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.
Five people on the Coffield Unit have been allowed to die due to heat
related issues. Now all of the sudden the administration and staff are
“concerned” about the prisoners’ well being - bullshit or they would
have been doing more to prevent needless deaths long ago. Now Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is doing what they call “inmate
wellness checks.” This is just a real sad attempt (after the fact) to
try to cover TDCJ’s ass for their lack of concern effectively causing
the deaths of inmates due to heat related illnesses (e.g. heat
exhaustion, heat strokes, etc.)
We here are only being allowed to shower Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
We should be allowed to shower just to cool off (since all Texas prisons
are without any air conditioning). We should also have access to ice and
cold water, but all of the above is scarce and this unit is observing
“water conservation.” The heat of Texas summers is not a new thing and
neither is the penitentiary system in Texas.
Now the officers are tormenting us by asking every 30 minutes “are you
alright”, “are you ok?” most insincerely. Yet we are still made to wear
very heavy woven cotton clothes in the summer - the same ones we wear in
the winter time. Had they ever been truly concerned the five prisoners
would have never been allowed to die of heat related illnesses. It is a
real shame that so many people had to die before they even acted
concerned, it is still hard for me to understand how they avoid any
criminal charges behind these deaths.
I am currently serving an indeterminate SHU term here at the infamous
Pelican Bay. All the SHU space is full here yet they continue to send
prisoners to their torture compound. To make room for the growing number
of (unjustly) validated prisoners B-4 mainline has been manipulated to
accommodate them. And B-5 A section now houses Administrative
Segregation(ASU) overflow.
This leaves me and others like me (with long SHU terms) to merely exist
in ASU, a concrete soul snatcha. The powers that be will tell some of us
that we’re property housed due to lack of bed space. According to their
rules SHU prisoners are allowed one appliance. Everyone knows TVs can be
poisonous but they can come in handy during situations like this. Never
the less death island (ASU) does not issue out appliances (per chapter
5, article 43 ASU IMs are allowed an appliance). Pelican Bay ASU is one
of the last ASUs not to be modified to support electric appliances.
Without hesitation I continue to put pen to paper in an attempt to slay
Goliath by making him play by house rules.
The saga continues here at Skeleton Bay where double standards are
eroding the conditions of professionalism amongst staff, which is worn
on the population’s face. Prisoners are eroding mentally, physically and
spiritually from the elements of sucka punch justice applied by the
powers that be. It is unexplainable to me why we all are not fifty
pounds lighter. When the
strike
was announced, all of us here in ASU had all the motivation in the world
to go in hard on that. Due to lack of communication, the foundation of
structure and organization were unapproachable, resulting in the
scrambling for excuses and loopholes not to stand up and be accounted
for.
MIM(Prisons), asante for allowing me the time and space to exhale. By
the way I would also like to congratulate you on your coverage and
support of the hunger strike. Also, what you’re doing with the Peace
Summit is active! I’m working on something as we speak. It would be a
shame if I didn’t get in on that. Major props to MIM(Prisons), ULK,
United Front and all the dedicated women and men at the MIM(Prisons)
fam. I build on every issue of ULK then spread the wealth.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We have a few things to add to this useful
account of the situation with SHU in Pelican Bay. First, we hope this
comrade and others, who are stuck in their cells 24/7 make good use of
their time and read and study! There is a lot that can be done. TVs
should not be necessary if you have books and pen and paper. Let us know
if you need something to study, and write articles about what’s going on
like this comrade did. Second, we need our comrades in this situation to
start the educating of others now, so that next time there is a mass
action in the prisons we can count on everyone to understand the
importance of participating. Share Under Lock & Key, start
study groups, and get organizing!
As an organization we stand firmly together as a collective body, to
utilize strength, integrity, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.
Education is very essential, especially in politics, to become a power
beyond boundaries without measure, and bring peace to prisons within
this nation we reside in amongst other organizations either affiliates
or adversaries. So we can all come together and unite as one body.
