Under Lock & Key

I am writing to follow up on the problems we’ve been experiencing with our appeals system as it relates to the mass complaint form that at least 85 of us sent to Sacramento. I went a step further and had my sister draft a “citizen’s complaint letter” to the Warden of RJ Donvan. He’s required by law to investigate and respond to this letter within 30 days. This puts more pressure on the Warden’s office due to the time and resources involved to send out responses. So, if your readers have friends and family who can draft and submit the citizen’s complaint en masse, I believe it can have a greater impact.

MIM(Prisons) adds: As previously reported, this comrade is making good use of the grievance petition and taking on this battle creatively through the legal and administrative system. Write to us to get involved in this campaign. We can send you a copy of the grievance petition for your state, or a generic version you can customize to create one for states that do not yet have one.

In May of 2012, when I was at my previous prison, the “Prison Emergency Response Team” (PERT team) did a full facility shake down. These are regular corrections officers who have been certified to be a member of this “special” group. They wear black t-shirts with “PERT” spelled on the front breast and upper back, with camouflage pants that are tucked into black military boots. They have no name tags, so there is absolutely no way of identifying any officer.

They make you strip naked, squat and cough. Then, in nothing but your white boxers, they handcuff you, and escort you through a metal detector, while other officer tears your cell apart looking for any form of “contraband.” If you return to your cell before the search is complete they make you stand facing your cell door. You cannot watch them search your cell! If you try to watch, your get verbally assaulted and/or sometimes physically man handled to the position they want you in.

During the search of my cell a personal property item of mine (electric shaver with trimmers) was broken into 3 pieces. When I asked for the names of the officers involved in the cell search, I was told it was “none of you fucking business.” So, I filed a grievance. The first response was that I did not list the names of the officers involved, and there was no proof of the condition of my shaver. (Though they had current paperwork of the personal property that I had and what condition it was in.)

I appealed this response. The second response said that the first response answered my grievance. I had no names of officers, and no proof of the condition of my property before the search. “No further action is needed.” I once again appealed the response. The last and final response I received was: “This examiner has reviewed this grievance and the response given by staff in the DC-410A response. My review of this grievance reveals no violation of applicable division of prisons policy nor does it show any evidence of disrespect or abuse of authority by staff. Therefore, this grievance is dismissed for lack of supporting evidence.” So my grievance was turned down because I had no names of the officials that changed my property. But there is no way that I could have gotten their names in the first place!

MIM(Prisons) adds: This is yet another example of the failure of the prison grievance system to address abuses and legal violations by prison staff. Grievances are little more than a formality where the very people violating policies and laws are the same ones reviewing the complaints. They back each other up and dismiss grievances based on criteria that they know are impossible for prisoners to meet. This is why the grievance campaign is spreading across the country. North Carolina has a grievance petition customized for that state, as do many others. Write to us for a copy of the petition for your state, or for a generic petition that you can customize if we don’t have one already.

The oppressor class will always sell high dreams and prospective futures to the oppressed to gain their vote. For instance Obama and the Democratic Party only recently proposed “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). DACA pretends to offer non-citizens who arrived in the U.$. as children the opportunity for legal residence. But lets look at it for what it is. DACA is not actually a law but an executive order that can be revoked at any time by whoever is president. The qualifications for DACA are narrow and for those qualified they will only receive a temporary work permit. What about the others who applied and were rejected for one reason or another? Well they willingly gave up their information along with that of their families and will now be in the “ICE database” and could be rounded up and deported. It is a re-election tactic the Obama administration utilized as a ploy to get the Latino vote. But this is not in the interests of the undocumented.

“People always were and always will be the foolish victims of deceit and self-deceit in politics until they learn to discover the interests of some class or other behind all moral, religious, political and social phrases declarations and promises. The supporters of reforms and improvements will always be fooled by the defenders of the old order until they realize that every old institution, however barbarous and rotten it may appear to be, is maintained by the forces of some ruling class and there is only one way of smashing the resistance of these classes and that is to find, in the very society which surrounds us, and to enlighten and organize for the struggle the forces which can - and owing to their social positions must - constitute the power capable of sweeping away the old and creating the new.” - VI Lenin On the Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism

The electoral system is not nor will it ever be the means to bringing real change, as long as there is an imperialist as president there will be no progress for the oppressed. There are those who say Obama is a better choice than Romney because Romney is a racist Mormon and his extreme conservative policies will bring further devastation to Amerika or wage more wars. But weren’t these the sentiments towards the end of the Bush administration? People got fed up with Bush’s deportation of immigrants and warmongering agenda. They had hope in the first Black president. But we have seen Obama has gone farther than Bush in violating people’s fundamental rights in “the war on terrorism.” His 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) law gives the president full authority to detain anyone who the government deems a terrorist indefinitely, without charges or a trial, and the terrorist label can be vague and will more than likely be thrown around like candy.

