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.
The decentralization of the prison population in California has helped
make the voices of the oppressed harder to get out, as county jails step
up repression in face of growing prisoner populations. At the Martinez
Detention Facility in the Bay Area gang enhancements are being trumped
up as a form of national oppression against Latin@s:
“We here, at MDF, Contra Costa County Jail, that are of Latin descent
and not southsiders, are being held in Ad-Seg status now since 2010. And
now even more unjust treatment is being added to us, gang enhancements
just for being housed on this module, even if we don’t ask to be housed
on this module at time of arrest/booking. Classification, Administration
and the District Attorney’s office is using this module as an apparatus
to get harsher sentences from the courts.” - April 2017
Meanwhile, resistance has grown down south at Robert Presley Detention
Center in Riverside. A hunger strike began on 13 April 2017. As we go to
press updates are a couple weeks old, but we know that about 30 people
participated in the strike and that some passed out and were sent to
outside medical facilities. The prisoners list 13 demands, including the
end of long-term solitary confinement, restrictions on phones/visits and
dayroom access.
Within the CDCR we’re still seeing the unfolding of contradictions being
created by the release of many from the SHU, who were once influential
but are now older and less known, into a population that is younger and
often in disarray. The Agreement to End Hostilities came out of the SHU
almost five years ago, and it remains in a state of uncertainty. Many
are still working hard on it, but it has not been universally upheld in
these last five years. As a comrade reported in March:
“There were two recent riots here. One on the 3A yard here at Corcoran,
the other at SATF Corcoran, on 3C yard. No one severely hurt, but it’s
hard to organize with situations like that.”
There were contradictions between many of the forces behind the original
agreement and sectors of the prison population that still need to be
addressed. USW comrades in California are still working on these
contradictions to push for a more united peace. This should be a theme
as we prepare educational campaigns for Black August and the
Commemoration of the Plan de San Diego, which should both feed into this
September 9th Day of Peace and Solidarity. Send in your reports on these
campaigns and the conditions for peace where you are.
Finally, we’re getting a lot of requests for info about Prop 57 from
readers in California. One comrade recommends contacting: Initiate
Justice PO Box 4962 Oakland, CA 94605 The latest from CDCR
is that if you are eligible you will be hearing from your counselor this
summer.
Con respecto a la pregunta de las alianzas del frente unido con grupos
nacionalistas blancos, hay sus pros y sus contras al trabajar con otros
grupos. Ya voy escribiendo a MIM(Prisiones) por unos años y disfruto
leer el ULK. Soy prácticamente mi propia armada con un solo
hombre. No les pido a otras personas que hagan cosas que yo no haría por
mismo.
Me encuentro en una Penitenciaría Federal en Tuscon, Arizona. Este es un
pabellón para agresores sexuales, desertores de pandillas, Custodia
Preventiva. No me encuentro aquí por elección propia. Soy un agresor
sexual registrado por exposición indebida en un bar. Incluso aún cuando
se retiraron los cargos, me obligaron a registrarme y ahora me encuentro
todavía peleando el caso en el estado. Me encuentro en una prisión
federal por cargos que no se relacionan con el cargo estatal. Este
pabellón no tiene las mismas políticas que otros pabellones tienen. Sí
tenemos políticas, pero no al extremo. El salón chow se encuentra divido
por razas, pero te puedes sentar donde se te dé la gana. Lo que estoy
tratando de decir es que, yo podría dejar este pabellón e ir
probablemente a un pabellón activo, y que me asesinen por ser un agresor
sexual registrado, aún cuando se retiraron los cargos. Esa es la
política. Ahora, hay un montón de agresores sexuales y homosexuales,
ratas y desertores. Todos tienen una razón para estar aquí. He estado en
pabellones activos y muchas veces, en realidad la mayoría de veces, una
persona pone su vida en riesgo por alguien que no es más que una mierda
o un drogadicto. Ya no uso drogas y no me drogo en prisión.
Crecí en el oeste, desde Montana a Arizona, en el corazón de la nación
Aria, un ejecutor de la Hermandad Aria con el viejo refrán, si no es
blanco no está bien. Fui un niño ciego pero un buen soldado. A los 41
años soy ahora mi propio hombre. Nunca he abandonado a mis hermanos pero
ya no peleo más esa batalla de odio. Hay sus pros y sus contras al
trabajar con otros grupos.
Tengo una pregunta: ¿No hay Maoístas que sean agresores sexuales o
soplones? ¿Los Maoístas escogen trabajar con otros grupos o intentan
convertir a otros grupos al maoísmo? Es algo diferente el trabajar con
un grupo distinto para lograr la misma meta. Soy un individuo en un
grupo y mis metas como individuo no son siempre las mismas que las del
grupo. Mi meta es la libertad de un gobierno opresivo y corrupto, y no
importa si es EUA o Rusia, opresión es opresión, corrupción es
corrupción y esto debería detenerse. Todos pertenecemos a grupos
diferentes, incluso a los grupos que sienten la necesidad de oprimir a
otros.
El enemigo de mi enemigo es mi aliado. ¡El Frente Unido por la Paz!
Esto no se trata más de política o a qué grupo pertenece una persona. Yo
soy un Hermano Ario independiente y apoyo al Ministerio
Internacionalista Maoista de Prisiones y a la lucha de personas
encarceladas. (No me gusta usar la palabra preso o convicto o cualquier
otra palabra para prisionero que se usa para tomar el poder personal de
una persona. Estas palabras hacen que las personas se sientan sin poder,
sin esperanza, y eso no es verdad). Somos personas, humanos. Tenemos
familias, amigos, al igual que el resto de personas.
MIM(Prisiones) responde: Esta es una carta interesante sobre los
frentes unidos porque viene de alguien que representa a dos de los
grupos con quienes, a menudo nos dicen, nunca deberíamos aliarnos, lo
cual levanta preguntas de la otra parte. Primero, con respecto a la
pregunta de agresores sexuales, este escritor demuestra porqué el
confiar en la etiqueta estatal de “agresor sexual” es tan malo como
confiar en la etiqueta estatal de “criminal”. Debemos decidir por
nosotros mismos cuales individuos son aliados y cuales son enemigos.
Sobre la pregunta de nacionalistas blancos y aliados, este escritor
todavía se encuentra en su grupo pero al parecer, tiene desacuerdos
considerables con ellos si apoyan a ULK y MIM (Prisiones). Este es un
ejemplo excelente de unir a todos los que se puedan unir contra el
sistema de injusticia criminal. Sabemos que la hermandad Aria se
encuentra básicamente en oposición a la liberación de naciones
oprimidas. Al igual que el Partido Comunista de China sabía que el
Kuomindang se encontraba esencialmente en oposición al comunismo. Pero
en China antes de que la revolución fuera un éxito, hubo la oportunidad
de construir una alianza contra el imperialismo Japonés, la
contradicción principal en su momento. Y nosotros tenemos una
oportunidad parecida de construir una alianza contra el sistema de
injusticia criminal dentro de las prisiones. Ciertamente, que a una
escala menor que la del frente unido en China, nuestro enemigo común en
las prisiones ofrece la oportunidad de alianzas con grupos que serán
nuestros enemigos, en otras batallas. Además es posible que ganemos
algunos de estos tipos de estos grupos que, como este escritor, piensan
que “la opresión es opresión…y debería detenerse”.
