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.
In the past month, I’ve witnessed more prisoner-on-prisoner assaults
than grievances filed on the unjust conditions of confinement here at
Bowie County Corruptions Center. One week alone had at least three
fights with two resulting in serious injuries that sent prisoners to the
hospital.
Often these assaults take place when corruptions officers are not
present at their assigned stations. These very officers who neglect
their duties are also forced or coerced into writing false infractions
with forged and falsified statements that make it appear as if they were
on their assigned stations during these altercations. It’s a lose-lose
situation for the prisoner because the prisoners who receive the
injuries are usually coerced into pressing charges against the prisoners
who assaulted them.
For example, on 21 September, a prisoner-on-prisoner assault took place
which resulted in one prisoner being slightly injured. When the
assaulted prisoner demanded that ey be removed from the housing unit, it
was discovered that ey was in an altercation. But the officer who was
assigned to the station was asked about information concerning the
altercation and eir whereabouts, and nothing could be said.
According to the injured prisoner, ey was “jumped” by several prisoners.
One of the accused prisoners even confronted corruptions officers asking
where was the officer assigned to that station? That officer laughed -
knowing that ey was not on eir station. The prisoners were threatened
with felony assault charges and later received disciplinary infractions.
The prisoners were even found guilty on the infractions after thirteen
other prisoners wrote statements for the accused.
There have also been officer-on-prisoner assaults such as one prisoner
having his collarbone broken and his hip broken. When the prisoner
initiated his 42 USC $1983 Civil Rights Complaint, Ad-Mini-$nake$
(administrators) bribed or attempted to bribe the prisoner by ordering
that ey be released from their custody while ey was in the hospital. The
prisoner still pursued eir complaint.
The majority of problems here at the Bowie County Corruptions Center
generate from falsified infractions that officers write when there
exists no officers on their assigned sections, therefore, resulting in a
rise of tension amongst prisoners.
Though this practice is common in the corruptions system, we must all
stay strong in this struggle together and let these situations and
conditions be known to those charged with the responsibility and duties
to operate these facilities. If nothing can be done on the
administrative level and all remedies have been exhausted, seek relief
from the courts and write letters to the media and organizations who may
be able to help. Eventually justice shall prevail.
MIM(Prisons) adds: While we agree that eventually justice will
prevail, we know that reform tactics such as grievances and court cases
will only win temporary or small victories for the oppressed. The
criminal injustice system will be willing to adjust its tactics of
oppression, but it won’t be fundamentally altered through legal battles.
We need to undertake these legal battles to win some breathing space
from the repression in prison for our comrades, but we can not lose
sight of the larger battle against the criminal injustice system
overall.
To take on the injustice system more broadly, and end the
prisoner-on-prisoner assaults that happen daily, we must take up
organizing prisoners for unity and peace. Prisoners ultimately can
control prisoner-on-prisoner violence, regardless of what the guards do
to encourage it. We must build the
United Front
for Peace in Prisons to truly end the violence. The first principle
of this United Front, Peace, addresses directly the problem this writerr
talks about above: “WE organize to end the needless conflicts and
violence within the U.$. prison environment. The oppressors use divide
and conquer strategies so that we fight each other instead of them. We
will stand together and defend ourselves from oppression.”
Recently Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, Texas enacted a City Ordinance
which makes it against the law to feed more than 5 hungry homeless
people at a time. Many may remember that mayor Parker made national
headlines by becoming the first openly gay/lesbian womyn to be elected
mayor to a major u.s. city. One would think that of all people Mayor
Parker would be sensitive to the needs of the oppressed and the poor. Of
course this mode of thinking is pathetically idealistic and goes against
our scientific method for analyzing and solving problems.
I did a concrete analysis of Mayor Parker’s actions since she has been
in office, and time and time again she has strategically proposed
ordinances which promote a “war” on the poor and homeless. Houston is an
international imperialist strong hold. The war profiteers Halliburton
and Kellog, Brown, and Root have offices in Houston. There are countless
oil companies based in Houston. These companies literally rob and
exploit the natural resources of many poor and under-developed Third
World countries. Mayor Parker is nothing more than an “agent” for these
money hungry imperialists. In Mayor Parker’s eyes, the poor hungry
masses in Houston are an “eyesore” and more importantly, bad for
bu$ine$$!
