MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
www.prisoncensorship.info is a media institution run by the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons. Here we collect and publicize reports of conditions behind the bars in U.$. prisons. Information about these incidents rarely makes it out of the prison, and when it does it is extremely rare that the reports are taken seriously and published. This historical record is important for documenting patterns of abuse, and also for informing people on the streets about what goes on behind the bars.
The situation where a group was supporting imprisoned white power by
promoting the 23 via events outside prisons was
left-opportunism. It was a situation where the activists felt it was
necessary to cater to imprisoned white supremacists in order to “move
the movement forward.”
During World War II Stalin made temporary alliances with Hitler, but
this was only because Russia had to build up its military, and millions
of lives were at stake. Here, had the activists chose not to promote
imprisoned white power the movement and its united front would have
survived.
Looking back at the response/decision to split with MIM(Prisons) over
them not issuing a statement on the matter, I must now say it was wrong.
I believe now that I should have criticized MIM(Prisons) on this, but I
should not have supported a split. It was an over-reaction, which I feel
was brought on by a combination of things. One being the extreme
repression and pressure I was under in the concentration kamp. It did
affect me in ways I am still dealing with. I was in a situation where
death by the state was perpetual, solitary was a mountain of pressure
and white supremacy was the assassin ever-present. I felt at the time,
betrayal for those who would not issue a response. This of course was an
incorrect response.
Being released from the kkkamps has allowed me to look at my thoughts on
this with new eyes. It is true that MIM(Prisons) had served prisoners
including myself for many years. I should not have responded as if I
just met them. This was a result of many years of solitary, and the
psychological turmoil that the state put me through. This kind of
turmoil often has prisoners turn on each other, here I turned on
comrades politically, comrades who had been my instructors for years. I
was wrong for this.
I accept the criticism from MIM(Prisons) and for the historical record I
stand in unity with MIM(Prisons).
I hope with this self-criticism that our imprisoned comrades can learn
from it. It’s important to know that to split with comrades over
tactics, whether it is over something you feel you may be correct on, is
a very big move. Prisons, and particularly solitary confinement, at
times obscures our ability to respond in a materialist way. One way to
avoid these challenges from escalating is to take a break when you start
to think these thoughts. Write the organization/persyn and let them know
that you are taking a break so as not to exacerbate the conflict.
I should note that the tactic of activists to promote the 23 has now
been overturned. So in that aspect I was proven correct, it was my
response that was incorrect. But this was a very important lesson.
The movement cannot move forward with subjective decisions. I allowed
subjectivism to determine my decisions on this issue and that was an
error. MIM(Prisons)’s line never changed so my affiliation with them
should not have changed either.
In Struggle.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We whole-heartedly accept this
self-criticism from Pili based on this statement and eir principled work
with the Republic of Aztlán.
It is not unusual for us to encounter anger and frustration from our
comrades inside. Our relationship is tenuous through the mail. Often
comrades will question us because of this. We generally know more about
them then they know about us. That is an imbalance that can encourage
doubts. This is a good example of the psychological warfare that
solitary confinement wages on the oppressed. It is not just about
isolating individuals from others, it has broad and lasting impacts on
the oppressed’s ability to organize effectively.
For all the reasons mentioned by Pili, we try to be patient and
understanding when there is the occasional riff with a comrade we have
worked closely with for some time. But we always to looking at practice
– look at our work, look at what we say. Is it consistent? Is it
correct? And we will take the same approach with you. Sometimes
comrades/organizations do change their line and practice to a degree
that warrants splitting with them.
Advanced comrades should think about what a dividing line question is
for them. This can help orientate you, and avoid subjectivism, when you
find yourself questioning whether another group is an ally or not. See
the article cited by Pili above for a discussion of cardinal principles
and what we believe Maoists should and shouldn’t divide over.
Reports from the September 9 Day of Peace and Solidarity are starting to
come in. Comrades in prisons across the country commemorated the
anniversary of the Attica uprising, building the movement and taking a
stand against the criminal injustice system.
This day of action was initiated in 2012 by a prisoner-led organization
working with the United Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP). The day is
focused on building unity and solidarity. The call for peace between all
groups, sets, organizations and individuals, even for just one day,
frightens the prison administration. We know they don’t want peace. They
benefit when the oppressed fight one another. It keeps the attention off
the real enemy: the criminal injustice system. We see this in the
report
about September 9 organizing from Master K.G. Supreme.
This year’s action coincides with the end of the three week country-wide
prison strike initiated by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. The demands of this
strike focused on improvement in conditions behind bars and changing
laws and unwritten policies of national oppression that perpetuate the
criminal injustice system. The organizers of the strike recognize that
the battle continues: “Incarcerated organizers never believed that their
demands would be met a negotiating table during the past three weeks; it
has been a huge success of the 2018 prison strike that the 10 points
have been pushed into the national and international consciousness.”(1)
The UFPP principle of Peace states: “WE organize to end the needless
conflicts and violence within the U.$. prison environment. The
oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so that we fight each other
instead of them. We will stand together and defend ourselves from
oppression.” This work doesn’t stop with September 9, we need to work
for peace among the oppressed year round. Below are a few initial
reports from California. We look forward to more reports from the rest
of the country.
