Under Lock & Key

All Power to New Afrika

In the previous issues of the ULK there have been several articles, wherein, We expanded upon how these prisons serve as a repressive arm of the oppressor nation, and how they are used as an apparatus to wage war against New Afrikans and other oppressed nations here in United $tates. There have been some well written diatribes, however, We’ve neglected to point out how this way impacts our children.

There are approximately 1.7 million parents incarcerated across the United $tates, leaving behind approximately 3 million children suffering the loss of a mother, or the loss of a father, and in some cases the loss of both primary care givers. This has resulted in Our children suffering immense trauma due to their separation from their parents, similar to that of losing their parent to death. This can lead to severe depression, anxiety, high-rates of obesity and behavioral issues.

The combination of trauma, shame and stigma has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to label paternal incarceration an Adverse Childhood Experiences (A.C.E.).

Currently, 50% of juveniles that are in detention centers actually have a parent in prison and there are some studies that say children of incarcerated parents are 7 times more likely to end up in prison than their peers.

One in 57 children of European descendant have a parent that is incarcerated, it is 1 in 28 for Chican@ children and to no surprise 1 in 9 New Afrikan children have a parent that is incarcerated.

You see when a parent is charged with committing a “crime” law enforcement and the judicial system intervenes a behalf of the “victim” of the committed “crime,” however, no one intervenes on behalf of the children of the prisoner. These children are left to suffer.

This is by design. The aforementioned numbers reflect the genocide being carried out against New Afrikans.

Article II of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948 states in part that Genocide means ANY of the following acts committed with INTENT to destroy in whole or part, a national, ethical, “racial” or religious group, as such:

A. Killing members of the group;

B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

D. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

The oppressor nation has had well over 400 years to perfect those methods of genocide. Beginning with the aggressive European invasion of Afrika, it progressed with the euro-Amerikkkan slave trade during which millions of Afrikans died during the “middle passage.” All the deaths of Afrikans on slave ships at the hands of village raids, and city police, were acts of genocide.

Amerikkka is still the enemy, and today it uses its prisons as genocidal weapons. Amerikkkan prisons are instruments used to practice political, economic, and social oppression of New Afrikan people. Prisons are used to practice genocide, to practice physical and mental destruction of the group, and as one of the instruments used to prevent the group’s successful struggle for liberation Amerikkan prisons are Koncentration Kamps. The entire U.$. “criminal justice system” is used as an arm of the government to repress and destroy the national liberation struggle, sadly this includes our children.

Post Script: i need to inform North Carolina Prisoners that our (S.W.A.P) address has changed. Prisoners should write to:

At the moment our support is limited to providing the New Afrikan P.O.W. Journals to NC prisoners. If you are interested in supporting the Do M.O.R.E. (Mobilize Organize Revolutionize & Educate) campaign. i entreat that you write to us with your ideas.

The primary objective of the campaign is to have the Security Risk Group (SRG) sanctions and restrictions removed from prisoners who don’t pose a “threat” to the “security” of the prison system. Please write for details.

In Under Lock & Key No. 83 (Fall 2023) there was an article authored by the Komrade General Divine Minister titled “The Enemy Within,” wherein the Komrade expressed his antipathy for the prisoners who have malleable and submissive personalities. I intend to elucidate upon why said prisoners are so complacent and have an unfortunate propensity for collaborating with their overseers. However, before doing so I find it necessary to elucidate what constitutes a political prisoner.

