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.
Would you please send anything you have on the rules the guards must
follow? Because they make up the rules as they go, with no regard for
what policies states in our (GR-106) or (I-202) handbooks. I was told to
take my rule books back to my cell, or get locked up today, after
telling and showing CO and Ranking COs Hallway and Chow Hall Rules. I
was told that policies don’t matter; it’s what they say. Yes, I’m
writing this up, no need for audio on the cameras, just watch their
actions.
I’m asking for tools to work with, because the law library doesn’t have
what I’m asking for (well that’s what I’m told). I’m in there everyday
it’s open. I’m not allowed no more than 30 min of extra time a day,
because of the number of people I’m helping or those helping me. Plus we
have to pack our legal work up, and take it with us, every time we have
to use the restroom.
When I write said grievances, without prejudice is what I ask and please
that my complaint be truthfully and thoroughly investigated as per
AD-03.82, due to me being under duress about said issue.
Designees/employees are only observing the proper procedure, without
honestly giving effort to ensure fair and unbiased treatment towards
inmates. Also their actions of collusion by being conclusive, they also
have/has malicious intent and their actions are negligent to their legal
responsibility and liability, namely TX Gov Code Section 493.001
Department Mission. Their callous disregard to complaints, etc, that I
and my family has copies of, that’s been filed. This is not providing
public safety, or promoting positive change in offenders behavior, or
reintegrating offenders into society, or assisting victims of crime.
The question is what does the officers actions show? Yes, they know
policies, etc, but do they follow them? Officers lie with authority.
Please help in any way you can.
While reading a comrade’s April 2017 SF Bay View, National Black
Newspaper, I cam across an ad regarding the Texas prisoners’ boycott of
the prison commissary injustice.
This ad helped me realize that the unarmed robbery of the loved-ones of
prisoners is not only a Florida atrocity, but a national occurrence.
Prisoners in Texas and other states are being used as a means of robbing
not only tax payers, but loved-ones of prisoners, who are constantly
being punished for supporting prisoners financially and emotionally. The
imperialist monopolizers are making hundreds of millions annually
through the commissary system. I can’t help but confirm and echo the
main points of the Texas prisoners’ ad:
Sub-par and poor quality food items.
Faulty electronics that regularly break (after short use).
Tennis shoes which tear up after a week of use.
Inflated prices and price gouging tactics.
Abuse and disrespect from employees of commissaries.
All of the above mentioned is nothing but the truth to which I would
love to add more. In Florida, specifically Charlotte Correctional
Institution, there exists a staff canteen menu and a prisoner canteen
menu. The double standard and financial discrimination can’t help but be
realized once both menus are compared. Prisoners are paying twice as
much as staff for the same food items. Some of the most popular food
items are listed below for your own concluding.
Charlotte CI staff canteen menu prices and Prisoner Canteen menu
prices:
Item
Staff price
Prisoner price
sodas
.56
.99
honey buns
.70
1.35
chips
.5
.99-1.49
candy bars
.75
1.39
water
.5
.99
oatmeal
.23
.53
poptarts
.56
1.18
soups
.56
.70
ice cream
.93
2.19
danishes
.7
1.28
nutty bars
.47
1.00
saltines
.7
.88 per sleeve
trail mix
.47
1.00-1.28
BBQ sandwich
1.64
3.49
Pizzas
1.64
2.98
Tuna
1.87
2.47
The above list does not mention hygiene items. However, prisoners are
paying exorbitantly for hygiene items that are clearly not worth their
price. For example, the $4 deodorant from prescription care and
Oraline-Seccure (meant for indigent prisoners) leaves prisoners musty in
just a matter of hours. The $2.85 prescription care lotion is so generic
it dries the skin quick as it moistens it. And it’s definitely not meant
for Black people. The $1.12 prescription care shampoo does not lather up
and causes more dried scalp and itching than the state soap. There is
99-cent soap claiming to be anti-bacterial and 50-cent soap, both made
by Silk. Neither of these soaps are worth even being given away for
free.
Prisoners do not want these canteen items. They complain amongst each
other but are too cowardly to write grievances or stop buying from
canteen. We all know that it is our loved ones who are being attacked by
the state. We all know our families who support us are being extorted,
but the needle is just too deep in our veins. Florida only has one
canteen vendor (Trinity) leaving us without options or other places to
shop. We are simply victims of a monopoly and we are contributing to our
own victimization.
It is quite clear that the canteen profits only benefit Trinity and
high-ranking members of the state prison system. It is clear that the
profits are being used against prisoners rather than for their welfare
and genuine rehabilitation programs.
Even in the visiting park, freeworld citizens visiting their loved-ones
are forced to pay prisoner canteen prices. This price-gouging is a war
against the innocent citizens who support prisoners. It also results in
the isolation of prisoners from the outside world and leaves prisoners
dependent and vulnerable against the state.
One is left with no choice but the question: where is all the profit
from the unarmed robbery of prisoners’ loved ones? What is being done
with these millions of dollars in profit? This matter must be
investigated and objectively challenged. We prisoners surely need to
stop perpetuating our own victimization by the state of Florida DOC.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer exposes one of the many ways
that companies and individuals are making money from the prison system
in this country. While overall the prisons are run at a financial loss,
subsidized for most of their costs by state and federal funds
(i.e. taxpayer money), lots of people are still making money off the
operation of prisons.
Obviously the prisons’ employees (COs, administrators, etc.) are earning
a good salary and have an interest in keeping the system going. In some
prisons medical is contracted out, and then there are the many companies
that sell prisons all the stuff they need to run: from clothing to food
to furniture to security equipment. Most of this is funded by a subsidy
from the government.
But canteen is a case of the costs falling on prisoners’ families. And
this is just one of many costs borne by families of prisoners. As we
exposed in an article in ULK 60
“MIM(Prisons)
on U.$. Prison Economy - 2018 Update,” mass incarceration costs
families and the community $400 billion per year.
U.$. imperialist leaders and their labor aristocracy supporters like to
criticize other countries for their tight control of the media and other
avenues of speech. For instance, many have heard the myths about
communist China forcing everyone to think and speak alike. In reality,
these stories are a form of censorship of the truth in the United
$tates. In China under Mao the government encouraged people to put up
posters debating every aspect of life, to criticize their leaders, and
to engage in debate at work and at home. This was an important part of
the Cultural Revolution in China. There are a number of books available
that give a truthful account, but far more money is put into
anti-communist propaganda. Here, free speech is reserved for those with
money and power.
In prisons in particular we see so much censorship, especially targeting
those who are politically conscious and fighting for their rights.
Fighting for our First Amendment right to free speech is a battle that
MIM(Prisons) and many of our subscribers spend a lot of time and money
on. For us this is perhaps the most fundamental of requirements for our
organizing work. There are prisoners, and some entire facilities (and
sometimes entire states) that are denied all mail from MIM(Prisons).
This means we can’t send in our newsletter, or study materials, or even
a guide to fighting censorship. Many prisons regularly censor ULK
claiming that the news and information printed within is a “threat to
security.” For them, printing the truth about what goes on behind bars
is dangerous. But if we had the resources to take these cases to court
we believe we could win in many instances.
Denying prisoners mail is condemning some people to no contact with the
outside world. To highlight this, and the ridiculous and illegal reasons
that prisons use to justify this censorship, we will periodically print
a summary of some recent censorship incidents in ULK.
We hope that lawyers, paralegals, and those with some legal knowledge
will be inspired to get involved and help with these censorship battles,
both behind bars and on the streets. For the full list of censorship
incidents, along with copies of appeals and letters from the prison,
check out our
censorship reporting
webpage.
Florida State Prison
On March 30, censored an invitation to the MIM(Prisons) mail-based study
group because it “Contains prominent or prevalent advertising for
three-way calling services, pen pal services, or the purchase of
products or services with postage stamps.” This is most definitely not
true.
Michigan – Macomb Correctional Facility
ULK 61 was censored because it is “mail with stamps, stickers,
labels, or anything affixed to the paper with an adhesive”.
Wisconsin - New Lisbon Correctional Facility
Censored ULK 61 because “item contains contraband”.
Pennsylvania DOC
The PA DOC sent MIM(Prisons) a letter regarding ULK 61 that read:
“This is to notify you that the publicaiton in issue advocates and
encourages prison solidarity. As such, it violates Department policy for
the reason previously stated.”
