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.
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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 124 OCTOBER 15, 1996
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.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. THE PEOPLE FIND NEW BRUNSWICK PIGS GUILTY OF
MURDER
2. CIA IMPLEMENTS STRATEGIC NATIONAL OPPRESSION
3. MASSES OPPOSE CIA NARCO-GENOCIDE OPERATIONS
4. LETTERS TO MIM
5. SHAM PEACE PROCESS EXPOSED AS ISRAEL OPENS FIRE
ON PALESTINIANS
6. CHINA'S CAPITALIST-ROADERS DANCE WITH AMERIKAN
IMPERIALISTS: LEGACY OF THE COUNTER-
REVOLUTIONARY COUP
7. UNITY OF AMERIKA WITH ITS ARISTOCRACIES:
NO MORE IMMIGRANTS
8. OBITUARY: TUPAC SHAKUR
9. FIRST NATIONS DON'T NEED WHITE NATION COPS
10. IMPERIALISM = SICKNESS, HUNGER, AND DEATH
11. RADICAL VICTORY AS HAWAIIANS SIT OUT BOGUS VOTE
12. INDIGENOUS SELF-DETERMINATION'S A YEAR-ROUND
STRUGGLE
13. EVIL TWIN CANDIDATES FOR MASS. SENATE STAGE
DEBATE
14. NATION OF ISLAM PUSHES METAPHYSICS, CRYPTO-
PACIFISM
15. ORGANIZE AGAINST IMPERIALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES
16. UNABOMBER FOR PRESIDENT? REVIEW OF ANARCHIST
NONSENSE
17. AMERIKAN CULTURE: DOLLHOUSE, BOUND, TUSKEGEE
AIRMEN
18. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND
PRISONS
* * *
WHAT IS MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a
revolutionary communist party that upholds Marxism-
Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection of
existing or emerging Maoist internationalist
parties in the English-speaking imperialist
countries and their English-speaking internal semi-
colonies, as well as the existing or emerging
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties of
Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the
U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM.
Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.
MIM is an internationalist organization that works
from the vantage point of the Third World
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans,
but world citizens.
MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups
over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM
knows this is only possible by building public
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.
Revolution is a reality for North America as the
military becomes over-extended in the government's
attempts to maintain world hegemony.
MIM differs from other communist parties on three
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution,
the potential exists for capitalist restoration
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in
this country.
MIM accepts people as members who agree on these
basic principles and accept democratic centralism,
the system of majority rule, on other questions of
party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is
universally applicable. We should regard it not as
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is not
merely a matter of learning terms and phrases, but
of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208
* * *
THE PEOPLE FIND NEW BRUNSWICK PIGS GUILTY OF MURDER
by a RAIL comrade
On September 10th, a racist street-gang calling
itself the New Brunswick Police Department added
yet another victim to its list. Pig James Consalvo
fatally shot Carolyn Adams as she allegedly
resisted arrest. According to tough-guy Consalvo,
she bit him in the hand so hard he "felt faint from
the pain", so he shot her. Adams is but the latest
in an ongoing trend of brutality and oppression of
the residents of New Brunswick.
The greedy capitalists in charge of Johnson &
Johnson and Rutgers University have been
systematically forcing the predominantly poor year-
round residents into ghettos in an effort to hide
the brutal truth that New Brunswick is not just a
"nice old college town". It is sickeningly clear
where the dividing line between the college section
and the residential section is: one is nice and
brightly lit and (aside from drunken frat boys)
safe -- while the other is dark, poorly maintained
and is effectively under marshall law at night.
Overnight, hundreds of flyers were distributed
advertising two marches and rallies demanding
punishment for the murderers of Carolyn Adams. The
flyers were distributed by an organization called
the New Brunswick Coalition Against Police
Brutality (NBCAPB) -- a primarily non-revolutionary
organization doing progressive work against pig
oppression.
RAIL worked to build awareness of this injustice
and activism around this issue within our own
communities. Hundreds of people turned out -- and
this time the pigs were nervous. This was the
masses turning out in anger to mourn one of their
own and to put the pigs on notice that their
oppressive actions will no longer be tolerated.
Chief pig Michael Baltrenena downplayed the murder
by publicizing her past as a prostitute. This was
an attempt for the agents of repression to wiggle
out of responsibility for murdering this womyn. The
piggy wiggling only shows further that the cops do
not value the lives of wimmin struggling on the
streets. The pigs' plan backfired when support for
her grew and the masses continued to protest
against the murderous pig.
The next tactic Baltrenena tried was to single out
progressive elements of the NBCAPB, such as Unity &
Struggle and Black N.I.A. Force as "outside
agitators" with their own hidden agendas. This too,
did not work, and the second rally was larger than
the first.
Finally, the pigs/big business/collaborators
decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." They
announced their own rally, conveniently excluding
the NBCAPB as an official sponsor. Speakers at this
rally urged everyone to vote -- as if that would
change anything on the streets. This was a far cry
from the calls for community organizing and justice
heard at the other rallies.
RAIL is committed to not letting the memory of
Carolyn Adams die -- we are organizing a massive
educational campaign. This campaign is focusing on
both community organizing and the New Brunswick
pigs' history of racism. As the flyer we made
states: we are placing the NBPD on notice that we
will be watching and we WILL smash their racist
oppression! Work with MIM and RAIL to expose pig
tactics and put an end to national oppression and
police brutality.
* * *
CIA IMPLEMENTS STRATEGIC NATIONAL OPPRESSION
by MC17
In late August, the San Jose Mercury News ran a
series of stories exposing the history of the links
between the CIA, drug sales and the guns purchased
for the Nicaraguan Contras. High-ranking leaders of
the CIA's counterrevolutionary proxy army were the
source of cocaine for Amerikkka's largest crack
dealership and these leaders avoided arrest due to
protection from the CIA.
Though this is old news, the coverage has brought
enough publicity to the case to embarrass the
government into pretending to investigate. The
Justice Department, the House of Representatives
and the CIA are now running to cover their
imperialist tails with a facade of independent
investigations into the situation.
Back in 1988, PBS produced a documentary called
Guns, Drugs and the CIA which covers the history of
this same California-Nicaragua-CIA connection.(1)
The Mercury News stories provided more current
information from recently declassified documents.
Throughout the 1980s, a San Francisco Area drug
ring sold tons of cocaine to the street gangs of
South-Central Los Angeles. Millions in drug profits
were then funneled to the Contras.
Two Nicaraguan cocaine dealers, Danilo Blandon and
Norwin Meneses, were leaders of the anti-communist
commando group, the Nicaraguan Democratic
Force(FDN), which was the Contra army formed and
run by the CIA. The Contras were at war with
Nicaragua's popular Sandinista government who came
to power after overthrowing the U.S.-backed
dictator Somoza. These dealers were untouched by
the DEA and police for years while they were
dealing with and for the CIA.
During the early 1980s, federal and local narcotics
agents knew that a massive drug ring operated by
Nicaraguan Contras was selling large amounts of
cocaine "mainly to blacks living in the South-
Central Los Angeles area," according to a search-
warrant affidavit obtained by the Mercury News. The
October 23, 1986 affidavit identifies Blandon as
"the highest-ranking member of this organization"
and describes a sprawling drug operation. The
affidavit of Thomas Gordon, a former Los Angeles
County sheriff's narcotics detective, is the first
independent corroboration that the Contra army was
dealing cocaine to gangs in Los Angeles' Black
neighborhoods.
IMPERIALISTS ATTACK INNER CITIES WITH DRUGS
The drug network was the first pipeline between
Colombian cocaine cartels and urban Amerika. It
provided money to buy weapons for the Nicaraguan
Contras and provided cash for L.A.'s gangs to buy
automatic weapons. This drug network added fuel to
the fire of inner city youth killing one another:
with drugs and with guns.
Blandon is now an undercover informant for the DEA.
He recently admitted in court that his biggest
customer was "Freeway" Rick Ross, a South-Central
dealer who exploded the market in poor communities,
starting in L.A. and moving across the country, by
dealing in cheap crack and targeting gangs like the
Crips and Bloods.
According to White House records, President Reagan
gave the CIA authorization to begin covert
paramilitary operations against the Sandinista
government on December 1, 1981, giving them $19.9
million to spend. But this was far too little to
challenge the Sandinistas. Shortly after this
order, Meneses and Blandon started raising money
for the Contras through their quickly expanding
drug trade.
"There is a saying that the ends justify the
means," Blandon testified during a recent cocaine
trafficking trial in San Diego. "And that's what
Mr. Bermudez (the CIA agent who commanded the FDN)
told us in Honduras, OK? So we started raising
money for the Contra revolution."
Blandon testified at this trial as a full-time
informant for the DEA -- a job he was given after
the U.S. Department of Justice got him out of
prison in 1994. He was in prison for drug
trafficking charges that would have put him away
for life but the Justice Department let him out
after 28 months and since his release they have
paid him more than $166,000.
INVESTIGATIONS FOILED AT EVERY TURN
In 1992, Norwin Menses was put on trial for cocaine
trafficking after he was arrested in Nicaragua with
a 750-kilo shipment of cocaine. The main witness
against Meneses was Enrique Miranda, a relative and
former Nicaraguan military intelligence officer who
had been Meneses' emissary to the cocain cartel in
Columbia.
Miranda got a reduced sentence in exchange for his
testimony against Meneses. Miranda exposed much of
the history of this drug operation in a written
statement. This statement helped get Meneses a 30
year sentence, but leading the charmed life of a
CIA drug dealer, he too was scheduled to be paroled
this summer.
Miranda was being held in a Nicaraguan jail since
1992 where the Mercury News sent a correspondent to
interview him. The correspondent arrived to find
that Miranda had "failed to return" to the
Nicaraguan jail while out on a routine weekend
furlough. His jailers didn't call the police until
the Mercury News correspondent showed up and
discovered he was gone about a year ago.
In a similar act of disappearing evidence, Sandra
Smith, a San Francisco DEA agent uncovered evidence
of the link between cocaine and the CIA-backed
Contras in 1981. She was investigating Meneses drug
connections and the rumors that he was sending
weapons down to Central America.
Smith was taken off the case and the investigation
was terminated shortly after she started making
progress. She was instead sent off to investigate
motorcycle gangs in Oakland. When she finally left
the DEA in 1984 she offered her files on this CIA-
contras-cocaine connection to her superiors but
they were not interested.
DISPROPORTIONATE SENTENCING WINS CIA VICTORY IN WAR
AGAINST BLACKS
This story illustrates how the CIA uses whatever
means it wants to raise money for whichever cause
it supports and that CIA operatives will be
protected from prosecution. The beauty (in the eyes
of the Amerikan government) of this cocaine for
guns operation was the effect it had on the inner
cities in Amerika. Already hit hardest by poverty,
health problems, and unemployment, the inner city
population, mostly oppressed nations, have borne
the brunt of the funding for the Nicaraguan
Contras.
Already the target of police lockdown and
oppression in every aspect of the system, the
government introduced crack and effectively
practiced genocide on oppressed nations in Amerika.
Deaths from using crack were just the beginning as
this drug also afforded gangs with money to buy
weapons to use to kill one another in drug fueled
violence. And then the government escalated the
"War on Drugs" by setting the sentencing for crack
at 100 times the sentence for powder cocaine.
Recently, the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- a panel
of experts created by Congress to be its unbiased
adviser in these matters -- tried and failed to
find a good reason to explain why powder dealers
must sell 100 times more cocaine before they get
the same mandatory sentence as crack dealers. The
"absence of comprehensive data substantiating this
legislative policy is troublesome," it reported
last year. In May 1995, the Commission recommended
that the cocaine sentencing laws be equalized
saying that the disparity is "a primary cause of
the growing disparity between sentences for black
and white federal defendants." But Congress voted
last year to keep the laws the same and on October
30th President Clinton signed the bill.