There are many activists who have balked at this new ordinance. They
include an incredibly diverse group of individuals. Socialists, Black
Panthers, Anarchists, Christians, Right wingers, and Left wingers, the
public at large simply does not like this new ordinance. The benevolent
“snake” Mayor Parker told the activists that if they could come up with
20,000 signatures of citizens who do not approve of the ordinance she
would consider rescinding it. The activists came up with 34,000
signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Mayor Parker and City Council
members conspired to sabotage the activist’s ability to be heard and
acknowledged at a recent city council meeting. A local judge, named Bill
Harris determined that the activists submitted their petition too late!
Police terrorism is alive and well in Houston. The homeless who reside
downtown are favorite targets of the abusive Houston Police Department
officers. The fine for feeding more than 5 homeless people at a time is
$2000 and/or jail! People who usually bring food to feed the homeless
are afraid.
More than ever we are in dire need of a revolution that overthrows this
wicked and corrupt imperialist system that exploits and takes advantage
of the “have nots” of society. It is going to take people who are
willing to fight and not negotiate with the enemy.
Notes: KPFT Radio 90.1 FM. S.O.S. Radio show with Brother Zinn, 12
September 2012. Facebook.com/KPFT Houston.
Recientes demostraciones en ciudades de Estados Unidos han clamado
representar al “99%” que están contra el 1% que son ricos. MIM(prisión)
soporta una distribución mas justa de los recursos del mundo. Lo que la
mayoría de americanos no comprenden es que la distribución correcta de
las riquezas, significa menos para ellos puesto que son parte del 13% de
ricos.
En 1970 un acción similar en forma de Ocupar Wall Street (OWS) occurió
en contestación al asesinato de estudiantes en la universidad de Kent
State. En respuesta un sindicato local irrumpió por las calles atacando
a estudiantes, golpeandolos y atacaron oficinas del estado.
Refleccionando sobre este evento, un locutor de radio implicó que OWS
erá evidencia de progreso, medido por el respaldo sindical que recibió.
Las condiciones materiales de la invasión de Vietnam de U.$. forzó a
jóvenes Amerikanos, en ese tiempo, a tomar una posición mas progresiva
que la de hoy, colocándolos en oposición a los sindicatos nacionalistas
de la raza blanca. Las acciones de OWS están más dentro del mundo del
nacionalismo blanco que de la “Batalla de Seattle” en 1999 donde los
anarquistas y otras organizaciones, se juntaron con sindicatos en contra
la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OWS). No mas los de MIM y J. Sakai
reconocieron la reacción del nacionalismo blanco contra OWS estaban
directamente dentro el contexto Amerikano. Pero aunqueses los
narcisistas tenían una docé saludable de internacionalismo motivandolos
para atrás.
El grito principal de la OWS es “defender la clase medida Amerikana.”
Aunque los anarqistas son atraidos por ese formato, concejos hablados y
de consenso abiertos “al público,” el contenido es desesperanzadoramente
nacionalista blanco. Es el tipo exacto de retórica que escupieron los
demócratas de la Europa post-depresión, y que llevó al surgimiento del
fascismo en muchos paises.(1) Cuando las naciones privilegiadas del
mundo, sintieron sus privilegios amenazasdo, se politicalizaron
agúdamente en sus demandas por más. Atacaron a los super-ricos con el
fin de crear la ilusión de que eran pobres comparados con ellos. Pero
los hechos son obstinados, y los intereses de los Amerikanos los
lleváron a gritarle a los super-ricos para que defendieran los empleos
Amerikanos y respaldaran las líneas de crédito que habian tomado. Ambas
demandas son incompatibles con la lucha por los derechos de los
migrantes, que habían estado de moda entre la izquierda blanca
nacionalista en años recientes.
MIM siempre ha afirmado que si los países imperialistas fuesen golpeados
por verdaderos tiempos duros en la economía, observaríamos un incremento
en el fascismo en vez de un interés en el Maoísmo. No decimos esto con
el fin de atemorizar y emotivizar, pero con el fin de promover una
evaluación realista de las condiciones. Fue la juventud Amerikana
quienes pusieron sus cuerpos en la línea, primero en Seattle y ahora en
Nueva York y otros lugares. Puesto que tienen décadas de vida por
delante, los jóvenes tienen más interés que sus padres en transformar
este mundo en uno más justo. Pero para que ellos lo logren, primero
deben ver las cosas tal como son y alinearse con las verdaderas fuerzas
de cambio progresivo.
Nos aproximamos al quinto aniversario como organización al reunir
nuestro Tercer Congreso. Aunque miembros de MIM(Prisiones) - y por
supuesto aquellos de USW - han estado en el movimiento de prisiones por
mucho mas tiempo, encontramos que esta es una oportunidad apropiada para
reflexionar acerca de donde se encuentra el movimiento de prisiones y
como se ha desarrollado.