Obama has deported more immigrants than Bush, he also ordered more drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan than Bush. Obama’s warmongering resulted in 284 drone strikes on Pakistan alone. And under Obama’s leadership the United $tates., along with Israel, threatens imminent war on Iran. Let’s face reality, Obama and Romney will only serve the interests of the big bourgeoisie and maintain the status quo.

As prisoners we need to consciously participate in politics that serve our interests. In ULK 28 someone mentioned the penal system in Nevada; a prisoner anticipated reprisals by fellow prisoners for exposing the warden for culinary and laundry violations to the health department. These prisoners acting on behalf of the prison administration to attack this prisoner is counter and reactionary to what he was trying to do by bettering the quality of food and laundry for the prison population. This goes to show what Mao Zedong once said about lumpen: “brave fighters but apt to be destructive. They can become a revolutionary force if given proper guidance.” We all know doing favors for the pigs like that mentioned above is going a little too far and would merit a negative reaction from the prison population.

Looking at it from a bigger picture, under Obama/Romney mass incarcerations will continue. The U.$. has the highest incarceration rate in the world today and let’s not forget the police brutality that has swelled across the country since Obama’s been in the office.

Our action of not voting for one oppressor over another should be consciously voiced. When I explained this to a fellow prisoner he responded: “well who else is going to be your representative nationally?” My answer to that was simple: “we can represent ourselves, we don’t need yankee representatives!” The oppressed nationalities need their own independent representatives who will serve their interests, not sell them out, and institutions that help them rather than strip them of their identity and culture. Reforms or amendments will never bring about genuine change for the oppressed nations, only communism will.

MIM(Prisons) responds: The author above originally quoted Karl Marx as saying:

“Every few years the oppressed are authorized to decide which members of the oppressor class will represent and crush them in parliament.”

However, this does not accurately represent the conditions in the United $tates where the oppressor nation has the majority say in who represents the government that oppresses and kills more people worldwide than any other country [UPDATE: white Amerikans ended up being 72% of the voters in the 2012 national election]. The people most oppressed by U.$. imperialism have no say in these elections that affect them very deeply.

Rather than encouraging prisoners to organize in their own interests, we challenge them to think more broadly, in the interests of the oppressed people of the world. This is important because the imperialist system has stolen tremendous wealth and brought it home to Amerika where all the citizens share in the spoils. While prisoners are clearly oppressed, they share in the Amerikan mentality of looking out for their own wealth at the expense of the world’s people.

Because of my activism and revolutionary actions I have become a target. My mail is being delayed, and recently these prisoncrats have been denying recreation, not just to me but our entire block - E-wing High Security (Estelle).

Two days ago I watched a white male sergeant named Curtis Jordan pull a Mexican male out of his cell violently and slam his head against a wall, and continue to smash his head against the wall and he looked up at my cell where I was watching and said “Tell that, Bitch!” I wrote a detailed affidavit to Senior Warden Cody Ginsel of Estelle Unit requesting that he review the video. This was an unprovoked use of force! Believe it or not, major David M. Forrest ordered the brutality against this innocent Mexican prisoner, who has some mental health issues. These racists target the weak, elderly, and mentally ill prisoners who can’t fight back.

Comrades, I need your help in exposing these swine. Here is a list of the “Clique.” My goal is to break this “good ole boy” clique up and possibly improve the living conditions in this slave pen of oppression for all.

1. Assistant Warden Steven T. Miller, in charge of the High Security Unit at Estelle – extremely vindictive, and promotes inhumane treatment of prisoners.
   
2. Major David M. Forrest – Eight years ago was a Senior Warden, was demoted to Lieutenant after being involved in the murder of a prisoner. This is our Chief KKK grand wizard! We must destroy him!
   
3. Lieutenant James H. Kent – His father is a Deputy Directory. In the past six months the prison watchdog service, con-care service, received 16 prisoner complaints from prisoners housed at this High Security Unit. Kent was a main actor in five of the 16 complaints. He is cocky, arrogant and believes he is invincible.
   
4. Lieutenant Deward Demoss – Big racist. Made a death threat against me in May 2012. I filed a complaint with DOJ.
   
5. Sergeant Curtis Jordan – An unapologetic racist. He will tell you to your face “I hate niggers and wetbacks. I’m a redneck.” Too many wrongs to list.
   
