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 am fighting this Washington Department of Corrections policy “c)
Publications in a foreign language will not be allowed with the
exception of religious publications.” They let letters come in in a
foreign language, up to 10 pages. Before 2010 they used to let me get
books and magazines in Spanish, but then they changed the policy.
I’m familiar with the censorship pack from MIM(Prisons), but there is
nothing that applies to this issue. I exhausted the grievances. Their
last response was that they had security interests and that it was a
threat to the security of the institutions.
I’ve heard that there are states that let foreign language literature
come in, also I heard that the federal system does too. These clowns
told me that there is no state, federal or constitutional law that
supports me to get books or magazines in a foreign language. I’m asking
for the help of ULK readers around the country to advise me
with a case or law that I could use in an argument or lawsuit. I don’t
know how to file one but I have to learn somehow. I wrote the ACLU and
other organizations, but they never gave me a response.
If you do have some advice please sent it to MIM(Prisons). And finally
to all those in Washington state, it would be good if we can come
together in this and many other issues.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is an important battle because it is
clear denial of access to educational materials for all Raza, and is
particularly important for those Spanish-speaking prisoners who are not
fluent in English. This blatant national oppression must be fought. We
look forward to hearing from our readers with suggestions for how to
best approach this campaign.
The ever-growing bureaucracy in Colorado Department of Corrections
(DOC), and the interpretations that are following from ego-filled guards
is appalling. Rich Ramicsh, our new DOC director, has made strong
statements regarding closing down the use of solitary confinement, more
commonly known in Colorado as Administrative Segregation. Yet the
implementation of these measures and the enforcement of policies is left
up to the creative imaginations of the individual prisons’
administrators. With no monitoring systems in place, everything that
takes place beyond each prison’s razor wires and concrete walls goes
unnoticed.
A new form of punishment is known as the “Austere Living Environment.”
They take disruptive, aggressive and often mentally ill prisoners and
house them in 12-man housing units, locked in single cells 23 hours a
day, 7 days a week. There are no TVs, radios, books or any form of
stimulation. This means of oppression is just the beginning. Ad-Seg now
is used as a means of retaliation, suppression, and rendition to those
who are not just gang members, but those who speak out against DOC.
Prisons are public institutions, not fiefdoms. Why can’t there be
inquiries into the use of prison in non-violent crimes and
investigations on the environments of prisons? Instead of tough on
crime, let’s get tough on human rights and abolish prisons.
Standing in solidarity with fists held high. Keep fighting my comrades.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This attempt to build new long term isolation
units under different names is a game employed by prisons across the
country to conceal their brutality and abuse. This Austere Living
Environment in Colorado will do nothing more than degrade the mental and
physical health of prisoners. We call on all prisoners to send us
documentation like this on control units in your prisons and/or state.
Write to us to request a survey you can complete. We compile this data
for use by those in the movement to shut down these control units, but
we also take this message further and point out the value of isolation
units that target activists to the imperialist system. We work to free
anti-imperialist voices so that we can organize a movement that will
overthrow the criminal injustice system.
I’m checking in from RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in California,
where the conditions of confinement are getting harder and harder to
tolerate. Here there are a few comrades in the administrative
segregation unit (ASU) from both sides of the prison system, mainline as
well as Special Needs Yards (SNY), studying and struggling together to
overcome the oppression of being punished for submitting inmate appeals.
The pigs that run this unit are giving the prisoners who stand up for
their rights half issues of already substandard meals. They also move us
from cell to cell at least five or six times a month, and always into a
cell with someone who is mentally challenged and disruptive. Some cells
are painted with human defecation and urine, and the staff doesn’t
bother to clean them or provide any cleaning supplies. Some comrades
have been physically attacked and have had their personal property
passed out to the rats and snitches.
While these are not infrequent unconstitutional violations here, most of
the prisoners are afraid to speak up. The theory and actions these
officers display is truly terroristic in nature, and the officials allow
them to act with impunity.
So I have made it my mission to lead as well as organize and participate
in a campaign to stop these abuses here and wherever my feet touch
behind these walls. These abuses range from stealing our personal
property to creating false charges against us, from denying pens and
forms to withholding our mail and yard time, while they sit in the
dayroom and eat the state issue items missing from our lunches and
dinners.