Una serie de huelgas de hambre en California, durante el año 2011, tuvo
un gran impacto a lo largo de la nación. Muchos activistas, desde
aquellos encubiertos, hasta anarquistas y reformistas, se unieron
alrededor de este movimiento y como resultado continuaron enfocándose en
el trabajo de prisiones. Mientras nuestros predecesores en MIM habían
visto la importancia del movimiento de prisiones desde décadas atrás, su
visión ha sido afirmada mucho mas el día de hoy cuando comenzamos a
alcanzar una masa crítica de actividad. Es ahora un tópico caliente en
el nacionalismo blanco de izquierda, lo cual es significativo puesto que
los blancos no son afectados por el sistema de prisiones de una manera
tan extensa como para considerarlo un interés legítimo y prioritario.
Este desarrollo gradual ha sido el resultado de dos factores: Una
conmoción por fuera de las prisiones debido a los hechos alrededor del
sistema de injusticia de los Estados Unidos, y a prisioneros
organizándose en el interior de las cárceles; factores en los cuales MIM
y USW han estado trabajando diligentemente por décadas. En el año y
medio que ha pasado, la organización de los prisioneros alcanzó un
momento importante con la huelga de Georgia y las huelgas de hambre de
California, las cuales fueron coordinadas a un nivel estatal. Estos
eventos fueron particularmente significativos entre los prisioneros,
pero al mismo tiempo capturaron la atención de los medios y de la
comunidad internacional. Más aun, porque hay una serie de acciones
similares que continúan desarrollándose a lo largo del país.
(Recientemente en Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, la prisión federal
súper máxima ADX, Limon en Colorado y una huelga de hambre adicional en
Georgia.)
Entre tanto, el aspecto de conmoción llego a un punto importante con la
publicación del libro “The New Jim Crow” (El nuevo Jim Crow), el año
pasado. Este libro ha logrado conseguir bastante atención en sectores
diferentes del espectro político. Aunque mucha de la promoción le presta
atención indebida a las conclusiones tibias del libro, el hecho de que
los datos se hayan organizado en un libro hablan por si mismos. Se
requiere unas nociones preconcebidas muy arraigadas para leer este libro
y atreverse a negar la opresión del sistema de injusticia americano
contra las seudo colonias internas. Por lo tanto, pensamos que el efecto
general del libro será progresivo y significativo a pesar de sus
limitaciones.
Es por estas razones que vemos la necesidad de apoderarnos del momento.
Cuando comenzamos hace cinco años tuvimos la gran fortuna de construir
sobre el legado de los programas de soporte a los prisioneros,
establecidos por MIM. La fundación ideológica de MIM nos permitió
enfocar nuestras energías en asuntos mas prácticos, tal como el lanzar
una publicación nueva para las prisiones, construir programas de ayuda a
camaradas que son liberados, desarrollar cursos por correspondencia de
estudios políticos, y lanzar un nuevo sitio de Internet que exhiba
información amplia sobre censura, reglas de correo y abusos en las
prisiones del país.
Con nuestra infraestructura ya terminada y trabajando correctamente,
necesitamos ahora buscar maneras de tomar ventaja inmediata de la
conciencia relativamente positiva de los prisioneros y de la atención
relativa que la población americana le ha dado al sistema de prisiones.
Siempre hemos mantenido que sin prisioneros organizados no hay
movimiento de prisiones, es así que tenemos ese objetivo como nuestra
prioridad inicial. Estamos tomando pasos para mejorar la estructura de
United Struggle from Within (USW), la organización de masas de
prisioneros que fue fundada por MIM ye es ahora liderada por
MIM(Prisiones). Construyendo sobre las sugerencias de algunos líderes en
USW, hemos habilitado un plan para formar asambleas en estados donde hay
múltiples células activas de USW. Más adelante explicarémos una
organización estructural para nuestro movimiento de manera que los
camaradas puedan saber donde pertenecen y como se deben relacionar con
otros.
Tal como vimos durante las huelgas en California, cuando la organización
se expande, se incrementa la censura al igual que otras medidas
represivas. A medida que aumentamos nuestros esfuerzos, debemos esperar
que el estado incremente los suyos. Necesitarémos más ayuda que nunca de
parte de los voluntarios en el exterior para efectuar trabajo legal y de
agitación para mantener al estado leal a sus propias leyes y
regulaciones.
