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                               RAIL Notes                               

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A publication of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League - Spring 1996



Inside: Zapatistas, Response to Anarchist Black Cross, Integration?, The

        Bell Curve debate



***



RAIL RALLIES AGAINST REPRESSION IN PRISONS



Boston, November 18thłThe Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League held a

rally outside the officesof the Department of Corrections and  NYNEX

co-sponsored by MIM, Latinos Against Abuse of Prisoners, the Committee

to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and POWs, the UMass Radical

Student Union, and Freedom Now. Over 40 people joined the rally to

oppose the increasing repression in prisons in this state and in

particular to target the new NYNEX contract with the DOC to cut 

prisonersę access to phones, and tape and control every phone call.

   People holding signs and banners opposing the Amerikan injustice system,

and decrying the real criminals in the Amerikan government marched

through downtown Boston. We marched past Channel 7 news pointing out how

the media is a tool of the imperialists, past City Hall voicing our

opposition to the role they play in empowering the police officers to

harass the people, and ended at the Boston Common where many people

stopped to join the rally and sign petitions.

   Among the participants in the rally were parents of prisoners who

expressed outrage at the treatment of their sons, and people who had

been in prison and experienced the repression first hand. One man had

just been released from jail that day and happened on the rally and was

very excited to join in and help build the movement. Many sheets of

petitions opposing control units were filled with signatures of people

attending the rally and passing by.

   People spoke about the increasing use of control units to torture

prisoners, the lack of access to education and health care, and the

systematic repression of political activists, and oppressed nations. One

 prisoner from Walpole wrote a letter to RAIL about the rally updating

us on the continuing repression in this Supermax prison and pledging his

solidarity with us. He wrote:”Thank you so much for being concerned 

about the on-going unlawfulness that continues to go on behind these

prison(s) walls... I greatly thank you for being there for us in our

struggles, my dear comrades!”



***



ZAPATISTAS WAGE ANTI-IMPERIALIST STRUGGLE



   The EZLN is certainly a positive development in world events. MIM has

noted that the EZLN is fighting the single-party rule of the PRI which

is pro-imperialist,fascist,and unconcerned with the plight of indigenous

Mexicans.The struggles in Chiapas are proletarian struggles.It is

inspiring and encouraging to see the oppressed fight back and to a

certain extent, the EZLNęs use of the media has contributed to the

raising of consciousness about the oppression of Third World peoples.

They have liberated territory, and their example, their organizing

efforts and their propagandizing is encouraging campesinos and

working-class Mexicans to organize and fight back.(But fight back

against what?  And with what kind of strategy? I will come back to these

points.)

   But I think one of the biggest problems with the EZLN is that they are

far too beholden to bourgeois ideology,i.e.,First World opinion and

First World aid. From the beginning of the January •94

uprising,Subcomandante Marcos (as official spokesperson for the

Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous CommitteełGeneral Command, CCRI-GC,

of the EZLN) was quick to distance the EZLN from the FMLN,the URGN of

Guatemala,or any other armed movements in Latin America,North

America,Europe,Africa,Asia,or Australia.(1) As if the EZLN had to prove

its purity: indigenous and homegrown, uncorrupted by outside

agitators.(MIM has disagreements over strategy. But agrees that the

Zapatistasę struggle is a righteous blow against imperialism.) Marcos

has elsewhere denied any EZLN connection with Cuba. It appears that the

CCRI-GC does not want the EZLN to be identified with anything that

smacks of communism (shudder,shudder).On the other hand, the CCRI-GC

welcomes and praises NGOs from foreign countries working in Chiapas.

Speaking for the CCRI-GC, Subcomandante Marco sent a letter to President

Clinton (dated 13 January 1994) explaining to him that the extensive

military aid the US government sends to Mexico is being used not, as

President Clinton may believe,to fight and pursue drug traffickers, but

to murder the indigenous people in the Mexican Southeast and repress

their struggle.The letter goes on to explain –We donęt receive any aid

from foreign governments, people or organizations.We have nothing to do

with national or international drug trafficking or terrorism.” The

letter ends with a plea to President Clinton not to –cover your hands

with our blood by being accomplices of the Mexican government.”(2)

In 1995, the U.S. sent the following military equipment to Mexico:25

military vehicles;24 Huey helicopters; $27 million worth of airplanes,

armaments,radars and communication systems.

