I N T E R N E T ' S M A O I S T BI-M O N T H L Y = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = XX XX XXX XX XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X V X X X V X X X X X X X XX XXX X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X XXX X X X V XXX X XXX XXX = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT MIM Notes 125 NOVEMBER 1, 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. DON'T VOTE -- ORGANIZE FOR REVOLUTION 2. LATINOS MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND RESIST "IMMIGRANT" BASHING 3. LETTERS 4. NATIONAL OPPRESSION AND FASCIST WHITE KIDS AT BOSTON LATIN 5. LONG LIVE THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION! 6. RAIL ORGANIZES FOR REVOLUTION IN ANTI-VOTE CAMPAIGN 7. MASSES PROTEST DEDICATION OF COLUMBUS STATUE 8. INDONESIAN COMPRADORS BUY AMERIKAN PATRONAGE 9. ANTI-COLUMBUS WEEK STARTS WITH LESSONS FROM PINE RIDGE 10. PROPERTY OWNERS CONTINUE TO RUN AMOK AGAINST "FREE SPEECH" 11. U.$. UNIONS WIN BIG 12. CARDINAL LAW: SERVE MORE GRAVY 13. MARK FUHRMAN GETS AWAY WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER 14. GOVERNMENT TO EXPAND INTERNET TO REACH AMERIKA'S YOUTH 15. ACLU FIGHTS DOC RUN-AROUND AND CENSORSHIP OF MIM NOTES 16. PIGS IN FORD HEIGHTS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE "DRUG WAR" 17. CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM RESISTS CHALLENGES TO ANTI-GANG UNITS 18. PIG BRUTALITY PLEASES LAPD'S CHIEF WILLIAMS 19. NORML FIGHTS CRIMINAL INJUSTICE BUT STILL STUCK IN AMERIKAN INDIVIDUALISM 20. SEND FUNDS FOR MAOIST LITERATURE TO PRISONERS 21. UNDER LOCK & 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 * * * DON'T VOTE -- ORGANIZE FOR REVOLUTION HARTFORD, CT., 6 October -- A group of organizations calling itself the Coalition for a Real Debate held a rally in Hartford, outside the Civic Center where Clinton and Dole held their first presidential campaign debate. RAIL attended the event, distributed literature and struggled with the people present. The organizations endorsing the event were mostly community peace-and-justice groups, plus two political parties -- the Connecticut Labor Party and the Caucus of Connecticut Democrats. Although the organizers stated that the event was not to promote any political party and that speakers were prohibited from endorsing any party, there were large contingents with signs and banners from two of the main "alternative" imperialist parties, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party. A succession of speakers at the microphone delivered messages that ranged from strongly anti- imperialist, opposing police, prisons and foreign intervention, to blatantly pro-imperialist. In the middle were many Amerikan-chauvinist single-issue politicians, calling for various groups within white Amerika to claim more power in the u.s. government and Amerikan society. RAIL found unity with many of the participants, mostly youth who were not carrying party insignia. Some youth were with a contingent from the anarchist Food Not Bombs group who gave out free food. RAIL's flyer's with the slogan "DON'T VOTE, Organize for Revolution" prompted many serious discussions with these youth. Many agreed with RAIL that the u.s. government is illegitimate and we should not support it by participating in its elections. LIBERTARIANS WANT MORE PROTECTION FOR INDIVIDUALS A member of the Libertarian party suggested that RAIL and the Libertarians could find unity in "getting the government off our backs". When RAIL inquired what that meant to the Libertarians, it became clear there was no basis for unity. The Libertarian wanted "less taxes on the middle class", but more cops, more prisons, and more military, "to protect my property". S/he stated that there are some purposes for which a government is needed, and named protection of person and property from other individuals as first among them. Protection of the bourgeoisie's property is, in the Libertarian view, the correct function of government. Libertarians differ from the Demopublicrat group in calling for less spending on expensive window-dressing to hide that function. GREEN PARTY WANTS MORE PROTECTION FOR MIDDLE CLASS Members of the Green Party, supporting their presidential candidate Ralph Nader, espoused a random sampling of ecology and "social justice" causes. All the Greens that RAIL talked to parted ways with RAIL over the correctness of pursuing power through elections. The Green Party participates in electoralism because it agrees with the imperialist practice. Although the Green Party pamphlet cites "Grassroots Democracy", "Global Responsibility" and "Post- patriarchal values" as among the party's ten key values, nowhere in the lengthy paragraphs titled "Ecology" and "Social Justice" does it mention the plight of the majority of the world's people who are the source of Amerika's wealth, either the Third World or the internal colonies. The Green Party does not oppose imperialist brutality either domestically in prisons and police expansion, or internationally in wars and economic exploitation. Nader quotes Thomas Jefferson as saying "the function of representative government is to 'counteract the excesses of the monied interests.'" So the Greens and Nader, demanding a better deal for the "middle class", line up opposite the Libertarians who think the government is already doing too much to counteract excesses. RAIL disagrees with both because we oppose imperialism and national oppression no matter what face it puts on, no matter how broadly it spreads its net of bribes to the bought-off public at home. REFORMIST DEMANDS WITH REVOLUTIONARY STRATEGY RAIL has unity with those speakers who demanded winnable reforms that give some relief to the oppressed without taking it away from other oppressed people. Especially when struggles for reforms expose the true nature and purpose of the Amerikan state, the struggles help to build revolutionary unity among the oppressed. A list of "things to oppose" that was printed on the rally flyer provides examples of both progressive and reactionary reforms. Among those we would agree with were opposition to "aggressive u.s. foreign policies", "attacks on affirmative action", and "undermining civil liberties under the guise of fighting 'drugs' and 'terrorism'". Another "thing to oppose" was health care cuts. It is important to remember that most government money going into health care is part of the standard of living bribe paid out to the pro-imperialist white working class in Amerika. Some of the money, however, certainly does find its way down to the truly oppressed. Agitation for redistribution of health care money toward the really poor is a reform effort that RAIL can endorse, although its ability to be successful remains in question. Usually reformists make demands on behalf of the truly oppressed more winnable by attaching them to demands on behalf of privileged people who are demanding a bigger piece of the pie. Recall that in the "great health care debate" of Clinton's first term no one advocated simply shifting health care spending to serve those who had none. Even a "single-payer" plan, the nearest thing to such a shift, with its promise of services available to everyone was weighed down by the demands of the already privileged that it bring them better services also. RAIL actively supports agitation for prisoners' health care; it is a winnable struggle because it can be posed as a "human rights" issue and used to embarrass the state into living up to its own humanitarian propaganda. As such it can help alleviate some especially brutal oppression, and at the same time exposes what is really going down -- mass murder because of inadequate medical care for HIV infected prisoners is one example. LABOR ARISTOCRACY NEEDS NO PROTECTION RAIL will not support agitation for increased legal protection of unions which was another point on the rally flyer. 99% of unionist power in the u.s. (AFL-CIO, etc.) is not a progressive force. While there is a struggle within the imperialist ranks between the white working class and the capitalist bosses, revolutionaries do not need to expend resources in taking sides. The Amerikan unions are demanding a bigger piece of the stolen imperialist pie, have no interest in revolution or freeing the truly oppressed, and have never been a worthwhile ally to those who suffer under the yoke of imperialism. What needs exposing is not the unions' disagreement with the bosses, but rather their underlying alliance which the "labor-business" conflict serves to conceal. DEMOCRAT PARTY "SNEAKS" IN SPEAKER Despite the rally organizers' stated rule that no parties were to be endorsed from the podium, a Democratic party activist held forth at length. At first s/he disguised their message, running down a litany of left issues and making stirring statements about how the people have to take back power. It became clear who s/he meant by "the people" when s/he launched into the usual Democratic Party speech about how dangerous the Republicans are ("children will starve, homosexuals will burn", etc.) and how "a vote for Clinton isn't a vote for all his policies". The Democrat Party speaker suggested that people can support Clinton with conditions attached, and make deals during the campaign to influence his policies. When RAIL remarked that the speaker should be inside the Civic Center, one of the rally organizers agreed and began complaining loudly behind the stage, saying that "there were supposed to be no party endorsements!" They did not pull the plug on the microphone, however, and so this Democrat continued. S/he used the standard good-cop/bad-cop Demopublicrat trick: threaten people with the evil deeds the Republicans will do if they don't elect the Democrats. The purpose of this trick is to pull into the Clinton camp those who are actually hurt by Clinton's imperialist racist policies. It is a stark reminder that for the oppressed, voting is not an act of choice but of being thoroughly coerced. It could be paraphrased: "Elect the liberal or we'll starve these children". The successful infiltration of the Democratic party activist into this "alternatives agendas" rally shows that there is only one answer to the question posed on the rally flyer: "Are you fed up because there is no REAL debate on issues of peace and social justice?" RAIL gives the answer: DON'T VOTE, ORGANIZE FOR REVOLUTION! * * * LATINOS MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND RESIST "IMMIGRANT" BASHING by a comrade On October 12, more than 25,000 Latinos marched on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The march coincided with the Columbus Day weekend, and denounced the anti-'immigrant' fervor among Amerikans. Many attending the rally after the march had a correct analysis and nationalist consciousness which the organizers attempted to subvert. When announced they should sing "our national anthem," young people with Puerto Rican flags draped over their shoulders shouted "Of which nation?!?" and started to sing a Puerto Rican song as the Amerikkkan anthem blared over the speakers. ORGANIZERS PROMOTE ELECTORALISM AND TRANQUILLITY The message presented by the organizers was integration, not self- determination. In an interview on NPR a few days before the march, one march organizer said they were encouraging participants to carry Amerikan flags rather than the flags of their own country. He said they wanted to avoid what happened at the Proposition 187 rallies in California -- implying that the revolutionary nationalism of the masses at these events was a disaster for the movement. He also said that the principal aim of the rally was to encourage people to participate in electoral politics. As one woman speaking at the rally said "vote, vote, vote...if you don't like someone in office, vote them out of office." This exposes electoralism for what it is: dead end politics. If you don't like someone in office and you don't like their opponent then what choice does voting give you? MIM does not think the revolutionary nationalism of the proposition 187 rallies was a disaster, on the contrary we stand with the many people who attended this rally in Washington DC and were disappointed by the reactionary capitulationist message of electoralism and Amerikan patriotism. When the first of the marchers arrived on the Ellipse they were told to be patient and calm while waiting for the program to officially begin. Tranquillity was the message, not anger focused on organizing for revolution. In the meantime, there was Latino music and a sizable crowd for MIM and RAIL to talk to about revolutionary nationalist politics. MIM got there before the rally began but the crowd was already oozing with sectarian groups. MIM explained the differences between MIM and other so-called communists. One distributor had many conversations in Spanish about the labor aristocracy in Amerika, and the masses in these conversations thought that MIM's line on the reactionary nature of the white working class was correct. PIGS FAIL IN STOPPING MIM AND RAIL MIM and RAIL set up a table without a permit, and were harassed by the Park Police. One pig came out and said he thought we did have a first amendment right to distribute literature, but