California Correctional Institution
For this September 9th Day of Peace and Solidarity, I personally will
fast, exercise, read and hold a study group, which will consist of 8
committed and conscious-minded individuals, who hold fast to the
philosophy of peace and unity amongst prisoners. This day there will be
no strife, conflict nor division amongst the prisoners here. It’s not
conducive to a healthy environment. Nor will it promote growth and
development.
So, the study group’s theme will be peace and unity and how we can best
promote these themes within these prison confines. I will start it off
by giving my interpretation on what peace and unity means to me. And
then i will ask the eight comrades what does peace and unity mean to
them individually.
And this will start the deep discussion about the continued peace and
unity amongst the prisoners here. And at that, we can come together in
solidarity to rid ourselves of the internal oppression that exists
amongst us. And only then can we conquer and vanquish imperialism in all
its forms. This is our object. We’ll make this a successful effort by
all means necessary.
Salinas Valley State Prison
Abolitionists From Within (AFW) is back on the move here at SVSP quad
this Bloody September. This September 9, 2018 we remember the
anniversary of Attica of Sept 9, 1971 and them faceless freedom
revolutionary fighters who fought and died in these prisons uprising
throughout history of our struggle as we continue to fight the
oppression, exploitation, abuse and inhumane treatment of prisoners. A
lot of rights and privileges comrades have today is because of these
soldiers at war with this corrupt system.
Throughout this country, we as New Afrikans must reconstruct our
thoughts and come up with ways and ideas to get control over our minds
behind enemy lines, and work to educate the lumpen. I know our young
comrades think they know everything. Being upright, independent and
fearless against all odds and not fearing the outcome of whatever is
what the young comrades are looking for true leadership.
This Sept 9 day I refrained from all negative conversation. AFW
continues to push to end prisoner-on-prisoner hostilities throughout
this country. I had the chance to meet and become a student of the main
4 reps to end all hostilities between our racial groups, and also a
brother from the representatives body. I spoke with brother X about our
beloved brother W.L. Nolen and GJ and our conditions today as “new man,”
and how GJ struggled to transform the Black criminal mentality into a
Black revolutionary mentality. And solidarity with all you comrades
around the country this Sept 9 day.
Valley State Prison
Greetings from the A-yard of Valley State Prison. In honor of the
anniversary of the Attica uprising, and as an act of solidarity, the
members of our study group abstained form eating for 24 hours. For one
day we did not eat, starting with the Sunday G-slam, lunches (cold) and
the evening meal. Ten copies of the solidarity study pack were passed
out to members of our sg and a few other prisoners who were interested.
A comrade was kind enough to photocopy my solidarity study pack which
MIM(Prisons) provided. Most of the prisoners who attend our group were
not even aware of the events at Attica on 9 September 1971, or the calls
for prison reform which the Attica uprising prompted. A special emphasis
was put on finding ways to promote peace and to educate all prisoners
across the country on principles of the UFPP.
In closing, I want you to know that I may be new to this but I am trying
hard to learn and organize here at VSP and so are others. We, as always
appreciate very much the material support and organizational guidance of
MIM(Prisons). Thank you.
California State Prison - Corcoran
This Black August Resistance was a success. The program was designed to
educate the minds of our youth who I believe have revolutionary
potential. We read and studied Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped
Africa, Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth, and Chancellor William’s
The Rebirth of Afrikan Civilization, along with the Appeals of David
Walker. Exercised, and wrote essays on the days required to do so. Also,
in support of September 9, we will continue our fast from 8/21 until
9/9, we will not be ordering any canteen nor packages for the 4th
quarter. So far we aren’t getting any backlash from the pigs, and other
Lumpen Orgs are participating in the program as well.
I just got done reading ULK 61 and I got to say it opened my eyes
to a lot of stuff that I did as a gang member of Aryan Brotherhood in
Texas to sex offenders coming into the system. When they came in, me and
several other dudes would beat them up to “break them” and then would
sell them to the butty bandits due to their crime of being labeled a sex
offender.
The system would not attempt to protect them either, due to the label
they had on them as a sex offender. So we had free reign to punish them
as we seen fit. But nowadays I look back on the stuff that I did and can
see the big errors of my ways.
I ran into a dude down in the state hospital that was just about dead of
AIDS that he got due to the actions of me and some other dudes breaking
him. I was going for breaking my hand in a fight and saw the death wagon
pull up and unload two AIDS patients, and one dude seen me and called
out my name and asked me if I was still breaking in sex offenders and if
so to look at him and see what it causes.
