Federal Prisons

In a joint U.$. and UK spying operation, agencies hacked into links to Yahoo and Google data centers, allowing them to freely collect information from user accounts on those systems. This data collection project, called MUSCULAR, is a joint operation between the U.$. National Security Agency (NSA) and the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Documents released by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden and "interviews with knowledgeable officials" are the sources for this news that was broken by The Washington Post on October 30, 2013. Google was "outraged" at this revelation, and many Amerikans were shocked to learn of the violation of their privacy by their own government.

Of course, for those of us serious about security in our political organizing work, this is not breaking news. It is just further confirmation of what we've been saying for a long time: email is not secure, especially email on the major service providers like Google and Yahoo. Back in August MIM(Prisons) had our email account shut down when the U.$. government demanded that our email server, lavabit.com, turn over information on the accounts it provided. Lavabit decided it would rather stop providing services at all than comply with the government's demand. We can only assume that any email service still in operation is supplying information to the U.$. government.

What is interesting about this story is not that the NSA is caught red handed snooping on people's email, but that they would even need to do this in the first place, when major companies are freely providing backdoor access to the U.$. government. A court-approved process provides the NSA with access to Yahoo and Google user accounts, through a program known as PRISM. Through PRISM, the NSA can demand online communications records that match specific search terms. Apparently this restriction to court approved search terms was too limiting for the NSA, who has been siphoning off vast portions of the data held in Google and Yahoo data centers, for analysis and more targeted snooping.

MUSCULAR gets around the already lax U.$. government policies on spying on Americans by exploiting links between data centers holding information outside of the U.$. where intelligence gathering falls under presidential authority and has little oversight or restriction.

As we pointed out in the article Self-Defense and Secure Communications: "Currently, we do not have the ability to defend the movement militarily, but we do have the ability to defend it with a well-informed electronic self-defense strategy. And just as computer technology, and the internet in particular, was a victory for free speech, it has played a role in leveling the battlefield to the point that the imperialists recognize computer warfare as a material vulnerability to their hegemony." In that article we provided some basic suggestions for communications self-defense, most of which are only possible for people outside of prisons.

As more information comes out on the vast resources invested in electronic surveillance it is clearer that improving our technology is a form of offensive work as well, even if we aren't launching attacks. The imperialists are spending a lot of resources trying to defeat the tools we mention in our last article. In using these tools in our day-to-day work we tie up those resources that could be used to fight other battles against the oppressed elsewhere. This should be stressed to those who think security is taking time away from "real work."

Some will not organize until they've read all of Marx's writings to ensure they understand Marxism. This is a mistake, just like waiting to get the perfect electronic security before doing any organizing work. But you should assume that all of our communications are being intercepted. Take whatever precautions you can to ensure your information cannot be accessed, or if it can, that it cannot be used against you or others. Security is like theory and any organizing skill; it should be constantly improved upon, but it should not paralyze your work.

Today is Independence Day, freedom from tyranny
I sit in my cell, contemplating this irony
Land of the free, land that was stolen
Freedom for a few, the opportunity was golden
The Declaration of Independence, a declaration of genocide
Mexicans, Blacks, and Indians need not apply
Manifest Destiny, in God we trust
Rape, pillage and murder, they'll leave in their dust
Resistance seems futile, they'll make some examples
Mexico, Dominican Republic and Haiti, just a sample
Hello capitalism, hello social class
The white man's system, they can never be last
One day we will be equal under socialism
Our Independence Day will come, it's called communism.

Conceived and birthed inside the belly of the beast
Shaped and molded by the Daughters of the Nile
Eastern stars and various travelers from the East
Rising from the ashes like a phoenix resurrected
Attacked by clandestine forces, my body lies naked in my cell unprotected
Feeding my mental with the art of revolutionary science
Marx, Mao and Lenin - deep inside the womb
Kicking the brains out of falsehood in the same manner Comrade Rashid is in Texas
Steadily - Defying the Tomb
Lost but not turned out, everyday I'm facing hate
It is I Comrade Malik
The enemy of the state!
They have labeled me an enemy simply
because I have a revolutionary voice
Senator Wendy Davis is an enemy too because she believes passionately in her right to choice
Who brands us enemies, who labels us foes?
Words of knowledge and inspiration expounded - with the hope that you may grow
Will you stand up and fight along side me
or will you choose to use drugs in order to escape?
It is I Comrade Malik
A soldier for the people
The enemy of the state!
I have witnessed beatings, degradation, dehumanization and abuse
When we cry out for justice in Texas
there is always an excuse
Who will expose these hypocrites for who they are
and finally set the record straight?
It is I Comrade Malik
A soldier for change
The enemy of the state!
They stole my freedom at a corrupt parole hearing
but they will never steal my drive
like Mamie Till I will fight injustice as long as I'm alive
Who will organize the people?
Teach them, and show them the way
It's the fox and the wolf
the ballot or the bullet
that is the order of the day
Imperialists have destroyed our families
damaged our planet and poisoned our youth
The world is full of falsehood you can barely find the truth
Dictatorship of the proletariat! is what I've been screaming for as of late
Who will lead the revolution?!
It is I Comrade Malik
and the new enemies of the state!