   The U.S. has a covert operations team in Chiapas working with the

Mexican military.The U.S. Army has been bringing Argentine mercenaries

to Chiapas.The CIA fields a substantial network of agents and covert

operatives in southeastern Chiapas, according to ex-CIA officers John

Stockwell and Ralph McGehee.(3) We can clearly conclude that

Subcomandante Marcosę appeal to President Clintonęs sense of justice was

ineffective,or,to be blunt,a complete failure. Why? Because whatever

individual presides in the State Department, be it Democrat of

Republican, be it Bill Clinton or Jesse Jackson, (or even if it were, by

some miracle, Mao Zedong risen from the dead) the purpose and function

of the United Snakes government is to maintain the imperialist system

that oppresses and exploits, among others, the indigenous peoples of

Chiapas (as well as Blacks, Latinos, and First World nations within

Amerikkka.) Subcomandante Marcos himself has written:

   –And what tribute does this land [Chiapas] pay to various empires?  Oil,

electric energy, cattle, money, coffee, bananas, honey, corn, cocoa,

tobacco, sugar, soy, melons, sorghum, [illegible], mangos, tamarind,

avocados and Chiapan blood flows out through 1001 fangs sunk into the

neck of southeastern Mexico.  Billions of tons of natural resources go

through Mexican ports, railway stations, airports, and road systems to

various destinations: the United States, Canada, Holland, Germany,

Italy, Japan ł but all with the same destiny: to feed the empire.The

dues that capitalism imposes on the southeast corner of the country ooze

out, as they have since the beginning, mud and blood.

–A handful of businesses, among them the Mexican state, take their mark

of death and disease: in 1989, the financial fang got a filling worth

1,222,699,000,000 pesos [$407,566,000], and only left behind

613,340,000,000 pesos [$205,433,000] in credit and works.  More than 600

billion pesos [$200,000,000] went to the stomach of the beast.”(4)

   Indeed, Chiapas is exploited by both the Mexican national bourgeoisie

and the international bourgeoisies. A very good portrait, or case study,

of imperialist exploitation. Yet nowhere in the four Declarations from

the Lacandon Jungle will you find the words –imperialism” or

–anti-imperialism.”  The oppression of the indigenous peoples of Chiapas

is defined as a –Mexican” problem.  The enemy named is the –bad

government” of Mexico. This is an insufficient analysis. The enemy is

much larger than the government of Mexico. It is internationally

organized. The CCRI-GC knows this. Again, it does appear that they are

reluctant to offend the refined sensibilities of the Amerikkkan people

or government. This sort of diplomacy wonęt help the people of Chiapas

very much.

   On the other hand, there is very little to be gained (other than some

handouts from NGOs and Amerikan liberal-left organizations) from the

EZLNęs reluctance to have any association whatsoever with any other

liberation movements. The EZLN should consider studying the experiences

of the PCP and the CPP, and consider initiative dialogues with them. The

army that brutalizes and murders peasants in Peru is trained and

financed by the same United Snakes government that sends military aid to

the Mexican Army. The pigs that murder, torture and imprison Blacks in

Amerika are part of the same imperialist system as the Mexican Army.

Yes, Comandante Marcos, if the EZLN took a proletarian internationalist

stand against imperialism (which is also international), it would offend

a great many North Amerikans who materially benefit from imperialist

oppression; and the U.S. Government would,more than likely,accuse the

EZLN of being a communist organization. So what? What have they done for

you?  You might lose the aid of some NGOs; but you might advance the

struggle against imperialism that is oppressing the majority of the

worldęs population.

   To quote MIM: –In MIMęs opinion the EZLN must study the historical

instances in which other groups almost identical to them, in all of

Latin America, have attempted the same guerrilla warfare without a

party, and without the participation of a mass base, is a sacrifice in

vain.  Many have given their lives to confused and wrong ideas.”(7)



Notes:

1.  Shades of Tender Fury:  The Letters and Communiques of Subcomandante

Marcos and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, 1995: Monthly

Review Press, p. 56.

2. Ibid., pp. 71-2.

3.  Information sheet compiles by the St. Louis Inter-faith Committee on

Latin America.

4.  op cit., p. 33.