That’s why I extend my serving hand to link up with the United Front for
Peace in Prisons. I believe our concepts are somewhat interrelated. I am
a member of the Gangster Disciples so me putting together UGN was a
vision within my struggle to make a powerful impact. So that’s why I
want to be listed to join forces with the UF. Growth, Organizational
structure, education, justice, social development and unity plays a
major role.
“What you and I need to do is learn to forget our differences… We have a
common oppressor, a common exploiter, and a common discriminator… Once
we all realize that we have a common enemy, then we unite on the basis
of what we have in common.” - Malcolm X
It is a historical truth that repression breeds resistance, which is why
we prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison’s (PBSP) Security Housing Units
(SHUs) and Communications Management Units (CMUs) took the initiative to
come together, and go on a hunger strike in order to say to our
oppressors that “20-plus years of state-sponsored torture and
persecution in which our human rights have been routinely violated, for
no other reason than to keep us prisoners confined in their mad
scientist-like torture chambers as alleged prison gang members is
enough!!!”
But as we all know, repression evolves and develops in cycles. So on 2
August 2011 PBSP and California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials threatened all hunger strike
participants with punitive retaliatory measures, for the sole act of our
hunger strike participation. This happened in spite of the fact that we
have a human right to peacefully protest any unjust laws, as warranted
to us in the First Amendment of the U.$. Constitution. An unjust law is
no law at all! The unjust laws in this case are the ones legalizing the
indefinite housing of us prisoners in solitary confinement (SHU/CMU).
We prisoners were issued the following CDC 128-B Chrono that states:
The California Code of Regulations, Title 15, identifies that leading
and/or participating in a strike, disturbance, or work stoppage is a
violation of the Director’s rules. On or about July 1, 2011 you were
identified as having participated in a statewide hunger strike event
along with in excess of 6000 other CDCR inmates in support of perceived
overly harsh SHU housing issues originating from within the Security
Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison. This activity created a
non-violent significant disruption to institutional healthcare services
and Department of Corrections programming and operations throughout the
state, which included Pelican Bay State Prison, where you were assigned
during your participation in this event. Your behavior and actions were
out of compliance with the Director’s rules, and this documentation is
intended to record your actions; and advise that progressive discipline
will be taken in the future for any reoccurrence of this type of
behavior. Date: 08/02/11. From: K. Welch, Correctional Officer.
However, this CDC 128-B Chrono is contradicted by an article that
appeared in The Daily Triplicate newspaper during the month of
June 2011, that was entitled “Pelican Bay Hunger Strike in the Offing.
Some Inmates May Stop Eating Friday” by Anthony Skeens. Within the
article, CDCR Spokeswoman Terry Thorton stated, “There are no punitive
measures for inmates refusing to eat.”(1) The struggle continues!
As a followup to R7’s July 2011 article
Assassination
Nation, I note the international practices of Amerika in extra
judicial killing. But the reality of the matter is that we do not have
to even look internationally in that I recall the assassination of
Oscar
Grant by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) pig Johannes Mehserle who
only received a two year sentence that did not even include actually
seeing the inside of a California Department of Corrections prison. Too
many times right here in the so-called land of the free, people from
oppressed nations are assassinated by the agents of law enforcement as
was the case of the July 10 2011 assassination of former professional
football player David “Deacon” Turner who resided in Kern County,
California.
On July 10 2011 Turner, a 56-year-old Black man, went to a mini-mart gas
station to purchase himself a couple cans of beer, which is not a crime.
However, upon exiting the mini-mart he found himself accosted by Kern
County’s finest sheriff’s deputies who claimed as their justification
for the harassment that they allegedly received a report that an adult
was purchasing alcohol for minors.
Turner was subjected to search, to which he voluntarily submitted, and
after which he asked if he was under arrest. The deputy stated he was
not, so Turner exercised his supposed right to leave and picked up his
bag and turned to leave. However the pig was upset that Turner chose to
exercise his right to leave and not partake in any non-custodial
interrogation so the sheriff deputy struck Turner from behind with his
baton and the second sheriff’s deputy drew his pistol and shot Turner in
his abdomen. Turner died at the scene.