Tan grandes como estos retos aparentan ser, sabemos que habrá retos
mayores a nivel interno, así como obstáculos que deberémos librar en los
próximos años. Las grandes movilizaciones recientes han comenzado a
revelar lo que estos retos serán. Hay mucho trabajo por hacer en el
identificar, analizar y resolverlas contradicciones dentro de la
población de prisiones, que permiten que en las condiciones actuales, el
estado dicte como debe una vasta población de personas oprimidas
interactuar el uno con el otro, y como deben vivir sus vidas.
El movimiento de prisiones que se estableció previamente a la explosión
carcelería de los 1980s fue un producto de las luchas por liberación
nacional que ocurrieron en su momento. Hoy, la población de las
prisiones es diez veces más grande mientras que el liderazgo político en
el exterior es escaso. Las masas encarceladas deben cuidarse del número
grande de líderes falsos que desde afuera, como oportunistas, toman a
las prisiones como el tópico del día para promover sus agendas
políticas, las cuales no le sirven para nada a la gente opresa del
mundo. En esta ocasión, los prisioneros necesitan prepararse a jugar un
papel importante, lo cual requiere una profunda mirada interior. Debemos
no solo aprender del pasado pero construir programas independientes de
educación que desarrollen las habilidades de las camaradas de hoy para
conducir un análisis propio de las condiciones que enfrentan. Encima de
esto debemos promover y desarrollar una visión internacionalista para
encontrar respuestas y alianzas en las naciones oprimidas alrededor del
mundo, así se pueden remover las vendas de los ojos que nos mantienen
enfocados exclusivamente en América. No se puede encontrar liberación en
el americanismo. El hecho que los americanos han creado un sistema de
prisiones que empequeñece todos los demás en la historia humana, es un
ejemplo del porque no hay liberación en el americanismo.
Es con un optimismo cauto que aprobamos la siguiente resolución en
nuestro último congreso. Pensamos que este plan responde a las
propuestas enviadas por algunos líderes de USW. Esperamos que todos
ustedes trabajen con nosotros para hacer de el una estructura efectiva.
Resolución del congreso sobre la estructura de USW.
MIM(Prisiones) esta iniciando la creación de asambleas estatales dentro
de USW, la organización antiimperialista de los prisioneros. Una
asamblea será aprobada cuando existen dos o mas células dentro del
estado, las cuales son reconocidas como activas y trabajando bajo el
estándar de USW. MIM(Prisiones) servirá como ente de apoyo a estas
asambleas con un foque orientado a la organización alrededor de las
necesidades de la comunidad prisionera en ese estado. Puesto que el
sistema de prisiones de los Estados Unidos esta organizado
primordialmente por estado, las asambleas trabajarán de acuerdo a las
necesidades especificas y condiciones encontradas en el estado en
particular.
En el caso donde las células poseen otras identidades diferentes a USW
no se les requerirá que usen ese nombre. Por ejemplo, La Organización
Revolucionaria del Orden Negro (Black Order Revolutionary Organization),
que se identifica a si misma como un ‘Nuevo movimiento africano
revolucionario’ podrá ser invitada a participar en una asamblea estatal
de USW. Aunque USW no favorece las luchas de una nación opresa sobre
otras igualmente oprimidas, como movimiento reconocemos la utilidad e
importancia de una organización especifica a la nación. En el ambiente
de prisiones hay muchas líneas que no se pueden cruzar bajo las
condiciones actuales, esto limita la afiliación en un grupo. Mientras
estas células exhiban un internacionalismo y antiimperialismo auténtico,
ellas pueden poseer afiliación doble en USW por medio de su unión a la
asamblea estatal.
Con esta propuesta estamos expandiendo la estructura de nuestro
movimiento. Reconocemos los dos pilares principales de el liderazgo
ideológico del movimiento actual: el primero siendo la célula de
MIM(Prisiones) y el segundo siendo el grupo de escritores de Under Lock
& Key (Bajo Llave), el cual también está compuesto por miembros de
USW y dirigido y apoyado por MIM(Prisones).
Las asambleas estatales deberán buscar en estos dos grupos la
orientación ideológica necesaria para organizar su trabajo. Esto se
encontrará principalmente en las páginas de Under Lock & Key. En
contraste, la función principal de las asambleas será el trabajo
práctico y directo que sirva a los intereses de la clase encarcelada.
Las asambleas servirán para coordinar el trabajo de organización de las
células dispersas para que trabajen de una manera más unificada.
MIM(Prisiones) establecerá inmediatamente la asamblea de California, a
la que seguirán otras a medida que las condiciones lo permitan.
For the morning meal the mess hall was virtually empty. For the noon
meal there were approximately 120 prisoners in attendance. Usually, when
they serve baked chicken and rice there are some 360 prisoners in
attendance. A lot more prisoners turned out for the evening meal.