not to have a table. He blathered about littering and other irrelevant issues, and then told us that if we found a regulation march table that was not being used, we could set up our literature and t-shirts on that. When MIM engaged the pigs in a debate about the first amendment and their attempts to restrict our supposed right to free speech, several people gathered around to support us and encouraged us to harass the pigs right back. These people got a first hand lesson on how there are not really rights under imperialism, only power struggles. The cops also shut down the LaRouchites and other sectarians for a short time, but the pigs eventually gave up and ignored the tables. This seemed to be a result of all the people who were not willing to just leave quietly and who kept setting their tables back up after the pigs walked away. MIM was among those who did not leave quietly and after we set up our stuff the second time the pigs did not come back or give us any more trouble. "WE DIDN'T CROSS THE BORDER, THE BORDER CROSSED US" There were seven official demands of the march, including a minimum wage of $7 per hour, free education for all children, health care, and amnesty for all undocumented or "illegal" workers. Some of the masses held pro-Zapatista banners, and chanted in Spanish "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!" Others had t-shirts, buttons and banners with messages like "I survived the March on Washington -- I wasn't deported!" and "No human being is illegal!" The masses had a range of political views, but the organizers' theme of the rally was integration and acceptance by mainstream Amerika. One speaker said, "We are Americans because we believe in the Constitution, in equality and justice before the law for everyone." There were cheers from the crowd in response to that and "We are all Americans" from other speakers. Several people asked MIM if we were sponsoring this rally. We responded that the organizers and the purpose behind the rally were not things that we could support and this rally did not represent an event led by the proletariat. MIM knows that Latinos, undocumented or not, will continue to be targets of police harassment and brutality. Latinos are not considered Amerikans by the imperialist state; and voting for Latino and liberal candidates, as many speakers were urging, will not make them more Amerikan. Such reformist strategies delay the inevitable victory of the people and do a disservice to the struggle for power for 'immigrants'. MIM urges all its Latino readers to check out MIM Notes, Notas Rojas and Maoist Sojourner to get the revolutionary nationalist perspective on issues like immigration, borders, and citizenship. Order MIM Theory 1 ($3) and 10 ($6) for our position on the labor aristocracy in Amerika. Order MIM Theory 7 ($6) on revolutionary nationalism. Note: The Washington Post, 13 October 1996 p. 1 * * * LETTERS LETTER TO VILLAGE VOICE ON AGENT PROVOCATEUR QUISPE Letters to the Editor The Village Voice 36 Cooper Square New York, NY 1000 voice@echonyc.com October 6, 1996 Dear Editor, In regard to Richard Gehr's Cyber column of August 27 ("The Flaming Path"): Your column described the sinister role of the man who goes by the name of Luis Quispe on the Internet's Marxism List. You correctly explained that his statements in that forum "may well have" led to the arrest of Julian Calero, who is accused by the Peruvian government of being a "Shining Path terrorist," and is being threatened with deportation from his isolation cell in New York to the U.S.-Fujimori death-squad regime in Peru. Quispe, who poses as a leading supporter of the revolution in Peru, boastfully announced on the Marxism List that one of his phony "MPP-USA"'s supposed members was wanted by the Peruvian authorities, and described the details of this supposed "MPP-USA" member's case: the crime he was charged with and the location in Peru from which he came. When Calero was thereafter arrested and the facts of his case became publicly known, it turned out that the facts of his case matched precisely those details previously announced by Quispe. Currently, Quispe is fairly pathetically trying to cover his tracks by exploiting the fact that he didn't name a name when he fingered Calero. Quispe's defense (reflected in your column) is essentially that it wasn't Calero he was fingering; he was fingering someone else! Your article erred by treating Quispe's behavior as an example of "loony leftism" and sectarianism turned deadly. In fact, Quispe has a three-year history of splitting and wrecking, intelligence- gathering, forgery, double-dealing, snitch work, political inconsistencies, and attacks on proven defenders of the revolution in Peru. Quispe is no leftist. He is clearly an agent provocateur. Enclosed is evidence exposing Quispe's COINTELPRO- style police plot, which we will make available to your readers upon request. In struggle, MIM (MIM Notes readers, send $1 to MIM for the in depth look at Agent Quispe's tactics in June 1996 Maoist Sojourner) LAMPPOST FLYER DRAWS FIRE Dear Sir/Madam: I read your flyer on a light pole on North Charles St., Baltimore. Although the statistics you reference, as well as the overall tone of the message are not novel I do have an interest in reeling in the Federal Government which is totally out of control. By the way, your spelling of America as Amerika smacks of the jaded, self- serving, hedonist masquerading as souls processing a higher social consciousness crap that manifested in the 1960s. In addition, before you go ga ga on the Maoist Communists, I suggest you check out the track record of the Shining Path. They had/have a particularly unique form of political repression. Specifically, if someone was suspected of "aiding" the imperialist enemy (read U.S.) the entire village was murdered. I think the term I am searching for is genocide. By the way, I was there so save your breath trying to say otherwise. With that out of the way, and just so we understand each other, i.e., your side also has some real shit bags on it, I would like to request any additional information you have with respect to the crushing repression we are experiencing in this country. Whether or not any given political system can provide relief is doubtful at best, but I am certainly interested in considering alternatives to what I perceive as the inevitable crash of America as it currently exists. In the meantime remember, it is not what you say, but what you do. Sincerely, - A Baltimore lamppost reader July 25, 1996 MIM RESPONDS: We aren't sure which flyer you are responding to, but recently RAIL and MIM did a flyer series in Baltimore as part of the End the Amerikkkan Lockdown campaign to expose the prison and injustice systems, so it must have been one of those. In between invective anti-communism, you express a few vague views of your own: you are interested in "reeling in" the government, and you refer to the "crushing repression" in the country, and your interest in "alternatives" to an "inevitable crash." You are no doubt aware that the Republikans and Demo-rats all say they want to "reel in" the government. The National Rifle Association says "we" are experiencing "repression," and lots of religious sects think there will be an "inevitable crash." So, if you are this anti-communist, why write to us instead of one of these groups? Anti- communism runs so deep in some groups that even people whose aspirations can only be fulfilled through communist revolution often disclaim themselves profusely. You may be in this category, but you may not. We use "Amerika" to point to the illegitimacy of the Euro-Amerikan settler state. This is not "self- serving" except insofar as it serves the oppressed, whom true revolutionaries are sworn to serve regardless of their personal origins. (If you think this is "self-serving" in terms of profit, well, all we can say is you've got to be kidding!). We certainly have "check[ed] out the track record" of the Communist Party of Peru (PCP, a.k.a. Shining Path) and have worked to support the revolution they lead for years. At present our principal task in that effort is building public opinion for revolution in North America and other English- speaking areas. Crucial to that is our work to influence the international communist movement so that it can best support the revolution in Peru. The charges of "genocide" and other such fabrications against the PCP are commonplace and have been dealt with extensively in the literature of the PCP itself, as we have reported. You may have "been there," but of course so have the PCP comrades, the CIA, and so on. President Bush was ambassador to China - he was "there" for years -- but that doesn't mean we believe him that Mao was bad. This is a substitute for real facts and analysis. If you would like more information, as you say, we suggest you order the latest issue of MIM Theory, "Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial," and a literature list. Special issues of MIM Theory that may interest you include number 9, "The Anarchist Ideal and Communist Revolution," and number 4, "The Failure and Success of Communist Revolution." Issues of MIM Theory are $6. You should also subscribe to MIM Notes and get 26 issues for $20 per year. Order now and also get the quarterly RAIL Notes included. **Note: MIM has no official tie to the Communist Party of Peru (PCP). MIM does not claim to follow Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Gonzalo Thought for the imperialist countries, but MIM does support it for Peru. Articles from MIM on Peru should be taken as MIM's best attempt to print genuine articles in support of the People's War in Peru.** * * * NATIONAL OPPRESSION AND FASCIST WHITE KIDS AT BOSTON LATIN by a RAIL comrade Boston Latin Academy has been the subject of controversy after Julie McLaughlin, a white girl who had gone to a private elementary school, was refused entry to this public exam school for 7-12th graders. Her father sued the school, accusing it of unfair entry policies because her test scores were higher than some of the Black and Latino students admitted. Boston Latin, a public school which requires an entrance exam, had a policy of affirmative in place until a judge declared this unconstitutional in September. The judge ruled that Boston Latin must stop using racial quotas and must allow Julie McLaughlin to attend. This attack on affirmative action has followed similar trends towards increased national oppression across the country. In California, during the months after the passage of proposition 187, hate crimes and large-scale fights against immigrants increased significantly. NATIONAL CHAUVINISM BREEDS FASCIST STUDENTS WIELDING WEAPONS The last week in September, a brawl broke out between Black students from Latin and a white youth from South Boston(Southie). Four Black senior wimmin said that William Rae, a white Boston Latin student from South Boston, went around school with his friends asking "hey, you gonna be at the rumble?" and laughing. The whites were building support for a rumble with the Black students after Rae and a Black student fought in school earlier in the day. Most of the 40 white youth were from local colleges or other high schools who came to Latin in several cars when school was getting out. They were armed with chains, hockey sticks, metal poles, baseball bats, and mace, according to a group of Black senior girls. One senior from Dorchester, a poor Black neighborhood, said: "We've had fights in school, but this wasn't a fight -- this was an all-out war." The undercurrent of fascist ideology in this fight was reflected by the fascist attitudes of some of the white youth who showed up wearing "Southie Rules" shirts. This slogan is a clear statement of white supremacy and is recognized by Boston residents for its racist implications because South Boston is a mostly white community where a significant number of fascist supporters live. The administrators of the school and the city of Boston tried to deny that this brawl was motivated by the atmosphere of tension and institutional support for national oppression that exists in Boston Latin and in the Amerikan school system in general. Marcia Garcia-Aaronson, headmaster of Boston Latin said "This wasn't a Latin Academy incident." Yet the four central students in the conflict were summoned to the assistant headmaster's office that day. Superintendent Thomas Payzant and Mayor Thomas Menino both said the fight was not racially motivated. We don't live in a "post-racist society" as Pete Wilson has claimed. Conditions are still much worse for Blacks and Latinos relative to whites. This includes financial, cultural, and structural oppression that means oppressed nation youth have a much harder time getting a good education. