This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
I N T E R N E T ' S M A O I S T M O N T H L Y
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
XX XX XXX XX XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX
X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X
X V X X X V X X X X X X X XX XXX
X X X X X X XX X X X X X
X X XXX X X X V XXX X XXX XXX
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 104 September 1995
Get MIM Notes 104 from the Maoist Internationalist
Movement (MIM), and get the latest in Maoist news
and analysis - put a revolutionary weapon in your
hands.
In MIM Notes 104, read about MIM's continuing
effort to build public opinion on behalf of
prisoners in Amerikkka's gulags. Letters from
unknown revolutionary prisoners accompany MIM's
article of unity and criticism of the mass movement
to save the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal. MIM Notes 104
contains a letter from Jose Maria Sison, founder of
the Communist Party of the Philippines, sending his
support to Mumia. Read about MIM's efforts to bring
a revolutionary, Third World feminist perspective
to the annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, as
well as an expose on a police murder of a Latino
youth in East Los Angeles.
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the
world's oppressed majority, and against the
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in
the service of the people. Support it, struggle
with it and write for it.
MIM Notes is available to subscribers of New York
Transfer (nyt@nyxfer.blythe.org). Or get a
subscription from MIM via e-mail or in print for
$12/year for 12 issues. Write: MIM Distributors, PO
Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48106-3576. (Send, stamps,
cash, check or m.o. made out to "MIM
Distributors".) Send questions, letters or
submissions to: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.
For a free issue mailed to your Internet address (a
large text file), send a message explaining your
interest to: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.
MIM Notes 104 includes:
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. MASSES PROTEST MURDER IN LINCOLN HEIGHTS
2. LETTERS TO MIM
3. NDFP CONDEMNS RAMOS GOVERNMENT FOR UNILATERAL
SUSPENSION OF PEACE TALKS
4. RAMOS IS LAME DUCK PRESIDENT, NDFP CAN
NEGOTIATE WITH NEXT PRESIDENT
5. ZAPATISTAS ATTEMPT LIBERATION THROUGH FIRST
WORLD REFERENDUM
6. AT A CROSSROADS: MOVEMENT TO SAVE MUMIA WINS
TEMPORARY VICTORY
7. ANTI-PRISONS FORUM DRAWS DEDICATED CROWD, SOLID
DEBATE ON THE NATIONAL QUESTION
8. INFANT MORTALITY: NATIONAL OPPRESSION IS NOT IN
OUR HEADS
9. CAN THE SPARTS EXPLAIN WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?
10. QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!
11. PSEUDO-FEMINISTS STRENGTHEN PATRIARCHY
12. MIM PRESENTS REVOLUTIONARY FEMINISM AT MICHIGAN
WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL
13. PEOPLE'S PICNIC RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF PRISONERS
14. NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES STRIKE FOR PIE
15. PARASITE MERGER: UNIONS MERGE TO NEGOTIATE
CUSHIER DEALS
16. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS ABOLISH
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
17. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: LETTERS FROM PRISON
* * *
MASSES PROTEST MURDER IN LINCOLN HEIGHTS:
PIGS EXECUTE 14-YEAR-OLD
*** This article was written for Notas Rojas, MIM's
Spanish-language newspaper. To subscribe,
contribute to or distribute Notas Rojas write to
MIM Distributors, PO Box 29670, Los Angeles, CA
90029-0670. ***
Los Angeles, July 30 - Before the eyes of his
mother, 14-year-old Antonio Gutierrez was shot four
times by the police - the army of imperialist
invasion. Gutierrez was just one victim of the
police readiness and apparent authority to execute
anyone, anywhere, especially Latinos, Blacks and
members of First Nations. Gutierrez's mother and
other witnesses to the execution say that Antonio
was not armed, and that after he was shot and
handcuffed, the police shot him again.
When the community of Lincoln Heights found out
about the murder, people were soon confronting the
pigs with rocks and fires. This type of rebellion
demonstrates the oppressed nation masses'
spontaneous anti-imperialism, and MIM supports the
people in their righteous anger against the state.
But we call on the masses to turn their anger into
organizing energy: work with MIM to expose brutal
murders like this one, build public opinion against
the state and for the oppressed. Most importantly,
use your anger to build a movement that can destroy
this system definitively, rather than allowing
arrests and injury in your community with no
strategic benefits.
A "PROBLEM" OFFICER
The rebellion lasted for two days, at which point
the bourgeois media - public relations servants of
the pigs and the state - reported on it. They wait
until there's an event they can try to blame on the
oppressed and then they start writing. These
vultures will never report on a murder like this
one to expose the state, which is why MIM builds
independent media so that we can publicize the
truth about imperialism.
The media and the pigs say that the officer who
murdered young Antonio, Michael Falvo, was a
"problem" officer, since he had a violent record of
abuses and brutality. To that MIM responds: the
whole police is a filled with "problem" officers
because the police exist in order to assault and
take advantage of Latinos, of Blacks and Indigenous
people. In cooperation with the FBI, the CIA, and
the U.S. army abroad, the police defend and
perpetuate imperialist aggression. Falvo is not an
exception, he is just a concrete example of the
police fulfilling their role.
THE WAR ON GANGS & DRUGS
For the Amerikan imperialists and their allies in
the white nation, all Latinos and Blacks are
suspected of being gangsters. The "war on gangs,"
"the war on drugs," "the war on (so-called) illegal
immigration," "the war on crime" - these are all
deceptive names for the war on the oppressed
nations within U.S. borders.
The Amerikan pigs have absolutely no right to apply
justice to anybody, because their presence in
Aztlan and in all North America is the product of
murder, robbery, genocide, betrayal and all types
of injustices. The white man arrived in this
hemisphere and stole the land of the First Nations
and exterminated their people; they constructed
their empire with the work of Black slaves; they
expanded their empire by attacking everything that
got in their way. The imperialists are the real
criminals. Their abuses won't stop until they are
defeated.
TRUE JUSTICE REQUIRES REVOLUTION
The family of Antonio Gutierrez has filed a lawsuit
against the police. Together with those who
protested the murder, MIM demands justice for young
Antonio, just as MIM demands justice for the more
than one million prisoners trapped in the dungeons
of the U.S. empire. MIM believes true justice will
only be possible once Amerikan imperialism and its
pigs have been defeated and political power is in
the hands of the people. That's why we work for
socialist revolution.
There are many groups that say that Latinos should
unite with whites and fight for white demands.
These groups fail to see that the interests of the
oppressor white nation are fundamentally opposed to
the interests of the oppressed nations. Other
groups say that the best way of improving the
situation of Latinos is voting. Voting for whom?
The Democrats and the Republicans are all racists;
they are the leaders of imperialism. Latino
politicians who are Republicans or Democrats have
the same intentions as their white comrades. Some
people only want to advance their political careers
on the backs of the oppressed. MIM says that Aztlan
is a legitimate nation that must be freed from the
claws of the United Snakes, and we warn the masses
against those that say there are no internal
colonies within U.S. borders.
The fight for reforms is also deceiving, for those
reforms could disappear whenever the white nation
wants. There are no guarantees. The only real long
term improvement of the life of the oppressed can
come from revolution. In Aztlan (the territory
which Amerika stole from Mexico) we are talking
about national liberation with the goal of self
determination, and of socialism. The people of
Aztlan should liberate Aztlan, to later rule
Aztlan, in order to have a police that truly serves
the people: a police that will protect the poor
from the abuses of the rich. A police that is not
corrupt or racist. To try to improve the
relationship between the current police and the
Latino community is a deceiving lie that can only
perpetuate suffering.
Power must be seized from the oppressor.
Revolutionaries in Aztlan will eventually need to
take up arms against the invaders - not just
spontaneously in response to individual police
actions, but organized as a Maoist Party. It is
only through national liberation and socialist
revolution that we can get to a society in which
guns and political power of groups over groups are
relics of this dying system.
DOWN WITH INTEGRATION!
DOWN WITH TRAITORS!
DOWN WITH THE PIGS AND THE GOVERNMENT!
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Note: We use "United Snakes" as a translation of
"Estamos Hundidos," which is a pun on "Estados
Unidos," or "United States." "Estamos Hunidos"
literally means "we're doomed," and is often used
in the context of, "Look what they've done to us:
We're ruined."
* * *
SISON SAYS: SAVE THE LIFE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!
by Prof. Jose Maria Sison, Founding Chairman,
Communist Party of the Philippines
July 22, 1995
On my personal behalf and in representation of
anti-imperialist and democratic forces in the
Philippines I join the great number of people and
organizations in the United States and throughout
the world in the outcry to save the life of the
African-American journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal and to
set him free.
It is unjust and outrageous that, because of his
fearless and tireless defense of his fellow victims
of racial persecution and brutality, Mumia Abu-
Jamal has been framed up by the Philadelphia police
in 1981, he has been imprisoned for 14 years under
the most cruel conditions and he is being rushed to
his death on August 17 by a warrant of execution
calculated to pre-empt his appeal for a new trial.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is a dedicated revolutionary
fighter in the service of the African-Americans and
all other peoples. He has used his speaking and
writing skills as his weapons so effectively that
the coercive apparatuses of the U.S. monopoly
capitalism and the brutality of the state have been
applied on him by the worst elements in the most
malicious and arbitrary ways in the attempt to
silence and put him away.
Mumia Abu-Jamal became a member of the Black
Panther Party in 1969-70. Undaunted by the brutal
state repression of this party and other African-
American organizations, he has persevered in
standing up and speaking for the African-American
people. As a journalist and radio commentator, he
has relentlessly exposed the racist nature of U.S.
monopoly capitalism and the brutality of the state.
In this connection he is an award-winning
journalist.
Despite prohibitions and retaliations by the prison
authorities, he has courageously continued to speak
and write the truth against oppression. He has
recently come out with his book Live from Death Row
which exposes conditions on death row, reveals his
thoughts on the state "correction" system and the
death penalty and unfolds his views on social and
racial oppression and the liberation movement.
The plight of Mumia Abu-Jamal exemplifies the lot
of the great majority of African-Americans who
suffer racial discrimination, exploitation, and
oppression. The system that has subjected him to
racial hatred and persecution, that has deprived
him of his liberty for so long and is bent on
taking away his life is a system of cruelty and
injustice that deserves worldwide condemnation by
the people.
It is the duty of the broad masses of the people
and everyone with a sense of justice to demand that
the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal be saved and that he be
set free. Should the capitalist and racist
authorities be unheeding, the African-American
people and the rest of the people in the United
States and throughout the world can go into a storm
of rage against the unjust capitalist system.
MIM RESPONDS with some trepidation that as MIM
Notes goes to press, there is an indefinite stay of
execution in place in Mumia's case. As Mumia
pointed out in response to this stay, however,
while he is no longer under and active death
warrant, he lives under an active death sentence.
We must remain ever-vigilant in Mumia's case until
this death sentence is overturned.