6. We have two house negroes on the payroll. They are flunkies and dupes:
   A. Sergeant Terell Beverly – A sado-masochist with a history of abuse aimed at prisoners.
   B. Sergeant Brooks (“the snake”) – A young Black man who is so wicked and brainwashed it sickens me.

I know that there is no specific race or ethnicity associated with oppressors, and it is a huge mistake to think if we traded all these white men in for “brothers” all problems would cease. That is idealistic bullshit.

Unit Grievance Investigator Allen Hartley is the Senior Grievance Investigator. He is super corrupt and in league with these racists. The grievance system is so broken. The main problem is the grievance staff do not practice objectivity or operate with any integrity. There just isn’t any incentive for them to mete out justice and render fair decisions. People have been killed because they fail to do their job properly. Hartley’s modus operandi is cronyism, nepotism, misplaced comradery, and obstruction of justice.

MIM(Prisons) adds: Exposing structural relationships like this highlights the continuing importance and need for national liberation of the internal semi-colonies. As this comrade points out, replacing all the white men with Black men (integrationism) would not change anything. Similarly, replacing them with more progressive-minded people in general would not lead to significant change because the fundamental problem is the criminal injustice system. It is set up so that police, courts, and prisons serve as tools of social control, and the individuals working within the system can do little to change that.

This is why we must put our battles against individual oppressors and policies in the context of the fight against imperialism as a system. Without liberating the oppressed nations from imperialist oppression we will never make fundamental change to the criminal injustice system that attacks us. So we must take up these smaller battles as agitational tools to mobilize the oppressed and as battles to exert the will of the oppressed in small ways that benefit our ability to educate and organize together.

For the past 6 months I have been attempting to shed light on injustices perpetrated by Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officers and administrators against prisoners housed at the high security unit on Estelle Unit located in Huntsville, TX. I have written numerous Step 1 grievances, however, the same Unit Grievance Investigator (UGI) continues to impede, obstruct, and sabotage my quest for justice.

Estelle Unit UGI Mr. Allen Hartley has operated from the stance of nepotism, cronyism, and misplaced comradery. Instead of establishing an objective stance in his handling of my grievances, he has actually entered into a collusive and conspiratorial relationship with prison staff and administration in order to minimize, marginalize, and downplay my claims of injustice.

This is nothing new, comrades in Texas and California have been reporting on this type of behavior for years. MIM(prisons), USW, and some extremely dedicated comrades have come up with a weapon and strategy to combat these corrupt individuals. The grievance petition crafted by a USW comrade in California has been also adopted and utilized by Texas prisoners. I personally have sent a copy of the petition to the Texas state legislature.

The legislative session starts the 2nd week of January 2013. I encourage all comrades in Texas to write the legislature and request that all UGIs in the Texas prison system are fired and that a new streamlined, efficient, and fair grievance department be created. This new system should be managed by the Office of the Inspector General and oversight should be provided by the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP).

The point of the matter is this: the grievance procedure in Texas prisons is a farce and a sham. Unit Grievance Investigators are stealing tax payer dollars and violating the public’s trust. Comrades are being degraded, humiliated, and abused in Texas every day and no-one is being held accountable for their actions except prisoners! Time and time again I have watched as TDCJ employees commit every crime against humanity you can think of, including murder, and nothing is done. This is bullshit! Please join USW and help get rid of these authors of obstruction.

MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade is proposing an interesting change to the grievance system in Texas, with oversight from independent organizations (ACLU and TCRP). Leaving the grievance process in the hands of the government means it will never truly serve the needs of prisoners, while establishing independent oversight would certainly lead to more accountability and less ease at outright fraud and lies serving the prison employees.

Although fighting for grievances to be addressed is only a reform to gain more livable conditions and organizing space for comrades in prison, it is a campaign that can demonstrate to others our ability to come together to fight for the rights of prisoners. No reform of the grievance system will end the injustice of the prison system in Amerika. These are just the early steps in building a movement for humyn rights in U.$. prisons.

I was taken out of my cell one day and brought to the Security Threat Group (STG) Officer (AKA the gang officer). He tried everything to get me to give him some gang information, and when I would not he got mad and told me he was going to validate me as a STG member for a gang tattoo I was written up for in 2008. Since I would not give this man some gang information and put my life on the line for him, he is going to STG me. I have not had a gang charge in over three years, and as I said the charge for the tattoo was four years ago. This is crazy and it needs to stop now!

Comrades, keep your heads up and don’t stop fighting these pigs and this oppression. One day it will end! MIM(Prisons), thanks for all you do!

MIM(Prisons) responds: This is just one example of a common occurrence that exposes the emptiness of the term “Security Threat.” The “STG” label is a tool of national oppression, nothing more.