Este camarada menciona Rusia, tal vez como un ejemplo aleatorio. Pero
hablando de Rusia y la opresión, es algo que se está convirtiendo en un
asunto delicado en los Estados Unidos actualmente. Este fervor anti
Rusia, como siempre, se encuentra ligado al nacionalismo americano. Se
usa para atacar el régimen actual de Trump de forma que amenace al mundo
con un inter imperialismo e incluso una guerra nuclear. Rusia fue alguna
vez parte de la Unión Soviética, que bajo Lenin y Stalin fue socialista.
Pero después de que murió Stalin en 1952, el país adoptó rápidamente el
capitalismo estatal. Y el capitalismo es un sistema que crece con la
opresión y corrupción. Pero el renacimiento anti Rusia en los EE UU no
se debería confundir con anti imperialismo, sino más bien es
nacionalismo que se mueve alrededor del poder imperialista más grande y
peligroso en el mundo – los E$tados Unido$.
I believe that having alliances with lines that are military minded is
somewhat dangerous to the united front. First and foremost, I do believe
in armed struggle, but building public opinion on imperialism and moving
toward communism as the ultimate goal to end all oppression is key. Some
lumpen orgs or nationalists might criticize MIM(Prisons) on their line.
But truth be told we must study the history of the Cultural Revolution
in China, which gives us the best way to move toward socialism, ending
in communism. It also allows us to learn from the mistakes of the past.
Amerikkka targets lumpen orgs, and nationalist groups. So alliance with
a militia group might jeopardize the united front. And once the
imperialist policies place everyone in one basket who they feel are a
threat, they will place them in prisons or worse eliminate them as what
happened to many BPP members in the late 1960s. So, I must say comrades,
that MIM(Prisons)’s approach with study groups and challenging all
comrades to study history and dialectical materialism prepares us to use
public opinion to change the minds of the lumpens and all those who are
oppressed.
What good is guns if you don’t know who the enemy truly is? By enemy I
mean, just going up against amerikkka’s army is not enough. The enemy is
the system which must be changed. Guns with no vision or discipline is
suicide to the united front. The best weapon in the struggle is unity,
and armed struggle is also important. But each one teach one is the
method to awakening the masses on how capitalism destroys lives.
Once the American people become self-reliant and help their fellow man
and stop supporting this economic monster (capitalism-imperialism) then
hopefully through public opinion and democratic centralism we can
achieve the goal we all want which is communism.
As for snitches, there are different levels of snitching. But I will not
allow a person in my circle who I know has the tendencies to crack under
pressure. I mean those individuals who work for the prison
administration, receiving goods in order to cause chaos. They would go
so far as telling prison officials that you are sharing revolutionary
material and having your books confiscated.
Even on the outside you have to be careful aligning with rats who will
jeopardize the united front in order to demoralize and cause
dissociation. But as long as those who represent the militant side of
fighting oppression can agree that we must use strategy and wait for the
right time to strike the imperialist monsters, I’m all for it. But if
militants feel as though focoism is their aim, I’m all out. Educate the
poor and oppressed first, to show them the real enemy. And there needs
to be a change in habits and consciousness so that we will not allow
materialistic ideology to control us.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade raises a good point about the
risks of allying with those who are engaging in military actions now. We
agree with em that focoism is not the right strategy. But the value of a
united front is that we can disagree on this point of strategy in terms
of the right time for armed struggle, but still unite in our fight
against imperialism. We can work with these organizations while
struggling with them over these points if such struggle seems fruitful.
We do not need to have complete agreement on points of strategy in order
to work together in a united front. We would also want to keep these
groups at arms’ length for the simple fact that advocating armed
struggle now is a known tactic cops use to wreck a movement from within.
But beyond the question of uniting without complete theoretical
agreement, this writer is arguing that it is too risky to unite with
focoists because their premature military action could bring down the
whole united front. This is certainly a risk we need to consider. Groups
within the UF have the autonomy to act independently of the group, and
so some may engage in actions that others disagree with. While we
wouldn’t automatically exclude focoists from a UF based on their
political line, this comrade is correct to warn that we need to stay
vigilant about actions that present a risk to our work and to our
organization.
At the same time, resistors of all stripes, even those who aren’t
focoist, bring down repression from the state. Even anti-imperialist
academics and people working in electoral politics are harassed, and
murdered, by the state when their words are too effective. One could
also argue that the frivolous security practices of other groups will
jeopardize the UF. We have to find a balance between putting ourselves
out there, and getting the work done.
We can’t make up easy rules to answer to this contradiction. Instead
everyone has to evaluate alliances based on the circumstances and
current situation.
Issue 55 of Under Lock & Key is taking a deeper look at
building the United Front for Peace in Prisons at the margins. We’ve
already spent a lot of space debating the role people on Special Needs
Yards (SNY), especially in California. While that is an issue we will
need to continue to address, here we focus first on white nationalist
lumpen organizations, that are more likely to be on the mainline, and
how anti-imperialists might relate to them. We also have a few pieces
looking at the question of sex offenders who are generally seen as
pariahs. That topic is a subset of the SNY discussion. In this article
we will focus on the white nationalist question, and the question of
oppressed nations allying with whites in general. In many cases handling
this question properly will have a big impact on our success, because
there are a lot of white people in prisons and many of them team up with
white nationalist orgs.
One commonality across these examples is the need to consider how people
end up where they are. We print an example of
someone
taking sex offender charges out of expediency, and ey points out
that many such charges are flimsy. In some cases
sex
charges are politically motivated bad-jacketing. We will also see
many examples of people taking up white nationalism, to protect oneself
and also just out of a youthful ignorance, something many in prison can
identify with.
So there are a few principles of dialectical materialism that we should
apply in our analysis of groups which are often considered pariahs of
the revolutionary movement: 1) dialectics differs from metaphysics in
that metaphysics believes a thing has an essence; 2) dialectics in
contrast sees everything as always being in a constant state of change;
3) and we can best understand that change by looking at the
contradictions within that thing, while also considering the external
contradictions that may influence it (them). To put it another way, no
one is born a white supremacist or rapist, and just because someone’s
actions were that way in the past doesn’t mean they have to be in the
future.
What is White Nationalism?
Elsewhere in this issue we talk about
white
nationalism as an ideology that is a product of imperialism. Another
point we must stress when talking about white nationalism is it is the
majority ideology among the oppressor nation under imperialism. Most of
this issue will be dealing with extreme examples found in imprisoned
lumpen organizations. But there is a whole range of white nationalist
ideologies, and the lumpen organizations are not necessarily the most
extreme. Because the imprisoned lumpen are in the trenches, they must be
more scientific than the more privileged wings of the white nationalist
movement, and their motivations are often quite different.
