no further
info. This issue (70) should get everyone up to speed. However, due to
the shelter-in-place orders and our limited resources we are not doing a
mailing to our full subscriber list. Only those who write in after this
issue is released will be sent a copy.
How are you doing?
We’re doing as good as we can. The setbacks in December were
challenging. But those of us who remain are healthy so far, and are not
facing any immediate setbacks from the pandemic. In fact, we saw a 42%
increase in data pulled from our website in April, which we imagine is
related to people sheltering in place to avoid COVID-19.
What have you been up to?
We’ve actually done a lot in 2020. Before the comrades left this
winter we had spent a lot of time working with our partners in RAIM to
develop plans for the newsletter, as well as developing our ideological
unity around Maoism. Besides some edits to our definition of Maoism, we
put out an extensive
response to the book Continuity and Rupture, which goes
through the history of Maoism here in occupied Turtle Island and relates
it to the International Communist Movement (ICM). We could not fit that
essay in this issue of ULK, but if you are interested please
write in to request a copy. You can also get a copy of the book itself
from us for $8 (stamps or ask us for info on how to pay by check) or
work trade. It is a good explanation of some of the concepts behind
Maoism and where it comes from. However, our essay addresses some
serious disagreements with the historical facts and some of the author’s
political line. We recommend it to all who are studying Maoism.
Since the last ULK we’ve focused much energy outside of
prisons, to invest in building a more resilient movement on the streets.
Of note, we launched a new online platform that has been in the work for
years, which has allowed us to build with a number of new comrades. We
released plans for the launch of Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support
(AIPS), a mass organization for people on the outside to support USW and
MIM(Prisons) work. Our subscribers can now link up their outside
contacts with AIPS to make direct contributions to Maoist prisoner
support in the United $tates. Just have your people get in touch with us
via our website www.prisoncensorship.info/contact
.
We took the opportunity of the intro study group coordinator leaving
to revamp the entire course, both the study questions as well as the
format. This new format allows people to complete the course at their
own pace, rather than having to wait for the next course to start, or
for others to answer. We hope this means our subscribers will be able to
develop their political consciousness more rapidly and with sustained
interest. The new format is already showing good results in the
responses we have seen.
The introductory study course has been open to prisoners for many
years, and hundreds of people have participated over that time. In 2020,
we started offering our intro study course online for the first time. We
are linking AIPS comrades to our intro study group participants inside,
to help build bridges between inside and outside, and to help everyone
develop their political consciousness more deeply.
Despite the pause in ULK, we have sent in 100s of pieces of
literature each month through our Free Political Books to Prisoners
Program.
Are all your programs still running?
No, we simply cannot do what we were doing until we can get more
comrade time dedicated to those tasks. This will happen by training new
people and/or having others provide the money we need to keep operating
so existing comrades have more time to put in.
Some tasks we cannot sustain at this time are producing
Spanish-language content and coordinating the Prisoners’ Legal Clinic.
Our capacity to appeal censorship on behalf of MIM Distributors will be
even more focused on instances that are being actively fought by our
subscribers. We will still send subscribers Spanish language materials
that are already produced, as well as legal guides available through our
Free Books program.
But ULK is back?
We’re not sure yet. Our plan A was to launch a new newsletter, in
partnership with other cells/groups, uniting on MIM’s 3 cardinal
principals (see MIM(Prisons) points 4-6). This newsletter would have
more than tripled our distribution, with most copies being distributed
outside of prisons. We still think we need such a newsletter to unite a
broader Maoist Internationalist Movement. But until people step up with
the effort, money and political line to do this project, this plan is on
hold.
Plan B is to recontinue Under Lock & Key, to serve as
the voice of the anti-imperialist prisoner movement led by
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism through MIM(Prisons)’s role as editor.
ULK came out every other month and was free to all prisoners of
the United $nakes who wrote us every 6 months to stay on the mailing
list. Whether we can return to that model is still being considered.
Plan C would be doing something less regular, with less content
and/or more restricted distribution, which is effectively what we are
doing with ULK 70. Before we make any concrete decisions, we
decided to put out ULK 70 as a first step in sorting out our
longer-term plan. We wanted to send our readers an update, including all
of the indepth content included in this issue. We wanted to let people
know we’re still here and still serious. And we wanted to make one more
call for support. How we proceed will depend on the response from our
subscribers, as well as potential contributors outside. And, like the
rest of the world, we are not sure what will be the impact of the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
How can i support the newsletter?
In order to consistently produce new issues of Under Lock &
Key, we must fill the gap in resources we had before we stopped.
This gap is in both comrade time and money. One of our biggest successes
in the last couple months has been the launch of the online platform,
and the streamlining of the process of getting prisoner writings typed
and published on our website. Helping out with typing, proof-reading,
formatting and even writing articles for ULK is one way to
help. Providing consistent funding is another. Comrades in prison,
perhaps you can help recruit people to do both. You don’t have to
contribute a lot, but we do need supporters who can contribute
consistently, that we can rely on to keep the newsletter going.
To reignite Plan A we need to develop cells within MIM and mass
organizations that are doing work on the ground that produce diverse
content for such a newsletter, an outlet for distributing it, and
funding.
Currently, Plan C might include publishing a newsletter whenever we
can. This model has the benefit of responding to reader support; as
support goes up, the newsletter becomes more regular. However, we think
consistency is important up front, especially if we are to be effective
at keeping our imprisoned subscribers informed in a relatively timely
manner, as we must do to sustain our movement.
Therefore, we are asking for everyone’s support in making
ULK a regular newsletter once again, to play its unique role of
publicizing and supporting anti-imperialist organizing in the dungeons
of the belly of the beast! For people inside, write to your people
outside and encourage them to get involved. For people outside, contact us with a pledge of
how much you can contribute every 2 months, in work and/or funding.
I note that MIM/USW expresses an inclusive philosophy when it comes
to prisoners and victims of oppression. Does this mindset include former
corrections officers, former police officers, etc. who are now
incarcerated?
