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Texas pigs beat prisoners routinely

A clenched fist salute to all my brothers who dare to fight in
this war that these gray suits are committing against us inmates
in this Texas prison system. My strength that breeds hope that I
may get word back to all my fellow comrades who know not of the
danger they face down in the dungeon of the George Beto One Unit
we all call "Administrative Segregation."

Here in this pit called Beto 1, that is located in a small town
called Tennessee Colony, TX, any officer that is wearing gray
would do anything to hurt and put an inmate down. I have seen it
done so many times. I have been behind these walls 8 years now...

Inmates refuse to come out of their cells to shower or rec.,
afraid that the officers are going to jump on them. And they do. I
have been in Seg only a year now. I have seen so many inmates get
gassed out of their cells with pepper spray, and get put in
solitary confinement, just cause they wish to speak to some rank
concerning a problem with one of the officers. They always spray
that gas on an inmate about 4 to 6 times. They know damn well it
could kill an inmate, especially if he has any kind of medical
problem.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine went to rec. But when the
officer brought everyone in they decided to bring my friend in
last. But before they brought him in, the officer beat my friend
real bad out in the rec. yard.

I have passed MIM Notes around the wing I'm on, trying to wake up
individuals. Especially the young. There's so many these days. I'm
sorry to say, but most at this kamp think that this is a game. I'm
trying my very best to reach out to them the most, because I
remember when I was their age. That attitude I had when I came
down. So I'm trying to open the eye's of the young to the struggle
-- like some older comrades did to me. I'm trying to reach more
than one, and teach more than one.

...I was on Ferguson from '93 to '97. I'd been to solitary so many
times. The officers at night would walk down the run with a list
of names. And if an inmate's name was on that list, he's fixing to
get beaten down. I used to sit up at night, and every time they
did this beating it would always be a Black or Latino. And while
they beat them up. they would make them say stupid things like
"yes daddy" "no daddy" stuff like that.

...Salute to all my Brothers who dare to fight this war that's
behind closed doors.

-- a Texas prisoner.

Amerika's cycle of violence is not rehabilitation

This DOC has for years tried to force me to work either for
nothing or for a dollar a day. Every time I get in trouble they
take my money or put me in debt. I owe the DOC $1073.33. $312.55
is for damages. I receive $20 a month from my mother. Half of this
is taken every month; sometimes the whole $20.

As I write I'm locked down in a prison inside the prison. It's
called I.M.Y. or Intensive Management Unit. They say it's not a
punishment but a program. I'm doing a six month program. My
program consists of five anger management packets. They are
brought to my cell as I finish them. I've been in here not quite
two months and I've finished all these packets. This so-called
program is more of a lock down than the Disciplinary Segregation
Unit(DSU). All I can figure is it's a program on paper; work and a
punishment in reality. ...

This is the most important Letter I've ever written. Just to know
there are people out there who still care about the oppressed (me)
makes my life a little easier and fills my heart with joy. It
brings the spark of life back.

I have written to the ACLU on many different subjects but all I
can figure about them is that they want big publicity cases that
put them in the limelight and make them the star of the day: the
big heros. There are also a lot of legal assistance programs and
law firms around Oregon, but none of them want to take a case to
help better prison life. Now I can only guess why and my guess
world be money! ...

I am no angel. I will be the first to say this. But most of these
pigs are no better then me. I feel they are even worse in a way. I
don't victimize people for pleasure. I've done crimes because I'm a
drug addict and I have no skills to make a comfortable living in
society. ...

These people get paid to rehabilitate me. And look at the job they
have done. I was out six days my last time on the streets. I was
out of prison 4 days and was riding in a friend's car when he was
pulled over by the pigs. The pigs pulled me out of the car by my hair, hand-
cuffed me and then kicked in my face. Why? The cop said he could tell by the 
look on my face I was gonna fight. This is what the cop said in his police 
report. But I don't think that's what it
was. I think it was part of my rehabilitation.