AZANIAN REVOLUTIONARY SPEAKS OUT ON MUMIA
Revolutionary greetings. Thanks so much for
responding to my mail in such a short space of
time. The background you gave about Mumia was quite
informative and soul-searching. I was particularly
touched (though not completely surprised), by the
fact that Black churches are not strongly coming
out in support of the brother. It is generally the
case. Even here in Azania, no church leader has
raised a finger in condemnation of Mumia's pending
execution.
The activities [supporting Mumia] I told you about
are mainly by our Black Consciousness Movement,
i.e. the Azanian People's Organization and its
formations, viz Azasm (Azanian Student Movement, a
high school student wing), Azasco (Azanian Student
Convention, a tertiary student wing), Azanian Youth
Organization, etc. Yesterday (Thursday), the
chairperson of Wits region of Azapo, Cde Lybon
Mabaso, led a march to the United State consulate
in Pretoria. The same day, Azasco branch at Wits
University organized a meeting which was addressed
by Mathatha Tsedu, a Sowetan journalist and a
leader of Media Workers Association of South Africa
(MWASA). Last week MWASA went on record after
declaring Mumia its honorary member.
Another tale of surprise here is the silence on the
part of the ANC [African National Congress]. The
irony is that not so long ago, the ANC-led "gnu"
has abolished death penalty. One would then have
expected ANC to add its voice in condemning Mumia's
imminent execution. They have adopted a wait and
see attitude.
Anyway...I'll keep in touch and inform you of new
developments, I'll appreciate it if you do the
same.
I'll hear from you. Keep Strong.
- Azanian Revolutionary July 28, 1995
*** MIM has seen a letter from the ANC regarding
Mumia's case in the Worker's Vanguard 7/28/95. ***
SECTARIAN ANARCHISTS REFUSE EXCHANGE
WITH STUPID MIM
MIM wrote the group I'm in, called Neither East Nor
West, asking for an information exchange. We are an
anti-authoritarian group that opposes both
capitalism and "Soviet-type" systems which includes
Mao's China. We see all of those systems as
exploitative and against freedom. We propose a true
cooperative/self-management economics. Seeing the
world in only two ways - as MIM-type Stalinist
groups do - as either "bad capitalist" or "good
communist" is not historical nor too intelligent.
Humans are adept enough at coming up with third and
more paths to a good society.
If you're interested in us, please send $1.00 and a
SASE to Neither East Nor West, 339 Lafayette St.,
Rm. 202, New York, NY 10012.
- Agent for NENW-NYC
MIM RESPONDS: This letter is a perfect example of
why activists should exchange publications, ideas
and struggle. The NENW-NYC agent doesn't even
recognize the similarities in ideology between
Maoism and anarchism and is ready to scrap
discussion of the best path toward achieving our
mutual goals. MIM shares your goals and your
support for "true cooperative"s and "self-
management." But you offer no way of getting from
here to there, Maoists do. You will find the
furthest progress of collectivization anywhere in
the history of China. It wasn't perfect like your
idea, it was superior because it existed. If you
compare an idea to a practice, the idea will always
look better because it never has to face the
challenge of implementation. If you compare a
practice to a practice, Maoism will win. What has
anarchism ever done to improve the lot of the
oppressed?
MIM has no use for the dichotomized "bad
capitalist" and "good communist." Unlike
Trotskyists, we maintain that bourgeois democratic
national liberation is progress over neo-
colonialism. Revolution to create an independent
capitalist economy in an oppressed nation would be
something that MIM would support. We still don't
think the battle should end there - if national
self-determination is to last, it must move on to
socialism. But our line on national self-
determination is an example of some anarchists'
misconception of Maoism. We support national self-
determination because history and the real-life
application of theory and ideology to practice has
taught us that we must. Good things (bourgeois
democratic revolution) are good - we want the best
(communism). We are interested in seeing NENW-NYC's
explanation of how Maoists with this line are
dichotomizing and idealizing the world, while
anarchists who have yet to make a successful
revolution anyplace are innocent of this sin.
MIM is ready for dialogue with anarchists or other
groups and encourages them to write. Ask for a
subscription exchange with MIM Notes. If you want a
challenge, send us five bucks and read our latest
theory journal: "The Anarchist Ideal & Communist
Revolution."
ALL PRISONERS?
I was wondering if you could explain something to
me.
Do you support all prisoners in the world no matter
what their crime, say, murder (you know like
shooting some guy on the street for no other reason
then shooting him, something of that nature). I ask
this, for I was reading some of the back issues of
MIM Notes and I saw a lot of support for prisoners
and a lot of prisoners writing you, asking for
literature. Now, we totally agree with you (MIM)
that prisoners of a political nature should be
supported no matter what (usual political
prisoners, except China, are supporters of
socialist revolution in Imperialist countries, or
just people against some sort of oppression). Of
course there are other types, but we do have a
problem with supporting cold blooded murderers and
rapists who have absolutely nothing to do with the
fight for political/social/economic revolution in
their particular niche in the world. We truly don't
feel that a rapist gives any sort of help or
furtherment of any Anti-Imperialist cause.
- a reader who wants to start local RAIL, July
1995
MIM RESPONDS: It is excellent that you are getting
involved and doing anti-imperialist work through
starting RAIL. We look forward to working together
and building the anti-imperialist movement. Working
in RAIL means being led by MIM line, and we hope
that through dialogue we can bring you closer to
our understanding of prisons as an instrument of
national oppression.
In the USA, we say all prisoners are political
prisoners. But we don't use the slogan "free all
prisoners!" Is this a contradiction? No. We say
this to point out that crime itself is a political
thing. Who decides what is a crime? The rulers of
the society. "Murder" is supposed to be illegal,
but cops kill people all the time, migrant workers
die from pesticides, children die lacking
medication, and the USA kills hundreds of thousands
of Iraqis with no talk of "murder." "Rape" is
supposed to be illegal, but proletarian women who
work as prostitutes are raped all the time. All sex
in this society is governed by patriarchy, which
makes it all rape. Yet the state (which imprisons a
grossly disproportionate number of Black men for
rape) doesn't do anything to criminalize gender
hierarchies.
Who is imprisoned for what crimes is a function of
who has power in a society. That is why we say all
prisoners are political prisoners. There are some
people in prison who have done truly bad things
(although most people in prison have not). The
random killing you mention, while very rare, is a
good example. That's one reason we don't say "free
all prisoners!" We recognize that if we had
socialism today, the masses would not want to just
let everyone go. Some people might have new trials
and end up doing reform labor or something. But, we
say unequivocally that no Black, Latino, or First
Nation person should ever be tried in a white
court. No matter what that person has done, this is
an act of national oppression. Their nations are
occupied by white Amerika, and that trial is part
of the illegitimate exercise of national
domination. Even many white people in prison
deserve to have their cases heard by a fair court.
You also mention China and other places. We would
say that all prisoners everywhere are political, as
described above. In China today, the government is
state-capitalist or even fascist. We don't support
its prison practice at all. Prisoners everywhere do
hard, forced labor, whether in China or in [your
state]. To read about the way China handled crime
and prisons when it was socialist (1949-1976),
write to us for a copy of Prisoners of Liberation,
an account by two Amerikans who were imprisoned in
China from 1950-54 and began to publicize their own
stories as soon as they returned home.
* * *
CORRECTION
The article "U.S.-Ramos regime betrays peace in the
Philippines" in the August 1995 issue of MIM Notes
claimed that the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP) broke off negotiations with the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
after the GRP violated existing agreements with the
NDFP. While it is true that the GRP violated
existing agreements by arresting the NDFP's
political consultant, Sotero Llamas, it is not true
that the NDFP broke off the talks. It was the GRP
which unilaterally suspended talks on June 27 1995,
the day after talks opened. At that time, the NDFP
was willing to continue the formal peace talks as
soon as the GRP released Sotero Llamas from prison
and allowed him safe passage to Brussels, where the
peace negotiations were taking place.
This only underlines the fact that it is the NDFP
which is willing to carry on peace negotiations in
the framework of national sovereignty, social
justice and democracy, while the GRP uses these
negotiations to get the revolutionary forces to
capitulate by cloaking itself in the rhetoric of
peace without actually taking the steps necessary
to ensure a just and lasting peace.
MIM apologizes to its readers and the NDFP for the
error in our earlier article. The following two
articles are press releases from the NDFP which we
received several days after the last issue of MIM
Notes went to press.
* * *
NDFP CONDEMNS RAMOS GOVERNMENT FOR UNILATERAL
SUSPENSION OF PEACE TALKS
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines
(NDFP) hereby condemns the unilateral and
indefinite suspension of the GRP-NDFP peace
negotiations by the Ramos government. We hold the
GRP solely responsible for a series of deliberate
acts done in bad faith and calculated to scuttle
the Hague Joint Declaration and the Joint Agreement
on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
For more than a month, Mr. Ramos has failed to
abide by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity
Guarantees (JASIG) and has willfully violated it by
refusing to respect the safety and immunity
guarantees of Comrade Sotero Llamas and allow him
to perform his role as political consultant of the
NDFP in the peace talks with the GRP.
Going from bad to worse, Mr. Ramos himself has
proceeded to unilaterally declare the indefinite
suspension of the peace negotiations, as if he were
not satisfied with trampling down on the rights of
Comrade Llamas and violating the JASIG.
In sharp contrast, the NDFP Negotiating Panel has
demonstrated its good faith by going to the opening
session of the peace negotiations and expressing
its eagerness to continue post-opening talks upon
the arrival of Comrade Llamas in Brussels despite
already apparent moves of the GRP to prevent his
release and travel.
It is an open fact that some military officers
represented by Gen. Renato de Villa have exerted
all-out efforts to keep Comrade Llamas under
detention and thereby sabotage the GRP-NDFP peace
negotiations.
At the same time, there are clear manifestations of
a scheme among highly-placed agents of imperialism
and reactionary institutions to undermine and
discard the five agreements already signed by the
GRP and the NDFP and replace the framework of peace
negotiations established in The Hague Joint
Declaration since 1992.
The GRP Negotiating Panel, headed by Howard Q. Dee,
is increasingly obsessed with the tactics of
maneuvering the NDFP into a position of
capitulation and with the line of liquidating the
revolutionary armed struggle of the people through
sheer deception.
The GRP proposal for a ceasefire ahead of the
comprehensive agreements on human rights and
international humanitarian law, social and economic
reforms and political and constitutional reforms is
calculated to put off the people's basic demands of
national liberation, democracy, and social justice
and to simply undermine the people's resistance to
their increasing exploitation and oppression.
How can the GRP ever comply with the more complex
requirements of a ceasefire agreement when it
cannot comply even with the simpler ones now in the
JASIG? Compliance with JASIG, in the case of Sotero
Llamas, is now a test of how much further the GRP
can go in peace negotiations with the NDFP.
As always, the NDFP is committed to the pursuit of
a just and lasting peace through the solution of
the problems that have caused the civil war. There
can never be a just and lasting peace without first
addressing the roots of the civil war.