5. MIM Notes, Oct. 1995, –MIM Answers EZLN survey” p. 5

6. Available from a web page on the Zapatistas

http://www.peak.org/~justin/ezln/ezln.html

7. MIM Notes Oct. 1995, op. cit.



***



DC PRISONERS LOCKED DOWN AND OUT



   Prisoners of the DC –correctional complex” at Lorton are currently

locked down in their cells and locked out of the classrooms. A 27 year

old program, which had allowed prisoners to take classes from the

University of the District of Columbia, is closed. No new students will

be accepted and only prisoners who are one or, at most, two courses away

from graduation will be able to register this semester. The program will

remain closed next fall. (1)

   While a few GED and vocational ed courses will occasionally be offered

to selected prisoners, the closure of the UDC program coincides with

increased repression of prisoners in DC and nationally. A DC –superior

court” recently heard a lawsuit by UDC students against university

president Tilden LaMelle, who conspired with the UDC student Election

Board to disenfranchise Lorton student-prisoners from the campus

election last April. As reported in December MIM Notes, the UDC Board of

Trustees officially took away the prisonersę votes in November. (2)

In addition to being denied educational opportunities, prisoners at

Lorton are currently filing at least one class action suit against the

prison for the criminal conditions there: severe overcrowding, violent

guard assaults, outbreaks of TB, cruel denial of medical care, gross and

insufficient food, nearly constant lockdowns and censorship. The DC RAIL

branch is currently planning a campaign to expose prison repression in

the area. Interested people, on the inside and the outside, should

contact RAIL. Expose repression, end the Amerikkkan lockdown!



Notes:

(1) Washington Post, Jan 22 1996, D1

(2) Washington Post, Jan 3 1996, D6



***



RESPONSE TO LETTER FROM ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS ON ZAPATISTAS



Dear Comrade,

   This letter is in response to the one dated October 19, 1995 and sent

to MIM. It will flush out the meaning of democracy in the context of the

EZLN and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory. It will also broach the

universal applicability of theory and the importance of the principal

contradiction.

   The author of the Oct. 19 letter asserts that the EZLNęs balloting in

the First World, (discussed in the September and October issues of MIM

Notes) was not an example of –looking for First World support” but a

principled commitment to democracy meant to include members of the

Mexican nations living outside Mexico. While there is some merit to this

argument, the vague nature of EZLNęs consultation of the questions (see

Oct. 1995 MIM Notes for the text) displays the EZLNęs lack of clear

direction. They pick up the gun to get the Mexican government to

negotiate, instead of settling into protracted institution building. It

is not democracy to send ballots to the First World (indeed it sounds

like bourgeois electoral politics ł as Emma Goldman said –In America,

voting is the opium of the masses”). Marxists realize that democracy

only exists where there is responsibility. The responsibility of

carrying out revolution in Mexico lies with the Mexican masses. They

fight the day to day struggle, and discussions of the direction of the

movement only makes sense in that context. Ballots in Sweden and Amerika

just donęt cut it. The balloting doesnęt merely show a mistaken concept

of democracy, but displays a clear lack of direction.

   Mao summed up the lessons of the Chinese Communist Party in his essay

–On the Peopleęs Democratic Dictatorship” (July 30, 1949. Selected

Readings, p. 385)

   –A well disciplined party armed with the theory of Marxism-Leninism,

using the method of self-criticism and linked with the masses of the

people; an army under the leadership of such a party; a united front of

all revolutionary classes and all revolutionary groups under the

leadership of such a partyłthese are the three main weapons with which

we have defeated the enemy.”

   The EZLN would do well to learn these lessons. It is not true, as the

letter writer asserts, that Mao assumed that the Chinese masses were

backward and didnęt believe it was possible to educate them while

fighting Japanese imperialism. On the contrary, fighting Japanese

imperialism was a crucial step in Chinaęs self-education. Theory and

practice go hand in hand. Guerrilla war is a school for revolutionaries.

This is again the essence of democracy. One only gains the ability to

make good decisions by actively trying to change reality. The Chinese

Communist Party provided direction to the Chinese people; and the

Chinese massesę participation in their own decolonization, and later

creation of socialism, was their education.

   This idea of learning by doing, combining theory and practice, is at the

center of what Maoists mean when they say Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is a

universally applicable science. It is not that Maoists have a phone line

to God or a Platonic vision of eternal truth, but that by actively

trying to change reality and summing up that experience, Maoists have

compiled more than a hundred years of data and theory about making

revolution. The strategy of Peopleęs War is not just one strategy among

many, it is the only one that has worked again and again. There is no

time for balloting, backsliding, or bumbling with failed strategies.

Revolutionaries need to examine the historical record and make

revolution.



In struggle,

A RAIL comrade



***



COMRADES DEBATE ZAPATISTAS



   I have a few questions for comrades in RAIL. The first one concerns the

structure of the CCRI-GC and the EZLN. The leadership of the EZLN is the

Committee of Clandestine Indigenous Revolution, which is composed of 18

representatives of four Mayan-language ethnic groups. Itęs interesting

to compare the CCRI-GC to the structure of a Maoist vanguard party. As I

see it, the CCRI-GC is from the masses,but not to the masses.  That is

to say, they represent and are answerable to their indigenous

constituencies, but they do not lead them. They do not have a mass line.