Overall there was a low attendance for meals.
Next year things will be different and better organized. I’m in the
process of obtaining two articles dealing with the Attica rebellion.
I’ll have copies of the articles run off and give one of each to the
entire prison population. This can be accomplished within a year’s time.
Being that today is September 9th and a day of solidarity and peace, all
sorts of nations (organizations) got together here in the rec yard and
had a jailhouse BBQ and lived in peace just for the day here at Cross
City, Florida.
I always enjoy the Under Lock and Key. Hopefully one day some
of my articles will be published in them. Allow me to extend in your
direction a revolutionary embrace and a warrior’s salute. I hope for
Florida one day to move forward in our prison system. Little by little
with the help of the folks at MIM(Prisons).
Today is September 9th, 2012. My comrade (my celly) and I are
participating in the mass stoppage of work and fast for our comrades who
fell in Attica. Although we are in Ad-Seg we have chosen to sacrifice.
No food, no petty stuff, no arguing out the door, only working out four
times for 1 hour each time, reading, studying and talking politics. For
me fasting is something I do once a month, but today is the first time
I’ve worked out during my fast. My comrade is pushing me and I’m not
stopping. From midnight to midnight is how we’re moving.
I’m writing this to not only inform you of this movement, but how things
are going in these human warehouses here in Missouri. It’s still hard to
find unity here. No one wants to miss a meal or two to make a stand, but
they’ll continue to talk about how bad things are. It’s not strange.
I want to raise an issue concerning your paper. My comrade who is Black
just had your July/August issue of ULK censored. The reason for
this censorship was the article about the mass work stoppage on
September 9th. I am Caucasian and fully dedicated to the struggle. I
have received your July/August issue of ULK. This
discrimination towards my comrade is not strange.
My comrade has filed his grievance on this censorship. This state
doesn’t even want us to learn and that is just one thing wrong with this
state. They would rather close down schools and build new prisons.
Greetings. The struggle is long and arduous, and sometimes we do etch
out significant victories, as in the case of our brotha in In re
Crawford, 206 Cal.App.4th 1259 (2012).
It’s important to emphasize that this victory is a significant step in
reaffirming that prisoners are entitled to a measure of First Amendment
protection that cannot be ignored simply because the state dislikes the
spiel. New Afrikan prisoners have a right to identify with their
birthright if they so choose, as does anyone else for that matter –
Black, White or Brown. …
[California prison officials] have gone so far as to boldly proclaim
that the term New Afrikan was created by the Black Guerilla Family (BGF)
and that those who identify as or use the term are declaring their
allegiance to the BGF, which has been declared a prison gang. They have
sought to suppress its usage by validating (i.e. designating as a gang
member or associate) anyone who uses the term or who dares mention the
name George Jackson. …
Our brotha’s case In Re Crawford was filed June 4, 2012, and
certified for publication June 13. In a brilliant piece of judicial
reasoning, a panel of justices in a 3-0 decision finally reaffirmed a
prisoner’s First Amendment right to free speech and expression, stating:
Freedom of speech is first among the rights which form the foundation of
our free society. “The First Amendment embodies our choice as a nation
that, when it comes to such speech, the guiding principle is freedom –
the unfettered interchange of ideas – not whatever the State may view as
fair.” (Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Bennett (2011) 131
S.Ct. 2806). “The protection given speech and press was fashioned to
assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of
political and social changes desired by the people … All ideas having
even the slightest redeeming social importance – unorthodox ideas,
controversial ideas, even ideas hateful to the prevailing climate of
opinion – have the full protection of the guaranties, unless excludable
because they encroach upon the limited area of more important
interests.” (Roth v. United States (1957) 354 U.S. 476, 484.”
The programs embodied in the New Afrikan Collective Think Tank, New
Afrikan Institute of Criminology 101, the George Jackson University and
the New Afrikan ideology itself are inclusive programs emphasizing a
solution-based approach to carnage in the poverty stricken slums from
where many of us come. The CDCR Prison Intelligence Units (PIU) have
sought to suppress these initiatives simply because they do not like the
message. They have marched into court after court with one standard
line: New Afrikan means BGF and these initiatives are promoting the BGF.
In re Crawford continues,
As recently noted by Chief Justice Roberts, “[t]he First Amendment
reflects ‘a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on
public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.’ [Citation.]
That is because ‘speech concerning public affairs is more than
self-expression; it is the essence of self-government.’ [Citation.] …
Speech on public issues occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of
First Amendment values, and is entitled to special protection.”
(Snyder v. Phelps (2011) 562 U.S. , [131 S.Ct. 1207,
1215].
