Unite to fight the pigs

It just so happens that I've got an older (real) brother here. Not too long ago he was forced into a situation of having to utilize the toilet on the yard to take a shit. After asking various of the porkers who were on the yard, for over an hour, to allow him to return to the cell to utilize the facilities, he was denied and told to use the toilet on the yard. So he finally did as they suggested.

When he went to use the yard toilet another brotha and myself went to kept security on him. Shortly thereafter, here comes the sergeant and two piggies to the urinal area with intentions to attempt to bust my brother doing something "wrong." The walkway to the urinal was guarded by me. When the pig came down he told me and the other brotha to leave. The other brotha left and went to the top of the track about 15 feed away. I refused to move to let this pig pass me. I wouldn't let an inmate of another race pass me to enter the area, so I'm damn sure not about to let a pig just waltz past me. Especially when I know that this pig/system is our/my prime enemy. So his badge and monkey-suit don't mean anything to me but "foe."

After the pig realized that I wasn't going to let him pass me, he then reached for his pepper spray and told me that if he has to tell me to move again that he'll spray me. My reply was "you won't get to it." I damn sure wasn't about to let this pig, who was within my arm range, spray me. Not for free at least.

After that, my brother told me to go ahead and let him in, that he's done. And I complied. To the pig it was a blow to his tender ego that another "inmate" can ask me to move and I do it, yet he can't do it.

So I moved to the top of the track, they cuff my brother and take him to a holding cage. Then some extra pigs come over to me and the other brotha I was standing with and cuffed me and took me to a holding cage.

They ended up sending us both back to our cells. My brother was clean and I was clean. They had nothing.

With that story comes the wake up call. First, my folks, black and brown, you've got to peel your eyes open. Ain't no way that situation should've went down the way it did.

That pig shouldn't have had the gall to come upon me thinking I would immediately move for him, and tried to act on what he thought…he had the audacity because my people haven’t woke up!

We, as a whole, have allowed the pigs here too many times to speak to us disrespectfully with no repercussions. We've allowed them to play our intelligence, and to treat us like sub-humans, all with no repercussions whatsoever. It's all because we as a whole haven't woken up to who our true enemy is.

Who is the enemy, the ones dying or the ones killing us? Wake y'all asses up!

Many people witnessed what happened that day and none of them came over to see what the deal was nor to support any of us, not one. That is because my peoples are asleep. Wake your ass up and realize that we are all kept in here by the same mutha fuckas!

Come to the side of a mutha fucka on the same side of the gun as you are. Whatever issues and groups in here may or may not be going through at any time, nothing should take precedence over any issues with any pigs at any time.

Right now these pork chops are in the process of phasing out all radio boxes and limiting us to disc-mans and walk-mans. We are letting them do this, and until we all wake up they will keep taking from us until we're sitting in our cells with nothing.

I have personally sat in the hole and have done SHU terms for the masses, only to be let down time and time again. Only to be consequentially singled out for foul treatment by pigs and stand and endure the shit by myself while all that was around me kept sleeping. Ten people per prison yard that are awake just isn't cutting it. The mass majority needs to wake up, get the keys to the bulldozers, and let's start rolling over shit.

Many people in the past have given their lives to allow us to have the same shit that the pigs keep taking from us. For the past 10 years they've been picking our shit apart.

I currently have a release date and I would sacrifice it in a heartbeat for the cause. Eighteen months ago I just go through fighting 3 strikes, for the cause. Wake your ass up so that we can wake up the people on the street. When you're awake you'll wake up your folks on the political aspects of prison and the laws that they are voting on an dhow they will effect you.

- by Born Struggler, a California prisoner, April 2006

MIM replies: In prison it is important to pick battles with care. This comrade is right that the pigs are on the side of the enemy, and that prisoners need to unite in the struggle against the oppressor rather than fighting each other. But we also urge our comrades behind bars to think carefully about which battles to fight and what will be won from each battle. Taking on guards can result in a SHU term and some serious medical problems. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but evening the repressive conditions of prison, sometimes prisoners can make choices to avoid the losing battles.