Pennsylvania - SCI Benner
We heard from a prisoner at SCI Benner “My Under lock & Key No.61
March/April 2018 was banned/taken stating DC-ADM 803 Incoming Mail and
Incoming Publications. My Jan/Feb issue got to me no problem. Studying
the Inmate Handbook it’s unclear as to the specific penological interest
this publication violates?
Pennsylvania - SCI Pine Grove
A prisoner forwarded us a copy of the Notice of Incoming Publication
Denial for ULK 60. The reason given was “Bondage of little girl,
Depicts female officers in negative manner.” Clearly the PA DOC didn’t
like our article criticizing an advertisement using an image of a little
girl in bondage (not shown), or our criticism of gender oppression in
prison.
Virginia - Middle River Regional Jail
ULK 60 and 61 were both denied with the reason given “DOC
disapproved Under Lock & Key”.
Illinois - Stateville Correctional Center
A prisoner wrote: “I have received notice from the repressors here, on
more than one occasion that you sent me a copy of your pub Under Lock
& Key, and each time that you did, i was told that this pub is
on the ‘censored’ list and any other literature from ‘MIM Distributors’
because it promotes: leadership and organizing of inmates against the
prison staff - administration, and that this is a threat to the safety
and security of the prison, therefore inmates are not allowed to have
any of your pubs.”
MIM(Prisons) received a notification of censorship of ULK 61 sent
to this same persyn in Stateville. The reasons given: “Promotes
leadership & organization, instructs offenders to organize. content
may be detrimental to the safety & security of the institution.”
Indiana - Pendleton Correctional Facility
A prisoner had eir ULK 61 confiscated and the response to eir
grievance was “the newspaper is not allowed in the facility due to
offender to offender correspondence.”
Arizona
We received a notification from the AZ DOC notifying us:
The Arizona Department of Corrections has determined that your
publication described below contains unauthorized content as defined in
Department Order 914.07 and, as a result, may be released in part or
excluded in whole for the specific reason(s) given below.
DO 914.07 - 1.1 Detrimental to the Safe, Secure, and Orderly Operation
of the Facility DO 914.07 - 1.2.12 Methods of Escape and/or Eluding
Capture DO 914.07 - 1.2.20 Safe, Secure, and Orderly Operation of
the Institution
Reification is a term that refers to using the labor power of the
people and in turn using it as a powerful force to keep them under
oppression.
The only way Texas can afford to keep 150,000 people imprisoned and
continue to give parole “set offs” after they are parole eligible by law
is through the use of forced labor to offset operating costs.
Theoretically speaking if TDCJ were forced by law to pay prisoner
workers through a new supreme court precedent, or if prisoners quit
participating in enslaving themselves, parole would be presumptive and
automatically granted at first eligibility.
Our freedom is at stake here, friends. That is why this issue is
absolutely vital. In Texas, per a 1993 law which was passed in reaction
to the 90s crack-cocaine-fueled crime wave, violent or aggravated
offenders must serve 1/2 their entire sentence before becoming parole
eligible. And often times after decades of dreams, hope, hard labor and
good behavior, alas many are given the dreaded “set off.” So much time
has elapsed that their momma has died, their support structures have
crumbled, and they have become old men in terrible health due to poor
diet, unable to gain meaningful employment, dreams are dashed. All their
efforts seem totally futile.
It reminds me of the book Animal Farm by George Orwell and how
they treat the work horse, Boxer. They push the old work horse to work
harder and harder for the revolution, promising him great comforts and
retirement benefits one day in the future. However the day comes when he
becomes so old and unable to work they send him off to slaughter at the
glue factory. TDCJ’s treatment of its prisoners is very analogous to
this. When will we wake up?
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is an interesting take on a theme
that we hear about constantly from our subscribers in Texas. This writer
is saying that if prisoners didn’t help offset the operational costs of
their own imprisonment, that TDCJ would be forced to release them
because it could no longer afford to keep so many people locked up.
There is a contradiction between the high costs to keep people in
prison, and the pressure applied to the criminal injustice system from
citizens who want to keep oppressed nations in check. Texas is one of
the most racist borderland states and has a very long history of
national oppression and white supremacy.(1) The call for harsher
sentences coinciding with the crack epidemic is simply a manifestation
of this racism. It’s not about fear of violence; it’s about fear of
Black violence.
TDCJ certainly would have a harder time financing its prison operations
if it actually had to pay prisoners for their labor. But if it started
releasing people because of these financial problems, we’d be hearing it
from the citizenry. We aren’t sure what lengths the state would go to to
appease its white constituency.
In fact, we have also heard countless reports of what TDCJ does when it
has “budget problems”: it makes conditions worse for the prisoners by
skipping rec time, medical call, and other duties it has to prisoners.
We have yet to receive a letter from someone saying that TDCJ has
started releasing prisoners due to budget problems.
The battle here isn’t between the prisoners getting paid for labor, and
the TDCJ not paying them. The battle is between the interests of the
oppressed nations who are housed in TDCJ prisons, with their entire
lives stolen from them, and the Amerikkkan nation which has a strong
material, social, and cultural interest in keeping these oppressed
nations locked up. If that battle manifests in a struggle for work to be
paid for in TDCJ, or for TDCJ to honor good time - work time credits in
releasing prisoners, then we are all for it. But we can’t lose sight of
this bigger contradiction, which is what the entire prisoner labor
struggle rests on.
This contradiction has always existed since the beginning of the
Amerikan nation, and even prior to that when it was still in
development. And it has only been heightened under the Trump presidency.
We aim to build our power so that we can overcome the contradiction, in
unity with oppressed peoples all over the world. Any struggle for paid
prisoner labor should primarily be a struggle to build our internal
unity and organizing.
Throughout the numerous issues of Under Lock & Key (ULK), we
have read countless articles detailing the unjust and inhumyn conditions
of imprisonment across U.$. prisons and jails. Many of these stories,
and the compelling analyses they entail, help shape and develop our
political consciousness. From the hunger strikes in California to the
rampant humyn rights’ violations in Texas on to the USW-led countrywide
grievance campaign, through the pages of ULK, we have shared our
organizing struggles, the successes and setbacks. As a result, our
clarity regarding the illegitimacy of the U.$. criminal (in)justice
system has sharpened tremendously.
And yet, there are some political and economic dimensions of our
imprisonment that seem to evade our critical gaze. It is not enough that
we become familiar with each others’ stories behind the walls. At some
point, we must move toward relating our collective organizing
experiences in prison to much broader struggles beyond prison. To this
end, the anti-prison movement(1) is but a necessary phase of national
liberation struggles that has serious implications for anti-imperialism.
And in order for the anti-prison movement to advance we must analyze all
sides of the mass incarceration question.
Many of us already understand that prisons function as tools of social
control. We also recognize that U.$. prisons are disproportionately
packed with oppressed nation lumpen, ostensibly because these groups
organized and led national liberation movements during the late-1960s to
mid-70s. After these movements succumbed to repression from U.$.
reactionary forces (COINTELPRO), the U.$. prison population rose
dramatically and then exploded, resulting in what we know today as mass
incarceration.(2) Thus, we see, in a very narrow way, the basis for why
U.$. prisons serve in neutralizing the existential threat posed by
oppressed nation lumpen.
But understanding the hystorical basis of mass incarceration is only one
part of the question. The other part is determining how the systematic
imprisonment of oppressed nation lumpen has developed over time, and
exploring its impact throughout that process. Because while the question
of mass incarceration may seem as formulaic as “national oppression
makes necessary the institutions of social control,” the reality is this
question is a bit more involved than mere physical imprisonment.
The latter point in no way opposes the analysis that the primary purpose
of mass incarceration is to deter oppressed nation lumpen from
revolutionary organizing. In fact, the political and economic dimensions
of mass incarceration described and analyzed later in this article
function in the same capacity as prison bars – in some instances, the
bonds of poverty and systemic marginalization, or the racist and
white-supremacist ideology that criminalizes and stigmatizes oppressed
nation lumpen are just as strong as the physical bonds of imprisonment.
If oppressed nation communities, particularly lumpen communities, are
kept in a perpetual state of destabilization, disorganization, and
distraction, then these groups will find it that much harder to
effectively organize against a status quo that oppresses them.
The point of this article is thus to widen the panorama of our
understanding, to take in those political and economic dimensions of
mass incarceration that too often go unnoticed and unexamined, but are
nonetheless important in determining the line and strategy necessary to
advance the anti-prison movement.
