Under Lock and Key

MIM barred from serving the people in MI prisons

It would be helpful if MDOC allowed us to receive books from your 
program, but the rules don't allow you to donate to individual 
prisoners. The head librarian here is such a reactionary that he'd 
probably send the books to the national security agency to dust 
for fingerprints. It is good that MIM Notes and the MIM Theory 
material are so educational. If one is serious about learning and 
understanding why we must dismantle imperialism, s/he can learn a 
lot about scientific revolutionary methods just from these 
materials.

I use MIM Notes to introduce comrades to the seriousness of 
People's Struggle. Then we move them to investigate and study the 
works of Marx, Lenin, George Jackson, Huey Newton, Malcolm X, Che, 
and others important in shaping and developing theory and 
strategies to overthrow imperialism. MIM material is exceptionally 
thorough, which is why it is more than adequate for awakening a 
revolutionary consciousness among the lumpen kaptives inside these 
kamps. I will continue to assist as my situation permits. The 
prison store no longer sells single stamps, so now I must find 
another way to support MIM Notes.

The Struggle Continues,

-- a Michigan Prisoner, 26 March, 2000

MIM responds: We share your belief that revolutionaries should 
study the histories of all flavors of revolutionary movement. We 
should understand not only why we are Maoists and 
internationalists but why we are not Trotskyists or other First 
World chauvinists, not adventurist, not narrow nationalist. We 
must point out that while Che Guevara and George Jackson both left 
behind a fire for rebellion of the oppressed, neither left behind 
lasting work that would illuminate the path to socialism for 
future generations. The adventurism of Guevara and Jackson pale in 
comparison to the proletarian advancements of Maoism. (For more on 
the error of adventurism, order MIM Theory #5.)

MIM does not talk about all the people's heroes you mention in the 
same company because there are clear distinctions. Lenin and 
Newton both took up the arduous task of building their party 
organizations that could sustain the tasks of building public 
opinion and independent institutions of the oppressed. Marx 
devoted himself to the task of explaining the function of capital 
and the bankruptcy of following any path to revolution other than 
that of the proletariat. Malcolm X, while not a communist, 
explained the form and function of national oppression in Amerika. 

Isolation conditions hurt prisoner unity

As always the struggle continues. Here in [Lee Correctional 
Institution, South Carolina] the prisoncrats constantly subject us 
to menial conditions. We are not allowed to leave our unit unless 
it's to medical or canteen. Other than that we must remain locked 
down for 22 hours. We aren't allowed to clean our cells, meaning 
that we aren't given cleaning supplies or the time to clean. We 
are fed off of plastic picnic plates which are twice as small as 
the regular trays. Rodents roam at will through the unsanitary 
building which has no kitchen. Our food is pushed around on open 
carts with no heat. There's no way to mail our mail because the 
c.o. won't take it up. This letter here is being mailed by a 
comrade who do work in population. There's no grievance services, 
no one to express the unsanitary conditions. It's like I'm in a 
prison within a prison. There's no solidarity here amongst us. 
When you do speak to prisoners about protesting our conditions 
appropriately, the prisoners don't want to hear it unless you are 
talking sports or some other bulshitting topics. But I refuse to 
sit by and be tortured without putting up a fight. The pen is 
always at work.

In the struggle,

--A South Carolina Prisoner, March 2000.

Can't Jail the Spirit

Continuing to maintain a firm state of fortitude and exuberance 
during the brutal struggle is what I wish upon all members of MIM, 
as well as all those being oppressed throughout the United $nakes 
prison system.  I'm elated to announce that I did receive the 
latest edition of MIM Notes. I want to give a special thanks to 
this organization for keeping revolutionaries such as myself, and 
basically the entire nation, up to date and informed on the unjust 
and corrupted ways of the goblins and their crooked politics. 