This comrade also wrote us about the censorship of MIM Theory 13: Revolutionary Culture and Under Lock & Key 27, which he appealed to no avail. The administration justified it by saying the literature encouraged “disruption of operations.” We wonder if that can be construed as a bad thing given how they operate.

I would like to bring your attention to something that’s going on here in Texas. There are repeated staff attacks of prisoners in Ad-Seg, and prison staff seem to always get away with this.

On October 16 I was on the rec yard where you can see inside to section 4 day room. A prisoner with a mental illness for which he takes meds was inside the day room. He was sitting at the table and two officers walked inside. He didn’t get up from the table, and the officers walked on both sides of the table where the prisoner was sitting down and both of them rushed the prisoner and took him to the floor of the day room beating him, punching him with handcuffs, and using the food slot bar to hit him in the head. They ended up with blood on them from the beating of this prisoner. He lay on the floor and they dragged him from the dayroom in handcuffs and called on the radio that they just had a use of force on a prisoner.

There are many cells that saw this incident in addition to people in the rec yard; a total of 18 people witnessed the beating. But only two people wrote a witness statement. When I asked the two officers why they did this, they told me that this has nothing to do with me, and that the prisoner had this coming.

I write grievances to stand up to staff who hurt people, but the grievances just go right to the ranking officers and they call the officer to invite a statement and the staff just deny it. So the grievance comes back with the staff denying any misconduct and that’s the end of it. I talked with other prisoners and told them that the only way to stop this is coming together as one and standing up.

MIM(Prisons) responds: It is ironic that this prison claims that MIM(Prisons) and our USW comrades behind bars are a threat to the safety and security of the institution while violence is carried out by those supposedly ensuring this safety and security. We know that the entire criminal injustice system is set up to defend the actions of guards like those described by this comrade, and it will never be easy to take them down through grievances or lawsuits. Even if we win, it is only to replace one oppressor with another. But we cannot stop fighting the oppression because battles like this one are a good opportunity to educate and organize against systematic brutality. Mass consciousness and mass organizing is the only way to win against oppression. United Struggle from Within comrades across the country fearlessly take on these battles even while knowing that they may face brutal retaliation themselves for standing up for their fellow prisoners. This is truly fighting for peace. As the first principal of the United Front for Peace in Prisons states: 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.

El 20 de Agusto 2012 salió un articulo alegando que el Richard Aoki un Japonés y también unos de los primeros miembros del “Black Panther Party” (BPP) era una rata del FBI, esta declaración esta hecha por el periodista y autor Seth Rosenfeld en su libro titulado: subversivos. La guerra del FBI contra estudiantes radicales y el crecimiento del poder de Reagan, que estuvo disponible convenientemente el 21 de Agusto. También el 7 Septiembre 2012 Rosenfeld publicó un artículo consecutivo con 221 paginas de documentos recién liberados del FBI los cuales él cree que implican mas a Aoki como agente del FBI.(1)

Pero hay que empezar con la perspectiva política de Rosenfelds porque todos sabemos que no existe un periodista imparcial. La opinión de Rosenfeld sobre las luchas liberativas es revelada en su caracterización del frente de liberación del tercer mundo (TWLF) en el cual Aoki se enredó era un movimiento estudiantil violento (2). El le echa la culpa a los huelguistas del TWLF por la violencia en 1968-69 en los colegios universitarios en la área Bay, y no a los puercos. Aunque los estudiantes nunca iniciaron la violencia y de hecho fueron rociados con tanto gas lacrimógeno por los puercos que los arboles en la plaza Proul dentro la Universidad de California en Berkeley todavía molestaban los ojos de los estudiantes hasta el próximo año de escuela. Asi mirando las cosas de esta perspectiva debemos poner en cuestión la estimación que hizo Rosenfeld de el FBI.

Richard Aoki influenció el partido mucho al principio y es famoso por conseguir las primeras pistolas para el BPP de acuerdo con su biografía Aoki ayudo a construir la ideología tremprana de los panteras Bobby Seale y Huey Newton mediante su relación colegio Merritt y por su sugestión con literatura material y político debates con ellos.(3) Ademas del con ellos en el trabajo por la frente liberativa Tercer Mundial vía la política alianza - Americano Asiatico, Aoki se quedo cometido político y revolucionario hasta su muerte en 2009, sorpresivamente señor Rosenfeld es de San Francisco y estuvo investigando para su libro desde 1982 pero apenas en 2002 o 2003 se entero de Richard Aoki.