Partial Integration Set the Table for Mass Incarceration
As pointed out above, mass incarceration deters oppressed nation lumpen
from revolutionary organizing. But what does this analysis really mean
in today’s context of the national question? How does the prevention of
oppressed nation lumpen from organizing for national liberation impact
the national contradiction; that is, the contradiction between the
Euro-Amerikan oppressor nation-state and the U.$. internal oppressed
nations and semi-colonies?
The lumpen-driven liberation movements of past were, in part, strong
rebukes against the integrationist Civil Rights movement (which of
course was led by the bourgeoisie/petty-bourgeoisie of oppressed
nations). Thus we see the partial integration agenda as an alliance and
compromise between the Euro-Amerikan oppressor nation-state (its ruling
class) and the comprador bourgeoisie of oppressed nations. It is meant
to answer the national question set forth by the earlier protest
movements (revolutionary and progressive) of oppressed nations, on one
hand, and to ease tensions inherent in the national contradiction, on
the other hand.
In exchange for open access to political power and persynal wealth, the
comprador bourgeoisie was tasked with keeping their lumpen communities
in check. To this point, it was thought that if Black and Brown faces
ruled over Black and Brown places, then much of the radical protest and
unrest that characterized the period between the mid-60s to mid-70s
would be quelled.
This is the very premise of identity politics, and, as
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor aptly notes: electing leaders of oppressed
nations into political office does not change the dire material and
socioeconomic circumstances of the communities they represent.(3) In eir
book, From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Taylor goes on
to describe the failure of partial integration (and identity politics)
with respect to the New Afrikan nation,(4) contending:
“The pursuit of Black electoral power became one of the principal
strategies that emerged from the Black Power era. Clearly it has been
successful for some. But the continuing crises for Black people, from
under-resourced schools to police murder, expose the extreme limitations
of that strategy. The ascendance of Black electoral politics also
dramatizes how class differences can lead to different political
strategies in the fight for Black liberation. There have always been
class differences among [New Afrikans], but this is the first time those
class differences have been expressed in the form of a minority of
Blacks wielding significant political power and authority over the
majority of Black lives.”(5)
Here we see Taylor describes the inability of partial integration to
remedy the plight of the entire New Afrikan nation and its communities.
Ey also articulates very precisely the internal class divisions of New
Afrika brought to light by such an opportunistic agenda, which serves to
enforce and maintain semi-colonialism. There is a reason why the
Euro-Amerikan oppressor nation-state allied with the comprador
bourgeoisie, as their interests were (and are) clearly more aligned than
conflicting, given the circumstances. Where the
bourgeois/petty-bourgeois integrationists wanted access to capitalist
society, the lumpen and some sections of the working class of oppressed
nations saw their future in their liberation from U.$. imperialist
society – two very different “political strategies” reflective of
somewhat contentious “class differences.”
Furthermore, Taylor highlights the moral bankruptcy of partial
integration (and identity politics) with the contemporary lesson of
Freddie Gray’s tragic murder and the Baltimore uprising that followed.
Ey explains, “when a Black mayor, governing a largely Black city, aids
in the mobilization of a military unit led by a Black woman to suppress
a Black rebellion, we are in a new period of the Black freedom
struggle.”(6) This “new period” that Taylor speaks of is nothing more
than good-ole neo-colonialism.
To elaborate further, an understanding of the Baltimore uprising, for
example, cannot be reduced down to a single incident of police murder.
Let’s be clear, New Afrikan lumpen (and youth) took to the streets of
Baltimore in protest and frustration of conditions that had been
festering for years – conditions that have only grown worse since the
end of the “Black Power era.” Obviously, the political strategy of
identity politics (i.e. “the pursuit of Black electoral power”) has not
led to “Black liberation.” Instead it has resulted in an intensification
of class tensions internal to the U.$. oppressed nation (in this case,
New Afrika), as well as increased state repression of oppressed nation
lumpen.
This latter point is evidenced by the support of policies from the
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that target, disrupt, and imprison
oppressed nation communities (lumpen communities).(7) At the same time
that these communities struggled under the weight of economic divestment
and merciless marginalization, conditions which in many respects
worsened under the political leadership of the comprador bourgeoisie,
the drug trade opened up, providing a precarious means of survival.
Predictably, as “crime”(8) increased so too did the creation and
implementation of criminal civil legislation that fueled mass
incarceration. To really get a sense of the true interests of the
comprador bourgeoisie of oppressed nations, we only need to look at the
positions taken by the CBC, the so-called champions of freedom,
equality, and justice, which “cosponsored conservative law-and-order
politics out of not political weakness but entrenchment in Beltway
politics.”(9) It is clear that partial integration has been “successful
for some,” but it is equally apparent who the victims of this
opportunistic agenda have been.
What is often missed in any serious and sober analysis of the CBC (or
any other political org. representative of the comprador bourgeoisie) is
the legitimacy it bestows upon the prison house of nations: U.$.
imperialist society. This legitimacy isn’t some figment of imagination,
but a material reality expressed primarily in the class-nation alliance
signified by the partial integration agenda. Dialectically, while the
comprador bourgeoisie is granted the privileges of “whiteness,” access
to political and economic power, the lumpen and some sections of the
working class of oppressed nations are deemed superfluous (not
necessary) for the production and reproduction of U.$. imperialist
society. Of course, the election of more members of oppressed nations
into office goes a long way in maintaining the facade that the United
$tates is a free and open society that respects and upholds the rights
and liberties of its citizenry. However, identity politics will never
obscure the sacrificial zones within U.$. society -– South and Westside
Chicago, Eastside Baltimore, Compton and South Central and East Los
Angeles, and many more deprived urban lumpen areas –- maintained and, in
many cases, made worse by partial integration.
Unfortunately, this is where we find the oppressed nation lumpen today
on the national question, held hostage by a set of identity politics
complicit in its further marginalization and oppression.
Politics of Mass Incarceration
In discussing the failure of partial integration to effectively improve
the material and socioeconomic life of the entire oppressed nation, we
can better appreciate the extreme limitations of such an anemic
political strategy that is identity politics. But if the legitimacy that
partial integration (and identity politics) provides U.$. society can
only go so far in actually pacifying oppressed nation lumpen, then by
what other means and methods are these superfluous groups controlled? In
the next two sections, we will explore and analyze this question.
Racism and white supremacy are constant ideological threads woven
throughout the founding and development of U.$. society. In each era, be
it slavery, segregation, or mass incarceration today, the primary
function of this political ideology is to rationalize and legitimate the
oppression and/or exploitation of colonized peoples, which throughout
these different eras invariably involved employing particular methods of
social control against these peoples or specific groups thereof.
Now, of course, we cannot compare the fundamental nature of slavery with
that of mass incarceration. And to be clear, this is not the point of
this particular section. It should be obvious to the casual ULK
reader that where the slave performed an essential economic role and was
therein exploited and oppressed, oppressed nation lumpen have no role
within the current socioeconomic order of U.$. society, as it is
systematically denied access to it. The point, however, is to show how
the ideological forces of racism and white supremacy, while they have
assumed different forms depending on the historical era, are mobilized
in service of the status quo. It is in this sense that political
motivations underpin the system of mass incarceration. And as we will
see in this section, these motivations are hystorically tied to the
oppression and/or exploitation of U.$. internal oppressed nations and
semi-colonies.
To be sure, the need to control oppressed nations has always been a
paramount concern of the oppressor (settler) nation since
settler-colonialism. During the era of slavery, slave codes were
implemented to ensure that slaves were held in check, while slave
patrols were formed to enforce these measures. We see here the emergence
of the modern U.$. criminal (in)justice system in its nascent form, with
its proto-police and proto-criminal laws. But it wasn’t until after the
abolition of slavery that we find express political motivations to
criminalize oppressed nations. For Angela Y. Davis,
“Race [nation] has always played a central role in constructing
presumptions of criminality … former slave states passed new legislation
revising the slave codes in order to regulate the behavior of free
blacks in ways similar to those that had existed during slavery. The new
Black Codes proscribed a range of actions … that were criminalized only
when the person charged was black.”(10)
While the Black Codes were created in large part to control New Afrikan
labor for continued exploitation, we are able to see the formation of
policies and policing designed for the specific purpose of repressing
oppressed nations. As a side note, irony doesn’t begin to describe the
enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment, meant to abolish slavery, to
disestablish one system of oppression only to provide for the legal and
political basis for another system of oppression -– convict lease labor.