OVERTHROW THE CIA IMPERIALIST DRUG LORDS
U.S. government complicity in narcotizing millions
-- principally people of the oppressed nations --
then jailing hundreds of thousands of the drug
ring's victims and lesser partners, is reason
enough for U.S. imperialism to be overthrown. A
socialist system -- one which by definition puts
the people's interests firsts, instead of putting
profits first -- will not tolerate the drug market,
and will not cause the great alienation and despair
from which so many turn to drugs in North Amerika
today.
NOTES:
1. MIM recommends this video to anyone looking to
publicize the story. It is available for rental
from the American Friends Service Committee (who
will mail it to you in any city) and probably also
from PBS. AFSC can be reached at 617-497-5275.
2. All sources for this article came from the 3-
part San Jose Mercury News series by Gary Webbwhich
ran August 18-20, 1996. This series can be found
with sidebars and documentary evidence at
http://www.sjmercury.com/drugs.
* * *
MASSES OPPOSE CIA NARCO-GENOCIDE OPERATIONS
***The San Jose Mercury News investigation of the
CIA/Crack/Contra connection continues to uncover
new facts daily. Every new piece of information
about the government selling crack to the inner
cities to buy guns for the Contras enrages the
masses even more. The Mercury News has done a great
job investigating and publicizing this story and
they have also covered many of the protests spurred
by their stories.***
On September 29th, a Nation of Islam lawyer
announced plans to file a class action lawsuit
against the government on the grounds that the CIA
deliberately introduced crack into black
communities. "You can go to jail for conspiracy.
But this is not just a conspiracy theory -- this is
reality," lawyer Arif Muhammad told delegates to
the National African-American Leadership Summit.
Muhammad urged Blacks to make lists of people who
had been adversely affected by crack cocaine. While
class action lawsuits against the government are
not winnable in the white man's courts, this could
be a very useful tool to expose Amerikan
imperialism.
In Virginia, an activist was arrested for roping
off CIA headquarters with police tape to mark it as
a crime scene. "There is evidence inside those
buildings that confirms that the CIA helped to
destroy black folks," Dick Gregory said in a speech
in San Francisco where he announced that he will
continue to rope off the CIA headquarters weekly
until they answer to these charges. He has also
vowed not to eat solid food until an investigation
is conducted into the CIA activities. "We're not
going to let this rest," he told the crowd. "A
whole lot of people are going to jail after we're
through."
While MIM agrees with the sentiments of activists
opposing the CIA, sending a handful of people in
the CIA to jail will not eradicate the national
oppression of Amerika's internal colonies. For
justice to be done in this case and generally,
revolution is necessary. The imperialists'
injustice system will never arrest enough of their
own to stop their narco-genocide operations. Only
the people can stop imperialist oppression, and
only when the people have organized themselves to
the point where they have the three key weapons: a
revolutionary party, an army, and a united front.
MIM does not lead an army yet, but we look forward
to the day when the CIA druglords will be subjected
to the people's justice.
Meanwhile the imperialists continue to create the
facade that they will clean up the CIA. On
September 26th, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
provided a list of questions stemming from the
Mercury News series to U.S. Department of Justice
Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich. This so-
called progressive senator is just helping disguise
the contradictions within imperialism and cover the
oppressive tactics used to benefit the United
$tates of Amerika. We cannot be fooled by their
half-hearted attempt to look self-critical. Members
of oppressed nations who have died in inner cities
from the deluge of crack and guns from the CIA and
from the pigs' war on crack financed the contra war
with their lives. The masses will not forget this
history as the imperialists scamper to cover their
butts.
Larger protests have also been held in response to
this expose. On September 28, over 2,000 South-
Central residents attended a rally in Los Angeles
condemning the CIA's role in the crack epidemic. In
another attempt to distance the Amerikan government
from the CIA scandal, a Democratic representative
in Los Angeles, Maxine Waters, attended the rally
co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus,
stating that "People in high places, knowing about
it, winking, blinking, and in South-Central Los
Angeles, our children were dying." Further
prettying the face of the government and the CIA,
in response to a request by Black congressional
leaders, the CIA has promised an independent
investigation of the allegations.
MIM will continue to publicize stories like this
one linking the CIA to drugs and gun running. But
we understand that this story is only new and
unusual in the sense that it is unusual for so much
damaging information to become public at once.
People who are familiar with the respective
histories of the CIA, imperialism, and domestic
colonialism should not be surprised to learn of a
link between the imperialist CIA and chemical
warfare (narco-genocide) against the Black nation.
We continue to educate people about the truth of
Amerikan imperialism while organizing people to
oppose this imperialist system in the only
effective way possible: through Maoist revolution.
NOTE: All sources for this article came from the 3-
part San Jose Mercury News series by Gary Webbwhich
ran August 18-20, 1996. This series can be found
with sidebars and documentary evidence at
http://www.sjmercury.com/drugs.
* * *
LETTERS TO MIM
"DON'T VOTE" MOTTO GOES HOW FAR?
Dear MIM:I would like to address briefly an issue
which in an election year is of some importance. I
understand and agree with MIM's position against
voting for bourgeois candidates at either the local
or national level. The practice of the CPUSA of
repeatedly endorsing Democrats is one of several
factors that drove me away from that party. Thanks
to a recent article in MIM Notes, I also understand
MIM's opposition to voting for Ralph Nader or
Monica Moorehad or other alternative candidates.
There is, however, another form of voting that MIM
has not addressed (at least not recently).
In some states (Arizona and California among
others), initiative and referendum petitions are
allowed. That is, with a certain number of valid
signatures, new laws can be placed on the ballot
for the voters to decide, instead of the
legislature (initiative petitions) or laws that
have been passed by the legislature can be placed
before the voters for review (referendum
petitions).
In many cases these laws have a bearing on working-
class people. For example, in the 1988 general
election in Arizona, there was an initiative
petition sponsoring English Only to make English
the official language of the state and ban use of
other languages by state officials conducting
official business. I considered that if this
passed, it would cause undue hardship on the
Chicano people and other non-English speaking
oppressed nationalities in Arizona, so I went to
the polls and voted against it. In the end the
measure won, but by a fairly narrow margin (52% to
48% if I recall correctly). The narrow margin
suggests that this was a winnable struggle--that if
more of the oppressed nationalities had gone to the
polls, things might have ended differently. What is
MIM's line on initiative and referendum petition
voting? Was I in error to have voted on this
measure?
--Arizona Voter
September 2, 1996
MIM REPLIES: The people who voted against the
English-only laws or abstained are the progressive
people we look to. Though we would not propose a
ballot question, we would not rule out voting
referendum style if a truly progressive option were
available and had a chance of winning. If that
sounds a little wishy-washy, it is because ballot
initiatives are generally stacked against us, and
we would have to analyze an exceptional case to see
if it is worth prioritizing.
Generally, the possibilities of progressive
outcomes from such initiatives are small for two
reasons. First, the imperialists dominate the
media. According to a liberal, reformist group that
focuses on money in politics, CPPAX, it takes at
least a million dollars to win a ballot question.
That is not an average, but a minimum requirement
for a decent shot. On one initiative in Maine in
1994 to limit campaign spending, the opposition
spent $7 million on television ads (and they won).
Hence, we have to build up our own media or find
other ways to offset millions of dollars of
imperialist media coverage or we can't expect to
win.
This first aspect shows that the people vote
without much choice and their minds stupefied by
imperialist media. This will be the case until we
reach the stage of armed struggle when people who
have progressive interests will start to choose
political stands without so many fears of
repression.
However, we also need to look critically at the
mass base of any vote we try to win in an
imperialist state. MIM places its focus on the
international proletariat, recognizing that a solid
majority of Amerikans are bought-off. Very local
initiatives have a better shot because those with
progressive interests -- a minority in the U$A --
might be concentrated there. Since we have no
delusions that the Amerikan masses are going to
burst forth with progressive measures before the
international proletariat compels them to, we
normally aim for a majority of the world population
and not a given state.
A-APRP RESPONDS TO MIM'S ANALYSIS OF IT
MIM,
"It is wrong to believe that one culture possesses
alone all the moral, spiritual, social, or
intellectual values which exist. To believe that
truth only exists in ones own racial or cultural
milieu is utopian. Human discoveries, intellectual
powers and the development of knowledge aren't
restricted to anyone in particular. They are the
result of a chain of universal discoveries...and
developments..."
--Ahmet Seku Ture
It is incorrect to say that the All-African
People's Revolutionary Party "upholds a pseudo-
socialist ideology (MIM Notes 118 July 15. 1996).
What is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism? It speaks to
working people's conditions as seen by Marx, Lenin
(Euros) and Chairman Mao (Asian).
African people are survivors of colonialism and
chattel slavery. Along with class exploits people
of color must deal with white supremacy and racism.
Nkrumahist-Tureist Pan-Africanism in short is the
ideology necessary for African people to deal with
the conditions unique to African people.
Africa began civilization. Present in that
civilization was communalism, which communism is
based on. We are happy to see people embrace these
ideasto fit the cultural contexts of every land
mass and people world wide.
We are scientific socialists. We are comrades in
the worldwide struggle to end exploitation of one
person by another person. Ready for the Revolution.
-- Party Militant, August, 1996
MIM REPLIES: This letter denies the universal
aspects of Maoism: the necessity of revolutionary
armed struggle, the theory of Protracted People's
War in semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries, and
the continuation of class struggle under socialism.
This only corroborates MIM's assessment of the A-
APRP in MIM Notes 118, which criticized the A-APRP
for cheerleading for all sorts of revisionist and
non-revolutionary movements, such as the state-
capitalist regimes in the USSR and Cuba and Yasser
Arafat's PLO.(1)
Revolutionary anti-imperialist movements which do
not fully understand the necessity of armed
struggle run the risk of capitulating to the enemy
like the PLO or FMLN. National liberation movements
which do not understand the necessity of continuous
revolution and the development of socialism run the
risk of becoming neocolonies (this is a
particularly pressing question in the case of
Eritrea.)
Socialist movements which do not understand that
class struggle continues under socialism run the
risk of capitalist restoration, which can lead to
state capitalism (as in the USSR and China) or neo-
colonial domination (as in the case of Cuba during
the 70s and 80s).(2)
But the letter goes even further than just denying
the correctness of Maoism; it implies that because
Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin were european and
Mao was Chinese, they have nothing to say to Black
revolutionaries, African revolutionaries, Mohawk
revolutionaries, or Mexican revolutionaries. This
is an unscientific standpoint which judges what is
said by who is saying it. The hydrogen atom has one
electron, regardless of whether Margaret Thatcher
or Kwame Nkrumah says so. The science of revolution
demands that we investigate the content of what is
said and test it against reality before accepting
or rejecting it -- we cannot afford the luxury of
making ad hominum arguments. The letter's flippant
dismissal of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as the narrow
view of a few individuals is a sign of laziness and
lack of investigation.
For one thing, Mao himself went to great lengths to
explain that the universal aspects of theory have
to be creatively applied to concrete reality of
every society, e.g. it wouldn't do just to copy the
Bolsheviks tactics in the Chinese countryside. MIM
has written extensively about this, and reprints an
anti-dogmatist quote from Mao on page two of every
MIM Notes.
Furthermore: the proof of the pudding is in the
eating. Marxist-Leninists and Maoists led the two
most successful struggles for socialism the world
has seen so far and at one point led more than one-
third of all the people on the planet towards
communism. The experience of the Chinese revolution
alone encompassed several nationalities and many
different concrete situations, from land reform and
guerrilla warfare in the countryside to strikes and
rebellion in the cities.