La demanda de Rosenfeld inició mucho debate por la internet y el radio si será verdar o falso, aunque nosotros reconocemos que siempre esta presente la posibilidad que cualquier persona puede ser agentes del estado pero MIM(Prisiones) prefiere estar de acuerdo con los que vienen a concluir con evidencia reales antes de denunciar al legado de Aoki al estado, viendo objetivamente la evidencia siguiendo la demanda es inconcluyente porque el articulo original estaba muy sensacional, vago y con mal cotizaciones de la entrevista con Aoki en 2007 por cual el autor entremete como su admisión. Además de estas distorsiones la única otras evidencias son los documentos del FBI por cual son ambiguos con cotizaciones diciendo que Aoki proporciono información “única” pero no esta al disponible por otros recursos y el testimonio de los ex-agentos FBI de por cual abra nomas uno que conoció a Aoki también esta muerto.(4) Pero todavía ningunos de los documentos dicen cual tipo de información Aoki proporciono al FBI porque todo estuvo borrado. En el programa de radio Apex Express un amigo cercano de Aoki, Harvey Dong ofreció a los escuchadores una lectura de las partes pertinentes de los documentos del FBI, citados por Rosenfeld (y también excertas de los papeles de colegio de Aoki) (2). La única información que alegan que vino de Aoki en los primeros documentos del FBI es supuestamente de el mismo Aoki y podiar ser obtenido usando intersepciones telefónicas o un agente dando información de Aoki, soponer que los documentos liberados por el FBI son real, los que fueron liberados el 7 Septiembre si establecen que Aoki estaba dando información al FBI desde 1961 hasta 1977 pero muy poco de la relación esta revelado.

El hecho de que el FBI borró todos los nombres de las personas y organizaciones que alegan Aoki proporciono información hace imposible el especular su asunto y enredo con el bureau el articulo consecutivo de Rosenfeld usa muchas citas de las 221 paginas/documentos indicando que Aoki dio información valorosa pero cualquier detalles que pueden soportar esta demanda están asbestos o borrados y aunque salieron las publicaciones de estos nuevos documentos todavía no hay ninguna información por cual el tipo de inteligencia que dicen que el dio al FBI del BPP u otros grupos, aunque nosotros siempre tenemos que estar trucha por la posibilidad que un camarada puede ser un agente, pero primero tenemos que ver evidencia de sus males hechos contra el movimiento antes de condenarlo especialmente si hizo mucho para avanzar la causa.

Es muy probable que el FBI esta dandole la imagen de rata al Aoki para quitarle su crédito como tercer mundial activista y revolucionario, quitarle crédito a los pantheros como peones por el FBI y mas simple para vender copias del nuevo libro de Rosenfeld. Una lección que aprendimos con los Pantheros y otros movimientos políticos de los 1960s es la importancia de seguridad. Los ataques del cointelpro contra los Pantheros ayudó a MIM construirse como una organización semi-clandestino por cual practicamos nuestros relaciones como camaradas alrededor de asuntos políticos y no de relaciones personales. Lo más interesante es en 20 Agosto el FBI todavía tenia que liberar 4,000 más páginas de documentos que tenía contra Richard Aoki, pero estaban diciendo que no tenían un archivo del Aoki, esto no pueder ser la verdad porque él éra muy activo políticamente. Rosenfeld y otros miraron el FBI retener los documentos como implicación de Aoki como rata soponer que estos reportes eran proporciones de Aoki dentro el tiempo de 20 Agosto y 7 Septiembre.

La FBI liberó 221 paginas de documentos que tenio de Richard Aoki y adentro del debate nosotros vemos que la FBI seleccionó un tiempo tan oportunistico para liberar estos documentos por lo cual llegamos a cuestionar su legitimidad ¿porqué la FBI liberó documentación que dice Aoki no ha proporcionado información con valor? Esta controversa esta jugando con sus agendas para socavar activistas revolucionarios y sus movimientos… La desconfianza que vino al resultado de esta demanda es en un clásico ejemplo perfecto en cual el BPP siempre citó al Mao por decir “no hay derecho de hablar, sin investigación, este escandalo en contra de Aoki debe servirlos como un recuerdo como el dar la imagen de rata a uno puede impactar nuestro movimiento anti-imperialista y especialmente nuestro organización dentro prisiones porque unos de los principales del frente unidos por la paz en prisiones es”unidad.” Nosotros luchamos para unir a los mismos que luchan por nuestros mismos intereses y para mantener la unidad, nosotros debemos que tener una linea abierta de comunicación, cadenas y asegurar resolver cualquier situación con hechos reales, esto es una necesidad, porque asi como los puercos usan tácticos como rumores, ratas, y falseamiento para dividir los oprimidos, los puercos miran a nuestra unidad como el fin de su reinado(5).

