Federal Prisons

I have on my cell wall, “Afghan Girl,” Steve McCurry’s photograph that graced the cover of a 1985 National Geographic. I’m sure MIM is familiar with “Afghan Girl.” It’s one of my favorite selections of photo journalism/art.

2010, NG again dispatched McCurry to Afghanistan in search of “Afghan Girl” in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the famous photo. McCurry found “Afghan Girl,” just as before - still living in the dirt. I would wager McCurry has made tens of thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from “Afghan Girl.” Obviously, McCurry’s subject didn’t receive squat.

My question to MIM is: Should “Afghan Girl” be compensated for McCurry’s photo commensurate to revenue generated, even though said revenue is derived form superprofits? After all, “Afghan Girl” was McCurry’s model.

Extrapolating form the above, if prisoners are thrown nickels an dimes by the prisoncrats, are prisoners then feeding at the imperialist trough? I, myself, don’t give 2 hoots if Texas prisoners are paid or not. That would just bequeath the man more authoritative leverage to be used against us. I don’t give a fuck ’bout commissary, unless you’re talking about boycotting or looting it. And the Texas so-called “good-time” scheme is a farcical sham.

MIM(Prisons) responds: There is some value, in a world where the government and its structures are actually serving the interests of the majority of the world’s people, to superstructure systems of media and arts that also serve the people. But in the case of a photo exposing conditions of poverty and suffering, these should be used to identify problems and inspire action to change, not to generate wealth for the photographer.

The imperialists have come up with a myriad of ways to make money off the backs of Third World people. It is true that revenue for a photo is just a shifting around of superprofits; obviously there is no actual value or profit created from the taking of a photograph, or from being photographed. But instead this shows how the privileged in the First World share the wealth stolen from the Third World, to First World workers who are mostly engaged in unproductive labor. Rather than ask whether the Afghan girl in the photo should be compensated for the photo, instead we say that the entire situation is wrong and demonstrates how imperialism is more interested in profit than the welfare of human beings. This is just one small example further demonstrating that capitalism is a dead end system and must be replaced with a system that serves the interests of the majority, not the profit of the minority.

The 11th day of May, 2016, one Nigerian prison guard, Chinoso Uguwu, refused to provide a cell ingress and egress as required. Uguwu and I became embroiled in a heated verbal confrontation.

Uguwu: “I fuck your mother! You are goat’s penis, fucker of your own mother!” No biggie. Just another day in the life…
But, Uguwu: “I promise you this, Boko Haram will kill you! This I promise!”

I immediately went to the picket officer working my assigned wing relaying the incident to them, asking them to identify Uguwu as Uguwu refused to identify himself.

The picket officer could not identify Uguwu.

En route to the midday feeding I approached one Sgt. R. Eisneros informing the Sgt as to the incident at issue, asking the Sgt to identify Uguwu. Cisneros assured me I would be provided Uguwu’s name posthaste.

Returning from the midday feeding I approached an officer working my assigned wing’s corridor (“The Gauntlet”), officer G. Flowers. I informed Flowers that Uguwu had threatened to have me executed at the hands of Boko Haram, a Nigerian affiliate of Al-Qeada. (None of the amerikan prison guards was familiar with Boko Haram). At this juncture Uguwu interrupted stating to Flowers, 3 hours after the fact, they had written a disciplinary report on me for threatening to inflict physical harm on Uguwu, a TDCJ officer. Flowers then did restrain my hands behind my back and began to lead me to an isolation cell in an isolation wing.

En route to isolation, Flowers led me past the 1/8 mile “Gauntlet’s” central desk. Where I was accosted by a lieutenant and two of the lieutenant’s henchmen: J. Pittcock and L. Bowers. Upon arriving at the central desk I was immediately met with threats of physical assault by the lieutenant, Pittcock and Bowers. (Bowers seemed to be fixated by the fact I was in restraints.) After acknowledging their threats by stating I didn’t care what flew out de pie hole. Whatever de thinkin’ ‘bout doin’ done been tried before. I ain’t gonna say de won’t do it, but I promised de wouldn’t get away with it. Yadda, yadda, yadda… In response the lieutenant stated: “I don’t give a fuck what’s on your travel card.” (Being a “Ruiz Litigator, Litigious/Radical Offender” is both a blessing and a bane. This is the bane.) They, the lieutenant, Pittcock, and Bowers, would escort me to isolation themselves, relieving Flowers while promising me the “ass whoopin’ of my life” once arriving at the isolation wing.

I’m an old hand at this and am good at exhibiting a nonplussed demeanor in the face of such adversity, but ice cold trepidation was running through my veins. I thought the end was here.

Before arriving at the isolation wing I was escorted to the prison infirmary per a pre-isolation physical. Throughout the physical the lieutenant, Pittcock, and Bowers described in graphic detail the imminent beating I was to receive, Bowers going so far as to tightening the manacles restraining my hands behind my back to a painful degree.

The attending nurse during this physical would not clear me for isolation placement due to high blood pressure. (I am currently being treated for low blood pressure. I was very pissed and very afraid. Fight or flight mode). Pittcock ordered the physical to end instructing the nurse to write me up for disobeying an order for not lowering my blood pressure!