The mini-mart has surveillance equipment with multiple camera feeds
which were seized by the Kern County sheriff’s department. Then Kern
County sheriff Donnie Youngblood released to the local news media a
segment of video feed that shows Turner exiting the mini mart and
initially being accosted and searched by the Kern County sheriff deputy.
It includes the search and subsequent brief verbal exchange, which lines
up with the witness statement that Turner asked if he was under arrest
and the deputy told him he was not. The video also shows that Turner
exercised his right to be on his way and the sheriff deputy running up
and striking Turner multiple times with his baton. However, all of a
sudden five seconds of the video is missing during which David Turner is
assassinated. The sheriffs department claimed that the camera feed
malfunctioned!
Sheriff Donnie Youngblood claimed that David Turner attempted to hit the
sheriff’s deputy in the head with the bag that contained two cans of
beer, yet the video feed does not show Turner do anything that could be
construed as aggressive and the non-law-enforcement witnesses stated to
reporters that they did not see Turner do anything aggressive towards
the deputy. Yet the sheriff’s department ruled the assassination to be
within departmental guidelines.
What further raises concern about the assassination is the fact that
when the sheriff’s department was compelled to release video feed from
another camera, it also was missing a five second feed that matched the
initial video feed released, yet each camera had independent motion
sensors. I just wanted to point out that assassinations by the U.$.
government and their lackeys are not just happening in other countries,
they are also happening in California and beyond with impunity.
Just as the U.$. government issues its spin, Donnie Youngblood is also
issuing the tried, tested and patently untrue spin. It includes the
official alteration of video evidence so as to minimize and cover up
another assassination matching that of Oscar Grant, many others across
the state of California, and beyond.
Since official assassination is tolerated by the local, county, state
and national citizenry such will continue to take place. As with every
practice perfected on citizens here, it is exported to the rest of the
world. As R7 points out, the inner city campaign of control through
terror occurred in the so-called city of brotherly love.
It is said that Amerika is the land of the free but I see it as the land
of the lost souls that tolerate state-sponsored terrorism and deception.
MIM(Prisons) adds: A closer study of the history of Amerikans in
relation to oppressed nations in North America and around the world
reveals that they actively support and participate in the Assassination
Nation that they are (see J. Sakai’s Settlers for an excellent
history proving this very point).
To update you on the hunger strike issue, the progress of negotiations
are not complete as far as what we hope in regards to the prisoncrats
demonstrating a sense of humanity. The struggle is never about seeking
more than necessary. It’s bad enough as it is that, for the most part,
prisoners in the short corridor are already doing life sentences handed
down by the courts. The opportunity to change this depressive life style
will afford us the means and the will to reach out to the prison
populace and help channel backwards thinking into more progressive and
firm social-consciousness and to establish MIM study groups with the
sole intent of elevating the level of consciousness.
The California prison system in many ways is behind the times in
relation to other prison systems in this country. Being concerned about
the materialistic aspects of life, subordinated to sub-survival rather
than political consciousness. The coming together of the most oppressed,
repressed and suppressed klass of prisoners has established a
progressive precedent in hopes of changing the dynamics of the prison
klass and all its ills. This is the real fear of the prisoncrats: social
and political conscious! We cannot afford complacency, militants wither
away like the wind. The struggle is a long haul and having the equipment
is about fortitude.
The SHU is specifically assigned to minimize our effectiveness in
reaching the bulk of the prison klass, no one should fear genuine and
proper education, like Malcolm said: “it’s the passport to the future.”
MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with this comrade that the
Pelican Bay Food Strike was a good step forward in establishing unity in
struggle for the common goal of raising conditions of prisoners. We need
to take advantage of this opening and stand firm in demands for change.
The other vital piece to advancing unity among the oppressed imprisoned
population is through ongoing education and political struggle. For it
is through struggle and study that greater unity is reached. We need to
be honest about where we agree and where we disagree, while focusing on
how we can work together when we agree on important things. Then future
actions will be even stronger and inspire the masses even more through
unity in action. These are the two aspects of developing point 2 of the
United Front for Peace in Prisons
Statement
of Principles.