Desgraciadamente esta es una lección que vamos aprender cada tiempo como la demanda que todos en las yardas SNY o custodia protectiva son rata y rumores en la yarda no significa nada si esta ausente la evidencia suficiente para llamar alguien más como un agente del estado, algunos veces recibimos sugestiones de otros camaradas que debemos pedir papeles y archivos del estado correccional vía los camaradas antes de aceptarlos en USW para determinar si están bien por sus cargos y dónde y cúal yarda estaban en sus pasados, esto es como decir que debemos preguntarle al estado a quién debemos dejar entrar al USW. Esto no nadamas suena ridículo en teoría, porque sabemos de un caso donde una rata le dieron falsos papeles y lo dejaron salir a la población general para ser un lugar teniente en un LO en California.

El estado siempre va poner energía para hacernos suspechar a uno de otras, como revolucionarios compañeros nosotros no debemos de hacer las cosas mas fácil para ellos, al reverso nosotros debemos comunicarlo directo si pensamos que algo esta mal porque nuestra lucha es muy importante para enredarlos en lo sectario y rumores. Aunque salga evidencia en el futuro que pruebe Aoki proporciono información al FBI y les ayudo atacar la lucha liberativa todavía no vamos estar devastados y también no estamos de acuerdo con Fred Ho’s método subjetivo en defender a Aoki aunque si estamos de acuerdo con las consecuencias por las alegaciones si sale real si es verdad que Aoki era un agente, qué importa? Porque sí es era un pobre agente, porque hizo mas para el movimiento que para destruirlo (6) Mirandolo así es correcto y junto a nuestra mirada como mantener seguridad dentro el movimiento prisionero - anti-imperialista, nunca hay que darle al puerco oportunidad a destruirnos más - dando más información de la que se debe saber y aplicando altos estados de nivel diferentes a los miembros nos va ayudar a asegurar que de gente más por la causa que al enemigo.

En la edición ULK 24, hemos destacado Playaz Unidos de San Francisco, California, para darle a nuestros camaradas adentro una idea de lo que alguna gente que estuvo encarcelada ha estado haciendo luego de alcanzar su libertad para contribuir al movimiento de paz. Muchos miembras y voluntarios de Playaz Unidos (UP por sus siglas en Inglés, N.T.), han pasado tiempo en el sistema de prisiones. MIM(Prisiones) tuvo la oportunidad de entrevistar a Rico, uno de los miembros del personal, quien estuvo 25 años en la prisión de California. Rico era pandillero pero se convirtió en abogado de paz, un cambio de vida con el que muchos lectores de Under Lock & Key se pueden identificar.

Playaz Unidos provee servicios a la juventud, incluyendo programas extra curriculares y excursiones a las prisiones, en un intento de separarlos de la tubería que conduce de la escuela a la prisión, (y del potencial para) actividades violentas, ayudandolos a enfocarse en su educación. La misión de UP declara:

Playaz Unidos es una organización de prevención de violencia y liderazgo juvenil que trabaja con la juventud mas dificil de alcanzar de San Francisco a travéz de manejo individualizado de casos, intervención en las calles, servicios en las escuelas, actividades recreacionales en centros comunitarios, y apoyo a la juventud encarcelada. Playaz Unidos está comprometida con el mejorar las vidas de jóvenes, que sobreviviendo en ambientes vulnerables, musetran una alta incidencia de vagancia y bajo desempeño academico, o quienes han estado envueltos en el sistema juvenil de justicia a travéz de servicio directo y colaboracion comunitaria. Playas Unidos cree que “Se necesita al barrio para salvar al Barrio.”

Rico explica como se involucro inicialmente con Playaz Unidos:

En 1994 estaba encarcelado en la prisión estatal de San Quentin. Y en ese tiempo Rudy [El Director Ejecutivo de UP] estaba trabajando con juventud perturbada y juventud que estaba involucradas en el sistema juvenil, demostrándoles los resultados de tomar malas decisiones. Y ahí conocí a Rudy. Y Rudy me observó trabajando con la juventud, y luego de informarse que yo residía en la zona en que el vivía, me dijo: “Cuando te suelten quiero que conozcas nuestro programa y mires si quieres trabajar con los Playaz Unidas.” En el 2005 finalmente salí de la prisión después de 25 años de cárcel y primero me ofrecí de voluntario. Y luego cuando hubo una vacante de trabajo, Rudy me dio empleo de CRN, en la Red Comunitaria de Respuesta. Es un empleo en el cual salimos de noche a hacer asistencia pública y conducimos alrededor de la ciudad platicando con la juventud que está en la calle.