I was like “Dude I do not know you or want to know you either.” He told
me where I beat him up and sold him, and it blew my mind. I had a lot of
hate towards sex offenders when I came into this place and it has
mellowed out over the last 34 years that I have been in prison. My baby
sister was assaulted by her friend’s father, so the issue of sex
offenders is personal to me.
When I started in the County Jail beating up sex offenders for something
to do, the Sheriff would tell the jailers to put anyone that came into
the jail on my tan and tell me in front of the dude what he was in the
jail for. I look back on it now and I am coming to the realization that
they were using me to punish the dudes that were charged with sexual
assault.
One dude, I broke his jaw in two places due to his granddaughter saying
he touched her in a private spot. Come to find out it was a lie because
she was mad at him for grounding her for the weekend.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not attempting to brag about it, just am showing
the length of time and intensity that I have been blinded by the system
to do their work, and now I’m starting to understand the system. What
made me wake up is one of my brothers got charged with sexual
assault/harassment for grabbing his croch and telling a chick to suck is
dic- as he left school. Since he made a crude gesture towards her she
said she felt violated. He was on a ten-year probation so he got
violated for the gesture and came to prison for it. And yes he has to
register as a level 1 tier offender due to him being mad about getting
kicked out of school for a 3-day period.
Each case is different so you got to look at all of the facts. If you go
blindly as I did for years upon years you are no better than the ones
you are jumping on, due to the fact that you are siding with the
oppressors and are holding down your own people. Yes I am fully aware
that there are some sexual offenses that are true crimes and they need
all that they get and ten fold more heaped on top of it if they are
truly guilty of the crime of sexual assault on a woman or child.
But before you lace up the steeltoe boots and put your pistols on gloves
to beat up a sex offender, make sure it’s a true crime and one that
deserve the punishment that you are fixin to hand out. If not you’re
just working for the system that you are claiming to work against. You
cannot pull both ways at once or you go no place at all.
I used to beat up the dudes, now I try to help them with their cases due
to the fact that a lot of them are not able to get help in the law
library because they have ask a law clerk to help get a case cite and
his first question is “what you charged with?” And he will go to the law
books and look up your case, and if you do not pass his smell test he
will not help you, or he will tell you the case cite you’re asking about
is not in the law library, or throw your request slip away and say he
never got it at all.
Look at it like this, what if you’re with a girl and you’re going at it
and she says “stop”? If you move forward one more time you have just
committed sexual assault.
So before you say it will not happen to you, you got to look at it with
your eyes open and see the whole picture and not just what the state
wants to show you. So think about all the forms that you may have been
labeled a sex offender in the past and then you can get over the stink
of the name and start to see the person and not the label that the state
has put on a person. Most I can work around because I was a dirty dog in
the world and could have been charged a few times too. But the main
issue is we need to stop letting the state do our thinking for us and
take back our minds from the system. You can handcuff my body but I
refuse to let you handcuff my mind any longer.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer has learned through practice
pretty much everything we’ve been saying about sex crimes. This is an
impressive transformation, and we hope ey has also transformed eir
thinking about oppressed nations over many years behind bars.
It’s true that a lot of people have committed sex crimes but not been
caught. Men are taught to be “dirty dogs” as this writer says. That’s
why the revolutionary movement will need to do a lot of work reforming
thinking and rehabilitating. Not just those with sex charges, but
everyone raised in this messed up system. As we discuss in the
“Punishment vs. Rehabilitation” article, we can do some of this
rehabilitating now, but we will focus our energy and time on those who
recognize their mistakes and crimes and want to make a change and
committ to serving the people.
August 2018 – September 9 is expected to be big! No violence, everyone
has agreed to be at peace. In USW we support!
We are upholding the five principles of the United Front here in
Missouri. We’ve been effectively organizing, uniting, educating, etc. as
a part of the program for peace, unity, growth, internationalism, and
independence. And as a result, prison violence has dropped dramatically.
We thank you for giving us a way to transmit positive energy and reduce
conflict among prisoners. We now have 5 maximum security prisons on
board, helping to raise the consciousness of the confused youth and
building unity amongst the older captives. As we focus ahead, we see a
future filled with love, freedom, and peace. We pray that you will
continue to help us transform our people so that together we can
strengthen our organizing for liberation.
I received ULK 63! I was so glad to hear from you all. This issue
really laid it all out for my guys, so I made 45 copies and passed them
out, then instructed each member of UZI (United Zulu Independence
Movement) to do the same.
Three days later I called a meeting in the gym to discuss in-depth what
each bro had read in this new issue of ULK about UFPP. The
responses I received were beautiful. The young Crips now believe that
the lumpen in California, who they mimic, are seeking to unite instead
of separate. They now see that the gangs are fighting against the
oppressor.
Missouri is a slow state, so they were still set on fighting each other,
until they witnessed me and my New Afrikan Tribe moving under the
sciences of peace, unity, growth, internationalism, and independence. We
trade evolutionary material, we speak about communism, we teach each
other to use the law as a tool to build doorways to freedom, and now
your newsletter just explained everything that I’ve been telling these
young Crips about the need to stop the senseless gang bangin’, riots,
and territorial disputes on the yard caused by the COs.
