Under Lock & Key

I am a single individual among a multitude of revolutionaries being held captive behind imperialist enemy lines (Texa$ Pri$on $y$tem).

I am a part of the Growth and Development movement and I stand for righteousness, unity, love and the liberation of all oppressed nations. At this time, I can only speak on my own behalf and not on behalf of the movement as a whole.

It is however, my sincere hope that my brothers and sisters of struggle will find agreement and solidarity with the following statement:

I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian People and I stand in solidarity with those who struggle against oppression everywhere. As is said; an injury to one is an injury to all, and none are free until all are Free!

• I am Pro-Palestine; I am not anti-Israel.
• I am Pro-Humyn; I am not anti-semitic.
• I am Pro-Liberation and I am anti-Imperialist oppression!
• Regarding Pro-Palestine protests that are currently taking place; I urge my fellow humyn beings to stand upon a Foundation of Love.

The imperialist press continues to paint an image of hate so I especially urge our young comrades who are in the protest trenches to stay strong and give the enemy absolutely no ammunition to utilize in a smear campaign.

My young comrades, fear is a natural response to danger, feel no shame if you are afraid and remember that courage is doing what is righteous despite the presence of fear.

To our young comrades who are willing to commit class suicide and sacrifice the numerous benefits of belonging to a college educated bourgeoisie, I salute you, continue to stay true to your beliefs and stand firm on righteousness.

If you should face confinement because of a righteous struggle, take heart in knowing that so long as you stand on righteousness, you will find support and solidarity wherever you go.

Stay strong comrades! Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

In solidarity and struggle.

i want to begin this writing by expressing sincere solidarity to the surge of student activism in support of the Palestinian people and against amerikan and israeli militarism and imperialism. If i could tell the students who’re facing or will face charges in the empire’s courts, i would tell then to keep in constant memory that no matter what they, the empire, says or does you are not a criminal. i would tell then that be careful to remember the righteousness of our cause. Remember that they are not alone.

In every mass movement and organization there are varying levels of socio-political consciousness and radicalism. Those who’re neophytes to the struggle should pay careful attention to the machinations of the institutions of the empire. One’s experiences with the empire’s institutions usually increase one’s level of radicalism and consciousness. While we enter struggle usually because of various sympathies we hold, We continue and elevate our activism usually because we realize that our theories and sympathies only barely touched the surface of the ugliness of the expire.

Allow the experience you will have going through the motions of the empire’s institutional shuffles to harden you, to motivate you. Understand that your sacrifices are worth it, and that while we face certain levels of sacrifices, the people who’ve inspired us so much, the people whose stiff resistance is the reason i am even writing this missive, those people are making sacrifices and facing down levels of repression that most humans will never know. Be proud of the trials the oppressors put you through, and also be vigilant in order to learn lessons to apply to your future work in the struggle.

Advice for those inside facing charges for fighting for Palestine, my best advice would be to not allow the repression force you to stop you from organizing in furthering the cause. Continue your work on the inside. My experience on the inside in recent months is that there are a lot of patriotic, amerikanized prisoners. More than we often realize. And they are louder than those of us who support the self-determination of Palestine, and the divestment of amerikan institutions from israel. Your voice, your commitment is needed just as much inside as it is outside. Captivity is not the time for self-defeat. The struggle must continue.

Palestine’s struggle has and is being analyzed in various ways. But for the record the Palestinian struggle is a nationalist, anti-colonial struggle. There are many connections to other nationalist, anti-neocoloinal struggles within the united $tates. In north amerika the empire has succeeded in stamping out the struggle, the cultural, and much of the existence of the Indigenous people, New Afrikan people, Chican@ People, Puerto Rican people. They have already done to us what israel is attempting to do to Palestine now. amerika looks different, is softer with its policies of social control, only because they’re further along in their experiment of empire building and settler-colonialism. As a captive New Afrikan revolutionary nationalist i am extremely proud of, and inspired by the Palestinian struggle for national independence. Their struggle provides a measuring stick to other nationalist movements. i hope we take note and begin to organize in more earnest.