Right now I reside at the infamous (corrupt) Corcoran SHU, located 
literally in the belly of California, where every day is a 
challenge/obstacle, mentally/psychologically and physically. 
Luckily I am fortunate enough to have a release date, and will 
soon be liberated from this servitude of constant misery and 
anguish. 

For disciplinary reasons, I was placed on "walk alone" 
status/close management June of 1999. Since then, I have been kept 
virtually isolated from direct physical contact with people. 

It has taken its toll on me mentally. I will most likely be 
paroling from here in November, and having to go back to society 
like this, without being able to socialize with the general 
population first, to familiarize myself with being around people; 
I don't think this is fair to me or other individuals in similar 
situations. I have learned from this situation to exercise 
patience, discipline and strength of mind to help me cope with 
whatever awaits me along the thoroughfares of life.  

Continue to use these hardships as a learning experience, to 
benefit yourself by utilizing these long hours to cultivate your 
mind by reading, writing, studying, etc., etc. If the brain is not 
exercised it will grow stale. Don't allow this system to break 
your spirits.  The fire within must burn bright at all times. To 
all (kiwes, Africans and revolutionaries) in this struggle, 
continue to push forward, remain intrepid and educate others. 
Together we will endeavor. "Nationwide kiwes on the move"!!! 
Straight Ahead...

-- A California Prisoner, 22 June 2000.

Don't wait, organize against censorship today!

I've this idea about combating prison censorship. Hopefully I'll 
be out soon and can begin putting the plan into action: 
I will contact a list of pen-pal services and clubs who help find 
prisoners pen pals, both profit and non-profit groups. I will 
compile lists of prisons that have high rates of censorship 
complaints and list the types of complaints demographically. I 
will also correlate complaints from prisoners who read 
publications I can contact them through. And of course MIM's info 
would be very beneficial if I could use it. Putting all this info 
together and publishing a fact sheet, I will send it to justice 
policy reform groups such as VERA [Institute of Justice -- a 
public-interest law firm] and JFK school of government, as well as 
many civil rights groups.

 -- a Colorado Prisoner.

MIM responds: When MIM writes of independent institutions of the 
oppressed, we are talking about institutions like MIM Notes, 
through which we expose the repression and hypocrisy of prison 
censorship. We can do this because we prioritize the political 
issues that are most important to the oppressed -- those that deal 
with building a vanguard party and proletarian-led organizations 
that will be able to overthrow imperialism. Correct organizing 
against oppression includes working from the resources at hand and 
building them into the institutions that we need to have.

The Black Panther Party said: "we believe in serving the People 
whole-heartedly in a socialistic manner, not spending money like 
the U.S. to take hunger surveys, but to feed the People."("Serving 
the People," The Black Panther 6 April, 1969, p. 14.) MIM does not 
yet have food programs. But by building the programs that we do 
have, and working with a correct revolutionary line to build 
agitation and organizing efforts in all areas of political 
struggle, we will continue to grow. Mao has also cautioned us on 
the principal position of the party's political line -- this is 
the decisive factor in success or failure.

In practice this means that all people who have an anti-
imperialist worldview and want to share news about the workings of 
militarism should cooperate to do research and work together to 
put out proletarian newspapers like MIM Notes. Through this work 
we'll improve our own writing and publishing skills, just as 
through the work of distributing the newspaper we will advance our 
own abilities to talk to the masses about this system of 
oppression, and to organize more people into doing work to educate 
others.

Organizing against censorship from within the prison system is 
possible and necessary. We are pleased to have the help of liberal 
organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union when we can 
get it, but we must never abandon our independent work in favor of 
working for reform groups. Prisoners and allies working with the 
Prisoners' Legal Clinic have taken on the tasks of researching and 
writing about different aspects of the law and different tactics 
for fighting censorship, and MIM Notes has published their 
articles. This is work you can do today that will enable prisoner 
subscribers to MIM Notes to do work against censorship. 
Independent institutions of the oppressed organize the masses in 
meeting their own basic needs.