- Luis G. Jaladoni, Chairperson, NDFP negotiating
panel, 27 June 1995
* * *
RAMOS IS LAME DUCK PRESIDENT, NDFP CAN NEGOTIATE
WITH NEXT PRESIDENT
The unilateral declaration of indefinite suspension
of negotiations by the GRP and its continuing
willful violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety
and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) are clear
manifestations the Ramos regime is hellbent on
terminating the peace negotiations.
Related to these manifestations is the attempt of
the regime to change the framework of peace
negotiations with a framework of capitulation at
the expense of the NDFP.
The Ramos regime is cynical, callous and wanton in
trying to throw away the five documents that have
been mutually agreed upon by the GRP and the NDFP
negotiating panels and approved by their principals
since 1992, starting with The Hague Joint
Declaration.
As it tries to disregard these documents, the Ramos
regime is in effect wasting the effort and expense
that have gone into the making of these documents.
If the regime wants to terminate the peace
negotiations because it cannot change the
framework, the NDFP has no choice but to look
forward to the next president of the GRP for the
possibility of resuming peace negotiations in
accordance with the aforesaid documents.
Mr. Ramos is a lame duck president, limping on the
second and last leg of his six-year tenure. He has
his own peculiar scheme of priorities which now
rate peace negotiations as extremely low.
Mr. Ramos is more than ever preoccupied with
reaping the personal rewards of his political
power. He and his cronies are busy accumulating
private assets as a result of contracts arising
from foreign and local overborrowing, foreign
speculative capital, sale of state assets and the
so-called military modernization program.
The rampant official and unofficial criminality
under the Ramos regime is exacerbating the socio-
economic and political crisis of the ruling system.
The ever rising level of oppression and
exploitation is inciting the people and the
revolutionary forces to intensify the armed
revolution.
- Jose Maria Sison, Chief Political Consultant of
the NDFP Negotiating, Panel 13 July 1995
* * *
ZAPATISTAS ATTEMPT LIBERATION THROUGH FIRST WORLD
REFERENDUM
July 26, Northampton, MA - El Comit¼ Pro Democracia
en M¼xico organized a small video presentation and
informational meeting about the Zapatista National
Liberation Army (EZLN). The EZLN and the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Mexican
government have been engaged in negotiations since
April; little besides a ceasefire has come out of
the negotiations. The Zapatistas' demands include
land, housing, jobs, food, health, education,
culture, information, independence, democracy,
liberty, justice and peace.
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 Zapatistas have invited people across Mexico as
well as abroad to vote in a five-question
international plebiscite about the future of the
EZLN as a political force. The questionnaire
reflects the Zapatistas' approach of using
spontaneous mass insurrections and sporadic
violence as a prod for negotiations. The Communist
Party of the Philippines criticizes this strategy
of subordinating military struggle to elections and
negotiations extensively.
First World activists may be flattered at being
asked to decide internal Mexican issues, but this
is a Mexican matter, to be decided by Mexican
activists and not by people in the First World who
lack the knowledge to make informed
recommendations. The international referendum
approach is less successful than a protracted,
self-reliant people's war which creates a
committed, mass base for revolution. The Zapatistas
should stop polling First Worlders for their
opinions, and apply the strategy of people's war as
it was successfully implemented by the Communist
parties of China and Vietnam and as it is being
used today in the Philippines and Peru.
Note: Rebolusyon 1/1/93.
- a member of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist
League (RAIL)
* * *
AT A CROSSROADS: MOVEMENT TO SAVE MUMIA WINS
TEMPORARY VICTORY
by MC12
August 18 - With the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal
postponed "indefinitely," the movement to save him
is at a crossroads. The stay of execution granted
by Judge Albert Sabo allows time for appeals to be
considered, and it is likely the process will drag
on for months or maybe years, although that is not
certain. Thousands of activists all over the world
have united under the narrow banner of stopping
this execution. Where do they go from here?
Mumia was framed for the righteous killing of a
police officer. His show trial exemplified the sham
of the Amerikkkan injustice system. Saving him
requires public pressure and legal maneuverings.
But revolutionaries have to understand that Mumia's
case is not isolated, that the entire injustice
system daily oppresses millions of members of the
oppressed nations in North America.
Mumia himself said, "There are hundreds of
thousands of Mumia Abu-Jamal's on death row and
doing life bits in this country. These people are
not well known."(1) Many of them are well known to
MIM and readers of MIM's Under Lock & Key section,
which appears in every issue of MIM Notes (pages 10
and 11 in this issue).
The question for those who have struggled to save
Mumia's life is: What about all the others? What
about the system that perpetuates their oppression?
A BROAD MOVEMENT
The movement of people to save Mumia has been very
broad. It includes most self-described socialist or
communist groups in the U.S. Empire, including MIM;
broad sections of progressive masses in Europe,
Africa and elsewhere; celebrities and academics;
student groups; mainstream Black politicians and
some church groups. Outside of saving Mumia's life,
these groups have very disparate agendas.
Hundreds of prisoners in Amerikan gulags have
rallied to stop the execution, including some 200
in Lewisburg Maximum Security prison in
Pennsylvania. In Europe and the U.S. Empire, many
prisoners engaged in public hunger strikes.
Jose Maria Sison, the founding chairperson of the
Communist Party of the Philippines, declared: "It
is the duty of the broad masses of the people and
everyone with a sense of justice to demand that the
life of Mumia Abu-Jamal be saved and that he be set
free." Academics for Mumia Abu-Jamal rounded up
more than 200 members. Calls went out to Asian-
descended communities from the David Wong and Yu
Kikumura support committees.
Under consistent pressure, the National Association
of Black Journalists finally filed a brief in
support of Mumia's right to free speech in jail.
The United Church of Christ's Commission for Racial
Justice issued a statement opposing the
execution.(2) The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the
Nation of Islam spoke out for Mumia as well.
Rallies or protests were held in more than 50
cities of the U.S. Empire. In Washington D.C.,
successive protests turned out increasing numbers
of people. They culminated in a rally and march of
several hundred people on August 7th. Marchers,
organized by the anarchist-led D.C. Coalition to
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, walked through poor areas of
the city passing out flyers and educating community
members, some of whom emerged from their tenements
to raise clenched-fist salutes.
At a big rally in Philadelphia on August 12,
thousands of supporters listened to many speakers
and raised hell outside the Philly City Hall.
Uniformed cops kept back, but one organizer
reported rather obvious police infiltrators: "One
sister even had some braid/dredlocks thing and a
clip-on nose ring, but I saw 'Phila. Police Dept.'
on her camera." Former prisoner Dhoruba Bin-Wahad
addressed the crowd, pointing out that Congress had
long hearings on the Waco massacre, and never had
hearings into the bombing of MOVE members and their
neighborhood in Philly in 1985. A week later, the
(In)Justice Department gave $3.1 million to white
supremacist Randy Weaver as payment for the lives
of his wife and child, killed by the FBI.(3) MOVE
members - and the rest of the Black nation - are
still waiting for their reparations.
Organizers were glad to see the stay of execution.
But they know that the state hopes to diffuse the
movement by stalling, lessening the political cost
of killing Mumia. Not that it's all costs. The pro-
death-penalty white majority wants to see more
people just like Mumia executed, not less. On the
Internet, one white supremacist lamented: "I was
hoping mass riots would break out, so we would be
forced to unload our stockpiles. Sniff Sniff."
As the movement to save Mumia tried to do some
mainstream fundraising, it came up against
roadblocks set by the Fraternal Order of Pigs
(FOP). A benefit concert featuring progressive
Black bands was refused the use of Club Vegas. A
bookstore canceled a public reading from Mumia's
book after getting calls from the FOP. And a rage
against the machine benefit concert had to move
from Philly to Washington D.C. after, according to
a band spokesperson, "For some reason or another,
nobody wanted to touch the show."(4) All these are
examples of why MIM always stresses the need to
develop independent media that doesn't have to
kowtow to imperialist whim.
SO WHERE DOES THE MOVEMENT GO NOW?
In an interview, Mumia's defense attorney Leonard
Weinglass said that the defense hopes to "get a
court that will look at this case, and loot at it
with an open mind, and objective mind, that's all
we ask." As the defense attorney, it's his job to
do this through legal appeals. But revolutionaries
cannot get too hung up on the difference between
one judge and another or between one trial and
another.
There is no justice for the oppressed in the
Amerikan injustice system, and fostering illusions
about a better trial or better judge is a
politically dangerous game. A new trial is a tactic
to get Mumia out; it's not about getting justice
from a system that exists to deny justice to the
oppressed by any means necessary.
An Azanian friend of MIM, following the case from
afar, had this perceptive comment: "I've been
thinking about it, asking myself whether judge
Sabo's decision should be celebrated as victory for
us. I couldn't get myself to celebrate it. ... When
I thought about the fact that Mumia has been in
jail for 13 years, I told myself that our radical
demand should be that the Comrade must be set free.
... In my view, anything less is just a lip service
which, as a matter of fact, does not remove a
shadow of death over Mumia's head. ... I don't see
the possibility of a fair trial."
FIND STRENGTH IN THE MASSES
There is a crucial distinction between appealing to
the masses and appealing to the state. Tactically,
the legal appeals must continue. But politically it
is more important to influence the masses than the
state, which is a lost cause. For example, the D.C.
rally that went through neighborhoods of the
oppressed was more progressive than a rally in
Burlington, Vermont, where protesters foolishly
charged a hotel where governors were meeting and
got arrested, to little effect.
Anyone who wants to end the injustices of Amerika
needs to see clearly the political nature of crime
itself. It is vital to understand, as Mumia and MIM
say, that there are hundreds of thousands of people
unjustly incarcerated. According to a recent Bureau
of Justice Statistics report, there are now 1.5
million people in Amerikan prisons. In MIM's daily
prison work - organizing prisoners, distributing
literature to them and building public opinion for
them on the outside - we don't mess around with
categories of prisoner. The system is illegitimate;
it exists to protect the power of the power-
holders. Even people who commit crimes against the
people deserve a trial by the people and
punishments with a chance to rectify their crimes.
In the coming months, the thousands of people who
have participated in the struggle to save Mumia
Abu-Jamal should remain vigilant and active. The
state remains poised to take Mumia's life on short
notice. But the organizers and the masses must also
take up the cause of ending the oppressive
injustice system, and the imperialist power
structure that runs it. Anything less strikes only
glancing blows against the legitimacy of the
system. To do justice for Mumia, for the oppressed
in the U.S. Empire and around the world we must
continue the fight to build both public opinion
against this brutal system, and the power to
destroy it.