Furthermore, Davis observes that, “The racialization of crime – the
tendency to ‘impute crime to color’ … did not wither away as the country
became increasingly removed from slavery. Proof that crime continues to
be imputed to color resides in the many evocations of ‘racial profiling’
in our time.”(11) In this sense, oppressed nation lumpen criminality
under conditions of mass incarceration is analogous to Afrikan
“inferiority” or First Nation “savagery” under conditions of
settler-colonialism. In both instances, there are narratives, informed
by racism and white supremacy, which serve the continued functioning of
the status quo.
Given that the criminalization of oppressed nations is not some modern
phenomenon, but one that originated in the hystorical oppression and
exploitation of oppressed nations, we now have a different angle from
which to view mass incarceration. Part of this view involves recognizing
that the criminal (in)justice system, law enforcement, and legislators
are not neutral arbiters of justice or “law and order.” These people and
institutions are infected by racism and white supremacy and thus
function to carry out ideological and political aims.
Therefore, it is important that we remain diligent in uncovering the
many guises under which racism and white supremacy lurk and hide. This
is no less significant today as it is in the cultural arena where
reactionary ideas and ideologies are propagated and traded. To be more
clear, when trying to rationalize why oppressed nation lumpen are
imprisoned at disproportionate rates relative to similarly-situated
Euro-Amerikans, arguments about lack of responsibility and no work ethic
are tossed around as explanations. Mainstream media go even further by
portraying and projecting stereotypes about oppressed nation lumpen (and
youth), that is to say, stereotyping the dress, talk, and actions, which
is really a subtle but sophisticated way of stigmatizing. Of course,
this stigmatization goes on to construct a criminal archetype, which
many of us see today in nearly every facet of U.$. media life.
All of these factors, taken into consideration together, shape the
public conscience on “crime” and criminality, laying the groundwork for
rationalizing the great disparities characteristic of the current
criminal (in)justice system. Unsurprisingly, this propaganda has worked
so effectively that even oppressed nation members find it hard to
ignore. So where there should be unity on issues/incidences of national
oppression, none exists, because the oppressed nation is divided,
usually along class lines. Taylor strikes at the heart of the
matter:
“Blaming Black culture not only deflects investigation into the systemic
causes of Black inequality but has also been widely absorbed by [New
Afrikans] as well. Their acceptance of the dominant narrative that
blames Blacks for their own oppression is one explanation for the delay
in the development of a new Black movement.”(12)
This is certainly the plan of partial integration, to divide the
oppressed nation against itself and thereby legitimize the
marginalization and oppression of oppressed nation lumpen in the
process. Naturally, this paralyzes the oppressed nation from acting on
its right to self-determination, from pursuing liberation.
To frame this point another way, take a Chican@ business owner. This
persyn has a business in a predominantly Chican@ lumpen community,
despite residing in the suburbs. This business owner sees Chican@ youth
hang out and skip school. Ey sees them engaged in questionable, possibly
criminal activity. Add in the scenario that local media frames crime as
a virtue of Chican@ lumpen youth on a nightly basis. And then say one
day one of those Chican@ kids is killed by the police. How will the
Chican@ business owner respond?
Before the era of mass incarceration, the overwhelming majority of the
oppressed nation would have viewed this scenario for what it was: a
police murder. Today, we cannot be so sure.
To sum up, the current criminal (in)justice system, law enforcements,
etc. are unfair and unjust not because these institutions are biased
against oppressed nations, but because the fundamental nature of
society, the basis upon which these institutions are built and set in
motion, is founded on the oppression of non-white peoples. We must
remember that slavery was legal and segregation was held up as
permissible by the highest courts in this stolen land. For us to view
mass incarceration solely from the social control perspective undermines
any appreciation for the urgency of anti-imperialism, for the need for a
reinvigoration of U.$. national liberation struggles. We need to be more
nuanced in our analysis because the system is nuanced in its
marginalization and oppression of oppressed nation lumpen.
Economics of Mass Incarceration
This nuance mentioned above is primarily played out on an economic
plane. And there are many economic dimensions and impacts of mass
incarceration that maintain a strangle hold on oppressed nation lumpen
and communities.
We can explore how contact with the criminal (in)justice system can
leave an oppressed nation member and eir family destitute, through fees,
fines, and other forms of financial obligations. We can look at the
impact of prisons located in rural communities, providing employment
opportunities and economic stimulus. We could even investigate prison
industries and how prisoner labor is utilized to offset the costs of
incarceration. However, the point here is that there are many things to
analyze, all of which, taken as a whole, disadvantage oppressed nation
lumpen and their communities.
The most consequential impact of mass incarceration is how it feeds the
cycle of poverty and marginalization characteristic of lumpen
communities. Basically, the criminalization / stigmatization of lumpen
reinforces its material deprivation, which in turn nurtures conditions
of criminal activity as a means of survival, further unleashing the
repressive forces of the criminal (in)justice system, which proves or
validates the criminalization / stigmatization of oppressed nation
lumpen in the first place. Thus, oppressed nation lumpen are inarguably
subjected doubly to the poverty and marginalization, on one hand, and to
the relentless blows of national oppression, on the other hand.
Todd Clear, provost of Rutgers University – Newark, who specializes
in the study of criminal justice, draws a stark picture of this cycle of
crime and poverty that lumpen are subjected to:
“A number of the men are gone at any time; they’re locked up. And then
the men that are there are not able to produce income, to support
families, to support children, to buy goods, to make the neighborhood
have economic activity, to support businesses … the net effect of rates
of incarceration is that the neighborhood has trouble adjusting.
Neighborhoods where there’s limited economic activity around the
legitimate market are neighborhoods where you have a ripeness to grow
illegitimate markets.”(13)
What Clear is depicting is not so much the fact that crimes take place
in lumpen communities. Clear is emphasizing that criminogenic factors
(factors that strongly tend to lead to criminal activity/inclination)
are really a reflection of the lack of socioeconomic opportunities to
social upward mobility. This is the essence that fuels the dynamic
relationship between crime and poverty. What Clear fails to mention is
that there are Euro-Amerikans who are in similarly-situated
circumstances as oppressed nation lumpen but are more likely to escape
them where oppressed nation lumpen are trapped. This is so for reasons
already mentioned in the above sections.
Furthermore, not everyone in lumpen communities are imprisoned; in fact,
most likely never see the inside of a jail or prison. But enough people
do go away and stay away for a considerable period of time that the
community is destabilized, and familial bonds are ruptured. When free,
the imprisoned persyn from the lumpen community represented some sort of
income, and not a liability weighing down a family, financially,
morally, etc, already struggling to make ends meet. Enough of these
families are part of the lumpen community that the cycle mentioned above
seems to be unbreakable. Kids growing up in broken homes, forced to
assume adult roles, only to make kid mistakes that come with adult
consequences; and the cycle continues.
To be sure, this cycle has been in force with respect to oppressed
nations since the end of slavery. It has just become necessary over time
to enact laws and policies that now target and disrupt these
communities. Both the politics and economics of mass incarceration work
to keep lumpen communities from organizing for national liberation as
was done during the late-60s.
Conclusion
Part of any strategy related to our anti-prison movement is first
recognizing these dimensions of mass incarceration, and taking into
account that we live in enemy society where enemy consciousness
prevails, even amongst much of the oppressed nations. We have to also
recognize that the interests of oppressed nation lumpen are not the same
as the other classes of the oppressed nation. There are some members of
the oppressed nations who have bought the bill of goods sold by partial
integration. They are fully immersed in the delusions of identity
politics, subtly sacrificing their true identity for the trinkets of
“whiteness.”
Understanding and recognizing these points means we can focus our
organizing efforts on building public opinion and independent
institutions, on a concrete class/nation analysis and not because
someone is Black or Brown. We need to be patient with lumpen communities
as they are in that day-to-day grind of survival and may not (or cannot)
see the merit in our movement. Ultimately, we need to step up and be
those leaders of the movement, so when we do touch we hit the ground
running.
While many euro-Amerikans languish and suffer in U.$. prisons, it is
those whose land the Amerikans seized and occupy, and those the
Amerikans enslaved and exploited, who disproportionately rot here. The
First World lumpen are an excess population, that imperialism has
limited use for.
One solution to this problem has been using the lumpen to distribute
and consume narcotics.
Narcotics,
and the drug game itself pacify the lowest classes of the internal
semi-colonies, by providing income and distracting drama, while
circulating capital.(1) Of course, rich Amerikans play a much larger
role in propping up drug sales.
Another solution to the excess population has been mass incarceration.