Because there are many students who’ve been drawn into this movement by the extremes of the Palestinian situation, some may not be aware that there are revolutionary nationalist movements here in their backyards itching to be able to mobilize enough people to raise the level of contradiction to the point that the Palestinian struggle is already at. Because there are connections between these nationalist movements we hope that you will be able to identify them and connect yourselves to these revolutionary nationalist struggles. In Our effort to smash the tentacles of amerikan militarism and imperialism in Palestine and elsewhere. We have to raise our level of struggle here. We have to raise our capacity here within the nationalist movements, and i believe the student movement is a key feature of doing that, as such the best we in the prison movement and those of you in the student movement can do is to build connections with each other, and help each other, help the world’s oppressed and exploited people.

i hope this letter is received well, and that you, the reader continue to struggle ceaselessly until victory is won.

From The River To THE SEA, Free The Land!

Freedom:
is contraband in prison because free thinking, independence of spirit and open mindedness are like acids that eat away at a prison bars and locked doors. Liberating the heart and mind, even when the body is not free.

Equality:
is contraband in prison because brotherhood always speaks out against oppression and poses threats to the power structures. Color-blind prisoners overcoming racism, prejudice and hate, to see each other as equals, is the system’s biggest fear.

Justice:
is contraband in prison. How many of my brothers are here who shouldn’t be? Some innocent of guilt, others guilty of innocence. While many here have harmed others, still there are those whose “crimes” have no victim. Moreover, we must never forget that cops, judges, jurors, and prison guards often see to it that justice is not done for the poor, oppressed, and helpless inside these walls.

Peace:
is contraband in prison. From fists and shanks to shields and batons, violence is the way of all tyranny. Remember: The system wants us at each other’s throats because it makes us much easier to control. And the worst violators of the peace are often those pledged to defend it (e.g. killer cops, military leaders, jingoistic politicians, etc.).

Love:
is contraband in prison. The warm embrace of family and friends. The touching and holding of lovers dear. The fires of passion, stoked and quenched by hands, lips, tongues, and bodies. All this is denied and forbidden here. There is no room for love in Hell! When you can’t be with your loved ones in times of joy or crisis…That is when the contraband nature of love in a carceral state becomes most clear…But really…In a society where hatefully punitive laws, institutions and practices are all too often the established norms…Should anyone be surprised that love is nowhere to be found in prison??

Truth:
is contraband in prison because, if we knew even half of what the system didn’t want us to know, surely the walls would come tumbling down. For their bricks are laid with the mortar of doublethink and their foundations are always built upon falsehood. This is the house Orwell’s Big Brother built. But, by developing a new and revolutionary consciousness…Together perhaps, we can find a way out of this deception, this misnomer, this evil hoax, this lie the system dares to call “corrections”, when, in fact, it is absolutely nothing of the kind. For the ultimate truth is this: The ruling elites need to keep the most marginalized elements of our society stuck in the revolving door of recidivism, because they fear them!

Reason:
is contraband in prison. How else can it be in a place like this? Where inane rules, illogical policies, twisted thinking and warped minds reign supreme…Among both prisoners and staff. Here, the authorities often make up the rules as they go along. What regulations do actually exist are always interpreted in ways that serve the interests of the powers that be…So…If you’re a victim of wrong-doing in prison, don’t expect there to be a common sense resolution to your problems. Especially not if it inconveniences those who run the hell holes in any way, shape or form they please. Critical thinking means nothing where arbitrariness is the order of the day. Power always trumps fairness and logical deduction and rationality are never approved of in slaves.

Happiness:
is contraband in prison. As powerless beings we are jammed into tiny cubes, forced to live in unnatural close quarters or unnatural solitude. Manacled, thwarted, squelched, isolated and restrained at every turn. Required or compelled to do this; prohibited or punished if we do that. Deprived of simple pleasures and quite often necessities as well…When you are locked up, contentment can be as fleeting as a lightening flash and seeking joy can be as futile as a dog chasing its tail. Those who say: “Prisoners have no right to be happy,” just don’t understand. Such people should be made to suffer and endure the demeaning life behind bars and locked doors which is our constant reality, but not part of our sentences, because then, such hateful fools wouldn’t be so quick to open their mouths against us!

Dignity:
is contraband in prison. When you’re treated like a cross between a wayward child and a potentially dangerous or predatory animal, it’s often as if you’re a nonentity, devoid of rights, privacy and humanity. So how can respect for the inherent worth of the life, person and meager possessions of inmates ever be achieved? Such a thing stands an ice-cube’s chance in Hell as long as the modern day slavery of imprisonment in penal institutions, mental hospitals and all other such places continues to exist.