Revolutionaries in India, Azania, Vietnam, Eritrea,
Turkey, Peru, and the Philippines have studied and
used Mao Zedong's theories to lead successful anti-
imperialist struggles. The combined practice and
thought of these revolutionaries from many
societies assure that Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is
indeed not the property of one "racial" or cultural
milieu (that is, cultural atmosphere).
MIM has more unity with the Ture quote at the
beginning of the letter than with the letter
writer. Ture recognizes that scientific truth
exists, and encourages people to learn from other
cultures in order to master it. The letter writer
turns Ture on his head and essentially argues that
African revolutionaries cannot learn from "euros"
or "Asians."
NOTES:
1. "African Liberation Day 1995" pamphlet,
published by the A-APRP.
2. See MIM Theory #4 for a review of how Soviet
social imperialism came to dominate Cuba and see
MIM Theory #10 for an essay describing how the
Soviet social imperialists used the Cuban military
as a tool to strengthen their control of Angola.
* * *
SHAM PEACE PROCESS EXPOSED AS ISRAEL OPENS FIRE ON
PALESTINIANS
by MC12
September 30 -- Palestinian national rage exploded
at the end of September, as the Israeli government
added aggressive insult to neo-colonial injury. In
two days of violent clashes that followed the
Israelis' opening of the Western Wall Tunnel on
September 23rd, 76 Palestinians and 14 Israelis
were killed -- most of the Palestinians were
civilians and the most Israelis were soldiers.
Another 1,100 Palestinians and 62 Israelis were
injured.(1)
The Israelis' aggression in opening the tunnel, and
their extreme military reaction to the protests
that followed, revealed the true bankruptcy of the
"peace" process through which Israel and Amerika
have hoped to pacify Palestinian national
ambitions.
Israel moved all over so-called "Palestinian
autonomous" territory, using tanks and helicopters
among other heavy weapons. By September 29th, they
completely sealed off all West Bank towns, blocking
even medical supplies and doctors from entering.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers were placed at
all entrances to West Bank villages and the Gaza
Strip, and Israeli sharp shooters were positioned
at 'tense points' in the territories.(1) After the
clampdown, the Israeli military issued an order
banning all journalists from entering Palestinian
areas.(2) So much for "autonomy."
The violence began when Israeli soldiers attacked
protesters opposed to the opening of the tunnel,
which runs alongside the third-most holy Islamic
site, Haram al-Sharif. At the first protest, eight
people were hospitalized, including the Minister of
Religious Affairs for the Palestinian National
Authority. Palestinian students were among the
leaders of the protests. In Ramallah, about one-
third of those treated at the hospital were
students from Birziet University. Other students
protesting were from Bethlehem University.(1)
ISRAEL BRUTALLY ATTACKS PALESTINIANS
On September 25th, Israeli soldiers entered
supposedly Palestinian-controlled territory in
pursuit of demonstrators and Palestinian Authority
(PA) police, firing live ammunition. In Jerusalem,
injured Palestinians included the PA finance
minister, the minister of religious affairs, and
council members. On September 26th, PA President
Yasser Arafat said publicly that PA police should
only fire in self-defense or to protect
civilians.(1)
And there was a lot of defending to do. In
Ramallah, where PA police fired on Israeli troops,
Israel launched helicopter raids into PA territory.
Helicopters fired machine guns into crowds of
demonstrators and onlookers. That afternoon, Israel
sent tanks and armored cars. By that point PA
police started trying to hold back demonstrators in
an apparent attempt to limit their casualties.(1)
In the attacks, the director of the Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi, was shot three times by Israeli snipers
while administering first aid.(1) Two international
medical relief agencies, Doctors of the World and
Medicins du Monde-Suisse, accused the Zionists'
army of attacking and harassing its medical
personnel.(3) In Jeruslaem, a Palestine Human
Rights Information Committee employee was clubbed
and suffered a fractured elbow as he was
transporting a critically injured person on a
stretcher to a waiting ambulance.(4) PA Executive
Committee member Faisal Husseini was also clubbed
and hospitalized in intensive care. Israeli
soldiers fired on a Palestinian Broadcasting Corp.
car, which overturned causing three injuries.(1)
In Gaza, PA police fired on Israeli soldiers who
were trying to enter the supposedly autonomous
area, and Israeli helicopters fired at civilians
apparently at random.(1)
PROTESTS SPREAD AGAINST ISRAELI AGGRESSION
More than 500 Christians also protested the opening
of the tunnel, but Israeli police kept Palestinian
protesters from joining them.(5) Students in Cairo,
Egypt and Amman, Jordan, held large protests in
solidarity with the Palestinian protesters.(3)
Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in refugee
camps across Lebanon to protest the killing of
Palestinians.(6) In Gaza City about 5,000 high
school students chanted "Death to the criminal
[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu," and burned an
Israeli flag.(7)
While the demonstrations were aimed at Israel and
its aggression, MIM was glad to see the comment
from the Khartoum-based Popular Arab and Islamic
Conference, which said: "The United States bears
the biggest blame and responsibility because, if
not for its political and military backing and its
strategic pact, Israel would not have perpetrated
the massacres."(3) MIM has long argued that without
imperialist backing Zionism would be a much less
harmful movement.
Israeli government officials blamed all the
violence on Palestinian incitement. Arafat called
for demonstrations and a strike in response to the
tunnel opening, but it's clear the Israeli
government was itching for a fight, which they knew
the tunnel opening would provoke. The government
tried to use the violence as evidence that
Palestinians are to blame for the collapse of the
"peace" process, as the Mayor of Jerusalem told
Nightline that "they [Palestinians] have to stop
shooting innocent people" before negotiations could
resume.(8) That matched the comment of Occupation
commander Maj.-Gen. Uzi Dayan, who said, "We are
doing our utmost to restore calm to the area."(7)
Those comments were at stark odds with the facts,
even as reported by one Washington Post reporter in
Gaza: "With no warning and in the absence of any
apparent threat from the young men gathered in a
sandy alley -- without visible weapons of
involvement in the exchange of gunfire -- the
[Israeli] helicopter opened fire ... a young man
several feet away clutched his forehead with both
hand and fell to his knees, his face a mask of
crimson."(9)
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
Under Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization,
the PA has been trying to establish real
neocolonialism in Israel's occupied territories.
But now even the slim trappings of symbolic "self"-
rule are exposed as a sham. To their credit, PA
police stood up for Palestinians against the
Israelis in many incidents, and they seem to have
won some prestige from that effort. But the
futility of a "peace" process that has required
almost total Palestinian surrender was made clear
for all to see. Nothing made this more clear than
word that Arafat would crawl to Washington to talk
"peace" even as Israel extended its military
occupation to its highest levels in decades,
affecting a complete closure under martial law and
restricting all movement.
President Clinton called for a top-level meeting to
get the "peace" process back on track. Some
Palestinian leaders claim to believe the process
will lead to an independent Palestinian state,
which has never appeared likely. But even if it
did, a state born out of compromise from a position
of weakness -- and under the direction of Amerikan
imperialism and the agents of the international
banking agencies -- would offer not national
liberation but the continuation of colonial
domination in only slightly altered form.
These incidents have shown the continued
Palestinian determination to achieve national
liberation, even as they exposed the sham of their
neocolonial leaders' efforts on their behalf.
NOTES:
1. Hanan Elmasu (Asst. Director, Birzeit University
Continuing Education Department), "Overview of the
Developments, Wednesday 25th - Sunday 29th
September 1996." (See http://www.birziet.edu)
2. Alternative Information Center press release,
Sept. 30, 1996. (See http://www.aic.org)
3. Al Akhbar Muslim World News, Sept. 29, 1996.
(See http://www.iap.org)
4. Palestine Human Rights Information Committee
"Appeal," Sept. 27, 1996.
5. Al Akhbar Muslim World News, Sept. 30, 1996.
(See http://www.iap.org)
6. Al Akhbar Muslim World News, Sept. 28, 1996.
(See http://www.iap.org)
7. Jerusalem Post, Sept. 27, 1996.
8. ABC News Nightline Sept. 26, 1996.
9. Washington Post, Sept. 28, 1996, p. A1.
* * *
CHINA'S CAPITALIST-ROADERS DANCE WITH AMERIKAN
IMPERIALISTS:
LEGACY OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY COUP
by MC45
On the 20-year anniversary of the counter-
revolutionary coup which installed the revisionist
government still in power in China today, MIM Notes
recalls the nature of and the reasons for this coup
and takes a brief look at evidence of and effects
of this coup in China in October 1996.
News about China in the past month has centered on
meetings between representatives of the Chinese
foreign ministry and the Amerikan state department.
China's Vice-Premier Qian Qichen has been having
frequent meetings with Amerikan Secretary of State
Warren Christopher, in search of an agreement with
the United Snakes that will include renewing
China's Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status with
the United Snakes.(1) To win MFN status from
Amerika, China has to conduct talks with Amerikan
officials and submit to Amerikan scrutiny of
internal Chinese policies.
The Amerikan agenda with China in these talks
includes three main demands: that China release
political prisoners; give non-Chinese officials
access to China's prisons and improve conditions in
Tibet.(1) The United Snakes has also accused China
of exporting nuclear weapons to Pakistan, in
violation of non-nuclear proliferation agreements.
The Chinese Foreign Minister denied publicly that
China had supplied missiles to Pakistan.(1) Qian
also said that the issue of Chinese aid to Pakistan
was resolved.(2)
MIM does not support the revisionist Chinese
regime's practices in regard to prisoners. We do
not defend the state capitalists against Amerikan
interference because the phony socialists are in
league with Amerikan imperialism, not subject to
it. We do cry out against U.S. imperialism in China
as it oppresses the Chinese people, and we point to
the extent of Amerikan involvement in Chinese
affairs as a demonstration of the corrupt nature of
the Chinese regime. Concern with economic favors
from the United Snakes and a lack of concern with
Chinese self-sufficiency characterize Chinese
revisionism, which cares more about the supposed
expediency of trade than about building a healthy
national economy.
MIM does not share the priorities of the Free Tibet
movement in Amerika and internationally, as this
movement is calling for reinstallation of the Dalai
Lama-chief religious feudal figure and exploiter of
the Tibetan masses prior to 1950. MIM recognizes
the advances made in Tibetan economy and culture
since the beginning of feudal reform in 1951 and
the abolition of serfdom in Tibet in 1959. So while
we do not support the Deng Xiaoping regime's
oppression of Tibetans, it would be naïve and
reactionary to support the return of feudalism
under the Dalai Lama as a means of liberating
Tibet.(4)
The counter-revolutionary coup was the capitalist
roaders' climactic blow in the two-line struggle
between socialism and revisionism that formed the
center of China's Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution. The principal objective of the Cultural
Revolution was to encourage and train the masses of
Chinese people to seize political power and
leadership and to become the masters of Chinese
politics and economy. Those who opposed this did so
for the purpose of retaining their own positions of
power. This was the crux of the two-line struggle
in Cultural Revolution China. We must understand
the coup in light of this struggle or risk making
liberal errors in the face of revisionism.
It is very important to understand the coup as the
outgrowth of two-line struggle, because this is the
only Communist explanation of what happened in
China following Mao's death. Maoism teaches us that
under socialism, a new bourgeoisie will arise
within the Communist party on the basis of this
class's relationship to the means of production
under socialism. This bourgeoisie can then use the
political apparatus of the Communist party and the
socialist state to protect its class position. For
example, some early Red Guards in China were
children of high party officials, and would direct
their political campaigns in such a way as to
shield their parents from criticism.(3)
The individuals who engineered the arrest of the
so-called Gang of Four and seized state power in
October 1976 were the new bourgeoisie that arose in
revolutionary China-capitalist roaders, state
capitalists, phony socialists. These people could
not win a victory for capitalism over socialism
while Mao was still alive, although they did try
both before and during the Cultural Revolution.