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS THE LEAST THE OPPRESSOR CAN DO The set-asides (affirmative action quotas) are what allow many Blacks and Latinos to get a step up after having been pushed down so many steps by society. Most whites at Boston Latin are from private schools. For these whites, money allowed them to get into this good school. Blacks and Latinos don't tend to have this kind of money not to mention the other societal factors working in favor of whites and against oppressed nationals. An acceptance policy that is race-blind would end up being just a free ride for the wealthy whites -- merely a publicly funded private school similar to those that exist in wealthy neighborhoods across the country. Affirmative action is part of Amerika's neo- colonial way of minimizing the threat of rising national liberation struggles among Amerika's internal colonies. It allows small numbers of people of oppressed nationalities to "integrate" more easily with their national oppressors, while the majority in the internal colonies remain colonized. However, allowing small numbers of oppressed nations to receive an education that they may use against their oppressive is a positive thing. Along such lines, RAIL supports the defense of affirmative action. RAIL supports the anger of the Black students who took part in the fight against the Southie whites. This was not an isolated incident and this anger needs to be turned into systematic organizing to fight against the wealth and power of a school system and a whole society that has been built on the oppression of nations both inside and outside of us borders. NOTE: Boston Globe, 27 September, 1996. p.A1. * * * LONG LIVE THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION! by RAIL comrades October 1, 1996 -- RAIL and MIM co-sponsored a showing and discussion of "A Rustling of Leaves: Inside the Philippine Revolution" on a central Californian campus together with a local mass organization, ASIAN! (Asian Sisters for Ideas In Action Now!). This event was part of the campaign to promote solidarity for the ongoing Maoist-led Filipino revolution. The Canadian-produced film provided a general overview of the political situation in the Philippines circa the Aquino regime and the MIM-led discussion brought the situation up to date. The filmmakers deftly expose how Aquino's political ascendancy was firmly rooted in military might rather than "people power" as she espoused. RAIL adds that real people power lies in arming the masses with M-L-M theory and practice, and overthrowing imperialism. The anti-Communist death squads roving the countryside in Mindinao -- Alsa Masa and The Holy Christians-- are warmly acknowledged (by the American consulate no less!) to be organized by the military with Aquino's heart-felt blessings, for the express purpose of oppressing and terrorizing the masses. These right-wing para-militaries use terror tactics and propaganda techniques which Alsa Masa leader and radio DJ, Jun Pala, proudly announced are modeled after Goebbel, Hitler's minister of propaganda. RAIL agrees with the filmmakers that Aquino and Amerikan's warm support of the military-backed right-wing death squads further demonstrates the illusory nature of the "democratic" process. Protracted people's war is the only way to guarantee a government which truly represents the masses. The film touches upon the struggles of the New People's Army (NPA) in Mindinao, as they build independent institutions of the oppressed in the liberated zones. The left and right opportunist lines developing within the party and their failure are also highlighted (to the exclusion of the correct line and its success) although the filmmakers did not conclude as RAIL and MIM do that those lines are inherently flawed and that the only way to have real change is to work with the masses and make scientific revolution guided by Marxism- Leninism-Maoism. The major criticism of this film is its neglect of the CPP's political ideology. That the NPA is led by Communists is only cursorily mentioned by the filmmakers; the significance of CPP leadership itself is ignored beyond general and brief mention of the ultimate goals of the revolution. In order to truly understand the Philippine people's war, one must understand the ideology and practice at the heart of it, which is why RAIL and MIM sponsor events such as these. Following the film, MIM spoke of the CPP's 1992 Rectification campaign and the struggle against Dutch expulsion of Professor Jose Maria Sison, founder of the CPP. After the discussion was opened up, one member of the audience insisted that revolutionary struggle was futile because of imperialism's vast resources and superior military technology. MIM addressed the criticism by pointing to the successful people's wars waged in China and Viet Nam despite their military "inferiority"; true superiority lies within having the correct political line. MIM further noted the vast numerical superiority of the Third World where 80% of the world population lives. When the critic continued in that nihilistic vein, s/he was spontaneously refuted by the masses who retorted that because of the gross imperialist oppression and exploitation the Filipino people must endure. Their best and only choice is to pick up the gun. RAIL wholeheartedly agrees. Imperialists won't relinquish their stranglehold on the world's peoples without a fight. Armed struggle is the only way to overthrow imperialism. And it can and will be done! When another member of the audience proposed Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi as model leaders, MIM vigorously countered with a materialist comparison of post-independence India and post-revolution China. The living conditions in India remained basically unchanged, but in China, the life expectancy rate doubled and literacy rocketed from a rate of 20% to 80%. Prompted by an supportive comment of an audience member, the topic of discussion then shifted to the merits of the NPA in their relationship to the masses as commended in the film by Comrade Dante. The NPA and the CPP strive to be scrupulously honest and forthright in their dealings with the masses. They, unlike the military, do not rape, steal, and murder. At this point, a former resident of Mindinao in exile interjected with some comments about civilians caught in the cross-fire, and condemning violence. To this MIM responded that it was the imperialists and their lackeys who first initiated violence and as Mao said "in order to put done the gun it is necessary to pick up the gun." The positive role of Filipino wimmin in the revolution was the final topic discussed. MIM emphasized that Filipino wimmin are essential in making and maintaining revolution and commented on their unfortunate exclusion in other revolutions to the detriment of the struggle itself. The mobilization of every oppressed person is necessary to defeat imperialism. RAIL supports the Filipino people's (and all oppressed nation's) right to self-determination and freedom from capitalist exploitation. The ongoing people's war in the Philippines is crucial in achieving this. RAIL concretely recognizes that it will take armed struggle and not electoralism to end the imperialist rape of the Third World. Democrats and Republicans alike benefit from the superprofits sucked from the Third World and therefore have a stake in maintaining imperialism. Events like this one help to build public opinion in support of anti-imperialist struggle. If, like the Filipino people, you too demand justice, then take action and unite with RAIL! We challenge you to rip the false mask off the face of capitalism. * * * RAIL ORGANIZES FOR REVOLUTION IN ANTI-VOTE CAMPAIGN **Not surprisingly, RAIL's Don't Vote for Imperialism campaign has met with opposition and misunderstanding, especially from the pseudo-left who want to elect Clinton. Here a RAIL comrade refutes criticisms and outlines our argument not to Vote, but instead organize for Revolution. Excerpted from MassRAIL.** Q. WHAT'S WRONG WITH VOTING? RAIL: There's nothing wrong with voting in general. People should have structured ways (voting is one) to make decisions together. Voting in United $tates government elections is a vote of confidence in a thoroughly unjust repressive system. Q. DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY? RAIL: There are different kinds of democracy. The current "democracy" in North Amerika is really a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie, swelled by the ranks of the white working class, dominate all aspects of the political, economic and social decisions in accordance with their material interests of perpetuating imperialism. The currently ruling Demopublicrats will win all these elections. Maintaining imperialist domination of both Third World nations and internal colonies is the job of the government. Settler masses will continue to elect them as long as they do that job. True democracy allows all people to make the decisions that affect their lives. Within North Amerika, the oppressed nations are simply outnumbered in "national" elections -- these are white-nation elections! Blacks, Latinos and First Nations will never have a meaningful voice in this government. True democracy necessitates self- determination of oppressed nations. Self- determination is a necessary prerequisite in guaranteeing that all people participate in decisions affecting them. Q: HOW CAN YOU SAY OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT WILL GET US ANYTHING? RAIL: To answer this question, we must consider the government in more detail -- What is the function of the state under bourgeois rule? How is the power maintained? How does the current government oppress and exploit the masses as well as control social protest? The current state is an instrument of control. The groups which benefit from the imperialist economic system employ the state apparatus to protect their interests and to repress resistance, rebellion and change. The groups that are oppressed and exploited under imperialism resist the oppression, and so are subject to brutal repression by the police state. In North Amerika, the wealthy capitalist bourgeoisie and their lap-dog white working class enjoy the protection of the United $tates government. The police state includes more kinds of cops than just the well-known baton-wielding donut- snarfing pigs in blue and the armed forces. The D.A.'s, judges, lawyers, legislators, and bureaucrats all have the job of maintaining the social order. Maintaining the social order is a simple job because it means suppressing the proletariat and protecting the bourgeoisie. Is it any surprise that the most brutal and vicious arm of the government, the Criminal Injustice System, imprisons Blacks, Latinos and Indigenous Nationals at grotesquely high rates? You won't see a predominance of wealthy whites behind bars. The police state is armed apparatus of the imperialist nation, projecting domination over the internal colonies. There is an even broader part of the state machinery of control. This is the machinery of culture and ideas. Whether they are directly on the government payroll or not (and many are), the psychological workers, social workers, teachers, professors, writers and other entertainers crank out philosophy to support imperialism and undermine resistance to it. Bourgeois philosophers chant that communism can't work. They proclaim that the suffering of oppressed people of the world isn't related to the wealthy's decadence. They suggest that we beg for tiny scraps of justice from the oppressors. If you believe that groups of people should not wield power over other groups, then you should not support this imperialist system with your vote. Its blood-stained history is matched by its hideous present. From the settler wars of conquest in which it stole the continent from the First Nations, through the enslavement of millions of Africans, the ruthless exploitation of generations of Latinos and Asians, the genocidal wars of "national interest" in the Third World and today's continued war against First Nations, Latinos and Blacks within North Amerika -- this is a regime whose brutality cannot realistically be cajoled, reformed, or turned into something else by playing within its rules! Q. AREN'T YOU BEING DEFEATIST BY NOT PARTICIPATING IN ELECTIONS? RAIL: We don't advocate sitting on our hands as an alternative to voting. Oppression must be actively and directly opposed through campaigns exposing the system for what it is. Such campaigns of agitation can win concrete concessions such as release of a framed prisoner or disciplining of a cop who got caught on videotape. In conducting this agitation, it is not helpful to build the legitimacy of the very system we oppose, by voting in it or calling on people to vote. Instead, we must build independent power. At all stages, we must build organizations and institutions separate from and in opposition to the government, and that can neither be defused by concessions nor crushed by police repression. Building revolution isn't easy. That is no reason to slow it down by digging in our heels and defending the legitimacy of the Amerikan state by voting for it. It's time for a change. DON'T VOTE. ORGANIZE FOR REVOLUTION! * * * MASSES PROTEST DEDICATION OF COLUMBUS STATUE MIDDLETOWN, CT, 12 October -- A small crowd of people gathered to protest the dedication of a new statue honoring Christopher Columbus. The counter- demonstrators silently distracted the participants with signs bearing statistics of Columbus' atrocities. Onlookers were shocked and surprised to see that anybody would object to their symbol of