In mid June of this year my cell block (unit 7) at TRCI conducted a food
strike and a canteen strike. We agreed that we would not come out of our
cells during meal times for 4 days. Also we agreed not to purchase
canteen for one month since they use the profits for themselves in a lot
of ways and as you know, the best way to slay Goliath is to hit their
pockets. We were contesting a few different things. For one, this is the
only prison in Oregon that will not allow group photos and we have to
wear jeans, long sleeve blue shirt (no sunglasses or hats!) All of the
other joints you can have 4 people in the photo, shirts off, in shorts,
with sunglasses and a hat on if you so desire! For two, they were trying
to change our TV program package to very basic cable. There was a couple
other reasons we decided to demonstrate also, but I’ll pass on that for
now.
Anyway, the food strike went on for 4 days and the whole unit minus some
old 72 year old guy participated.
The authorities were pissed! Almost one month later they came and
snatched me and 5 other guys off the unit and threw us in the dungeon
under the guise of being “key” shot callers in the food strike.
Here I sit with the max sanctions, 180 days in the hole, 24 days loss of
privileges upon release from seg and a $200 disciplinary fine. All of
their “evidence” results from confidential informants. Of course I am
appealing, but their appeal process is a joke. However, I aim to take it
to court as soon as my appeal is denied.
I have spread and continue to the word about your
publication/organization and my comrades and I are always spreading
information to help hinder the very ones who oppress us.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We are pleased to hear reports like this
one about prisoners coming together to fight for common goals. And we do
not know the full story of the demands these protesters put forward, but
we will point out that the photo and TV situation described above is not
high on the list of demands from the anti-imperialist movement. These
problems are neither torture nor repressive towards political organizing
and education, and those are the primary areas of our focus for
protests. While it is important to develop demands that will unite a
broad group of prisoners, we do not want to water down the goals of our
movement to the extent that these demands lose their value. We work
towards this unity of goals and prisoners through the
United Front
for Peace in Prisons and we look forward to working with these
comrades in Oregon on future protests.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the second remake of the
original Planet of the Apes movie series. It is an origins
story, replacing the Conquest of the Planet of the Apes story
which was fourth in the original five part series. Conquest was
released in 1972 and depicted a storyline clearly intended to parallel
the Black liberation movement that had just peaked in the United $tates
at that time, but with an actual successful revolution.
Conquest and the final part of the original series, Battle
for the Planet of the Apes, presented clearly revolutionary themes.
Even the first couple movies of the original series did more to
challenge white nationalism than this recent remake. This difference is
due to the stage of struggle in the United $tates at the time.
Today, the first movie (released in 1968) is easily dismissed by the
oppressor nation as a commentary on the “distant” past of slavery,
rather than what were modern social injustices. When that film was
redone in 2001, it did not live up to its predecessor’s social
relevance. Based on that disappointment, we expected a stronger effort
to dilute the origins story for another hollywood blockbuster. Instead,
we were pleasantly surprised to find that Rise actually
maintained the revolutionary origins story, and even linked it to the
modern prison struggle in relevant ways.
This movie probably won’t be making the rounds in too many prisons due
to the blatant themes of prisoners educating themselves and building
unity to escape their abusive conditions. But there’s nothing to learn
from this movie that one couldn’t get easily, and of course more
usefully, from picking up any issue of Under Lock & Key.
Rise was pretty formulaic in story and form. It contains lots
of fast battle scenes and loud music, and followed the predictable story
line with flat characters. There were plenty of quotes from the original
movie series thrown in as well as recognizable character names.
The good aspects of Rise were also simple, but surprisingly
relevant. The strongest positive message we saw in this film was the
need for self-determination and the struggle against integrationism.