In our current political climate in the United $tates, “white
nationalism” is a hot topic. It is being used to criticize President
Trump and those around em. But most of this criticism is coming from the
perspective that former President Obama was not a white nationalist. The
split between the left wing and right wing of white nationalism is about
how to best manage the oppressed, even when that is not how they think
about it. If we recognize that the current imperialist order is one that
puts whites in a position of supremacy, then we must conclude that any
position that works to preserve that system is white nationalist. Or we
may say Amerikan nationalist to avoid confusion when its proponents do
not appear white. But even though some internal semi-colony people are
sitting at the table, globally, white supremacy in the form of Amerikan
hegemony is alive and well.
Initially, the question of how and when to strategically ally with white
nationalists is a broad one, as it refers to how we might ally with the
majority of people in North America. But within that majority there are
different classes and political tendencies. And white nationalist
prisoners may be at the top of the list of likely allies from that
group.
Another argument for the importance of working with the white lumpen is
the Marxist analysis of the lumpen as a particularly dangerous, wavering
class. If this country is heading in a more fascist direction, white
nationalist lumpen youth and former military will be the first bases of
recruitment for the fascists. This concern applies to the lumpen in
general, but the national split makes it a harder sell for the internal
semi-colonies to take up fascism. As always, our strategy is to win over
all who can be won over, not to set false limitations based on identity
politics or preconceived assumptions.
More so than former military, the white lumpen have connections to the
struggles of the oppressed. And it is the massive prison system in this
country that we can largely thank for that. The modern prison system is
an inherent part of the modern ghetto, which has been lumpenized. While
segregation is stronger today in many cases in the ghettos, it is weaker
outside of the ghetto. This translates into a stronger class divide
within the oppressed nations. The extent of this divide in the white
nation is something that requires more research. But from the
information we have, white prisoners are much, much more likely to
integrate into petty-bourgeois society rather than be caught in a
ghetto-like situation upon release. But as long as they remain in
prison, whites do experience that ghetto life and the most brutal
repression that we have in this country.
Young Patriots, White Lumpen Revolutionaries
One of the best examples we have of white lumpen youth forming an
anti-imperialist organization was the Young Patriots Organization, which
started in Chicago in the late 1960s. Soon the offshoot Young Patriots
Party spread the movement to other parts of the United $tates. Their
example demonstrated both the potential and limitations of such an
organization. As long as there are pockets of whites that face similar
conditions to the oppressed nations, as they do in prison, a
revolutionary organization that can speak to and organize white lumpen
will strengthen the cause of anti-imperialism. However, the Black
Panthers, in particular Bob Lee and the leadership of Fred Hampton,
played a very hands-on role in the development of the Young Patriots. In
general history does not lead us to expect revolutionary white
organizations with correct political lines to take hold in North America
without good examples from the internal semi-colonies.
Even after becoming established, the Young Patriots were very limited by
the reactionary nature of their own nation. The Patriot base was
displaced southern whites who ended up in urban ghettos; a much smaller
group, but parallel to the New Afrikans who made the Great Migration.
When the Patriots returned to the south they were not received well. Two
of the members were killed shortly after returning to the south, because
of their organizing.(1) In other words, we are looking at exceptions to
the rule where there are pockets of whites who are both separate from
the oppressed nations but still living very similar lives and in
proximity to them. When Peggy Terry of the Young Patriot-associated
organization Jobs or Income Now (JOIN) ran for vice president, with
Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver as the presidential candidate in 1968,
they received a mere 28,000 votes in California. In contrast, the openly
racist George Wallace campaign got 500,000 (almost exclusively white)
votes.(2) And finally, for most of their existence the Patriots had more
spies watching their organization than they had members.(3) This
security issue is something others have pointed out with white
nationalist lumpen organizations in prison that can be
swimming
with federal agents.
Often the Panther rhetoric spoke of the Young Patriots as representing
“white power” in a way that was parallel to the Panthers’ “Black Power”
and Young Lords’ “Brown Power”. While we generally disagree with that
line, the Panthers later called out all other white groups as “fascists”
with the exception of the Patriots. The Patriot culture flew in the face
of the rest of the white anti-war and student movements, including their
confederate flag logo. We might draw a parallel to the Lucasville prison
uprising in Ohio in 1993, where it is reported that swastikas, lightning
bolts and words like “Supreme White Power” appeared alongside graffiti
throughout the prison saying “Black and White Together” and “Convict
unity.”(4) These white identities, historically associated with power
over New Afrikans were transformed in these unique circumstances.
Racism as a Tool of the Oppressor
MIM(Prisons) is cautious about presenting racism as merely a tool of the
imperialists to divide “the people” as that is the line of the
revisionists who claim that the majority of people in the imperialist
countries are proletarians that must be united in their common class
interest. As the practice of the Young Patriots demonstrated, this is
not the case. However, in prisons is where we see the greatest potential
for a class unity with whites that is progressive in the United $tates.
And in prison, it is certainly true that racism is a tool that is
actively used by the administration, even if often times white
nationalists are too willing to play the role of keeping other prisoners
in line for the state.
Of course, not all white prisoners are part of overtly racist lumpen
organizations. Former-Black-Panther-turned-anarchist Lorenzo Komboa
Ervin documented the history of the federal penitentiary at Terre Haute,
Indiana, which was transformed from a completely Ku Klux Klan-dominated
facility to one where New Afrikans built power in alliance with white
prisoners. Ey argues that the anti-racist whites, often imprisoned for
anti-war activities, were able to re-educate other white prisoners where
non-white prisoners would not be able to.(5) This is an example of the
importance of white-specific organizing, though not on the basis of an
outward white nationalism.
We must reach people where they are at in a segregated society. We saw
this with the Panthers in Chicago who were viewed with great skepticism
by the white residents of Uptown, but were welcomed by the Young Patriot
leadership. We saw this in Lucasville, where the New Afrikan leaders
picked Aryan Brotherhood member George Skatze to stand with them as a
representative of white prisoners because of eir history of settling
disputes between whites and New Afrikans.
“At some point on this first day George saw a black inmate (Cecil Allen)
talking through a bull horn to a small crowd of other prisoners. George
went up to listen. To his surprise the man on the bull horn pointed to
George and said, ‘There’s nobody going to be talking to you guys but me
or this man right here,’ meaning George Skatze.”
Accepting
their request for help, Skatze later “approached the whites, who were
sitting in the bleachers. Putting his arm around a black inmate George
said, ‘If the guards come in here they’re going to shoot us all, no
matter what color we are.’ We asked George who that black man was. He
said, I don’t know; I had never met him before.”(6)
Veteran of the first wave of the California prison movement, Kumasi
describes one scene in the late 1960s where hundreds of prisoners
circled around the yard chanting, “Power to the people! Death to the
pigs!” Approaching the group of white gangsters on the sidelines ey
framed the situation as “are you going to be with us or with the pigs?”
And since the reality reflected eir statement, they sure didn’t want to
be seen as siding with the pigs. As the whites started to join the ranks
of the protestors, Kumasi grabbed one of their hands and raised it in
the air as they faced the warden. In a segregated society this sort of
representation of different nationalities can have powerful effects.
Kumasi has a number of stories about organizing across nationality.
Similar to today, the California system was very segregated back then.