In re Crawford is a very important ruling because the justices
said these protections apply to prisoners as well. …
George Jackson cannot be removed from the fabric of the people’s
struggles in this society any more than Malcolm X can or Medger Evers or
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Harriett Tubman or Sojourner Truth or Ida
B. Wells, Rosa Parks or Frederick Douglass, or the countless others
who’ve fought and struggled for a brighter future for generations to
come.
What CDCR and its PIU are trying to do is make a run around the First
Amendment by shielding its suppression activity under the guise of
preventing gang activity, just as it’s done historically, which gave
rise to Procunier v. Martinez (1974) 416 U.S. 396, 413.
In In re Crawford, CDCR argued for an exception to the Martinez
test for validated gang members. The court declined to make such an
exception, holding: “Gang related correspondence is not within the
exception to the First Amendment test for censorship of outgoing inmate
mail.”
The fact that they even argued for such an exception shows their
mindset. Their intentions are to suppress that which they believe to be
repugnant, offensive and that which they believe a prisoner ought not be
thinking! In their minds we have no right to think or possess ideas,
concepts or vision beyond that which they believe we should possess.
Until In Re Crawford, these highly educated judges were
sanctioning this nonsense with twisted, perverted rulings permitting a
newspaper article or magazine layout or book to be used against a
prisoner for validation purposes [to put them in torture cells -
editor]. They issued twisted rulings like those in Ellis v.
Cambra or Hawkins v. Russell and In Re Furnace,
where the petitioner was told he has no right to his thoughts and the
First Amendment only protects a prisoner’s right to file a 602
[grievance form].
These kinds of fallacious rulings ought to be publicized so as to show
the skillful manipulation of the law by those sworn to uphold it. In
Re Crawford reestablishes that First Amendment protections apply to
prisoners and that we too enjoy a measure of free speech and expression.
We ought not be punished with fabricated notions of gang activity for
merely a thought!
However, if we are to continue to meet with success, we need our
professors, historians and intellectuals to step up and provide
declarations that we can use in our litigation, defending our right to
read, write and study all aspects of a people’s history, like Professor
James T. Campbell did in In Re Crawford. This is the only way a
prisoner can challenge the opinion of a prison official. …
Much work remains to be done, like stopping the bogus validations based
on legitimate First Amendment material. We know that many individuals
are falsely validated simply for reading George’s books or a newspaper
article, for observing Black August or for simply trying to get in touch
with one’s cultural identity.
These legitimate expressions should carry no penalty at all. You’re not
doing anything wrong, and a lot of brothas who’ve been validated simply
shouldn’t be. Nor should folks be frightened away from reading or
studying any aspect of history simply because the state doesn’t like its
content. Judges who issue fallacious opinions permitting prisoners to be
punished for reading a George Jackson book or researching your history
should be exposed.
Literary content and cultural and historical materials are not the
activities of a gang; they are political and social activities that we
have a right to express, according to the unanimous decision in In
re Crawford.
The First Amendment campaign continues to forge ahead, although we still
don’t have a lawyer. The campaign still exists, and we anticipate even
greater successes in the future. … We’ve cracked one layer of a thick
wall. Now all prisoners should take advantage of this brilliant ruling
and reassert your rights to study your heritage, Black, White or Brown.
MIM(Prisons) adds: The issue in this case was one that we have
experienced first-hand as well. For example, in 2008 a letter from a
comrade in California was censored before it could reach us because it
discussed the New Afrikan Collective, which allegedly was a code word
for the Black Guerrilla Family.(1) But in reality, the New Afrikan
Collective was a new political organization in New York focused on
bettering the conditions of New Afrikans as a nation, with no
connections to any sort of criminal activity.
The first thing that strikes us about this case is a quote from the
proceedings cited by the author above, “Gang related correspondence is
not within the exception to the First Amendment test for censorship of
outgoing inmate mail.” Unfortunately this is not part of the final
opinion explaining the decision of the court, and it is specific to
outgoing mail from the prison. Nonetheless, it would logically follow
from this statement that anything that can be connected to a gang is not
automatically dangerous or illegal.
“Gang members” have long been the boogeyman of post-integration white
Amerika. The pigs use “gang member” as a codeword to excuse the abuse
and denial of constitutional rights to oppressed nation youth,
particularly New Afrikan men. And this has been institutionalized in
more recent years with “gang enhancements,” “gang injunctions” and
“security threat group” labels that punish people for belonging to
lumpen organizations. Often our mail is censored because it mentions the
name of a lumpen organization in the context of a peace initiative or
organizing for prisoners’ humyn rights. While criminal activity is
deemed deserving more punishment with the gang label, non-criminal
activity is deemed criminal as well.