Federal prisoners barred from organizing

Personally I understand the hardship that is placed on prisoners 
with censorship because I've been on mail restriction twice since 
1997 in which I was only allowed legal mail. Censorship is just 
one of the ingredients to keep individuals uninformed and 
oppressed. Censorship of anything is hazardous, because knowledge 
is the first step, and before you are allowed this knowledge the 
oppressors will form a counter attack.

Some of us prisoners here had the Loompanics catalog in which you 
can purchase books through mail order. Now they have some way out 
books on drugs, guns, etc., but they have some other legal books 
as well. The catalog does not tell you how to make anything or 
show you; you are left to buy the book. We had a book titled "How 
to Clear Your Adult and Juvenile Criminal Record" from Loompanics. 
It gives step by step procedures on how to get a conviction 
expunged or pardon from the courts. The oppressor's took the books 
because they say I was running a criminal enterprise while 
incarcerated just by having the books, and allowing others to 
endow themselves.

Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert 
the population into specimens in a zoo -- obedient to our keepers 
but dangerous to each other. However, now radical and 
revolutionary ideologies are seeping into prisons. When formerly 
convicts tended to regard themselves as unfortunates whose 
accident of birth at the bottom of the heap was largely 
responsible for their plight, today many are questioning the 
validity of the heap. The act is not criminal unless the mind is 
criminal. With differing fate, men commit the same crimes:  one 
man gets a cross as a reward of villainy, another a crown. The 
states do this all the time and get the crown, they need to be 
dethroned.

All men recognize the right of revolution. However, he who 
overcomes by force only overcomes but half of his foes. That is 
why it is important to remain educated. Because a revolt of the 
judiciary is more dangerous to a government then any other, even a 
military revolt. Now and then the government uses the military to 
suppress disorder, but it defends itself everyday by means of the 
court. I can retain neither respect nor affection for a government 
which has been moving from wrong to wrong to defend its 
immorality. United States laws make law impossible; our liberties 
destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our wisdom 
is administered by inexperienced dupes, our power is wielded by 
cowards and weaklings, and United States honor is false in all 
points. I am an enemy of the existing order for good reasons. 
Remember treating your adversaries with respect is giving them an 
advantage to which they are not entitled.

We attempted to start an inmate organization to study various 
knowledge about our current situation; dealing with Administrative 
Remedies, Tort claims, Prisons rules, Writs, custody points, re-
entering society, re-entering prison prevention and basic studies. 
However to do so we must receive permission from the Warden. As 
you can see by the enclosed response the organization was denied. 
We believe it was done so to keep us separated.

When I arrived here no one knew what MIM stood for, now the 
interest is exploding. However we have no real education 
department here, therefore could you help us out and send some 
type of study information. Although we can't study together in a 
mass group we will do it at least in parts. Thank you.

 -- a Federal Prisoner in Illinois.

This is the text of the Warden's response to the prisoners' 
request for an approved organization:

"I am in receipt of your correspondence in which you request the 
establishment of an inmate organization. You indicate that all 
inmates would be able to participate in the organization.

"It is the policy of this institution that a wide variety of 
educational, vocational, psychological, and religious programs 
will be made available to all inmates. Further, it is my 
determination that the establishment of an inmate organization 
would serve no valid purpose that is not already available though 
other institution programs.

"I encourage all inmates to make constructive and positive use of 
their time why at FCI Greenville. You involvement in programs will 
further this goal."

MIM responds: This Warden's response exemplifies the need for 
prisoners and their allies on the outside to build independent 
institutions of the oppressed to meet their own needs while 
building as part of a strong political movement. Our Serve the 
People Prisoners' Legal Clinic is one such institution and through 
its publication of MIM Legal Notes it is a place for prisoners to 
research and write about various legal issues relevant to 
prisoners engaging in political struggle. We encourage all 
comrades who would engage in this work to do so in the context of 
the PLC.