settler and Italian nationalism. One Mohawk womyn explained that her problem was not with Italians, but with the glorification of genocide via the statue. The statue was purchased with $55,000 in private funds and donated to the city to form the centerpiece of a new park on the river. The statue bears the inscription dedicating it to the "triumph of human spirit over adversity." The adversity which Columbus faced was the Taino and Arawak peoples who were annihilated by Columbus and the following settlers. After the dedication, many participants had looks of terror because they had to walk past the counter-demonstrators to leave the park. Many people decided to brave the mud to avoid people carrying signs such as, "17,000 raped and murdered". The mayor of Middletown asked counter-demonstrators for facts about Columbus. One of the public- pigficials came up to one counter-demonstrator and said, "There is room for everybody's opinion, right? Heh heh." One RAIL member commented that if he had really meant that statement he would have invited the counter-demonstrators to speak. Columbus didn't have room for the opinions -- or the existence -- of the Arawak and Taino nations either. The speakers at the dedication repeatedly said that the "United States is a nation of immigrants". This clearly exposes the apartheid nature of Amerika, as it leaves out the initial inhabitants of the land mass who were staring them right in the face. One First Nations activist explained to RAIL and other protesters that even on the issue of the "discovery" alone, Columbus wasn't the hero that white ideologues make him out to be. For example, he wasn't the first European to come to North or South America. Additionally, Columbus makes a pretty poor "discoverer" since the place he "found" wasn't what he thought it was. This serves to show the ideological role of history under imperialism. The history of Columbus has been changed from the reality of the blundering pirate and oppressive murderer that he was to an adventurous hero for settler masses to hail. Columbus serves as a symbol of the European conquest of the Americas, and history has been rewritten to make selling Columbus as a symbol easier. One supporter of the statue, and of Democrat Party candidate for State Senate, Suzio, challenged a RAIL comrade in his/her opposition to Columbus. According to him the First Nations were also responsible for genocide because the four nations near Plymouth in the 1600s were planning to attack the Pilgrims and wipe them out. RAIL didn't know whether this was historically accurate, if it were, it would be an example of the indigenous struggles to survive and retain their sovereignty. The tale shows the imperialist perspective of this critic. Once again creating the myth that settler masses faced hardships instead of creating a society off the backs of oppressed nations. A womyn from the Mohawk Nation interjected in this exchange and took this critic to task quickly with the question: "Are you free? Are your people free?" He tried to tell her that "This is a free country, we both are." The Mohawk womyn explained that she isn't free because her people have been forced onto reservations and as someone that now doesn't live on the reservation, she can't practice her religion. Freedom is only a privilege given to the oppressors. When she told him that Amerika "destroyed her culture" the Suzio supporter moved closer and angrily snapped back: "I didn't do anything! You killed my ancestors." Another Mohawk womyn attempted to set this man straight: "That's where the education system has failed you." Imperialism and colonialism are systems of oppression where one nation extracts wealth from another and denies the weaker nation the ability to determine its own destiny. Imperialism erases the history of the oppressed and replaces it with a sanitized history that justifies the corrupt system. This imperialist rule is often characterized by wars of extermination against the oppressed, as the imperialists recognize that the raw numbers of the oppressed is one of their greatest strengths. Successful struggles for national liberation will bring about new societies where people will be educated about the old society and role models will be drawn from truthful accounts of selfless sacrifice, not mass murder. * * * INDONESIAN COMPRADORS BUY AMERIKAN PATRONAGE by MC45 While the East Timorese struggle for independence from Indonesian occupation continues and the Indonesian masses toil under imperialism and the brutal Suharto regime, the New York Times has reported on some of the more intimate and financially involved ties between the Amerikan government and the Indonesian comprador bourgeoisie. The October 11 edition of the Times carried an article about an Indonesian of Chinese descent who has spent much of his life traveling to and living in the United $tates -- especially doing business in Arkansas where President Klinton used to be the governor.(1) While doing business in Arkansas, this Indonesian businessperson became friends with Klinton and has since done fundraising for the President's campaigning, and some behind the scenes diplomatic negotiations.(1) MIM remarks on this personal/business/political relationship because Third World compradors' close ties to Amerikan government officials and big bourgeoisie are a snapshot of the agreements between First and Third World exploiters. These agreements -- to protect capital export and sustain repressive governments -- are the basis for the continuing superexploitation of the Third World proletariat. A Maoist class analysis of imperialism demonstrates that the comprador class of a Third World country is the sworn enemy of the proletariat -- because the comprador class is by definition dependent on the imperialists for its continued existence. In Indonesia, the comprador government enables plundering of that country's natural resources, and employment of Indonesian workers at a rate of $2-3 per day.(2) MIM seeks to consistently expose the close partnership of the First and Third World bourgeoisies, and to build public opinion in favor of the just struggle of the oppressed against this partnership. NOTES: 1. The New York Times 11 October 1996, p. 11. 2. "In support of the Indonesian people and in Condemnation of the Suharto Regime," by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, reprinted in MIM Notes 15 September 1996. * * * ANTI-COLUMBUS WEEK STARTS WITH LESSONS FROM PINE RIDGE by a RAIL comrade On the first day of Anti-Columbus Week, MIM and RAIL showed the film "Incident at Oglala". This film depicted the climate and events surrounding the shoot-out between AIM members and FBI Agents at the Lakota, Pine Ridge Reservation South Dakota. It was this incident that resulted in the death of two FBI agents for which Leonard Peltier was framed and is being held captive for two life terms. This movie shows the FBI's support and military influence on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). During this time period (1970's) the BIA and FBI together used goon squads to terrorize and murder progressive First Nation activists on the reservation. The violence was so great on the reservation that the homicide rate there was higher than the rest of the state of South Dakota. The discussion following the film included a range of topics from the details of the events of the murder and subsequent trials to the systemic oppression of imperialism. Another member of the discussion felt that the shooting of the FBI agents was not necessarily something that someone should be punished for as FBI pigs are agents of repression who must be opposed. MIM and RAIL are building a united front against imperialism because it is the most successful way to oppose agents of repression. We cannot expect that rebellion, retaliation and self- defense by the oppressed will go un-punished in the white man's courts. Another added that many indigenous people were terrorized and murdered before and after the FBI agents were killed, and nobody was accused of these murders of non-FBI agents. The Amerikkkan injustice system only prosecuted for the deaths of two white pigs. Another point brought up was that Mr. X., supposedly the person who actually killed the FBI agents, is not known. Leonard Peltier and others present on that day know who Mr. X is but are not willing to expose him to the pigs because it is not in their interests to turn others over to the enemy. Revolutionaries do not act based on individual interests, but must make decisions based on the interests of the proletariat. One purpose of Anti-Columbus week is to educate people about the history of national oppression. Columbus was not the first Amerikan murderer and his legacy has continued. Imperialists use the same tactics of terror which the barbaric first settlers used. The righteous struggles of the oppressed must be spread through independent means in order to get the story straight and build a correct analysis of the path forward. * * * PROPERTY OWNERS CONTINUE TO RUN AMOK AGAINST "FREE SPEECH" CALUMET, IN. -- On September 2nd, an employee of one of the largest malls in the Chicago area ordered MIM to stop leaving newspapers on cars in the parking lot. The River Oaks employee told MIM "it's against company policy." Told later that courts have already upheld the right to hand out literature at malls, the employee said, "no they haven't." Later he changed his mind and said, "all right, then you should sue us." On October 2, 1995, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of mall-owners in New Jersey who said they should have the right to do as they pleased on their property. No Supreme Court judge dissented on the refusal to hear the case. New Jersey courts had already rejected the argument of mall-owners that people handing out leaflets in 1990 to oppose the Gulf War could be stopped. Since malls are the modern-day equivalent of Main Street, lawyers and judges have held that mall- owners must allow leafletting. In practice though, as MIM has experienced across the united states, such rulings are on paper only. Only arduous struggle creates the reality of freedom of operation for the proletariat that doesn't own a media conglomerate. Malls, universities and other places that invite the public or host public officials have no business restricting the "free speech" of the public. The example of our case in Calumet again proves that it is private property that stands in the way of the just expression of opinion. People who think there is "free speech" in this country haven't tried using their "free speech" as a poor person. Bourgeois scholars and journalists may manage to give their limited views, but the poor and oppressed nation peoples face ferocious repression. In Mao's China in the Cultural Revolution the government gave out paper for the creation of poetry and also political posters to criticize government officials. True, those who attacked Chairperson Mao were seen as attempting to set up a bourgeois dictatorship. Such people -- a tiny minority -- were punished, but the vast majority managed to express more divergent opinions than exist in u.s. political process. Contrary to bourgeois propaganda also, the percentage of people in prison is higher in the repressive united states than it was in Mao's China. (See MIM Notes #123 for a details to organize against the free speech hypocrites.) * * * U.$. UNIONS WIN BIG by MC45 In a stunning example of how Amerikan workers are not exploited, the union which represents the New York Times' mailers won a lifetime employment agreement from the Times in exchange for being more flexible in where they work.(1) Amerikan workers live in an international economy in which Indian trade union leaders are arrested for leading strikes and the consumer price index for Indian agricultural workers rose 60 percent from 1991-94; Filipino agricultural workers make anywhere from $1.50 to $4.80 per day compared to a government-determined $9.60 cost of living;(2) and immigrant workers in Israel pay fees to get their jobs and are regularly deported without their final pay.(3) Compared to these conditions for workers outside the imperialist countries, the Amerikan New York Times mailers are paid a base salary of $50,000 per year and now have their jobs for life.(1) Revisionist activists -- those who claim the mantle of Marxism but revise Marx's idea fundamentally -- respond to these numbers saying that the cost of living in the United $tates is higher than in the rest of the world and therefore these outrageous wages are what Amerikan workers need to sustain themselves. MIM says: hogwash. Third World people cross U.S. borders legally and illegally every year in desperate search of jobs which will pay a fraction of what the average white Amerikan takes home. If the cost of living within the belly of the beast were really so high as the economist labor aristocracy organizers claim, how could these migrant workers survive? MIM builds its revolutionary theory and organizes from the vantage point of the Third World proletariat, those workers genuinely oppressed and exploited by imperialism. We expose the brutality of Amerikan imperialism abroad and the inequalities between First and Third World peoples perpetuated by imperialism in the name of building public opinion in favor of liberation of the oppressed. NOTES: 1. New York Times 12 October 1996, p. 16. 