NOTES:
Uncited accounts are from individual Internet
reports or MIM eye-witness accounts
1. NYT 8/13/95, p. A14.
2. Washington News Observer 8/5/95.
3. Washington Post 8/16/95.
4. Philadelphia Daily News 8/7/95.
* * *
MIM NEWS
ANTI-PRISONS FORUM DRAWS DEDICATED CROWD, SOLID
DEBATE ON THE NATIONAL QUESTION
Boston, August 19 - RAIL and MIM held a forum on
political prisoners and repression with speakers
from the National Committee to free Puerto Rican
POWs and Political Prisoners, the Revolutionary
Anti-Imperialist League, Freedom Now Coalition,
Prison Legal News, the North American Indian Center
and Latinos for Social Change. A Puerto Rican
comrade performed revolutionary music (to a loud
and lasting ovation), and letters were read from
comrades behind bars who could not be with us to
participate in the forum in person.
A dedicated crowd of about 30 or 40 people took
part in this forum that lasted 3 hours and included
some heavy political debate over the questions of
national liberation, electoralism, and the role of
the working class. A local radio station taped the
program for use in several upcoming news programs
and we collected more than $120 in donations for
MIM's Books for Prisoners Program.
VARIED LINES DEBATE THE NATIONAL QUESTION
RAIL's speech opened the forum by broadening the
question of political prisoners beyond individuals
like Mumia Abu-Jamal and pointing out that we need
to struggle for and end to the entire Amerikan
injustice system. The comrade from the National
Committee to free Puerto Rican POWs and Political
Prisoners took this point further, arguing that the
Amerikan courts should have no jurisdiction over
people from Amerika's internal colonies. He focused
on the need for national liberation struggles and
talked about the failure of many "left"
organizations to rally behind political prisoners
from oppressed nations.
The comrade from the North American Indian Center
discussed the long history of repression Indigenous
people have faced in this country. He talked about
the difficulty of publicizing Indigenous political
prisoner issues when everyone believes that the
First Nations were all killed off. Amerikan
schoolchildren are fed lies about the history of
First Nation history that leave out the national
struggles against imperialism that have lasted
hundreds of years and do not realize that the
struggle continues.
The comrade from Prison Legal News read a speech
from PLN's editor, Paul Wright, who is currently
serving a prison sentence and could not attend. He
spoke about the oppressive system of that the puts
more than just a few individuals behind bars as
political prisoners. This was followed by a letter
from a comrade in a New York prison. This comrade
pointed out the torture, beating and constant
repression faced by prisoners and called on
comrades outside the bars to fight the whole prison
system and take part in work on the outside both
against prisons and for national liberation
struggles.
A representative of the Freedom Now coalition spoke
about her history in the Black Panther Party and
the repression that she and her comrades faced both
on the streets under constant surveillance and in
prison being tortured and beaten by the prison
pigs. She called on people to get involved in
electoral struggles although she added that she did
not think we could win true liberation and equality
until we undertook a revolutionary struggle. She
also focused on the need for working class unity, a
unity that included the white working class even
though the oppressed and exploited people that she
talked about were mostly the oppressed nations. She
asserted that many working people in this country
have been pacified by the concessions they have
been given by the imperialists but still considered
these people potential revolutionaries.
MIM responded to this position on the working class
by pointing out that these workers have been
pacified such that it is now in their material
interests to support imperialism. The pay-offs they
have been given have created a large labor
aristocracy. While in practice we have unity with
the work that this comrade does because she
correctly focuses on the oppressed in this country,
it is important that comrades understand who, as a
group, has the potential to be an ally of the
revolution and who will not be an ally based on
their class interests.
Finally, the comrade from Latinos for Social Change
took the opportunity of speaking last to disagree
with the strategy of electoralism even in the
interim while we are also fighting for revolution
and to disagree with those on the panel who were
arguing for national liberation struggles, instead
arguing that class is the principal contradiction
in the world and in Amerika. While all comrades on
the panel had the strategic unity of working to
free political prisoners and end the criminal
injustice system, the disagreement over national
liberation struggles turned into a lively debate
which involved many members of the audience.
While MIM does not see the question of the
principal contradiction as a dividing line question
for communists today, we do think it is important
that comrades have a firm grasp of the principal
contradiction in order to engage in the most
effective organizing.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERIKANS? STUDY THE LABOR
ARISTOCRACY!
The discussion with the audience turned to the
question of how to organize students around
revolutionary issues when one person raised the
question of why he has been unable to organize the
various cultural centers on his campus for
progressive activities. The comrade from RAIL
responded that there is a material basis for these
cultural centers to feel an allegiance with the
school administration since that is where they get
their funding even though many of them were founded
by progressive struggles of the students.
This turned the discussion to a question of how to
organize people around prison issues and why groups
like Progressive Labor Party, Workers World, CPUSA
and others will not do more than give token lip
service to this important issue. A number of people
on the panel praised MIM as one of the few
organizations doing serious work around prisons
issues and one of the few dedicated enough to put
on and take part in forums such as this one.
MIM encouraged people to study the history of the
labor movements in this country and the history of
the pseudo-left organizations to understand why
they will not support political prisoners and why
they are not fighting for real revolutionary
change. An understanding of the large labor
aristocracy in this country is crucial to the
effective fight for revolutionary change.
Repeatedly revolutionary organizations and labor
organizations have fallen into reformism and social
democracy because they sought to organize the
Amerikan workers in their own interests only to end
up organizing in the interests of imperialism. (To
learn more about this read J. Sakai's book
Settlers: the Mythology of the White Proletariat,
available from MIM for $10). It is also important
to study the real revolutionary organizations like
the Black Panther Party, the American Indian
Movement, the Young Lords Party and others to
understand why the most progress for revolutionary
change has been led by organizations fighting
revolutionary national liberation struggles.
HELP US DO THIS AGAIN; CONTRIBUTE TO MIM'S PRISONS
WORK
Participants on the panel expressed interest in
holding this event again in October when more
students are in town as we try to get our message
out to an ever wider audience. Stay tuned for
information about this upcoming event if you missed
it the first time.
To contribute to MIM's Books for Prisoners Programs
which provides revolutionary educational material
free to prisoners, send check or money order made
out to MIM Distributors, P.O. Box 29670, Los
Angeles, CA, 90029-0670.
* * *
INFANT MORTALITY:
NATIONAL OPPRESSION IS NOT IN OUR HEADS
In July, an article on Infant Mortality Rates (IMR)
in the American Journal of Public Health
demonstrated that the rate has been declining
faster for whites than for Blacks, and that the
disparity between whites and Blacks has increased
since 1950. Puerto Rican, Hawaiian, Indian and
Black infants all had mortality rates much higher
than whites. Blacks in Amerika are oppressed as a
nation, and that the division between the Black and
white nations is growing. The study used National
Vital Statistics data and other national surveys.
As countries become more developed and their health
care advances, infant mortality rates fall,
especially in categories of death that are
preventable such as prematurity and low birth-
weight. Overall the infant mortality rate for
Blacks fits this pattern and is falling. But Black
infants are dying more from prematurity and low
birth-weight: almost 9% more in 1991 than in 1981.
So even while in general IMR is declining across
nations within U.S. borders, Black infants are
dying more from preventable complications.
Prematurity and low birth-weight were the leading
causes of death among Black infants in 1991;
prevention of these problems depends on good
pregnancy health care and good health of the
mother. Black infants die at a rate of 269.9 per
100,000 live births from short gestation and
unspecified low birth weight; white infants die of
the same causes at a rate of 66.1 per 100,000 live
births. This ratio of 4:1 can only be explained by
national oppression. There is nothing "racial"
about this issue of survival, it is not a
"characteristic" Black people have to die as
infants. The high IMR among Blacks indicates a
systematic lack of health care which can only be
understood as a national problem. It would not be
possible to enforce such thorough institutional
inequality through anything other than a division
between nations: white and Black. For whites the
leading cause of IMR in 1991 was congenital
anomalies, which are not easily preventable.
More proof that the Black IMR is a product of
national oppression is the fact that while higher
education for mothers lead to lower infant
mortality, this association is stronger for whites
than for Blacks. "The Black-white disparity was
greater at higher levels of education and ... the
racial disparity had generally increased across all
educational levels during 1964 through 1987." So
even among Blacks of wealthier classes (as measured
by mother's education and household income),
national oppression ensures higher infant
mortality. Even Blacks who join the petit
bourgeoisie do not match their Amerikan
counterparts.
The systematic lack of health care in the Black
nation is fueled by multinational corporations'
greed in pushing smoking, drinking and other
dangerous opiates through a market in genocide:
these are habits that contribute to the problems of
infant mortality that Blacks face. MIM's response
to high Black infant mortality is to build public
opinion in favor of the liberation of the Black
nation and all of Amerika's internal and external
colonies. A self-sufficient Black nation will have
the authority to provide universal health care to
all its people. MIM works for revolutionary
nationalism and socialism. Following their
liberation from imperialism, oppressed nations all
over the world will arrange their own state
economics to prioritize the people's health and
well-being, and smash the profit-driven militarism
that defines imperialism and sacrifices the health
of entire nations.
Note: "Infant Mortality in the United States:
Trends, Differentials, and Projections, 1950
through 2010." Gopal K. Singh, and Stella M. Yu.
American Journal of Public Health, July 1995, Vol
85, No. 7, p. 957-964.
* * *
CAN THE SPARTS EXPLAIN WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?
In Los Angeles, MIM hosted a showing of Who Killed
Vincent Chin?, a video which exposes the deadly
alliance between the settler labor aristocracy and
the imperialists. The video details the murder of
Vincent Chin by white working class auto workers
who were out to avenge the loss of auto jobs to the
Japanese (Chin was Chinese, but to these racists
there was no difference). The labor aristocracy
strongly supported the murderers, while a pan-Asian
movement campaigned for justice, exposing the
national contradictions between the privileged
white working class and the oppressed nationalities
inside Amerika's borders.
Supporters of the Spartacist League showed up at
the film and helped to underscore the importance of
MIM's clear line opposing the labor aristocracy.
The Trotskyist presence at the film showing also
reminds MIM of the importance polemicizing about
our line on the labor aristocracy. The Spartacist
League promised to write to MIM years ago in
response to our critique of labor aristocracy
politics. Advancing the debate in writing is the
best way for both parties to be accountable to the
masses for our politics.
The Sparts tabled outside before the film started,
but then packed up the literature and came to watch
the movie. When the video ended, a MIM supporter
read excerpts from an unpublished MIM essay on Who
Killed Vincent Chin? This essay connects the Chin
case to MIM line on the white working class. The
excerpt read by the MIM activist ends: "Those
Marxists such as in the Spartacist League who have
told us that the U.S. working class is the most
advanced or tied for most advanced working class in
the world - they should explain that to Vincent
Chin's mother."
As the event was drawing to a close, the Sparts
initiated a struggle with the MIM activists. Only
MIM and Spartacist League supporters remained at
this point. The two groups held a freewheeling
discussion for about an hour, in which MIM made it
clear that if the Spartacist League really wants to
struggle with MIM, it should do so in print as it
once did briefly, as a party's organ is a forum in
which both parties are held accountable to the
masses for their respective lines.
MIM encourages the Sparts and other Trotskyists to
write to us, as this will help demonstrate the
failures of Trotskyism to the masses. The
Trotskyists' dogmatic idealism makes them incapable
of considering the reality of labor aristocrat
fascism, even when faced with the blatant
demonstration given by the auto workers who
murdered Vincent Chin and then justified the
killing in openly fascist terms.