Thank you! ULK Thank You! Now these bros see that the struggle is
real. I have to get back to work. Will write more soon. Can’t stop!
Won’t stop!
The Dangerous Class and Revolutionary Theory J. Sakai
Kersplebedeb Publishing, 2017 Available for $24.95 (USD) +
shipping/handling from: kersplebedeb
CP 63560, CCCP Van Horne Montreal, Quebec Canada H3W 3H8
The bulk of this double book is looking at the limited and contradictory
writings of Marx/Engels and Mao on the subject of the lumpen with
greater historical context. MIM(Prisons) and others have analyzed their
scattered quotes on the subject.(1) But Sakai’s effort here is focused
on background research to understand what Marx, Engels and Mao were
seeing and why they were saying what they were saying. In doing so,
Sakai provides great practical insight into a topic that is central to
our work; the full complexities of which have only begun to unfold.
Size and Significance
In the opening of the “Dangerous Class”, Sakai states that
“lumpen/proletarians are constantly being made in larger and larger
numbers”.(p.3) This follows a discussion of criminalized zones like the
ghetto, rez or favela. This is a curious conclusion, as the ghettos and
barrios of the United $tates are largely being dispersed rather than
expanding. Certainly the rez is not expanding. Sakai does not provide
numbers to substantiate these “larger and larger” lumpen populations
today.
In our paper,
Who
is the Lumpen in the United $tates? we do run some census numbers
that indicate an increase in the U.$. lumpen population from 1.5% of the
total population in 1960 to over 10% in 2010. However, other methods led
us to about 4% of the U.$. population today if you only look at
oppressed nation lumpen, and 6 or 7% if you include whites.(1) This
latter number is interestingly similar to what Marx estimated for
revolutionary France (around 1850)(p.66), what Sakai estimates for
Britain around 1800(p.112), and what Mao estimated for pre-revolutionary
China.(p.119) Is 6% the magic number that indicates capitalism in
crisis? The historical numbers for the United $tates (and elsewhere) are
worthy of further investigation.
In this graph we see the biggest changes being the increase in the
lumpen (from 1.5% in 1960 to 10.6% in 2010) and the decrease in the
housewives category. While this is completely feasible, the direct
relationship between these two groups in the way we did the calculation
leaves us cautious in making any conclusions from this method alone.(1)
1800 London
lumpen (Sakai)
lumpen + destitute semi-proletariat (Colquhoun)
source
6%
16%
(pp.111-112)
1850s France (Marx)
lumpen
lumpen + destitute semi-proletariat
source
6%
13%
(p.66)
2010 United $tates (MIM(Prisons))
First Nations lumpen
New Afrikan lumpen
Raza lumpen
Raza lumpen + semi-proletariat
source
30%
20%
5%
15%
(1)
Alliances and Line
Certainly, at 6% or more, the lumpen is a significant force, but a force
for what? In asking that question, we must frame the discussion with a
Marxist analysis of capitalism as a contradiction between bourgeoisie
and proletariat. There’s really just two sides here. So the question is
which side do the lumpen fall on. The answer is: It depends.
One inspiring thing we learn in this book is that the lumpen made up the
majority of the guerrillas led by Mao’s Chinese Communist Party at
various times before liberation.(p.122) This shows us that the lumpen
are potentially an important revolutionary force. However, that road was
not smooth. On the contrary it was quite bloody, involving temporary
alliances, sabotage and purges.(pp.201-210)
Sakai’s first book spends more time on the French revolution and the
obvious role the lumpen played on the side of repression. Marx’s
writings on these events at times treated the Bonaparte state as a
lumpen state, independent of the capitalist class. This actually echoes
some of Sakai’s writing on fascism and the role of the declassed. But as
Sakai recognizes in this book, there was nothing about the Bonaparte
government that was anti-capitalist, even if it challenged the existing
capitalist class. In other words, the mobilized lumpen, have played a
deciding role in revolutionary times, but that role is either led by
bourgeois or proletarian ideology. And the outcome will be capitalism or
socialism.
Defining the Lumpen, Again
Interestingly, Sakai does not address the First World class structure
and how that impacts the lumpen in those countries. Our paper, Who is
the Lumpen in the United $tates? explicitly addresses this question
of the First World lumpen as distinct from the lumpen-proletariat. While
MIM changed its line from the 1980s when it talked about significant
proletariats within the internal semi-colonies of the United $tates,
this author has not seen Sakai change eir line on this, which might
explain eir discussion of a lumpen-proletariat here. Sakai’s line
becomes most problematic in eir grouping of imperialist-country
mercenaries in the “lumpen”. Ey curiously switches from
“lumpen/proletariat” when discussing China, to “lumpen” when discussing
imperialist-country mercenaries, but never draws a line saying these are
very different things. In discussions with the editor, Sakai says the
stick up kid and the cop aren’t the same kind of lumpen.(p.132) Sure, we
understand the analogy that cops are the biggest gang on the streets.
