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.
i want to thank all of those here in NC who responded to my call
to action and submitted grievances about the lack of due process
when We’ve been validated as a “gang member” and the draconian policies
and restrictions we find ourselves subjected to here in North Carolina.
This act of unity was so impactful, to the point i was pulled out to
meet with Chief of Security Daryll Vann, and 4 other ranking facility
intelligence officers.
After having them pull a komrade of mine to be present during this
“meeting”, i agreed to listen to what they had to say. The
aforementioned individuals asked if i would be interested in drafting up
a proposal for the validation process of SRG members and a denouncement
process. i immediately declined their offer and was adamant about my
decision until the komrade i had accompany me told me “don’t allow this
act of unity to be in vain” and he was right.
228 of ya’ll took the time to support me, therefore i agreed to draft
up a proposal for new SRG policies here in North Carolina. Never before
has this been done and it was made possible because of you all. Thank
you again.
In closing if any of you would like to read more about komrade George
Jackson i encourage you to write to:
BlackBird Publishing
PO Box 11142
Durham, NC 27703
And request my In the Spirit of George Jackson zine or
The Voice of the Lumpen zine that both Komrade Triumphant and i
wrote. The New Afrikan POW journals are available as well. Lastly for
prisoners here in NC that are serious about their political education,
if you don’t already have a copy of Jalil Muntaqim’s We Are Our Own
Liberators write to:
Asheville Prison Book Program
Attn: Komrade Jermey
67 N. Lexington Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
There are limited copies, so write to them immediately.
Again thank you all for yall’s support and it’s a must i thank
komrades at MIM for publishing my call to action and providing us with a
platform to express ourselves that enables us to organize a unified
struggle.
Free The Land
MIM(Prisons) adds: The comrade mentions requiring
another comrade to be present during the meeting with staff. This is a
wise move to prevent rumors from being spread about what went down in
said meeting, and the pigs being able to manipulate the narrative. The
more witnesses the better.
Second, we agree with the hesitancy to write up a new policy. We see
how the same struggle ended in California, though their agreement was
made by lawyers in the midst of a lawsuit. The challenge is how to keep
the struggle alive, for without struggle, you end up right where you
started. A new policy signed off on by a lead organizer can easily
pacify people. Until we recognize that this kind of repression will
never end without liberation from imperialism, it will continue.
And as the lawsuit in North Carolina advances, we also must remember
what it took in California. And after all that sacrifice, the settlement
was still a compromise that did not end torture in California prisons,
while expanding the list of Security Threat Groups in that state.
This gang validation repression is only expanding as we’ve seen the
Trump regime apply it to those outside of prisons who are not involved
in any illegal activities. So we should be thinking big picture. And we
will continue to stand with and support the comrades in North Carolina
coming together to fight arbitrary SRG repression. If comrades inside
can send copies of grievances or other documents related to this
campaign we will collect and forward them along.
My intentions here isn’t to give a dialectical and historical context
of the relationship between today’s Lumpen Organizations (gangs) and
past revolutionary movements, although there is an inextricable link
between the two. The origins of today’s Lumpen Organizations (L.O.s)
were strongly influenced by the original Black Panther Party (BPP) and
other similar organizations. They were formed to uplift and protect
their communities from outside threats, threats that were typically
imposed by law enforcement and the U.S. government.
With the destruction of the BPP, combined with the influx of drugs
and firearms within their already oppressed communities, members of
these organizations were lured into “gang-bangin’” against each other
and a fratricidal and suicidal criminal lifestyle that resulted in the
abandonment of the ideals and principles that were brought forth and
established by the organizations’ founders. Ideals and principles that
were often influenced by those of the BPP and the Black Liberation Army
(BLA). Today there are a limited few who diligently impress upon their
“homies” the importance of espousing the organizations founding ideals
and principles. Overall, a majority have been derailed from the
organizations initial revolutionary path, which has been detrimental to
the youth who romanticize today’s “gang” culture and their communities.
Moreover, the absence of these ideals and principles has engendered a
culture of disunity, violent competition, and the romanticizing of the
“gang-banging” mentality, which renders us incapable of redressing the
conditions we find ourselves subjected to within these razor-wire
plantations.