Note: For more on the ideological and theoretical
failures of Trotskyism, see Kostas Mavrakis, On
Trotskyism, available from MIM for $10. See
especially Chapter 3, "Trotsky's Incapacity for
Concrete Analysis."
* * *
QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!
July 30 - An annual Puerto Rican parade was held in
Boston on this beautiful Sunday and a People's
Contingent, composed of several progressive Puerto
Rican organizations, joined in the march. Carrying
banners that said "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Free All
Political Prisoners," and other messages about
political prisoners, this contingent brought up the
issue of Puerto Rican POWs and political prisoners
while pointing out that this is not just a Puerto
Rican problem.
In a leaflet distributed by members of the People's
Contingent, the marchers explained "This year this
contingent is composed of several groups that fight
for social justice. Each group will be carrying
their own banner. We dedicate this parade to Mumia
Abu-Jamal an Afro-American political prisoner and
former Black Panther. The governor of Pennsylvania
has scheduled August 17, 1995 as his execution
date. We condemn that they want to execute him."
The contingent ended up behind an Amerikan army
contingent, a positioning that was symbolic of the
contradictions between the politics present at the
parade. The parade was a mixture of revolutionary
and bourgeois nationalism, with a small contingent
of reactionary comprador nationalists represented
in the army cars.
In response to the banners carried by the People's
Contingent, many people watching the parade raised
their fists and shouted solidarity slogans such as
"Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre," which translates as
"Long Live a Free Puerto Rico." This is different
from shouting "Long Live Puerto Rico," and it
represents the difference between nationalist
consciousness and revolutionary nationalist
consciousness. Puerto Rico is not currently free as
it is a colony of the United States. The people of
Puerto Rico have many reasons to be proud of their
national heritage and its long history of
revolutionary resistance. But Puerto Rico in its
current colonial status deserves only a very short
life: until the revolutionary struggle for national
liberation is successful.
Alongside the revolutionary consciousness of the
People's Contingent, this parade featured many
symbols of bourgeois nationalism including proud
youth showing off their fancy cars with the names
of their home cities in Puerto Rico written on the
windows. Some featured other slogans such as
"Respeta mi Bandera," ("respect my flag,") showing
the national political consciousness that is a
potential ally of the revolutionary national
liberation struggle under the leadership of the
proletariat.
This comrade marched with the National Committee to
Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political
Prisoners banner. Although the People's Contingent
was small relative to the size of the parade and
the number of people who joined in to show off
their fancy cars, the response of the crowd was
encouraging. Actions such as this one are important
to show the youth of our many oppressed nations
that true pride does not come from owning a pretty
car, it comes from fighting with the struggle to
liberate the oppressed of the world.
* * *
PSEUDO-FEMINISTS STRENGTHEN PATRIARCHY
by a member of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist
League (RAIL)
Pseudo-feminist groups like Refugee Women and
Development, Amnesty International, and assorted
legal groups, recently convinced the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to
recognize gender-specific forms of persecution in
political asylum cases. "The new
guidelines...formally recognize rape, domestic
violence, domestic abuse, genital mutilation,
slavery, forced marriage, and other forms of
violence against women as potential grounds for
protection."(1) Previously, the INS saw violations
such as rape as private acts or street crime, not
as forms of political torture or persecution.
REFORM STRENGTHENS PATRIARCHY
Supporters of this new gender reform are lending
mountains of credibility to the U.S. government as
a champion of women's rights. They attempt to hide
the fact that the way to overturn the patriarchy is
to organize women to defend themselves against
violence and to organize oppressed women and men to
overturn the comprador and imperialist regimes that
sanction violence against the people.
Approximately 3% (about 5,000 out of 144,000 last
year) of all applicants are granted political
asylum, and the majority of political refugees are
men. The pseudo-feminists touting the gender reform
in political asylum standards ignore the obvious
inefficacy of trying to ease the burden of
patriarchy through the INS. They are not trying to
address systemic violence against women, they only
want a a superficial internationalist flavor for
their movement.
The reform will be useless for women trying to
escape Amerika's allies, as protection will not
likely be extended to women who oppose politics
Amerika upholds. The political manipulation of this
policy is clearly evident in the case of a Haitian
woman raped in retaliation for her support of
Aristide who was recently granted political asylum.
Amerika needs to rebuild its credibility regarding
Haiti because it allowed the anti-Aristide military
so much freedom there. This woman was a convenient
piece of public relations propaganda for Amerika,
yet it is clear that the INS did not seek out other
Haitian women in the same position.
Patriarchy, left intact, continues to define
violence against women. Women seeking asylum must
be able to prove that "...their personal political
beliefs made them a specific target of state
persecution"(1). So if a woman refuses to tolerate
culturally acceptable violence, the INS may find
her political beliefs out of order and reject her
application. Forced marriage is necessarily defined
by both partners' willingness to marry. How does a
woman prove that she's opposed to a specific
marriage or marriage in general and therefore was
forced to marry?
THERE IS NO SOLUTION SHORT OF OPEN BORDERS
Rightist opponents of the gender reform claim that
it will "open the floodgates" for refugees. Yet an
INS commissioner admits that the new guidelines are
only a way to "...sensitize immigration service
officers..." Third World women don't need sensitive
INS pigs reviewing their applications for asylum,
the Third World proletariat demands open borders
and an end to Amerikan domination of its economic
and political life.
NOTE: Sojourner 7/95, p. 20.
* * *
MIM PRESENTS REVOLUTIONARY FEMINISM AT MICHIGAN
WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is a week-long
gathering of several thousand women, mostly
lesbians, for music, socializing and (identity)
politics. Workshop topics range from "recovering"
from racism 12-step style to the Lesbian Avengers.
This year MIM held two workshops of its own to
advance revolutionary politics in the struggle for
women's liberation; MIM stressed that patriarchy
cannot be abolished without the destruction of
capitalism through the fight against imperialism.
Women at the festival supported MIM's analysis of
gender short of the actual practice of national
liberation for internal colonies and support for
Third World Revolutions.
The first workshop focused on a Maoist
Revolutionary Feminist Perspective. MIM opened the
discussion by explaining that when we talk about
gender, we are talking about power, not genitalia.
The speaker said that throughout the talk, she
would use the un-sisterly words of "right" and
"wrong," unabashedly declaring that those who favor
the continued oppression of women are not "valid,"
and this set the tone for a lively debate.
MIM pointed out that gender oppression is relative.
Biological women can wield oppressive gender power
based on their nation and class. MIM emphasized the
importance of looking at the appropriation of
sexuality - instead of just reproductive labor -
for an analysis of how lesbians fit into the
analysis. The women at the discussion seemed to
agree that lesbians are not outside the patriarchal
paradigm as they recognized that lesbian battering,
sado-masochism, and pornography are obvious
manifestations of the eroticization of power among
women.
UPHOLDING PSYCHOLOGY WITH THE MYTH OF THE BLACK
RAPIST
To illustrate some of the power that First World
women have, MIM pointed out that white women have
the power to put Black men in prisons by crying
"rape." A member of the audience asked the MIM
speaker what she would do if she was raped by a
Black man. To the questioner's great annoyance, the
speaker prefaced her response with a qualifier as
to how preposterously unlikely that was. MIM
pointed out that Black men are not all lurking
behind bushes looking for a woman to rape - and
that this is an insidious myth used to justify
repression against the internal colonies by
Amerika.
The audience member insisted on knowing what the
individual MIM member would do in that case however
hypothetical it was. MIM members work to abolish
the disgusting society that makes rape routine -
not to get individuals locked up in a prison system
that does nothing to change acts that are harmful.
MIM pointed to the book Prisoners of Liberation and
the way that China dealt with criminals prior to
1976 as good examples of a correct practice.
Thought Reform coupled with criticism and self-
criticism is a way for people to see what they have
done and why it is wrong.
The discussion focused primarily on psychology. One
woman said that MIM had a contradictory line
because MIM does not advocate sending men to jail
for rape while at the same time we say abolish
psychology. She said that psychology is the only
way to ensure that the Black man does not rape
again.
MIM disagrees. People commit crimes under
capitalism for material reasons and these reasons
must be addressed in order to find the solution.
Reformists who advocate therapy for Black rapists
of white women want only one-sided change - they
want continued privilege for white women while
Black men endure oppression in a more "civilized"
manner. And if they advocate therapy for the white
women as well, it is just a way to feel better
about nation, gender, and class privilege while not
changing the constant rape inherent in patriarchy.
The audience asked whether 12-step programs were
also in the objectionable realm of psychology. MIM
talked about our own experiences in addressing
problems among Maoists in our circles such as
substance abuse and depression. MIM maintains that
it is superior to deal with such problems in the
context of independent power. MIM directed the
audience to the upcoming issue of MIM Theory, which
will focus on psychology. Another woman pointed out
that you really have to look at who brings the
drugs into the ghetto - the CIA - and punish those
people instead of those addicted.
The discussion turned to reproductive rights and
MIM upheld its support of abortion on demand
without apology. One audience member was not
satisfied with this because she thought that she
should have control over women who have "too many"
children. Another audience member correctly pointed
out that the flaw in the logic was that a rich
woman could have 10 kids but that the woman is
putting down a poor woman having 10 kids. She
pointed out that you have to look at and understand
the reason why poor women have many children. The
problem is not "too many" children per se, but
unequal distribution of wealth and gender, class
and national oppression. Overall this first
workshop got a very positive response from the
women in attendance.
FESTIVAL AUDIENCE REJECTS REVOLUTIONARY FEMINIST
PRACTICE
The second workshop that MIM facilitated, focusing
on revolutionary feminism as applied in Peru, was
less welcomed by the women at the festival. MIM
started out explaining how it is important to work
from the vantage point of the International
Proletariat. In this, women's liberation is not
true liberation if it is gotten off the backs of
women from the Third World. A good example is how
birth control First World women use to control
their own reproductive lives is tested on women in
the Third World and Peru specifically who do not
control their own reproduction.
One woman MIM would label a pseudo-feminist said
that there was no reason for her to look at
struggles outside Amerika. MIM agrees with this
woman's assessment of her own objective interests
and explained that First World women, who as a
group are part of the gender aristocracy, can
achieve relative gender privilege by fighting
within the system. But true liberation for women of
the world is not going to come through First World
women climbing the capitalist ladder and continuing
to support oppression of Third World women. If
women want real equality instead of imperialist
patriarchy then we need to fight a subjective
battle as well. First World feminists must struggle
to understand that overthrowing imperialism is a
correct and necessary feminist goal, and they must
be convinced to commit gender suicide and renounce
their gender privileges to help achieve this goal.
Patriarchy cannot be abolished without overthrowing
capitalism through the fight against imperialism.
Peruvian women are currently engaged in that
battle.