Unable to win sufficient political support for
their reactionary policies, they won their victory
by force after Mao was dead.(3)
Genuine socialists the world over recognize today's
Chinese government as an impostor in the name of
socialism. The international proletariat is also
well aware that this sham government is no friend
of the people. True Communists and the
international proletariat are looking forward to
the day when these phonies building capitalism in
China behind a thin veneer of socialism will be
knocked from power and a genuine communist party
will again seize power in the interests of the
people.
***MIM distributes a variety of books on the
subjects of revolution and counter-revolution in
China, send $2 to the address on page 2 for a
literature list.***
NOTES:
1. South China Morning Post 27 September 1996, p.
11.
2. Los Angeles Times 26 September 1996, p. A4.
3. H. Park, The Political Economy of Counter-
Revolution in China. (Order a copy of this 200+
page book which covers the heightened division of
labor, industry and agriculture, and other
important aspects of counter-revolutionary Chinese
political economy from the address on page 2 for
$10.)
4. MIM Theory 8: The Anarchist Ideal Communist
Revolution 1995, p. 92-5. (This and other issues of
MIM Theory are available from the address on page 2
for $6.)
* * *
UNITY OF AMERIKA WITH ITS ARISTOCRACIES:
NO MORE IMMIGRANTS
Liberal pseudo-feminist Dianne Feinstein Senator
from California and former San Francisco mayor
criticized President Clinton for not being anti-
immigrant enough. She wants a bill passed that
allows deportation of legal immigrants if they use
more than a year of any government service,
including English classes and Medicaid. The same
law establishes income guidelines for admission of
immigrant families.(1)
While Diane Feinstein has the love of the gender
aristocracy Senator Ted Kennedy has the love of the
labor aristocracy. Organized labor made the
difference in his 1994 campaign and now he offers
imperialism with a labor aristocracy face. In the
last major funding bill of the Congress that passed
370-37, Kennedy found himself "disappointed that
Republicans insisted upon softening sanctions on
businesses that employ illegal immigrants" in the
words of the Boston Globe.(2)
Kennedy has put his finger on the lynchpin of the
whole system: Amerikan workers are separated from
the international proletariat only by the
illegality of employing the international
proletariat in the united states at going wages. In
this way, spokespeople for the labor aristocracy
like Kennedy can arouse anti-immigrant chauvinism
by appealing to the labor aristocracy's class
interests to be kept as first in line at the
feeding trough.
NOTES:
1. New York Times 27 September, 1996, p. 23.
2. Boston Globe 29 September, 1996, p. 2.
* * *
OBITUARY:
TUPAC SHAKUR
by MC49
Rap artist Tupac Shakur (AKA 2Pac) died on August
13th, six days after being shot four times in a
car-to-car shooting in Las Vegas. The imperialist
press described Shakur as being "known for songs of
violence" and wrote that "Shakur often boasted of
his 'gangsta' ties and had the words 'Thug Life'
tattooed across his abdomen."(1) The Los Angeles
Times also ran a sidebar headlined "Rap Violence"
next to an article about Shakur.(2) Blaming the
victim, imperialist lackey Jesse Jackson said of
Shakur, "Sometimes the lure of violent culture is
so magnetic that even when one overcomes it with
material success, it continues to call. He couldn't
break the cycle."(3)
Furthermore, the imperialist press is doing its
best not to let people know about Shakur's more
political statements and lyrics. One quote from
Shakur sums up the tension between his lumpen
gangster side and his proletarian revolutionary
side, while also serving as an answer to the
hypocritical rulers and lackeys who point their
fingers at imperialism's creations: "I'm a product
of this society....You know, I'm a revolutionary.
I'm straight thuggin' out here. Thuggin' against
society. Thuggin' against the system that made
me."(4)
MIM does not agree with Shakur's equation of
"thuggin'" and revolutionary activism. MIM's enemy,
furthermore, is not society. We seek to unite all
the elements of society which can be united against
imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy --
principally imperialism at this time.
While Shakur had his lumpen "gangsta" side, he also
had a self-critical take on his role in it. "'This
thug life stuff, it was just ignorance,' Shakur
said in an interview last year with Vibe Magazine.
'My intentions was always in the right place...I'm
going to show people my true intentions and my true
heart. I'm going to show them the man that my
mother raised.'"(2)
In 1971, Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, was one of
the "Panther 21" defendants falsely accused of a
bombing conspiracy. As a result, Tupac was in
literally in prison before he was born.(3) His
mother was in prison for years for the crime of
being anti-imperialist. The son that his mother
raised would be a revolutionary son who would fight
imperialism on the side of the oppressed people of
the world.
The best answers to Shakur's self-righteous critics
can be found in his lyrics. In that spirit, some of
his best are excerpted here.
VIOLENT (1991)
They claim that I'm violent
Just 'cause I refuse to be silent
These hypocrites are having fits
'Cause I'm not buying it, defying it
Envious, because I will rebel against
Any oppressor, and this is known as self-defense
...
I told'em fight back, attack on society
If this is violence, then violent's what I gotta be
If you investigate, you'll find out where it's
coming from
Look through our history; Amerika's the violent one
Unlock my brain, break the chains of your misery
It's time to pay back for evil shit you did to me
They call me militant and racist cause I won't
resist
You wanna censor something?
Motherfucker, censor this!
My words are weapons, and i'm steppin' to the
sirens
Waking up the masses
But you
Claim that i'm violent ...
WORDS OF WISDOM (1991)
Killing us one by one
In one way or another
Amerika will find a way to eliminate the problem
One by one
The problem is the troublesome Black youth of the
ghetto
And one by one
We are being wiped off the face of this earth
At an extremely alarming rate
And even more alarming is the fact
That we are not fighting back
...
This is for the masses
The lower classes
The ones you left out
Jobs were given,
Better livin'
But we were kept out
Made to feel inferior
But we're superior
Break the chains
In our brains
That made us fear ya'
Pledge allegiance to a flag that neglects us
Honor a man that refused to respect us
Emancipation, proclamation, please!
Lincoln just said that to save the nation
These are lies that we all accepted
"Say no to drugs", But the government's kept it
Running through our community,
Killing the unity (5)
The war on drugs is a war on you and me
And yet they say this is "the home of the free"
But if you ask me its all about hypocrisy
The Constitution, yo, it don't apply to me
and Lady Liberty, stupid [sexist epithet deleted --
MIM] lied to me
Steady strong nobody's gonna like what I pumpin'
But its wrong to keeping someone from learning
something
So get up, its time to start nation-building
I'm fed up, we gotta start teaching children
That they can be all that they want to be
There's much more to life than just poverty
This is definitely words of wisdom
I charge you with the crime of rape, murder, and
assault
For suppressing and punishing my people
I charge you with robbery for robbing me of my
history
I charge you with false imprisonment for keeping me
Trapped in the projects
And the jury finds you guilty on all accounts
And you are to serve the consequences for your evil
schemes
Prosecutor, do you have any more evidence?
...
On with the knowledge of the place we've been
No one will ever oppress this race again
No Malcolm X in my history text
Why is that?
'Cause he tried to educate and liberate all blacks
Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?
He told Blacks, if they get smacked, turn the other
cheek
I don't get it, so many questions went through my
mind
I get sweated, They act as if asking questions is a
crime
But forget it, 'cause one day I'm gonna prove them
wrong
...
The Amerikan dream, though it seems like its
attainable
They're pulling your sleeve, don't believe
'Cause it will strangle ya'
...
Thought they had us beaten when they took out King
But the battle ain't over till the Black man sings
Words of Wisdom
NIGHTMARE--that's what I am
Amerika's nightmare
I am what you made me
The hate and the evil that you gave me
I shine of a reminder of what you have done to my
people
For four hundred plus years
You should be scared
You should be running
You should be trying to silence me
But you can not escape fate
Well it is my turn to come
Just as you rose you shall fall
By my hands
Amerika,
You reap what you sow
2pacalypse--Amerika's Nightmare
Ice Cube and Da Lench Mob--Amerika's Nightmare
Above the Law--Amerika's Nightmare
Paris--Amerika's Nightmare
Public Enemy--Amerika's Nightmare
Krs-One--Amerika's Nightmare
New Afrikan Panthers--Amerika's Nightmare
Mutulu Shakur--Amerika's Nightmare
Geronimo Pratt--Amerika's Nightmare
Assata Shakur--Amerika's Nightmare
MIM notes the passing of Tupac Shakur with sadness,
and encourages his fans to work with us to follow
through on the revolutionary, proletarian aspects
of his message.
NOTES:
1. Los Angeles Times, 14 September, 1996, pp. A1,
A18. Also in Los Angeles Times, 9 September, 1996,
p. A1: "the rap star known for the violence in his
lyrics and his life".
2. Los Angeles Times, 9 September, 1996, p. A16.
3. Los Angeles Times, 14 September, 1996, p. A18.
4. Spin, date unknown (approx. 1995), p.44.
5. Shakur was completely correct on this point. See
MIM Notes article in this issue.
* * *
FIRST NATIONS DON'T NEED WHITE NATION COPS
A Seneca nation gas station has abandoned Mobil Oil
as its gasoline wholesaler. As MIM Notes reported
before, the usually anti-tax, pro- "free
enterprise" Mobil took a different tack with the
Senecas by backing up New York State's efforts to
tax the Senecas before New York State even had any
tax rulings by the courts on its side. The new
gasoline distributor does not attempt to collect
the New York tax. A local conflict on Onondaga
territory appears to have been settled decisively
in favor of the chiefs and/or the people backing
them up depending on one's perspective. In any
case, the gas station that formerly refused to pay
taxes to the tribe without "accountability" has
been shut down and its buildings and pumps
destroyed as evidenced by MIM's recent visit.
Whether the action was right or wrong, it shows
that the issue can be settled within the Onondaga
people and the white man's police force can be held
at bay for issues involving considerable property.
According to one woman working at a store paying
taxes to the tribe that we interviewed "the people
shut them down and the chiefs backed them up."
According to the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs
in their June 9, 1994 press release, it is possible
that the owners were the ones who burned down the
property because the Chiefs had shut down the
business and two others for not paying Nation
taxes. The same press release says that Kenneth
Papineau of the Onondaga sought an alliance with
the white man by going to the New York State
Supreme Court and federal court where he lost both
places. The Justice Dept. filed an amicus brief
supporting the Chief's compact with the white man's
local police which respected Onondaga rights at
least up to this point. If it is true that Papineau
went to court claiming he was a New York citizen,
MIM does not support him.
The Chiefs have also claimed that an Iroquois
Businessman's Association Papineau was involved in
has a stated goal of overthrowing traditional
government to replace it with an elected Bureau of
Indian Affairs government with the object of
controlling Indian lands. MIM believes that there
may well be legitimate gripes that business
organizations have with their traditional
government, but going to the white man to set up
new governments is not the way to go.
For further information for the chiefs' side of the
story, Onondaga Nation, Council of Chiefs, Box 200,
Nedrow, NY 13120 We also interviewed proponents of
the other side and we found both sides convincing.
It is a difficult struggle, but we had not been
aware of these claims about sovereignty by the
chiefs before.