There is no silver bullet or magic wand that can be used to magically
expedite the transformation that must be made. Transforming the criminal
mentality into a revolutionary mentality is a protracted process that
demands accountability and rigorous educating.
i am dedicated to assisting with this transformation any way that i
can. One way is to shed some light on the draconian policies and
procedures that governs those of us who have been labeled “gang
members,” labels known as Security Risk Group (SRG) or Security Threat
Group (STG), so we can begin to seek redress to said policies and
procedures.
Gang Validation Process
Those of us who have been validated as SRG/STG often suffer
significant unfair prejudices due to the officers who are responsible
for the validating opinions often basing these opinions on sweeping
generalizations and stereotypes about “gang members” generally,
unreliable methodology, and/or the officer’s racial bias.
Here in North Carolina the Department of Adult Corrections (DAC) has
“certified” twenty-one alleged prison gangs as Security Risk Groups.
Prisoners are validated as members of SRG’s by Prison Intelligence
Officers (PIO) who are usually white, whose discretion reigns supreme in
determining who is validated as SRG members and who isn’t. These
subjective decisions lead to disproportionate validations of New Afrikan
prisoners and those from other oppressed nations. A stark example of the
racially uneven application of SRG validations is evident in the
percentage of “white” prisoners who have been validated compared to New
Afrikan prisoners. White prisoners make up 1.9% of the prisoners
validated in NC prisons.
Around the world gangs are studied by those with specialized training
in areas such as ethnography, anthropology, and psychology. In these
fields, researchers are often subjected to ethical standards that warn
against manipulating data to advance their personal objectives and
required to employ social science field research best practices in
relation to data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The officers
responsible for validating prisoners are not held to any such ethical
standards and lack the fundamental knowledge to determine if a prisoner
is actually a SRG member or not.
The degree of specialized knowledge for these officers to be
qualified as “gang-experts” is particularly lacking. An officer can be
qualified as a “gang-expert” after having only a couple months on the
job, as long as they have some formalized training. You would think
these “gang officers” would be required to demonstrate a basic
overstanding of the complicated dynamics at issue where gang membership
and behavior are concerned beyond stereotypes and prototypes, being that
these validations subject prisoners to indefinite sanctions and
restrictions that not only affect the lives of the prisoners but also
the lives of the prisoners’ families.
These “gang officers” employ a worksheet which lists seventeen
criteria for determining gang involvement, each of which is assigned a
point value. Prisoners may be labeled as “suspects/associates” or
“members”. A qualifying score is not difficult to achieve: prisoners
bearing tattoos “thought” to signify gang affiliation and who socialize
with “confirmed” gang-members may be regarded as members themselves.
False positives are likely to arise under this criteria, because
while they may indicate a correlation with gang membership, they do not
establish causation. Because gang membership cannot be reliably inferred
from the factors aforementioned, these “gang officers” should not be
allowed to opine about gang membership based on these factors alone.
Completed validation worksheets are forwarded to the NCDAC’s Chief of
Special Operations, Daryll Vann, who reviews the worksheet, confirms
that “relevant” documentation is attached, and validates the
identifications. Prisoners who wish to contest the validation are not
afforded the opportunity to do so. Prisoners receive no notice of their
validation, no procedural due process, nor a periodic review that would
enable the prisoner to have the validation removed. Therefore, prisoners
who have been validated, remain validated for the duration of their
incarceration and irrevocably are subject to SRG policy
deprivations.
There are only two ways to have the SRG validation removed. There is
a SRG program that’s accessible to a limited number of prisoners. It is
a 9-month program at Foothills Correctional, a prison located in the
rural mountainous region of Western NC. The staff employed there are
exclusively white, live in race segregated communities and are out of
touch with the cultures of the prisoners they oversee.
When these “gang officers” walk through the doors of the prison, many
of them, knowingly or unknowingly, hold negative biases towards those
who have been validated and those who don’t look like them.
The media perpetuates inaccurate narratives of violence, criminality,
and dishonesty among racial minorities that many of these “gang
officers” unknowingly internalize. It shows in how they interact and
deal with the prisoners.