Caesar, a chimpanzee, and the hero of the story, refuses an opportunity
given by his former benefactor to leave prison and return to the humyn
world. In a few days or weeks Caesar develops an affinity for his fellow
imprisoned apes, which trumps his many years living with humyns. He
turns his back to Dr. Rodman and stays in prison to continue building
and organizing with fellow apes. This is a very relevant point to the
imprisoned population, especially in a day when the oppressed nations
have reached high levels of integration into Amerika. With people
shuffling in and out of prison and jail, it is easy to choose an
Amerikan identity over that of the oppressed. We also see many who work
tirelessly to get themselves out of prison, without ever joining the
larger prison movement. Caesar is clear that alone apes are weak, but
together they can be strong. This is a very simple yet relevant refrain
to our current situation in the prison movement today.
An orangutan responds to Caesar’s comments on unity by saying that apes
are dumb, not unlike what many prisoners who write MIM(Prisons) say
about their peers. The solution to this in the film, and the material
origin of apes taking over humyn society, is in a virus produced by a
bioengineering project. This allows ape brains to develop intelligence
that they never could before. In real life, the imprisoned and oppressed
do not face a material disadvantage in intelligence, but are set back by
the oppressor’s conditioning through both the carrot and the stick. In
real life the ALZ 112 and ALZ 113 viruses from the film are instead
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism: the tool that can give the oppressed the
intellectual material they need to organize effectively.
As part of his organizing efforts, Caesar allies with a silverback
(dominant) chimpanzee and puts him in a position of leading the group in
sharing and developing a group consciousness, without the silverback
really understanding at first. It was a good lesson in leadership within
a United Front and how we might work with those who are recognized as
leaders for their dominant roles within the group, but don’t yet possess
the leadership skills and revolutionary understanding to lead the
oppressed down the road of liberation.
Just like in U.$. prisons, the apes educate each other in secret because
they know that they will be targeted for special repression if seen. The
interactions between the imprisoned apes and humyn captors is crude,
accurately reflecting the basic relations in U.$. prisons for humyns
today. In this way, Rise could play a small role in building
consciousness among viewers that would make them more likely to be
sympathetic of prison resistances such as those organized across
California and Georgia in recent months. While the majority of the
audience will find itself rooting for the apes while watching this film,
in real life most will follow their own self-interests in the situation
and root for the state in repressing any group that challenges the
status quo.
The role of Buck the gorilla gives us an important lesson in
revolutionary suicide. In the final battle scene that takes place on the
Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, he takes a bullet for Caesar just
before taking down the last humyns left standing who threatened the
lives of other apes in the battle. He recognizes the unique capabilities
of both himself and of Caesar and puts the interests of the ape
liberation struggle above his own life to guide his actions. At this
stage in the struggle we are not engaged in protracted war, but
revolutionary sacrifice is still relevant to how we decide to spend our
time and organize our lives, and even in peaceful struggles lives are
sometimes taken by the oppressor. Buck’s revolutionary suicide is an
example of a sacrifice that had to be made in order for the ape struggle
to continue.
In the end of the film, Dr. Rodman again plays the role of liberal
integrationist asking Caesar to come back and live with him, saying
“this is not the way.” Caesar speaks a full phrase for the first time
and says “Caesar is home” referring to the population of just-liberated
apes taking up residence in the forest. Of course, in real life the
consciousness of the oppressed internal semi-colonies leans much more
heavily in the direction of integration than Caesar, who has actual
biological differences from the humyn species. In the movie, differences
between apes and humyns had just begun to weaken, whereas the socially
imposed differences between the oppressed and oppressor nations inside
the United $tates have eroded over many decades. Even if Caesar tried to
integrate, he could never live the lifestyle of a humyn, in contrast to
the large proportion of the internal semi-colonies that enjoy the
comforts of imperialist exploitation.