Major documents have been written on this subject and multiple definitions have been used to define what constitutes a political prisoner. From Komrade George Jackson’s definition:

“All Black people, wherever they are, whatever their crimes, even crimes against other Blacks, are political prisoners because the system has dealt with them differently than with Whites. Whitey gets the benefit of every law, every loophole, and the benefit of being judged by his peers – other White people. Blacks don’t get the benefit of any such jury trial by peers. Such a trial is almost a cinch to result in the conviction of a Black person, and it’s a conscious political decision that Blacks don’t have those benefits…”(1)

To the definition given by the Komrades of MIM(Prisons):

“All prisoners are political. War is politics and prisons are war. While some enter prison politicized, many more are politicized inside…”(2)

Albeit, both definitions provide some context, they ultimately fail to explicate the criterion for Political Prisoners. As explained by the New Afrikan Freedom Fighter Atiba Fakih:

“PRACTICE is that criterion. Political Prisoners are Revolutionaries; they are conscious and active servants of the people, Political Prisoners direct their energies toward the enemies of the people – they do not commit”crimes” against the people. Political Prisoners are Revolutionary Cadre; they are “fighting men and women” from among the people. Political Prisoners are the most conscious element of the people. While they are a “part of” the people, distinctions must be made between them and the colonized masses as a whole.”(3)

This definition draws a clear line of demarcation between the political prisoner and the “inmate slave”. Unlike the complacent, submissive prisoner, the political prisoner has undergone a process of social and mental growth. S/he has transformed the criminal mentality into a revolutionary mentality, further arming themselves with the discernment that is needed to combat the war of attrition that has been launched by the oppressor nation.

The distinctions between the political prisoner and the “inmate slave” are sharped by the political prisoner’s praxis. However, this doesn’t relieve the political prisoner from eir duties of doing Mobilizing, Organizing, Revolutionizing, & Educating among eir peers. With knowledge comes responsibility.

You see the “real enemy” recognizes that these prisons are reservoirs full of freedom fighters from the oppressed nations who are most receptive and responsive to the need to become conscious, active participants in the war against the chief colonizer. Which is why the overseers are adroit at dividing and conquering the “inmate slave”.

We become complicit to the war being waged against us when we further alienate the “inmate slave”. We must understand everything and everybody is a unity of opposites and everything is in motion and changing all the time. Internal contradictions are the basis for change, but external factors set the conditions and influence. If we look for the worst in people, we shall always find it, this is not so difficult, but it is better to bring out the good in them if we can. Alienating people is easy, but inspiring them takes more effort and has better results. Getting angry and fed up with our peers is also easy, it takes more effort to understand the cause of their behavior. You see when adopting an ideology that compels – at some point – one to take a confrontational stand against a stronger opponent based solely upon principle, one must have a certain mental and emotional fortitude and commitment. The majority of our peers don’t have this sort of constitution; therefore, this certain mental and emotional fortitude must be instilled in our peers and this can only be done if we assist them with breaking the psychological barriers that have stultified their will to resist.

The prisoner is the child of a domestically colonized people – a people who have been traumatized, abused, miseducated, murdered, denigrated, and perpetually subjected to economic insecurities. Under these conditions their values and sense of self have been destroyed, therefore making them susceptible to manipulation and other psychological warfare techniques.

As the Komrade Joka Heshima Jinsai points out:

“Perhaps the single most glaring proof that New Afrikan people, Our people, suffer from colonial psychosis (i.e. irrational behavior by colonial subjects) is the historic and consistent irrational responses We have had to Our collective oppression.”(4)

He goes on to say:

“The people, by and large, have been conditioned to compete, not cooperate, to revere hyper-individualism while looking skeptically upon collective work and responsibility; to be dependent on the same institutions responsible for their oppression, instead of depending on one another.”(4)

We must always remember to remember this when struggling with Our peers. The oppressors have waged some intense psychological warfare on us. Some are just not going to be receptive to progressive thinking. Nevertheless I’m firmly convinced that if we do Mobilizing, Organizing, Revolutionizing, & Education We will create conditions that promote an ethics of duty, loyalty, commitment, and responsibility.

The Struggle is Never Ending

<sup>Sources:
1. George Jackson, Blood in my Eye.
2. “On Transforming The Colonial/Criminal Mentality”, New Afrikan P.O.W. Journal, Book One.
3. General Divine Minister, October 2023, “Where Your Loyalty Lies, The Enemy Within”, Under Lock & Key No. 83 Fall 2023.
4. Joka Heshima Jinsai, On Withdrawal, Part 1.</sup>