Unity:
is contraband in prison. Because through unity, we can join the fight against cruelty, malfeasance and corruption as a bulwark of mighty solidarity. For unity always stands tall against unfairness of all kinds. But, if I take your hand…You, me and tomorrow link up as one. Regardless of race, creed, color, class or cultural background, no matter who or what we are, or what some of us have done, we must never forget that we’re all in this together. “Gung Ho” is the Chinese word for “All together now!” This must become our motto! For united there is little we cannot do! Making vows against injustice. Raising voices in loud protest against harm masquerading as “Rehabilitation”. Speaking truth to power, we are a resounding war cry, shouting down all that is unfair! Together, our siren duet can reach a great thundering crescendo. Shaking rafters of established order, from chambers of crypto-Fascist inhumanity, our voices will be heard, like clarion trumpet calls wailing! Until the rotting floors of authoritarian control collapse and fall away. As one for all and all for one, we must fight and work and scream and bleed. We are a pair! We are a team! We are a movement for a better way! We are the caged wretches, whose words are a conspiracy against the silence of indifference. And our voices will never stop yelling “Foul!” until we are heard. The bottom line is that all prisoners lives matter!

Therefore…

We refused to be branded, “The irredeemable dregs of humanity”.

We, the first world’s lumpen proletariat who vacillate between the jail cells, street shelters, crash pads and alleyways of your plutocratic, quasi-police state, nightmare society.

We, the poor souls caught between the stigma of our criminal past and our society’s refusal to truly help us integrate.

We, the oppressed ex-offender, caught between the violence of poverty stricken urban jungles on the one hand and the violence of the constant threat of re-incarceration or death on the other…

We, the disenfranchised masses for whom the promises of “Free Enterprise”, “Democracy” and Bourgeois bliss ring hollow.

We, say:

No More!

No More to locking people up like animals!

No More to police shootings and brutality!

No More to all the evils that the prison industrial complex perpetuates.

Our Demands for recognition.

Our Demands for fair treatment.

Our Demands for radical change should never be deemed…

Contraband!

Everyone has been watching the atrocities happening on the news and the genocide going down in the Middle East. Israel seems to think that Palestinian lives mean nothing. Many are shocked at how the news describes the situation as if Palestine is in conflict when it’s clear that Israel has reduced Palestine to rubble.

Not one persyn here has felt Israel is in the right. It is clear as day that a genocide is happening and that U.$. tax payers are complicit as the U.$. sends billions of dollars to Israel every year.

Every time the news comes on talking about Israel, one of the prisoners here yells, “Yo Israel, get the fuck out of Palestine!” Everyone claps in agreement. Some are bewildered as to why the U.$. is enabling genocide and the more conscious are explaining the history of Amerika and what it has done to this continent and beyond for the dollar. Humyn lives are worth more than profit and the courageous students in their encampments are proving that! To be arrested in a time of genocide is an honorable thing to do.

Greetings, I want to extend my support and appreciation for you courageous students who stand against the tyranny of genocide.

Your acts and resistance have been well-received around the world and deeply appreciated by Palestinian refugees, as I seen it on the world news, painted on the walls of the refugee camps: “Thank you American students”.

Israel is not fighting Hamas, Israel is creating a Palestinian genocide. The greatest hypocrisy in history, just as the Nazis did to the Jews.

In prison we stand in solidarity with your good cause of saving innocent lives.

What is to be done? That’s the most important question for a revolutionary. “How can it be done?” is as important. Theory and practice are of equal importance when it comes to revolution. Theory without practice, ideas without action, are useless. Practice without theory leads to failure. That’s why Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels decided that scientific socialism will accomplish what utopian socialism could only dream of. An event such as the Great October Revolution of 1917 required a leader such as Lenin, a philosopher. Now, a revolution is for the people. That’s why we need to educate the people, and to do that we should educate ourselves. Study politics, history, science, psychology, philosophy, but most importantly study revolutionary history and the writings of past and present revolutionaries. It’s impossible to exaggerate the importance. We need well-educated revolutionaries.

The Black Panther Party was committed to educate the people and they required their members to study. They studied Mao, Lenin, Marx, and the works of Black radicals. The Black Panther newspaper was meant “to educate the oppressed”. That was its primary purpose. Che Guevara was a brilliant man who educated people through his speeches in a clear manner. Mao, Lenin, Marx, Engels, they all wrote extensively in order to guide their readers before, during, and after a revolution. Why wouldn’t we take advantage of all that wisdom?