I ask this specifically because I’ve personally known of at least two
former corrections officers who are now prisoners in PADOC. One is
actually in the control unit I am currently housed in.
Funny thing is, he was made a “block worker” within days of arriving
on the unit, which affords him privileges to the point that he is hardly
ever in his cell and can pretty much do as he pleases in all regards,
while the rest of us are 23 and 1 or 24 hr. lockdown and are EXTREMELY
restricted in everything we do. So, just curious on your outlook on
this.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Anyone can be a cop and
anyone can be a revolutionary, no matter their background. In the United
$tates we operate surrounded by enemies. So we must take proper
precautions. We also believe that anyone can be transformed, but some
people will take a lot more work. And without real power, people with
strong anti-people ideas will not be worth our time to try to change
right now.
This former C.O. sounds like a typical pig, and just because eir
clothes have changed it doesn’t sound like eir mentality has. Just like
a prisoner who is a rat for the admin, we look at a persyn’s political
practice to see where eir loyalties lie. We wouldn’t consider either of
these types of people to be members of United Struggle from Within,
which works for the destruction of the Amerikkkan criminal injustice
system, the end of the United $tates, and a world where everyone is free
from oppression!
This letter is to inform you that I have been transferred. My
transfer was long overdue and now after those long years in Ad-Seg I
should be getting released to population soon. I am now housed in a
two-man cell after spending the last three years in a one-man cell
because that’s the way the other units in Ad-Seg is set up. So that also
is an adjustment I’ve had to make to my work-out/sleep schedule.
This is another of the Arkansas units that’s known for rampant drug
trade and use, so I’m trying to prepare myself for combating the mindset
that comes along with that among my fellow prisoners. I have been here
now for two weeks and have not heard any revolutionary conversations,
let alone any political discussions that were based on concrete research
or facts. No one is talking about unity or anything of that nature.
I started a conversation with another prisoner about the going-on in
Iran. I told him that I assume Chump assassinated Iran’s commander to
initiate a war because of the upcoming “elections,” and the prisoner I
was talking to started taking a defensive stance and the kapitalist
mindset came out. You know the justification, “Oh, the economy is better
than it has ever been!” When I asked him at what price has the economy
got so great he got in his feelings and told me I sound like one of the
Trump haters that have been trying to come up with anything to get him
out of office! I then just changed the subject to the San Francisco
49ers taking the Super Bowl this year but he didn’t like that any more
than the political discussion! Ha.
The point I was trying to make about who actually pays the price for
Amerikkkan prosperity was completely missed and I was reminded of
something I read in the essay “Intro to Neo-Colonialism” by Kwame
Nkrumah, which we are studying in the University of Maoist Thought
(UMT). Nkrumah states “In fact neo-colonialism is the victim of its own
contradictions. In order to make it attractive to those upon whom it is
practised it must be shown as capable of raising their living standards,
but the economic object of neo-colonialism is to keep those standards
depressed in the interest of the developed countries. It is only when
this contradiction is understood that the failure of innumerable ‘aid’
programmes, many of them well intentioned, can be explained.”
The reason I brought the issue of “aid programs” up is because in the
course of the conversation my fellow prisoner’s only grievance about
Amerikkka was that these other countries (Iran, Russia, etc.) look at
Amerikkka as weak, because after we go to war with countries in the
Middle East we send them all kinds of “aid.” I started explaining the
system of neo-colonialism and how none of these other countries are
fooled into believing that the Amerikkkan government provides “aid” to
these countries we’ve invaded out of righteous motives, but he couldn’t
grasp my point.
It just goes to show how deep kapitalist ideology indoctrinates its
multitude of “patriots.” Amerikkka has given you a life sentence in
their machination of mass incarceration, but these dudes are still
willing to argue for the monster’s “honor.”
It’s hard for me to see any future victories over a kapitalist system
that is so inextricably woven into the fabric of our present day society
that I can see why it’s so easy to become agreeable to the multitudes
and just go along with the way the system is. Not myself personally, but
so many others that I think should be on the side of the oppressed. It
makes me question my own abilities in comparison to a Mao. Their essays
and policies are so far-reaching and deep, and here I fail at getting a
point across to a fellow oppressed prisoner, or as they say I can’t even
preach to the choir!
Well, as I said I was touching base to let you know about my transfer
and my current status on getting ready to get released to population,
and I also wanted to give my thanks to my komrades in the study group
and the study group facilitators for helping me get through my time in
Ad-Seg, and the growth I’ve experienced.
If it wasn’t for this study group, among other things, I don’t think
that I would’ve made it through with a sound mind. So thanks again and I
look forward to struggling into the future with UMT and
MIM(Prisons).
UMT coordinator of MIM(Prisons) responds: Before
writing our response, we asked another comrade from UMT to respond to
this article. We suggested a potential angle for responding.
“The main thing I was thinking to respond to (which does not need to
be the thing you respond to, you can respond however you see
appropriate) is that this persyn was not coming from a place of unity in
the conversation with the other prisoner [more on the meaning of ”total
unity” below - Editor]. Ey was trying to make a point, or win a debate.
That technique is useful if there’s an audience of people who are coming
to their own conclusions about the debate, hearing both sides. But for
an individual conversation, I think we have to come from a place of
total unity in order to help people see political distinctions. Again,
you can respond however you see fit, I just wanted to offer that as an
idea.”
In response, our UMT comrade sent some feedback:
“With respect to the article, I’d have to disagree with your
statement that the author was not coming from a place of unity. It is
very difficult for me to see how ey could’ve found a better way to
struggle with that persyn according to what I read.
“The fact that ey even attempted to engage that persyn in a political
discussion is proof enough for me that ey was attempting to unite with
em. Furthermore, what is political struggle with someone like that if
not a debate? While I don’t believe in showing people up who I’m trying
to build with, I also don’t believe in being subtle or sugar-coating
reality for the sake of sparing someone’s feelings. That would be
liberalism, would it not?
“I once read a MIM article in which the author stated that a good
teacher doesn’t assert the correct principles, rather they teach the
correct principles. This is the model I always try to uphold when it
comes to political struggle and I hope MIM(Prisons) still upholds it as
well.”