What does mass line mean?  If I understand it correctly, a Maoist

vanguard party would recruit and train cadres in revolutionary theory,

(as much as possible from the indigenous communities that they lead) and

these cadres would be fielded to organize and educate the masses, living

with and working with the indigenous populations, and in cooperation

with the indigenous Peopleęs Army. That is what we mean by practicing

and internationalist revolutionary line. Am I correct?

   Other questions: Is it correct for MIM to call on the CCRI-GC to

transform itself into a Maoist vanguard party? If not, how should

Mexicans go about forming a MIP and what would its relation to the

CCRI-GC and EZLN be? To what extent does MIM agree with the declared

goal of the EZLN: to overthrow the present undemocratic government and

conduct truly free and fair elections in which all sectors of society

would participate?

   On final question: A RAIL member wrote that –the Zapatistas use

spontaneous mass insurrections and sporadic violence as a prod for

negotiations.”(5) I am not clear on this point. The January 1994

uprising was planned a year in advance. I must not understand what MIM

means by spontaneity. (Please send me Rebolusyon, Special Edition,

January 1993 on this.)

.

A RAIL comrade responds:

   Indeed, the Zapatistas do not put forth a vanguard line that will lead

the masses to national liberation. This is why they are guilty of

spontaneity. Even if planned in advance, any uprising of the masses

outside of the context of communist-led national liberation is

–spontaneous”.

   The Zapatistasę deviation on mass-line is ultraleft because although it

purports to be the –native” sensibilities of Chiapas, the masses really

want national liberation and if the Zapatistas canęt tell them how to

get there theyęre failing the People. A successful vanguard leads the

people to liberation while being educated by them.  It would be very

positive if the Zapatistas, or another group in Mexico, formed a Maoist

party. Studying the principles of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, and

practising a mass line and self-criticism, would be a sound foundation

for self-reliant socialist revolution.

   Definitely the Zapatistas, formed as a Maoist party, should overthrow

the Mexican government. However, it is not enough then to just institute

elections. The bourgeoisie and the imperialists are too strong to let

them vote themselves in power again: witness Nicaragua. During the

course of revolution, it will become clear who is a friend and who is an

enemy. When the Mexican government is overthrown, during the period of

New Democracy friends may vote and enemies may not.



***



WHAT IS RAIL?



The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) is a mass organization

of anti-imperialists led by the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM).

RAIL is for anyone who supports self-determination for all peoples

including the necessity of armed struggle against imperialism. The only

requirement for joining RAIL is the recognition that RAIL will be led by

MIM. RAIL members should not attempt to conceal this fact when working

amongst the masses. In practice, accepting MIM leadership will mean that

RAIL chapters do not accept the leadership of other organizations or

worked out lines.

RAIL, P.O. Box 3576 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576



***



In April, RAIL will bring the latest news from the peopleęs war in the

Philippines to a town near you. Support the Struggle in the Philippines!

is a week of  films, speakers, and education events to build public

support for the Maoist-led anti-imperialist war for independence. Help

bring the tour to a town near you by raising money, finding locations

and distributing literature. Contact MIM or RAIL.



***



INTEGRATION...



Dear Comrades:

   Unfortunately, it is hard to commit to any sort of revolutionary work,

line, or practice because the American government suppresses communists

and anti-imperialists with the greatest of force.  I think to a certain

extent, the 60ęs are proof of this, BPP most notably.  MIM cannot

seriously overlook this threat to the revolutionary.  Though I realize

that risks come in all lines of work, and that life itself is a risk to

a certain extent, people with families, people with jobs, these people

have the risk of losing everything including life (black lists of the

50ęs).  I know of a couple of people who would be willing to rise in

arms right now, if they didnęt have husbands & wifes & children & jobs. 

This is also why I think MIM should attempt to win votes in elections in

the US.  Revolution has many stages and forms, and being on the American

political scene (even though for the most part itęs a dirty one), can

win even more of the hearts of the people in the country of the US.  In

the end, armed revolution is unfortunately the solution, but I feel that

this can help. The greater the masses, the less blood shed and the

easier transformation.

