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.
I spent 24 out of 34 days with no air circulation inside 8 cell in 11
building (solitary confinement) toward the end of June & most of
July. The windows are not designed to open, just to allow the blazing
sun in, which we aren’t allowed to block. Normally air is drawn out of
the cell and fresh non cooled air from outside is pumped in. Well, it
went out 3 times leading to 24 days of breathing stale air. You sweat
night and day even with the 8” fan (purchased off commissary) blowing at
your face. I developed a rash and jack itch as a result of likely
sweating & for wetting down my sheet every hour, night & day
& climbing under it to cool down.
I take a diuretic for hypertension, which is known to deplete your body
of water. While they don’t seem to care about elevated risk to those
that take medicine, one would think given the current lawsuit they would
move at risk persons, especially in situations like this where in Warden
Carter knew the air system was down. (We have a separate super max
solitary confinement which is 12 building and has AC in it. So why
wasn’t I placed in there?)
I’ve put in a step 2 grievance on this as well as several other issues.
I’m sick of being abused by a broken system that fails to impart
fairness. If you have anything, or know of some one else I should write,
please send it to me in the S.A.S.E. I’ve enclosed.
I read some individuals voice their opinions regarding the SNY in unity
for the Chicano liberation movement. I have stated before, I am not gang
nor am I with gang. My decision to step away from GP was due to my
differences in views and beliefs about gang against true revolutionary
goals, of which were deemed “undisciplined,” (uniting with all Raza
North-South, seeing New Afrikans as revolutionary allies, etc.) and
succumb to ostracism within a group claiming to be for the Raza.
As a true revolutionary I will not discriminate, isolate, or alienate
anybody who is seeking education and displays interest to understand the
tyranny of imperialism. Be GP or SNY, that is only prison mentality of
which I believe should never resurface in a post-revolution liberated
Aztlán, this is the greater cause for the national liberation of Aztlán.
That is where the true revolutionaries distinguish from gang. My true
enemy is imperialism and its many systematic vehicles of oppression
against the Chicano lumpen. Always keeping aware of infiltrators and
spies working to suppress any resistance, including so-called allies who
in truth operate on a subjective ideology of fascism.
In the SNY there are many comrades who have developed a higher political
interest and awareness. A personal higher calling for servitude seems
present in many for a better future for our next generations. Those who
are still with gang are very present as well, but it is those who seek a
higher learning and understand of this phantom enemy, imperialism, who I
would like to reach out to! This is the struggle to unite.
It is public consciousness what we aim for, not numbers. The calling for
revolution is within each one. Many lumpen have perceived revolution
solely as an armed struggle and cause for war to kill the oppressor. In
part, yes that is a goal, but i would disagree to integrate individuals
who are solely for war. That would be as uniting or recruiting
mercenaries, as Reagan did against the Sandinistas and to extreme case,
the Salvadorian government force enlisting children against the FMLN.
Those with true revolutionary interest take on study and
self-development with eagerness. Those whose interests are not aligned,
they simply walk away. Revisionist and other suppressive Raza are always
present and that creates obstacles as well as a struggle to unite.
Interacting, talking, and sharing our political lines are gateways to
congregate and build study cells without risking our demise in a front
by those wishing to suppress our efforts to unite.
No matter what another comrade’s political maturity is, well-developed
or first time knowing, the practice and persistence to learn is what I
see. For I myself am still amateur to communism. The abolition of
imperialism and the liberation for Aztlán is my goal, to live in
equality for all.
Sharing ULK and other material is a minor step I take for now in
order to broaden and spread that consciousness within the lumpen here in
my environment. Sometimes referring to myself as being for the Chicano
national liberation movement upon meeting fellows brings questions from
some and ignites interest in others. With time I share my copy of
Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán.
To comrades in SNY reading this, let’s continue our struggle to unite.
To comrades in the GP, struggle in solidarity and power to you all true
revolutionaries.
In March 2016, I sent a letter to Representative Borris Miles about not
having a law library at the Wheeler Unit. I also filed a grievance on
the indigent mail getting 5 letters a month sent out instead of 5 per
week. It was sent back saying that it was too old to file on.