But state employees making 5 or 6-digit incomes with full bennies do not
fit our definition of lumpen being excluded from the capitalist economy,
forced to find its own ways of skimming resources from that economy. The
contradiction the state faces in funding its cops and soldiers to
repress growing resistance is different from the contradiction it faces
with the lumpen on the street threatening to undermine the state’s
authority.
Sakai dismisses the idea that the line demarking lumpen is the line of
illegal vs. legal. In fact, the more established and lucrative the
illegal operation of a lumpen org is, the more likely it is to be a
partner with the imperialist state. That just makes sense.
The inclusion of cops and mercenaries in the lumpen fits with Sakai’s
approach to the lumpen as a catchall non-class. We do agree that the
lumpen is a much more diverse class, lacking the common life experience
and relationship to the world that the proletariat can unite around. But
what’s the use of talking about a group of people that includes Amerikan
cops and Filipino garbage pickers? Our definitions must guide us towards
models that reflect reality close enough that, when we act on the
understanding the model gives us, things work out as the model predicts
more often than not. Or more often than any other models. This is why,
in our work on the First World lumpen in the United $tates, we excluded
white people from the model by default. We did this despite knowing many
white lumpen individuals who are comrades and don’t fit the model.
How about L.O.s in the U.$.?
The analysis of the First World lumpen in this collection is a reprint
of Sakai’s 1976 essay on the Blackstone Rangers in Chicago. Sakai had
referred to L.O.s becoming fascist organizations in New Afrikan
communities in a previous work, and this seems to be eir basis for this
claim.
While the essay condemns the Blackstone Rangers for being pliant tools
of the Amerikan state, Sakai does differentiate the young foot soldiers
(the majority of the org) from the Main 21 leadership. In fact, the only
difference between the recruiting base for the Rangers and the Black
Panthers seems to have been that the Rangers were focused on men.
Anyway, what Sakai’s case study demonstrates is the ability for the
state to use lumpen gangs for its own ends by buying off the leadership.
There is no reason to believe that if Jeff Fort had seen eye-to-eye with
the Black Panthers politically that the youth who followed him would not
have followed him down that road.
Essentially, what we can take from all this is that the lumpen is a
wavering class. Meaning that we must understand the conditions of a
given time and place to better understand their role. And as Sakai
implies, they have the potential to play a much more devastating and
reactionary role when conditions really start to deteriorate in the
heart of the empire.
Relating this to our practice, Sakai discusses the need for
revolutionaries to move in the realm of the illegal underground. This
doesn’t mean the underground economy is a location for great proletarian
struggle. It can contain some of the most egregious dehumanizing aspects
of the capitalist system. But it also serves as a crack in that very
system.
As comrades pointed out in
our
survey of drug use and trade in U.$. prisons, the presence of drugs
is accompanied by an absence of unity and struggle among the oppressed
masses. Meanwhile effective organizing against drug use is greatly
hampered by threats of violence from the money interests of lumpen
organizations and state employees.(2) The drug trade brings out the
individualist/parasitic tendencies of the lumpen. Our aim is to counter
that with the collective self-interest of the lumpen. It is that
self-interest that pushes oppressed nation youth to “gang up” in the
first place, in a system that is stacked against them.
The revolutionary/anti-imperialist movement must be active and
aggressive in allying with the First World lumpen today. We must be
among the lumpen masses so that as contradictions heighten, oppressed
nation youth have already been exposed to the benefits of collective
organizing for self-determination. The national contradiction in
occupied Turtle Island remains strong, and we are confident that the
lumpen masses will choose a developed revolutionary movement over the
reactionary state. Some of the bourgeois elements among the lumpen
organizations will side with the oppressor, and with their backing can
play a dominant role for some times and places. We must be a counter to
this.
While Mao faced much different conditions than we face in the United
$tates today, the story of alliances and betrayals during the Chinese
revolution that Sakai weaves is probably a useful guide to what we might
expect. Ey spends one chapter analyzing the Futian Incident,
where “over 90 percent of the cadres in the southwestern Jiangxi area
were killed, detained, or stopped work.”(p.205) The whole 20th Army,
which had evolved from the lumpen gang, Three Dots Society, was
liquidated in this incident. It marked a turning point and led to a
shift in the approach to the lumpen in the guerilla areas. While in
earlier years, looting of the wealthy was more accepted within the ranks
of guerrilla units, the focus on changing class attitudes became much
greater.(p.208) This reflected the shift in the balance of forces; the
development of contradictions.
Sakai concludes that the mass inclusion of lumpen forces in the
guerrilla wars by the military leaders Mao Zedong and Chu Teh was a
strategic success. That the lumpen played a decisive role, not just in
battle, but in transforming themselves and society. We might view the
Futian Incident, and other lesser internal struggles resulting
in death penalties meted out, as inevitable growing pains of this
lumpen/peasant guerilla war. Mao liked to quote Prussian general Carl
von Clausewitz, in saying that war is different from all other humyn
activity.