The DAC describes this program as being a program that “targets those
beliefs (cognitions) that support criminal behavior ….” and seeks to
shift the thinking that supports these beliefs. Prisoners who complete
this program must undergo a debriefing and renounce their affiliation,
if any, before the validation is removed. This program is not available
to prisoners who have been labeled problematic.
The other way to have the validation removed is to complete your
prison sentence and be discharged from NCDAC custody. Of the 1,343
prisoners released from NCDAC’s custody last year, 564 were alleged SRG
members.
Draconian Gang Policies
& Procedures
The ostensible purpose of the DAC’s SRG policies and procedures is to
avoid prison disturbances supposedly fomented by gangs. Nonetheless it
is obvious these policies and procedures have the effect of
incapacitating significant numbers of prisoners and has cultivated an
environment opposite from what prison officials claim to be “safer”.
Those who have been validated find themselves subjected to draconian
sanctions and restrictions, such as being prohibited from receiving
visits from anyone beyond immediate family. This excludes aunts, uncles,
cousins, and the mother of your child(ren). If you have no immediate
family members to accompany your child(ren) to visitation you will not
be allowed to visit with them. Our childrens’ interests are not, as a
matter of right, factored into SRG validation determinations. The fact
that parent-child visitation can help children overcome the challenges
of parental separation and reduce recidivism rates is well-documented.
However, prison officials find it plausible to implement such a policy
that prevents parent-child visits.
As with the prisoners who have been validated, New Afrikan children
are the ones greatly affected by this policy. NCDAC has implemented this
policy without any cognizance that such a restriction may implicate the
parent-child relationship, which is typically subject to extraordinary
protection by the courts. But yet this policy goes unchecked.
During my incarceration i’ve been unable to visit with my daughter
due to me having no immediate family willing to accompany her. This has
prevented her and i from developing a meaningful relationship. This is
something that a majority of us are experiencing.
Moreover, this policy has an outsized impact on New Afrikan families
and other members of marginalized communities who bear the brunt of mass
incarceration.
Limiting a prisoner’s visitors to immediate family only effectively
cuts a prisoner off from family members who may have raised them. As we
know in marginalized communities there are an overwhelming amount of
fractured families, where grandparents and others play the mother-father
role.
Then there are the prisoners who were raised in foster care, who have
never had the opportunity to meet their immediate family. There is no
exception for foster care parents.
Although these restrictions are sometimes justified, they are being
used indiscriminately without individual analysis.
On 19 February 2019, a policy was implemented that prohibited
validated prisoners from receiving monetary support from anyone who
wasn’t an approved visitor.
Prison officials claimed that this was done to curtail “Black Market”
activities and strong arming. It’s not difficult to see how such a
policy would increase said activities and, moreover, would create an
environment where those who do have means of receiving financial support
become victims of strong arming and other acts of violence.
This policy was implemented 8 months prior to now-retired Director of
Prisons Kenneth Lassiter requesting more funding for security and
control weapons. During these 8 months, violence amongst prisoners
drastically increased, i know because a majority of the close-custody
facilities were placed on lockdown due to the increased violence.
Validated prisoners are prohibited from attending all
educational/vocational programs, compelled to serve idle prison
sentences. They are locked in their cells virtually all of the time and
otherwise maintained in extremely harsh conditions. Unable to have their
custody level reduced to medium or minimum security. And job
opportunities are non-existent. Common sense would tell prison officials
that there are many reasons to believe that these policies and
restrictions will produce unfortunate results both inside and outside of
prison.
The Ramifications of these
Policies
Motivated by an inaccurate conception of gangs and how they operate,
the NCDAC has adopted policies that have enhanced group cohesiveness and
the identities of gang-affiliated prisoners. These policies have
promoted new gang connections for prisoners who, due to the difficulties
inherent in gang identification, inadequate procedures and racial
stereotyping, are misidentified. The validated prisoner tells emself
“they think i’m a gang member, i might as well be one”. Of course these
policies raise obvious moral and ethical questions. However, i would
like to focus on how these policies make no sense from a correctional
perspective. Even if these “gang officers” are creating or enhancing
gang identities, why does it matter? Validated prisoners maintained in
these locked down blocks, after all, are effectively disabled from
committing acts of misconduct when locked in their cells.