Karl Marx was a philosopher, sociologist, economist and a voracious reader. Lenin too. And they studied the works of different types of radical thinkers. They studied, and admired, the French Revolution. Lenin was a fan of Peter Kropotkin’s history of the French Revolution. Karl Marx admired Charles Darwin’s work, and noticed how Darwin was influenced by Thomas R. Malthus. How can we claim to support scientific forms of socialism and never actually read any science, or economics at least?

I recommend the following: “Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong” edited by Lin Biao, “Essential Works of Lenin” edited by Henry Christman, “Theories of Surplus Value”, “The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844”, and “The Poverty of Philosophy” by Karl Marx, “The Black Panthers Speak” edited by Philip Foner, and any other books on radical politics, history, science and philosophy.

And remember, comrades: “Hasta la victoria siempre!” -Che Guevara

MIM(Prisons) responds: We welcome this statement from the study group of the Iron Lung Collective, and we support its sentiments. Through our Free Political Books to Prisoners Program, comrades inside can receive any of the books Modern Cassius recommends, with the exception of Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong or “The Little Red Book.” We believe all of the historical texts of revolutionaries must be studied and understood in their historical context. The mish-mash of quotes from different periods of the Chinese revolution in “The Little Red Book” make it very difficult to do so.

As we work to re-ignite the prison movement, regular, local study groups are the base of our efforts to re-build. We have a guide for starting a local study group, and a decent stock of revolutionary and historical literature you can find on our literature list. Please see page 2 of ULK for more details on how to participate in the Free Political Books to Prisoners Program.

Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona as a private prison is being run illegally by these authorities: WARDEN - Sean Wead, Assistant WARDEN - Jody Bradley, HAWAII CONTRACT MONITOR - Jennifer Bechler and others.

Here, disciplinary segregation is run against CoreCivic policy and by law from the above, because they are segregating only the Hawai’i prisoners for over one (1) year in a segregated unit. And no matter how you look at it, there is no way out, not even if you take them to court, because the courts here in Arizona for SCC all work together to just get free money off the Hawai’ian prisoners when we file a lawsuit.

Help Our Hawai’ian Population

They have this thing that they call SHIP. No policies pursuant to any law authorizes SHIP. SHIP is identified as Special Housing Incentive Program.

CoreCivic does not provide “intensive program” within SHIP:

• Does not provide substance abuse treatment
• Does not provide education
• Does not provide comprehensive programs
• Does not provide vocational opportunities to prepare prisoners for a successful re-entry into society or the general population

SHIP does not support academic development through Adult Basic Education (ABE) or General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Therefore SHIP lacks any penological goal or correctional interest.

Why does Hawai’i support SHIP when it does not help our Hawai’ian population? Our people deserve better. SHIP is fraud. CoreCivic is degrading our Hawai’ian people.

Halawa Correctional Facility (the state prison in Honolulu, Hawaii) does not recognize SHIP, so how does CoreCivic get away with it here?

The First Amendment authorizes anyone to grieve the government. Due Process requires at the minimum some type of hearing to be held. The Eighth Amendment, which is “cruel and unusual punishment” as well as “retaliation” is heavy in this private prison of Saguaro Correctional Center. And these authorities just get away with it. It is wrong for the law to do that to innocent prisoners that are only trying to go home to their family and learn from the mistakes that led them to prison.

MIM(Prisons) adds:In 1995, 300 Hawai’ian prisoners were shipped from occupied Hawai’i to the occupied Sonoran Desert, where CoreCivic (at the time the Corrections Corporation of America) runs the Saguaro Correctional Center. This was billed as a “temporary measure” to deal with extreme overcrowding in prisons on the Hawaiian islands. But it was not temporary. Today there are about 1000 Hawaiians there, and at the peak there were about 1,500.

Just over a year ago, Hawaii News Now got rare video access to Saguaro CC for an apparent fluff piece to appease growing concerns among Hawai’ians for the people being shipped there. The story praises the program for giving access to cleaner, less crowded prisons where there are more programs for rehabilitation preparing people for their release back to Hawai’i.(1) According to the author above, it seems everything took a sharp change after Hawaii News Now left, or someone was lying.

While only 10% of the population of the state of Hawai’i today, Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders make up 44% of the prison population.(2) In 2010, Pacific Islanders were 1.5% of the prison population in Arizona, despite being 0.2% of the state population. This is due primarily to the shipping of Hawaii’s prisoners to Saguaro CC.