I do have an attorney on this assault and battery case by the
police; and I'm pretty sure I will be reimbursed. But will the pig
be punished? Will he be rehabilitated? Not Likely.

-- a prisoner in Salem, Oregon, 23 June 1999.

In it's newspaper the Maoist Internationalist Movement responded:  

Some branches of the ACLU and other individual
lawyers have been helpful in fighting for better conditions within
Amerikan prisons. However we do not rely on progressive lawyers
entirely though, we build independent proletarian institutions.
But we don't categorically discount the assistance that
progressives can make on proletarian-led campaigns. Our suggestion
for prisoners is to continue to contact possible supporters on the
outside, but also to work with United Struggle from Within
prisoners and MIM to develop skills and tools necessary to meet
your own needs. We have published several editions of MIM Legal
Notes, including some introductory guides for becoming better
equipped to deal with legal problems. Get your hands on any legal
information available at the prison and contact us to work with
other USW prisoners developing the Serve the People Prisoners'
Legal Clinic.

Second, we air letters like the one from the Oregon prisoner to help demonstrate 
that
the current imperialist system does not meet the needs of the
people. Drug-related crimes make up the largest justification for
Amerika's repression through prisons. Amerika has no interest in
eradicating drug addiction for a variety of reasons -- the
economics of the prison industrial complex is one of them. MIM
upholds the revolutionary example of China between 1949 - 1976 as
the furthest advancement toward communism. In revolutionary China,
the masses were encouraged in several ways to stop using drugs and
engaging in other unproductive activities. The revolutionary
method is to show individuals the meaningful and productive
contributions they can make in society; the imperialist method is
to use drug addiction as a justification for imprisonment. MIM has
written extensively on rehabilitation and distributes several
books addressing revolutionary methods. Readers dealing with
addiction should study addiction in the context of anti-
imperialist struggle. We welcome theoretical submissions on the
topic of imperialist so-called rehabilitation versus revolutionary
struggle as well.


Wisconsin builds more prisons

Here's my report of this belly of the beast, concentration camp.
... They have just started the building of at least three new
prisons. They are three months away from the completion of what
they call their "Super Max," which is supposed to house
Wisconsin's most dangerous prisoners. In the mean time, they are
using all kinds of tricks to put us Africans and Hispanics on what
they call "Administrative Confinement." The catch is that they say
the ones on Administrative Confinement have a 75 to 90% chance of
going to this super max.

Right now in the hole where I am, it is about 85 to 90% Blacks
and Hispanics. When the white prisoners come to the hole, they are
released within 2 to 3 months. I myself, I have been down here for
1 year and 3 months. About 50% of us have never even stepped one
foot down in the general population prison. We were sent here from
another prison, but once we got here, they gave us a hearing and
determined that we were too bad to get let out into population.
Not one ticket here, and they came up with that mess.

I believe the reason for this is to fill up the super max as soon
as it opens. If it is filled immediately, they can justify to
those fools in society the building of more prisons.

Yes, they are sending our brothers out of state to all kinds of
different prisons. Please do what you can to check into this, the
word around all Wisconsin prisons is that Governor Tommy Thomas or
his wife and son has a large piece of stock in the company that
runs those, or some of those prisons in other states. That would
be a real good reason for him to keep on sending us over there, he
is protecting his family's investments.

They only charge us $2.50 for medical help but they make sure that
they get you plenty of times. I have been on the waiting list to
see the dentist since November 3, 1998. But since I refuse to pay
the $2.50 he won't call me down. But he knows that I have a tooth
that needs work badly. I take medication for migraine headaches,
which they sent me to the doctor to find out about. But they say
that the prescription only lasts for three months, so I have to
put in a medical slip to go there. Once I get there, the doctor
asks, 'do you still need them.' I say yes, and he refills them for
three more months. But I still have to pay the $2.50.

-- A prisoner in Wisconsin, July 1999.

