Under Lock & Key Segregation conditions in Menard Menard is located in the Southern District of Illinois, in an all- White area. The Staff is all White for the most part. This is not right due to the fact that the majority of the prisoners are Hispanic and Black. Since America is supposed to be the Melting Pot, its prison staff should reflect that Pot. Even if minority staff have to be bussed for employment. Segregation inmates are singled out for the harshest oppression here, such as: * One 15 minute shower a week * No food from commissary * No TV or radio for 6 months * No contact visits * No phone calls * No braids in your hair * No smoking * Limited property -- An Illinois Prisoner, 22 November 1999. MIM responds: This prisoner exposes what is true across the country: in prison we see mostly white guards abusing mostly oppressed nation prisoners. But MIM disagrees with this prisoner that it is worth bussing in guards to include token members of other nations. Anyone working for the imperialist prison system as a guard will be a pig by the very nature of his or her job. Putting a different face on that pig will not make him or her any less of a pig. Attacked by Pigs & Labeled the Aggressor I salute you Brothers/Sisters around the world with a clenched fist who have ever been the victim of police brutality, cruel and unusual punishment, or unnecessary use of force. Because the time has come to fight back. I've been locked down for 13 years here in the state of Texas and been the victim of more than one assault by the state's thugs (prison overseers). But yet the participants in both assaults altered the use-of-force papers that have to be filled out to say that I was the aggressor, to justify their attack. The first time I was assaulted I was in handcuffs with my hands behind my back, but yet these thugs have the green light to assault and even kill. They made statements that I tried to kick them, justifying their actions. I had three ribs broken and a tooth kicked out at the end of their assault. The second time I had refused to get out of the shower with soap still on me. The officers that assaulted me then stated that I came out of the shower with an attempt to assault one of the three thugs present. I was thrown to the floor and beaten for 3-5 minutes. I filed out a grievance and the plantation's head warden denied my claim of cruel and unusual punishment. The crimes that these thugs commit, assault and murder, are no different from the crimes people commit to be in prison, so why are they looked at different? It's because you, the people of society are accepting the killings the officers commit as being nothing important until it happens to someone you love. It's time to stop these thugs and their assaults and killings. -- A Texas Prisoner, 25 October 1999. Revolution by a California prisoner When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls Youth will wear red, black, and green patches over the Emblems of their starter jackets. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls Brothas will gather regularly at barber shops and corner Stops to discuss George Jackson, the Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare and People's War before they go home To take care of their children each night. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls Playground basketball courts will become paramilitary Training grounds where we learn to shoot guns at the Enemy, not baskets for bets. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls We will spend hours and hours watching our children grow Into soldiers, not basketball players. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls We will know CIA stats, FBI stats, Infant mortality stats, Police brutality stats, And literary training techniques Like we know Paxton's shoe size, Pippen's rebounds, Grant's salary And all the intimate details of Michael's last gambling spree. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls You will be able to ask any youth on the street, Who is Angela Davis? Who is Sundiata Acoli? Who is Assata Shakur? Who is Mutulu Shakur? Who is Queen Mother Moore? And they would tell you without skipping a beat. When Niggas love Revolution more than they love the Bulls, You will go on to ask them about Michael Jordan And they will say: who? When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls, Masses of us would tear up a Carolina Coroner and his office To find out what really happened to James Jordan Instead of waiting on the word of news magazines and Sheriffs' offices. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls You will see Phil Jackson running up and down an empty Court minutes before game time Screaming: Where are my Niggas? Where are my Niggas? Where are my Niggas? As those Niggas leave the stadium to go build schools in Their community. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls All Niggas will refuse to shoot ball with the President With or without their dashikis on. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls "Swissshhh" will become associated with the sound of CIA agents and drug dealers when thrown face first into open manholes. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls Mike would not be able to sell $160 basketball shoes in our Community because we would rather spend the money on Liberation, thank you. When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls they Will love it More than Chittlins More than All My Children More than Gerri Curls More than Cadillacs Cause When Niggas love Revolution like they love the Bulls When Niggas love they family like they love the Bulls When Niggas love to be free like they love the Bulls When Niggas love struggle like they love the Bulls When Niggas love dignity like they love the Bulls When Niggas love Niggas like they love the Bulls We will become Black people And the Bullshit will hit the fan. Prisoner advises comrades about basic anti-censorship tactics I have advice towards censorship. On the Internet is a free service called FindLaw.com that has Supreme Court cases and others. You can find the landmark case of ITAL Procunier v. Martinez END, 416 U.S. 396 (1974) http://laws.findlaw.com/u.s./416/396.html. This Supreme Court case addresses issues such as mail censorship and inflammatory political views. It states not only do prisoners have a right to freedom of speech but the correspondent [such as MIM Notes] also has that right. Prisoners fighting censorship should use language from this case. ... In my opinion every grievance or complaint (but prisoners should start by writing grievances through the administrative system) should cite the following: "For the most part, these courts have dealt with challenges to censorship of prisoner mail as involving broad questions of 'prisoners' rights'. This case is no exception. The District Court stated the issues in general terms as the 'applicability of the First Amendment rights to prison inmates. . . (354 F. Supp. at 1096), and the arguments of the parties reflect the assumption that the resolution of this case requires an assessment of the extent to which prisoners may claim First Amendment freedoms. In our view this inquiry is unnecessary. In determining the proper standard for review for prison restrictions on inmate correspondence, we have no occasion to consider the extent to which an individual's right to free speech survives incarceration, for a narrower basis of decision is at hand. In the case of direct personal correspondence between inmates and those who have a particularized interest in communication with them, mail censorship implicates more than the right of prisoners. . . ." ITAL Procunier v. Martinez END, 416 U.S. 396, 408-410. Communication by letter is not accomplished by the act of writing words on paper. Rather, it is effected only when the letter is read by the addressee. Both parties to the correspondence have an interest in securing that result, and censorship of the communication necessarily impinges on the interests of each. -- A California prisoner, August 1999. MIM responds: This is a good start to formulating a legal argument against censorship, and it is especially important for MIM to also remind prison authorities that as a publisher we have First Amendment rights that are abridged when our literature is censored. However, we also want to remind prisoners and comrades on the outside that the ITAL Procunier END case is quite old, prisoner "rights" have been drastically further cut since 1974. While in theory prisoners have First Amendment "rights", the Supreme Court has allowed prisoncrats to enact harsh regulations in the name of order and security. Fighting censorship is an uphill battle under imperialism, but a battle well worth fighting, with occasional wins. See MIM Legal Notes for more in depth articles about legal struggles prisoners are waging, and how to wage your own. No freedom, no peace I greet you in peace, and peace is what we all seek, but there can be no peace without freedom. First, we need complete freedom before we can have complete peace. So I will stop here and give my salute to you for all the unity that you have shown us against this war upon us. The universal law dictates that a closed fist, symbolic of unity, is stronger than an open hand, symbolic of division. MIM, without a doubt, we are constantly moving/demonstrating this great unity. So let us not forget the sisters and brothers that shocked the world at the hand of racism in the year 1998 & 1999. .. We express our deepest sympathies to our grieving families across our Diaspora. Ancestor Tiesha Miller was murdered by racist and vicious police in Riverside, CA. while Ahmed Domoud Diallo -- an immigrant from Guinea, West Africa -- was gunned down by the deadly police force of New York City's so-called "finest." These terrorists must be arrested put on trial, convicted and sentenced to life! Here in Texas, the family of Ancestor James Byrd, had to re-live that tragedy, with the trial of one the "KKK" killers. A further injustice was that only one of the twelve jurors was Black. The Jasper region is more than 50 percent African American. And