I filed some legal work with Rep. Borris Miles because the other unit
where I was before didn’t have a law library. The Wheeler Unit is only a
few yards from here and they don’t have access to the law library or
access to the courts which is a Federal violation. Below is part of my
letter to Rep. Miles.
“I am writing this complaint to state from the evidence that I have,
which is some I-60s, inmate request slips, which I wrote requesting to
go to the law library to do some legal work, and was denied twice
because Ms. J. Lara stated that we didn’t have law library sessions at
this unit [Wheeler], because the law library which don’t have NO BOOKS
just a few stuff not enough that you could actually use to complete
legal work with. To the other request, her response was that I was
afforded with what they had, but every time a request is put in by
somebody it is denied. We have a full size library about 300 yards from
this Unit at Formby Unit. I have requested to be transferred over there
where I can have legal access to the law library so that I can have
access to the courts also.”
You can print this, just leave my name out, because I would have trouble
here and be retaliated against because of it. If you get this letter
please write back and let me know that you got it because mail don’t
always make it to where it’s supposed to go to. So please answer ASAP
when you get this so I’ll know that you received this.
If you have a grievance manual I would like to have one if possible. I
am in the processing stage of writing Rep. Miles about the grievance
process. They need to have grievances looked at by somebody outside
TDCJ, besides the grievance investigator here, because we don’t think
the Warden even sees Step 1, because the same answer comes back on every
Step 1, saying not warranted for further action. So this inital decision
is all on it and it’s been typed on every Step 1 and then Huntsville
looks at Step 1, copies this answer on Step 2, and sends it back to us,
agreeing with the answer on Step 1. And we use Texas Penal Codes on it
and it states clearly that state law is being violated by employees and
it’s covered up within the Unit. So legal action can’t be taken. Send me
a few of the petitions and grievance manual and I’m filing with others
about this also.
I also saw in ULK 51 that you said the Jailhouse Lawyers
Handbook is banned in Texas. I checked with the mailroom staff here
[Formby Unit] and they said it is approved on this unit as far as they
know. Please make this correction in ULK.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We’ve gotten confirmation from multiple
sources that the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook is not
banned in Texas at this time. Thanks to this contributor, and others,
who help us to stay informed.
We wrote about the need to connect the battles this comrade is fighting
with the larger picture of revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist
economic system in our article
“Texas
Comrades Need to Step Up” in ULK 52. Reiterating that call,
we also encourage this comrade to see how futile it is to call for an
outside review board to oversee the grievance process. Even if a review
board was put in place, it would be run by the criminal injustice system
or their allies, because that is who has the power in this country. And
the whole process will start all over again with lawsuit after lawsuit
filed and dismissed, and won and reneged. Revolutionaries can’t afford
to bang our head against this wall while people are dying the world
over, and their liberation is being stalled by Amerikkka’s runaround.
We should struggle for some reforms, as that’s all we can do
right now at this stage in our struggle where we are too weak to
struggle any other way. But we need to focus on reforms that will have
the greatest impact on our organizing work, which centers around
building independent institutions of the oppressed and building public
opinion for socialism. Is an “outside” review board an independent
institution of the oppressed? No, it would just be a facade of the
state, and a false victory. If we want to have our grievances answered,
we need to build unity, and come together to demand our grievances are
answered. Of course there are many ways and many steps to unity, but
this would be an independent institution of the oppressed to defend
ourselves and build for the future where we’re not begging prison
administration to please treat us like humyn beings.
Few things are more dangerous and detrimental to a revolutionary
movement than over- and underestimation, in particular underestimation.
Battles have been lost, tides and balances of struggles have ebbed and
flowed, and slide from one side to the other. And all because of this
simple mistake. Whenever we underestimate someone, group, or thing, we
commit this mistake of relegating that persyn, group, or thing to
unimportance. Or we ignore it or them as being trivial. This is
something no revolutionary can ever afford to do. Especially those in
the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist movements.
Unfortunately, our movements, as so many others, can be plagued by
machismo, a particular form of male chauvinism. In revolutionary circles
this happens and wimmin are undervalued and most often underestimated.
Wimmin are a force without equal in any movement. In the fight against
capitalist and imperialist governments wimmin are an indispensable
resource. A clear example of their worth can be found in recent Cuban
history, the 26th of July movement.