For now we are in a pre-war period in the United $tates, where the
contradictions between the oppressed and oppressors are mostly fought
out in the legal realms of public opinion battles, mass organizing and
building institutions of the oppressed. Through these activities we
demonstrate another way; an alternative to trying to get rich,
disregarding others’ lives, senseless violence, short-term highs and
addiction. We demonstrate the power of the collective and the need for
self-determination of all oppressed peoples. And we look to the First
World lumpen to play a major role in this transformation of ourselves
and society.
Toda la materia está en movimiento y con ese movimiento continuaremos
encontrando nuevas formas de aplicar la respuesta adecuada a nuevas
ideas, y por supuesto nuevas acciones crearán nuevas reacciones. Cada
uno de nosotros tiene que encontrar la fuerza y la oportunidad dentro de
cualquier área de nuestras vidas. En este desarrollo tenemos más
capacidad de ayudar a otros en los mismos problemas. La nación del
Chican@ de hoy está en una encrucijada. La población de la Raza está
creciendo más rápidamente que cualquier otra. En un par de décadas
seremos la población más grande de los Estados Unidos. Tenemos que
entender que cualquier cambio que experimentemos genera oportunidades.
En otras palabras, eventos externos con frecuencia ocurren como medios
para facilitar los cambios internos y la consciencia. Una vez que la
conexión interna es captada, toda creencia teórica en la necesidad
permanente de las condiciones existentes se rompe antes del colapso en
la práctica.
Creo que en la independencia de cada nación hay una unidad que ayudará a
movilizar las grandes masas, entonces comenzamos a entender la
importancia de ventanas de oportunidad. El poder chicano no es
simplemente estar a cargo. No queremos imitar al capitalismo, pero
simplemente ejercer un poder económico y sociopolítico, donde las
relaciones sociales de producción reemplacen al capitalismo. Sin la
influencia del imperialismo, sabemos que el imperialismo define crímenes
y empuja a las naciones oprimidas a cometer crímenes. Sabiendo que la
mayoría de las minorías no tienen nada que perder, y están bien armadas,
cuando se revolucionan pueden servir como los peleadores más feroces.
No fuimos creados por las mismas fuerzas sociales y materiales que
gobiernan la vida Mexicana, pero por la aventura imperialista de la
incorporación de las Américas. Nuestra existencia por lo tanto, no está
definida por el realismo de las fronteras, sino por las fuerzas sociales
y materiales que han influenciado la manera en que nos desarrollamos
desde antes y después de su imposición. Aztlán representa la tierra que
fue invadida, ocupada y robada del pueblo mexicano. El suroeste es casa
de muchos Chican@s, y naciones indígenas no mexicanas, cada una con
derechos universales de gobernarse a sí mismas y existir como un pueblo
autónomo y soberano. Así, la era del imperialismo es la era de la Nueva
Democracia donde la mayor pelea democrática debe ser librada y liderada
por las masas de las clases populares en una unidad donde la meta
principal es la liberación nacional.
Este mes de Agosto conmemoramos el Plan de San Diego, que fue un plan
para la Nueva Democracia por las semi-colonias internas que ocuparon la
Isla Tortuga. Es tiempo de estudiar la historia Chican@ y aplicar el
internacionalismo. Escribe a Movimiento Internaionalista Maoista de
Prisiones para folletos informativos de las campañas y enviar su propio
ensayo y arte.
July 2018 – Hey guys n gals. Well good and bad news.
First the good. I successfully organized my first demonstration, on
Father’s Day. We are in G-4 custody (20 hr lockdown - 2 hr dayroom and 2
hr rec). The staff always steals our rec with the excuse of “short of
staff.” So I gathered 6 other prisoners and stated that we would like to
speak to Rank (i.e. Sergeant or Lieutenant). Soon all 48 prisoners were
united. The officers did not know what to do. They called on the radio
an ICS (inmate control squad) stating that we were refusing to rack up.
Lo and behold, every officer on the unit arrived with bean bag guns,
gas, Sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains, everybody. I guess they were NOT
short of staff! LOL!
After that I approached the Captain very calmly and told him our
grievances. The Warden showed up just in time to see. He said “tell them
to rack up and we will see what the officer has to say.” Seeing that the
message had been delivered, I withdrew.
About 10 minutes later they came back and gave us rec.
Now the bad news. Since then the prisons are now targeting me and I am
in Seg. SMH! It is okay. Because I see now that I do have the power to
make a difference.
Thanks for the Texas Activist Pack, and thanks for the back issues. I
also got ULK 62 yesterday and I will follow up soon. In Struggle!