* * *
IMPERIALISM = SICKNESS, HUNGER, AND DEATH
by MC206
A World Health Organization (WHO) report released
September 25th shows that scientists are developing
vaccines which could save the lives of millions of
children each year, but the vaccines will be too
expensive for children living in oppressed
nations.(1) New vaccines for hepatitis B and yellow
fever already exist but are not readily available
in the Third World. Vaccines for rotavirus,
shigella, dengue and meningitis are expected
soon.(2) The new vaccines are expected to cost $10
per dose, as compared to $1 per dose for the old
vaccines.(1)
The "next generation" of vaccines is based on
molecular biology technology which is currently
controlled by first world pharmaceutical companies
-- i.e. capitalists and imperialists. The report
also suggests that the vaccines developed in the
first world may not be as effective in the third
world because the diseases vary from location to
location.(2)
According to Reuters news agency, 2 million
children under the age of 12 die from diseases that
could be prevented by existing (cheap) vaccines.(2)
This enraging situation is typical of capitalism,
which arranges production and investment according
to profit, not need, and imperialism, which drains
the resources of oppressed nations to fuel the
capitalist economy "at home." Even assuming the $10
per dose cost represents the actual cost (and not
the pharmaceutical companies' profit margin), third
world nations would be able to afford these
vaccines for their children if they were not
oppressed by imperialism and could keep the value
produced by their workers and use their natural
resources to benefit their people. Furthermore,
under socialism, scientists would not just study
the diseases which effect rich people as often
happens under capitalism, since the rich are the
ones who can afford to pay for medical treatment.
Overall, 14 million children die each year of
malnutrition and preventable diseases, such as
cholera. Cholera is both cheap to treat and easy to
prevent, yet cholera epidemics are still frequent
occurrences in oppressed nations. Despite the
claims of the u.s.-Ramos regime in the Philippines
to be leading the nation to "newly industrialized
country" status, a Cholera epidemic recently broke
out in Manila, the largest city in the Philippines.
Why? Poverty: poor sanitation, crowded living
conditions, and fouled water.(3)
MIM points to the People's Republic of China under
Mao as an example of what socialism and the
struggle for communism can do to advance the health
of hundreds of millions of people in a short
period. The Chinese government was able to invest
in a big way in public health measures, unhampered
by capitalist considerations of profit. The
socialist government of China was also able to
mobilize the masses to participate in health
campaigns in a way no capitalist government could,
since the government truly represented the
interests of the broadest masses. As a result,
malnutrition, opium addiction, and sexually
transmitted diseases, were virtually eliminated,
and the expected lifespan doubled within thirty
years.
NOTES:
1. National Public Radio, "All Things Considered,"
25 September, 1996.
2. Reuters, 25 September, 1996.
3. Public Radio International, "The World," 26
September, 1996.
* * *
RADICAL VICTORY AS HAWAIIANS SIT OUT BOGUS VOTE
When confronted by a state-sponsored vote on state-
defined sovereignty, sixty per cent of native
Hawaiians who were eligible to vote did not do so.
This boycott is a victory for the cause of the
Hawaiian people, who must frame the debate in their
own terms for it to be legitimate.
Hawaiians have never been granted the status of a
nation by Amerika and instead are considered "wards
of the state". For centuries the Hawaiian people
have been struggling to regain self-determination.
But this state-sponsored pseudo-plebiscite which
asked "Shall the Hawaiian people elect delegates to
propose a Native Hawaiian government?" is not an
avenue to self-determination.
Hawaiians were not given the option of setting up
their own government without Amerikan imperialist
supervision and control, and those opposing the
whole vote were not given an alternative to the
"yes" or "no" on the ballot. Because of this,
activists both in Hawaii and across the united
states, carried out a campaign to convince native
Hawaiians to abstain from the vote. (See MIM Notes
119, August 1, 1996 for more on the history of this
vote and the imperialists role in it).
The results of the voting, which ended August 15th,
were delayed past their original September 2nd
release due to legal challenges from both the right
and the left. On the one hand, reactionaries were
protesting that Hawaiians should not get to vote as
a nation period. These rightists decried a "race-
based" vote as unconstitutional conveniently
oblivious to the fact that the Hawaiian people are
denied any number of things based on their
oppressed-nation status. On the other hand,
radicals also wanted the vote nullified because the
state-sponsored process interferes with the
Hawaiians' right to petition the federal government
for sovereignty.(1) These activists had been
engaged in grassroots campaigning against the bogus
vote on many levels, insisting that Hawaiians must
frame their own sovereignty debate and urging the
people not to validate the state process by
participating.
The state spent millions of dollars trying to
convince native Hawaiians that their choices were
boxed into accepting the state scheme for pseudo-
sovereignty or rejecting it altogether. Of those
who voted, 73% said "yes." Since this represents
hardly a quarter of eligible Hawaiian voters, it is
certainly not a mandate for the state process.(2)
MIM has supported the Hawaiian struggle for real
sovereignty not defined or restricted by the state.
MIM supports this continuing struggle as the state
implements this vote against the will of the
Hawaiian people.
True self-determination does not come from the
imperialist state. This struggle for self-
determination by the Hawaiian nation is an
important part of the anti-imperialist struggles
throughout the stolen territory called the united
states. MIM works to tie these struggles together
and lead them in a United Front against
imperialism. Only by smashing the imperialist state
will we be able to achieve self-determination for
all oppressed nations and a system of democracy for
the oppressed people: socialism.
NOTES:
1. Honolulu Star Bulletin, 11 September, 1996.
2. AP 13 September, 1996.
* * *
INDIGENOUS SELF-DETERMINATION'S A YEAR-ROUND
STRUGGLE
On September 25, Dr. Cornel Pewewardy spoke at
UMass Amherst about racist imagery of indigenous
people in the media. His talk discussed, among
other issues, how culture appropriation of
indigenous culture is a form of racism. For example
Pewewardy, who is Komanche and Kiowa, explained how
bonnets, or feathered headdresses, used by some
sports teams in promotional materials is an insult
to the First Nations. These bonnets are a sign of
honor that is earned. But to bestow a bonnet on a
random sports player is an insult to the meaning of
the bonnets.
Pewewardy also spoke about how the "tomahawk chop"
performed by fans of one sports team also mocked
indigenous culture. He also argued that these
cultural manifestations of white supremacy cause
psychological damage to young First Nation youth.
MIM would avoid this terminology, but agree that
teaching the oppressed to hate themselves and their
culture is a big part of imperialism's job of
crushing the ability to resist.
On top of the usual reasons to learn and meet
people, RAIL went to this event to distribute
flyers announcing "Anti-Columbus Week 1996". The
purpose of the week's event is to "build public
opinion against imperialist genocide in this
hemisphere that has been carried out for the last
504 years." The initiating organizations for the
events, of which includes MIM and RAIL, also agreed
to recognize the need for national liberation
struggles against imperialism. RAIL found many
students who were eager to take the flyers and
expressed interest in coming to the events.
The introduction to Pewewardy 's talk by the
Director of the Native American Culture Center on
campus, however, contained a lengthy criticism of
Anti-Columbus Week and its organizers, although
they were not mentioned by name. She explained how
she deliberately scheduled Pewewardy 's talk for a
month other than October or November. She explained
that indigenous people are tokenized and only
thought of near Columbus Day and Thanksgiving.
In reality, RAIL's line and practice has been quite
different than that represented by the director of
the Native American Culture Center. The idea for
the week was proposed by some anti-imperialist
individuals in RAIL circles who uphold an ideology
they call "indigenism." The week was and is
intended to talk about U.S. imperialism, both
within it's borders and beyond. Columbus is a
thematic tie in, only. The video "Incident at
Oglala" will be shown and a talk about mining and
damming rivers on First Nation land will be held.
If anything shows that the week is not Columbus-
reductionist, the week's main event is a talk about
how the Peace Corps is a part of U.S. imperialism.
RAIL believes it very important to focus on
imperialism as a system and its manifestations
today and that is our focus, not a silly demand (as
has been raised in the recent past here) about
changing the name of the day.
RAIL has shown both "Incident at Oglala" and done
talks in the past about the hydrological rape of
First Nation land within Canadian borders and
uranium mining on First Nations land in the Four
Corners region within U.S. borders. With the talks
especially, we have had a hard time getting people
to come to the events despite extensive
advertising. If putting the events into a theme
week is what it takes to get people to come out and
then hopefully get involved (as it appears to be),
then so be it. Getting people in the door at the
events is progress.
Also it should be made clear that this director was
invited to participate in the planning of this week
soon after the idea was born. She declined to
participate or was unable to. We don't know because
we didn't hear a response to our letter. To
criticize how we went about organizing anti-
imperialist activities, when the alternative was no
events at all, especially when you were invited to
participate, is not progressive at all.
* * *
EVIL TWIN CANDIDATES FOR MASS. SENATE STAGE DEBATE
On September 23, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry
(D) debated Governor William Weld (R) in front of
400 suburban high school students. This race for
Massachusetts Senate is particularly interesting to
MIM because there is even less difference between
the candidates than usual, despite the millions
being spent in their campaigns to discredit one
another.
Both men are wealthy former prosecutors and former
Ivy league debaters. Their stances on crime is
further example that neither candidate is a correct
choice for the oppressed. In Massachusetts, MIM and
RAIL's campaign against the '96 elections has
emphasized the similarity between these two
candidates on crime as an example of why there is
no real choice in bourgeois elections.
At the debate, Kerry explained his "opposition" to
the death penalty: "I'm for death by
incarceration. ... Throw the key away."
Weld responded: "I think death by incarceration is
too good for them" referring to those "who commit
premeditiated murder."
The Boston Globe explained that "Although Weld
maintained his signature laid-back campaign style,
he seemed perhaps a little less at ease with the
audience than did his slimmer opponent. Taxes,
crime, welfare and the death penalty are usually
not see as easy sells for young audiences."
There is good reason for this. Typically, these
issues are aimed at getting the settlers riled up
before an election. As MIM Notes has explained in
other stories, these issues are blown way out of
proportion by the settlers and those seeking their
votes. For example, the average settler thinks that
a very large percentage of the U.S. budget is spent
on welfare , whereas a tiny portion is. Within the
white nation, it is youth who have the greatest
interest in breaking out of imperialist parasitism.
Without revolution the great majority of young
white people will go on to be like their parents.
But as young people they aren't fully tied into the
system yet and significant minorities of them can
be won over to the proletariat. Of course among 400
hand-picked students for an official government
debate is probably one of the last places we would
expect to find young people looking to buck the
system.
Despite the claims of one student quoted in the
Globe, MIM would find the exclusive of "urban"
students to be significant in controlling their
attitude towards the election. An audience more
representative of the actual Massachusetts
population would have found a number of students,
especially from the oppressed nations, that
recognize the bankruptcy of trying to decide which
identical oppressor you'd like to have.
NOTE: Boston Globe 23 September, 1996 p. B1, B4.
* * *
NATION OF ISLAM PUSHES METAPHYSICS, CRYPTO-PACIFISM
CALIFORNIA, 30 September -- Over 30 days later,
Louis Farrakhan's prediction has failed to
materialize. In mid-August, the leader of the
bourgeois nationalist Nation of Islam (NOI)
incorrectly predicted that an earthquake would
strike California within 30 days and possibly wipe
California off the face of the earth. While
Farrakhan's statement appears on the surface to be
an extreme example of religious metaphysics,
Farrakhan was in fact skillfully using metaphysics
as a cover for a crypto-pacifist line directed at
his followers.
Farrakhan's "prediction" was delivered in
Inglewood, California by Minister Tony Muhammad,
head of NOI's Western region. On August 8,
sheriff's deputies evicted NOI officials from NOI's
regional headquarters in Inglewood. Said Muhammad,
"The wrath of God will show itself in a major
earthquake for this attempt to uproot upstanding
citizens from their community." Muhammad said the
sheriff's deputies roughed up mosque members,
removed them from the premises illegally, and
arrived as part of a force of 100 pigs, including
FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
agents.
Naturally, the largely proletarian NOI rank and
file were filled with righteous anger at these
government abuses. Since the NOI cultivates an
image of itself as a militant Black nationalist
organization, the rank and file were doubtless
anxious to express their anger in some form of
organized protest. But while the national
bourgeoisie organizes proletarians under its
banner, it hesitates to mobilize the proletariat in
a thoroughgoing way against the imperialists.
