* * The Maoist Internationalist Movement * * - MIM Notes 107, December 1995 - PRISON AWARENESS WEEK IN MASSACHUSETTS MIM, RAIL and 14 Amherst-area organizations held a week of events in defense of prisoners and against the prison system. Twelve events, including lectures, films and music, took place from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11. Two of the week's events are covered in other articles on this page. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK Dr. Allyn Rickett spoke about his experience in a Chinese prison undergoing a process of thought reform through criticism and self- criticism. Dr. Rickett and his wife were Amerikan students in revolutionary China. He was justly arrested as an Amerikan spy. Many members of the audience remarked on the differences between Dr. Rickett's treatment- -as a serious objective enemy of the people--and the treatment of Amerika's prisoners. RAIL and MIM held a panel discussion on why all prisoners are political prisoners. One anarchist thought calling all prisoners political prisoners was detracting from the importance of the those incarcerated for their openly political acts. While MIM agreed with the importance of defending revolutionary leaders, we do not think recognizing the political nature of all incarceration takes away from the sacrifices made by individuals in the revolutionary struggle. While many in attendance thought MIM was right about the political nature of incarceration, others were outright reactionary and thought the solution to "racial" disparities in arrest and conviction was incarcerating more white people--and they weren't talking about Bill Clinton. A very interesting discussion followed a showing of the documentary film Attica, about the famous 1971 prison rebellion and subsequent massacre by the NY State Police. One woman remarked that solidarity shown by the prisoners in the liberated D-yard was very different from what she knew about prisoners today. She said that there aren't many revolutionary ideas in the prisons, but there are many deviant ones. It is true that revolutionary ideas are not held by a majority of prisoners, but their numbers are significant and growing. An excellent discussion about the nature of "deviance" in an imperialist society ensued, and a surprising amount of unity was built between this woman and MIM's view of prisons. She expressed much interest in the rally planned for the next weekend against the Department of Corrections and NYNEX. In addition, RAIL took advantage of the presence of a comrade from the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation to organize an event entitled "Anarchism and Maoism: Points of Unity, Points of Contention." This event was separate from Prison Awareness Week and although the posters were up for less than a day, 15 people came for a lively discussion. Overall Prison Awareness Week was a success with large crowds attending the many excellent talks, films and musical performances. This week represents a significant increase in the education of people in the Amherst area and MIM hopes that they will take their new knowledge and turn it into action opposing the Amerikan criminal injustice system. MIM Notes is not copyrighted. Please credit MIM when redistributing or referring to this material. Subscriptions are $12/year (12 issues), U.S. mail or e-mail. Send cash, stamps or check made out to "MIM Distributors." Write: MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48106-3576. E-mail: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.