I think there is a very subtle distinction between unity and
discussion, versus division and debate, that i am still learning how to
bring to fruition in our work. Of course there will still be moments of
disagreement with our comrades, which is perfectly healthy to political
growth. And there will be moments of frustration and conflict within a
revolutionary organization and movement. I believe the goal in these
recruiting conversations is in minimizing the conflict, while hashing
out the disagreements, and holding the other persyn in high esteem and
unity throughout.
With people we’re recruiting, there is some baseline unity that we
can build on. Either you’re both prisoners, both have a deep hatred of
capitalism or inequality, or you are working on the same campaign or
project. Or as our UMT comrade says above, you are in a conversation at
all, so there’s unity. That level of unity is a good starting place, for
sure.
If we’re talking about helping people shift their deeply-held
inaccurate beliefs which are reinforced by bourgeois propaganda daily;
and empowering people to make a difference in their locality and the
world; and asking people to take on the magnificent and difficult and
self-sacrificing task of building revolution over the long-term while
not cooperating with the pigs for their persynal benefit in the
short-term, etc… then I believe a deeper unity is needed in order to
break through all those barriers to catalyze this profound shift.
As advocates for the liberation of the world’s people from the
oppression of capitalism and imperialism, i believe we have an
obligation to learn how to communicate with people in a way that we can
be most effective. And I’m not saying to throw out accuracy and facts
for the sake of false unity. It’s about having discussions with
(potential) comrades with unity as primary, even in spite of
disagreement.
One way to picture this subtle distinction may be to pause at any
point in a conversation and honestly ask yourself “is it blatantly
obvious we are on the same team right now? or is it more like we are on
opposing teams?” And ask yourself these questions from the other
persyn’s perspective, and from an observer’s perspective, too. If the
answer to this inquiry is that in that moment you are more in opposition
than on the same team, then that’s what i’m talking about.
Another barometer to measure whether we’re coming more from unity or
division, is to look at how do these conversations resolve? Are they
resolved with greater unity and understanding, or, like in this letter
we received, is the result that the persyn totally didn’t grasp the
message?
One appropriate time for debate is in a conversation where you are
distinguishing whether you even want to be on the same team with a
persyn or an organization. These private debates can help clarify for
ourselves our own view, the views of others, and help decide the best
steps forward in terms of working together, or not.
Another time and place for outright debating is in public
discussions. When others witness a debate, it helps the viewer clarify
their understanding of the people in the debate, and helps clarify what
views they are most aligned with. Under Lock & Key is a
great public forum for these types of public debates.
And again, I’m not talking about letting things
slide, or ignoring disagreements (that would be liberalism).(1) I’m
talking about having conversations with people we are trying to unite
with, coming from a place of deep listening. We have to, in a way,
“allow” others to believe what they believe, in order to help them see
something different. Not agreeing with them, but listening to them.
There are many conversational tactics and methods that can be used,
and the effectiveness of specific language will vary persyn to persyn,
culture to culture, situation to situation. Rather than a formula of
things to say, i think cultivating one’s authentic commitment to
developing with others is what signifies to them a deep level of unity,
no matter the words. Developing this commitment (even in spite of our
own persynal frustrations!), as well as the tactics that are effective,
is a lifelong practice. You can use this approach with anyone, even
people who hold differing views. And i think this approach is a
precursor to people even listening to facts or points being made, which
is a precursor to deeper unity, growth, and recruiting.
Comrades in Maoist circles have disagreed with this approach, and
have said it’s too much focusing on subjective opinions and tone. And to
that i would throw MIM’s “where’s the beef?” taunt back in our own face.
Where’s our success? Where’s our results? If we’re outright debating
people we’re trying to recruit, and simply trying to show them that
they’re wrong, is that working?
I fully agree that viewing the world with the most accuracy as
possible brings us power, which leads to effectiveness, and liberation.
Sharing accuracy with others is extremely important to our work.
And I believe it’s subjective to behave as if we live in a
post-subjective society, and that the most efficient way to liberate the
world’s people is to go on unnecessarily dividing with people who could
otherwise be our comrades. We can’t teach people to think scientifically
by pretending they are already fully objective scientific thinkers.
While working toward a cultural shift where people can see and hear
facts delivered in any tone and in any manner, i believe we also need to
acknowledge that our culture isn’t there yet. It would behoove us to
communicate with others with an awareness that this is the culture we’re
speaking into. And in my view, there’s no harm to trying on different
conversational techniques. Interacting with others from a place of
profound unity (rather than just saying words or speaking one’s mind) is
one i would recommend trying out.
I would even argue that being an objective scientific thinker isn’t
about thinking scientifically 100% of the time – we are humyns after
all, and part of being humyn is having subjective thoughts and feelings.
Being objective isn’t about squashing those impulses, it’s about
training ourselves to notice when we are approaching a question
subjectively, and training ourselves to put that aside. Even long-time
revolutionaries are subjective about things! We’re just also committed
to developing our objective muscles. We can’t expect that quality of
listening from people who have a lifetime of practice in all
subjectivism all the time.
I don’t claim to be an expert in this technique, and i can definitely
see how on the surface it sounds like liberalism or being wishy-washy. I
believe it has been validated by all the seminal works i’ve studied on
“how to relate to people” from Freire’s Pedagogy of the
Oppressed to studying about Mao’s long march. That this view is in
a minority in our organization is even further evidence of my lack of
expertise in bringing this shift to our work. And, of course, maybe i’m
wrong! Maybe head-on debate between individuals, in private, is the way
to build unity, our organization, and our revolution.
I could go on even more trying to explain it, probably writing an
entire book here. Instead i would love for comrades to try it out and
let us know what they discover. If you come from a place of profound
unity, deep listening and compassion in a conversation where you
disagree with someone else, did anything shift in your relationship or
organizing work with this persyn or people?
Hatchets for Maoism (HFM) is a faction of Juggalos (fans of the musical
group Insane Clown Posse) that agree to the five principles of the
United Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) and strive to organize to
promote them in ourselves and others.