Everyone knows of Fidel, Raúl, Frank País and Abel Santamaría. But their
fame and successes would have been unattainable save for the
revolucionarias, wimmin revolutionaries. While there were many wimmin
later in the movement, there were only two in key roles at the
beginning: Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado and Melba Hernández Rodríguez de
Rey. These two stood out as invaluable and the personifications of
wimmin to a revolutionary movement. Together they were key to printing
and distributing “History Will Absolve Me,” the famous Castro speech.
They also took up arms during the attack on the Moncada Barracks in
Santiago de Cuba. Although, triumph eluded them during the assault,
their efforts spread the movement from the eastern provinces throughout
all Cuba. Haydée and Melba were both imprisoned after the assault. But
their efforts never stopped and they even became more active in
overthrowing the U.$.-backed Batista regime. Their imprisonment,
isolation, and cruelty suffered at the hands of a proxy of U.$.
imperialism only served to strengthen their resolve and commitment. As
the movement spread, so did support which finished in the triumph of the
revolution in 1959. Without them the revolution may never have been
achieved.
Wimmin are often undervalued, underestimated and ignored. Let us not
commit such mistakes. While the capitalists and imperialists do, let us
recognize this fault and exploit it, using their fallacy for our
advantage to progress the movement. We need our wimmin to be involved
because they are the life blood of any movement and an invaluable
resource. As revolutionaries and persyns, wimmin are integral to the
success of our movement.
Let us take note of this history lesson and put it to good use. We need
wimmin, prisoners and captives, to exceed the examples of Haydée and
Melba, leading other compañeras from behind the walls as they did.
Directing others in constructive methods, organizing study groups and
educating other wimmin about the present struggle, as well as how to
champion it. Their efforts will give breath to our movement and once it
has spread, triumph will shortly follow.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer gives a good historical
example of wimmin who have overcome barriers of machismo to make
significant contributions to the liberation of their nation. There are
innumerable examples like this one that we can point to for anyone who
is hung up on their sexism so much that they think only “men” can
liberate the oppressed nations.
This author is advocating for a necessary first step: first, we must
accept that anyone is perfectly capable of being a strong theorist,
warrior, contributor, to the national struggles. We don’t see many
people writing in telling us wimmin are too weak or otherwise should be
excluded from revolutionary organizing, so while this sexist
indoctrination will ultimately affect how we approach organizing, at
least on a conscious level we might be already doing good on step 1. So
what’s next?
If we continue to see wimmin as a resource, even for revolutionary aims,
we are not going to get very far in resolving the gender contradictions
that plague our struggle for unity and liberation. Rather than asking
ourselves how can we mine this resource, we need to ask “what are the
contradictions inhibiting this growth of our movement?” and “what can we
do to help resolve these contradictions?” A study of dialectical
materialism, including Mao’s essay “On Contradiction” is imperative for
this discussion.
Similarly, we can’t fetishize organizing of any subgroup in our
movement, lest we lose direction for the sake of getting some wimmin on
board. That’s the mistake made by people who believe who is
saying it is more important than what is being said. It’s the
same trap that got Obama elected as a Black persyn, and Hilary
campaigning on the platform of being a female. Even if the tokenization
is of an oppressed group (queer/trans people of color appear to be the
token of the day), identity politics is always dangerous and an
antithesis to materialism.
Prisons in California have become one of the most active and organized
areas of resistance behind bars in the United $tates. With the second
largest prison population in the country, and some of the biggest
long-term isolation units, this is perhaps not surprising. Out of this
repression and resistance has come some strong organizing efforts over
the past few years. And this has also raised contradictions that need to
be resolved to advance the struggle. We use this issue of ULK to
highlight the contradictions and challenge our comrades in California to
think broadly about resolutions.
While SHU/Ad-Seg prisoners are about 6% of the California prison
population, they were 35% of our readers according to our reader survey
conducted a couple years ago. Special Needs Yards (SNY) are reported to
be around 30% of the total population, but were about 40% of our reader
responders. So while SHU/Ad-Seg are very over-represented, SNY also
seems to be slightly over-represented among our readers. There is a big
division between SHU/GP and SNY prisoners with distrust and anger on
both sides. But comrades from both sides continue to do solid organizing
work. One of the significant developments in Cali is the Agreement to
End Hostilities (AEH), a United Front that has made important strides
forward but is also plagued by these divisions.