MIM explained the history women's importance and
power in Peru to illustrate the necessity of
overthrowing imperialist powers. Gender
stratification and military repression in Peru are
products of imperialism. The Spanish, English and
the Amerikans have all forcefully changed the
indigenous culture and power structure. (MIM
recommends and distributes Carol Andreas's book
When Women Rebel for more on this.)
Women were very sympathetic to MIM's assessment of
the travesties of imperialism and Amerikan economic
domination. But when it came to what to do, women
asked if MIM's idea was to kill other people. They
showed a complete inability to grasp materialism as
a measuring stick of gains for Third World women.
They could see no difference between women starving
with no autonomy and women being in command of the
local people's committee and able to feed their
children. The essence of the matter seemed to be
that if PCP Chairperson Gonzalo himself did not
change into a biological woman or was not replaced
by one, the PCP could not really be feminist.
The women in the audience made the same mistake
that women in Peru made in their earlier stages of
struggle: they drew the lines based on biological
sex as opposed to material interests. It is
important to understand the significant role that
imperialism has played in exacerbating the
contradictions between indigenous men and women and
also to understand that relative to both men and
women in oppressor nations, indigenous men are
gendered female. The fight for liberation must not
set gender aside and reduce all struggles to class
or nation, but this does not make gender the
principal contradiction. This faulty analysis
obstructs discovery of the real principal
contradiction and serves a reactionary purpose.
One woman said that she has never seen Maoists that
did not oppress women within the organization. She
scoffed at the fact that the PCP leads the
revolution in Peru with many women leaders and
ignored the biological gender of the MIM
facilitator. MIM encourages women hold this line to
stop complaining about the lack of power that women
have in revolutionary parties, engage in struggle
and seize leadership in organizations and parties
that work to abolish patriarchy.
MIM tried to elicit from these women some kind of
response as to whether revolutionary violence was
ever justified, or if, in fact, they believed that
it was "just as bad" as reactionary violence waged
against Third World women and men every day under
imperialism. The women at the workshop professed
that they wanted something "new," but didn't
propose anything specific. MIM upholds the PCP as
the best thing going in Peru. Advocating a non-
existent idealist alternative to revolutionary
violence amounts to siding with reactionary
violence.
MIM hopes that the many women who took copies of
MIM Notes and took notes at our workshops will
continue to study the ideas that we discussed and
join the struggle for women's liberation on a
global scale.
* * *
PEOPLE'S PICNIC RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF PRISONERS
by member of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist
League (RAIL)
July 4, St. Louis, Mo. - As U.S. imperialism
celebrated its birthday this year, more than 130
people gathered at Tower Grove Park in support of
political prisoners and prisoners of war being held
hostage by the U.S. government. The Second Annual
People's Picnic was organized by the Coalition
Against U.S. Imperialism (CAUSI), a coalition based
on the agreement that Amerika is an illegitimate
nation built on the stolen land, labor and
resources of captive nations.
Revolutionary politics dominated a festive
atmosphere of food, games and music. A
representative of the Revolutionary Anti-
Imperialist League (RAIL) hosted the rally:
"Welcome to the only patriotic picnic in town today
on behalf of those who work and fight for freedom.
Those who are now imprisoned because they oppose
the U.S capitalist-imperialist state which invaded
this land, killed and enslaved its indigenous
people, kidnapped and enslaved Africans to build
its economic base, invaded and annexed northern
Mexico and Puerto Rico and dictates to other
nations what types of government they will or won't
have. While Amerika celebrates its treacherous acts
today and dares call it freedom, we say "no."
Instead, we celebrate the fact that freedom loving
people have always resisted Amerika. Today there
are hundreds of political prisoners in the U.S.
because they dared to oppose imperialism and
support self-determination and socialism. They are
Puerto Rican freedom fighters, native amerikan
Indians fighting for self-determination, members of
the Black Panther Party for self-defense and
proponents of the Republic of New Africa."
One of the featured speakers, a representative from
Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants
(CURE), pointed out that not just political
prisoners, but all prisoners deserve our support
and consideration. Prisons, the courts and the pigs
are politicizing many prisoners by exposing them to
the class struggle. The speaker noted that "there
are prisoners being denied their basic human rights
in these concentration camps. My husband is
imprisoned at the Potosi correctional facility, a
control unit prison which is nothing but a legal
torture institution. This government is not
fighting crime but committing the crime of
repression and genocide against poor and working
people."
This RAIL representative, following MIM leadership,
organizes around the line that all prisoners are
political prisoners. People in Amerika's
penitentiaries have been judged by an outlaw state
that has no authority to determine "criminality."
Just as the RAIL speaker listed Amerika's
treacherous acts against all people who lived on
this land before Europeans came here, RAIL demands
Amerika correct its own injustices before it sets
out to place people in its department of
corrections.
A sister from the Eastern Missouri Coalition to End
the Death Penalty spoke about Missouri's last two
executions. In May, the state executed a man by
lethal injection at the Potosi control unit prison.
It took over 35 minutes for him to die. To most
civilized people, this is torture or "cruel and
unusual punishment;" but to the state of Missouri
it is a common way of intimidating and controlling
Africans, people of color and the poor. "The u.s.
is the only industrialized country to use the death
penalty...it has proven to be a weapon by an elite
ruling class against people of color and the poor.
It must be abolished." On June 20, the state
executed William Griffin, accused of murder for a
drive-by shooting in 1980. The defense had 4
witnesses testify that Griffin did not do the
shooting, and was not in the car. The prosecution
had one witness who was given a deal to testify.
The prosecution witness admitted in private that he
perjured himself, but he feared the wrath of the
court. Governor Carnahan, a Democrat chose not to
pardon Griffin because he feared political reprisal
from voters.
Speaking for the All-African People's Revolutionary
Party, an enthusiastic sister brought revolutionary
greetings explaining that the fourth of July is
"...a lie! All of Amerika's actions run against
freedom and liberty." Referring to Pennsylvania
Governor Ridge's signing Mumia Abu-Jamal's death
warrant she charged "They use sacred dates from the
people's movement to carry out their diabolical
actions. They used Martin Luther King's birthday to
start bombing Iraq. Now they are using the birthday
of Marcus Garvey, August 17, to murder Mumia Abu-
Jamal. But listen, struggle is a two-way street. A
people's tribunal was recently held where people
from all over the world condemned the u.s.a. for
its repeated use of genocide against the world's
people. The u.s. government was sentenced to death
at a date which WE will choose! Death to
imperialism! Death to capitalism!"
CAUSI provided all participants at the picnic with
postcards to send to Governor Ridge demanding an
end to all executions and a new and fair trial for
Mumia Abu-Jamal. More than 100 were collected and
mailed the next day. A meeting was planned to build
a huge local demonstration on behalf of Mumia
calling for a stay of execution and his release
from prison.
Revolutionary greetings and statements of support
were sent from the Crossroad Support Network in
Chicago, a group which works with New African
political prisoners and prisoners of war; and the
Maoist Internationalist Movement, the revolutionary
communist party whose line and leadership RAIL
follows. Additional speakers presented statements
of support including: the Midwest Anti-Fascist
Network, the Gateway Greens, Anarchist Youth
Federation, Industrial workers of the world, the
Organizer and the Organization for Black struggle.
All the statements and greetings were greeted with
enthusiastic applause and cheers.
Despite a bout with rain, people stayed to hear
local hip hop group "Eleven-fifty-five" and to eat,
talk and have a good time. When the rain stopped,
the sun came out and someone mentioned that the
rain is considered cleansing in Indigenous
cultures. Like the rain, a truly revolutionary
movement led by the proletariat will cleanse the
world of imperialism and establish communal unity
of the peoples of the world.
MIM ADDS: This sounds like an excellent event and
we appreciate the opportunity to publish a report
on it in our newspaper. There are a couple of
discrepancies between this article and MIM line; as
MIM Notes goes to press, we have not had time to
get a response from the author as to her/his
agreement with these points:
MIM does not call Indians "native Amerikans"
because this is a misrepresentation of who they
are. They are not native Amerikans because the
Amerika with a k is used to connote the piggish,
imperialist state we currently live under and there
is nothing about Indians that is native to that. It
is more accurate to say that Indigenous people got
to this continent first, which is why MIM calls
them First Nations rather than natives. We made a
mistake about this in the review of Pocahontas in
MIM Notes 103, so we're sorry if that contributed
to confusion on this point.
MIM does not call Black people Africans when
talking about the Black nation here. People whose
ancestors were brought to this country and torn
from their language, culture, land and nations 400
years ago are no longer Africans. To call them that
is to deny the history that created the Black
nation and made it impossible for members of the
Black nation to return to their ancestral homes as
Africans.
MIM also does not refer to "people of color"
because color is not the issue. The people referred
to in this article are oppressed nationals, members
of internal colonies. As groups, these people are
defined by their national differences from, and
their national oppression by Amerika.
* * *
NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES STRIKE FOR PIE
Two thousand five hundred employees of the Detroit
News Agency (DNA) have been on strike since July
13th. At least one Trotskyist front group, the
National Women's Rights Organizing Committee
(NWROC), is organizing to help the strikers. MIM
takes the Maoist line and upholds the perspective
of the international proletariat: the Labor
Aristocrat strikers are in a bloody alliance with
the big corporate capitalists. The DNA employees
want better benefits in exchange for their service,
even though these benefits can only be proffered at
the exnspee of the Third World proletariat.
After the contracts for these printers, press
operators, mailers, photoengravers, and newsroom
and maintenance workers expired April 30th of this
year. The unions and DNA have been firing
accusations of bargaining in bad faith back and
forth ever since; with disputes over pay raises,
company supplements to pensions and job security
blocking a settlement.(1) In June, the labor board
ruled against the Newspaper Guild Union 22 for
failing to bargain in good faith on an overtime
proposal by management. Now the National Labor
Relations Board is considering union complaints
that the newspapers bargained in bad faith.(4)
There is nothing heroic about workers who already
have benefits and pensions arguing over more
benefits and pensions while other workers don't get
enough to eat. The strikers have solicited funds
from the AFL-CIO to support their strike,(5) and
were promised up to $1 million.(6) This is the same
AFL-CIO that got its money by opposing the
struggles of Japanese and Mexican farm workers in
California(8) and supported the UAW's fight against
Black nationalists and oppressed nationals in
Detroit.(9)
The NWROC has tried to build support for the
strikers by asking subscribers to drop their
subscriptions to the DNA papers and protested
stores that carry them, like Border's Bookstores.
MIM supports the struggle of Third World workers
for survival wages and working conditions. We work
to build public opinion in favor of national
liberation struggles, independent institutions of
the oppressed and anti-imperialism and anti-
militarism. If the striking workers in this country
would strike in favor of these goals, MIM would
support them in that. But history tells us not to
tail after struggles that ignore the interests of
the Third World proletariat. We will continue to
struggle scientifically against those who would
subjugate the just struggles of the oppressed to
bogus First World chauvinist goals.
NOTES:
1. The Michigan Daily 7/19/95, p. 3.
2. The Detroit News 8/6/95, p. 6A.
3. The Detroit News and Free Press 8/10/95, p. A1,
A11.