in mostly Black Oakland, CA the white killer of Ancestor Yaheem King -- son of Adama Osuntoki Moseley, an N'Cobra member, is on trial before a jury with only one African American member. Brother Geronimo Pratt, our long time liberation fighter and former political prisoner, will not face a retrial of the false murder conviction that kept him locked-up for 27 years. The Los Angeles district attorney has decided that he can't win by appealing a recent court ruling. I will continue to strive for freedom, unity, and peace. Uhura! Uhura! To All! -- A Texas prisoner, December 1999. STG status won't stop the struggle ... Things seem to be getting worse here. My cell was searched by pigs today. They claimed they were looking for knives but it didn't look that way to me. They went through all my paperwork and found some Gangster Disciple lessons. As soon as the pig found my lesson he stopped shaking down. The pig came back later with some white shirts claiming if I didn't tell him something about those lessons he would place me on Security Threat Group status. I've already been on STG before so those pigs can take that shit somewhere else. I just want them to leave me alone. I don't cause any trouble. I'm just trying to educate myself and rise to another level. If they want to put me on lock-up, then so be it. They'll be doing me a favor and improve my study habits. If they leave me on the yard I'll educate my peers so my nation and movement can grow. It's all about the struggle! -- A South Carolina prisoner, December 1999. Thanks for George Jackson article, event I'm writing to praise your article in the October 1, 1999 MIM Notes titled, "Event Celebrates Prisoner Struggles Against Oppression." (28th anniversary of the murder of George Jackson.) We salute you for the brief but honest and thorough history of the brothers' life and struggle. Even though, at the moment, we differ in revolutionary theory (tactics, strategy) we here in the "belly of the beast" thank you sincerely. For some of us, Comrade George Jackson's life and struggle against imperialism and racism has had a great impact on our lives. We study what material we can get on this revolutionary activist so we can see what he seen and advance his method to the letter. Being Nubian (Black), we are mostly concerned with his black militancy view, his view and quotations of other revolutionaries mentioned in his writings. We want to know his perspectives on strategy and tactics dealing with inside the beast (prison). Once again, we thank you for another educating and inspiring article. Keep up the good work. I leave with the encouraging words of Comrade Jackson, "I can be courageous before my enemies." Thanks, MIM! -- A Texas prisoner, November 1999. Tennessee punishes prisoners by taking their hats & gloves The prisoncrats in Tennessee have devised another plot to make prisoners suffer. New prisoners being assigned to maximum security, or who are on maximum status and received a disciplinary infraction now must forsake hats and gloves. In Eastern Tennessee, December through February, temperatures are in the mid twenties or teens. Also, inmates must forfeit their T.V.s and radios. What possible reason could prisoncrats have for taking a man's hat and gloves during winter months, other than to make a man suffer? The taking of T.V.s and radios was not such a bad idea, maybe now the captives will find their way into the real world, instead of the delusional world of "Days of our Lives". Most captives can tell you all the character's names, personal finances, the last three or four year plot of numerous soap operas, yet cannot even begin to explain prison policy and procedure. This is just another step in control tactics. Prisoncrats "know" the captives enjoy T.V. and radio, so they put conditions upon your having those items. And it's been very effective so far. Slowly but surely the captives are being stripped of their manhood, and the sad part, they willingly submit to this unjust subjugation for the price of a T.V. show! It truly sickens me. In Struggle, -- a Tennessee Prisoner 20 December 1999. Guards are the real gangs MIM I am writing first of all to express my appreciation and gratitude for receiving (MIM Notes Dec. 1, 1999) and I must commend you on such an informative issue. I am writing in reference to the prison and alleged "gang" problem. It is first of all an actual fact that most prisoners are apolitical when they enter a prison setting, however its not very long after that before one begins to educate themselves concerning the prison industrial complex in regards to race and geo- graphical, location. As the convict begins to "connect the dots" so to speak, and view his/her condition from a historical perspective then begins to educate his "peers" who are also held captive he or she becomes a "threat" to the administration. You are then labeled as a "gang member" and must be isolated from those in general population. This has become a trend throughout the United Snakes prison system. In NJ there are no gangs other then the police that patrol