Because other groups use force, drugs, threats of violence, violence and
corruption to further their cause and swell their ranks, we strive to
take away each of those from them by denying them as tools we use to
recruit comrades.
We refuse to be silent when others oppress anyone for any reason. We are
a family of Brothers organized to end the injustice the pigs use to pit
us against each other, and oppress anyone.
We strive to pull up all who seek a better life, and that are within the
anti-imperialist struggle. We strive to create an environment of control
through trust, peace through understanding and safety through right
action. HFM chooses to give a hand up to ALL willing to pull their
weight and work towards our stated goals. All are equal, all are
accepted, all eat when one eats.
Salutations MIM(Prisons), and appreciation for the book The Wind
Will not Subside about the years in revolutionary China. I wrote
specifically to donate these stamps and to comment on what I’ve rend so
far – because I’m not done with it.
Mao was a true paradox: simple yet complex, intellectual yet humble,
he know how to control by letting go, he was an obvious mystery. And he
was a Gangsta! I never knew hes wife and kids were tortured, raped and
killed. He never spoke on the personal motivations of his mission,
because he knew that his was just one story out of millions of similar
stories. Se he wasn’t special.
Politicians of today would’ve used that story to their advantage,
solely to get votes. And once ey got the votes, ey would then use that
power to do the same thing that was done to em. Ey would’ve exploited to
the fullest that tragedy. That was deep to me.
He also had the courage to go against traditional revolution
(Russia), and challenge the status quo by not being afraid to fail if
need be. Mao had the vision and intuition to understand that you don’t
hamper the youth’s growth by pounding into them what ey are doing wrong.
Ey will lose enthusiasm and ultimately give up.
About study groups. I have come to realize the less formal ey are,
the more successful ey are. If we tell youngsters that we are going to
start a “study group”, it reminds em too much of school. Although in
essence, that’s what it is, the title rubs em the wrong way. I pass
literature, books, ULKs around, then after ey’ve read them, I ask
questions, give input and feedback. It is a slow process, but it works.
I’m not perfect, and I am only one of many, but I have found the method
that works for me. Maybe it will help a comrade who is sincerely trying
to bring about change.
Salutations to all who labor in the name of communism
I have been trying to organize a new group but I am failing. People here
want things done but don’t want to do it themselves. I help with what I
can. They don’t want to grievance the officers because they are worried
about retaliation. In short, they are scared of a case and not making
commissary.
I am fighting them and putting paper whenever I can. Shortly after I
received my packet of Texas campaign materials, I got a frivolous case
for failing to go to work. I was on my way to my wing from work and
didn’t make it out the door. I had two offenders, a sergeant, and a
kitchen captain as witnesses. The lieutenant running the case said that
he didn’t give a f*** and that I was guilty. This was in May.
I filed a Step 1 but never got an answer. I did a I-60 request for
the Step 1 grievance number. I got it with a request for a 40-day
extension, 89 days after I filed the grievance and 11 days after I
requested it, but predated for the week before I requested it by I-60. I
did file a Step 2 without the Step 1 attached (I never got the Step 1)
in October 2019.
I can’t wait to hear from Huntsville and the Ombudsman over all of this.
Since I have no family out there, they are trying to ignore me. I refuse
to go away.
In the meantime, I will keep writing and fighting this injustice $ystem
that we are in. I will keep sharing my Texas Pack. I could use some
group information that might help me if I can get one going again. They
want to but don’t want to. I don’t get it.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We commend this comrade for sticking up
for eirself, and “staying committed even when your homies ain’t with it”
(shout out to Dead Prez). Even though it can be totally baffling and
frustrating when people want to but don’t want to, know that you’re not
alone in facing that challenge. Prison life is designed to make people
ambivalent (or even completely disinterested) and handling that
ambivalence is all part of the process of building for revolution and a
new society. Accepting it as just part of the process can help us to not
get frustrated by it.
We had a lot of discussion about the topic of how to organize people who
are ambivalent in ULK
66, which was on the topic of Recruitment and Retention for
Revolution. We are sending this comrade a copy of that ULK and a
few more to study and share. And we encourage everyone to continue to
send us updates on what it’s like in the facility where you’re held. We
publicize conditions reports on our website www.prisoncensorship.info,
and conditions reports about organizing help us consolidate and support
the national liberation struggles developing inside United Snakes
prisons. In Struggle!
Being able to politicize this generation is one of the major problems
I’m currently facing. To get one to become conscious of the real enemy
is a struggle. Seemingly because battling within our own circles are
somehow being rationalized and not frowned upon.
Within this last year my political consciousness has been awoken, and I
now feel obliged to share this knowledge with all oppressed peoples. But
getting them to really receive the messages I attempt to convey is hard
as hell. And the fact that I now recognize that my people have become so
complacent with being oppressed that its become the “norm” is extremely
troubling. Being a gang member myself, one would think that my solid
reputation would make my advancements credible enough to persuade those
who know and respect me to at least be open-minded enough to hear the
message first and conclude later. But my attempts oftentimes reveal the
divisiveness in the oppressed and the true power of capitalist tactics.
Being able to continue to reach out and inform through all adversity and
frustration is a necessity in the struggle to achieve communism.
Understanding that being cast aside as “crazy,” “tripping.” etc. is a
part of it all. The ignorant always criticize the unknown and
misunderstood. It is up to us as revolutionaries to continue the fight
against the current foundations of capitalism.
I am attempting to form several study groups and beginning to organize
here in Alaska which seems to be uncharted territory. I need all of the
help and guidance I can get. I am open to all forms of education for
myself and others. For without knowledge we can never learn how to
defeat oppression. I have and always will be a front line soldier. I’ve
learned from first-hand experience that unorganized violence/force used
against the police only achieves negative consequences. The most solid
form of action for a single soldier is litigation. Every other action
consists of numbers. That’s why organization is so important. United we
stand, divided we fall. All power to the people!