2. Maoist Sojourner #9 March 1996. 3. MIM Notes 15 September, 1996. * * * CARDINAL LAW: SERVE MORE GRAVY BOSTON -- Cardinal Law knows the secret of capitalism today: "Unless we find a way to show respect for the worker as a worker, then I think the whole system is going to go. . . I think that if capitalism doesn't correct itself from within, capitalism as we know it is going to be in jeopardy." This opponent of abortion and the idea of having wimmin as priests knows very well what preserves the system. MIM only thinks it's too bad there are so many people masquerading as radicals who say the same thing as the Cardinal. It's very safe to be pro-labor aristocracy these days. NOTE: Boston Globe 11 July,1996, p. 1. * * * MARK FUHRMAN GETS AWAY WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER by MCB52 The most famous of the racist pigs in this kkkountry got away with attempted murder with just a $200 fine and three years of probation. The fact that Fuhrman, the police officer who lied on the stand in his effort to convict O.J. Simpson of murder, was prosecuted at all is an exceptional case in the criminal injustice system where pigs lie to prosecute people constantly. The pigs were mad that a big one got away, and decided to prosecute the routine behavior to retaliate for Fuhrman's getting caught. But the light sentence is hardly justice for a man whose lies included inventing evidence to convict someone of murder. What Fuhrman did, and what pigs do routinely when they lie and invent evidence on the stand, is itself attempted murder. Black men are killed and jailed constantly because of pigs' lies. A mere $200 is not justice for that crime against the people. * * * MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE GOVERNMENT TO EXPAND INTERNET TO REACH AMERIKA'S YOUTH President Klinton recently pledged to spend $100 million in federal dollars to expand the Internet in Universities, "national labs and other federal institutions." His new plan also calls for the communications industry, including cable and telephone companies, to collectively fund free basic Internet telephone access to every elementary, middle and high school and every library in the United $tates. The telecommunications bill passed in February, which lifted restrictions on cable and other communications companies involvement in the Internet market, called for discretionary discounted access rates for schools.(1) Our first priority as communists is not that all First World people have access to the Internet. MIM recognizes that pumping more money into schools can mean exacerbating the inequality between rich and poor schools here -- so that those born with class and nation privilege will be further subsidized by the government to protect and enhance that privilege. For example, Clinton's Internet expansion plan covers private schools as well, and it provides additional credit and support for schools that already have basic Internet access -- for improved access (video conferencing or higher speed connections).(2) It says nothing about providing computers to poorer schools, which means that schools in oppressed nation areas which currently do not have computers would not be able to benefit from discounted phone lines. They will also be less likely to provide the extensive funds and time needed for training teachers in using and teaching the technology. But we also recognize that the Federal role in education is small compared to local taxation -- which is where the heart of the inequality lies. So while the plan will definitely expand Internet access for Amerikan youth, it may also reach more oppressed nation youth as well. MIM anticipates that youth will take advantage of this legislation and seek avenues online for their rebelliousness against the corrupt Amerikan system. MIM too will take advantage of the window of opportunity to reach Amerika's youth through online agitation as long as their access is still relatively unimpeded. We will offer free six-month subscriptions to the electronic edition of MIM Notes to any high school (or younger) student who writes to explain their interest in the newspaper. Just write to mim@mim.org and tell us why you are interested. **MIM got the following letter at our Web site from a high school student, and we hope to see more like it:** "I found your page on the Internet while doing a search for info on the BPP [Black Panther Party], after I saw the excellent movie 'Panther.'" "I am a Marxist and definitely agree with all of your politics, except those about bourgeois counter-revolution, which I just don't know enough history to evaluate. I think you are dead on-target about the unrevolutionary character of most American whites, though I think there are definitely more than economic reasons for it. As a high school student, I see the entire educational system permeated with crypto white-supremacy on all levels, from courses that focus on, if not GLORIFY, the destruction of peace on earth by white christians. "I see this same system making non-WASP kids feel culturally, intellectually, 'morally' religiously and personally inferior. Not only that, this is ENFORCED by grading kids on subjective honkey values on TESTS, bringing down their grades and reinforcing bullshit ideas of wasp supremacy. I see this day-to-day. I am forced to keep my political views silent and my behavior stilted in order to get a good grade from the predominantly white racist teachers. I have been discriminated against in English class for my thick accent, having it called 'pidgin English (ANGLish)' by blond blue- eyed Aryan teachers, and threatened not to 'debase' my role in Sophocles' 'Oedipus at Colonos' AS IF Sophocles spoke English, let alone with a stilted, artificial white bread midwestern accent. This sort of crypto-racism helps keep cultural minorities' grades and self-esteem low, even in an 'ethnic' dominated high-school like my own. "I am saddened by the whole situation. It seems like the capitalist-destroyers will always win, and that I risk wasting my life by affiliating with communist or even liberal political organizations, or even voicing my opinions. In school, Communism is deceitfully presented as some sort of totalitarian regime of oppression, akin to Nazism, resulting in reactionary youth who cringe at the word's very mention, and support the instrument of their own oppression. Many poor black kids in the ghetto become drug users or dealers, destroying their own communities and fostering hate from other people, which means potential comrades live in mutual hate and fear. If I were to wear a Power to the People fist to school, most kids would think it either meant a gang or a 'seig heil.' "Money for college and career advancement opportunities are given to those who join ROTC, which is the training grounds for imperialist bullying. It seems to be a hopeless situation. "I am very interested in your organization, which seems to be down-to-earth and practical, unlike most armchair bourgeois wannabe-Marxists I see on the Internet. ...Please send me more info on how to get involved in your cause." MIM RESPONDS: Thanks for writing. We hope you got a chance to read the article that probably came up in your search and led you to our site -- about the Black Panther Party's Maoism during their early years. Whether the Panthers were really communists is now a point of dispute, especially among ex- Panthers trying to remake the Party's image. But a reading of their early literature and documents leaves no room for doubt. The BPP was the *Maoist* vanguard of the Black nation in the late 60s. On bourgeois counter-revolution and capitalist restoration after the socialist revolution, we recommend studying Mao's "A Critique of Soviet Economics" and the textbook "Fundamentals of Political Economy" published by the so-called Gang of Four in China. Both are available from MIM -- and we encourage you to build a revolutionary study group and examine these with others or online with MIM. You are definitely right that white supremacy goes beyond economic motive -- that is, there is a powerful culture (which Marxists call the superstructure) supporting the material substructure -- or class and national oppression. Your observations about education supporting the system of national oppression are very true. ROTC is a stark example. There are many ways to work with MIM and the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL). RAIL is a mass organization of anti-imperialists led by MIM. MIM publishes a newspaper twice a month, and RAIL publishes a newspaper every two months. We encourage you to distribute and contribute articles to these publications (back issues are on the Web site). We also need comrades and friends to submit revolutionary art to illustrate the oppressive tactics of imperialism. Our principal task is building public opinion for proletarian feminist, socialist revolution and independent power of the oppressed. Two issues we organize around are the pitfalls of electoralism and supporting the Maoist-led revolution in the Philippines. Specifically now, we are fighting to block the deportation of the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Jose Maria Sison from the Netherlands. If he is deported back to the Philippines he will face certain persecution under the U.S.-Ramos regime. We printed a copy of the petition we need copied and signed as well as additional information. We also do lots of work around exposing national oppression and social control through the prison system. We publish letters from prisoners describing oppressive conditions and exposing the imperialist motive for the crazed prison expansion over the last 20 years. We also publish articles pertaining to the righteous struggles being waged by prisoners. Writing articles, handing out the paper in cities and on campuses, hanging up fliers, organizing films and speakers -- this is all work we urge you to get involved in. Keep in touch. NOTES: 1. Washington Post 11 October, 1996. p. 1. For MIM's analysis of the telecommunications bill and the concentration of capital in the communications industry, see M-L-M Online, MIM Notes 110, March 1996, p.4. 2. Washington Post 11 October, 1996. p. 11. * * * ACLU FIGHTS DOC RUN-AROUND AND CENSORSHIP OF MIM NOTES **A volunteer attorney working with the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) has taken on the case of censorship in Washington state prisons. This case is likely to cover MIM Notes, several other publications and bulk mailing censorship. The ACLU told a MIM Notes reporter that a complaint should be filed this month. Right now only one Washington state prisoner has contacted the ACLU about MIM Notes censorship. If there are others in Washington having problems with censorship, please contact the ACLU to take part in this case. MIM reprints below excerpts from the letter sent by the ACLU of Washington to the Department of Corrections in Washington.** ACLU LETTER TO WASHINGTON DOC The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-W) has received many complaints from Department of Corrections (DOC) inmates alleging unconstitutional interference by DOC with their receipt of mail. [Š] [Š]We urge you to promptly revise DOC policies as recommended below, on a statewide basis, in conformity with the legislature's commands to provide "uniform" policies "consistent with constitutional constraints."[Š] REJECTION OF PUBLICATIONS SENT VIA NONPROFIT BULK MAIL PERMIT We have received numerous complaints from Airway Heights and Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) inmates and from publishers of publications sent to inmates regarding rejection of publications sent via nonprofit bulk mail permit. Indeed, issues of our own ACLU National Prison Project *Journal* have been rejected at Airway Heights and destroyed, all without notice to the inmate or to the ACLU as the publisher. The National Prison Project newsletter conforms to each and every postal regulation for nonprofit bulk mail and clearly satisfies the United States Postal Service requirements for delivery to the DOC institutions.