Gotta luv it!

Once arriving at the isolation wing I found it difficult to concentrate due to apprehension and all the commotion in the isolation area. Seems my arrival was anticipated. Miraculously, I was deposited in an isolation cell unmolested, though Pittcock lingered to inform me, had they been in charge they would’ve had me “aired out.” I responded I had fully expected such, feigning disappointment.

About an hour after being placed in isolation the lieutenant appeared - apologizing! (the blessing) The lieutenant instructed I would be released from isolation and allowed to return to my assigned housing location after shift change as they did not want me to return to my wing while Uguwu was still in attendance; and a disciplinary action would not be pursued against me per the incident at issue.

Approximately 14:30 hrs, I was released form the isolation cell, but rather than being allowed to return to my assigned housing unit, I was placed in an administrative segregation shower located in the isolation wing. I remained in the Ad-Seg shower until 21:30 per the orders of Sgt. K. Owens and Lt. W. Wyatt. This shower was damp, inundated with black mold and reeked of mildew and urine. It was like being confined to an old gas station bathroom along Route 66.

I was served the evening meal there. The 28th day of May 2016, at the evening feeding, a Nigerian officer working the dining room serving line absolutely refused to serve me a dinner tray. I then noticed Uguwu in close proximity surveying the scene. I then went to a kitchen Sgt. who did provide me an evening meal. As I was partaking of the evening meal Uguwu approached me again threatening: “I am coming for you, and when I get you, don’t cry.”

I informed the kitchen Sgt. and, of course, filed an administrative grievance outlining Uguwu’s transgressions. As of this writing I have yet to be notified of any remedial action taken.

As I said, another day in the life…

The 2nd day of June 2016, Officer Okocha threatened to pepper spray me for attempting to read Okocha’s name plaque per forthcoming administrative grievance. Okocha pulled and aimed a canister of pepper spray at my visually impaired eyes, ostensibly because I was too close (approx 5 ft.) to Okocha. During this encounter, Okocha was screaming unintelligibly attracting the attention of a Sgt. that ordered Okocha to stand down.

These are common occurrences at the Estelle Unit. A hospital unit housing many disabled and impaired prisoners, infamously for assaulting and abusing the prisoners assigned here!

The real task before us is to convince prisoners that struggling for pecuniary aims solely is to struggle for nothing more than a piece of the imperialist pig pie. I myself don’t give a fuck as to whether prisoners get paid or not, just as I was not concerned with the whining “Occupy Wall Street” labor aristocracy complaining when their opulent pig lifestyles were compromised by the “Great Recession” of ’08. Good! But I am encouraged there are some stirrings of dissent from Texas prisoners regarding conditions of confinement. It is before us now to harness and direct this dissent into revolutionary channels.

Since beginning this letter I have been approached by a prisoner housed in my wing. This prisoner, “Ivo,” avowed themselves to be communist. Ivo receives ULK. Ivo was born in Honduras, but raised in the United $tates. Ivo is a Guevarista. I have initiated and opened a channel of dialog with Ivo and a Black prisoner, “Mississippi.” Mississippi has preferred access to the MLM - MIM materials I have available. I have broached the subject of forming a study group with these two. The idea was received rather coolly by both. The three of us are to meet this weekend to discuss it. Ivo says they have serious reservations concerning the MIM line. When we meet I will inquire of their position regarding MIM’s 3 main principles. As for me, as it is for MIM, these principles are fundamentally decisive.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We print this letter as an example of the hard work required to build unity. This comrade demonstrates how to build common ground with others, and then studying together to discover areas of disagreement and build greater unity. Of course there will be times when we find that we have disagreements too significant to continue working together. For us (and for this writer) those questions are summarized in our dividing line questions. Any other differences we consider to be non-divisive and things we can struggle through or put to the side in the interests of united action and the greater anti-imperialist movement. We also need to keep in mind that those who disagree with these dividing line questions are not enemies just because of that disagreement. At this stage in the anti-imperialist struggle these folks are still potentially valuable allies in the united front against imperialism, even if they are not communists.

I am writing to send you back the unconfirmed mail form showing that I have not received any of the letters/documents on these dates in the mail. My mail from you and other places like your organization is not coming to me because the information is very much useful to me due to the upcoming civil suit so if the mail isn’t legal then I may not get it just like the dates you sent my mail and I did not receive.

I’m a jailhouse lawyer for National Lawyer Guild out of New York so you can pretty much see why I’m having problems getting indigent supplies so I can send out legal and regular mail. This unit is harassing/retaliating against me for complaints and grievances against the unit administration. I was placed in 11 bldg transient being treated like I committed a crime and was handcuffed everywhere the officers took me and took all my recreating inside/outside, chapel services, law library sessions, medical appointments, and kept me in a cell for 24 hrs for 33 days. I’m still being denied to see a medical provider since April 2016.

This unit is overcrowded in violation of Ruiz v. Estelle court order/ final judgment and has reached our 100% capacity. I’ll be very lucky if you get this letter and mail form that you sent me.