The national bourgeoisie of oppressed nations such
as the Black nation is caught in a bind. On the one
hand, it wants to exploit its nation's proletariat
and in that sense is an enemy of the proletariat.
On the other hand, as much as the national
bourgeoisie would like to exploit its nation's
proletariat, it finds that it is unable to do so,
since the imperialists have the upper hand in the
competition for access to the labor power of the
labor force in question. Thus restricted, the
national bourgeoisie seeks to oust the imperialists
from its territory or territories.
But the national bourgeoisie cannot oust the
imperialists without the assistance of other
classes. This is why bourgeois nationalist outfits
such as the Guomindang in China in its day and like
the Nation of Islam in the Black Nation of North
America in our day mobilize proletarians under the
national banner and against the oppressor nation.
At the same time, only the proletariat--the class
with nothing to lose but its chains--has an
interest in pushing the revolution beyond its
national democratic stage into a socialist stage
and ultimately toward the stage of communism, a
stage of society which marks the end of the
domination and oppression of groups by other
groups. The national bourgeoisie, in contrast,
vacillates in the face of the masses' struggles for
justice. It wants to make sure that the masses do
not go "too far". Furthermore, the national
bourgeoisie is constantly looking to cut a deal
with the imperialists.
Thus, while the proletariat, through the leadership
of its party, should make every effort to bring the
national bourgeoisie of the oppressed nation into a
united front against imperialism (principally
Yankee imperialism, in the North American case),
the proletariat and its allies should not be
surprised to see the bourgeois nationalist leaders
respond to an imperialist attack on the masses with
a tall tale about "Allah's (God's) coming
vengeance" designed to mislead the angry masses
into inaction.
This is not the first time that Farrakhan has
pulled this crypto-pacifist stunt. When the U.S.
war of aggression against the Iraqi people broke
out in January 1991, Farrakhan delivered a
"warning" about Allah's anger with Amerika, then
announced that he was retreating to his mosque.
Revolutionary nationalists working with the Nation
of Islam should take a close look at the politics
of their leadership and work with MIM in the
struggle for true liberation of all nations of the
world.
NOTE: The Los Angeles Times, 17 August, 1996, pp.
B3, B8.
* * *
ORGANIZE AGAINST IMPERIALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES
To raise publicity around the revolution in the
Philippines and to build support for the campaign
against the deportation of Jose Maria Sison,
founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines,
MIM and RAIL have been holding events about the
Philippines in many cities. Some of these events
have included showing the movie Green Guerrillas, a
documentary about the revolutionary struggle to
save the rainforests in Mindinao. In recent months,
discussions after this movie have raised questions
about the continuing struggle in this region of the
Philippines.
Made in 1992, the video documents the National
Democratic Front's work with the indigenous Moro
people of Mindinao to enforce a logging ban on the
multinational corporations that are destroying the
land and the livelihood of the people.
Earlier this year, Nur Misuari, the leader of the
Moro National Liberation Front signed an agreement
capitulating to the Ramos government in Manila.
This peace agreement represented a selling out of
the interests of the people of the Philippines
because it capitulated to the Ramos-Amerikan terms
including agreement to end the armed struggle
against imperialism.
The MNLF was never a part of the National
Democratic Front, the united front led by the
Communist Party of the Philippines fighting against
imperialism. Misuari is now positioning himself
within the Manila government.
Meanwhile, the US oil companies are already
exploiting the resources of Mindinao and other
corporations are positioning themselves to join in
the plunder. As Sison made clear in his statement
in July of this year, the National Democratic Front
will not lay down its guns and armed resistance
under their leadership will continue in Mindinao
and throughout the Philippines.(1)
The NDF entered into peace negotiations with Ramos
in 1990, but these negotiations start from
principal that the NDF will not lay down its arms
and will only be satisfied when imperialism has
been dismantled. The NDF declaration regarding the
peace talks says a just and liberating peace "can
be achieved only through the resolution of the
fundamental problems of the Filipino people and
their liberation from the plague of imperialism,
feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism."
The Government of the Republic of the Philippines
(GRP) has continued to violate agreements with the
NDF over these peace negotiations, arresting CPP
negotiators and stalling on proceeding with the
talks. On June 16, 1996 these talks began against
after the GRP finally released the CPP negotiator.
The peace negotiations have been an effective tool
for the CPP to expose the reactionary policies of
the US-backed GRP while seizing on the masses
genuine desire for peace. The attempt to deport
Sison back to the Philippines is just one more
attempt by the Amerikan government and the GRP to
manipulate the peace negotiations by forcing them
off of neutral ground while grasping at anything
that might weaken the NDF's fight against
imperialism.
Write to MIM for copies of the petition to grant
asylum to Sison and his family and to get involved
in this campaign exposing Amerikan imperialism in
the Philippines and around the world.
NOTES:
1. Jose Maria Sison statement of 17 July, 1996.
2. For more information on the revolution in the
Philippines send $2 to order the RAIL pamphlet
"Support the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines".
* * *
UNABOMBER FOR PRESIDENT?
REVIEW OF ANARCHIST NONSENSE
UNAPACK,
P.O.Box 120494,
Boston, MA 02112
unapack@paranoia.com
&
NOT Bored!,
P.O. Box 1115,
Stuyvesant Station,
NYC 10009-9998
1-800-707-6398
Two anarchist organizations are running the
Unabomber as a write in candidate for president.
This campaign is typical of life-style politics
anarchists in that it makes putting "life" in our
political life" a bigger priority than actually
making successful change.
The positive side of this campaign is that it is
explicitly against the farce of Amerikan elections.
Unlike the Workers World party that can't decide
whether running candidates "sends a message to the
bourgeoisie" or is a realistic way to achieve state
power, these anarchists know this won't work. These
anarchists recognize that just staying away from
the polls is apathy, when what is needed is
societal transformation. Therefore, they are
running someone(1) who wouldn't serve if elected.
In that sense, the Unabomber is the ultimate
protest candidate.
Anarchists, however, are only interested in talking
about a better society. They aren't interested in
actually getting there. As Not Bored! writes: "We
are confident that others will immediately grasp
the humor, irony and appropriateness of casting an
absurd protest vote...." While Maoists organize to
concretely seize power away from the bourgeoisie,
all the anarchists are shooting for is to make an
"absurd protest" statement.
These anarchists have come up with the perfect plan
to escape blame for their failure to end
capitalism: Bumper stickers that say "Don't blame
me, I voted for the Unabomber."
To MIM, that's unacceptable. While MIM isn't
promising socialism by November 5, if we don't make
progress towards our goals, you sure better blame
us.
NOTES:
1. For all MIM knows, the Unabomber may or may not
be one person. And we certainly don't assume that
the person the FBI says is the Unabomber, actually
is.
Sources from http://www.paranoia.com/unapack, and
above campaign addresses.
* * *
AMERIKAN CULTURE
WELCOME TO THE DOLL HOUSE
Review
by a MIM Comrade
This movie is a revealing study of Amerikan
adolescence, if not an entirely progressive
statement about the oppression of children.
The film takes place in a middle-class white suburb
somewhere near New York City. The hero, Dawn, is in
her first year of junior high school, and she is
portrayed as completely oppressed - by her family
(in which she is the third favorite out of three
children), by her teachers (she gets in trouble
when someone else cheats off her test), and by her
peers (she is the acknowledged so-called ugliest
girl in the school, and is constantly tormented by
other students).
But the most revealing part of the story is how
these oppressive forces combine to pit young people
against each other. They all go to the same
fascist-type school, which cares not a wit for
their real education, they all have the same
obnoxious or abusive parents, and so on. And yet
the perverse manipulations of the adults lead the
kids to torment each other.
In one scene, Dawn (known as Weinerdog, from her
name Weiner) comes to the aid of a young boy who is
being beaten up in the halls. He is charged with
being a "faggot". When she comes to his aid, the
abused boy tells her to stay away - he would rather
take his beating than be associated with her. In
the cafeteria, a bunch of other girls come up to
Dawn and ask, "Um, we were wondering: Are you a
lesbian?" (She is not.) Laughter all around. She
denies it, but then the girl across the table stabs
her in the back: "Yes she is, she just made a pass
at me."
Dawn's parents couldn't care less about her. She is
sandwiched between her adorable little sister
Missy, often seen prancing around the yard in her
pink tutu, and her older brother Mark, who has
plans to go to college in computer science. When
Missy is abducted by a neighbor, who keeps her in
the basement, videotaping her naked for a while,
Dawn runs away to New York City to find her. After
spending the day pounding the pavement and the
night sleeping on the street, she calls home, and
asks if her parents are upset.
"Not really," says Mark. "They found Missy." Her
mother can't talk to her because she's in the
middle of a TV interview.
Presumably to help solve these problems, Dawn wants
a boyfriend. She dreams of the studly Steve
Rodgers, who's in high school, but she ends up with
Brandon, a white trash bully who starts out as her
enemy. He pins her against the wall and tells her
he'll rape her after school. A custodian interrupts
them and the rape is off. But he tells her to show
up the next day, and inexplicably, she does. With
her at knife-point, they walk to the beat up old
mattress he intends to use. But instead of carrying
out their consensual rape, they get to talking, and
end up in love.
That this love is obviously a messed up combination
of loneliness, alienation, eroticization of rape,
and so on, is a progressive part of the film,
ironically. Audiences may want her to get a more
"normal" relationship, but in the context of the
movie it's clear that the "healthy" relationships
are all based on the same things as theirs, even if
they are less disturbing. Their relationship is
short lived but pivotal.
The movie is most effective as a case study in
alienation, shot in a fitting, low-budget realistic
style. Youth from the oppressor nations are
property, playthings for adults, and deposits for
genocidal disinformation. When MIM says age is the
principal contradiction within the white nation, we
mean that young people such as Dawn and her peers
are the best bets for revolutionary consciousness,
partly because they are not yet dug in to their
class, nation and gender positions of privilege,
and partly because of the oppressive treatment they
receive at the hands of adults. Welcome to the Doll
House brings some of this contradiction to light.
* * *
BOUND
produced by Larry and Andy Wachowski
The only lesbian film at this years Boston
Independent Film Festival provided some excellent
examples of gender roles in patriarchy and how they
have developed in Amerika. One main character is a
butch womyn just out of prison for "redistribution
of the wealth" who fixes cars, does plumbing, and
has big muscles. The other female lead, Violet, is
a delicate, helpless-seeming womyn who is married
to a man in the mob.
Violet explains early on to Corky that she sees sex
with men as a job. Something she does to get what
she wants in life, just like Corky used to steal to
get what she wanted. We quickly see that the
helpless exterior is just an act Violet uses to
play the patriarchal game. It works to seduce her
new lover, Corky, and it works to get her husband
and other men in the Mafia to give her what she
wants.
That this role playing works on men and wimmin
alike speaks to the pervasiveness of the patriarchy
in society: lesbian relationships can't escape
this. In fact, what men find sexy is often what
wimmin find sexy too and the butch/femme role
playing is certainly not an escape from the
patriarchy, it is just one more manifestation of
patriarchal culture. We can't really know what
gender will be like without the patriarchy but we
can be sure that while we live under the patriarchy
no relationship can totally escape it.
Because Violet decided she wanted out of the mob
life, she shares her intellect and ingenuity with
Corky to plot the theft of $2 million from her
husband and the rest of the Mafia. And through it
all Violet successfully uses her helpless female
role to avoid suspicion. This is a great example of
patriarchal privilege that goes to wimmin in
imperialist countries. Violet is clear that she
made the choice to play this role in order to get
some things in return: namely wealth. First she did
this through her marriage to the mob, then she did
it by stealing from the mob.