Prisons serve as a tool of social control; a place to put the rebellious
populations that once spawned organizations like the Black Panther Party
and Young Lords Party. Meanwhile,
imprisonment
serves to drain the resources of the internal semi-colonies in
numerous ways.(2) This reinforces their colonial states in relation to
the Amerikan empire. As an institution, mass incarceration serves as an
outlet at home for the racist ideology that imperialism requires from
its populace for operations abroad. The criminal injustice system
sanitizes national oppression under the banner of “law and order,”
reducing the more open manifestations of the national contradiction
within the metropole that brought about the recognition of the need for
national liberation in the 1960s and 1970s.(3)
The following are excerpts from a Minnesota comrade’s response to
“MIM(Prisons)
on U.$. Prison Economy”, originally published in
ULK 8
currently available in the “13th Amendment Study Pack”(updated
8/10/2017).
“In as much as I agree with MIM’s positions in this study pack, I find
it beyond the pale of relevance in arguing over whether the conditions
We now exist under are in fact slavery or exploitation or rather
oppression that revolves around laws devised to ensure that the first
class’s social, political and economic control is maintained. Mass
incarceration might be all of those above or none at all, to those of Us
in the struggle. What we all can agree on is that mass incarceration is
a machine being used to exterminate, as the imperialists see us, the
undesirable sub-underclass.
“…Prisons are being used to remove black and brown males at their prime
ages of producing children, going to college, and gaining meaningful
vocational training. This loss of virulent males in Our communities does
more than weaken them. It removes from the female an eligible male and
acts no different than sterilization. Instead of incinerators or gas
chambers, We are being nurtured, domesticated, doped, and fed
carcinogens. Moreover, prisons have provided us with disease-ridden
environments, and poor diets, minimum ambulatory exercise, poor air and
water. Lastly, the removal of cognitive social stimuli necessary for the
maturation of social skills has created an underdeveloped antisocial
human being lacking in compassion and individuality.
“…the reason that the slavery or exploitation argument doesn’t resonate
for those of Us who are on the front line, I think, is because it’s
muted by the point that incarceration is an institution created by the
oppressor. It will have vestiges of slavery, exploitation, and social
control within it. To what degree? is arguable.”
So far we have no disagreements with this comrade. And while we have
long upheld this point to be important for our understanding of mass
incarceration in the United $tates and how to fight it, we do recognize
that the slavery analogy will resonate with the masses on an emotional
level. The comrade later goes on to reinforce our position:
“Eradication is where slavery and mass incarceration split. Although
slaves were punished and victims of social control, they had value and
were not eradicated.”
A crass example of this was exposed last month when Kern County pigs
turned on one of their own and released a video of Chief Pig Donny
Youngblood stating that it’s cheaper to kill someone being held by the
state than to wound them. These are state bureaucracies, with pressure
to cut budgets. While keeping prison beds full is in the interest of the
unions, it is not in the immediate financial interest to the state
overall.
Whereas we agree with this comrade when ey discusses the role of convict
leasing in funding southern economies shortly after the creation of the
13th Amendment, we disagree with the analogy to funding rural white
communities today.
“The slave, instead of producing crops and performing other trades on
the plantation is now a source of work… So to insist states aren’t
benefactors of mass incarceration is incredulous. Labor aristocrats and
the imperialist first class, who are majority Caucasian males, have
disproportionately benefited.”
The difference is a key point in Marxism, and understanding the
imperialist economy today. That the existence of millions of prisoners
in the United $tates creates jobs for labor aristocrats is very
different from being a slave, whose labor is exploited. And the
difference is that the wealth to pay the white (or otherwise) prison
staff is coming from the exploitation of the Third World proletariat.
And the economy around incarceration is just one way that the state
moves those superprofits around and into the pockets of the everyday
Amerikan. The “prisoner-as-slave” narrative risks erasing the important
role of this imperialist exploitation.
Another reason why we must be precise in our explanation is the history
of white labor unions in this country in undermining the liberation
struggles of the internal semi-colonies. Hitching the struggle of
prisoners to that of the Amerikan labor movement is not a way to boost
the cause. It is a way to subordinate it to an enemy cause – that of
Amerikan labor.
There is a cabal of Amerikan labor organizers on the outside that are
pushing their agenda to the forefront of the prison movement. Their
involvement in this issue goes back well over a century and their
position has not changed. It is a battle between the Amerikan labor
aristocracy and the Amerikan bourgeoisie over super-profits extracted
from the Third World. In this case the labor aristocracy sees that
prisoners working for little to no wages could cut into the jobs
available to their class that offer the benefit of surplus value
extraction from other nations. Generally the labor aristocracy position
has won out, keeping the opportunities for real profiteering from prison
labor very limited in this country. But that is not to say that
exploitation of prison labor could not arise, particularly in a severe
economic crisis as Third World countries delink from the empire forcing
it to look inward to keep profits cycling.
While our previous attempt to tackle this subject may have come across
as academic Marxist analysis, we hope to do better moving forward to
push the line that the prison movement needs to be tied to the
anti-colonial, national liberation struggles both inside and outside the
United $tates. And that these struggles aim to liberate whole nations
from the United $tates, and ultimately put an end to Amerikanism.
Selling those struggles out to the interests of the Amerikan labor
movement will not serve the interests of the First World lumpen.
Prison labor is an interesting concept. Compared to the enormous
expenditures (financial, mental, physical, etc.) the rewards/benefits of
prison industrial labor are trivial in the extreme.
Excluding coveted “prison industry” posts, over 95% of prisoners are
employed in prison maintenance, construction, administrative/educational
labor). [This figure may be accurate in this comrade’s state. Our
preliminary results across 22 systems in the U.$. show almost 25%
working in manufacturing and agriculture. – Editor] Indeed, such work
does prove beneficial (in the case of kitchen labor – invaluable) to
prison operations. Kitchen work notwithstanding, the sum total of
benefits is small. So why do prisons use prisoner labor? Especially
considering it does little to lessen the economic burden of penal
institutions on society. There are two plausible answers to this
question. Surprisingly, neither is directly linked to financial
interests.
In the first place, prisoners are employed to reinforce socially
acceptable behavior and occupational patterns (by capitalistic
standards). While this may sound perfectly justifiable and even
admirable; truth is, it is far less altruistic. Reinforcement of
socially accepted roles is an integral aspect of the
subjection-manipulation cycle (see ULK 52 –
An
Invaluable Resource? And ULK 54 –
The
Adaption of Capitalistic Controls), which through an invasive,
subtle and constant life-long indoctrination, endeavors to create a
homogeneous populace. Prison labor is meant to be a control for inducing
conformity in prison which later translates to the same out in society.
An objective achieved through subjection (mandatory labor) and
manipulation (rewards or reprimands, restrictions and sanctions) in a
never-ending cyclic process. A process similar to Pablo Escobar’s
approach to business – plata o plomo (silver or lead). In simple terms,
accept my favor or risk my displeasure. This reality is paralleled
throughout society. Contribute to capitalism, strive to become a
capitalist, or experience privations, marginalization, ostracization,
imprisonment or worse. In a way, prison labor is a form or reeducation,
along capitalist lines.
In the second place, labor in prison provides an added buffer against
unrest and radical organization among prisoners. Prisoners structure
their days around their jobs, giving it importance and prominence in
their daily lives. Many would feel lost at sea, wayward, direction-less
without it. It gives the prisoner a focal point distinct from and
meaningless to their best interests – toppling the penal system.
Distracted by menial duties, most prisoners never bother to contemplate
their plight, subjection/manipulation, origins of their situation and
the oppression, which made it all possible (eventual?); not even
mentioning the oppressors who become an abstract “them.”
As such, prison labor does four important things for capitalism:
Reeducates deviants (self-determinants)
Reinforces classism
Drains on and distracts prisoner intellect
Impedes any meaningful development (mental, physical, political and
social)
Prisons are gargantuan popular control systems. Prison labor is a system
within a system created for the advancement of a thriving capitalist
state – inequality and an overabundance of commodities. Considering how
many prisoners work prison jobs, join society’s labor force and become
re-acclimated to capitalist control, the effectiveness of prison labor
as a process is quite horrifying. Ignorance is a capitalist’s bliss.
Knowledge is a revolutionary’s power. Understanding reality as it
confronts us is the first step to dismantling the penal institute as a
whole.
MIM(Prisons) adds: The point that much prison labor is not
actually saving operating costs is an important piece to our analysis
that we have yet to quantify. According to our survey, some 460,000
prisoners are working in prison maintenance jobs in the state and
federal systems at a median of 150 hours per month. To hire that work
out at $10/hr would cost around $9 billion, or what would amount to 10%
of the money spent on the criminal injustice system.