On a better note, our study group is up to ten in just one week as the
brothers of all races and both sides hear us dialogue about the
commonality of our situation. Like the brother in ULK 33, I too
am SNY and I know there are good strong comrades over here on this side.
What people don’t understand is that a lot of youngsters have a theory
that older brothers “are like leaves on trees” meaning the older ones
have to be knocked off so new leaves can grow. This is wrong thinking
and a self-defeating tactic.
It’s hard for me to understand how some people are fighting to end
oppression and hate, knowing the role that the media plays in it all,
and then they allow a designation of SNY by the statesman architect of
hate and repression to separate us because we’d rather leave our
organization and have a chance at parole than stay and end up taking a
young brother’s life.
I spent 15 years in the prison system of the 80s and 90s. I’ve done my
dirt, put in my work. I’m not an animal who just follows his base
instincts. I’m a leader and I’m standing for all these brothers who put
their faith in my leadership. A true leader will never send one of his
warriors to do battle while he stays behind. Further I stand on the ten
point program established by the
Black
Panther Party and we hold the principles of Under Lock &
Key to be of the utmost import.
I truly believe in what the Black Panther Party said when they stated
that the power of the people is greater than man’s technology. But the
people’s power has to be organized. As the Vietnamese people, who began
their war for liberation with only bows and arrows, we must begin ours
with pen and paper. And just as they defeated the most powerful military
on earth, with determination, internationalist politics and organization
by all oppressed people inside and outside these walls we’ll be
victorious as well.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We have published a number of articles on the
debate
over SNY prisoners and we stand with this comrade in arguing that
solid anti-imperialist comrades can be found on SNY yards. We look at
someone’s history of political work and political line rather than the
label that the administration gives them. This comrade’s call for unity
is in line with the
United Front
for Peace in Prisons which brings together individuals and groups
behind bars to build peace and unity against the common enemy of the
criminal injustice system.
I ask that you embrace the tides of the times We are no longer
confined with binds on the mind Once we embrace united front,
scientific thought and study for line the long arm of
imperialism’s law is no longer strong When through theory and
practice we arrive at the decision to take up arms which is a
must if we are to defeat imperialism’s parasitic lust with
too much greed for that which we don’t need We fail to
heed even the most basic of humyn needs As the Third World
suffers because of our greed So turn the tides of
the times Study for line and overthrow imperialism… Hystory
is on our side.
Although the World Cup has been over for some time I feel compelled to
comment on Mexico’s national team.
When Mexico beat Croatia to make it to the round of 16 there were
“disturbances” in Los Angeles. As Los Angeles has a high concentration
of people who see themselves as Mexicans and not Amerikans, this goes to
show that there is a separate, oppressed nation in the United $tates.
But this disturbance alone doesn’t prove this. As J. Stalin said, “A
nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse,
as a result of the fact that people live together from generation to
generation. But people cannot live together for lengthy periods unless
they have a common territory.”
Mexicans in the United $tates, and especially in California, are
distinct from Amerikans as well as from their relatives in Mexico. As
Latinos are becoming the largest population in the United $tates it’s
even more important that a national party be formed to better serve the
Latino nation, as the United $tates is incapable and incompetent to
serve the needs of the Latino people in North America.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We agree with this comrade that there is a
separate nation within U.$. borders that is comprised of the primarily
indigenous people of what was northern Mexico, and includes many
descended from immigrants from Latin America as well. Though it is far
more complicated than just some World Cup festivities, this comrade is
correct that we can see evidence of the separate nation in many areas of
culture. We have come to call this nation the Chican@ nation, and this
is the subject of a book that is scheduled to be released at the end of
2014: Chicano Power and the Struggle for Aztlán. Write to us to
get on the list for a copy of this important book.
With the ongoing fighting in the occupied territory of Palestine (Gaza)
the death toll rises on both sides. However, there’s a savage
lopsidedness to it as the Palestinians take the toll of death. Even more
savagely is its children and civilians taking the carnage of
indiscriminate bombs being dropped by Israel.
In the face of this fighting, U.$. Secretary of State John Kerry gave a
press conference in which he more or less stated that, “there can be no
meaningful peace without the disarmament of Hamas.” Not only is this
hypocritical but who in their right mind will lay down what arms they
have when faced with an enemy that not only has a standing army but an
air force, navy, special forces and drones which lend an uneven hand to
the fighting. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) have stated that they will
not stop until all of Hamas’s underground tunnels are destroyed.