The Guerilla Elite Family, is a family of brothers who stand on your 5 principles and struggle to apply them to everyday life, being in such a chaotic environment caused not by prisoners, but the COs themselves.

The Michigan prison system is built on lies and injustice. There are no real rehabilitation programs, everything that is practiced is to punish and to create chaos. Since being in prison for the past 12 years, I had to teach myself how to read and write. I was given natural life at the age of 17. I was thrown into an environment where the blind is leading the blind. I’m not allowed to go to school, because I have natural life. Yeah, where’s the rehabilitation in that?

The Guerilla Elite Family was born to unify brothers within and outside these walls. We stand on peace, but I learned that there can be no peace nor unity as a whole, until each individual that makes the whole, has a sense of peace among self to bring to the whole.

We understand that we’re not each others enemy, and our aim is to expose our oppressors, while unifying and bringing peace among each other.

We believe unity and peace is found through true mentors. People that the whole can trust and believe in to do right by them. We all have been misled in our lives and used by people we thought had our best interest at heart. So this is part of what makes it difficult to bring everyone together for peace and unity.

It’s easy to bring guys together to go to war with each other. But twice as hard to bring guys together to stand on peace and unity to fight against oppression and the ones thats our open oppressor.

The Guerilla Elite Family will keep teaching and mentoring comrades and passing on reading material to help educate guys in hopes to bring about peace and unity.

MIM(Prisons) responds: It’s good to hear from more comrades working in prisons across the country to build on the principles of the United Front for Peace in Prisons. As this writer points out, the prisons work to keep captives from education and knowledge, and so it is our task to bring education to prisoners. This is particularly challenging when so many folks behind bars can’t even read and write. We can’t just send them books and encourage them to study, we have to start out where they are at, and help them learn to read. MIM(Prisons) can only do so much from the outside, so we are working with our USW comrades to build a literacy program that focuses on revolutionary education. Write to us if you can contribute to this program with ideas or resources we can use.

This prison facility is denying me my rights on filing administrative remedy procedure by not answering the grievance.

I put in the grievance on 6 May 2016, and it has been 18 days. The response is supposed to be given to me within 15 days.
The grievance no: 4850-2016-FPD-202128
The grievance was about grievance no: 4850-2016-FPD-201593
All of this is about a false statement of a write up and a complaint to Greene County Sheriff about it.

I sent a letter to the court in DC and the Federal court in North Carolina and to the FBI in Washington DC and North Carolina and I appealed the write up on April the 4th. All of this about is about the crimes they have done to me:

• Class 2 misdemeanor making false reports
• false imprisonment
• felonious restraint of NC criminal law is a class E felony.

They know I cannot read or write because I have no education.

I have got to look at the words to write what little I do write.

The terrorist attains his goals
by means of instilling fear and intimidation.
The revolutionary, being an egalitarianist,
attains his goals by means of instilling courage.
So who then but the government is the real terrorist?
Using the press and the media,
showing off weapons and technologies,
instilling fear in oppressed people,
giving them nothing but worries.
Wonder why the people are standing up no more?
After decades of being psychologically bombarded,
with nothing but pro-imperialist goon (pigs)
and military blows?
Big Brother’s watching you, everybody knows.
Got you watching yourself too, from head to tippy toes
like you was living in One Nine Eight Four.

Click on yer teevee whut’s the first thang ya see
The U.$. military ova in da Middle East
Still starting shit
Wondering when will it quit
Constantly oppressing the third world
Wondering y we can’t find love
I’ve been dere and seen it all
Watched dem stack deadbodies high as the Berlin Wall
While pouring on aggression
Without any form of repercussion
Contaminating the public peevish li’l minds
wit’ lossa propoganda crap
And yu wonda y we write rap
We’re tryin’ ta put fools on point
To what the coprolited president
Wanna keep quiet

I have papers showing that the prison on this unit violated the Ground Water Rule. TDCJ Pack Unit failed to collect the required number of triggered source bacteriological samples for fecal indicator monitoring of the ground water system during the last year. This monitoring is required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Drinking Water. They are in violation of the drinking water all over the system. I wrote the U.S. Department of Justice Special Litigation Section. I got a letter from the Chief of that Department, no results.

While oppression in prison is nothing new and far from shocking, the current situation in the New Mexico prison system is not only shocking but also comical due to the ridiculousness.

Allow me to explain. Due to a budget shortfall in the New Mexico corrections department (NMCD), all state-run prisons in New Mexico are placed on a week long lockdown every month. This lockdown is said to be cost-cutting allowing the NMCD to continue functioning.

Yet even with the NMCD in this “dire” circumstance the state legislature is passing new laws enacting new mandatory minimums. Programs previously offered to prisoners allowing them to collect good time lump sums and result in an early release have been taken away.

Lastly, NMCD has placed all prisoners labeled as gang members into restrictive custody housing (level 4). This custody is costly in comparison to general population. In addition to being costly, this move is prejudicial. Only prisoners from California or having ties to California are subject to this action. Disciplinary history, charges, etc. have no bearing on the decision and most prisoners in this situation have years of clear conduct.

Level 4 is usually reserved for prisoners whose actions are considered problematic. However as I said the “California” label is all they are going off.