from R.A.V.E.N. (Revolutionary Advancement, Victory, Equality, Necessity)

After reading the United Front for Peace in Prisons Statement of Principles, I realized how similar our goals and views have been. We have only now taken a name to join the United Front.

We have instituted self-government for peace among every form of affiliation. Our dorm was labeled the worst in the state. I'm proud to say that our way of governing ourselves has been highly successful, as we are nearly four months without a stabbing on A side, and 6 on B side. We are for peace.

To become effective we are unifying the revolutionary minded from among the ranks of all brotherhoods in order to create a board/counsel. We understand that only through unity can we be effective in the fight against the oppressive imperialist pigs. From us, we intend to infect all of South Carolina Department of Corrections and bring forth many more voices and arms. Our voices will be heard. Our struggle will become their bane.

The majority of the population is hungry to learn. We have classes of various topics: law, history, religious, physical, combat, etc. We believe in education, as knowledge is power. We encourage all and welcome any who seek earnestly. We accept no racial discrimination, nor do we tolerate any concepts of racial superiority.

As for internationalism, it is something we know little of. We fight against oppression, period. The founders of this organization all have communistic views and intend to provide truth to all who have ears to hear.

Our statement is simple. We are similarly situated in our beliefs to the united front. We fight the same fight. We see no limitations. Unity, Equality, Peace, Prosperity, Devotion, Growth & Development.

The hunger strike that was to start here at Connally Unit on 21 October 2013 has been postponed. The powers that be have had close custody on continuous lock-down after an annual lock-down was lifted. Even though close custody went on lock-down before the rest of the unit, we have remained on lock-down unable to buy stamps and basic hygiene.

However, a planned hunger strike to protest these conditions is temporarily on hold after meeting with the warden who claims that after we get shaken down we will be let off these inhumane conditions. If the warden does not start taking steps to change our status and conditions we have more who will go on hunger strike with us when we start back. Since we have nothing, we have nothing to lose. The seeds are being planted.

Liberty and Justice!

The goal now is to continue to build unity and peace amongst prisoners so that next time we strike we will be more organized and prepared to struggle fully!

MIM(Prisons) responds: This report highlights some of the risks of getting ahead of the masses. This is at least the second hunger strike organized at Pontiac in the last year that we've heard of. So we do not mean to second guess the comrades' organizing choices there. But as these tactics show successes in some places, they are being imitated elsewhere. And it is important to assess your conditions where you are at, as you must gain more in terms of building peace and unity than you lose in the pigs moving people around and demoralizing the masses from engaging in future actions. The prison movement is on the rise, and by being smart it can continue to rise.

October 18 - The Utah Supreme Court overturned an injunction that had barred almost 500 people that Weber County claims are members of a lumpen organization known as the Ogden Trece from associating with each other. Members were banned from driving, standing, walking, sitting, gathering or in any way appearing together anywhere in a 25-square-mile area that covered most of the city of Ogden. It also imposed a curfew between 11pm and 5am for these folks. This ban has been in place since 2010.

The Supreme Court threw out the injunction on a legal technicality, because the county failed to properly serve summons to members of the organization. The county posted notices on a Utah legal notices website and in the Ogden Standard Examiner, a local newspaper. The court found this to be insufficient notice. Members of the organization also challenged the constitutionality of the injunction in denying their right to associate, but the Court did not rule on this challenge.

The Deputy Attorney for Weber County made a case for the injunction: "Case loads on average going from 16 per month on something like graffiti down to four. So we can show a 75 percent drop in criminal street gang activity." This is an interesting definition of "criminal street gang activity": acts of graffiti.(1) Clearly the police and courts are determined to go after this lumpen organization, which they call a "public nuisance," civil liberties and rights be damned.