   Whites who donęt commit themselves to the risk of revolution, arenęt

necessarily oppressors.  It almosts sounds like MIM is saying that any

white not in some sort of revolutionary work, and that has a job, is an

oppressor.  Thatęs not true. I think MIM has to open its mind to whites

more, for not all are of the oppressor.  MIMęs own forces are

multi-national at this stage of the struggle. I certainly agree and am

glad of this. MIM believes that without changing the fundamental

structure of society and the economy (in other words, under the current

system of inequality) integrationism has proven to be a failed strategy

for the oppressed nations. Liquidation of oppressed group identity in

favor of a false unity with the oppressor group inevitably results in

the liquidation of the oppressed groupęs interests.

   American integrationism, if you use the word in correct context, we

never had it and still donęt today. Indeed, integrationism means that

the oppressor nationęs national pride remains dangerously intact ł

albeit masked by integrationist rhetoric ł while the oppressed nation is

told to subordinate their own altogether.  I think MIM is downing an

integration that was never there.  Though things in the US still suck,

one must admit that things are a little better then say the 20ęs, and in

saying this, how did we get to this better stage if not by Blacks &

Whites working together.  Martin Luther King did it through blacks and

whites walking hand in hand.  Still, I agree that, led by a proletarian

feminist party, national liberation struggle remains the best option for

Black, Latino and First Nation peoples.

   Arenęt white people liberating themselves from capitalism as well?  I

know a few blacks that make more money then middle class whites. Whoęs

more of the oppressor?  Is Chris Webber (who signed a 70 some million

dollar contract with the Washington Bullets), is he in 1996, is he an

oppressed person?  Are a middle class white couple (70 grand combined

income), are they oppressing him (not that I agree with their income or

anything about them)? If yes, then why?  Because theyęre white?  That in

itself is racist!  –American Integration” is wrong because its not

integration.  How can you call off integration if it was never there and

never had a chance.  American Integration wasnęt a chance, it was a way

for white people to hide racism under and keep a clear conscience.  Just

as slavery laws on blacks were changed into Jim Crow laws.  Just a way

to ease the conscience of a depressed abolitionist named Abraham

Lincoln, a known racist himself.



To Be Continued!

 On with the Revolution!



ła RAIL comrade



***



NOT! (a response to Integrationism...)



Dear Comrade:



   The point of Marxist class analysis is not to predict on which side

any given individual  will fight during revolution, but on which side a

group  of people will fight during revolution. Some individual whites

side with MIM while some individual Blacks side with the bourgeoisie.

Some very rich whites will fight for revolution and avery few poor

Latinos might be counter-revolutionaries. However, the white nation on

the whole will not side with MIM while thereęs a very good chance that

the Black Nation will. This prediction is based on the material

conditions experienced by each group. The white nationęs prosperity

comes directly from the blood, sweat and tears of the exploited

proletariat: the Third World proletariat, the Black proletariat, the

Latino and First Nations proletariats. There is no white proletariat.

There are some poor whites but generally their poverty is temporary and

they know it (unlike the Third World who will only stop being poor when

they win their revolutions). Even those occasional white communities

that have been poor for generationsłlike in Appalachiałshow more

solidarity with rich white folks than with the oppressed nations. This

is fact despite generations of organizing attempts by the CPUSA and RCP.

Therefore revolutionaries should win individual whites to the side of

the oppressed nations without expecting the support of the white nation

as a whole.

   On the other hand many rich Blacks, who as a class make up the national

bourgeoisie, will side with the Black proletariat to escape white

supremacy. It is important that a revolutionary communist party

representing the proletarian nationalist forces lead the war of national

liberation because the national bourgeoisie only wants capitalism and

neo-colonialism, not self-reliant socialism. The experience of the

Chinese communists shows that the national bourgeoisie will try to sell

out the revolution if given the chance to lead.

   Integration is not a realistic strategy because it ignores the material

conditions now. The white nation can exploit the Black nation because it

is more powerful than the Black nation. Oppressed nations can only

integrate as equal partners when they stop being oppressed (and

oppressor nations donęt stop oppressing because of some moral

argumentłonly armed struggle forces their hand). This is one of the

problems of elections. They promise something they canęt deliver. When

MTV runs a campaign like –Choose or Lose •96” itęs imperative that

oppressed nationals realize that they lose either way.  Clinton and Dole

represent death by suffocation and death by lynching. Moreover, voting

for socialism is not a possibility given the strength of racist

capitalist opposition. Within the settler-imposed boundaries of the US,

bought-off imperialists have the majority.  Only open borders will

change that. Even in Third World countries, Chileęs failure to sustain

–voted-in socialism” under Allende should reinforce Leninęs point in

State and Revolution: bourgeois elections are too slow and the

capitalists too strong for us to play with their dirty electoral hoaxes.