Tres semanas dentro de la huelga, CDCR ha dado su repuesta oficial lo
que se puede resumir, “La vamos a investigar.” El 15 de Julio CDCR les
hace una propuesta a los huelguistas de Pelican Bay que termine la
huelga sin prometer cambios. Los presos rechazaron la oferta y
continuaron con el hambre, que calificaron de “humo y espejos” y de
“insultar”. (1) Estas personas están dispuestos a morir por los derechos
fundamentales que ha sido negado durante años, décadas, para muchos, y
CDCR llega a la mesa con nada
Nuestras preguntas han recibido las mismas repuesta del Director sobre,
“Operando en acuerdo completo de la ley . . . mientras proveyendo por el
tratamiento humano y ético de todos los prisioneros.” Aun más
indignante, el Director afirma que CDCR proveen, “la capacidad de hacer
programas con todo seguridad y participar en su rehabilitación.” ¡La
huelga está ocurriendo porque no hay programas ni rehabilitación!
Los que están en contacto con los huelguistas nos informan que algunos
en Pelican Bay quien habían dejado el ayuno han regresado a la huelga en
repuesta a la negligencia de CDCR. También hemos recibido palabra de 4
camaradas que están en el Instituto para Hombres de California en Chino
que ellos acaban de comenzar una huelga de hambre en solidaridad después
de recibir noticias desde MIM(Prisons).
Otros reportes recibidos recientemente incluyen uno en lo que United
Struggle from Within organizó camaradas en Kern Valley State Prison por
una huelga de hambre de 24 horas en solidaridad. En High Desert State
Prison, donde los marranos servían doble porciones de comida para
impedir una huelga, unos cuantos camaradas rehusaron la comida desde el
primer de julio hasta el tercero. Secciones enteros de California State
Prison - Corcoran todavía están de huelga y los médicos están viniendo
regularmente para pesar los prisioneros.
I am a prisoner currently incarcerated in the Florida department of
corrections. At this time I’m being held at Dade Correctional
Institution, in the mental health dorm transitional care unit.
This unit is for prisoners who have had, or who have developed serious
mental health problems. This place is supposed to provide treatment such
as counseling, one-on-one therapy, groups, etc. And it does that, but
only to a bare minimum.
I am writing this because the prisoners here are being neglected. Not so
much the ones who have good sense left, such as myself, but the severe
cases of the prisoners who are so far gone they’ve lost touch with
reality; the ones who are truly mentally disabled.
I’ve been writing grievances about this neglect, but the FL DOC has this
rule that if the incident does not affect you personally then you cannot
grieve the issue. This makes no sense to me at all. Some of these
inmates are gone, and cannot grieve when they are done wrong.
There’s an incident here that I continue to grieve of a prisoner who
sleeps in the cell across from mine. This comrade has nothing in his
cell except his being and a set of blues. He has no mattress, blanket,
sheets, nothing. This guy doesn’t talk at all. He makes noises sometimes
that have no reasonable meaning but that’s about it. He’s lost to the
world and he is mentally unstable. He cannot ask for these things, and
he definitely cannot file a grievance. So this prisoner must continue to
live like this because of some stupid rule that the DOC made up about
this not affecting me directly.
There are a lot of prisoners here who are being literally warehoused.
There are guys here who haven’t taken a shower for months. They don’t
ask so it’s not offered.
This is a mental health dorm. The staff are suppose to be helping these
prisoners who cannot help themselves, and instead they are ignoring
them.
I, fortunately, cannot be ignored. My mental health issues developed
from doing long periods of time in close management settings (control
units). I admit I became weak in a way. I picked up a bad habit that
eventually turned into an addiction: self mutilation – I’m a cutter. But
I am not beyond bouncing back. I do time how I want to do time. And
that’s the way I’m comfortable right now so it is what it is. I’ve got
good sense though, trust that!
I’m going to continue to write up everything that I see these pigs here
do, and I’m writing everything they’re not doing up too. Someone will
eventually listen. They cannot run a mental health unit like this. I’m
going to keep on fighting for our rights until something is done.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Health care in prisons across the
U.$. is terrible so it’s no surprise to hear about the lack of even
basic care in these Florida Mental Health units. We are also not
surprised to hear the effect that long term incarceration has had on
this comrade, leading to self mutilation. This is a good example of
capitalism causing so-called mental illnesses. In reality, we should
call these torture illnesses, as they are a direct result of torture in
prisons. For more information about imperialism and psychology request a
copy of MIM Theory 9: Psychology and Revolution.