It is unlikely anything we do or say will worsen the division between
SHU/GP and SNY. Rather than fan the flames, we are airing these
grievances as a step towards understanding and eventual reconciliation.
We also want to challenge both sides. The revolutionary,
anti-imperialist, pro-people forces are tiny in all sectors. Some argue
that SNY is in a better position to unite, while others say only GP has
potential. So we want to encourage a little friendly competition between
the two sides to see who can do more. Practice has already demonstrated
the leadership from SHU’s ability to mobilize the masses for a
progressive cause. But progressive forces on that side must continue to
move forward in order to consolidate those gains, or risk them being
lost. At the same time SNY comrades claim they gained the freedom to
unite and organize with whoever they want, and so they need to use that
position to unite others who dropped out. To both sides we say: if
you’re only seeking a comfortable way to do your time you’re not helping
advance the struggle and the revolution has no place for you.
We received a number of responses to the article in ULK 50,
“Chican@ Power Book Tainted by AEH.” One comrade in SNY wrote:
“In my point of view it [the Agreement to End Hostilities] contradicts
every aspect that they preach. Now everybody who died, who caught a life
sentence for the struggle they believed in was all for nothing. Take a
second and think about that. There are people who are in prison serving
a life sentence for killing an individual who opposed his views and
beliefs. Now they expect him to be the best of friends with these same
people? How does that make sense?
“Now you guys reading this might say ‘He is only saying that because
he’s SNY.’ Well, for 4 years I was active and I have seen both sides of
the fence. Not everybody over here is a snitch. There is more unity here
than there is on the mainline. You see raza from North and South united
where it doesn’t matter what part of the state you’re from.”
Saying that the AEH is hypocritical based on the past goes against the
United Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) principle of Growth. We
must allow for growth and evolution of individuals and organizations if
we want to see unity among the oppressed, because the old way didn’t
work. There are major contradictions between lumpen organizations (LOs)
still, and between different housing units in California. But we see
these as contradictions among the people. Which is why we stand behind
the AEH, and think those old wounds can heal. It’s been four years, and
there’s still a long way to go. But people are putting in the work, and
in some locations we’ve seen real progress.
We understand the lack of trust that some have for those calling for the
AEH in California. But we say to those people, the ones who truly want
to end oppression as this comrade does, isn’t the AEH a step towards
what you want? Even if you don’t trust certain individuals, the more we
do to promote the spirit of the AEH, as well as the principles of the
UFPP, the closer we get to replacing the old order with a new order
based on unity of the oppressed.
This response comes from the comrade at Folsom (not SNY) who reported in
ULK 50 on the progress of the AEH there, with Raza from north and
south playing handball together on the same teams: “It’s a
challenge educating people here, attempting to share and explain the
current situation and contradiction of ideology, morals, politricks and
capital. These factions seem to be following a textbook on capitalism.
Yes, we have the AEH, which is a beautiful thing and can be used as a
stepping stone for a more productive practice of commune. At the moment
people are more concerned on exploiting the twisted habits of others and
making their pockets fatter for self-interest. The ‘chiefs’ preach to
confuse, saying that the ideology, morals and capital is framed around
serve the people, united we are stronger and all that glitter. But i’ve
not yet seen one cent invested in the people, books, education or basic
needs. Too bizzy taxing the fellas for pickles out their store bags.
“Get your back straight my people, the AEH is being tainted by
self-interest and is not being maximized to its full potential in a more
revolutionary way. Serve the People.
“The great are only great because we are on our knees. If you don’t have
sycophantic attitudes towards the ‘leader’ and express your support they
don’t look great. Put some pressure, maybe then these individuals that
abandoned the cause for self-interest can snap out of their pig ideology
and step their game up and shape their minds and struggle towards
national liberation. Resemble more a revolutionary internationalist and
not the imperialist pigs that fucked us all in the first place, Tony
Montana wanna-be mofo.
“I will continue to read, educate, practice and liberate regardless of
the situation and this September 9 will be no different.”