As the author discusses, it becomes a question of controlling ideas to
the extreme, where certain words are not permitted to be spoken or
written and certain symbols and colors cannot be displayed. So the quote
from the court above is just a baby step in the direction of applying
the First Amendment rights of association and expression to oppressed
nation youth. Those who are legally inclined should consider how this
issue can be pushed further in future battles. Not only is such work
important in restoring rights to people, but we can create space for
these organizations to build in more positive directions.
Part of this criminalization of a specific sector of society is the use
of self-created and perpetuated so-called experts on gang intelligence.
Most of our readers are all too familiar with this farce of a profession
that is acutely exposed by the court’s opinion in this case. The final
court opinion calls out CO J. Silveira for claiming that the plaintiff’s
letter contained an intricate code when he could provide no evidence
that this was true. They also call him out for using his “training and
experience” as the basis for all his arguments.
The warden’s argument is flawed for two reasons. First, the argument is
based solely on the unsupported assertions and speculative conclusions
in Silveira’s declaration. The declaration is incompetent as evidence
because it contains no factual allegations supporting those assertions
and conclusions. Second, even if the declaration could properly be
considered, it does not establish that the letter posed a threat to
prison security.
As great as this is, as the author of the article above points out, they
usually get away with such baseless claims. More well thought out
lawsuits like this are needed, because more favorable case law is
needed. But neither alone represents any real victory in a system that
exists to maintain the existing social hierarchy. These are just pieces
of a long, patient struggle that has been ongoing for generations. The
people must exercise the rights won here to make them real. We must
popularize and contextualize the nature of this struggle.
I’ve decided to place my pen to paper and let you know about some
reprehensible bullshit the imperial pigs who run this whole prison
complex racket are up to and are hoodwinking the public about.
I was reading the June 2012 issue of Prison Legal News, Vol 23, No
6 and I was utterly floored when I read the cover article titled
“God’s Own Warden.” [This article was reprinted from Mother Jones
magazine.(1)]
There is a Warden of Angola prison in Louisiana by the name of Burl
Cain. This man has a full blown racket going on down there, where he not
only exploits inmates with blatant slave labor, but then hides it behind
religion, and openly broadcasts his money making exploits.
This imperial pig “pays” inmates 2-20 cents to move the wheels of his
little prison industry down there. He’s got a “museum,” farming fields,
a gift shop, and a rodeo arena which seats 10,000 people and draws
70,000 people each spring and fall for “prison rodeos.”
At these “rodeos” they have “convict poker,” where they put 4 prisoners
around a table and tell them to remain seated while a 2000 pound pissed
off bull charges at them. In another event they call “guts and glory,”
they tie a poker chip to the horn of an angry bull. While it hangs from
the horn “inmates vie to snatch the poker chip off the horn” while the
prisoners run after and are chased by said enraged animal. These events
are done for the laughs of the people who’ve bought themselves tickets
to this idiocy.
In 1998 Daniel Bergner wrote a book titled “God of the Rodeo” where he
himself researched this rodeo and wrote a book about it, saying that he
“observed the reaction of the crowd which was electrified, exhilarated,
by the thrill of watching men in terror, all made forgivable because the
men were murderers.” He then goes on to say “I’m sure some of it was
racist (see that nigger move) and some disappointed (that there was no
goring) and some uneasy (with that very disappointment).” Then he goes
on to say “many people were not laughing, were too bewildered or stunned
by what they’d just seen.”
And of course this industrial pig has prisoners outside the arena
selling arts and crafts, crawfish étouffée and Frito pies. In his “gift
shop,” he sells miniature handcuffs, prisoner-made jelly, and mugs that
read “Angola: a gated community.” Then people move on to a display of
“Gruesome Gertie” which is dubbed as “the only electric chair in which a
prisoner was executed twice.” (The first time didn’t take because the
executioners were “visibly drunk.”)(2)
So not only does this imperial pig make money off live inmates, he
cashed in on their cruel and unusual deaths as well. But that’s still
not enough for the deep pockets of this racketeering Warden. He
contracts his prison out to Hollywood and “allows” prisoners to be
extras, all for a nice fee of course!
Cain gets away with it because he hides it all behind religion and
converting prisoners to Christianity. So with his money he tosses up a
few plywood walls and roof, calls it a church, and says he’s “saving
souls.”
This is the prison where a trio of prisoners had been locked down in
solitary confinement longer than anyone in U.S. history, because they
were
Black
Panther Party members (Albert Woodfox, Herman Wallace and the now
released Robert King). They were put in solitary confinement, and have
spent nearly 4 decades there, simply for their political beliefs.