Northern State Prison gang unit demonstrates that Amerikan prisons are about 
control

I am currently incarcerated in Northern State Prison Ad-seg
security at gang management unit. I'm labeled as a gang
member by the DOC administration. Once I'm finished with my lock-
up, I am forced to go to the gang unit program so I can get back
into general population.

I consider myself a political prisoner because of my family
membership and me and my brothers struggle daily in these dungeon
walls.

The pigs' treatment of us is terrible. Our mail has to be checked
by the I/A before getting into our hands. Money orders our family
sends us take almost a month to get into our accounts and our
letters take about 3 to 4 weeks to get to us. I/A works against
us.

These pigs give us a roll of toilet paper every 15 days and
recently they are giving one roll of toilet paper once a month.
How are we supposed to clean ourselves after using the bathroom
once our roll of toilet paper is finished?

Now they are giving us infractions that cause us to loose
recreational privileges for things like talking out the cell
doors, blocking or covering the vents in which the air
conditioning is on full blast and is freezing and having clothes
lines in our cells. Once we wash our clothes or dry ourselves
after a shower we have to hang our towels or clothing so they can
dry.

They are trying to make our time impossible and miserable by
taking away our privileges. Bad enough the rec is every four days
and the rest of the days we are locked in our cell. In winter
there is no clothing given to us to protect us from the cold
except for a state jumper and state coat that has STGMU on the
back, and state BOBOS sneakers that have no type of insulation. If
we catch a cold or get sick, medical costs $5 plus $1 for
medicine. The state of New Jersey is getting worse each year.

I would like to say to all my young bothers and sisters our there
to open your eyes. Think of the consequences that you are gonna go
through if you commit a violent crime. These crackers (Governor
and Senate) of NJ along with judges, are not playing. The three
strikes and 85 percent laws for violent crimes and any other crime
aren't a joke. It is time to stand up and not give the state of NJ
DOC the pleasure of caging us in dungeons. I say to my brothers
and sisters and Latinos everywhere, educate yourselves so that you
may not be a casualty within the prisons.

It's time to fight the oppressor and shut down these gang units.
The less our people are in prison, the better our chances are not
to turn on each other and against one another. We need to help and
educate one another instead of killing ourselves and our people
with that toxic poison the white man put in our ghettos.

This struggle must be over soon, in my eyes if we all come
together we can come out on top. I would like to give my "Amor de
rey" to all true Black and Gold fighting for the struggle behind
the walls.

 -- a New Jersey Prisoner, 19 June 1999.

I just finished reading MIM Notes for June and July and I see
where someone had written in about the STG unit in Northern State
Prison in New Jersey. I was one of the first prisoners grabbed off
the yard in January 1990 to be held until March of 1998 when the
unit opened up. On March 4, 1998 we were shipped here from all
over the state. Most of us did nothing except belong to what they
call a gang.

To us it's political education to fight the abuse these pigs use
on us!

They hold our mail for two to three weeks before giving it to us,
and when I was expedited to South Carolina in July of 1998 for a
parole hearing they took a large amount of money out of my
account, and stole my radio. This is one form of their abuse on
us. Cold showers and cold food are another. They try to make us
give in, but I for one am stronger. My eyes are open to the abuse
they put on us. I will continue to fight for prisoner's rights
even if I have to spill every bit of my blood! I'd like to say
Decorazon to all my brothers!

 -- another New Jersey Prisoner, 27 July 1999.

Amerika denies medical care to prisoners

Comrades at MIM, I am truly sorry for taking so long for
corresponding back with y'all. I am having some medical problems
with my stomach and I'm finding myself being denied proper medical
treatment. Such as the Brother Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is being
denied medical treatment for his swollen ankles. You know these
prison guards and wardens don't just take us out and shoot us in
the head anymore to kill us. They are now denying us prisoners all
across the U.S. proper medical treatment no matter how severe our
condition may be!

-- a Texas prisoner.