Various white power and nazi gangs existed, as they do today. The united
fronts Kumasi forged with these groups were not long-term and could be
quite impulsive. It was really the strength of eir own organization that
pushed others to come along. A justification of the line that building
up one’s own national unity helps build up the united front. Because the
movement for change had reached such popularity and support among New
Afrikans, it was easier to get the Chican@s to join up (who had not yet
been divided between north and south).
A USW comrade has this to say about organizing in California today:
“There has been times when we’ve done alliances with white nationalist
groups in prison. Any time we had a common goal, say shutting down SHUs,
or removing informants off yard, assistance with legal work and what
not.
“The only way for this to function is by creating a different set of
politiks/policies than those used amongst the other LOs. As long as it
does not interfere with the LOs’ goals to end oppression. It is my
opinion that even when dealing with oppressor nation LOs we must keep a
move ready to be made once achieving certain goals due to the history
the oppressor nation LOs have and because of their values as humans. We
wouldn’t like to see the LOs of the oppressed be set back a step or two
after gaining ground. I think that even unity of some form can be
achieved with pariahs – taking into account what they’ve done and what
they are willing to do to not only redeem themselves but to benefit the
struggle even at the cost of sacrifice. There is a place, space, form
and energy for everyone in a struggle. It is our responsibility to
organize, learn, and organize again.”
What these histories demonstrate is that in cases where the white
nationalists aren’t completely in bed with the pigs, they tend to see
themselves as prisoners and the pigs as their foes, like everyone else.
And it is the unity around demands for all prisoners, ones that are
nationality-neutral, that we will see opportunities for united front. So
while national unity may need to come first, class unity will always be
important in the prison movement.
White nationalism in general, whether of the left-wing or right-wing
variety, is based in an alliance with imperialism. But there are
examples in history of portions of the white population in the United
$tates who may have overt racist overtones without the attachment to
imperialism. Or at least with a mixed relationship to imperialism. And
in many cases this racism is more motivated by fear of the other, or
just self-protection than it is any deep investment in racist ideology
itself. The AB comrade who wrote
“The
Enemy of my Enemy” seems to be an example of this white nationalism
based in youthful ignorance. And the experience of the prison system has
given em the opportunity to learn about the lives of the oppressed, and
to live that life emself. George Skatze from Lucasville was also an
example of this, someone who stood with New Afrikan prisoners and
literally put eir life on the line in the struggle for prisoner rights
and then later at the hands of the state when ey was one of the comrades
who did not make a deal with the state to avoid death row as some of the
charged prisoners did.
While others suggest we fight racism as a way to end oppression, we say
to fight oppression to overcome racism. And in some cases oppression
itself will overcome racism, by uniting those once divided by ideas of
race. Our ideas are a product of our material conditions, and in
participating in the transformation of our conditions our ideas change.
There are some good examples of united fronts between oppressed and
reactionary groups in the history of the United $tates. Some of which
ended up serving the interests of the oppressed and some which
ultimately hurt the oppressed. We find a few of these examples described
well in the book 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance available
from PM Press.(1)
First the case of the fight between the British and the emerging United
$tates of Amerika.
“In 1812, using the pretext of Native raids along its northern frontier
from British territories, U.S. forces attempted to invade British North
America. Here again, Britain’s colonial policies proved effective; an
alliance of Native nations (who had their own interests in full
implementation of the 1763 Proclamation [which prohibited settlement
west of the Appalachian mountains following the French and Indian War])
and European settlers succeeded in repulsing the U.S. expansion.”(p. 29)
As we have seen since 1812, the victory of the United $tates in the
Revolutionary War did not serve the interests of the First Nations. So
the First Nations definitely chose the right side in this battle, even
though the British surely had no real interest in supporting the rights
of the First Nations beyond what was necessary to gain their support.
This is an example of identifying the principal enemy and building
alliances against that enemy, even if those alliances are with groups
that would be enemies in other circumstances. This united front is
similar to the alliance between the Kuomindang and the Chinese
Communists in the war against Japanese imperialism. Ultimately the
Kuomindang betrayed the Communist Party, but at the time Japan was the
principal enemy and fighting together in a the united front was the
right choice to achieve the ultimate goal of establishing a socialist
state.
Another example is found in the U.$. Civil War, which was used by
Afrikan slaves to fight for their freedom. It was not a case of whites
going to war to help end slavery, but Afrikans were in a position to
force this issue to the forefront.
“The beginning of the U.S. Civil War in 1861 posed various problems for
the northern Union ruling class. Not only was the war for the
preservation of an expanding continental empire, but it also opened up a
second front: that of a liberation struggle by enslaved Afrikan peoples.
With a population of four million, the rising of these Afrikans in the
South proved crucial in the defeat of the Confederacy. By the tens of
thousands Afrikan slaves escaped from the slavers and enlisted in the
Union forces. This massive withdrawal of slave-labour hit the Southern
economy hard, and the Northern forces were bolstered by the
thousands.”(2)
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Afrikans in the South correctly
identified a shift in their principal enemy. It was no longer time to
ally with Union forces. With the ending of the war these slaves were
about to lose their bargaining position as fighters in the Union army.
“Towards the end of the War in 1865, those Afrikans who did not escape
began a large-scale strike following the defeat of the confederacy. They
claimed the lands that they had laboured on, and began arming themselves
– not only against the Southern planters but also against the Union
army. Widespread concerns about this ‘dangerous position’ of Afrikans in
the South led to ‘Black Reconstruction’; Afrikans were promised
democracy, human rights, self-government and popular ownership of the
land. In reality, it was a strategy for returning Euro-American
dominance….”(p. 40)
This shift resulted in a better deal for former slaves than they would
have got by just passively sticking with their unity with the North. But
it shows the need to complete the New Afrikan war for liberation from
the United $tates to achieve the basic goals of the Afrikan soliders who
freed themselves from slavery. Different conditions will require
reevaluation of who is our principal enemy and what are appropriate
united front strategies at the time.
“Is there ever a time when we should unite with reactionary oppressor
nation lumpen orgs in a United Front for Peace in Prisons?” Absolutely!
You want to win, don’t you? For anyone to refuse to work with a
potentially valuable ally against this Juggernaut Force that both groups
are up against, due to a few minor differences in excess views and
opinions just sounds like folly. Wars are won by alliances, not the
practice of alienation.
History is full of these kinds of examples. The German Nazis were
undisputed white nationalist, white supremacy, white racist and
everything else white group that there has ever been. The Japanese were
anything but Aryan or white, yet despite that obvious fact, the two
groups were able to put those differences aside long enough in order to
wage war against the rest of the world.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Now that’s sound logic! If you
decide not to join forces with what you refer to as “white nationals,”
either because they are “white” or maybe even a little too proud of it,
then wouldn’t that sort of put you in the same boat as them, guilty of
the same things? Are you perhaps then a little bit racist too?
Are there so many of you that you can afford to be so picky about the
skin color, or differences in ideologies of those that we allow to align
themselves with you in this fight? Black communist and white nationalist
alike, neither can afford to turn away the aid of the other at a time
like this – especially in prison.
White nationalists are seasoned and often times expert resistance
fighters that come complete with a deep-seated hatred of our most potent
enemy, that any group in this fight would be lucky to have on their
side, once the real fighting starts. The Federal Government fears them
and has always feared them for those very reasons. These members of the
White Resistance Movement would bring their own unique skill sets to the
struggle, that you might otherwise be lacking in, such as military
strategy, connections – in parts of the underground that you’ve never
had access to before – military tactics and weapons knowledge, etc.