MIM(Prisons) responds: Much credit to this comrade for standing
strong in the face of criticism and hardship in educating and organizing
others. Study groups are a great way to get people talking about new
concepts and educating about revolutionary politics. We will be sending
some lit and other materials to help with that work. Anyone interested
in starting a study group where you’re at can contact us to get our
guide to forming a study group, and also literature for your group to
study.
This writer says litigation is the most solid form of action for a
single soldier. And litigation is certainly one avenue for folks in
isolation or otherwise unable to work with others.
If individuals can connect with MIM(Prisons), there are additional
options. For instance, solo comrades can help with agitation and theory
development, by writing articles and poetry, producing art, reviewing
books, and creating study guides. These are all things that, when done
through an organization like MIM(Prisons), can help to educate others,
even if you can’t directly reach those folks yourself. Get in touch for
guides to help you get started in any of these areas.
Every time I write MIM(Prisons), talking about what I’ve got going on,
or what I’m trying to do, my moves are intercepted, interfered with, or
I’m retaliated against. It’s not wise to write to y’all and give the
enemy the upper hand, or an advantage over me. If a person is in prison,
then guess what? You’re in the devil’s back yard, where the devil says
what goes. Common sense and history should obviously tell you that it’s
the police’s jobs to police you. If you’re dumb enough to open your
mouth about incriminating shit, while you know that the spotlight is
beaming on you, then you deserve the consequences. A lot of these people
in Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) just don’t got it in ’em to
zip it. There’s a time to talk and there’s a time for silence.
Organizing tactics will vary, depending on why you’re getting organized
and what you’re getting organized for. There’s no “one size fits all”
organizing tactic. You got to be versatile and able to adapt under
pressure and constant changes. To be able to roll with the punches, in
other words. Keep your eyes open.
Everybody isn’t down. Everybody’s not a rider, or a soldier. Not
everybody cares, or is able to listen and see. You have to be careful
who you’re talking to, or what you’re openly/publicly speaking about, in
ADC. Ironically and paradoxically, getting assigned to a one-man cell is
one of the only ways to dodge the bogus individuals in ADC, if you know
how to do time in a cell. The cell-blocks in ADC are analogous to SHUs
[solitary confinement]. The prison culture in ADC is twisted. Got to be
ever-mindful of this while organizing in the ADC.
One of the main problems that I personally experience in the ADC is that
the prisoners are over-friendly with the police/guards. It’s accepted to
befriend the police here, to pull them aside and whisper/gossip, or to
kick it in the police’s offices. The majority of the ADC prisoners don’t
even understand how to distinguish between a police and a snitch, or how
to identify what “snitching” is and isn’t. What’s really troubling is
that these gang affiliates allow police into their “gangs,” which
contradicts everything that they claim to stand for. They call the
high-ranking police their “OGs” here, and they see nothing wrong with
this. In my eyes that’s an organized snitch-operation, with benefits.
They suck up to the police for scooby snacks. The dope fiend culture
here is largely to blame. They believe that it’s acceptable to cooperate
with police for drugs, highs, money, etc. (That’s the same as
collaborating with police for time-cuts in my eyes.) They call
collaborating with the police here “gangster moves,” “OG moves,” “shot
calls,” etc. Technically, the government is a gang, but not in the sense
of a street gang, or a lumpen organization (L.O.). They’re letting the
government into their street gangs and L.O.s, which causes immense
problems and struggles for people who are trying to get organized
against government corruption, or imperialism.
There’s no fixing this type of issue overnight. One individual can’t
tackle this issue single-handedly. I refuse to associate, in those types
of ways, with the police, or snitches who work hand-in-hand with the
police. These types of snitches are not concerned about making changes,
and one of these undercovers will only put on a front, to infiltrate
your organization and stir up chaos and confusion.
Like I said though, it really all depends on the direction that you’re
trying to go, in terms of organizing and unity. Revolution, or reform?
Long-term, or short-term? What types of changes are you aiming at? Do
you honestly believe that you can pop off a full-scale “revolution” from
inside of one, tiny prison? A prison riot isn’t a revolution.
My personal opinion is that if you’re trying to reform the prison system
with long-term changes, that litigation is the most efficient, or
effective method. History shows that the most significant changes in the
prison systems in America have come from litigation. Litigation,
generally, doesn’t work too well when trying to deal with short-term
problems, or isolated incidents, mainly because litigation isn’t
instantaneous, it takes time. And it’s doubtful that you can jump-off a
revolution by litigating in a government courthouse, or by filing
grievances. You have to first troubleshoot the most pressing problems
inside of your facility, if you plan on reforming the prison system. And
you must be able to think everything through, before you initiate a
campaign.
I know from experience that single-handedly bucking on these police with
physical force rarely accomplishes very much, except for giving the
police a bogus excuse to press their foot down on your neck, or to
exercise more control over you.
It’s probably a good idea to begin by getting to the least oppressive
position before trying to do what needs to be done. Prison is not the
place. The odds are stacked too high against prisoners, inside of
prison, for prisoners to be able to leave too great of an impact. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m not saying that there’s nothing positive that can be
done. It’s just that many prisoners believe that the solution is to try
to wage, or talk of waging a real-deal war with America from behind
bars, and this is madness – counterproductive non-sense. Your greatest
weapon from inside of an American prison is a pen and paper, which
typically doesn’t involve getting 100% unity of prisoners. Another thing
is that you’re never going to get all prisoners to agree on every little
thing, at all times, which gets in the way of organizing, or unity.
I believe that one of the best things that a person can do is just to
focus on themselves first, before trying to build up the next person,
which constitutes as “leading by example.” Other people will see you
doing positive things, or will listen to you speaking positively and
they will often emulate, or mirror your actions. In order to change the
world, you must begin by changing yourself. You must become the changes
that you want to see in the world.
I’ve gotten good educational convos and occasional study groups going,
to help others learn. The problem with that is, every time I get us
organized on a positive tip like that, I always experience opposition,
hostility, retaliation, interference or resistance from guards and/or
prisoners.