The vanguard party must expose bourgeois elections as they are, while

offering up a real solution for oppressed nations. The real solution is

building independent powerłif a nation can feed itself, house itself,

clothe itself and defend itself it can free itself. This doesnęt just

apply to nations either.  Group self-reliance is key to the liberation

of women, youth and all oppressed groups. Can you imagine ending

patriarchy or paternalism with a vote?

   As for the supposedly life-threatening repression of the 50s and the

effectiveness of Martin Luther Kingęs Black & White united organizing,

there are two responses. First Sakai makes an excellent case in Settlers

(which is, by the way, the source of the above argument on the white

working class) that the 1950s repression was nothing compared to what

oppressed nationals faced then or now. There were hearings, some job

losses and a rare politically motivated death, but no widespread

military repression.While revolutionaries should take risks seriously,

it is simply not true that white communists were facing death squads in

the 50s; for the simple reason that white communists in the 1950s were

not a threat to the US empire. Second, what would Martin Luther Kingęs

success have amounted to if he were not backed up with the revolutionary

nationalism of Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party? The white ruling

class felt threatened by real revolutionary potential and opted to

accept token integrationłi.e. buy off a sector of the Black

populationłin order to maintain imperialist white supremacy.



In struggle,



a RAIL comrade



***



ANN ARBOR CALENDAR OF EVENTS



September 13th: Who killed Vincent Chin?łVideo about the racist murder

of Vincent Chin, a young Chinese man,  by white auto workers who thought

he was Japanese and taking their jobs. Despite many witnesses, the

killers were set free.

September 20th: Harvest of ShamełDocumentary about the exploitation of

migrant workers who produce food for Amerikans.

September 27th: Medics of the PeoplełVideo made about the (New Peopleęs

Army) NPA guerrillas in the Philippines, who are fighting both against

imperialism and to meet the needs of the people.

October 11th: Hungry for ProfitłThis documentary shows the true causes

of the starvation death of 14 million each year. This progressive

viewpoint is documented very clearly on one hand, while also showing

interviews with corporate and government leaders for their excuses on

the other. On-site footage from Latin America, Asia and Africa. It

explodes the myths about the –free market” economy. 

October 25th: FBIęs War on Black AmerikałRare footage of the Black

Panther Party and other activists in the struggle against white nation

domination. The various tactics of the Amerikan warłlike COINTELPROłare

documented.

November 8th: Through the WirełThe video examines the conditions of

Lexington womenęs supermaximum security control unity and focuses on

three women being held there. The three give testimony to the use of the

control unit as a specific punishment for and attempt to destroy persons

imprisoned for political crimes. Accompanying this will be a 20/20 clip

on Marion supermax.

November 29th: People of the Shining PathłVideo includes interviews with

members and supports of the Communist Party of Peru both inside and

outside prison. Also the video illustrates the oppressive conditions

that Peruvian peasants face and why they fight for revolution.

December 13th: Hearts and MindsłDocumentary about the U.S. war on

Vietnam and the opposition it generated within Amerika. Vietnamese

peopleęs success in ousting U.S. imperialism exemplifies the power of

the Maoist military strategy of protracted peopleęs war.



All events are held at East Quad room 126 at 7:15. All videos are

followed by a discussion. The above events are sponsored by RAIL

(Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League) and MIM (Maoist Internationalist

Movement.) This is a preliminary calendar for events in Ann Arbor. If

other groups or individuals would like to do work and/or co-sponsor

above events or propose others to put on in addition to the above, you

can contact RAIL and MIM at: MIM Distributors P.O. Box 3576 Ann Arbor,

MI 48106-3576



***



PRISON CORRESPONDENCE



Letter from deported Mass prisoner:



Greetings and salutations!

   The other day a friend received a letter from a friend of his in the

street. In this letter was a notice of a rally in support of the 299

prison inmates sent to Dallas TX by Gov. Weld. I am glad that your

organization has smiled on our plight. It tends to ease an otherwise

worried mind that some civilian organization should care and speak out

agasint such an obtuse and callous, as well as money-grabbing and

self-serving state government and person as Bill –Let them eat cake”

Weld.

   I donęt know much about your organization or of itęs inner workings, so

if you would please send me some of your literature. I would be in great

appreciation. Further I would like to extend a hand of salute and in

friendship to you all for your support.