Now I’m only suggesting cooperation with certain white nationalists
and/or separatist individuals here and there, that might want to help,
not necessarily white nationalist “groups” per say. This is because
these types of groups attract a lot of attention from all the current
law enforcement agencies and especially the Federal Government and
because of that, each group is already heavily infiltrated by under
cover agents. So by uniting with such groups and organizations, you
would just be inviting those same numerous agents into the folds of your
own group.
There are lots of single disenfranchised ex-members of these groups
though, who are solid soldiers and have a lot to offer their next group
and I think that it would be a mistake to let them get away, if they are
willing to help.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer raises some good points about
uniting with all who oppose the same enemy, but perhaps goes too far
with the pragmatism of allying for the sake of size and skills. We
believe there needs to be some clear political unity in order to build a
united front. We don’t all have to agree that we want a communist system
in the end, but we must have at least one concrete goal that we can
unite around in practice. And we also need to agree that political
independence is acceptable, as we will not give up our principles just
for the sake of convincing someone who disagrees with us to work with us
anyway.
Under a bourgeois democracy, militant white nationalists are both tools
of and enemies of the state. As imperialism moves closer to fascism the
government’s fear lessens as they begin to utilize these groups more
directly. We’re not sure if we can say this is happening unter Trump yet
though, although ey as already been giving these groups many passes.
Lastly, we want to comment on the idea that it is racist to refuse to
unite with white nationalists. It would be incorrect to turn away white
allies just for the color of their skin, but it is not incorrect to
identify groups of people’s political and economic interests and to
identify potential allies based on this. If someone is promoting white
nationalism, that is
fundamentally
opposed to the liberation of oppressed nations: white nationalism
is, by definition, a belief in the superiority of the white nation which
already has the power and wealth. This sort of nationalism is
reactionary and opposing it is not the same thing as being racist. We
can unite with these people on specific tasks, while also struggling
with them over their line on white nationalism.
Regarding the question of united front alliances with white nationalist
groups, there are pros and cons to working with other groups. I have
been writing to MIM(Prisons) for a few years now and enjoy reading
ULK. I am pretty much my own one-man army. I do not ask others to
do things I will not do myself.
I am in a Federal Penitentiary in Tuscon, Arizona. This is a sex
offender, gang drop out, Protective Custody yard. I am not here by
choice. I am a registered sex offender for indecent exposure in a bar.
Even though charges were dropped I was forced to register and now I am
still fighting that case in the state. I am in Federal prison for
charges that were unrelated to the state charge. This yard does not have
politics that other yards have. We still have politics, but not to the
extreme. The chow hall is racially segregated but a man can sit wherever
he wants. The point I’m trying to get at is I could leave this yard and
go back to an active yard most likely and get killed for being a
registered sex offender even though the charges were dropped. That’s
politics. Now there is a lot of sex offenders and homosexuals, rats, and
dropouts. Everyone is here for a reason. I have been on active yards and
a lot of times, in fact most of the time, a person is putting his life
on the line for someone who is just a piece of shit or a dope fiend. I
no longer use dope and do not use dope in prison.
I grew up in the west from Montana to Arizona in the heart of the Aryan
nation, an enforcer for the Aryan Brotherhood with the old saying if it
ain’t white it ain’t right. I was a blind kid but a good soldier. At 41
years old I am now my own man. I have never left my brothers but I no
longer fight that fight of hatred. There are pros and cons to working
with other groups.
I have a question: are there no Maoists who are sex offenders or
snitches? Do the Maoists choose to work with other groups or try to
convert other groups to Maoism? It is one thing to work with a different
group to achieve the same goal. I am an individual in a group and my
goals as an individual are not always the same goals as the group. My
goal is freedom from an oppressive corrupt government and it does not
matter whether it is the USA or Russia, oppression is oppression,
corruptness is corruptness and this should be stopped. We all belong to
different groups, even the groups that feel the need to oppress others.
The enemy of my enemy is my ally. United Front for Peace!
This is no longer about politics or what group a person belongs to. I am
an independent Aryan Brother and I support the Maoist Internationalist
Ministry of Prisons and the struggle of incarcerated people. (I do not
like to use the word inmate or convict or any other word for prisoner
that is used to take a person’s personal power. These words make people
feel powerless, hopeless, and this is not true.) We are people, humans.
We have families, friends, just like everyone else.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is an interesting letter about united
fronts because it comes from someone representing two of the groups that
we are often told to never ally with, and ey raises questions from the
other side. First on the question of sex offenders, this writer
demonstrates why trusting the state’s label of “sex offender” is as bad
as trusting the state’s label of “criminal.” We must decide for
ourselves which individuals are allies and which are enemies.
On the question of white nationalists and allies, this writer still runs
with eir group but apparently has significant disagreements with them if
ey also supports ULK and MIM(Prisons). This is an excellent
example of uniting all who can be united against the criminal injustice
system. We know that the Aryan Brotherhood is fundamentally opposed to
the liberation of oppressed nations. Just as the Communist Party of
China knew that the Kuomindang was fundamentally opposed to communism.
But in China before the revolution was successful, there was an
opportunity to build an alliance against Japanese imperialism, the
principal contradiction at the time. And we have a similar opportunity
to build an alliance against the criminal injustice system within
prisons. While certainly a smaller scale than the united front in China,
our common enemy in prisons offers the opportunity for alliances with
groups that will, in other battles, be our enemy. And it’s also possible
we will win over some folks from these groups who, like this writer,
believe that “oppression is oppression…and this should be stopped.”
This comrade mentions Russia, perhaps as a random example. But talking
about Russia and oppression is becoming a hot-button topic in the United
$tates today. This anti-Russia fervor is, as always, tied up with
Amerikan nationalism. It is being used to attack the current Trump
regime in a way that threatens the world with inter-imperialist and even
nuclear war. Russia was once part of the Soviet Union, which under Lenin
and Stalin was socialist. But after Stalin died in 1952 the country
moved quickly to take up state capitalism. And capitalism is a system
that thrives on oppression and corruption. But the anti-Russia revival
in the United $tates should not be mistaken for anti-imperialism, rather
it is nationalist rallying for the biggest most dangerous imperialist
power in the world – the United $nakes.
I would like to address the question if there should be a united front
alliance with white nationalist groups.
I am all for aligning with other groups who face oppression and who
share the same goals. When it comes to white nationalist groups first a
few things must be clarified. First question is who and what is “white.”
White is scientifically not a racial group. Also do whites in prison and
the world face the same systematic oppression as people of color? Lastly
looking at history how has interactions between whites and people of
color effected the non-white groups in a positive way?
The question on “who and what is white?” has an elusive answer
especially right here in the United $tates. Since 1790, the United
$tates has allowed only “free white persons” to become citizens; in the
twentieth century as non-European immigrants applied for citizenship it
became the responsibility of the courts to set limits upon whiteness.