The majority of wimmin in imperialist societies
have this kind of choice too. White middle class
wimmin often decide to stay in relationships
because they are not willing to give up certain
privileges that come with the marriage. They could
make the choice to go for a straight up career but
it is often the case that sex pays better than
other jobs and marriage provides a cushier life
that makes it a worthwhile tradeoff. The fact that
wimmin earn less than men for the same work is a
gross product of the patriarchy but not an excuse
for saying that wimmin are helpless and without
options in imperialist countries.
The character Violet was probably among the poorer
of white wimmin in this country and she was working
in a club (it was implied that she was selling sex
in some form) before marrying the mob. But she is
very clear about this being a choice and that there
were other choices open to her. This is true for
wimmin in this country and those who champion the
cause of wimmin as if they are totally helpless are
doing a disservice to the feminist movement. We
need to always be clear that the majority of white
wimmin in imperialist countries have employment
options and choices about what to do with their
lives to be self- sufficient. The decision to
depend on a relationship is a choice informed by a
gross patriarchal culture that encourages wimmin to
view themselves as helpless but the feminist
movement can not play into this reactionary
culture.
For the strength of female characters and the well
illustrated lessons in patriarchal culture and role
playing, this movie provides an important service
to the feminist movement.
* * *
THE TUSKEEGEE AIRMEN
Video Review
In spite of a trite ending which focuses this film
is in an entirely wrong direction, The Tuskeegee
Airmen raises some of the more interesting
questions about United Snakes politics in World War
II. Loosely based on true stories about the only
division of Black fighter pilots in the U.S. Army
Air Corps during the war, The Tuskeegee Airmen
drives consistently at the contradiction Black
pilots faced: struggling for acceptance and
recognition for their skills and contributions to
the war within a national-chauvinist bureaucracy.
The Tuskeegee Airmen shows Black pilots being
destroyed by the discrimination they face in the
army, and there are many references to Blacks being
sent to war as infantry, not as elite pilots and
officers. One Black cadet tells a story about his
grandfather, a brilliant pilot in World War I who
was lynched immediately after returning home from
the war.
At one point in the film, after he and his flying
partner have been snubbed by two white men whose
lives they just saved, a Black pilot points out
that at least he and his partner were successful in
their attack on the German forces that day. MIM
agrees with this overall assessment of the Black
role in World War II: national oppression within
U.S. borders and within the U.S. armed forces was
strong even during the war, but in the absence of a
Black nationalist army capable of winning
liberation from Amerika Nazi Germany was correctly
identified as the principal enemy of the Black
nation at that time.
Unfortunately for The Tuskeegee Airmen, it is
constrained by the demands of the HBO viewing
audience and ends on a joyous note of how well the
Black fighter pilots demonstrated their skill and
courage to the white people. The film suggests that
in the end, the fact of the Black pilots'
unimpeachable evidence is somehow good enough.
Anyone who was wondering can now rest assured that
HBO has a well and true liberal streak. Liberalism
fails to address the question of what Amerika will
do with this information about the virtues of Black
folk.
The imperialists use the oppressed nationals as
pawns in imperialist domination and destruction.
Though the unity against fascist Germany was
correctly chosen, it was most importantly chosen by
the Amerikan imperialists. Until national
liberation and the ability for nations to self-
determine for themselves, the imperialists will
continue on in their genocidal dominance over it's
internal nations. MIM urges a unification between
the colonized nationals within Amerika and the
Third world proletariat against the common
oppressor, Amerikan imperialism. Only with a
movement based on the ideologies of the oppressed
can the legacies of Amerikan fascism be over come
by the power of the masses.
* * *
UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
KEEPING COMRADES TOGETHER IN FLORIDA
...All of my energy has gone in to straining to
keep the small faction of comrades from splintering
here. The psychological tactics of the agents of
this repressive agency are wearing a lot of these
guys down. I must keep them from giving up
completely and that is a task that is never ending,
but one I'm up to.
I've been dealing with suicides, guys giving up
appeals, etc. Added to this is the constant battle
with the counter-revolutionary faction for control
of how we are to deal with our enemies and manage
to evade the electric chair at the same time. The
barrage of nonsense is effecting my brothers
mentally so any suggestions would be much
welcome....
Remaining Strong
-- a Florida Prisoner, 13 August, 1996
TEXAS PIGS MURDER PRISONERS
...In Texas last night, the news openly stated that
any TDCJ Guard can murder any inmate. In July 1996,
on the Robertson Unit, while in the fields, a
Hispanic was shot. He was shot in the head, not in
the back but in the front. The papers guess, he was
running backwards, for that is the only way he
could have been shot as he was. Due to the man not
having any family in the United Snakes, no action
was taken in this case.
This week on another unit, inmates refused to
continue to work for free for a private unit. The
guards shot unarmed inmates. The guards in the TDCJ
and all private units now know that an inmate's
life is meaningless to the system. Till we stand as
one ... we will continue to die on Price Daniel
Unit. The Assistant Warden has made it clear that
he will allow White Racists to go unpunished, be it
guard or inmate. I stand with [the] few who see no
place in this life or any place in the world for
this to be allowed to continue. Together we stand
strong, apart we die one by one. Brothers, learn
and accept, not to accept any less than right and
justice.
-- a Texas Prisoner, 30 August,1996.
STUDY GROUP THRIVES IN THE FACE OF BRUTALITY
...As I stated in my last letter, myself and three
other prisoners were locked down because of our
study group. Because in our study group we were
sharing descriptions of the oppressive and inhumane
ways of our keepers. I'm very proud to tell you
that I've started a new study group, as of now,
seven members and I will not stop my study because
of my keepers' hate for the truth nor will I stand
for inhumane treatment of those in struggle with
me....
...Since Corrections Commissioner Wayne Garner took
office in December, inmates have reported a series
of attack by guards during sweeps and searches at
state prisons. Prison officials have denied any
abuse...
Incidents include:
Jan. 4: Surprise inspection at Central State Prison
in Macon Georgia.
Jan. 16: Inmates reported they were beaten during a
sweep at Scott State prison in Milledgeville,
Georgia.
Mid-January: Inmate reports he was forced to strip
to his underwear and was handcuffed to a fence in
the cold for several hours because he refused to
address a guard as "sir". A deputy warden was fired
in connection with the incident. One could wonder
if the warden was under the impression his
Commissioner, Wayne Garner, would approve of his
action.
Jan. 26: Inmate said he was beaten during a sweep
at Wayne State prison in Odum, Georgia....
June: Lawsuit accusing officers of abuse at Autry
State prison in Pelham is amended to include a
complaint of a 58 year old disabled inmate who was
locked down for six weeks then forced into a
marching program after formally protesting his
punishment for failing to walk four miles for his
health.
July 3: Inmates report they were beaten during a
sweep by riot squad at Hayes State Prison in Trion,
Georgia. Squad later sent to Walker State prison in
Rick Spring, Georgia, where inmates' heads were
shaved and others say they were told to remove
their clothes, squat and "walk like a duck".
July 16: Four escapees from State Prison said
guards beat them after they were captured and then
paraded them in from of a window so other prisoners
could see their injuries.
Commissioner Wayne Garner has begun a reign of
terror of psychological abuse of prisoners. In a
letter to Deval Patrick, head of the agency's Civil
Rights Division, John Cole Vodicka of the prison
and jail project said Garner had exhibited
"maniacal behavior [that] has set a mean-spirited
tone through the Georgia prison system". As a
result, many prison guards and wardens "believe
they have Carte Blanche permission from on high to
ignore, mistreat or brutalize inmates".
I call out to every person out there to please come
together. Many have loved ones in the state prisons
in Georgia. Stop this abuse by a crazy man in a
high place. Write to the Department of Justice and
request an investigation into this abuse in the
state prisons in Georgia....
-- A Georgia Prisoner, 17 August, 1996
FEDERAL CENSORSHIP CASE
Dear Comrades,
Please renew my subscription to MIM Notes. The last
issue I received was #118. Though issue 117 and 118
were selectively denied. They only let certain
issues reach my cell.
The good news is that the Federal courts will rule
around October on the constitutionality of this
censorship. My attorney stated [that] it's an open
and closed case being [that] the prisoncrats have
no penological reason to deny the publications.
Thus I should get all post denied issues of MIM
Notes if the court rules fairly.
There's been a lot of restrictive changes within
the last month and once the prisoncrats finish
doing their modifications, I will send a
chronological calendar of events for MIM Notes...
In Struggle.
-- an Iowa Prisoner, 28 August, 1996
DEATH BY NEGLECT OF VICTOR BARNES
This letter concerns a deceased prisoner named
Victor Barnes who's death was caused by neglect.
Mr. Barnes arrived at TDCJ-ID wearing a leg brace
due to an earlier injury. On April 17, 1995 here at
the Hughes Unit, Barnes slipped and fell in the
inmate chow hall. He landed on his back and knocked
himself unconscious. Since the accident Barnes has
severe problems walking and eventually he was
completely unable to walk.
The administration reacted to Barnes' condition by
placing him in (LOP) Loss of all Privileges, also
known as special cell restriction for thirty days
at a time.
...On October 5, 1995, before I was physically
forced into the cell with Barnes, who constantly
urinated and defecated on himself and the floor, he
[Barnes] told Sergeant Crane that he was in pain.
Sgt. Crane then called the infirmary. Nurse D.
Cooper and a female nurse answered the call. Both
nurses and Sgt. Crane went up to Barnes' cell and
stood outside of the cell door for only a second
because of the rancid odor escaping Barnes' cell.
Nurse Cooper firmly declared that there was nothing
wrong with Barnes. Sgt. Crane then made an inmate
mop up the water, urine and dissolved feces and
there were no disinfectants used.
After I was physically forced into the cell, Barnes
asked me not to hurt him, and I assured him that I
would not. Barnes admitted that he had not taken a
shower in about 7 weeks and that medical would not
do anything for him. Although I had an injured
shoulder, I would drag him to the toilet so that he
could either urinate, defecate or bath himself.
For four days Major Starkey and Captain Erickson
gave orders not to open our cell door. I was denied
showers and our sack lunches were pushed beneath
the cell door into the cell.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning a nurse
would walk the runs to take verbal medical
complaints. Barnes would tell the nurse he had
blood in his urine and that his stomach, chest,
back and legs were hurting . The nurses would say,
"Barnes there isn't anything wrong with you." If he
was given a medical appointment, security would
only say that he refused because they all knew he
couldn't walk.
The medication aides would refuse to give Barnes
his medication because he couldn't get up to get
it. They wouldn't give it to me so that I could
take it to him. So on many occasions I would drag
him from his bunk to the cell door so he could get
his medication I filed grievances against Ms.
Redden and Ms. Cooper on behalf of Barnes.
[Another prisoner] also filed grievances on behalf
of Barnes. After I was moved from his cell, Barnes
smelled so bad that a person could smell the odor
two cell doors away. The medical department still
neglected to provide any medical care for Barnes.
Barnes had told me about a medical appointment he
was awaiting. He was sure if he could have gotten
to John Sealy Hospital, he would receive medical
attention. His appointment was scheduled for a date
in November 1995. However, during November or mid-
December, Barnes was taken away by medical staff
and security. No one knows if he went to John Sealy
Hospital.
I filed a civil lawsuit ... because of the
excessive use of force and the unsanitary
conditions I was forced to live in for 8 days. I
expected Barnes to appear as a witness in this
case, but I was told by prisoners that Victor
Barnes was dead and his body was taken from the
unit infirmary.
I'm requesting the support and advice from
prisoners, outside comrades and any state and local
organizations in my quest to see that justice is
brought upon those involved in the death by neglect
of Victor Barnes.