MIM(Prisons) le pregunto a Rico acerca de la importancia de construir un Frente Unida por la Paz en las Prisiones, y por los obstáculos que enfrentaríamos con ese esfuerzo.

En el 1982 formamos una protesta mientras yo estaba en San Quentin: Sabes, los prisioneros tenian derechos. Teniamos el derecho de ver nuestros familiares cuando venían a vernos. Teniamos el derecho a una educación, teníamos muchos derechos. Pero lentamente nos los quitaron, y ahora los prisioneros no tienen derechos. Si quieres una visita, tienes que trabajar. Si no trabajas, no recibes visita.

Los asiáticos, Latinos, los Afro-Americanos, los anglos, nos reunimos y dijimos, “¿sabe que? sentémonos. Que nadie trabaje, nadie estudie, nada.” La prisión depende del prisionero. Por que hay trabajos allí, que requieren un empleo de $35,000 al año, pero que el prisionero haca por $18 al mes. Asi que ahorran todo el dinero usando prisioneros para el mantenimiento del sistema de prisiónes, verdad? Asi que cuando nos sentamos, cuando paramos el trabajo, nos entregaron lo que queriamos y luego todo regreso a la normalidad.

Siempre hay incidentes en la prisión, prisioneros lastimandose el uno al otro, pero ese es un buen ejemplo del dicho - juntos nos paramos, divididos nos caemos. ¿Sabes? Si estamos unidos mucha violencia aquí adentro disminuirá, ¿verdad? Por que la gente adentro, predicaran paz allá afuera. Y mucha juventud que hace mal aquí, está influenciada por prisioneros. Pero ahorita no hay paz. No hay paz.

Bueno, si hay [organizacion por paz y unidad en prisión] pero lo tienes que hacer por debajo porque la administración de la prisión no quiere que te organizes y trates de traer paz. En prisión nos quieren divididos. Sabes lo que digo? Asi que hay maneras en las que nos podemos organizar, pero tiene que ser por debajo.

Es ridiculo que prisioneros tengan que mantener ensecreto sus platicas acerca de no matarse, para no disturbar los cheques de pago de la administración de la prisión. Pero este no es el único suceso anti-personal que viene de la evolución del sistema criminal de injusticia, el cual está diseñado para proteger al capitalismo y su amado motivo de ganancia. Rico explica algunas de las consecuencias al decidir quien se queda adentro y quien se queda por fuerza en una sociedad capitalista.

Si tratas a un reo como animal, cuando salga va a actuar como animale. Me explico: una vez yo estaba en una unidad de segregación, en el hoyo. Allí ví un hombre que era tan violento que no podía estar con los demás, verdad? Era tiempo de que lo soltaran. Asi que cuando lo dejaron ir lo esposaron afuera del edificio, al otro lado del patio, en una van, ¿verdad? Y lo dejaron afuera. Cuando lo soltaron le quitaron las esposas, y le dijeron: “estas libre.” ¿Como podemos ayudar a alguien así, en su regreso a la libertad? Si es tan violento adentro que necesita que este segregado, ¿como pueden soltar a alguien así? Si comete un crimen acá afuera, se refleja en los otros reos. Así tienen el poder de decir, “¿ven lo que pasa cuando soltamos a estos muchachos?”

Pero hay hombres alla adentro que están mejor que yo - que pueden hacer mejor de lo que yo hago aquí, y aún así todavía están encarcelados, por la política. Hay muchos de ellos, muchos. Conozco varios personalmente que deberían de haber salido y que pueden contribuir acá afuera para lograr la paz. ¿Cómo podemos liberarlos?

Cuando el sistema económico cambie y valore a la gente sobre la utilidad, las prisiones también cambiaran. En la China de Mao, Allyn y Adele Rickett eran dos espías americanos quienes escribieron un libro titulado “Reos de Liberacion” sobre su experiencia como reos del Partido Comunista de China. Su experiencia les enseño que cuando el reo se critica asi mismo y está preparado para contribuir a la sociedad, serán liberados. Por otro lado, cuando reos continúan el daño a la sociedad (como organizandose para re-instituir un sistema económico capitalista) no se les permite la salida simplemente por que su sentencia se les venció. En su lugar se les aconseja que estudien, lean, discutan, y que su critiquen a si mismos hasta que se conviertan en miembros productivos de la sociedad.

Cualquiera con un hueso compasivo en su cuerpo puede decir que lo que paso en la China de Mao es un modo más eficiente de encarcelamiento al que tenemos hoy en día. La diferencia entre los liberales y MIM(Prisiones) es que sabemos que la única manera de llegar ahí, es a travéz de la revolución socialista para que el sistema de prisiones se ponga en las manos de aquellos que son agoviados.