4. The Detroit New and Free Press 8/9/95, p. A1,
9A.
5. The Detroit News 8/2/95 p. 4A.
6. The Detroit Free Press 8/3/95, C1.
8. See Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins
of White Supremacy in California by Toma's
Almaguer.
9. See Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, A Study in Urban
Revolution by Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin.
* * *
PARASITE MERGER:
UNIONS MERGE TO NEGOTIATE CUSHIER DEALS
Amerika's three largest labor aristocracy unions -
the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of
America and the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers - are merging to
increase their collective bargaining power. On July
27 the unions signed an unofficial document
announcing their plan to merge, but it will be five
years before the merger is complete.
Imperialism is defined by ever more decadent
demonstrations of its own stagnation. The unions
are merging because their membership has declined
so much in the past 20 years that they no longer
have as much bargaining clout as they would like.
The unions blame a hostile political climate for
the lag in participation, but MIM understands that
the need for labor aristocracy organization has
disappeared. Labor aristocrats are not afraid to
organize, they are too bloated to feel the need.
But the superprofits that bloat them have to come
from somewhere. As the class contradictions within
the white nation become harder to see, the
contradictions between U.S. imperialism and the
oppressed nations get bigger.
As manufacturing companies move to the Third World
superexploit Third World proletarians, the U.S.
labor aristocracy finds it can do less organizing
and more consuming. Labor aristocrats are
compensated for more than the value of their labor
in wages and benefits. They are also doing less
production and more paper-shuffling.(see MT 1 or
Settlers: the Mythology of the White Proletariat
for an analysis of the political economy of the
White Working Class)
* * *
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS ABOLISH
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
On July 20, the University of California regents
voted to
wipe out gender- and nationality ("race")-based
preferences in student admissions, hiring and
contracting. KKKalifornia Governor Pete Wilson,
himself a regent, understands that nothing brings
home settler votes better than attacks on the
oppressed nations. The governor recently proved it
by immigrant-bashing his way to re-election.
Affirmative action has made no more than token
reparations to Amerika's internal colonies, and MIM
is outraged that even this tiny bit of progress was
too much for the settlers and their political
representatives to allow. We see the emerging
student struggle in defense of affirmative action
as progressive, but severely limited.
Affirmative action has been part of Amerika's neo-
colonial way of minimizing the threat of national
liberation struggles in Amerikkka's internal
colonies. It allows small numbers of oppressed
nationality individuals to "integrate" more easily
with their national oppressors, while the majority
in the oppressed nations retain more traditional
colonial status.
Real affirmative action requires reparations from
the oppressor nations to the internal and external
colonies and neo-colonies. And that requires that
the imperialist U.S. bourgeois dictatorship be
overthrown through armed revolution and replaced by
a dictatorship of the international proletariat.
The fact that 30 years of reform were wiped away in
one blow demonstrates once again the futility of
the reformist approach to making progressive
change. The bright side of this latest attack on
the oppressed nations is that it will bring new
allies to the side of the international
proletariat. We hope to see - and will gladly
assist - students organizing in such a way as to
raise the cost of the regents' reactionary
decision.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY
JOIN THE STRUGGLE
Dear MIM,
I received the June issue of MIM Notes without
problem, thank you. However, the May issue was
confiscated for review because of articles dealing
with the abuse of prisoners by prison staff. The
Publications Review Board felt that it was
disruptive to the safety & security of the prison,
and sent it to Springfield for their final review.
I still want to continue to receiving MIM Notes - I
have no intention of letting the prison stop me
from reading what I choose to read. They cannot
stop me from reading what I choose to read. They
cannot censor my reading materials simply because
they do not agree with the articles, they have no
basis for denying them.
Please help me with a problem. There are three of
us on the same tier who want to start a study
group, and we think it'd be really beneficial
because we all have different political
philosophies that we can draw upon to help each
other grow. Our only problem seems to be getting
any support from the brothers around us. We can
only do so much as a three-man group. How can we
get the brothers interested in joining our
struggle? It seems that they're more afraid of
having the guards come down on them than they are
concerned about enlightening themselves.
Thanks once again for MIM Notes, and I look
forward to hearing from you.
- an Illinois prisoner, 6/30/95
RMG1 RESPONDS: A study group with only three
people is a great start. Lead by example and maybe
others will follow you. To quote an Indiana
prisoner, "Keep on reaching out to these brothers,
because they are too important to give up on."
ILLINOIS PRISONER PUTS CENSORS AND
BOBBY SEALE IN THEIR PLACE
Dear Comrades,
I received the newsletter and was delighted to
hear from you. Let me assure you that I have tried
to get in touch with you. However, since winning a
grievance against the warden and a mailroom
employee for the state who classified such
material as gang literature, I had not received
anything until what you recently sent.
I believe because I proved to imperialist
representatives sent here from the state capital
that the material in question was neither gang-
related nor racially antagonistic the staff here
are destroying whatever I attempt to send out that
is strongly political and whatever is sent to me.
It is a good thing that you wrote about the film
"Panther" as I knew you would, because Bobby Seale
trashed the film along with the memory of Huey P.
Newton in a television interview with Tom Snyder.
While in typical capitalist fashion he promoted
himself and the upcoming film version of his book
(Seize the Time). [MIM agrees with this prisoner's
assessment of Bobby Seale's current politics, but
the party does like and distributes this book
because it is a good history of the BPP.]
Seale made charges of Newton attempting to break
into the underworld rackets as the basis for him
(Seale) leaving the Black Panther Party in 1974.
When Snyder pointed out the book's coverage of the
Party's history was incomplete, Mr. Barbecue Sauce
replied, "That's why we're working on a sequel."
- an Illinois prisoner, 6/19/96
MASSACHUSETTS PRISONER FIGHTS CENSORSHIP
To: Paul Murphy, Superintendent, Old Colony
Correctional Center
Superintendent:
On May 26, 1995, I received Form 403-8, Contraband
Notification. Apparently the mail officer at OCCC
[Old Colony Correctional. Center] contrabanded an
incoming publication from MIM Distributors,
claiming there was "gang-related" material in this
publication, and failed to follow the regulations
as enumerated in 103 CMR 481.
More specifically, the regulations violated were:
# 103 CMR 481.16(2)(b) which states I will be
given notice that a written appeal can be
submitted
# 103 CMR 481.15(2)(c) which states that it is the
deputy superintendent's decision to exclude a
particular magazine or publication
# 103 CMR 481.15 (1)(a)-(g) states what material
may be excluded and there is no reference to
"gang-related" material. Furthermore, no
definition of "gang-related" material is given
to any prisoner and as 103 CMR 481.15(2)(a)
explicitly states:
No publication can be rejected "solely because its
content is religious, philosophical, political,
social or sexual, or because its content is
unpopular or repugnant."
The absence of the right to appeal notification is
a clear-cut violation. The fact that the deputy
superintendent did not make the decision to
exclude/or contraband the publication is beyond
doubt. [A mail officer rejected it. - MIM]
These regulations are ones that obligate prison
officials and therefore because an obligation has
been violated it is clear that your subordinates
are in need of correction and thus your
intervention is required.
In addition to excluding the publication in
violation of 103 CMR 481, there is no indication
that 103 CMR 481.16(2) was followed in respect to
the publisher. The deputy superintendent must
notify the publisher in accordance with policy.
[MIM was not notified by OCCC - MIM]
Superintendent, without more, the rejection and
contrabanding of the publication is invalid. A
broad-based rejection by the mail officer as to
"gang-related" material is not a "reason."
Additionally, 103 CMR 481.16(4) states that I must
be given the opportunity to "inspect in the
presence of correctional personnel, any
disapproved material for purposes of filing an
appeal." Pursuant to this section I hereby request
to inspect the alleged offending material for the
purpose of filing an appeal.
Where I do not receive any response by June 10,
1995, I will consider the absence of a response a
refusal to answer and proceed with an appeal to
the commissioner's office.
I await your reply and your corrective action.
- a Massachusetts prisoner, 5/27/95
FLORIDA CENSORS MIM NOTES
Request for admissible reading material is denied
at Okaloosa Correctional Institution. Any single
issue of any publication shall be rejected if it
otherwise presents a clear and substantial threat
to the security, order or rehabilitative
objectives of the correctional system or the
safety of any person.
Title: MIM Notes April 1995 99 The official
newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist movement
- Mailroom, Okaloosa Correctional Institution,
3189 Little Silver Rd, Crestview, FL 32536,
4/25/95
MIM ADDS: Readers are encouraged to send letters
of protest to the above address.
KENTUCKY REJECTS MIM NOTES
Notice of rejected mail
After inspection ... this mail has been considered
as unacceptable because of the following
reason(s):
Newspaper rejected that poses a potential threat
to the nature of the security of this correctional
facility.
- Commonwealth of Kentucky, Kentucky State
Penitentiary
MIM ADDS: Both May and June 95 issues of MIM Notes
have been withheld from at least two prisoners at
Kentucky State Penitentiary. Letters of protest
can be sent to: Dot Bacon or H. Mayfield, Mailroom
staff, Kentucky State Penitentiary, PO Box 128,
Eddyville, KY 42038-0128
ALABAMA CENSORS MIM
The William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility
censored the June 1995 issue of MIM Notes. In
response, MIM sent a form letter to the prisoner
whose paper was censored stating that the facility
had censored MIM Notes and listing several
possible actions the prisoner could take such as
writing articles, describing prison conditions,
and suggesting possible solutions. In response to
MIM's letter, MIM received this letter from the
prisoncrats at the William E. Donaldson
Correctional (sic) Facility.
Dear Sir/Madam,
As the attached letter is not conducive to good
prison order, correspondence from your company
will not be allowed into the facility.
Sincerely,
Ray Hightower, Acting Warden/Institutional
Coordinator, 7/14/95
Letters of protest can be sent to: Mr. Hightower,
Acting Warden/Institutional Coordinator, William
E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, 100 Warrior
Lane, Bessemer AL 35023-7299, phone (205) 436-
3681, Fax (205) 436-3399
FEDS THREATEN TO KILL FOR THOUGHT-CRIME
The prisoner who was scheduled to be executed at
the main prison here had gotten a "stay of
execution" for at least sixty days. He was
scheduled to be executed on March 30, 1995. This
would have been the first federal execution since
the 1960s.
It turns our that he received the death penalty
for a conspiracy offense! He was convicted for
conspiracy to take out a "contract" on a federal
witness. It's a capital offense. It really bothers
several of us here that any conspiracy would be a
capital offense, (or that the death penalty exists
at all).
Well, thanks for sending MIM Notes! It's always
thought-provoking.