More to this unevenness and inequality is the rhetoric spewing from
I$raeli and Amerikan media that Hamas is terrorist and is causing the
suffering of the Palestinian people. As if Hamas was the one dropping
hundreds of bombs from helicopters and jets. Israel is a settler nation
and therefore will stop at nothing to see the destruction of Palestine
and the ceasing of resistance from the people.
The resistance of the Palestinian people is not without precedent.
History has shown what nations that occupy a territory will do:
slaughter and genocide of the occupied nation. All media pundits say
that I$rael has the right to defend itself, however what about
Palestine?
MIM(Prisons) adds: We agree with this comrade that oppressed
nations have the right to defend themselves against imperialist
agressors. Though we would go even further and say that those oppressed
nations don’t stand a chance at independence until we can take on the
imperialists themselves. The imperialists will not allow individual
nations self-determination and independence, even if those nations try
to exist without threatening imperialism. Cuba provides a good example
of this. But imperialism is building its own demise by putting the
majority of the world’s people in the camp of oppressed and exploited,
with a material interest in overthrowing imperialism. One at a time
nations will gain independence, and united these nations will take on
imperialism globally.
The bombing taking place in Palestine is beyond words and has changed my
view of Israel forever, from a settler state to a terroristic state. As
of today over 1,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel. The
majority of those being blown to pieces have been civilians and children
as well as the elderly. This atrocity has gone on without a peep from
the U.S. imperialist state media mouthpieces, and criticism about these
acts have been slim in the corporate media, but this is no surprise.
I have been following, as best as I could, the Israeli war on Palestine
from this death kamp called Pelican Bay SHU, and what I have found is
that Israel has been targeting children and hospitals. People are
literally buried in their homes and then the Israelis watch and wait
until other people come out to help dig these children out of the rubble
and they are shot by snipers. The Israeli military is turning
Palestinian homes into sniper nests as the Palestinians are driven out.
They are sniping wimmin and children in order to inflict terror into the
lives of the Palestinians who refuse to give up their struggle for
liberation.
I have drawn much strength from the Palestinians and I learn from their
concrete examples of what struggling against an occupier, a terroristic
settler state, really looks like. I think that the whole world is
learning what resistance really looks like, the Palestinians today are
the example we can learn from. They are cut off economically and yet
they find ways to fight against tanks and missiles, while starving and
barefoot with nothing more than an AK and a clenched fist.
The terroristic state of Israel is a bold example of settlerism which
needs to be excised from humynity. People in Palestine are being held
hostage and bombed at will. But the majority who are being slaughtered
are civilians and yet the Amerikkkan parasites remain silent. They are
mostly silent because in many ways the terroristic state of Israel is a
mirror reflection of the terroristic state of Amerikkka. We are not yet
attacked on this scale in the U.S., but the internal semi-colonies are
having their lands occupied and we are being assassinated selectively.
Amerikkka uses soft terror by SHU torture, death row and the pigs, while
in Palestine it is the missile, tanks and drones slaughtering the
people.
These terrorist acts unleashed by Israeli dogs are what inspires me to
help spread the word that Palestine must be free. This onslaught has
educated me in ways that my years of study has been unable to
accomplish. After seeing the Israeli’s barbaric treatment of Palestine
all I have to say is never again will Palestine stand alone in fighting
settlerism.
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with the grievance procedure. Send them extra copies
to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) 2575 Center
Street Salem, OR 97301
U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special Litigation
Section 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, PHB Washington DC 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE PO Box 9778 Arlington, VA
22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
PDF updated May 2012, July 2012, July 2014, and October 2017
In recent months it is becoming more common to read news stories about
the irreversible collapse of glaciers in Antartica and elsewhere around
the world, as a result of the rising temperature on earth. This
degradation of our global environment is driven by humyn emissions of
greenhouse gasses. As the reality of humyn destruction of Earth’s
natural systems becomes more apparent daily, and scientists provide more
clear and alarming evidence that we are at a point where the effects
cannot be reversed, we see a compelling case for communism as the only
economic system that has a chance of providing for the long-term
survival of humyns.