I am sure TDCJ-ID officials told Barnes' family
members something about his death but nothing in
reference to the truth. Victor Barnes was from San
Antonio, Texas, and maybe one of MIM's readers will
see this article and pass it on to the Barnes
family....
-- a Texas Prisoner, Aug. 29 ,1996
A CALL TO ORGANIZE AFTER ZYION'S EXECUTION
There appears to be an awakening at this particular
prison (Michigan City). Just recently they, the
Pigs, just used lethal injection on my brother, and
now they have placed an entire prison on lockdown,
until they decide what to do next. Because they
already know this comrade was one of the
Revolutionary brothers who stood for change, which
means the same for the others who may also follow
that path.
As it stands, nothing is guaranteed, with various
new laws which extend prison sentences, 3 strikes,
etc. I feel at this point that a discussion should
address how do we come about organizing our
communication system, by small radio, small TV, as
so forth, to establish a link. {This is] to get
prepared and ready for our battle, at that breaking
point where people are straight up tired of
everything, ... about Capitalist running
government,...
-- a Michigan Prisoner, 16 August, 1996
NATIONAL OPPRESSION IN WISCONSIN
Revolutionary Salutes My Comrades
I answer your call from the belly of Wisconsin's
KKKoncentration KKKamp. I would like to thank our
for pushing my brother, Khalfani Khaldun's case to
the forefront. I know how oppressive the state of
Indiana is and I thought that no state compares to
its blatant oppressive ways until I was captured
and kidnapped in the state of Wisconsin.
This place is truly a large plantation for the poor
to till the land. Master Tommy Thompson is a true
snake with 2 heads. We have no rights in this
KKKamp. The KKKamp has a majority of New Afrikans
[prisoners], but there are 4 New Afrikans employed
here and they are trained well. If you openly
disagree with the system, you are placed in the
dungeon.
The hearings here are a joke, our so-called rights
are trampled upon daily. The sad part is that 98.9%
of the population refuse to do anything
constructive or anything at all about the
conditions here. Brothers complain but refuse to
sacrifice.
For example, I was in a Afrikan Heritage Group,
where our sponsor, a staff member of Afrikan
heritage, but not Afrikan ideas. [He] relayed to
our group of 25 brothers that the complaint officer
stated that she does not waste her time on
complaints by New Afrikans about racism because we
use that as an excuse. He told us this directly.
Me and another brother in the group asked a New
Afrikan brother who was well versed in the law to
assist us in filing a compliant to the Department
of Corrections, which he did. This brother is a
solid brother who has received numerous checks from
his lawsuits against this racist state.
Once the pigs found out about the complaint, which
is legal according to the DOC's rules, they asked
us who told us that she made this statement. We
refused to tell because we didn't have to. The pigs
issued a conduct report for lying on staff and
disrespect.
The so called investigation was so weak. The pigs
asked the accused if they made the statement and of
course they denied making them. That was the end of
the investigation. The New Afrikan staff member who
told us even denied he made such a statement. What
hurt me is that the Afrikan Heritage Group stated
that we should have expected him to deny it and
that they couldn't do anything. They refused to
stand up for this brother knowing it was wrong.
I asked how do you expect for anyone to be a
coward? I quit the group and a truly righteous
comrade got 90 days segregation. This place is very
passive and these brothers are all about gym shoes
and being macks, which is about nothing. I long for
the day to return to my hometown, to be around my
solid comrades.
-- a Wisconsin Prisoner, 24 August, 1996
RCG1 Responds: This letter clearly demonstrates how
prison officials will use groups, such as the
Afrikan Heritage Group, to keep prisoners
oppressed. If this study group is led by a
prisoncrat staff, then it is not intended to
empower people, but control them. That pig staff
made that statement about the complaint officer in
order to see how prisoners would react. This way he
saw who was progressive and set them up to get
punished and segregation.
The focus should be on examining the oppressive
forces of the pigs and how to organize the masses.
Not all prisoners are just interested in gym shoes.
The solid comrades have to help lead, organize and
educate. They must work against the oppressive pig
forces and start study groups, letter writing
campaigns etc.
30 September, 1996
ARIZONA GOVERNOR AND DOC DIRECTOR ARE THE REAL
CRIMINALS
...I would like to update you on the problems we
are experiencing in ADOC [Arizona Department of
Corrections], but to complain is redundant and
prisoners all across the nation are experiencing
the oppression of prison authorities.
I will talk about the indictment of Fife Symington,
the governor of the state of Arizona. As you
probably know, he was hit with a twenty-three count
indictment by the federal government. I an curious
to see how he will fair. The sheep of Arizona have
not even risen up to get him out of office. I know
back home, I am from Washington D.C., the people
don't take that shit. I know you are probably
thinking, "What about Marion Berry?". The average
person does not know that Mr. Berry was the
greatest mayor D.C. ever had. Before he got into
office the first time, the city and the poor were
suffering drastically. I know there are still
problems but no one did it better than him.
Getting back to Fife, the feds have charged him
using his governor ship to pressure banks into
deals that benefit him, lying to the feds in
bankruptcy hearings, and the theft of 25 million
dollars. He still is in office. There has been a
feeble effort to have a recall vote, but they need
200,000 some odd signatures within 120 days.
The interesting part of this story is Fife is a
staunch advocate on get tough on so-called
criminals. Shit he is the biggest criminal of them
all. He also was one of the leading advocates of
the state's rights issue. Last year his crony, Sam
Lewis, the former director of the Department of
Corrections, was found in contempt by q federal
judge concerning payment to a special master. The
special master was appointed to be a liaison
between the prisoners and the ADOC.. Lewis and Fife
conspired to introduce and push a bill in the state
legislature which made it imperative that the state
legislature approve any moneys Arizona had to pay
the federal government pursuant to fines and the
like.
As you can imagine the feds shat bricks over that
shit and swift action was taken to negate the
state's action. After the contempt charge, he
resigned a month later.
Anyway, I know the feds have not forgotten Fife's
enthusiasm for state's rights. I do not want to see
anyone go to prison, but Fife is an exception. He
has made life in this DOC a living hell. like he
promised. There has been numerous uprisings behind
the policies he and his cronies have implemented.
They don't want the public to know, usually it was
leaked to the press that it was racial tension that
caused the uprisings, but most of the times that
was not the case.
Fife has used the incarcerated as his whipping boys
and treated us like shit. I guess he never knew he
might be facing prison one day. That is the problem
with the average Joe on the street. Any person is
just an arrest away from being sent to prison,
unless you have money. Then you can just about get
out of anything.
Unfortunately, Fife is not coming to ADOC. The feds
got him. The state did not have the balls to get
him even though the writing was on the wall.
Hopefully the feds will remember the song and dance
Fife gave the public concerning state's rights and
send his add to a fed penitentiary of FCI [Federal
Corrections Institution]. But knowing the system,
he will probably go to camp for a few months.
Don't get me wrong,, I hold no torch for the feds..
They can kiss my ass too.. But people like Fife
need a taste of the medicine he has concocted.
Please continue the good work your organization is
doing. Please keep me apprised of your work and the
positive work of others by keeping me on your
mailing list. Thank you.
-- an Arizona Prisoner, 9 August, 1996
MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS CORRUPTION
The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has
been rocked with some scandals of Corrections
Officers' (C.O.) questionable conduct.
In the month of July 1996, MDOC, C.O. Giles, (a
black female pig) was accused of shooting her gun
at another MDOC employee off duty. This was
regarding another female MDOC employee (who works
with Ms. Giles at the E.C. Brooks Correctional
Facility in Muskegon, Michigan) for allegedly
having an affair with her "man" (who is also an
employee for the MDOC and who works at the same
facility.) As of this writing Ms. Giles is laid off
work, pending investigation.
On August 4, 11996, C.O. Vines (a black female pig)
was caught in the room of another prisoner with her
pants down. A fellow "white" employee, C.O.
Anderson , is the one who discovered this incident.
C.O. Vine was taken up to the Control Center and
off the prison grounds. The prisoner was
subsequently taken to the "hole".
It has been reported that other incidents have
taken place at this facility, since it opened in
1989. Example: an officer was forcing prisoners to
allow him to perform oral sex on them, or he would
write them major misconduct reports. Eventually
this officer was caught and fired, and all the
misconduct reports the officer had written were
pulled. Also, officers at this facility have been
busted bringing drugs into prisoners and also
fired.
The corruption that takes place within the MDOC is
widespread and often covered up and shielded from
the general public's ears. The MDOC is very
powerful and has a lot of pull with local news
agencies whereby the news of their acts aren't
readily reported.
The recent events will be monitored and reported as
more information is gathered.
In the trenches...
-- a Michigan Prisoner, 14 August, 1996
KANSAS CENSORS MIM NOTES
I received the first paper that you [sent]. It was
refreshing! Unfortunately the second wasn't allowed
in. They'll refuse each and every one. The reason,
part of it was written in a language other then
English. While I know this isn't the real reason,
the military penal system is far worse than the
normal, and has unlimited resources!
Continue to carry forth the word to the masses and
I wish you the best in your endeavors.
-- a Kansas Prisoner, 9 August, 1996.
***WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT
PRISONERS***
*1. Struggle with, work with, finance and join MIM.
The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow
the system under which capitalists profit from the
exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the
best way to do this is to build a Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up their
power without a fight.
*2. Finance MIM's prison work. Our biggest bill
each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades
who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So
if you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
*3. Distribute MIM Notes and Notas Rojas. Bring the
voices of prisoners and their supporters to as
large and wide an audience of people as possible.
Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips.
*4. Start or join a prison support group. MIM can
provide advice and resources to help you build
public opinion for prisoners and their struggles.
*5. Fight censorship, beatings, torture and other
fascist outrages. Under Lock and Key often features
the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies.
Work with the friends and let the enemies know
you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists
to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this
list).
*6. Stay in touch. Keep us informed of pro-prisoner
work you do. Our readers might find it educational
or inspirational.
***WHAT PRISONERS CAN DO TO BUILD MIM***
*1. Start a study group. This is the best way to
share materials and ideas. In groups, prisoners can
better benefit from the limited resources MIM has.
*2. Get MIM Notes and MIM Theory into your library.
This allows one copy of the paper to be seen by
many comrades.
*3. Contact people on the outside. MIM needs
comrades and allies everywhere. Maybe you know
people on the outside who want to subscribe to MIM
Notes or distribute it.
*4. Share materials. If MIM sends books or
periodicals, please make sure that as many people
as possible get a chance to read them.
*5. Write MIM at least every three months.
Otherwise, you will be dropped from our mailing
list. There are many cases where your keepers throw
out MIM Notes, so we need to know that you actually
get it. Also, comrades are moved around a lot,
especially those who are known to be political.
Please let us know of any address changes as soon
as you know them.
*6. Make MIM Distributors an official distributor.
Many prisons require registration before MIM can
send books or other materials. Usually we can
comply with these bogus rules. It helps immensely
to have someone there do the reasearch and send us
the proper forms.
*7. Send money or stamps. Our biggest bill each
month is postage. Most of the prison comrades who
read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So if
you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
Please make all checks payable to "MIM
Distributors."
*8. Write for MIM Notes or Notas Rojas. Prisoners
write almost all of Under Lock & Key. We don't
care if you know how to spell or write good English
or Spanish. Write on any topic you like, it does
not have to be a prison story.
*9. Translate. If you can read and write English
and another language fluently, let us know. Any
translation work you do will help us make Maoist
ideas accessible to more people.
*10. Fight censorship. When you know of censorship
of books or newspapers, investigate. Write to MIM
to confirm what has happened, then see what you can
do about it.
*11. Keep in touch after your release. Many
comrades stop doing political work after their
release. Write to MIM as soon as you know where
you'll be so we can hook you up with comrades on
the outside.
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