[Š] Yet, inmates at Airway Heights who have filed grievances in response to these rejections have not received any valid explanation for the rejection of all bulk mail. [Š] We fail to see how rejection of all nonprofit bulk mail satisfies either RCW 72.09.530 or constitutional requirements that restrictions on inmate mail be tailored to serve "legitimate penological objectives." [Š] DOC has not articulated a rational justification for rejection of this mail sent via nonprofit bulk rates, much less proven the need for such a rule. With respect to the rejections of nonprofit bulk mail of which we are aware, we have checked the applicable postal regulations and can identify no violation. [Š]It is interesting to note that the grounds asserted to support the rejection keep changing. Director Rolfs initially informed inmate X that WSP allowed offenders to receive free publications sent via bulk mail provided they had been approved in advance and the publications did not violate the DOC mail policy. A few weeks later, the same inmate was informed by Director Rolfs that this position was erroneous and that, instead, WSP "does not accept bulk mail for offenders unless the bulk mail stamp indicates a Bulk Rate Endorsement." In response to our inquiry, the postal service stated that it did not recognize such a term. [Š]Another publication was rejected from WSP the first time because it was allegedly not pre- approved, the second time because it was allegedly free rather than paid-for, and the third time because it allegedly was not published by a recognized non-profit organization. Now we have heard a fourth rationale offered, the lack of a "Bulk Mail Endorsement." And, we heard a fifth rationale in correspondence with WSP earlier this year, in which WSP demanded a federal tax identification number be provided before an inmate could receive a free publication. Just recently, we learned of a sixth rationale: an alleged need for an "address correction" or "return postage guaranteed" endorsement on the mail (which costs extra money for the nonprofit sender) because the publication has to be "forwarded" from the prison mailroom to the inmate's cellblock. The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth rationales appear nowhere in DOC Policy 450.100. Instead, DOC appears to fall back on language in Policy 450.100, Procedure A.2.k. and E.3.b., (also appearing in WAC 137-48-040(1)(1)), which simply recites that mail or a publication can be rejected if it is "deemed to be a threat to legitimate penological objectives." We appreciate that in some circumstances an institution must retain the discretion to decide when mail or a publication actually threatens legitimate penological objectives. But the ongoing inability to provide a *consistent* rationale for rejecting mail and publications demonstrates the impermissible vagueness of the above two policy provisions. The frequent recourse to ever-changing "legitimate penological objectives" has a chilling effect on free expression rather than promoting the free exchange of ideas as required by RCW 72.09.530. The frequently changing rationales described above appear to prove the type of arbitrary, "exaggerated" response to prison concerns that would not survive scrutiny under *Turner v. Safley*, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and *Thornburgh v. Abbott*, 490 U.S. 401 (1989). While *Turner* and *Thornburgh* grant substantial deference to prison officials to determine what are "legitimate penological objectives," the mere recitation of these magic words does not necessarily satisfy the courts. Washington's DOC has lost a significant number of inmate lawsuits regarding rejection of mail. [Letter continues by citing court cases in which the DOC's arbitrary application of this was criticized. -ed.] REJECTION OF POLITICAL PUBLICATIONS Our most pressing concerns are those relating to the apparent abuses of the prior approval policy and rejection of "bulk mail" as described above. However, there is an additional inmate mail matter on which we have received complaints which we believe is in violation of RCW 72.09.530 and constitutional provisions as well. DOC has issued a statewide order rejecting the publication *MIM Notes* (published by the Maoist Internationalist Movement). Mr. Rolfs has ruled that each and every issue of the publication violates DOC policy 450.100E.3.b. because it incites violence and is a threat to legitimate penological objectives. [Š] [W]e believe the rejection is an "exaggerated" response to prison concerns. There is no evidence the strongly expressive political language used in *MIM Notes* would actually incite violence in any Washington state prison. The courts have required strongly-worded political material to be accepted in prison mail. [court cases cited - ed.] As the Court in *Nichols* noted, an inmate's opportunity to read a political publication may serve to "nourish the prisoner's mind," [Š] Whatever one's views may be about the content of *MIM Notes*' message, it does not present a direct threat to order or security of the institution when a publication urges building public opinion about armed struggle, not the armed struggle itself. Our interest in the rejection of *MIM Notes* was increased because just this past year we received complaints that Washington prisons had rejected the publication *Black Autonomy*. We were given conflicting rationales as to the reason this publication was rejected. [Š] RECOMMENDED REMEDIES * Enact a statewide policy prohibiting DOC institutions from rejecting nonprofit bulk mail; * Enact a statewide policy making clear that publications including *Prison Legal News* and the ACLU National Prison Project *Journal* shall not be rejected as inmate mail; * Enact a statewide policy clarifying that the policy referring to a "threat of imminent violence" does not include strong political statements but instead is limited to threats of actual imminent violence, and cannot be used to reject publications such as *MIM Notes* or *Black Autonomy*. As noted above, several inmates are already in the process of exhausting administrative remedies preparatory to filing lawsuits on these matters. We plan to assist such litigation if we cannot resolve these matters promptly. [..] American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Hoge Building, Seattle, WA 98104-1799 MIM REPLIES: MIM appreciates the ACLU's efforts on behalf of MIM Notes and its readers. MIM supports fighting winnable reformist battles within the context of building public opinion for socialist revolution. The ACLU approach correctly takes on winnable battles and we unite with the ACLU on these battles but we go further to also build independent power of the oppressed, so that we will not have to rely on the oppressors' courts. Reformist approaches can win important gains, but reformism as a strategy is a dead-end for the oppressed. The ACLU's charge that censorship of MIM Notes is a "violation" of MIM's "rights to free speech" is a useful tactic to take within the imperialist courts. We must expose hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to so-called rights. MIM believes that under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie free speech does not exist. Instead, speech is won through power struggles. Similarly, the letter above states that Amerikkka's prisons should be allowed to exercise their "legitimate penological objectives" as long as they don't overstep their legal bounds. MIM says the system itself is criminal. Imperialist war-mongers and oppressors must be stopped in exercising their "penological objectives" against the oppressed. While we have these ideological disagreements with ACLU, we understand the importance of these legal battles to expand MIM's ability to reach our many supporters in the prisons. We do not have the resources necessary to fight all the legal battles we would like to take on and we encourage other prisoners currently engaged in these fights against censorship in Washington to contact the ACLU to offer support and evidence of censorship of MIM's publications. * * * PIGS IN FORD HEIGHTS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE "DRUG WAR" by MCB52 In the basically all-Black Chicago suburb of Ford Heights, the police have finally been indicted for their complicity of the drug trade on the streets. According to the indictment, six present and former officers took bribes to look the other way as 20 dealers sold heroin and crack. They also tipped off the dealers about the actions of other law enforcement agencies and blocked the drug deals of rival gangs. All this for more than a decade. The residents of Ford Heights are glad that the pigs are being reprimanded. They are unmoved by the fact that the pigs are poorly paid in this impoverished town. One man in the community said "I don't care if they were only making $5 an hour, that doesn't give you the right to break the law." This is half correct. The law itself is not what people should use to judge the correctness of an action, since the laws are made be the people in power to control, not to serve, the people. But what the officers did was a crime against the people. Another resident told the New York Times: "It's so hard to raise kids here. We need the police to be helping us, not helping the drug dealers." In the abstract, she is correct. Under socialism, the police should serve the needs of the people, but as long as the police are the arm of the imperialist state, rather than the oppressed nations, her wish will not be fulfilled. The people need to control the police if they want them on the right side. Note: New York Times, 13 October, 1996, p. 14. * * * CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM RESISTS CHALLENGES TO ANTI-GANG UNITS According to the US Constitution, citizens get due process and are not punished merely for whom they associate with. In the reality - like at Walpole prison -- Latino prisoners are being systematically denied these "rights" as they are categorized as being in "security threat groups" (gangs) with scant evidence of membership and no evidence of wrongdoing. September 1996 marked some legal progress and setbacks in challenging the oppressive status quo. Anti-imperialists should support these legal struggles while also building public opinion and a mass movement for a thorough-going critique of the prison system. The Department of Corruption's crusade against gangs is all about increasing repression. Selectively targeting Latinos for special lockdown units -- between 90-95% of those in the units are Latinos -- it is a particularly clear case of prisons as an instrument of national oppression. The gangs targeted are the Latin Kings, la Familia, and la Nieta. La Nieta is considered by many not to be a gang in the traditional sense at all, but more of a prisoner rights group. Regardless, all three groups have potential as base areas of support for Latino liberation. There are no hearings to determine who is a gang member. There is simply a questionnaire-type form that is filled out by the pigs. It has a point system, with each "criterion" having a set amount of points. If a prisoner gets ten or more points, he is considered a gang member. A "known group tattoo," for example, is 8 points. Obviously the pigs don't have a good grasp of the subtleties of tattoos, and one on any Latino can be perceived as a "known marking." Never mind if the prisoner got it ten years ago, it's supposed evidence of current association. That plus something small like possession of some gang documents, a "secret handshake" or association with pig-identified members, and the prisoner is doomed to never go below minimum security for the duration of his sentence. Those labeled gang members receive extreme sensory deprivation which has been shown to cause mental problems and is internationally recognized as a method of torture. They are only out of their cells for one hour for four out of every five day cycle, and if they work out they cannot shower the same day. Two items of litigation by the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services (MCLS) are challenging these injustices at Walpole. Last year, the case of Haverty V. Dubois challenged the original lockdown at Walpole, and won, stopping the official lockdown. But the lockdown has subsequently entered a new phase, transforming Walpole from a temporarily locked-down prison-in-crisis to a permanent lockdown facility. MCLS has extended that case, a class action on behalf of all prisoners serving time now or potentially at Walpole. Further, it won a case recently against the "gang blocks" (lockdown units). The judge granted the Department of Corruption a stay, so the torture continues as the state prepares its appeal. As progressive lawyers are fighting within the system, we should be doing all we can from the outside to agitate people on behalf of prisoners, especially those in gang blocks and segregation units. We need to shift the public discourse from the current bickering (between Kerry and Weld, for example) on how best to torture prisoners, to one where the whole notion of punishment for crimes as politically defined is challenged. If you'd like a petition against control units to circulate, RAIL has already written them up. Drop us a line and we'll gladly send you a copy. Better yet, work with RAIL on the prison campaign. There is a lot of work to be done, from writing, editing and distributing this newspaper to organizing public revolutionary events. * * * PIG BRUTALITY PLEASES LAPD'S CHIEF WILLIAMS NORTHRIDGE, CA., 25 September -- The arrival of fascist politician David Duke to California State University at Northridge prompted protest from leftists and revisionists. The cops as usual came to protect the fascist from the 'wrath of the masses.' The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) deployed over 150 of its Metro Division officers, including 20 horse-mounted officers and members of the strike force. The helmet-clad pigs used rubber bullets, tear gas and batons on the anti-fascists and revisionists. Several protesters were injured, including a man who was hospitalized for head wounds caused by a baton blow.