In 2008 Warden Cain had a disposition taken in which Cain says of
Woodfox, “He wants to demonstrate. He wants to organize. He wants to be
defiant… He is still trying to practice Black Pantherism, and I still
would not want him walking around my prison because he would organize
young prisoners, I would have me all kinds of problems, more than I
could stand, and I would have the blacks chasing after them.”(3)
Never mind the fact that these two heroic comrades are in their 60s and
have a near perfect record for more than 20 years. Warden Cain says
“it’s not a matter of write-ups. It’s a matter of attitude and what ya
are… Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace is [sic] locked in time with that
Black Panther revolutionary actions they were doing way back when… and
from that there’s been no rehabilitation.”(3) Warden Cain then
“suggested that Wallace and Woodfox could be released into general
population if they renounced their political beliefs/views and embraced
Jesus.”(3)
Cain’s policy is if inmates don’t attend church services they don’t get
the good jobs (that pay 2-20 cents), or other goodies, such as a day or
two off from plowing and farming his fields, a good meal, special
banquets, ice cream, etc.
There should be a public outcry of complete outrage over this shit. This
is the very sickening degeneracy which we as communists strive to stomp
out. These atrocities going on down in Angola under the skirts of
religion piss me off, and only strengthen my resolve to standup and
fight these imperial piggies every step of the way. With every breath I
take it fills my eyes with only the color of red. In solidarity we
stand.
MIM(Prisons) adds: As we’ve explained in articles on
the
U.S. prison economy, the exploitation of prison labor by private
entities is very limited in scope, with most prison labor contributing
to prison maintenance and expenses. In the case of Angola, the farm
laborers, making a maximum wage of 20 cents per hour, are actually
engaged in productive labor and are likely providing a net surplus value
to the prison after factoring in the room and board they are provided.
But even in this large, well-organized operation, the income is only an
offset to the total costs of keeping these men imprisoned, in particular
paying the salaries of guards and administrators.
Those prisoners making jam, and other trinkets for sale outside the
rodeo are raising money for Christian organizations.(1) In this case
private interests are benefitting financially from coerced labor, but
even then there are no capitalist profit interests behind these projects
as implied by the
myth
of the “prison industrial complex.” Petty economic interests aside,
the bigger story here is the national oppression faced by the 75% Black
prisoner population at Angola coerced into supporting Christian
organizations and pushed into the rodeo. This is a reprehensible example
of treating men like animals and turning social control into a sport for
the entertainment of reactionary spectators.
On 31 July 2012, there was a
small
scale race riot on the Estelle Unit in Huntsville, Texas. One person
was killed as a result of the prisoner-on-prisoner violence. We were
placed on lockdown for 10 days and were fed the most anorexic brown bag
meals I have ever seen. The meals were pathetic and it became clear the
administration was implementing a draconian behavior modification tactic
on the lumpen underclass who are housed in this slave pen of oppression.
Today, 31 August 2012, I was informed that prison officials have
initiated a new regulation having to do with day room time for General
Population minimum custody offenders on Estelle Unit. From now on, the
day room will be closed from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.!
Prisoners who are not working will be “racked up” in their cells during
these times. I cannot even begin to describe how oppressive, degrading,
and inhumane this new control tactic is.
These prisoncrats in Texas force the prisoners to work for free 8-12
hours a day with no pay or benefits. There is no air conditioning in
these small cells in population (my cell in super-seg is quite large
though in comparison). Furthermore, anyone who has done time knows one
of the keys to getting along with your cellmate is to “miss him” as much
as possible. However, this concept is lost on the prisoncrat whose only
purpose seems to be to oppress and antagonize the prisoners until they
are broken or explode in frustration and anger on each other.
It is my strong belief the lumpen must grieve this policy of oppression
and subjugation. Moreover, it is time for some revolutionary activism!
No day room = no work. Solidarity amongst the lumpen underclass is a
must. Conditions will only improve in Texas when the lumpen see clearly
that the “real” enemy wears civilian clothes and confederate army gray
uniforms!
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a follow up to the events reported in
Texas
Guards Encourage Oppressed Nation Fights, where a comrade explains
the role of the pigs in promoting fighting between oppressed nations in
prison in incidents like this one. That article also discussed the quick
response to the food grievances once prisoners came together with one
voice. This restriction on day room access seems to be in response to
this activism.
We have since received a correction to that
previous article: the prisoner killed was Mexican and not New Afrikan as
we reported in Under Lock & Key 28.