Maoists focus on combating the repression and brutality of humyns
against other humyns, which is an inherent element of capitalism. When
it comes to fighting for the survival of the most oppressed humyns in
the world, fighting for the life of the planet on which we all live has
become inextricably intertwined with our humynism. Without an
environment that can sustain humyn life, the fight against oppression of
groups of people becomes irrelevant. We see a strong reason for
communists to take up revolutionary environmentalism, and for unity
between environmental activists and those fighting oppression of people.
But we will not win the fight for the environment without first
liberating the world’s oppressed people and overthrowing imperialism.
Back in 1997 MIM published the MIM Theory magazine entitled
“Environment, Society, Revolution.” In it they wrote: “Our fundamental
goal is eradicating the oppression of people over people, and this goal
is also the most effective way to liberate the environment from human
aggression. We do not believe that socialism necessarily achieves
environmental salvation, but we do argue that only through
socialism do we have a chance at it.”(1)
Historically the worst devastation has been wreaked on the environment
as a result of oppression among people: wars, mass production using
exploited labor, and corporate land seizure. In war, herbicides and
chemical agents are used to deforest land and destroy crop production,
which have severe, longlasting impacts on not only the plants, but the
people and wildlife as well. Agent Orange, depleted uranium, napalm, and
white phosphorous are examples of this type of warfare. A bomb that
targets an “enemy” also destroys the environment in the surrounding
area. Capitalist production allows for the practically unregulated
dumping of waste into our rivers and oceans, including oil spills. When
commodities cannot be sold, they are literally dumped into the ocean or
incinerated, impacting ocean life and polluting the air.
Further, the imperialists target the Third World with
imperialist-country waste, locating dirty industries there and dumping
toxic waste in other people’s backyards.(1) And it is clear that the
countries that contribute least to climate change will be impacted the
most by it. Typhoons hitting Southeast Asia and India, droughts in
Africa, and islands that will soon disappear to rising sea levels are
all consequences that have already taken the lives of many people and
threaten to destroy even more. Where the imperialist countries will be
able to rebuild infrastructure and defend against the impacts of climate
change more easily due to their stolen wealth, residents in the Third
World do not have this privilege. At the same time, pollution and other
effects of humyn activities have reached a scale where it is harder for
the oppressor nations to isolate themselves from these problems. For
this reason, environmentalism may prove to be the most powerful material
force for building true internationalism.
In the United $tates the capitalists are attempting small reforms to
address the growing environmental problem, but these attempts show us
clearly why capitalism will fail to save the humyn race. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed regulation of
power plant emissions, focusing on existing coal plants. In slow-moving
capitalism, the EPA will finalize their proposal some time in 2015, give
states a year to figure out how to implement the new regulations, fight
the lawsuits that states are threatening, and maybe see a few small
changes many years down the road. The EPA optimistically predicts the
proposal could cut carbon dioxide emissions from these plants by up to
30% by 2030.(2) The corporate media is already complaining about
emissions standards being “bad for business,” which under capitalism is
more important than humyn lives. And in true capitalist fashion, there
is talk of paying off the coal companies and compensating people who
have good high-paying union jobs that will be affected.(3) So for the
sake of the rich capitalists and the well-off First World workers, there
will be years of fighting over the possibility of making some small
changes, while people in the Third World are dying today from climate
change effects already happening.
Many well-meaning people think they can address environmental problems
with individualist solutions. They suggest that everyone needs to
recycle and drive electric cars, or perhaps not eat meat. It is true
that Amerikan diets, car culture and wasteful production must all be
dramatically changed in an ecologically sustainable system. But such
lifestyle politics are moving even slower than capitalist reforms in
terms of actually reducing the rates of pollution, resource depletion
and natural systems disruption. Social movement must be backed by
organization, structural changes and real power. The capitalists have
all these things, but lack the motivation for change. Setting up
independent institutions that actually change our systems of production
and consumption to be in line with the rest of the natural world needs
to happen. Whether this can be done prior to the seizure of state power
is something for revolutionary ecologists to explore. We do know that
the joint dictatorship of the proletariat of the oppressed nations will
be necessary to eventually enforce the changes needed at a global scale.
This is necessary because a significant portion of the oppressor nations
will not willingly reduce their consumption, and as long as there is the
potential to profit via short-sighted ecological practices, there will
be people who will try to do so. In the United $tates today the forces
which maintain the status quo are more organized than the forces to
impose sound ecological practices.