(1) Brutality and defense of fascism are the norm for the LAPD. Ask the police chief, Willie Williams. Says Williams, "Yesterday, at Cal State Northridge, you saw the LAPD at its best....I am extremely pleased with our response."(2) NOTES: 1. UCLA Daily Bruin, 27 September 1996, p. 1. 2. Los Angeles Times, 27 September 1996, p. A3. * * * NORML FIGHTS CRIMINAL INJUSTICE BUT STILL STUCK IN AMERIKAN INDIVIDUALISM Some libertarians are beginning to notice what MIM has been saying all along--that the united states is not a bastion of liberty but the leading prison state in the world. Recently the publications director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) noted this as well in an article about his pet cause. "America's jail and prison levels have skyrocketed due to zero-tolerance and mandatory minimum sentencing. The United States now incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any other country . . . "The Supreme Court ruled that the property of an individual who has been deemed innocent of illegal activity can still be forfeited to the state."(1) We applaud NORML for working successfully to release 1000 prisoners from federal prison with an argument about more consistent sentencing. However, the fact that the united states leads the world in imprisonment based on an average of the last ten years should be more alarming to Paul Armentano than the middle-class's inability to smoke pot legally. Given that being the world's leading police state did not impress Paul Armentano to the proper degree, we are not surprised that he also said, "Essentially, we have done a full reverse from a society founded on the concepts of individual liberties and limited government to a country that treats its population as a nation of suspects."(1) Actually, it was never true that the united states was a land of liberty. Perhaps in the past there was once a time when white settlers individually had the liberty to kill Indians and enslave slaves, but we cannot say there was ever a time of liberty in the united states. It was always just a myth of middle-classes, first those who settled land and ran their own farms and now that of the petty- bourgeoisie and labor aristocracy generally. These classes like to believe they are above the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and that everything is a matter of individuality. Armentano, like many other libertarians, needs to kick the dogma: the united states was never a free country. The land of individualism always meant the land of gun-toting genocide. We are with all of NORML's very rational arguments- -that other legal drugs do more damage and we have way too many people in prison for drug use. To find a comparable imprisonment rate we would have to look at other countries during war time.(2) Such a rational train of thought should lead one to communist politics in the same way that pro-life Christians who really care about infant deaths should check out the record on which system starves them to death by the 14 million each year. When the imprisonment rate is this high, the society needs to be reorganized. In a communist society, people would not seek drugs to escape the powerlessness of their lives, because class, national and gender oppression would be eliminated. We believe that pot is indeed a drug used for decadent reasons and that we need our comrades to consciously avoid escaping reality by any means necessary. We also can't create legal reasons for the state to arrest our comrades and this means our comrades must avoid illegal drugs. If that means that they have to use legal escapism -- video games, movies and even alcohol-- then so be it, because we want our comrades on the streets, not in prison. NORML is a typical middle-class organization with great influence in Amerika. It holds the illusion of individual liberty in Amerika, but it is still our friend as part of the united front against fascism. We invite the followers of NORML to scrutinize the rest of society as thoroughly as they do the issue of pot. NOTES: 1. What's the Point: The Magazine for Your Generation, (603) 465-3423, September 1996, p. 7. 2. Write to MIM for a RAIL pamphlet on imprisonment statistics. For more on Amerikan prisons, order MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial ($6). * * * SEND FUNDS FOR MAOIST LITERATURE TO PRISONERS The number of men and wimmin in Amerika's gulags approached 1.6 million last year. One out of every 167 Amerikans were locked up in prisons or jails. The total incarcerated within the Injustice system increased by 113% since 1985.(1) As Amerika resorts to imprisoning more people to control its internal colonies and to hide its poor, MIM organizes to stop the repression both inside and outside the walls. And we need your help. As many prisoners know first hand, our ability to send revolutionary literature to prisoners is limited by available funds, not by interest from the prisoners. Based almost entirely on word-of- mouth within Amerika's dungeons, the number of prisoners requesting free subscriptions to MIM Notes, Maoist Sojourner and Notas Rojas has been growing by leaps and bounds each month. The masses across North America stepped forward to help the proletariat advance towards producing English-language Maoist publications weekly. In April, MIM Notes began to come out twice a month. RAIL has stepped up production of RAIL Notes to once every other month and is looking forward to making this new publication a monthly. The organs are necessary to expose the atrocities committed under imperialism and to organize to put a stop to oppression. A shortage of funds keeps us from sending out the publications in a timely manner to the prisoners. RAIL Notes is not yet consistently sent to the prisoners at all. To be able to send MIM Notes, Maoist Sojourner and Notas Rojas to our current -- let alone growing -- mailing list, our goal is to solicit sustaining contributions totally $150 a month. Smaller amounts and one time contributions would also be helpful in meeting this important goal. NOTE: Los Angeles Times, 19 August, 1996. * * * UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS PRISONER MAINTAINS POSITIVE FOCUS DESPITE PIG RETALIATORY FRAME-UP Dear Comrade, My situation at this time is one of repression. I nonetheless, have survived worse, I certainly will survive this. I have been framed and put on lock-up for a small amount of time. I believe [they have done this] to let me know that they (Administrators) can do whatever they want and get away with it. However, my path is unchanged! I will try to give you a brief history of the events that led to my present situation (lockup). I first wrote a Letter/ARP listing the complaints I had/have with this administration (E.C.I.) and sent it to several places, anticipating no response from the warden. But the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards, one of the organizations I sent the letter of complaints to, forwarded it to the warden, making him respond and angry. I had a brief discussion with one of (the warden's) lackeys. Then another [conversation] accompanied by another lackey. It was then that the second lackey decided to put me on Ad. Seg. [Administrative Segregation] pending an investigation. The reason for this was because he decided that I have something to do with the disturbance that took place, in the unit I resided, on July 13, 1996. The letter/ARP was written and sent in on June 26, 1996 and some of the language, according to lackey #2, was troubling to him, therefore, my being placed on lockup justified. They have 96 hours to take you up for Classification Team Hearing when on Ad. Seg. It was during this hearing that it was decided they were going to show me something (their power over me) because I wouldn't back down from them. They fabricated a ticket, which stated "If I stay here, I'm going to start a riot." and "I helped start the disturbance a few weeks ago in unit #3." I only received 30 days on lock-up mostly because all the other tickets I had within the last few years, I beat, therefore giving me a good adjustment record. During my discussions with these people (all of them white) I never lost my temper even slightly. As a matter of fact, I sort of laughed at them, because I knew they were angry not so much about the complaints themselves, but because I had sent them out to various places of which they still don't know them all. Because of this they felt the need to retaliate against me, violating my first amendment right, to access without retaliation, therefore the fabrication and unjust imprisonment. It was during my Adjustment Hearing that this tom, bootlicking, white ass kissing ... told me that I should learn to keep my composure because he was going to find me guilty of those rule violations cited on the ticket. It was then that I started to lose my composure, but only a little. It was how he said it, the way he said it that irritated me. It also told me that this guy has assimilated so well in the mainstream (white culture) that he doesn't live in reality. This reality is that white people (white men in particular) have always conspired against other people, especially those of color. but he (the hearing officer) wouldn't believe [it].... It is funny in a sad way, that people like him believe that because they have assimilated so well that [they believe] all Black people should assimilate. I proudly say that I am not that kind of man.... It is fine, however, that I have to experience this ordeal, because I know that nothing or something doesn't come without sacrifice and struggle. This serves to make me stronger... I realize that life is a culmination of experiences upon which one is supposed to learn from, extract the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that can be gained from the them and apply it to oneself. I am always trying to gain that knowledge, wisdom and understanding, ... so my experiences serve me well. --A Maryland Prisoner, 12 August, 1996 ILLINOIS PIGS INCREASE REPRESSIVE PRISON POLICIES ...I have finally received your newsletter.... I greatly appreciate this because it helps me to broaden by input on certain subjects happening here at the Pontiac Correctional Center. Well I am sorry to report that we have lost a few battles here at Pontiac. As of Jan. 1, 1997, inmates at all IDOC [Illinois Department of Corrections] Facilities, will not be supplied with 3 state envelopes. This means that the indigent individuals will not be able to write home or to their attorneys, unless he/she has money in the trust fund account. [Which they won't since indigent means without funds. -- MIM] I felt that they were really going to make more money on the phone calls, but then they hit us with a new bomb to try to disable us. About 2 weeks ago, they took the phones away, stating that we cannot use the phone if we are in C-grade. (The majority of the Brothers in Pontiac are in C-grade ) I found out that the reason they are doing this is because they are scared to death that we will contact the media about the going-ons that are happening at Pontiac. Here are three prime examples: (1) No state pay allowance given to inmates is segregation even though state legislators approved an allowance for "All" prisoners in the Illinois Department of Corrections. (2) Poor medical treatment given to prisoners in the IDOC. (I have had an injured hip for 5 months now and have still not been given medical treatment . All they have given me is their medical cure for everything, which is 400 mg of ibuprofen. They give you this even if you are dying of a heart attack.) (3) Staff here are provoking prisoners to assault them [by] calling them Bitches, punks, spicks, wetbacks and other racial slurs, knowing that it will make a person react negatively toward them. Then they give you disciplinary reports and throw you in the segregation unit, sometimes even assaulting you after they handcuff you and throw years at you to serve in segregation! Well as I said before, Thank you.. I appreciate receiving your paper. Keep it coming as it is an inspiration and helps me keep fighting. Respectfully submitted, -- An Illinois Prisoner, 16 September, 1996 NEW YORK CENSORS MIM NOTES Dear MIM, Every time you send me Notes, I couldn't have them because the media review committee here at this facility fells that they are too violent. So what I'm saying is until I leave this facility, stop sending me Notes that promote violence 'cause they are not going to let me have them. Thank you. The name of the person who wouldn't let me have them is Larry Woodward, Chairperson. MIM Notes # 119 and #120 were the Notes I couldn't have. --A New York Prisoner, 22 September, 1996 Letters of protest can be addressed to: Larry Woodward, Chairperson of Median Review Committee, Box 500. Elmira, NY 14902-0500. PELICAN BAY CONTINUES TO CENSOR MIM NOTES ***In the past month MIM has received several letters from prisoners being held at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City California. The all have reported extensive and virtually complete censorship of MIM Notes. -- RCG1, 9 October, 1996.