A comrade in Corcoran (not SNY) is skeptical of the AEH, but echoes
the refrain from many in SHU/GP that there can never be unity with
SNY:
“The AEH is a godsend to all the souljas who have been held captive in
the concrete tombs for 10, 15, 20+ years. The AEH is the tool CDCR is
going to try and use to 1) gain more funds to build more prisons, and 2)
justify the need for indeterminate SHU sentences. The current
shape/mindset of prison and prisoners is not what it was back in the
days that the souljas remember it being. This is going to create
problems. These newly released souljas are going to be dealing with 18,
19, 20 year olds sentenced to 50, 60, 100 years.
“The AEH is going to create old-school versus new-school. That about
sums it up. There’s more to it. Like say the both schools are getting
along there’s also a snake on the police side ready to cause dissension
amongst the community. Bottom line, CDCR cannot afford for the AEH to
work, so they will see that it doesn’t and when it doesn’t they’ll try
to capitalize off its failure.
“They are now selling e-tablets, but only for SNY yards. There’s mp3
players only for SNYs. The list goes on. Even with the trades there on
SNY yards, the GP level prisoners aren’t being afforded an opportunity
to utilize programs that would rehabilitate them and better their lives
and chances of staying out of prison. The message is clear: if you level
four prisoners want to better your life you got to go SNY.
“Oh, there won’t ever be a united front between GPs and SNY. You’re
better off trying to get a united front between convicts and pigz. See
how crazy that sounds?! While there are solid souljas on the SNY yard,
who became tired of the twisted prison politics. They’re far outnumbered
by pieces of shit, ie. child molesters, rapists, snitches, cowards,
people running from drug debts, etc.”
This last point is an important one that requires comment. Yes,
prisoners are more likely to unite with pigz than they are with SNY
because they are currently led by the criminally-minded. And it’s hard
to do serious money-making behind bars without working with some
criminal pigz. This is a challenge and a contradiction we face trying to
organize the First World lumpen. Not only are they criminal-minded, they
can often make a fair amount from that crime, even some in prison are
happy and prefer that over uniting New Afrika and Aztlán to fight
imperialism. This is echoed by the Folsom comrade above.
All of these struggles in the California prisons remind us of how far we
have to go, as humynity, to achieve a society where all people can live
together in peace, in a society where no group of people has power over
any other group. That long-term goal is communism. But to get there we
will need to radically change our culture and the education people get
from schools and society. Divisions are built into imperialism, people
are pitted against each other based on class, nation, and gender
generally and more specifically feuds are fostered by the imperialists
to pit the oppressed against each other. This culture won’t disappear
overnight.
We learn from the revolutionary history of China that cultural
revolutions will be needed after the oppressed take power, to re-educate
everyone and build a truly revolutionary culture and society. It’s a
long road, and our comrades behind bars in California shouldn’t be
discouraged by divisions that have been created over many years of
capitalist cultural indoctrination. Keep the big picture in mind and
build for the revolutionary united front that serves the oppressed of
the world.
I would like to address the question that was presented in ULK
issue #49: Where are the revolutionary women at? How can we reach and
organize with our female comrades?
There are many female soldiers out there who would love to join the
revolution. And there are many ways in which we can bring these sisters
into the revolution. One way is via the pen pal process. Many male
prisoners have prison pen pals who they can write, educate and/or bring
into the fight. The same can also be done with female pen pals who are
not incarcerated. They can also sign up the sisters they know or write
for a subscription of ULK.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade offers a fine suggest that
can apply regardless of gender. Any pen pal who might be interested in
the struggle against imperialism and oppression should be cultivated on
that level. We always need more help from supporters on the outside, so
if your pen pals need an org to hook up with they can seek out
MIM(Prisons) via our contact info on page 1.
We know many of our subscribers already follow this comrades’s
suggestion by sharing what they learn from ULK with their people
on the streets. If you have reason to believe your pen pal might be
interested in anti-imperialist politics, send an article cut out of the
newsletter to see how they react. If they are interested you can suggest
they check out our website and you can start raising political questions
in your letters. This could help build a solid base of political support
on the streets for when you’re released. But it’s important to always be
cautious, and not expose your political views and organizing work to
folks who might (even if just accidentally) expose you to the cops.