łMass prisoner in Dallas, TX

Jan 26 1996

PS If you are interested, I can write you about my experience of the

mid-night hours of October 31, 1995 [the day of the deportation]. Let me

know by return mail.



RAIL responds: Yes, please send us information about your deportation

and also about your conditions in Dallas. Information direct from

prisoners is our most reliable source of information, but it is scarce

sometimes due to the control the pigs have over your communications. We

will send you literature shortly.

   Readers on the outside are encouraged to send RAIL money (cash or checks

made out to MIM) to send literature to prisoners. Also, contact RAIL to

help build rallies like the rally in Boston that the prisoner is

referring to.



In response to a flyer announcing RAIL/MIMęs recent rally against prison

expansion in Boston, one prisoner wrote back:



   –I will fast on MLK day and not eat the Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, 

etc, etc, meal which is served. I think that in and of itself [the day]

is denigrative of all that my ancestors have died in struggle to rid the

world of. If you can sacrifice your time to stand in the cold I can go

without food in congruence with your endeavors. Please send any

paperwork evolving from the Jan 15th protest event. Thanx and stay

strong of  spiritsłforever keep the faith”



Another prisoner wrote:



Dear RAIL,

   I (luckily) happened to get a copy of your newsprint/flyer: Repression

in Mass. Prisons [Mass RAIL]. Hopefully many people on the outside (as

apathetic as they are) also received a copy and got an eye-opener

because of it! I believe that until prisons can demonstrate a

commonality with the community, the community will maintain an elitist

attitude towards the already demonized-penalized prisoners.

   I was very much impressed about your film list and discussion series!

Not only do the public need to be educated on these issues, but

prisoners too! Would you be interested in conducting and involving us in

your film and discussion series? We are truly a captured audience in

every sense of the phrase. Also, I believe RAILęs involvement would wake

up some old and young dead ass prisoners to taking charge of their

condition (of confinement).

   Please let me know at your earliest convenience whether this is a

realistic venture for you. I canęt express enough how important this is

for us.

Very truly Yours,

Bay State prisoner

November 16, 1995



Response from MassRAIL: We are glad to hear that a copy of the Mass RAIL

got inside your prison and thank whoever sent it in to you. We will put

you on our mailing list to receive this publication regularly. We invite

you to contribute to this and to our organizing work by keeping us up to

date on what is going on in your prison.

   We would very much like to involve the prisoners in our educational work

and welcome suggestions from you as to how we might do this. It is

difficult to get revolutionary information inside the prisons as the

censorship from the prison pigs is a very big problem. If you have a way

for us to get information and materials for education inside, or an idea

of how we can create this, we are very interested in hearing about it

and working with you to make it happen.

   Also enclosed is a copy of MIM Notes, the newspaper of the Maoist

Internationalist Movement (which you saw mentioned in the copy of Mass

RAIL that you have). Inside it you will see the regular monthly section

Under Lock and Key and more information about the prison work that MIM

does.

   We look forward to hearing more from you about how we can better involve

prisoners in the struggles and educational work we are carrying out



***



BALTIMORE PIGS BRUTALITY



   The January 24 issue of the Baltimore City Paper quotes internal police

evidence that Baltimore pigs engage in –brutality”,”drinking on duty”,

gambling, drug use, claiming excessive overtime, and according to a

letter from a fraternal organization of Black cops, –constantly going

around stating that they hate the cityłmeaning they hate Blacks who live

in the city.”  The head of the Internal Investigations Division of the

Baltimore City Police Department (IID) responds saying –Ięm interested

in straightening the police department out and making it a place where

honest, hard-working people can work.” 

   RAIL supporters are not interested in getting the pigs to work harder.

The pigs exist to keep impoverished oppressed nationals in the ghetto,

away from the business district and affluent suburbs. Like the hired

security guards in so many department stores, pigs make sure property

stays in the hands of  those least deserving: the Amerikan middle and

upper classes. Meanwhile, oppressed national youth are targeted by pigs

at every levelłpolice, prosecutors, judges and parole boardsłso that in

cities like Baltimore and D.C. one in three of us are either behind bars

or on probation. The occupiersę government has made an industry of

imprisoning the oppressed nations that only rivals their massive war

machine.

   The City Paper also quotes a pig from Baltimoreęs Violent Crimes Task

Force describing new police initiatives as –real community policing.”

The cops may be really policing the community, but they arenęt policing

their community.  As the Black Panthers said over and over, the police

are an occupying military force in the ghetto. They cannot be reformed

or refined for our benefitłonly destroyed along with the occupying

United Snakes government and its imperial allies in industry.