MIM(Prisons) responds: The Texas Activist Pack was updated in
August 2018, and you can get one by sending a donation of $3.50. It’s a
bit thicker now, so the cost to print and mail it has gone up since the
last version. The Texas Pack has info about all the campaigns that
United Struggle from Within comrades have developed for the state of
Texas.
Let’s pause to consider why aren’t these materals already available to
prisoners held by TDCJ? Why has the TDCJ been withholding the grievance
manual from prisoners since at least November 2014? Who are the people
held by TDCJ and how does it impact their lives and familes when they
don’t have access to this info?
Filing grievances and working on individual or reform campaigns do have
their place. But, like with this comrade’s successful efforts to get rec
time, the greatest impact will come in the unity we build with our
comrades, and the sense of our own power that we can tap into. Those are
the successes that are going to stick with us for the long haul, and
through various stages that our struggle goes through.
I fell June 2 Jamming my wrist in the wall I have one arm with no
climbing and no reaching over my shoulder. Our lockers are overhead I
have been denied a medical locker that sit on floor for 10 months. IDS
has asked for me to be given one. After 23 days I was given an x ray
June 25. Nothing done. I went to Galveston hospital in Aug 2018 on
another matter. I showed the doctor my swollen wrist again. Nothing was
done or said on sept 19, I was given a lay in for medical. I was issued
a wrist splint and told I would be going to Galveston hospital. I filed
a grievance only to have it returned the next day stating that my time
to file had expired. I should have filed when the X-ray was done. I was
reassigned to Estelle Unit last Nov to get a hearing aid. This hasn’t
happened.
I have been refused brace and limb - citing no medical indication for it
(I have one arm). I have been delayed all services from ADS. I am also
hearing impaired, talking book program, etc. My caseworker states I am
trying to get her fired when I asked for these services after 10 months.
I do want it fixed so she can’t work for city, county, state, or
government again.
May 2018 – I read ULK 61 and it is a pretty interesting
newsletter on a topic that I have never put much thought into. I have to
say I do not agree with the portion about “un-muddling the relationships
between comrades (i.e. no dating within the org)” in the
Sex-Offenders
vs. Anti-People Sex Crimes article. I believe this practice would
serve no real interest in the organization. I believe it is a form of
dis-unity. To make a method of such effective the org would have to
segregate the two (men and women). The reason being men and women form
relationships naturally. I believe we need to congregate with our women
for relationships, build unity, and if unity is a strong point of this
organization a rule like that shall be established in this organization.
I do understand why MIM would decide to take that approach, but I see it
as going against the inevitable. I believe it would also create secrecy
in the org if people were dating and that would cause dishonesty. I
believe a better approach would be to recognize the relationship, as to
say if the comrades are to date they should be married. Not only would
this relationship be recognized by the org, it would be recognized by
the state/U.$., further decreasing such allegations of sex crimes. And
at the same time the organization would be helping to build and create
unity between men and women.
Another reason I believe this approach/practice would be more effective
in the organization is because people seem to be more serious about
marriage, meaning there just won’t be any fraternizing within the
organization. If there has to be an appointed licensed priest/preacher
or someone to wed the two it should be done so. It, the ceremony, should
be done in front of the org. Now it becomes if someone interferes with
the relationship man or woman they should be punished/dealt with. Now
that the marriage is consensual the sex is consensual. We should not
deharmonize the harmony between man and woman. We are trying to build a
United Front!
MIM(Prisons) responds: We need to be clear that marriage does not
ensure consensual sex. We can’t create a utopia outside of the
patriarchal culture right now, and so we know that our relationships
(including marriages) will still be strongly influenced by that culture.
And under the patriarchy sexual relations are inherently unequal
regardless of marital status or level of political activism of the
people involved.
This writer is correct that people do have a tendency to become
romantically involved with people with whom they spend a lot of time.
And having a lot of political unity can encourage this romance. We don’t
share the view that this is naturally just between men and wimmin. It
also happens between men and men and between wimmin and wimmin. So
separating the people would only stop some romance. There may be other
arguments for separating men and wimmin while we battle the patriarchy,
but we shouldn’t expect this to end romance or sexual assault. The
situation in men’s prisons across the United $tates is a clear
demonstration of this point.
Our main disagreement with this writer is with the idea that we should
use romance to build unity. On the factual front, even with the
formality of marriage, most relationships don’t stay together. This is
just a fact of life under the imperialist patriarchy right now. This is
the reality we live in. And we know that when relationships end there is
a lot of irrational anger (and often rational anger too) that comes with
it. So if we’re trying to build unity, encouraging romantic
relationships is likely to backfire in the majority of cases where the
relationship doesn’t last. Perhaps we can do better than the average
couple with the support of the political organization, but we’re still
going to have a lot of relationships end. We just don’t have the power
or reach right now to reverse this fact of patriarchal culture.