*** Greetings, I am writing to inform you that your last 4 issues of MIM Notes have been deemed a "threat to the security of the institution". Therefore prison authorities have refused to deliver them to me. I wrote you not long ago requesting an affidavit or letter which I could use on my litigation which I started last year when your publication was first denied to me. Anyway, I guess it would be best to take me off your mailing list, to save costs, until I can resolve this legally. I could still use a letter or affidavit though or any information in this area. Gracias. In Struggle, -- A California Prisoner, 22 September, 1996. Dear MIM, ...You asked me to send you the names of other publications that have been denied because of censorship. There are several I can think of right off hand, well at least a couple. First, Black Autonomy... and Second, Raze The Walls... -- A second California Prisoner, 26 August, 1996 Letters of protest can be addressed to: Pelican Bay State Prison,, 5905 Lake Earl Dr.,, Crescent City, CA 95531. To Whom it May Concern I am in regards today of your recent correspondence, I received in light of your publication. The prison here at Gander Hill, Wilmington, Delaware has sent back the literature I was supposed to receive. Point is this place ain't Shit. Presently I have 3 pending lawsuits against this institution for various reasons, that publicly need to be addressed once and for all. This recent thing, as far as censorship is concerned, only adds fuel to the fire, on my behalf. This whole institution, for the Sentencing Commission on down to the ordinary Correctional officer who oversee funding and operations as far as keeping the place functional, is totally illegal. Point is, this Department of Corrections here still gets away with entirely too much shit. The old saying goes, "Inmates run the jail!" Well come to this shit-hole and the inmates do not.... I have been housed on the Maximum Security Unit for almost 7 months now, because I am the one who stands up for my rights and other prisoners as well. The Classification Board will not classify me to another facility because I have been labeled, "a threat to the rehabilitating society", and a very "high security risk" because I've been labeled an anti-social political prisoner. Heck even Governor Thomas Carper of the State of Delaware is seeing to it personally that, "I am fine where I'm at." I take it that "too much knowledge of one's self" is against the Correctional Process an inmate has to endow upon before his or her release into today's society. People are crazier than me on the streets. What gives? These politicking ass lawmakers come up with some very structural laws, but when it comes to enforcing them, they go against the grain so to speak.... I personally thank you in addressing the problem that has occurred. I will see to it that a political force will win a non-frivolous lawsuit, in the State of Delaware. Your Brother in Struggle, -- A Delaware Prisoner, 30 August, 1996 RCG1 responds: This letter clearly demonstrates the oppressive and controlling forces in prisons. Censoring political literature and putting leaders in segregation are pig tactics use to weaken and divide the masses. Remember the prison system is imperialism's way of controlling people. Delaying release dates due to political beliefs is part of this control. When laws are enforced in Amerikkka , they are used to keep the internal colonies oppressed. It may seem "against the grain", but it is intentional because oppressed nationals and politically active people are seen as a threat to Amerikkka's current system of imperialism. 10 October, 1996. MICHIGAN SYSTEM REPEATEDLY OPPRESSES PRISONERS Governor John Engler Office Of The Governor State Capitol Building Lansing, MI 48913 Dear Governor Engler: I forward this letter to you out of concern for the state of affairs that is taking place within the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and that which I will undoubtedly face upon my release from prison. First I'd like to address the problem of "accountability" within the MDOC. This is a very big issue and it is something prisoners are always upheld to. However, corrections officials are routinely doing various acts that assumes no accountability and when a prisoner happens to file a grievance (which is a joke within itself) nothing is ever done and almost always the grievant is told higher grievance is frivolous. No matter how much factual material presented. Here is an example of lack of MDOC accountability: In July 1995, Six Corrections Officers (C.O.) tackle a prisoner by the name of Frank McBride, at the Michigan Parole Camp, in Jackson, because he was suspected of swallowing drugs. During the struggle he was handcuffed and ended up dying. Prisoners who attempted to report the events; prisoners who attempted to gather information for Mr. McBride's family were transferred from Parole Camp (a level 1 facility) and transferred to other leveled facilities, some being transferred to higher secured facilities. No administrative hearings, no formal reasons given. No one has been charged for this death and it has been "covered- up". Another example is what took place at the Scotts Correctional Facility in July 1995, when a female prisoner by the name of ..., was found hogged-tied and beaten into a coma in her room. A room where she does not have her own key to get in but must be let in by an officer. There is no one being held accountable in this action, though it is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department. Another case in point; when one Officer R. McGill punched a prisoner in the face and attacked him at the Egeler Correctional Facility in August 1995. The officer was laid off and the prisoner transferred, only for the officer to resume working at the same prison. Yet a prisoner who is simply "horseplaying" will receive a Majored misconduct, thrown in detention, found guilty, given more lock- up time, loss of good time, added security points, security (possibly) raised and (possibly) flopped by the Parole Board. And finally, the latest irresponsible acts of C. O's at the E.C. Brooks Correctional Facility: one officer busted bringing drugs into the prison and fired, the other fighting the case... My point is this...prisoners are held to standards that are above and beyond the average human being and prisoners are expected to never question authority, even if that authority is in violation. Which brings me to this next issue. Earlier this year the full House and Senate approved housing authorization bills (H.R. 2406 and S. 1260), which rewrite large portions of the public housing and Section 8 programs. Though this legislation is in conference committee now, but when enacted will dismantle the Brooke Amendment. Under the amendment a family living in subsidized housing and had to pay 30 percent of their yearly income for rent will pay more. Removing the 30-percent cap provided by the Brooke Amendment will cause monthly rents to skyrocket for most people, especially prisoners returning to society with little or no real income. What provisions have been made for the ex-prisoner upon his/her release for obtaining adequate shelter, employment and job-skills? Since welfare is no longer available for able-bodied" persons, that leaves the ex-prisoner in a very vulnerable situation. The attack on welfare by President [K]linton and with "your" approving endorsement, not only are non-offenders hurting as a result of this, but those coming out of prison will be really hurting and in need. No one has mentioned this and no one seems to care. And this is what I mean (in principle) about "accountability". Naturally the poor are the ones being targeted and the most vulnerable but so to are ex-prisoners. Where do we go for help? Where do we go for the opportunity to make change: effective and responsible change and become a productive citizen and taxpayer? Where do we get jobs? As an Afrikan Amerikan, this hits me even harder because I come from an urban area. The recent signing by [K]linton of the Dole welfare bill will have an especially devastating effect in Michigan. "Your State". The most hard hit by this will be African American cities and Detroit is definitely one of the cities that will be hit. For example; the Michigan unemployment rate in July 1996 was 5.4 percent. But in Detroit (to my understanding) the 'official' rate was 11.1 percent, Flint 13 percent, and Benton Harbor 26 percent. So where will the jobs be for those coming out of prison? And without jobs how are the prisoner suppose to pay the costs for being on parole supervision? These questions are basic and fundamental and have not been addressed by "any" politician. Not even "your" office. Again, we are talking about "accountability", and we can even add "responsibility". Since my incarceration I have made many inner changes and have dedicated myself towards the re- educating myself and my community. But somewhere in this process...the leadership...the political leadership will and must take a strong position. Somewhere within this process the problem has to be addressed. In conclusion, the MDOC has not worked. It has not worked to improve the thinking of its incarcerated. It has not worked to ensure prisoners returning back into society will be forthright citizens and not burdens on the system. The MDOC has not provided anything remotely related to "Correcting" deviate behaviors and have effectively made sure that education is all but destroyed within the prison system. Until and unless these fundamental changes are addressed, "your" administration will not escape histories frown. I thank you very much for your time. -- A Michigan Prisoner, 10 September, 1996 RCG1 Adds, This article shows the repressive and controlling nature of Amerikkka's prison system. Prisoners are held to a different standard than pigs. Prison officials are encouraged and rewarded when they are brutal, while prisoners are punished for trivial things. Just remember that is "lack of accountability" is an intentional part of the Amerikkkan system. All the above examples show how the prison system is used to control the lives and livelihoods of people, especially oppressed nationals. How can one "become a productive responsible taxpayer?", We suggest that this is not a desirable goal. The best way to become productive and responsible is to educate and organize against imperialism. Help build Maoist revolutionary communists organizations. Don't support the system that is torturing and murdering human beings, work to overthrow it. 11 October, 1996 CALL TO ORGANIZE AGAINST OPPRESSION Revolutionary Greetings: Clenched-fist!/All power to the People! I am a New Afrikan politically conscious prisoner being held kaptive in one of united states' most racist and repressive kkkoncentration kamp known as united state penitentiary in Florence, Colo. There is widespread racism and discrimination that exists within the hierarchy of this administration and the chain of command of pigs. During the past 10 months, New Afrikan prisoners are criminally and sadistically assaulted (physically attacked) for no justifiable reason whatsoever. This cycle of brutality continues today. The pigs involved in these incident covered up their unlawful conduct by making it appear as though the New Afrikans had assaulted them first. (a tactic) commonly used when pigs want to cover up their use of excessive force against a New Afrikan prisoner. One of the primary reasons why these criminal and sadistic assaults are taking place here at this kkkoncentration kamp is that this racist warden here flatly refuses to take proper action against his subordinates whenever they abuse New Afrikan prisoners. This lets the pigs know that whatever they feel like doing to the New Afrikan here at this kkkoncentration kamp will be covered up and justified. Many more New Afrikans will be attacked for no reason whatsoever. These pigs here have set out to systematically harass publicly chastise, and try to intimidate New Afrikan prisoners by using intimidation tactics. I am seeking the support of all who read this article and requesting that you write or fax letters of protest to the below listed people and demand that they vigorously investigate the criminal and sadistically assaults. And demand a end to this blatant brutality. Please write or fax letters to the following: Warden Joel H. Knowles, USP/High, 5880 State Hwy 67 So., Florence, Co. 81226, Fax No. (719) 784-5150 Director of Prisons Kathleen Hawk, 320 1st Street N.W. Rm. 645, Washington, D.C. 20534, Fax No. (202) 514-6878 Office of Internal Affairs, 320 1st Street N.W. Rm. 670, Washington, D.C. 20534, Phone No. (202) 307- 3286 If we are going to be successful in overcoming a lot of the obstacles which we are constantly confronted with, we are going to have to start forming united fronts and establish bases of support through which we can collectively support each other and combat enemy aggression. Those who is reading this article, I'm asking for your help and support to end this brutality that's being inflicted upon New Afrikan prisoners here in this desolated area. For more information, please contact me personally. [Write to MIM, we'll forward.] All power to the People who don't fear freedom!! Freedom Now, --A Colorado Prisoner, 13 September, 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.