However, it is not uncommon for state-funded programs to hire more
people than they need to complete a job, because profit is not the
motive. And it makes sense to pay prisoners for attending schooling and
other programming activities when the motivations above are considered.
This is another perspective on prisons as social control. Socialist
states have and will also use prisons to shape populations in a certain
direction. Of course, the state apparatus serves that economic system.
In socialism, prisons combat classism. In capitalism, they reinforce
it.
Mientras muchos euro-americanos se desmoronan y sufren en las prisiones
E$tado Uniden$e$, son aquellos cuyas tierras los amerikanos tomaron y
ocuparon, y aquellos a quienes esclavizaron y explotaron, que
desproporcionadamente se pudren aquí. Los lumpen del primer mundo son un
exceso de población, para los que el imperialismo tiene uso limitado.
Una solución a este problema ha sido utilizar a personas de la
sub-subclase para distribuir y consumir narcóticos. Los narcóticos y el
juego de la droga en sí tranquilizan a los de las clases más bajas de
las semi-colonias internas, proporcionando ingresos y drama que distrae,
mientras circula capital.(1) Por supuesto, amerikanos ricos desempeñan
un papel mucho más importante en la promoción de las ventas de drogas.
Otra solución para el exceso de población ha sido el encarcelamiento
masivo. Las prisiones sirven como una herramienta de control social; un
lugar para poner a las poblaciones rebeldes que una vez engendraron
organizaciones como la Black Panther Party y Young Lords Party (El
Partido de Pantera Negra –BPP y El Partido Joven de Reyes). Mientras
tanto, el encarcelamiento sirve para drenar los recursos de las
semicolonias internas de muchas maneras (2) refuerza sus estados
coloniales en relación con el imperio amerikano. Como una institución,
la encarcelación masiva sirve como una salida en el hogar para la
ideología racista que el imperialismo requiere de su población para
operaciones en el extranjero. El sistema de injusticia criminal depura
las opresiones nacionales bajo el lema de “ley y orden”, reduciendo las
manifestaciones más abiertas de la contradicción nacional dentro de la
metrópoli que provocó el reconocimiento de la necesidad de la liberación
nacional en el 1960 y 1970.(3)
Lo siguiente son extractos de la respuesta de un camarada de Minnesota a
Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons (Ministerio
Internacionalista de Prisiones Maoísta-MIM(Prisons)) sobre la economía
de prisiones E$tado Uniden$e$“, publicado originalmente en ULK 8,
actualmente disponible en el”13th Amendment Study Pack (Paquete de
estudio de la 13ª Enmienda)” (actualizado el 8/10/2017).
“A pesar de que concuerdo bastante con las posiciones de MIM
(Ministerio Internacionalista de Prisiones Maoísta) sobre este conjunto
de estudio, es que lo encuentro más allá de la relevancia en la
discusión sobre si las condiciones bajo las que ahora vivimos son de
hecho esclavitud o explotación o más bien una opresión que gira en torno
a leyes diseñadas para garantizar que el control social, político y
económico de primera clase se mantenga. El encarcelamiento puede ser
todos los anteriores o ninguno en absoluto, para aquellos de nosotros en
la lucha. En lo que todos podemos estar de acuerdo es en que la
encarcelación masiva es una máquina que se usa para exterminar, como nos
ven los imperialistas, la sub-subclase indeseable.
“… Las cárceles se están utilizando para eliminar a los hombres
negros y morenos en sus mejores años para producir hijos, ir a la
universidad y ganar formación profesional significativa. Esta pérdida de
hombres virulentos en Nuestras comunidades hace más que únicamente
debilitarlas. Le quita a la mujer un varón adecuado y actúa igual que la
esterilización. En lugar de incineradores o cámaras de gas, estamos
siendo nutridos, domesticados, dopado y alimentados con carcinógenos.
Además, las prisiones nos han proporcionado ambientes plagados de
enfermedades y dietas deficientes, mínimo ejercicio ambulatorio, escaso
aire y agua. Por último, la eliminación de las cognitivas sociales
estimula lo necesario para la maduración de las habilidades sociales ha
creado un ser humano antisocial subdesarrollado carente de compasión e
individualidad.
“… La razón por la cual el argumento de esclavitud o explotación no
resuena para aquellos de nosotros que están en primera línea, creo, es
porque está silenciado por el hecho de que el encarcelamiento es una
institución creada por el opresor. Tendrá vestigios de esclavitud,
explotación y control social dentro de ella. ¿Hasta qué punto? es
discutible.”
Hasta el momento no tenemos desacuerdos con este camarada. Y aunque
hemos mantenido este punto que es importante para nuestra comprensión
del encarcelamiento masivo en los Estado$ Unido$ y cómo luchar contra
él, sí reconocemos que la analogía de la esclavitud resonará con las
masas a un nivel emocional. El camarada luego refuerza nuestra posición:
“La erradicación es donde la esclavitud y el encarcelamiento masivo se
dividen. A pesar de que los esclavos fueron castigados y víctimas del
control social, tenían valor y no fueron erradicados.”
Un tosco ejemplo de esto estuvo expuesto el mes pasado cuando los cerdos
del Condado de Kern traicionaron a uno de los suyos y lanzaron un video
del Cerdo en Jefe Donny Youngblood, que afirmaba que es más barato matar
a alguien retenido por el estado que herirlos. Estas son burocracias
estatales, con presión para recortar presupuestos. Si bien mantener las
camas de prisión llenas es de interés de los sindicatos, no tiene un
interés financiero inmediato para el estado en general.
Mientras que estamos de acuerdo con este camarada cuando ellos discuten
el papel del mantenimiento de un prisionero en la financiación de las
economías del sur poco después de la creación de la 13ª Enmienda, no
estamos de acuerdo con la analogía de financiar las comunidades rurales
blancas de hoy en día.
“El esclavo, en lugar de producir cultivos y realizar otros oficios en
la plantación es ahora una fuente de trabajo … Entonces, insistir en que
los estados no son benefactores de la encarcelación masiva es algo
incrédulo. Los aristócratas laboristas y la primera clase imperialista,
que en su mayoría son varones caucásicos, se han visto beneficiados de
forma desproporcional.”
La diferencia es un punto clave en el marxismo, y entender la economía
imperialista actual. Entender que la existencia de millones de
prisioneros en los Estado$ Unido$ crea puestos de trabajo para los
aristócratas trabajadores es muy diferente a ser un esclavo, cuyo
trabajo es explotado. Y la diferencia es que la riqueza para pagar al
personal de prisión blanco (o de otro tipo) proviene de la explotación
del proletariado del Tercer Mundo. Y la economía en torno al
encarcelamiento es solo una de las formas en que el estado mueve esas
súper ganancias hacia los bolsillos del Amerikano ordinario. La
narrativa del “prisionero como esclavo” corre el riesgo de borrar el
papel importante de esta explotación imperialista.
Otra razón por la que debemos ser precisos en nuestra explicación es la
historia de los sindicatos blancos en este país en socavar las luchas de
liberación de las semicolonias internas. Enganchando la lucha de
prisioneros a la del movimiento laboral de E$tado$ Unido$ no es una
forma de impulsar la causa. Es una manera de subordinarlo a una causa
enemiga - la de Trabajo Amerikano.
Hay un grupo de organizadores del trabajo Amerikano en el exterior que
están empujando su agenda a la vanguardia del movimiento penitenciario.
Su participación en este tema se remonta a más de un siglo atrás y su
posición no ha cambiado. Es una batalla entre la aristocracia laboral
amerikana y la burguesía amerikana por las súper ganancias extraídas del
Tercer Mundo. En este caso, la aristocracia laboral ve que los presos
que trabajan por poco o ningún salario podrían entrar en los trabajos
disponibles para su clase que ofrecen el beneficio de la extracción de
plusvalías de otras naciones. Generalmente, ha ganado la posición de la
aristocracia laboral, manteniendo muy limitadas las oportunidades para
obtener beneficios reales del trabajo en prisión en este país. Pero eso
no quiere decir que no pueda surgir la explotación del trabajo
penitenciario, especialmente en crisis económicas graves a medida que
los países del tercer mundo se separan del imperio, forzándolo a mirar
hacia adentro para mantener las ganancias a flote.
Si bien, nuestro intento anterior para abordar este tema puede haber
dado la impresión de un análisis académico marxista, esperamos que nos
vaya mejor al seguir adelante en empujar los límites de que el
movimiento en prisiones necesita estar ligado a las luchas de liberación
nacional y anticolonial, tanto dentro como fuera de los E$tado$ Unido$.