We agree with this comrade that as prisoners and MIM are 
restricted even in our ability to organize together by various 
legal barriers the work of getting through and around these 
blockades is very important. The prisoner mentions censorship -- a 
central issue to legal work MIM needs prisoners to do as blocking 
our correspondence and publications blocks the very basic means 
through which we can communicate with comrades under lock & key. 
But we also see the extent of the barriers facing us and our 
comrades in prison as evidence that legal struggles alone will not 
bring justice to this country or to its colonies within and 
outside of u.$. borders. Revolutionary struggle has the goal not 
of winning individual battles (although certainly these are a 
part) but of ultimately replacing the system of bourgeois so-
called democracy with proletarian democracy. This means we seek to 
do away even with the court system that makes the work of the 
Prisoners' Legal Clinic necessary, and to replace it with one that 
like the rest of society will reflect the needs of the majority.

MIM banned from Westville

The pigs here have begun a new sensory deprivation of MIM paper! 
The pigs confiscated the MIM papers and stated that it's a "threat 
to the security of the facility" and promotes "gang activity." On 
Feb. 17, 2000 the assistant supt. put out a memo to all prisoners 
who receive MIM and stated "MIM will not be accepted at this 
facility" ...

I urge all MIM comrades to help us with our struggle and abolish 
these cages modern day slavery pigs we fight with, so we can read 
MIM once again.

-- An Indiana prisoner, 17 February 2000.

From California's Slave Camps

This is my first letter to your independent program. I came into 
the injustice system at the age of 18, and I have seen a lot of 
stuff. I want to address some of the issues of prison life. I have 
been to 3 prisons so far and these people treat us like animals. 
When you ask them for something they just look at you and keep 
working. They have us in here killing each other over nothing.

The medical staff doesn't answer you when you have a problem. 
Staff members play with your mail, they don't have work skills 
programs, we get the same food every week, they put people on the 
yard that don't get along. I can go on but you guys already know 
about what goes on in prison. The question is what can we do about 
it?

We are nothing but a dollar sign, and the taxpayers are the ones 
who are voting for more prisons to be built and taking away 
programs from prisoners. I can not believe that voters put prison 
over education. This is nothing but a scam. This is a million 
dollar project, people just don't know what they are voting for. 
They have money for war, but they can not feed the poor.

So please let me know what kind of group I can join to make 
difference for prisoners. Right now I am in a SHU. They don't like 
to see no unity, they like to see us down. Right now they are 
trying to take our rights away and some of us are letting them. 
Some one has to stand up and I am one of them.

-- a California prisoner, 10 May 2000.

MIM responds: There are many ways that prisoners can work with MIM 
to stop the forms of oppression you report on. Maoist prisoners 
should join MIM. Those prisoners who are anti-imperialist or want 
to build opposition to prisons, but are not communist, should join 
United Struggle from Within. USW is an anti-imperialist mass 
organization led by MIM to fight from within the prison system 
against oppression. Some USW prisoners are quite active in 
building opposition, either through forming study groups, writing 
for MIM Notes, holding educational meetings or developing Serve 
the People programs. To start, we suggest that prisoners study MIM 
Notes and form groups to discuss and build upon other 
revolutionary material that we send.

This prisoner's letter points out the importance of vanguard 
leadership. There are many in the united snakes that will say that 
the majority of Amerikans "just don't know" that they are 
supporting oppression. MIM has analyzed the material conditions 
and history of the united snakes and maintains that the majority 
of Amerikans are bought off. They fully support the capitalist 
system that imprisons more Blacks per capita than South Africa did 
under the official reign of Apartheid. The majority of Amerikans 
DO know what they are voting for; they are voting for the 
perpetuation of a system that allows the majority to be parasitic 
at the expense of the majority of the world's people. Because of 
this MIM cardinal, MIM focuses our strengths against the root of 
the methods of oppression this prisoner speaks of: against 
imperialism.