- a federal prisoner in Indiana, 4/2/95
OREGON CONTINUES TO CENSOR MIM NOTES
In April, Under Lock and Key reported that the
Oregon State Corr. Facility has been rejecting MIM
Notes since December 1994, because it contains
material that, according to the prisoncrats,
threatens or is detrimental to the security, good
order, or discipline of the facility or
facilitates criminal activity. Specifically
targeted was the statement "through armed
struggle" in the "What is MIM?" box on page two of
every MIM Notes which the prisoncrats summed up as
a promotion of armed revolution. On the request of
a prisoner who wanted to receive MIM Notes, MIM
even blacked out sections of the "What is MIM?"
box, but to no avail. Each issue has been rejected
with the same notice.
MIM Notes readers can send letters of protest to:
Mailroom, Oregon State Corr. Institution, 3405
Deer Park Dr., Salem, OR 97310-9385.
POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ORGANIZATIONS UNITE TO
SAVE THE LIFE OF ZIYON YISRAYAH NOW
In Indianapolis, Indiana, the Indianapolis police
department made a pre-dawn raid on the home of
Ajamu Nassor and Ziyon Yisrayah on December 11,
1980. The men and women in the house were asleep
when the police kicked in the door and
indiscriminately started firing and throwing tear
gas inside of the home, leaving Ziyon Yisrayah
wounded and Sgt. Jack Ohrberg of the Indianapolis
Police Department dead.
What concerns us about this case is that it was
determined at the time that Sgt. Ohrberg had been
shot in the back and that the bullet that killed
him did not come from either of the guns within
the house. Most importantly, when this officer was
shot, he had been facing Ajamu and Ziyon. The
evidence is clear that this officer was killed by
someone behind him and only police officers were
in that position. Ajamu Nassor and Ziyon Yisrayah
both received the death sentence for the December
1980 slaying of Police Sgt. Jack Ohrberg.
The prosecutors and Governor Evan Bayh both have
publicly acknowledged and admitted in all the
major newspapers in this state that Officer
Ohrberg was in fact shot in the back and that
neither of the guns found in the house was the
murder weapon.
On December 8, 1994, at 12:13 a.m., the Indiana
Department of Corrections (sic) executed Ajamu
Nassor and pronounced him dead. Ziyon Yisrayah is
now sitting on Death Row fighting for his life and
needs your support. Now is the time that we must
unite and act to save his life! We are asking all
organizations who are campaigning against the
death penalty, the New African Independence
Movement and other movements and organizations
fighting for justice, to act now to save the life
of Ziyon Yisrayah. Mail all letters and petitions
asking for executive clemency to the people and
organizations below.
Ziyon Yisrayah is on Death Row for a crime that
evidence proves he did not commit, and the
prosecutor admits he did not commit. Such
injustice is frightening and massive action is
necessary. This cycle of violence diminishes all
of us, especially our children. Violence is evil
and is unacceptable as a solution to problems. It
goes against the truth of our humanity.
Mail all letters and petitions for executive
clemency to:
President Bill Clinton, The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20500 Phone:
202-456-1111 Fax: 202-456-2461
Governor Evan Bayh, Office of the Governor, The
State House, Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: 317-
232-4567 Fax: 317-232-3443
For More Information contact:
Human Rights Coalition of Indiana, 508 E. Corby
Blvd. South Bend, IN 46601
Brew City Anti-Authoritarian Collective, P.O. Box
93312, Milwaukee, WI 53203
ACT NOW IN SOLIDARITY
FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
ABOLISH THE RACIST DEATH PENALTY
- an Indiana prisoner
HUMAN TORTURE CHAMBER
This place is a human torture chamber. They came
to my cell to get me on Monday the 13th, gave me a
minute to pack my personal stuff, and took me to A
& P to dress me. As I was walking to the Sally
Port to the van, after having been cuffed and
shackled, they allowed the dog to bite me on my
arm. he didn't break skin but it made me very
angry.
In the Sally Port were a bunch of black-gloved,
Nazi-looking Klansmen. They opened the door of the
van, saying real loud, "Inmate, turn your fucking
head. Don't look at me." I immediately took
offense and rebelled. I told him, "Fuck you." He
put his nasty hands over my mouth and reached in
and undid the seat belt. They grabbed me and
snatched me to the ground. They took my gloves
(which I've not seen again). Then one really
nasty-looking Klansman took his knuckles and
applied pressure to the pressure point under my
ear, causing me excruciating pain.
They took me into a room and put me face down on
this dirty, cold concrete floor, told me to stay
there and don't get up, yelling loud all the time.
I immediately got up because I am not used to
being treated like a dog. They told me to lay down
on the floor, I was still handcuffed and shackled,
when I did not comply, they maced me. Then the
"CERT" team rushed me with a shield, banging my
head against the wall, slamming me to the floor.
One was standing on my head, grinding my face into
the concrete.
One had crisscrossed my legs and was trying to
break them. One or two were twisting my wrist. I
thought for sure they would break them. They did
not beat me, but they hurt me in every way they
could within legal limitations. I may as well have
been beat up. I could not see for the whole time.
They took the chains and stuff off me and put more
on me. Putting them on as tight as they could and
I was in constant pain.
They cut the clothes off me and dressed me in
more. They took me to a cell with nothing in it
but a metal bunk. They chained me to the bunk,
face up with my jumpsuit at my ankles. I was left
like that all day. I had to go to the bathroom on
myself and they did not feed me. Today is my third
day here and I've eaten only two meals because I
don't eat meat and they keep serving meat. This
morning they would not feed me because they said
that I wasn't at the door.
They first night they told me that I have to keep
one of the lights on because the nightlight is not
working. I was unable to sleep with the light
shining in my face so I turned it out. They came
by every 15 minutes all night long kicking on the
door yelling "Inmate, turn on your light." I asked
them, why don't they get flashlights. They told me
to speak to the captain about it.
Everything is barked at you, in a degrading boot
kamp way, like you can't hear. They announce on
the loud speaker, "Inmates, if you are going to
eat, stand at your door now!" Then when the food
cart comes by, they bark, "Back up from the door.
Sit on your bed." If you are not sitting on your
bed, they don't feed you. It's sickening. They
feed you very little, so you are always hungry and
cold. You are constantly aware of being cold and
hungry. I am sitting here shivering.
- a Massachusetts prisoner, 5/16/95
TEXAS PRISON LABOR UNION FORMS
All prisoners inside the Texas Kamps should be
informed of the founding of the Texas Prison Labor
Union. The union is in its ground level state of
organizing. The official charter is presently
being drafted and filed.
- two Texas prisoners, 6/15/95
PRISONERS REBEL AGAINST ANTI-PRISONER LEGISLATION
Dear Comrades,
I write to you about a riot that happened here
early last night. I don't know all the details
about it but I thought it might be of interest to
the readers of MIM Notes.
Eight or nine people tied doors shut and broke
broom handles and literally destroyed the pod. For
people who are unaware as to how the units are
arranged, there are three pods to a unit, each
with three tiers in a U shape. All pods separate
to keep people from going from pod to pod.
Prisoners here at Clallam Bay Corrections Center
are on edge by the new Republican party. The
Republicans are set out to keep us from working
our bodies up, taking vitamins and keeping
ourselves in shape. They also want to charge us
for medical visits. The legislature passed a bill
entitled the Hargrove bill, which lets them take
anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of any money made
or sent in from our families. For many, this is a
great amount of money extracted from their pay.
These are some of the many reasons why this riot
may have happened. Like I said I don't know all
the facts since the police here won't give up much
info, and the news will get what the state wants
them to know.
- a Washington state prisoner, 4/17/95
WESTVILLE WARDEN DEMOTED;
PRISONERS SAY "GOOD RIDDANCE!"
Greetings,
For four years the Uncle Tom Warden Charles E.
Wright asserted his dictatorship at the Maximum
Control Complex (MCC) in Westville. He bragged
about his control and got off on the physical and
psychological torture of the prisoners an this
genocidal tomb. He called prisoners young punks,
and stole mail. He ordered prisoners to be chained
to their beds, and dehumanized them with masks.
This sick coward was truly a psychopath, he ranted
and raved like a dog in heat, but never thought
about being beat. He even had the nerve to tell a
prisoner he didn't believe fat meat was greasy,
but he believes it now. That's why Charley is no
longer the warden at MCC. His expiration date was
on 4/21/95. Instead of being demoted to assistant
administrator at the Westville work release,
Wright should have been demoted to "hell" for his
horrendous crimes against humanity!
Please do continue sending me MIM Notes and keep
me on your mailing list.
- an Indiana prisoner, 4/25/95
DISCUSS, ORGANIZE AND AGITATE
This is being directed at brothers, to let them
know that we continue to resist at MCC (Maximum
Control Complex), no matter how oppressive our
conditions. We continue to discuss, organize and
agitate against the U.S. government. As of
February 2, 1995, brothers have been placed on
punitive quarantine status without probable cause
other than pick and choose. This started about a
TB (tuberculosis) shot which the majority refuse
because of religious reasons. Others refuse the
shot because guards say the shot is mandatory,
which it's not. We continue to resist even though
we know they may obtain a court order forcing us
to receive the TB shot. We have discussed this
point too and stand ready to resist.
Standing strong,
- A Indiana prisoner, 4/495
PRISON BRIEFS
Double-celling is proceeding apace. Some of us
political prisoners are forced to work in Unicor
[a company which contracts with the prisons to use
prisoner labor - ed.]. A comrade was framed
recently.
- a Kansas prisoner, 5/1/95
I was in Vietnam, captured as a POW and received
better treatment than that which is now being
afforded to me here.
- a Colorado Prisoner, 7/17/95
The blowers are being turned on in our cells,
causing the temperature to drop to around 40
degrees. This started about a month ago. For the
first week the blowers remained on 24 hours
straight. Since then they are turned on at 7 a.m.
and shut off at 4 p.m. The reason: an alleged high
level of carbon monoxide.
- a Maryland prisoner, 4/3/95
The beatings still go on. Isolation cells are
still being used, although I hear that both the
"pink-room" and the "cadre area" isolation cells
are no longer to be used due to a government
investigation, but if so, it hasn't started yet.
The physical and psychological torture is applied
constantly and the blowers I mentioned are still
in effect.
- a Maryland prisoner 5/7/95
Texas no longer feeds its captives beef. Yeah
they've got a new flavor, "VitaPro" (soybean).
They are actually feeding us animal food. That and
pork (forced vegetarianism). Despite the fact that
the system raises and slaughters thousands of cows
and pigs a week. Obviously being sold for private
profit.
- a Texas prisoner, 6/2/95
MIM Notes is not copyrighted. Please credit MIM
when redistributing or referring to this material.
Subscriptions are $12/year (12 issues), U.S. mail
or e-mail. Send cash, stamps or check made out to
"MIM Distributors."
Write: MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI
48106-3576. E-mail: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.
![[About]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_about.gif)
![[Contact]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_contact.gif)
![[Home]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_home.gif)
![[Art]](/archive/etext/gifs/art.jpg)
![[Movies]](/archive/etext/gifs/movies.gif)
![[Black Panthers]](/archive/etext/gifs/blackpanther.gif)
![[News]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_hotnews.gif)
![[RAIL]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_rail.gif)