We see a lot of parallels between validation in prison and identification as a member of a street organization in Ogden. According to the Ogden Gang Detective Anthony Powers, the police keep a "gang database" to document who belongs to a street organization. There are eight possible criteria, and anyone meeting two of them is entered in the database. A musician in a group that includes people believed to be Ogden Trece members was included in the injunction because he has been seen around with these folks.(2)

We only have news of this from the mainstream press, but we regularly see this same repression of oppressed nations both in prisons and on the streets. The trick of labeling someone a member of a lumpen organization is used to lock prisoners in solitary confinement and keep them from having contact with other prisoners. It's often used to target politically active prisoners. On the streets, whether in Utah or any other state, we are seeing that Amerikans, who are often willing to suspend constitutional rights for prisoners, are similarly unconcerned about this same practice on the streets.

What really worries the state is when lumpen organizations come together for peace and to promote national liberation struggles. This was seen in California during the recent hunger strike, in Florida during the September 9 Day of Solidarity last year, and in the many lumpen organizations and representatives signing on to the United Front for Peace in Prisons.

We know that street organizations, just like prison organizations, are a natural result of imperialist society in the United $tates. The oppressed nations are going to come together in self-defense, and in the absence of revolutionary leadership they will join whatever group meets their needs. While lumpen organizations are fighting one another and targeting their people for street crime they are helping the imperialists. This is why we work so hard to build a United Front and bring these groups together for the betterment of all oppressed people.

Where I come from is The Avenues
And every corner that you turn you gotta know how to choose
Cuz life is ruff, only the strong can survive
Many of my homeboys since I've grown up have died
43rd and Figueroa till Cypress and Division
The culture has fallen, the killing has risen
Dogtown, Clover, Frogtown, and Toonerville
Puro Chicanos and their own blood they spill
Then Glassel, Eastlake, Brick City, and more
We all are Mexicanos, living in a war
Killing each other and in jail claiming Sur
El tiempo es ahora to unite in the neighborhood
Y quien no le gusta - aqui para
Don't talk behind my back dimelo en la cara
I speak this way so we can learn
A true veterano's only concern
First la familia then the neighborhood
Check the youngsters and teach them real good
Exactly wut it means to be in a gang
Cuz you can walk that walk and talk that slang
But only with a gun in your hand are you brave
Put another Mexicano to fill the grave
Si eres chingon y valiente
Fight with your hands en caliente
If he beats you down you can still shake hands
The same way our ancestors fought in the land
The ones who made it gacho fue el gabacho
And the system that they made is the one that gots you
Fighting each other killing your own race
Then give you 25 to life and laugh in your face
Not time served, you'll serve time
Cuz you were stupid enuff to kill your own kind
It's from The Avenues, please don't lose your mind
Don't kill your own kind!

The imperialists hide their flaws
By sewing our mouths shut in a web of their laws
Bury the real history by censoring the library
As long as we follow we will never be free
Kidnap our children and destroy our communities
They will never be able to burn all of the books
The truth is there for those who look
Knowledge is something that no tyrant ever took
Follow the signs, read between the lines, uncover their designs
That keep our minds in these confines
Separate the truth from the lies
Remove these blinders from our eyes
It's time to wake up
Time to get up, to stand up
Let us all rise up
The sleeping giant to overthrow the tyrants in a spirit of defiance
With conviction, separate fact from fiction
Spread our wings and bow to no kings
Empower the masses to kill the fascists and destroy all classes
Together we stand, divided we fall
Walk tall because life in a cell is no life at all
And I refuse to die inside these walls
Duty calls
When they say cease and desist
We say rise and resist

Administrative and medical retaliations continue by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) staff as retribution for any sort of participation in hunger strikes and/or show of resistance. Recent validation reviews have shown futile since CDCR is utilizing hunger strike and single cell write-ups as proof of [security threat group] association. Doctors first question, before denying all subsequent inmate request for pain management, is: "were you in the hunger strike?" 602s [grievance forms] are disappearing from inside locked metal boxes.

MIM(Prisons) adds:Control units were developed as a form of political and social control within the prison system, and this blatant political repression against prisoners who protested against them shows that social control is still their purpose. The review process is a sham to allow the state of California to continue to torture oppressed people while pretending to make changes.

We must continue the fight against these isolation units, but we know that real and lasting changes will only be made when we dismantle the criminal injustice system. In the short term we fight for reforms to improve the conditions of those locked in these torture cells, but the imperialists will not reform away their tools of social control. This is why we see the fight against the criminal injustice system as an integral part of the anti-imperialist struggle.