Our hunger strike in our building on our yard at Salinas Valley State Prison lasted for 3 days but we received an immediate response from the prison administration. The prison administration will not admit it did anything in response to our demands but we are receiving a loosening of the restrictions on our cosmetics we are able to purchase at our prison store and those cosmetics we receive in our packages. We were taken off lockdown the next week after our hunger strike ended.
During the huger strike we had approximately 45% of the prisoner population in our building actively participating in the hunger strike. Although the prison administration would not admit to capitulating to our demands, we received some of our demands. This huger strike has also proven to some prisoners that we can work together in a constructive manner to fight against unnecessary oppressive conditions at our prison.
We thank MIM for your support on these issues. Many of us prisoners do not believe this had ended and we are preparing for the next time. I have been using this opportunity to share with other prisoners the MIM Notes and to share with other prisoners the mission of MIM.
- a prisoner a Soledad, CA, November 2005