Otro reto de hoy en día que discutimos con UP era su meta de alcanzar autosuficiencia financiera en el futuro. Rico nos explica las limitaciones que trae el recibir fondos del estado.

Si solo depende de nosotros, vamos a trabajar duro, y a luchar realmente por la paz. Pero porque los recursos vienen de DCYF [Departamento de niños Juventud y familia de San Francisco], ellos limitan nuestro movimiento. No podemos participar en demostraciones. Si hubiese una manifestación del movimiento Ocupar Ahora (Occupy Now), no podemos ir, porque se le prohibe a nuestra organización, yo pienso que es importante estar allá afuera con la gente que pelea por el cambio. Cada año hacemos una caminata de Silencia la Violencia con Paz. Podemos hacer caminatas al estilo de Martin Luther King. Pero cuando se trata de presupuesto, crimen, y prisiones, demonstraciones para acabar con esas cosas, no podemos participar.

Lo que ocurre afuera le puede afectar a la juventud en el futuro si las cosas no cambian. ¿Y porqué esperar a que envejezcan para exponerlos a marchas y a que peleen por sus derechos? Tu sabes que me encantaría de llevar a estos jóvenes a un movimiento como ese, por que eso les da sabiduría de la vida, que les enseña hay algo mas que pasar el tiempo en la calle. Pero desafortunadamente no estamos permitidos a participar en movimientos como ese.

Hasta entonces, ciertamente se pueden tomar pasos positivos dentro de estas limitaciones. Hay muchos niveles en nuestro movimiento y muchos papeles por jugar en la construcción de la paz y unidad entre las masas. Y sin grupos como UP alcanzando a la juventud en las calles, esfuerzos como el de Frente Unido por la Paz en Prisiones seria muy limitado para tener éxito.

Para terminar, Rico comparte estas palabras con camaradas que se preparan para salir.

Lo único que puedo decir es que mientras estés vivo hay esperanza. Y si en verdad quiere ir a casa, haz lo debido, no importa lo que pase; y luchen por sus derechos. Tienen que ayudarse el uno al otro y pensar en la paz, porque ustedes son necesarios acá afuera. La experiencia que tienen de la prisión, pueden salvar muchas vidas acá afuera, con sus hermanitos y hermanitas que buscan guíanza en alguien que haya vivido sus experiencias. Buena suerte, espero que salgan, y estén aquí y ayuden a cambian a nuestro sistema en uno mejor.

Comparado a la vida en prision, como un “ciudadano libre” tienes mas libertad de organizarte, incluso, hasta en libertad condicional. Tu activismo no debería de terminar con tu sentencia de prisión.

United Playaz
1038 Howard St
San Francisco, CA 94103

This comes to you long overdue from High Desert State Prison (Nevada). September 9 has come and gone and I have no information as to how it went except for what follows below.

On September 6 I was cuffed up and put in the most isolated unit at the prison. Several others were simultaneously moved to other units. I was locked up “pending disciplinary” for write ups I’d gotten for doing legal work. However additional charges had been filed against me on 8/29 for organizing a work stoppage/disruptive demonstration. I did not know this at the time.

On 9/8 another comrade was also locked up behind a matter completely unrelated to 9/9 as well.

On 9/9 I fasted in my cell. No one else on this tier did so. It’s assumed they never got word, not surprising given the security level in this unit.

On 9/9 there was little notice of my fast and I heard no radio traffic which would indicate that anything was going on elsewhere in the prison. There was no discussion concerning anything irregular occurring.

On 9/21 I was served the second notice of charges.

On 10/5 I was found not guilty of the first legal work write up.

On 10/6 I was convicted of the work stoppage/demonstration write up. I was given 180 days disciplinary segregation, a class B state time referral and referred to the parole board for revocation/rescission of parole.

A letter received informed me that, in fact, few people from my former unit participated in the fast and this evidences a successful oppressor strategy: divide and conquer. They calculated (apparently correctly), that if they removed the perceived organizer and driving force behind the action that the witnesses to that removal and the remaining parties would be dissuaded and intimidated and abandon the action. Excepting a few loyal comrades, this was apparently correct.

This is a common and timeless strategy. Unfortunately it is successful all too often. There remains a few who spoke for the many and (as far as I can tell) I was the only target of retribution. I can live with that!

2013 is not far off and I will be again one of the few speaking for the many, if that’s what it takes.

For those who stood by us and our comrades country-wide, respects to all!