Greetings! I received your letter, thank you. I don't know what was going on because I have no one in this state to turn to for information but Sunday (10/03/2004) we were denied all the Oregonian newspapers. I don't know what they didn't want us to see.
As for the hunger strike you inquired about, I don't know what happened because I was in IMU at the time. What I heard was that everything went well and there was unity, but, since I've been out of IMU, I have learned that most of those around me are not to be believed. The issues they do raise concern things about which my five year old granddaughter would ask. The important issues concern being shown respect from those over you, the way your loved ones are treated when they come to see you, the way your comrades are beaten and abused in DSU and IMU, and your medical treatment. These issues and those like them aren't mentioned, but being able to wear red gym shorts in the day room is. Go figure!
There have been seven people who died in this unit so far this year who would be alive today if they had received proper medical treatment. Their names will be listed at the end of this letter. To my knowledge, there has been no mention of these comrades' deaths in the public media other than what I have tried to get out. Their deaths are a witness to the inhuman treatment by SRCI medical field and condoned by those in charge of the DOC in the Oregon system. Let them speak load and clear through their deaths of the importance of change.
The orderlies that work in the medical unit here, whose job it is to sweep, mop, clean beds, pans, etc., are being made to sit and monitor and wait on the terminally ill and other patients. These people have no training in the medical field! There is a comrade here who hurt his knee very badly almost two weeks ago. When taken to the medical unit, the nurses on duty sent him back to the complex where he lived without proper treatment. Now, two days ago, a doctor finally saw him and declared that they will have to do surgery on his knee. The list of medical maltreatment goes on and on.
Fallen comrades:
Hicks Heath Mathews Gray (Died in the infirmary)
Batista Belk (Died at the hospital)
Jenkins (Died in his cell)
-- An Oregon Prisoner, October 2004
RAIL responds: We mourn the deaths of the fallen comrades listed above and will list them on our upcoming re-release of the Imperialist Deathtoll available online at www.imperialismkills.org. This project is a peoples' account of the millions of deaths caused by imperialism each year and we welcome any and all submissions to make this accounting more complete.
If comrades are organized enough to lead a united hunger strike than that is a good sign. It is up to the more politically advanced leaders to guide that organization into more productive avenues. While those leaders may not care about what color shorts they have to wear, we should also recognize the progressive character of united resistance to even the simplest forms of repression like controlling the way inmates dress. If this is where the mass consciousness is at in your facility than build from there.
We were unable to determine the cause for the news block out on October 3, but welcome further information on this if anyone knows what happened.