In the ULK 61 article this writer responds to we wrote:
“How we handle this process now in our cell structure will be different
if a cell has 2 members versus 2,000 members. The process will need to
be adapted for different stages of the struggle as well, such as when we
have dual power, and then again when the Joint Dictatorship of the
Proletariat of the Oppressed Nations has power. And on and on, adapting
our methods into a stateless communism.
”Even with policies in
place, we have limited means of combating chauvinism, assault
allegations and other unforeseen organizational problems endemic to the
left. Rather than wave off these contradictions, or put them out of
sight (or cover them up, like so many First World-based parties and
organizations have done), we need to build institutions that protect
those who are oppressed by gender violence.”
This is something we need to continue discussing, trying various
approaches, and working on the best approaches to ensure the longevity
of the anti-imperialist movement.
“We stand for active ideological struggle because it is the weapon for
ensuring unity within the Party and the revolutionary organizations in
the interest of our fight. Every communist and revolutionary should take
up this weapon.” – Comrade Mao, “Combat Liberalism”
Within every class, gender, and nation, trans women are being oppressed
and persecuted because of their trans disposition. This has been so
within both capitalist and socialist societies, among revolutionaries as
among reactionaries.
Many hallmark social/revolutionary movements in America’s history had
non-supportive regard for trans people. The consciousness was not there
yet; revolutionary consciousness evolves by degrees, through years,
decades, the same for such movements (and governments) in other
countries.
In century 21, both political and revolutionary consciousness are at a
much higher frequency. Trans political resistance is occurring across
the country (and the world); trans people have become cognizant of the
political aspects of their quality of life existence, and are getting
politically involved in a revolutionary manner.
The political and revolutionary consciousness evolution of trans people
is taking place in America’s prisons. In California, the 36 Movement of
trans women is politically active against the anti-trans oppression,
persecution, and genocide of the prison system for their lives,
livelihood and for political power. There is also the right-wing
reaction they must contend with on the yards, and, as well, reactionary
behavior towards them by left revolutionaries, and by presumed
progressive media outlets on the left. People do not become progressive
or revolutionary overnight. Anti-trans sentiment is deep among those so
afflicted, because putrid bourgeois opinion predominates in American
society, and is infectious.
How are the cadre to address such reactionary or quasi-reactionary
tendencies within the revolutionary camp? For one, internal
indoctrination can put light on the subject, so that new cadre are
aware. But so must elder cadre become aware. For another, ideological
discussion on trans issues are worthwhile – trans within society/prison,
within the revolutionary ranks – discerning among each other and within
oneself traces of reactionary inclination and weeding them out, aligning
personal in line with revolutionary principles that guide attitudes
towards the people, and propagating the new awareness.
By such ideological debate, properly practiced, broader unity will
result. This is revolutionary. This is the revolutionary guidance of Mao
Thought.
Across the wider spectrum, included is regard for lesbians, gays,
bisexuals, and gender nonconforming people.
MIM(Prisons) responds: The transgender question has come out of
the closet in recent years. This is a necessary step towards ending
gender-based oppression. The question is what bringing the issue to
light under capitalist patriarchy will achieve.
We can look back at the gay/lesbian/queer struggles in this country and
see how they led to integration of those once separate communities into
mainstream Amerika. While white wimmin have always been allies to white
men in national oppression, this relationship has only solidified with
increasing power of wimmin in Amerikan society. Both of these examples
inform our understanding of nation as principal to our struggle against
all oppression.
If we look at nation, we also see integrationism though. Today the
integration road is presented as a viable option in the United $tates,
rather than something you have to fight for. However, with nation, that
integration was not complete. The ghettos became more isolated, even
though they have since become more dispersed, and the koncentration
kamps of course expanded with oppressed nations filling the cages. With
the integration of both the relatively gender and nationally oppressed
in this country, we did not see improvements for wimmin or oppressed
nations overall in the world. So there is a problem with looking just at
U.$. society for measuring progress.
The fact that transgender issues have not been a public discussion for
as long as other forms of oppression does create the sense that
transgender people are the most oppressed, and need the most attention.
And this is the conclusion by many advocates of identity politics. As
this comrade says, they have faced oppression in all parts of society.
However, with our understanding of society within the framework of
dialectical materialism we can talk about why nation is principal under
imperialism, look at the historical examples of gender struggles in this
country, and predict that the transgender struggle is not going to move
us toward ending oppression the fastest.
None of that discounts what the comrade says about struggling for the
inclusion and acceptance of transgender prisoners, and people in
general, in the revolutionary movement. In some ways the prison
population was ahead of the curve on this one as the prominence of
transgender wimmin in male prisons has made this issue part of daily
life for prisoners before many Amerikans began grappling with it. Still,
this has not led to an overall overall progressive attitude among male
prisoners, in part due to the hyper masculinity that the prison
environment engenders.
This is an example of how communists must try to address all issues
holding back the revolution, while focusing on the principal
contradiction. We join this comrade in calling for ideological
discussions around trans issues in mass work. This will foster greater
unity within the oppressed nations and among the revolutionary movement
of prisoners overall.