Hawai’i is one of the internal semi-colonies of the United $tates. We report regularly on the disproportionate targeting of the internal semi-colonies for imprisonment, and once in prison, for isolation. So it is no surprise that Hawai’ians are facing similar repression by Amerikans. We support this comrade’s call, and hope we can play a role in the campaign to bring Hawaiian prisoners home.

<sup>Notes:
1. Lynn Kawano, 15 December 2022, These prisoners have access to better facilities. The price? They’re 3,000 miles from home, Hawaii News Now.
2. Prison Policy Initiative profile on Hawaii, using data from 2021.</sup>

The Digital mail system launched by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) last year has been disastrous for prisoners and those who communicate with them.

One comrade from Coffield Unit just wrote to say:

“In response to the TDCJ Digital Mail initiative article from ULK 84. My own postal mail has been averaging 3 months for receipt since the implementation of the program. Even our Securus e-mail at my unit has been taking up to 3 or 4 weeks to be received – both incoming and outgoing.”

Meanwhile we are receiving mail from comrades in Allred Unit that is dated from 3 months ago. While there are more delays in mail going in, they are happening in both directions.

The Warrior In White newsletter has been investigating delays and received the following responses:

[TDCJ Ombdusman to the nonprofit:] “There are no staff shortages and all mail is being processed within the 3 day limit as stated in the policy.”

[Mail System Coordinator in Huntsville:] We are currently experiencing a staff shortage. We were not expecting the volume of mail at the Dallas facility. All mail to you has been received at the facility, but not yet scanned (acknowledging the USPS Informed Delivery Service evidence showing the mail at the Dallas facility).”

[From Securus:] “There is no staff shortage. All mail is being processed within 5 days, unless there are pictures or photos, in which case it may take a little longer.”

One comrade is leading a lawsuit against the violations of the digital mail system as we reported in ULK 84.

Another comrade wrote in response to that suit to suggest:

“To a Texas prisoner who has filed a complaint challenging the constitutionality of the Agency’s contracting with a private vendor (i.e.: a for-profit company in Dallas, Texas) to digitalize all Texas prisoners’ incoming general mail and photographs for computer-generated posting to a prisoner’s Securus authorized tablets. I believe this Texas prisoner needs to read Securus Technologies, LLC’s Agreement of Terms and Conditions when challenging the Agency’s policy-related ban of senders’ mail piece items off of prisoners physical mail. See Texas General Arbitration Act.”

For those who cannot commit to participating in the lawsuit, we can continue to agitate around this issue. And one way is to file grievances. Below is an example grievance from a comrade that can help you write your own:

To All Comrades,

This is for those who are soon to be released. I’ma keep this short and sweet and to the point. Forget about EVERYTHING you think you may know concerning “Freedom” once you’re free! Unless you’re blessed to pertain to that exclusive 1-5% of individuals who are returning home and whom will still be fed with the silver spoon, forget about everything you think you may know.

First and foremost, the sad reality still exists that money, the almighty dollar, still rules. What I mean is, you will have to get some type of job to generate income in order to sustain your lifestyle. From essentials/necessities like phone bills, groceries, rent, gas, car note, to luxuries like clothes, entertainment, jewelry, travel, etc. there ain’t no handouts out here. Contrary to popular belief and you’ll already know, ain’t sh free. Bottom line is this fellas: this transition and re-entry back into society after 12+ years in the Florida DOC is nothing short of egregious. It’s difficult, and it’s one door after another that’s closing right in your face. Y’all better be ready to come out with that hustler mindset, and I mean that I’ma grind nonstop for that legit slow money… To Be Continued

MIM(Prisons) adds: We want to commend comrade Fatal for sticking with the basic program of our Serve the People Re-Lease on Life Program. Ey has stayed in touch since eir release, got set up with a way to communicate with us securely, and has been distributing Under Lock & Key locally. As we tell all soon-to-release comrades, staying in touch is all you need to do in the beginning. As Fatal explains, you’ll be so busy figuring other things out in your life, so just stay in touch.

If you have a release date coming up let us know, get in our intro study course, and develop a regular line of communication now, while it’s easier. So many comrades who write us regularly inside, just never reach out, or we only hear from them once after they release and then they disappear. While our resources are limited in what we can offer you in support, we are always building our networks to support more comrades on release. And we can always provide you a connection to the movement, which can be vital in keeping you on the right path and not end up locked back up again as happens to many who do not stay in touch.