One thing that does help me and has taught me a lot is radio talk shows
like Ground Zero and Coast-to-Coast, (got to give them credit). Plus,
these shows help me to do time easier, while learning. It makes learning
fun and interesting. In a way, those talk shows are kinda like study
groups. Because people can call in and give feedback. I think that it’d
be an excellent idea to model study groups after the structure of these
talk shows. To have an individual, with a particular expertise in a
specific subject, prepare a speech, in conversation format, and then
allow feedback and questions after the selected individual concludes
their initial discourse. Then you can rotate new individuals to speak
each session. The group can vote, maybe, to decide topics, speakers,
etc. You can assign homework and self-study assignments for the
down-time in between groups. Not everyone is going to want to be a
speaker, which is fine, too. I fear simply speaking about starting a
study group, because I already know how it goes. If a hater catches wind
of such things, trouble isn’t far off.
Another suggestion is, if you’re in prison, with access to
educational/radio shows, you can organize a group of people to listen to
each show, and afterwards you can have civilized group discussions and
debates on the show’s topics, with feedback and questions. One step
further is to get out of prison and start your own radio show for
prisoner education. A station for prisoners to tune into, for prison
news, discussion, education programs, contests, etc. I haven’t done my
research into that, but it wouldn’t be too hard to do. The good part is
that prisoners can listen to radio broadcasts for free. Books and some
newsletters/mags can be expensive, or impossible for prisoners to
obtain. Also, it’d be kinda hard for people to shut down the study group
if it’s done over the radio, huh? The prison guards can’t “censor” it,
because it’s the FCC’s duty to censor radio broadcasts, not uneducated
prison guards. The FCC decides what’s appropriate for American citizens
to hear over the radio. True enough, radio-show hosts can deal with
hostility as well, but at least the radio show isn’t trapped inside of a
box, while battling sadistic foes.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer starts off with an analysis of
conditions in Arkansas that lead to the conclusion that it is impossible
to organize in Arkansas, but ends this letter with some excellent and
creative ideas about how to run study groups. And so we really hope ey
will implement these ideas and report back on how they work.
There are significant barriers to our organizing work here in the belly
of the beast where the wealth of imperialism is thrown around to buy off
even the lumpen in prison. We need to rise to this challenge and think
creatively about how to break people off from the system and channel
their energy into fighting the criminal injustice system that is the
cause of their misery. Creative study groups are one such approach. We
welcome thoughts from others about what this comrade might do based on
the conditions ey describes in Arkansas.
Unabashedly, the goal of the Maoist Internationalist Movement is to
eliminate capitalism and imperialism. We aim to replace these economic
systems with socialism, and then communism, to end all oppression of
people by other people. In our study of humyn history we see Maoist
China as the most advanced social experience to date toward this goal,
and we draw on our study of Maoism (shorthand for
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism) to build our strategy. Maoism is a
universally-applicable science of social change, which has its
effectiveness proven in practice.
Our study of history shows the necessity of armed struggle to take power
from the bourgeoisie, to build a world without oppression. Yet we’re not
presently in a period of social upheaval that we would call a
revolutionary scenario, which is why we discourage people from
initiating armed struggle at this time. While we prepare for that
inevitable reality, the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) works on
our dual strategy of 1) building independent institutions of the
oppressed to seize state power, and 2) building public opinion against
imperialism.
This is all in preparation for when the United $tates’s military power
becomes sufficiently overextended, and nations oppressed by Amerikkka
start striking significant blows against Amerika’s domination over their
land and livelihoods. When the United $tates enters this period of
social upheaval, we will be equipped to draw on the public opinion and
independent institutions we’re building now. The point is to get started
now so we’re ready to help a revolution in this country be successful,
with results in favor of the most oppressed people in the world. Our
institutions in themselves will not cause the transition to socialism,
because the bourgeoisie will not allow us to carry out a quiet coup on
their power.
Independent institutions of the oppressed are designed to simultaneously
meet the peoples’ present needs, while organizing against imperialism.
When coupled with political education in building public opinion for
socialism, these institutions help to advance our movement toward
communism. People can see in practice what it would look like (and that
it’s possible) to meet the social needs that the government is failing
on. And people learn how to work collectively.
Maybe this is obvious, but independent institutions don’t have ties to
the power structure that we are fighting to dismantle. Our goal is the
full liberation of ALL people, not just some people, and not just our
people. To do that we need to have true independence, so we can say what
needs to be said, and do what needs to be done, without one arm tied
behind our backs.
Defining who are “the oppressed,” who our institutions are in service
of, is extremely important. While many institutions are happy to just
serve any oppressed group, in the MIM we want to make the transition to
communism as swift and efficient as possible. We take instruction on
this question from our class analysis, and particularly our class
analysis on the labor aristocracy and lumpen.
We recognize that the vast majority of so-called “workers” in the First
World are actually a bought-off class of net exploiters. They are
relatively comfortable with the existence of imperialism, and our
independent institutions don’t aim to serve that class’s interests. Most
people don’t want to hear that they are net exploiters, and that
actually
they
are in the top 13% globally.(1) It stops them from crying about
being in the “bottom 99%” and self-righteously working for a minimum
wage that is
three
times higher than what it would be in an equal global distribution of
wealth.(2) Representing the interests of the international
proletariat makes MIM(Prisons) an unpopular organization among the vast
majority of the population in the United $tates.
In contrast, in our class analysis we see the oppressed-nation lumpen as
the most likely group to favor a proletarian internationalist revolution
in this country. When the Maoist Internationalist Party – Amerika
disbanded into a cell structure in 2005, MIM(Prisons) was established
specifically to organize among the lumpen population. There are many,
many areas of life that need Maoist leadership and independent
institutions – many that can even be built around the coinciding
interests of people in the First World and Third World, like
revolutionary ecology — and MIM(Prisons) focuses on the needs and
education of the imprisoned oppressed-nation lumpen.
BPP STP
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) had a prolific set of
Serve the People programs and independent institutions. The BPP
coincided with the tail-end of the New Afrikan proletariat’s existence,
and focused its organizing among proletarian and lumpen New Afrikans.