To be clear, we don’t have any evidence that overall males are at a
higher level of political consciousness than females. At least
historical political movements within U.$. borders don’t suggest this is
the case, but it is possible the dramatic recent imprisonment rate is
driving a politicization of males in a way never before seen in this
country. Regardless, we need to get the word out to everyone who might
be interested in anti-imperialism, and if our political line is correct
the oppressed will see this and get involved.
We’d like to hear from others about successes or failures you have had
bringing up politics with folks in letters to the streets. Is this a
tactic that we can build on in a more intentional way?
On Sept 9th, we open, as usual, upon the United Front for Peace in
Prisons Statement of Principles. Our comrade did spoken word:
“Frustrated” and “Black Angel” (our comrade is working on a CD of spoken
word).
Another comrade spoke on revolutionary consciousness – what it means,
how it applies to us and our conditions (open discussion). A third
comrade introduced the ten point agenda (we recently sent you a copy of
the 10 point agenda). We are ready to accept
responsibility/accountability for ourselves and our conditions – we will
have our marching orders (the basic point that Marx emphasized is
profoundly true: “If the masses don’t fight back and resist their
oppression, even short of revolution, they will be crushed and reduced
to a broken mass and will be incapable of rising up for any higher
thing.”). Our attendance was 32 people.
On September 15th we spoke on
“Building
Prison Study Groups” from ULK 45 (July/August 2015). Numerous
articles within, and questions/comments were given. The discussion was
moderated by two comrades and 41 people attended. We want to assure
ourselves, we are working towards effective grouping/organizing, keeping
the political line, and keeping the pigz out of our planning. We wish to
be peaceful, organized, and most important, as effective as possible.
We are organizing for the Grievance campaign - we’ve received the sample
sheet from MIM(Prisons). This has been an issue, here at Sussex I and
throughout Virginia DOC. I recently sent you an article titled
“Suppression the Grievance Procedure”.
My comrades, we are working. We’ve got support from Bloods (over 200),
GDs (over 25), MS-13 (20) and Muslims, Christians and 5%ers. I can only
say we will work and work for results!
I’m writing to inquire about the “grievance guide.” I received this
address from the Education-Peer Ed. Instructor. There are times that an
inmate or myself find a valid reason to draw up a grievance to bring
notice to the matter in question. However the “grievance” department
returns the form as “invalid.” So is there a specific format or
particular details that need to be followed for the grievance to be
valid and reach the appropriate authorities, to find a solution?
P.S. I’ve asked the Law Library Officer and she informed me that such
“method” is confidential and not made available to inmates.
Interest of the wealthy always precedes those who aren’t heard.
Power to the people who stand their ground. No more broken promises
and we won’t back down. The fruits of our labor will be handed
around. What must it mean to be truly free? Should we settle for
something less, fuck it don’t agree. This war scattered us into
refugees, blame those in power Who claim to represent you and
me. No matter what you say and claim to be, dig your roots And
nourish what you seek. Be part of the solution, organize and fight
together. We have to devise a plan, a common ground in which A
idea won’t fall into one hand. No doubt freedom fighters will get
gunned down. The rebel with the knowledge is the child born in the
trenches. Who will carry the torch of resistance for the next seven
generation. Learn from mistakes and apply to the whole. We can
never separate the people from the struggle.
The recent attention to murder and brutality of New Afrikan men by
Amerikan police, and the shooting of police officers in Dallas, Texas by
Micah X, apparently in retaliation for this brutality, inspired a lot of
thoughtful letters from across the country. Many commented on the need
to take up the gun to fight those with guns.
A contributor in Florida asked:
“So, my question is this: how effective and appropriate was the
brother’s actions (or sacrifice) at this point in time, or what do we,
you and the readers make of all this? Are there any lessons, a message,
or information to be learned from all of this? Or, ultimately, is there
perhaps any more room, space, or a vacuum for more of this kind of
self-defense at this point in time? And if so, how does one go about or
start preparing, alleviating, educating, demonstrating or organizing for
such right now from this example (or lesson) at this point in time? Like
Micah X, are we ready to effectively exercise or address any more of
this yet - or continue to keep the conversation going?”