Validated prisoners are denied access to visitation, financial
support, transfers to medium or minimum custody, as well as parole. They
have nothing more to lose so they are not deterred by any threat of
punishment, what else can be taken from them? They have no incentive to
refrain from gang involvement?
Aside from prison concerns, the impact of these policies’
ramifications will be felt most profoundly on the streets and
communities to which these prisoners will return. As i pointed out, 564
of the 1,343 prisoners released from NCDAC’s custody last year were
alleged gang members. In general, 96% of all prisoners return to
society. There are recidivism studies focusing on gang affiliated prison
releases, that show that gang members may retain their gang identity
upon their release. (see: Salvador Buentello et. al, “Prison Gang
Development: A Theoretical Model”, The Prison Journal,
Fall-Winter 1991, at 3.8.) Thus, these policies not only fail to enhance
prison security, they also undermine public safety.
We Have A Responsibility
All across the United $tates, prisoners themselves are subjected to
similar sanctions and restrictions under the guide of enhancing prison
security. i’ve revealed how these policies target New Afrikan prisoners
and others of the oppressed nations and how they affect not only the
prison but their families and communities as well. We have the numbers,
we have the capability and we have the know how to bring about change.
But as Komrade George Jackson expressed:
“We all seem to be in the grip of some terrible quandary. Our enemies
have so confused us that we seem to have been rendered incapable of the
smallest responsibility. I see this irresponsibility, or mediocrity at
best[, as] disloyalty, self-hatred, cowardice, competition between
themselves, resentment of any who may have excelled in anything….”
Because of the inexorable nature of our overseers, nationwide
demonstrations on the outside and within these walls is presently
necessary if we are to correct the correctors.
We have united fronts such as the United Front For Peace in Prisons,
the United Struggle Within (USW) and Prison Lives Matter (PLM). PLM is a
united front for political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized
individuals behind the walls of these razor-wire plantations and their
organizations, as well as any outside formations in union with the
struggles of prisoners, that has made it possible for us to address and
redress the inhumane living conditions we find ourselves subjected to.
It’s on us to initiate the process, it’s on us to communicate and
network with one another, to get on the same page, so we can unite a
page in the history books.
A Call to Action
As we grapple with an expanding and increasingly repressive prison
system here in North Carolina, any hope for change lays in perfecting
ourselves – our physical care, intellectual acumen, and cultural
proficiency – while simultaneously confronting our overseers. And as i
aforesaid, “There is no silver bullet or magic wand that can be used to
expedite the transformation that must be made.” We have a personal
responsibility to contribute to the confronting that must be done.
Some of us don’t seem to know what side we’re on. We’re obsessed with
near-sighted disputes based on race, gang affiliation and so on. We
expend our energies despising and distrusting each other. All of this is
helping the NCDAC. We permit them to keep us at each others throats. i
am calling for unity. We outnumber them. Wake up!!! Put your prejudices,
biases, and gang affiliation aside for the purpose of OUR fight with the
NCDAC. i’m asking we start by submitting a grievance concerning NCDAC’s
SRG policies and procedures (an example has been provided below).
Of course i’m not expecting any redress from submitting grievances.
NCDAC’s Administrative Remedy Procedure process is ineffective and
honestly a waste of time if you are seeking redress. However, i’ve not
asked you to submit said grievance with hopes that NCDAC officials will
correct their wrongs.
i’m currently in the middle of litigating a civil suit against NCDAC
on behalf of all prisoners who have been validated as a SRG member. By
submitting a grievance you will be supporting the claims i have made.
Thusly i entrust you take the time and submit the following grievance
(and send a copy to MIM(Prisons) if you can):
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.
Re-Build
Post Script: i need to inform North Carolina Prisoners that our
(S.W.A.P) address has changed. Prisoners should write to:
S.W.A.P
PO Box 15092
Durham, NC 27704
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
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.