George Dow, a Syrian immigrant, was denied eligibility for citizenship
on the basis that geography defined race; to be white was to be
European. Dow eventually won on appeal, showing that Syrians were indeed
Europeans based on geography and thus members of the white race. In
1922, a Japanese immigrant named Takao Ozawa argued that he should be
considered a white person because his skin was literally white,
asserting that many Japanese people were “whiter than the average
Italian, Spaniard, or Portuguese.” His case would go all the way to the
Supreme Court, which rejected his claim to citizenship and the idea that
race could be determined by skin tone: “To adopt the color test alone
would result in a confused overlapping of races and a gradual merging of
one into the other, without any practical line of separation,” claimed
one judge.
Using the science of the day, the court ruled that “the words ‘white
person’ are synonymous with the words ‘a person of the Caucasian race’.”
Since Ozawa was not a Caucasion, he could not be white. In only a short
time later, in the case of an Indian immigrant named Bhagat Singh Thind,
the Supreme Court betrayed its Ozawa ruling and declared that while all
whites are Caucasian, not all Caucasians were white. Even scientists
classified Thind as undeniably Caucasian, but the court insisted that
“White” must mean something more. “It may be true that the blond
Scandinavian and the brown Hindu have a common ancestor in the dim
reaches of antiquity, but the average man knows perfectly well that
there are unmistakable and profound differences between them today.” To
prove his purity, Thind invoked the Aryanist myth of ancient white
conquerors setting up the caste system to preserve their race. “The
high-class Hindu” he argued, “regards the aboriginal Indian mongoloid in
the same manner as the American regards the negro.” With all that Thind
was denied citizenship. Within the category of “Caucasian,” the court
noted one could find a wide range of peoples including South Asians,
Polynesians, and even the Hamites of Africa based upon their Caucasian
cast of features, though in color they range from brown to black. For
reasons not articulated the court decided Thind was not white, and
therefore not granted privileges of the white empire.
That the Supreme Court could reject a white-skinned Japanese because he
was not Caucasian and a brown-skinned Caucasian because he was not white
reveals that white people have made race what it has always been: an
unscientific and inconsistent means of enforcing social inequality that
further rules the machines of global white supremacy. This machine is
what gives birth to capitalism and imperialism and other oppressive
factions. So basically whiteness is whatever white people say it is. So
by white nationalist groups even identifying themselves as white places
them in a privileged position in the global white supremacy machine. It
is no secret why someone would want to identify as “white,” especially
in the United $tates where there is undeniably a caste system based on
skin color. With whiteness comes privilege and a sense of entitlement.
Yes, I know there are white comrades who are being oppressed also but it
is not solely based on their skin color or ethnic group. They are
basically collateral damage of the capitalistic and imperialistic system
that comes from global white supremacy. White people make up around 11%
of the world’s population yet at least 82% of the world’s population is
in some fashion being oppressed by the global white supremacy machine.
Are white nationalist groups really ready to give up their whiteness to
stand for true revolution even if that means in the process whiteness
will no longer exist?
History shows that those of us who fight for revolution have aligned
ourselves with white groups and white individuals who claim they seek
change too. In the midst of this, problems usually occurred. Most
notably is with William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison, a white man, can be
labeled as a true revolutionist of his time. As an abolitionist he spoke
out against slavery and demanded full racial equality even before the
Civil War. He also publicly burned the U.$. constitution, calling it an
“agreement with hell.” Garrison seemed like the white nationalist who
wanted to join the fight but he still couldn’t escape his sense of
privilege and superiority. This moment came when Frederick Douglass,
Garrison’s protégé, told Garrison that he wanted to start a newspaper.
Garrison, fearful that Douglass would draw black readers away from his
own paper and hurt that Douglass would even think of competing against
him, discouraged the plan. Another white abolitionist in Garrison’s
camp, Maria Weston Chapman, even doubted Douglass could have the mental
capacity for such a task. Douglass went ahead and started his newspaper
which ended his friendship with Garrison. Garrison, though he wanted to
help, could not see that the revolution was not about him but about the
millions of people being oppressed. He still had to be a white guy about
the whole situation. He took his sense of privilege and entitlement and
wanted to discourage another in his attempt to add to the cause. So can
white nationalist groups align themselves with the United Front without
trying to make the fight solely about their ego? Can the United Front
hold the fight when aligned with white nationalist groups without having
fear of offending white people when truths are spoken against
capitalism, imperialism and global white supremacy when it puts the
collective of white people in a negative light?
Lastly how have groups who are predominately non-white benefited in the
past when coming into contact with whites? Historically the relationship
between non-whites and whites has been one of colonization, genocide,
slavery, imperialism, and destruction. Though all non-white groups and
cultures did not live in idyllic golden ages before the coming of white
people, these elements weren’t consistent, nor were they typical, until
the advent of white culture domination. This has been the consistent
relationship of white people with the world. So history shows the
consistent nature of white people when coming in contact of non-white
people has been one of predatory and exploitative relationships.
Now some will say I’m being racist by stating these facts but consider
the fact that people of “hue” hence humans have been the most tolerant
and accepting people you’ll ever encounter (sometimes to our detriment)
and this premise of exclusion came from white people themselves. It is
only us who are confused about where they stand. Now yes there are those
white individuals and groups who attempt to confront and resist these
norms. Those who have attempted to do so in earnest have learned these
lessons the hard way. White people who actively resist whiteness (and
all of its norms) are out-casted, disowned, and reviled by other members
of their own groups. This is what defines the community and collective
identity and not the individuals who know that “treason to whiteness is
loyalty to humanity.”
So can white nationalist groups abandon their whiteness and sense of
privilege? If so then yes United Front can align with them in some
fashion. Based on historic events it should be controlled and constantly
evaluated. Also whites need not to hold hands with us and smile but
reach in their own communities and take the fight to their own who
actively and by default participate in the global white supremacy
machine which governs capitalism and imperialism.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with this comrade that to
identify with whiteness is to identify with an oppressor nation, and we
therefore say that Amerikans must commit nation (as well as class and
gender) suicide through their actions, in order to join the side of
humynity.
The example given of Garrison and Douglass is a fine anecdote, but it is
just an example of a couple of people. So we would caution our readers
to not draw broad conclusions from isolated examples. And there are
books out there, like Settlers: The Mythology of a White
Proletariat by J. Sakai and False Nationalism, False
Internationalism by Sera and Tani that do broader historical
analysis of the relationships between the oppressed nations in the
United $tates and various groups of “revolutionary” or “progressive”
whites.
Both of those books are looking at imperialism, or at least its
emergence in the United $tates. Imperialism’s identity is found in the
conflict between the oppressor nations and the oppressed nations that
resist them. While ideas of superiority based on phenotypical
characteristics (appearance) certainly did not originate with
imperialism, it is with imperialism that nation becomes principal.
Therefore, we would reverse the author’s premise that the “[machine of
global white supremacy] is what gives birth to capitalism and
imperialism and other oppressive factions.” Marx and Lenin explained the
evolution of imperialism on economic terms, while the culture and ideas
that came with it were a reflection of those economic changes. In other
words, which came first, racism or capitalism? There were seeds of
racism before imperialism, but national oppression (the material
manifestation of racism) solidified as a system under the economic
conditions of imperialism. The ideas of racism, so central to our
society, are a product of this system of national oppression that
evolved with imperialism, not the cause of it.