If Micah were trying to spark a revolution, this would be a good example
of what we call focoism:
The belief that small cells of armed revolutionaries can create the
conditions for revolution through their actions. Demonstrated
revolutionary victories, the successes of the foci, are supposed to lead
the masses to revolution. Focoism often places great emphasis on armed
struggle and the immediacy this brings to class warfare. Focoism is
different from people’s war in that it doesn’t promote the mass line as
part of guerrilla operations.
It is difficult for us to know Micah’s goals and intents without having
been there and spoken with em. Regardless of eir intents, the outcome of
the actions ey took serve as ammunition for the oppressors to continue
oppressing. For them, it is much easier to gain (even more) public
opinion and sympathy when they are able to point at specific incidents
of a member of a movement “mercilessly” gunning down pigs. Remember that
the majority of people in power are already on their side.
While revolutionaries and many in the oppressed nations know that
Micah’s actions were an act of self-defense, white politicians and
leaders will never see it that way. As a Federal prisoner wrote to us:
“President Obama called what happened in Dallas Texas ‘A Vicious,
Calculated, Despicable ATTACK!’” In their eyes, violent actions taken
against a pig (or pigs) can never be considered self-defense, especially
when the “offender” in question is non-white.
At this point, standalone violent actions such as this one serve to
incite the government to act with more urgency against those who they
perceive threaten them, and allow them to place themselves ever more in
the role of “victim,” and to place the oppressed in the role of
“aggressor.”
Violence is a very necessary part of effecting any kind of true change
that puts an end to imperialism, but there is a time for it, and that
time is not now. Our focus now is on educating and organizing ourselves,
so that we are better able to organize those who already see things as
we do. It is important to consider what someone with a drive like this
could achieve over a lifetime of work.
A contributor in Maryland wrote:
“One of the DJs said one of the solutions was for us to just comply with
the pigs no matter what when confronted in the streets by them.
Basically, don’t dare challenge master. But there can be no change
without challenge. Why do we continue to lay down?… The white
supremacists of this land have taken up refuge behind the badge. They
can never be rooted out. Not by Obama, or anyone else. Remember they got
a 200 year head start on us.”
While it is true that there can be no change without challenge, it is
also important to remember that not all challenge enacts change. The
pigs in no way deserve respect, compliance or gratitude. And it’s true
that they won’t be rooted out without taking down all of the
imperialists first. However, to challenge them now militarily serves to
get the wrong people killed and give more instances for the oppressors
to point at and say “Look! Look at how irrational and violent they are!
We need to give the police more power, for our protection!” The
oppressors will always try to paint the oppressed as the villian; we can
never avoid this accusation altogether. But we need to look at the
balance of forces and ask, in spite of this rhetoric, if we have enough
public opinion in our favor that our armed struggle will have enough
support to be successful. Suicide missions like Micah’s make armed
struggle look futile, so we should avoid them until we know we wan win.
Even those who have reverence for what Micah did probably wouldn’t do it
themselves.
Look at the Black Panther Party, and what happened with them. The BPP
openly carried guns as a demonstration of potential power, without
engaging in focoist actions. But still the Amerikkkan imperialists
struck back agressively with guns, drugs and imprisonment, leading to
the eventual downfall of the group. We can only expect even more
agressive attacks in response to use of the gun. The time for armed
struggle is when the fight can be won. Right now, we’re not close to
that point.
This battle is a good example of why we need a vanguard party to lead
the revolutionary struggle, including the armed struggle to take down
the imperialists. It also provides some insight into just how hard the
bourgeoisie will fight to maintain their position of power. Even after
they are defeated militarily by the majority of the world’s people we
can anticipate that former bourgeois individuals and their lackeys in
the police and military, as well as new people who aspire to wealth and
power, will not immediately become cooperative and productive members of
society serving the people. For this reason we need to think beyond the
military battle and into the structure of society after capitalism is
overthrown. This is why communists believe we must have a dictatorship
of the proletariat under socialism while we undertake the long
transition to a society where no groups of people have power over other
groups of people. It is tempting to take up the gun now and fight back a
death for a death, but we want to build a world where all people
contribute productively to the betterment of humynity, and that will
take a lot more than the death of a few cops.