Y que estas luchas apunten a liberar a naciones enteras de los E$tado$
Unido$, y finalmente poner un fin al Amerikanismo. El vender esas luchas
a los intereses del movimiento laboral Amerikano no servirá a los
intereses del lumpen del Primer Mundo.
Echándole un vistazo al código penal para ver lo que se ha descrito como
asalto sexual por el sistema criminal de injusticias, revela una
variedad de ofensas, desde varias faltas menores hasta violaciones
graves. En los E$tados Unido$, aquellos que cometen dichos actos atroces
son considerados como lo más bajo de lo bajo y las prisiones no son
diferentes. Este ensayo intenta abordar el tema de los delincuentes
sexuales dentro de las sociedades en prisión y su importancia para el
movimiento en prisiones.
En el intento de escribir algo con respecto de este asunto, me vi
obligado a regresar a dos puntos principales de debate: (1) la
contradicción de la unidad vs las separaciones dentro del mismo
movimiento en prisión, como la hizo popular el Movimiento
Internacionalista Maoísta. La fuerza de mi argumento proviene de ambos
puntos. ¿Qué es el Movimiento en Prisión?
Antes de continuar, es necesario para mí explicar lo que alrededor de
qué intentamos construir unidad. El movimiento en prisión se define por
varios movimientos, organizaciones e individuos que en este momento
luchan contra las muchas caras del sistema de injusticia Amerikkkano.
Sea que estos movimientos se den en Georgia, California, Texas,
Pennsylvania o cualquier otro rincón del imperio de los EE.UU., no es de
mucha importancia. Lo que es importante, sin embargo, es el hecho de que
aquellas organizaciones e individuos se encuentran actualmente
desempeñando un papel progresivo y potencialmente revolucionario al
atacar al sistema opresivo en las prisiones amerikkkanas.
En las prisiones o cárceles de un estado la lucha puede tomar la forma
de una campaña de reclamo, o de acciones de otro grupo dirigidas a
abolir el trabajo forzado de los prisioneros. Estos movimientos tiene
que ser dirigidos por una variedad de organizaciones lumpen. Algunas son
revolucionarias, otras no. algunas son estrechamente reformistas por
naturaleza y no irán más allá del ganar concesiones. Otras permanecen
estancadas en la mentalidad burguesa del individualismo, mientras siguen
engañosamente usando una retórica revolucionaria para conseguir sus
metas.
Sin embargo, a pesar de sus objetivos separados, cada una en su propia
forma, están tomando acciones colectivas cuando es posible para desafiar
sus condiciones opresoras. Además, estos movimientos, organizaciones e
individuos, cuando se toman como un todo, representan el despertar de la
consciencia política y revolucionaria de los prisioneros, que no se ha
visto desde la ronda más reciente de luchas nacionales de liberación de
las semi- colonias internas. Esas son las cualidades progresivas del
nuevo movimiento en prisiones.
Los aspectos negativos y reaccionarios del movimiento en prisiones se
caracterizan por el hecho de que muchas de estas organizaciones lumpen
todavía funcionan dentro de líneas tradicionales. La mayoría sigue
participando en una economía parasitaria y llevan a cabo actividades en
contra de personas, que afectan a las personas mismas a quienes dicen
representar. Con respecto al ensayo, la mayoría de estos movimientos y
organizaciones también tienen políticas que excluyen a aquellos a
quienes el estado imperialista ha etiquetado como “delincuentes
sexuales”. No obstante, ¿pueden estos movimientos y organizaciones
realmente adherirse a dichas separaciones iniciadas por el estado?
¿Cuáles son las ramificaciones de todo esto?
De acuerdo con el Centro Nacional para Niños Explotados y Extraviados,
el número de delincuentes sexuales registrados en los E$tados Unido$
para el 2012 fue de 747,408, con los números más grandes en California,
Texas y Florida.(1) Por consiguiente, también son tres de los estados
con prisiones más grandes. ¡Todo sexo es violación!
En 1990s, el Movimiento Internacionalista Maoísta (MIM) se volvió poco
popular entre los amerikanos de izquierda por dos razones. La primera
fue su análisis de clase, que decía que los trabajadores amerikkkanos no
eran explotados, pero que en vez, formaban una aristocracia laboral
debido al hecho de que les pagaban más del valor de su trabajo. Los
amerikkkanos fueron por lo tanto, considerados como parásitos en el
proletariado y campesino del Tercer Mundo, así como enemigos de los
movimientos tercermundistas.
La segunda razón fue el sostener la línea política de la
pseudo-feminista del Primer Mundo, Catherine MacKinnon, que dijo que no
había una verdadera diferencia entre lo que hace el violador acusado y
lo que la mayoría de hombres llama sexo, pero que nunca van a la cárcel
por ello. MacKinnon expuso la teoría de que bajo un sistema de
patriarcado (bajo el cual vivimos), todas las relaciones sexuales giran
en torno a relaciones desiguales de poder entre aquellos hombres
sexistas y aquellas mujeres sexistas. Así, las personas nunca pueden
realmente consentir a tener sexo. De esto, MIM trazó la conclusión
lógica: todo sexo es violación.(2)
Esta línea no sólo es radical, sino, revolucionaria por su acusación al
patriarcado y a su implicación en el sistema de injusticia. MIM
desarrolló aún más la frase de todo sexo es violación, cuando explicó la
importancia de las acusaciones de violación provenientes de mujeres
amerikkanas contra hombres afroamerikanos y la relación histórica con el
linchamiento de afroamerikanos por parte de chusmas amerikkkanas durante
Jim Crow. Incluso en la década de los 90, cuando MIM observó las
estadísticas para las acusaciones de violación y condenas, pudo deducir
que los afroamerikanos aún seguían estando oprimidos a nivel nacional
por las mujeres blancas, en alianza con sus hermanos blancos.(3)
Dicho eso, esto no significa que los actos violentos y penetrantes no se
comenten contra gente que son oprimidas por su género en nuestra
sociedad. En vez de eso, dirijo la atención al hecho de que la sociedad
amerikana erotiza las diferenciales de poder, y los medios sexualizan a
los niños, no obstante, ambos pretenden abominar ambos. Sin importar
quien haya hecho qué, lo que no debemos perder de vista es nuestro
enfoque principal: la unión contra el estado imperialista, el enemigo
número uno de las naciones oprimidas.
No es secreto que el llamar a alguien “delincuente sexual” en prisión es
someter a dicha persona a la violencia y posiblemente muerte. Así mismo,
es un hecho histórico que los cerdos han usado las acusaciones de ser
delincuente sexual como una forma de desacreditar las voces líderes
entre los oprimidos o, simplemente, hacer que los prisioneros tengan en
su mira a alguien contra quien ellos tienen un asunto personal. Tenemos
que resistir estas tácticas COINTELPRO y seguir uniendo y consolidando
nuestras fuerzas, puesto que el participar en estos linchamientos
autoinfligidos es sólo otra forma en que los cerdos logran que hagamos
su trabajo sucio por ellos.
Comparaciones históricas
Mao Zedong dijo, al hacer una auto-crítica, que habían habido demasiadas
ejecuciones durante la Revolución Cultural China. En particular, declaró
que, aunque podía justificarse el ejecutar a un asesino o a alguien que
hace explotar una fábrica, también podía justificarse el no ejecutar a
algunas de las mismas personas. Mao sugirió que aquellos que estén
dispuestos, deberían ir a hacer algún trabajo productivo, de forma que
la sociedad pueda ganar algo positivo y la persona en cuestión, puede
ser reformada (4).
Los Maoists creen que los problemas entre la gente se deberían manejar
de forma pacífica entre la gente, y por medio de métodos de discusión y
debate. La mayoría de prisioneros están encerrados precisamente porque
estuvieron involucrados en algún tipo de actividad contra personas, en
algún punto u otros de sus vidas. ¿Estas acciones deberían definir a los
prisioneros? De acuerdo con el pensamiento de MIM, todos los ciudadanos
de los U$ serán vistos como criminales reformistas por parte del
movimiento socialista del Tercer Mundo, bajo la Dictadura Conjunta del
Proletariado de las Naciones Oprimidas (JDPON). El lumpen del Primer
Mundo no será la excepción independientemente del tipo de crimen.