the ghetto colonies and the guards that work within the prisons/jails. Many brothers may be Muslim, 5% Nation of Islam or revolutionaries, nonetheless you are characterized as a "gang member". This is a very destructive trend because for one to be labeled a gang member trivializes the mission of the combatants secondly it misinforms the public who is already (mis-informed) to have more tax dollars invested into supermax prison kamps "for their own protection". Finally it opens the door for more brutality against captives by Nazi type gestopo pigs (guards), also being approved by the ignorant masses. It is imperative that we all become politically conscious and recognize that the prison industrial complex is big business meaning "big bucks" again at the expense of the New Afrikan, Latino and poor white communities. [Though white imprisonment rates are high compared to other countries, the white nation as a whole benefits off of the Amerikan prison system, this includes 'poor whites.' This disproportionately comes at the expense of all oppressed nations within the united snakes, not just Black and Latino. -- MIM] To give a young mis-guided "inmate" a perspective of what's really going down means the beginning of the end of exploitation of the masses, held within the confines of these retaining walls. For those of us who know what time it is and what must be done to combat this repressive system, must do even more! Transform the criminal mentality into a revolutionary mentality. We are not gangstas. Ie. A group of criminals or hoodlums. But politically and socially conscious "souljahs" and "warriors" fighting for the liberation of oppressed people here in amerikkka and throughout the world. Wanting to say peace, but having to wage war! Straight ahead -- a New Jersey prisoner, 7 January 2000. Health Conditions in Indiana I became sick in here from eating the food in the dining hall, others got sick also. The doctor told me I had gas and gave me some gas tablets and told me that there is nothing wrong with me. Later that evening I was rushed back to the health care staff again by wheelchair. I started vomiting a thick yellow substance and blood with chills and a fever. The doctor and nursing staff sent me back to the dorm in pain. The next morning I started to brush my teeth and discovered my tongue was black! The C.O. and O.I.C. were notified by my roommate; I was told that I would have to wait until the next shift for medical help. Upon reaching the Health Care Staff again that morning the nurse drew blood and the doctor was still saying that there wasn't anything wrong with me. I told and showed him that my tongue had turned black and he said that it was normal because I was vomiting. I then began to fear for my life in here. Another guy there started taking some X-rays of my stomach area. He told me that there was a problem around my colon and appendix. I was finally taken to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. I was put on antibiotics and another liquid by I.V. for 4 days. I was told that my white cell count was very high and what ever I ate had poisoned my system. My bowels had turned black also. I had 4 specialists on my case all wanting to do surgery, but afraid of what was causing this problem. I also had 4 special kinds of X-rays on my abdomen. I was told that I couldn't eat or drink anything until they found out what the problem was for sure. Well, for 7 days I couldn't eat or drink anything and had a fever over 101 degrees F. for 3 days. Thank you for your concerns, comrades. In solidarity, -- An Indiana Prisoner. Brutality Threatened in Colorado I have been placed in X, a closed security facility. Things had been going pretty well the last three weeks. Then the Case Manager, called me into the office and began pressuring me about my grievances and litigations. After failing to persuade me into agreeing to a "different attitude" he began threatening me. First it was that he had my removal from population and loss of privileges papers already made up and waiting. Then it was that he was going to take me down and tell then that I assaulted him. At this point he took the handcuffs out of his right hand drawer and I swear he looked ready to attack, when the phone rang. He looked at me then at the phone. He made up his mind to answer it and I was up and out the door. I ran down the hall to the Lt.'s office and reported his "behavior" which by the way held a "If you ever make it out of prison..." undercurrent throughout the conversation.... Needless to say the Case Manager toned it down, but continued the threatening attitude. About 50% of the inmates here have such long sentences they may never see freedom. That's what worries me about shit like this case manager. During our "conversation" he threatened me outright, then offered me good reports for compliance. If this asshole offers an inmate good recommendations or threatens bad reports or even a new "charge" like I was threatened with -- a hit could be coerced easily in here. In solidarity, -- A Colorado Prisoner, 18 November 1999.