***



THE BELL CURVE DEBATE



Dec 4th Amherst, MAłRAIL and MIM distributed flyers and struggled with

the masses outside of a debate between white supremacist Charles Murray,

author of The Bell Curve, and Harvard Prof. Poissant. Between 25 and 30

people showed up to protest Murrayęs ideas and his presence at the

University.  Murray was invited by the universityęs Distinguished

Visitors Program.  The Bell Curve has enjoyed both controversy and

–best-seller” popularity for its revival and defense of fallacious white

superiority theories based on IQ testing.

   RAIL and MIM differed with many of the protesters on the question of

–freedom of speech”.  We did not support Murrayęs –right” to speak his

views.  There is no freedom without equality and the inequitable

distribution of resources in Amerikkka makes the free exchange of ideas

impossible. Furthermore, there is a fine line between speech which

advocates oppression and the implementation of this speech. Itęs no

coincidence that Murray gets paid lots of money and is showered with

media attention to spread his ideas and further his agenda.  His

ideology props up the Amerikkkan bourgeois dictatorship, so all of its

forces rally behind him.

   Many students agreed that Murrayęs invitation to the University was no

aberration.  The whole educational system is designed to keep certain

groups outside the ivory tower.  This intentional sifting out starts in

primary school with grading, standardized testing, tracking and

disproportionate access to educational resources.

   Some white students reacted defensively to the protesters exclaiming

they wanted to –hear both sides of the story.”  This sounds like white

supremacy seeking a justification.  Bourgeois training has them

believing that a PhD justifies bringing back the racial hierarchy

theories which attempted to maintain the slave system.  The economic

system of inequality and its role in the production of ideas today is

ignored in favor of a material interest in that system.

   The majority of attendees at the lecture opposed Murrayęs ideas.  RAIL

and MIM recognize the revolutionary potential of students in this

country and encourage them to join the fight to end the exploitative

system: a system which is an enemy to a majority of the worldęs people,

including the internal colonies within u.s. borders.



***



The following is a flyer which RAIL and MIM distributed before a debate

between white supremacist Charles Murray and a Harvard professor. The

debate was held at the UMASS Fine Arts Center in December and was

sponsored by the Distinguished Visitoręs Program.



REJECT PSEUDO-SCIENCE OF INTELLIGENCE: STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION!



   The science of The Bell Curve is faulty, but the book is popular in

Amerikkka because it defends the genocidal status quo. The bourgeoisie

would rather blame oppression on peopleęs genes instead of their corrupt

system of plunder. Murrayęs work, and that of Smith Collegeęs Itzkoff,

provide ideological ammunition for Amerikaęs war against the oppressed.

With the prevalence of standardized testing and –tracking” in schools,

one can  say that Murray may be extreme, but not an aberration.

   Even the U.S. government is in the act, spending $58 million in 1994 to

study the –genetic” causes of violence.(1) Genetics contribute to many

aspects of development, but in social human beings, they never act

alone. Every genetic influence acts in an environmental context.

   Intelligence as a measurable thing or genetically determined cognitive

ability simply doesnęt exist. IQ is a white invention legitimized by

socially constructed theories and institutions which themselves have an

oppressive national and class character. These theories and institutions

serve the current power structure, perpetuating oppression under the

banner of being –natural”. 

   For Charles Murray, intelligence is defined, via a standardized test, as

the mental characteristic of those with material advantages (education,

nutrition, health care, etc.). He then takes this relationship and

labels it a cause, that intelligence determines material realities. This

is tautology, not science. Pseudo-scientists like Murray attempt to

obscure the truth that imperialism oppresses because it is profitable.

We must smash the myth of genetic determinism and build up a peopleęs

science that expands, not limits, the potential of people.

   MIM calls on –liberal” professional academics as well as students, to

oppose not just Murrayęs book, but the identical theory thatęs propping

up Amerika. Students need to revolutionize education so that it serves

the interests of the majority of laboring people, and work to liberate

all of humanity from the likes of Charles Murray and Bill Clinton.

   Education cannot be –reformed” in a society where exploitation,

genocide, and inequality are at the base of the economic and social

structure. Only a revolution can change the fundamental nature of

Amerikkkan society. Until this system is abolished, reactionaries like

Murray will continue to be showered with funding and media attention to

spew white supremacist ideology.

   Work with MIM to overthrow white supremacist, imperialist, patriarchal

Amerikkka!



Note:

1. Washington Post 1/29/95, p. C1.



***



END RAIL Notes - Spring 1996