In the struggle against white supremacy, capitalism, and imperialism, a
united front does not require agreement on every position, or even for
all parties to “stand for true revolution.” In the context of the prison
movement, white nationalists might be serious about the struggle against
long-term isolation because their leaders are very likely to face this
torture. In this case, we’d suggest we should unite with these groups to
work on that campaign. In this issue of ULK we have some examples
in which such temporary alliances for common interests as prisoners have
succeeded.
The question of how oppressor nation and oppressed nation
revolutionaries should relate in this country is a whole other question
brought up by this comrade. We will only address it briefly to bring up
some general points for further analysis. The urge to unite with white
people in the United $tates is a recurring theme due to the fact that
the white nation has been a majority population by design since the
founding of this country, and it’s hard to fight battles as the
minority. As we know, those numbers are projected to change in the
not-so-distant future. But even when euro-Amerikans become the minority,
will most oppressed nation people be anti-imperialist? In current
conditions they are not, though great potential remains. As we are
currently in a non-revolutionary situation, we think it is a reasonable
organizing strategy to avoid white people and white organizations
altogether. There are plenty of oppressed nation people yet to be
organized, and single-nation organizations have proven most effective in
U.$. history at building revolutionary movements.
As conditions become more revolutionary, if forces in favor of
revolution remain the minority in all nations in the United $tates,
those who avoided whites before may be tempted to address this issue
again. The Panthers organized with euro-Amerikans from a position of
strength, so that they largely avoided those euro-Amerikans harming
their movement, especially in the early years. Yet, Huey Newton found
New Afrikans in a position of weakness due to their minority status that
led to his proposal of the theory of intercommunalism. Fred Hampton’s
Rainbow Coalition and Huey Newton’s Intercommunalism demonstrate a
strong tendency in the Panther leadership to approach euro-Amerikans as
potential allies in the anti-imperialist united front similar to how
they approached other nations.
From Malcolm X to Stokely Carmichael to the Panthers, New Afrikan
revolutionaries have pushed whites to organize their own. But how do
they do that? Some white organizations tried to mimic the Panthers, but
this was only viable in small pockets of lumpenized whites. Other groups
have provided support structures to oppressed nations, where the focus
is on organizing whites to serve other nations. But we need something in
between, where white people can be leaders, applying and learning from
the scientific method of building a revolutionary movement, but at the
same time serving other nations in ways that are against the interest of
their own. We don’t think whites can organize on the same basis as the
Panthers, because they are on the opposite side of the principal
contradiction. But we also don’t think relegating whites to the kitchen
is allowing them to develop politically, and is therefore setting back
progress. This could be done on the basis of accountability and
self-criticism. It could also incorporate shared self-interest in
opposing environmental destruction and war. But a truly revolutionary
current among euro-Amerikans will likely not gain much traction until
the oppressed nations have progressed the struggle to a stage that is
more advanced than it is today.
You encourage all groups in prison to set aside their differences and
come together (collective action). As always in my letters to you, I
believe the socialist effort will not be successful unless it makes
contact with most or all of the radical/reform groups and encourages
collective actions between them.
Think about it. If you could start a dialogue with other groups then you
would gain the chance to educate them about how mass imprisonment is a
standard feature of any capitalist government. Imprisonment is the
favored control method for the masses. As long as people are
propagandized to believe capitalism is good, you will have thousands of
laws to control the lumpen and minorities -– hence, prisons.
Per the September 2016 newsletter of the Coalition for Prisoners’ Rights
(P.O. Box 1911, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-1911), it was reported that
the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples Movement (FICPM) had a
conference on September 9 in which over 500 people attended, of which
people from over 30 states were in attendance. The FICPM wants to
organize the 65 million people who have been screwed over by the U.$.
system as a political voting block. This group has the possibility of
actual success.
MIM(Prisons) responds: There are two separate points we want to
address in this letter. First the question of what will be necessary for
the socialist effort to be successful. This comrade believes that we can
succeed by bringing together the radical/reform groups (presumably
within the United $tates). Where this author says we would be able to
educate these groups on a deeper understanding of the relationship
between capitalism and prisons, we agree that doing this on an
individual basis is possible and has been proven with success on the
ground. Some people enter the reform groups because that’s all that
they’re aware of at the time. When they seek a more thorough way to
address the world’s problems, they may decide to switch to revolutionary
organizing instead. We aim to be available for these people, ready to
work with them when they’re ready to switch.
But as far as winning over whole groups, this hasn’t worked out
successfully when tried in the past. And we understand this phenomenon
in the context of our class analysis, because the vast majority of
people within imperialist countries are bought off and actually support
their imperialist government. They may protest a few policies, but they
are very much opposed to revolutionary change in the interests of the
world’s majority because that would have a negative impact on their
persynal financial situation in the short term.
Because of this, we see socialist revolution coming from the oppressed
nations, both internationally and within U.$. borders. For the most part
we anticipate it will need to be imposed on imperialist countries (like
the United $tates) from the outside, but there is an important role for
revolutionaries living within the belly of the beast. We must do all we
can to weaken the government and also support the revolutionary
struggles of oppressed nations globally. We can break off as many allies
for the struggle as possible. But we shouldn’t be unrealistic in our
expectations of what we can achieve behind enemy lines.
With that said, we do agree that building unity with progressive
organizations on the streets is a good goal. We set a baseline goal for
this unity around either a political action or a political line. For
instance, we work to build unity around battles against the criminal
injustice system with all who will support these battles, regardless of
their political positions on other issues. For the anti-imperialist
struggle we build unity with all who truly oppose imperialism.
But coming back to our first point, we do not think that groups that,
for instance, promote recycling, are actually opposing imperialism. They
are just helping to put a pretty pseudo-ecological face on capitalism
(also termed “green washing”). So when someone tells us to unite with
all “radical/reform groups” to achieve our goals of building socialism
and opposing imperialism, we have to call this out as a request that we
sacrifice revolutionary politics in the name of false unity. We don’t
actually have unity in the fight against imperialism with those reform
groups that are trying to make imperialism a bit kinder, but whose
strategy keeps the overall system in place. It’s important that we
define our political principles and understand who are truly fighting on
the side of the oppressed people of the world.
This will be my full account of my evolvement with the organizing of
peace between all prisoners, be they independent citizens of this yard
or members of lumpen groups or organizations. Many prisoners have been
involved in the processes that will be disclosed, to ensure their safety
their names won’t be mentioned in this report. All circumstances are
well known by the prisoner population on this yard (C yard @ Tehachapi)
and can therefore be verified easily by asking and requesting anyone who
receives ULK on this yard. Before starting I want to give shouts
out to
United
Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP), because I hold your principles
and am inspired by your scientific methods. As a 5%er I give all due
respects to the teachings of the
Nation of Gods and
Earths (NGE) for my Free dome and clear sight which allows me to
live in a non-fictional reality, being awakened to the True Self which
is righteousness without fear. Also I would like to thank ULK and
MIM(Prisons) for
providing revolutionary education for free, which has taught me how to
lead and helped me realize that I am a socialist with a revolutionary
conscience. Thank all the prisoners here at California Correctional
Institution (CCI) who’s assisted me [nicknames omitted], Tha Numbers,
Tha Old Black Vanguard and a huge part of the New Afrikans and Chican@s.