A third common approach to environmental problems is the pure technology
approach. While the science of ecology has advanced in recent decades,
it has been limited by the social structure enforced by capitalism.
First Worlders can build careers around working with small communities
to solve local problems, but these band-aids cannot heal the wound when
the knife of capitalist profiteering continues to twist and turn inside
it. Such academic ecologists can contribute to our knowledge, but their
efforts do nothing to challenge the capitalist model itself. It is far
more efficient and effective to make changes necessary for the survival
of humynity with centralized government acting in the interests of the
majority, rather than through the NGO or non-profit sector, or even via
the direct action method favored by anarchist camps. Communism unleashes
the creativity of all the masses in a way that pushes these projects
forward with immeasurable enthusiasm and breadth. (see our discussion of
China: Science Walks on Two Legs in
our
review of revolutionaryecology.com) We encourage ecologists with
global perspective to develop a strategy that will really make use of
their work globally, and we advocate communism as the best way to
accomplish their worthwhile goals. In the United $tates today, we have
far more lifestylists and reformists in the environmentalist camp. We
need more revolutionaries.
Socialism will put an end to “efficient” capitalist methods of making
profits. And with the land in the hands of the people, we can start to
make smarter decisions about balanced use for humyn survival without
environmental destruction. The majority of the world’s people do have an
interest in living on a healthy planet, but the capitalists with the
money and power are focused on profit. Since they have the power and the
guns, they do not have to answer to the majority. They waste resources
or even destroy them, if it serves their competitive interests. And they
do not care who or what dies in the process. Under capitalism we see how
government agencies and the government itself are beholden to the
wealthiest special interests, and incapable of implementing even modest
reforms. Only by overthrowing the capitalists and enforcing policies
that ensure the survival of humyns on Earth do we stand a chance of
reversing the destruction of the environment.
I read over
the
letter from our Polunsky comrades. This is what I recommend. Often
it helps to attach an I-60 with your Step 1 grievance and ask the
Grievance Officer for the processing number of your grievance. If you
have this number you will have a direct reference to track a grievance.
This helps discourage grievances being “misplaced.” It’s also handy when
you write Administration Review & Risk Management (ARRM) about the
unit not addressing that particular grievance. For important and serious
grievances it is useful to start them like this:
I file this grievance to exhaust all administrative remedies as required
by the Prison Litigation Reform Act to bring forth action under section
1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code.
It basically says: I’m going to sue you! It’s not a guarantee but
such an intro may make the grievance officer take it more seriously.
In regards to the officers who confiscate personal property and then
destroy them, I’d like to direct our comrades to the
Texas
Grievance Guide, in particular the part concerning filing criminal
charges against officers. If an officer takes a prisoner’s property
without giving a confiscation form stating the reason for confiscation,
then that is legally theft. It is also a violation of your civil right
to due process (which is also a criminal offense). Of course you will
need some kind of proof that the item existed and was taken. Get
prisoners to write affidavits and reference any camera numbers (if there
are any). The criminal charges may not stick because pigs don’t eat
pork, but it may give them a wake up call and make them think twice.
I agree that our grievance petitions are having no effect with the
people we are currently sending them to. I feel it more beneficial to
send them to ACLU Texas or the DOJ. Our grievances and complaints are
systematically neglected and denied. It is an Orwellian system, a
labyrinth of closed loops, a facade. We need to push for the TDCJ
Independent Oversight Committee which will place our grievances before
an unaffiliated organization with the ability to monitor TDCJ to ensure
that it abides by statutory law and its own policy.
We shouldn’t hope sending the grievance petition alone to the DOJ or
ACLU is enough. We must promote and campaign this proposed bill to our
freeworld friends and family. I see no other way to break these closed
loops.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Write to us for a copy of the Texas
Grievance Guide. While we agree with this comrade that a TDCJ
Independent Oversight Committee would bring progress for Texas prisoners
in their fight against abuse and injustice, this too is not enough. We
must learn from history that reforms like this one are followed by DOJ
tricks and adjustments to work around the new policies and continue the
same old abuse and repression. While we should still fight for these
reforms, and use the battle to educate and unite people both behind the
bars and on the streets, we must do this in the context of the broader
struggle against the criminal injustice system. We should never mislead
people to think that one reform or one house bill will make the change
we need to see to create a true system of justice.