In its independent institutions, the BPP served tens of thousand of kids
breakfast across the United $tates, accompanied by political education
during the meals. The BPP ran other services such as “clothing
distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics,
lessons on self-defense and first aid, transportation for family members
to upstate prisons, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and
alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease.”(3)
In addition to providing necessary services for New Afrikans, the BPP’s
Serve the People programs also built public opinion for socialism by
showing what a world could be like with people working together to meet
humyn needs. We often hear myths about humyn nature, that people are
“too selfish” or “too greedy” or “don’t care enough” to ever have a
socialist economy, let alone participate in a single campaign. Yet BPP
programs showed that selfishness, greed, and apathy are values of the
capitalist-imperialist economic system we live under; not inherent to
humyn nature. And the education programs built people’s consciousness
around how the economic structures of imperialism and capitalism are
related to the seemingly-insurmountable problems in their lives.
Coupling that with Maoist theory and practice, the BPP provided an
ideology for how to overcome these economic systems, further building
public opinion in favor of a transition to socialism.
The Black Panther Party did all this without government funding. Yet
they did accept hefty donations from white leftists, especially during
the Free Huey campaign to get Huey Newton released from jail in 1967-70.
This lack of self-reliance had a big negative impact on the organization
when the white leftists stopped donating.(4) The experience of the BPP
shows extensive positive examples of how oppressed-nation organizations
can build institutions to contribute to the liberation of one’s people.
It teaches another lesson on independence, which is to never rely on
your oppressor-nation allies to fund your liberation.
Other Outside Orgs
Whenever we connect with an organization that does work that’s related
to ours, that gets government funding or is linked to a bigger
organization like a university, they say the same thing. They are really
excited about our work, because they know how important our line is, and
they have seen first-hand the limitations in their own work. When we ask
why they can’t say or do something similar to what we say, it goes back
to a funding source or an authority they’re operating under.
These institutions of the oppressed aren’t wrong for organizing this
way. They are doing great work and reaching audiences we can’t reach in
our current capacity. Yet they aren’t reaching them with the stuff
that’s going to bring an end of oppression in the grand scheme of
things.
MIM(Prisons) chooses to do the most effective thing, which in our case
requires total independence. If everyone who saw the importance of our
line actually worked to promote it, it would inevitably increase our
capacity to also reach the people these dependent organizations are
currently reaching, and with a program to transform the deep-rooted
causes of the problems they’re working to change.
An example of limitations imposed by funding sources was explained in a
2012
interview MIM(Prisons) did with a comrade in United Playaz (UP). UP
is a “San Francisco-based violence prevention and youth development
organization,” staffed and run by many former prisoners. It is work that
is desperately needed, and UP has a huge positive impact on the lives of
the people it works with.
“If it’s up to us, we’re gonna go hard, and really fight for peace.
But because we’re fund[ed] by DCYF [San Francisco’s Department of
Children, Youth, & Their Families], they limit our movement. We
can’t even participate, or like rally. If there’s a Occupy rally right
now, we can’t go, cuz our organization are prevented from doing things
like that. And I think that’s important, that we’re out there with the
rest of the people that are trying to fight for change. Every year we do
a Silence the Violence Peace March. That’s okay, you know, Martin Luther
King, marches like that, we’re okay to do that. But when it’s like
budgets, and crime, and about prison, you know, rally to try to bring
those those things down, we can’t really participate. …
“What’s going on outside the youth can affect them in the future if
things don’t change. And why wait til those kids get old and take em to
expose them to march and fight for your rights? You know I love to take
these young adults to a movement like that, cuz that gives em knowledge
of life, that there’s more than just hanging out on the street. But
unfortunately we’re not allowed to participate in that kind of
movement.”(5)
ULK-based Institutions
Under Lock & Key (and the new newsletter that’s coming
January 2020)(6) is a media institution of the oppressed, with a mission
to serve two classes: 1) the oppressed-nation lumpen in the First World,
which our class analysis says is the most likely class in imperialist
society to be favorable to the long hard struggle to communism; and 2)
the Third World proletariat, which is the revolutionary class with the
least to lose in imperialist society. All the articles and line in
ULK revolve around this mission.
The pages of ULK, and behind the scenes in MIM(Prisons)’s work,
have developed many other institutions of the oppressed. Regular readers
of ULK will be familiar with the
United
Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) and the accompanying
5
Points of Unity.(7, 8) The UFPP can’t in any way be canceled by
prison admin or stopped because of budget cuts. In fact, the impetus for
the UFPP being formed was because prison staff were actively creating
disunity among the prisoner population. We had to create our own
independent networks and agreements for creating peace, because peace
efforts were being actively thwarted by staff. We have to build “Unity
From the Inside Out.”
United Struggle from Within (USW) is the MIM(Prisons)-led mass
organization for prisoners and former prisoners, and another example of
an institution that has developed and organizes within the pages of
Under Lock & Key. USW is a way people can plug into
anti-imperialist organizing from behind bars, leading campaigns, handing
out fliers, putting out art, participating in petitions and struggles.
USW cells have independent institutions locally, including study groups,
libraries, food and hygiene pools, jailhouse lawyer services, and other
forms of support. Through ULK, USW can share experiences and
knowledge to further build the anti-imperialist movement behind bars.
USW and UFPP organizing comes with its own set of challenges. Organizers
are moved and isolated all the time. Repressive attacks and false
disciplinary cases are also carried out by prison staff on our comrades.
Censorship of mail impacts our ability to organize, with some states or
institutions fully banning ULK or mail from MIM(Prisons). It
means we hold no illusions that anyone else can or will do this work for
us, and we take that on, with all the sacrifices and challenges that
come with it.
Some comrades choose to work within larger organizations, or with prison
staff, to get a bigger platform for their organizing. Like any alliance,
a big consideration is if one can actually do the work that needs to be
done within that alliance, because most likely these alliances will
require you to water down your political line. Everyone will assess
their own conditions to see what they can do to be most effective in the
facility where they’re held. The method we use to do this in
MIM(Prisons) projects is
analyzing
the principal contradiction in a situation, and upholding
MIM(Prisons)’s 6 main points.(9)
Other Prisoner-led Projects
Within ULK we also regularly report on independent institutions
that didn’t originate in our circles, which serve the interests of the
oppressed-nation lumpen in the First World. There are many hardships
that prisoners can organize around inside, to build independent
institutions (communication channels, organizational connections) and
public opinion in favor of socialism.