I arrived here at CCI in mid-2016. Upon my arrival I introduced myself
as a member of the NGE. I met several New Afrikans that were very
negative about the program here, C.O. culture, prisoner treatment and a
myriad of other complexities dealing with conflicts among prisoners. The
first persyn I came to know from a non-fictional reality is a member of
one of the largest street organizations in North America. Our first
conversations would become the foundation and conduit for many actions
that followed. His assessment of the yard has proven to be invaluable,
though bleak when he spoke of the mental deadness of our people; meaning
the Black prison population on the yard. Blind, deaf and dumb with no
concept of organization or unity. This comrade is indispensable to the
prosperity, growth, and development of this yard’s prisoner on just
about every level. His advice is most valuable now as ever.
To begin to address these conditions, I initiated the weekly services
for everyone on the yard who wants to attend as a place of unity,
education and true identity resurrection. From proposal to acceptance it
took one month, then from acceptance to being physically scheduled it
took three more weeks ending when we had the first NGE service in
November 2016.
At the same time this was being developed, most people were saying this
will never be accepted by the administration on this yard. Doubters
included prisoners, as well as Captains, Chaplains and Correctional
Officers. I persynally began circulating my verbal disapproval of
two-on-one violence or group violence against one person. Simply stating
these actions won’t be tolerated when acted out against New Afrikans by
other racial groups nor by other New Afrikans on New Afrikan prisoners
nor member of other races who are also prisoners regardless of charges
and convictions issued by the unlawful court system. By my understanding
this position is backed by the BPP’s 10 point program demand #8.(1) This
has become the new norm through actions I will now describe.
On a day at the ass end of September 2016, at the morning yard for the
lower tier, I noticed a dichotomy between a group of Aztlán known as the
Number and an elder from the New Afrikans. Three members of the Number
appeared to be attempting to jump physically this unknown elderly New
Afrikan when his cellie physically assisted him ending the exchange of
blows by walking away and descending to the bottom of the yard. All this
happened in the direct view of the yard Correction Officers without any
response. After my initial investigation of the occurrence turned little
to no information I migrated to the bottom of the yard to build and
better understand what I had just witnessed. Upon speaking to a New
Afrikan soldier who we shall call Ty, me and him decided to get to the
bottom of this matter. The elder explained that the Number owed him and
upon confrontation about the debt verbally refused to pay. That is when
the elderly New Afrikan swung his fist, hitting the debtor in the jaw,
causing 3 members of the Number lumpen group to engage him in physical
battle. After the knowledge, me and Ty decided to go and confront the
Numbers, to issue a formal notice that the jumping of any New Afrikan
would no longer be accepted and if we cannot have an agreement we would
go to war at that moment. However, due to the magnetic energy all the
New Afrikans on the yard mobilized with unity and harmoniously walked as
one to the Numbers table at which time the aforementioned decree was
stated to the Numbers. They decided peace was best for the yard at that
moment and minutes later came assuring the elderly New Afrikan he would
receive what he was owed. They apologized for the acts of aggression and
the miscommunication.
During this time the Correctional Officers stayed in their yard position
but many prisoners reported hearing them radio the tower to shoot Blacks
if violence was to occur. Many New Afrikans felt the power of unity that
day and began a positive dialogue due to being empowered by the unity of
that event. That day also respectful communication between New Afrikans
and Numbers were established including beginning dialogue between white
nationals of two different lumpen groups in days to follow, which opened
up the door for me to begin to share the
principles
of the UFPP with both major groups. The NGE membership grew to 23
prisoners of a racially diverse demographic, mostly New Afrikan but
Aztláns and YT’s joined too. I shared white national books out of my
collection with the white nation lumpen group member and believed we had
strong lines of communication.
Over a month later, in November 2016, an issue was made known to me
about an alleged thief of a radio supposedly by a New Afrikan who had a
history of mischief named KC. When word got to me I was told the Aztláns
were planning to jump the New Afrikan, after sharing this with my
comrade it was decided that we would investigate in order to keep the
peace. While playing basketball someone had taken the radio off of the
sidelines where items had been sat inside owners’ shirts. My comrade
believed KC to be the culprit, which he denied. Voluntarily, all the New
Afrikans stripped down to their boxers proving they didn’t have the
property in question, lastly and with little fuss KC stripped proving he
didn’t have it. Then all the Aztláns likewise stripped proving they
didn’t have it either. The victim still felt like KC was guilty and
wanted to fight. KC reluctantly obliged and whipped him and peace was
better established stating New Afrikans won’t turn down no battle if
requested but peace is desired.
Almost a month later a white national, who I believed to be solid used
our growing relationship to lure KC away from myself, then attacked him
with a huge stone in a pillow case when his back was turned. Needless to
say his instant karma manifested, KC was able to thwart this plot
against himself and turn the tide with a huge victory over this extreme
form of physical oppression and violent aggression. In days to follow
white national politics seemed to attempt to establish itself, with
whites telling Blacks they could not use pull up bars near their table.
On hearing this I spoke with their known leaders and we all decided to
end all attempts at making C yard a racialized environment and instead
work together on a proposal to help create this yard into an honor yard.
Vowing to do away with weapon usage and to better establish open lines
of communication in order to solve interracial issues without violence.
There was an issue which touched home that I must share with you now.
One of the persyns I most respect was accused of a savage crime against
his celly. At the time I was allowing him to use my TV and a few CDs as
was two other comrades. Upon his arrest people began circulating rumors
of his alleged guilt. Due to his conduct and our developed closeness I
persynally went to those prophecizing against him and told them to stop
and desist. While he was being investigated a white porter came into
blame for what was by then deemed missing property, that the porter had
access to and had allegedly stolen. This was based on the fact that
neither my TV nor all the CDs and a CD player made it to R&R. He was
blamed and pressured to pay for two of the missing CDs by someone of
influence. During this time I found out that the Building Officer had on
his own taken my TV out of this persyn’s property before it even left
the building along with the CD player. I was asked to protect the white
porter by one of the members of the original Black prisoners vanguard
party, which I agreed to. Then the Correctional Officer returned my TV
after keepin it almost two weeks, which is not just unfair but it is
unlawful and burglary by definition. I didn’t know if the white porter
was guilty so I didn’t charge him for my CDs knowing that the comrade
was innocent and would be returning. Under threat and fear the white
porter paid a 16oz jar of coffee to the owner of two missing CDs.
Well, I was right about the porter being innocent and the comrade
because when he came back the CDs were in his property which he returned
to their owners. The porter got his coffee back and all the false
prophets learned a valuable lesson and some even apologized for smutting
the comrade.
Now I have a monthly unity walk at yard with an all inclusive New
Afrikan peaceful unity movement and I will have my first banquet in
February 2017, of which all the leaders of the different lumpen
organizations have been invited to attend. I will read UFFP principles
at that time and speak on United Prisoners (UP) its benefits and how
important it is to take the initiative in the Change Movement.