Siendo una película de Hollywood basada en una historieta de Marvel,
Pantera Negra se destaca por un tema político abierto y varias
discusiones honestas sobre opresión nacional. El largometraje es sobre
los Wakandas, una sociedad Africana sumamente avanzada y pacífica. Una
sociedad que incluye mujeres fuertes y facultadas en funciones de
defensa, ciencia y servicios a l@s oprimid@s.
La sociedad Wakanda está completamente oculta del mundo y dirigida por
el Rey TChalla, el héroe de la película. Su aislamiento es basado en un
legítimo temor al mundo imperialista, el cual tiene una larga historia
de opresión y explotación en el África. La solución de los Wakandas fue
ocultarse y enfocarse en construir una sociedad fuerte y pacifica
internamente. Eran extremadamente exitosos, sobrepasando al resto del
mundo en el campo de la ciencia y lo que es más, la película sugiere que
Wakanda se construyo con las riquezas de sus propios recursos naturales,
una sociedad sin una aparente explotación u opresión. Pero este
aislamiento tiene una oposición creciendo desde su interior, de quienes
quieren ayudar a l@s oprimid@s del mundo.
Podemos comparar el aislamiento de Wakanda a movimientos revolucionarios
que han tomado el poder en un país, solo para verse rodeados de
enemigos. En lugares como Corea del Norte, Cuba y Albania, el
aislamiento fue una estrategia en contra de influencias externas, pero
al final fue también una gran dificultad para estas naciones. Wakanda no
encara dificultades similares debido a sus tremendas riquezas, pero
tampoco nadie conoce sobre su sociedad avanzada y no tienen gastos
excesivos de recursos para la defensa de la propia nación. El mundo
piensa que los Wakandas son sólo una nación Tercermundista llena de
guajiros (Agricultores).
Lo que encontramos más interesante acerca de la película no fue el
protagonista, pero el antagonista, Eric Killmonger, quien creció en
Oakland en los 1990s. El padre de Killmonger (el tío de Tchalla) estaba
sirviendo como un espía para los Wakandas en Oakland cuando se enamoró
de los nuev@s African@s oprimid@s con l@s quien convivía y decidió que
debía tomar recursos Wakandas para ayudar a liberar a esta gente. Por
traicionar a Wakanda, el padre de Killmonger fue asesinado por el Rey
(su propio hermano), dejando a Kilmonger abandonado en Oakland. El Rey
mantuvo la traición, muerte y a Eric, en secreto, que llevó hasta la
tumba, siendo la aparición de Killmonger una sorpresa súbita para l@s
que llevaban una vida idealista en el capitolio.
Eric Killmonger es producto del abandono por l@s Wakandas y su
crecimiento en las calles de Oakland. Killmonger vio la desesperada
lucha que la nueva nación Africana pasaba en los E$tados Unido$ y no
podía perdonar a l@s Wakandas por no ayudar a estas personas. Killmonger
no sólo buscaba venganza personal por la muerte de su padre, sino
también buscaba continuar con el sueño de su padre de ayudar a l@s
oprimid@s a liberarse. La educación de Killmonger (en MIT) y su
entrenamiento (en la milicia Amerikana) fue determinado, enfocado en
obtener una posición para controlar los recursos Wakandas a fin de
poderlos utilizar para ayudar a l@s oprimid@s. Killmonger cultivo la
pasión y la perseverancia para llegar hasta la sociedad oculta Wakanda y
luchar por el trono.
Killmonger no vacila en matar, hasta aquell@s a quien aparenta querer,
para lograr su meta. Pero esto es guerra, y las vidas de millones
alrededor del mundo están en riesgo. Nosotr@s respetamos su enfoque y
dinamismo. Porque preguntar amablemente al Rey Wakanda, de entregar
algunas armas y tecnología para ayudar a l@s oprimid@s, no iba a
funcionar. Incluso peticiones similares fueron denegadas, a pesar que
fueron hechas por personas influyentes en la sociedad Wakanda. Por esto
Killmonger razonablemente creía que la única opción era tomar lo que
necesitaba por la fuerza.
Hubieron reacciones diversas a la contradicción entre el aislamiento
pacifico contra una revolución violenta, estando en juego la batalla por
el trono. Uno de los bando Wakandas (la fuerza de la defensa civil)
entusiastamente se unió a Killmonger una vez que les explica su plan de
armar a l@s nuev@s African@s en los E$tado$ Unido$ y a l@s espías
Wakandas alrededor del mundo. La propuesta de Killmonger incluía también
que el sol nunca se pondría en el imperio Wakanda. Si la defensa civil
se unió por razones altruistas o hambre de poder, esto queda a
discreción de la audiencia.
La defensa real de mala manera se queda Leal al Trono cuando Killmonger
toma el poder, esta por la obediencia a las tradiciones conservadoras
más que alguna otra cosa. La defensa real rápidamente cambia de bando
cuando se suscita una justificación técnica – el duelo por el trono no
había acabado, porque TChalla estaba vivo. Este bando de la milicia fue
hecho para ser héroes, pero ell@s estaban defendiendo a un Rey que
mantenía el aislamiento en contra de un Rey que quería ayudar a l@s
oprimid@s del mundo.
Sin embargo, hay otro ángulo que está representado por el interés
amoroso de TChalla, Nakia, una espía quien trabaja entre l@s refugiad@s
y víctimas del tráfico humano. Ella obstinadamente rechazó la
oportunidad de ser reina, para poder continuar con su tan importante
trabajo ayudando a la gente fuera de Wakanda. Aunque ideológicamente
Nakia tenía mucho en común con Killmonger, por lo menos en oponerse al
aislamiento Wakanda y en querer liberar a la gente oprimida
mundialmente, se mantuvo fiel a Tchalla. Nakia, como much@s otr@s
Wakandas, estaba principalmente en contra de la estrategia de Killmonger
de enviar armas y armamentos alrededor del mundo entero, y los
sentimientos personales hacia TChalla eran un factor influyente.
En la estrategia de Killmonger de solucionar la opresión imperialista
había muchos problemas estratégicos, incluyendo la falta de liderazgo o
de un movimiento de liberación para tomar el cargo de la milicia y los
recursos tecnológicos que estaba ofreciendo. Es difícil ver como
entregar armamento a l@s oprimid@s l@s va a llevar a la libertad. De
hecho esas armas pudieron haber caído en manos de l@s imperialistas, lo
cual, - a diferencia de tradición y “no es nuestra forma” – fue la
primera justificación que TChalla dio y otras para mantener Wakanda
oculta al mundo.
Al final el rey conservad@r gana, pero aprende que tiene una
responsabilidad con las personas del mundo. En perspectiva el cambio de
Tchalla de seguir ciegamente el camino de su padre en mantener la
tradición en un pedestal, se da en gran parte por el descubrimiento del
secreto familiar. La aparición de Killmonger es un gran giro para
TChalla. TChalla llega a ver a Killmonger como un@ mounstr@ el cuál fue
cread@ por las manos de su padre. Tchalla ve cómo el adherirse a las
tradiciones y el aislamiento en realidad enajena a las personas, tal
como al pequeño Eric, quien TChalla siente debe de alguna manera ser
incluido bajo la protección de Wakanda en ayudar y asistir.
De esta manera, TChalla al final a llega a estar de acuerdo con Nakia y
Killmonger que Wakanda tiene una obligación moral de compartir su
conocimiento. Desafortunadamente, a pesar de todos l@s espiás
internacionales de Wakanda, el Rey TChalla fracasa en correctamente
evaluar el equilibrio de fuerzas, y l@s amig@s y l@s enemig@s de l@s
oprimid@s. La última escena de la película muestra a TChalla dando un
discurso en las Naciones Unidas (N.U.), anunciando que Wakanda comenzará
a compartir su tecnología y conocimientos con el mundo. Él también
compra varios edificios en Oakland, California para abrir los primeros
centros Wakanda de educación y alcance para la juventud.
Si TChalla realmente hubiese querido ayudar a l@s oprimid@s del mundo,
él podía utilizar la tecnología Wakanda de poder quedar ocultos a plena
vista y la reputación de ser una nación agrícola no riesgosa para armar
una fuerza armada en secreto – bajo las aguas – para luchar a l@s
opresores por el doble control y luego liberar, incluyendo poner fin al
capitalismo. En vez de haber ido a la N.U. y anunciar “¡Oye! !Nos
estamos organizando y haciendo cosas extraordinarios que pueden amenazar
su poder! !Vélenos de cerca!” Él pudo haber hecho esto discretamente y
con éxito. Al parecer TChalla deja de ser conservador para ser liberal y
no da el paso a ser verdaderamente revolucionario.