One example is the organization Men Against Sexism (MAS), which existed
in the Washington state prison system in the 1970s. Men Against Sexism
worked to protect new, and otherwise vulnerable, prisoners from sexual
assault and other forms of gender oppression that prisoners were doing
to each other. It was a different time back then, and these guys were
celling together so they could organize better, and collecting donations
from outside to purchase cells from other prisoners to house people who
needed protection from the typical prison bullshit.
MAS
eliminated sexual assault in the Washington state system.(10)
Imagine if you came together with other people in your facility to enact
your own prisoner rape elimination campaign. What difference would that
make for you and the people around you?
“Like prison groups today LADS focused on combating oppression and
providing education for the imprisoned Chican@, and LADS also left us
with some good examples to learn from. They created several serve the
people programs in the pinta, for one they created a committee that
worked with new prisoners, what we may call ‘first termers’ here in
pintas in Califas. This was important because a new prisoner or ‘fish’
may be easy prey for some predator in prison. In this way youngsters
were given revolutionary clecha once they entered the pinta by LADS
‘O.G.’s.’ LADS was comprised of prison vets who were politicized. Within
LADS were many sub-committees such as the Committee to Assist Young
People (CAYP), as well as a security committee called the Zapatistas.
The LADS were anti-dope and combated drug use or sales in the pinta.
They were not trying to poison the imprisoned Raza, rather they were
trying to build the Raza.”(11)
Protecting newcomers, sexual assault, and drugs are only some of the
issues that prisoners have to take care of themselves. There are no
petitions we can send you, and there’s no one to appeal to to resolve
these problems. Like
our
comrade at Telford Unit in Texas reported in ULK 59,
“My brothers in here have fallen victim to K2, which is highly
addictive. They don’t even care about the struggle. The only thing on
their minds is getting high and that sas. I mean this K2 shit is like
crack but worse. You have guys selling all their commissary, radios,
fans, etc. just to get high. And all these pigs do is sit back and
watch; this shit is crazy. But for the few of us who are K2-free I’m
trying to get together a group to help me with the struggle.”(12)
Nowadays conditions are a lot different in prisons than they were in the
1960s and 70s. Still, it’s possible to build independent institutions to
meet prisoners’ needs. Bigger organizing happens in even worse
conditions than the United $tates. There’s no perfect set of conditions
that need to be present in order to make a difference. It’s a matter of
choosing to do it ourselves. We want to report on and support these
prisoner-led serve the people programs in ULK. So get to work,
and send us your updates!
Educational Institutions and Public Opinion
ULK is a big part of how we build public opinion in favor of
socialism, and in studying different movements and organizations, we saw
that many failures are based in a lack of education and empowerment
among the masses in society, or the organization’s membership. Depth of
political consciousness (and, related, correctness of political line) is
arguably the number one reason why movements fail. Depth of analysis
isn’t about flashcards and pop quizzes. It’s about “How to think, not
what to think.”
We’ve taken this to heart in our emphasis on educational programs. We
run a number of different correspondence study groups, including a
University of Maoist Thought for our advanced comrades. We run a Free
Political Books for Prisoners Program, which isn’t just about books,
it’s about books in service of our mission of liberating everyone,
including the Third World proletariat, from imperialism. We don’t do
general book distribution because we want to liberate more than just
individuals’ minds. With our comrades’ help, we develop study packs and
distribute literature and study packs to prisoner-led study groups on
the inside. We are really offering every format of political education
we can through the mail, because this is such an important task in our
work.
Besides the written word, there are many other channels for building
public opinion. POOR Magazine and
the Poor News Network (PNN) are independent institutions using events,
rallies, and street theater in combination with the internet, radio, and
videos to build public opinion in favor of oppressed-nation and lumpen
struggles in the United $nakes. POOR Magazine runs a liberation school
for children, and many, many other programs. POOR Magazine is funded
independently from its own participants, events, and a donation program
for individuals via Community Reparations. PNN goes hard on its line
against capitalism, imperialism, and settlerism even with some funding
from “reparators,” which is the real measurement of independence.(13)
One radio program on the
Poor News Network that especially builds public opinion for national
liberation struggles and socialist revolution is
Free
Aztlán. Free Aztlán airs weekly and covers current issues concerning
Raza and Chican@ communities. It has interviews, poetry, music, and even
readings from the book Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán
for people who don’t or can’t have a physical copy to reference. That
PNN is willing to air a program like Free Aztlán says a lot about PNN,
and we look forward to this program being a staple in our independent
education institutions moving forward!(14)
Building public opinion isn’t just about sharing information and
exposing people to ideas. Applying our study to our conditions, we can
help educate others in developing their own desire for socialism. It’s
an exercise in “Each One, Teach One.” This was explained in
our
book review of Condemned by Bomani Shakur:
“The first theme addressed in ‘Condemned’ is the author’s ideological
transformation. MIM(Prisons)‘s primary task at this point in the
struggle is building public opinion and institutions of the oppressed
for socialist revolution, so affecting others’ political consciousness
is something we work on a lot. On the first day of the [Lucasville]
uprising, Bomani was hoping the state would come in to end the chaos.
But ‘standing there as dead bodies were dumped onto the yard (while
those in authority stood back and did nothing), and then experience the
shock of witnessing Dennis’ death [another prisoner who was murdered in
the same cell as the author], awakened something in me.’ Bomani’s
persynal experiences, plus politicization on the pod and thru books, are
what led em to pick up the struggle against injustice.”(15)
We can’t predict exactly what events, what books, or what conversations
will spark the revolutionary fire in people. Everyone has their own
unique journey into this work. Building independent institutions is one
huge way we nourish and support that spark: empowering ourselves and
others to do things to change our actual present conditions, while we
build toward a socialist future.