I received ULK 48, thank you. From 1998 to right after the towers
fell in New York, I received MIM Notes, which were instrumental
in my politicalization and capacity to be critical with information.
Hopefully re-connecting with MIM will aid me in similar if not greater
ways.
As far as the ULK 48, dedicated to the discussion of religious
organizations in prison, I would like to add a few observations,
critiques and opinions that may aid in better understanding what I
consider, the functional limits of prison religious organizations.
I preface the following by stating that like many young, impressionable
Black males who entered the Michigan penal system in the mid-1990s, I
was heavily recruited by a non-orthodox Islamic sect. It was part
religious, part Black nationalist, part civic, radical in the sense that
it gave it to the grey and black as well as it took it, but the
religious organization was mostly philosophically and ideologically
backwards. No clearly defined political lines, no effort toward
developing social change theory, and no revolutionary practices or
principles cognizable to a revolutionary novice, let alone a seasoned
agent for change.
However, the group did introduce me to books, which I fell in love with
after spending four years in solitary confinement where there was little
else to do besides read to escape the attendant activities
characteristic of that environment. In the beginning, narrow nationalism
and Islamic related literature is all I read. Far more lasting than any
specific set of facts or pieces of knowledge obtained, reading provided
me with the understanding of how to acquire knowledge on my own. I
learned how to read an essay closely, search for new sources, find data
to prove or disprove a hypothesis, and detect an author’s prejudice,
among other skills, that were not promoted during my K-12 educational
experience.
Considering the inescapable oppression of long term solitary
confinement, it was inevitable that my attention would be turned to
ideas and actions I could take to prevent future experiences of
isolation, for myself as well as others. Trying to pray or wish my
problems away proved extremely ineffective. I abandoned closing my eyes
and hoping for a different reality when I opened them, rather quickly.
But I do feel indebted to the group for leading me to books - prior to
prison I had never read a book from cover to cover, or for more than
entertainment.
After reading ULK 48, the first question that comes to mind is,
do religious groups in Michigan prisons possess any power - real or
latent - to stimulate and direct constructive social change? Or are
they, too, victims of the overall U.S. capitalist structure?
While I’m aware that many people would answer these questions in many
different ways, I observe that religion plays chiefly a cathartic role
for the imprisoned. It provides an opportunity for followers to “let off
steam,” to seek release for emotions which cannot be expressed to
administrators and guards without consequences. Prison religious
organizations are social and recreational and a haven for comfort, no
matter how illusory or temporary. Within these groups imprisoned people
can assume responsibilities and authority not available elsewhere in the
prison. For example, s/he can be the head of security, treasurer or
public relations director. Only within the religious organization can
imprisoned people engage in political intrigue and participate in
decisions open to non-imprisoned people.
The potential power of religious organizations in prison is the ability
to attract large numbers of imprisoned people. Although their ability to
recruit is severely being challenged here in Michigan by the rise of
street organizations i.e., gangs, whose numbers have skyrocketed in the
last ten years. Among their more flagrant weaknesses is the fact that
their potential strengths can all too easily be dissipated by
preoccupation with trivial matters (e.g., did Moses part the Red Sea;
did Jesus walk on water; what did Muhammad say about facial hair, eating
pork, or what activities should be performed with the left hand?), and
the desperate struggle for the empty status, bombast, and show of the
prison world.
It is not inevitable, and virtually impossible to politicalize and
transform members of these groups into social change agents when
religious doctrines emphasize the idea of someone other than you/me/us
possessing the power to change present reality: the instruments of
escape, weapons of protest, the protective fortress behind which
adherents seek to withstand the assaults of a hostile environment and
within which s/he plans strategies of defiance, is prayer.
It is no wonder then why imprisoned people who have been politicalized
tend to reject religious organizations as a multiple symbol of fantasy;
and tend to regard prison religious organizations as basically
irrelevant to challenging the hard and difficult realities of
capitalism, white supremacy, police powers that can reach all the way
into one’s bedroom or a woman’s womb, and so on.
That this is not more widely recognized by members of these groups may
be in part because religious organizations are not an effective model of
critical thinking. The fact that religious organizations are the most
pervasive groups in Michigan prisons, and the fact that they do not play
any measurable role dissenting or resisting the frustrating, oppressive,
degrading experience of incarceration, are cruelly related.
If religious organizations are a powerful social force, either the
facility, Central Office, or the State would severely restrict/eliminate
them. The facade of power which these groups now present would be
removed. Think about it, most religious meetings in prison go
unsupervised.
Members of these groups hold on to the idea that an all-powerful,
all-knowing, ever-present being will save them at some appointed time
and date, while this being had neglected their other needs as human
beings. The punishment of “crime” is a political act. It represents the
use of force by the State to control the lives of people the State has
defined as criminal. No concerted political efforts have been made by
these groups to deal with the politics, i.e., the underlying causes of
incarceration.
My objective is not to argue that religious belief and political
consciousness are incompatible. Speculation on that level is pointless
and irrelevant for the purpose of this discussion. However, the simple
truth is that the trouble imprisoned people find themselves in, the sham
and corruption, the class and race biases of criminal law enforcement,
cannot be solved unless imprisoned people feel obligated to learn about
systems of power, privilege and oppression, and also feel obligated to
do something about them.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade is correct to point out that
there are significant limitations to religious organizations, whether
behind bars or on the streets. And ultimately only by targeting the
underlying systems of oppression will we put an end to criminal
injustice and imperialism. However, what this letter does not address is
the distinction of some of the more anti-imperialist religious movements
like Islam. As we argued in
ULK
48 “Just as religion is today an outlet for many radical youth in
the Third World, religion has been influenced by revolutionary politics
in the context of New Afrika. In the 20th century we see a turn towards
Islam by a number of New Afrikans who are searching for identity and
liberation from oppression by Amerika.” We do not push people towards
religion, but at the same time we look to unite with those whose
religion is compatible with or promoting national liberation. We have a
good historical example of this united front in the Christian liberation
theologists in Latin America who were a part of revolutionary national
liberation struggles in that part of the world starting in the 1950s.
Uniting with organizations that do not share our political line entirely
is part of united front organizing. We focus on the principal
contradiction, and unite with others who agree with this goal, while
retaining independence to make clear where we disagree politically. In a
united front led by communists religious groups can be important allies.
But we should always be clear that true equality for all people will not
be achieved through belief in a higher power or any other unscientific
mysticism.
