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.
We were just been released from a 2 month lockdown because a new Warden
had stepped in and wanted us to know hes the boss. We were not given
clean clothes for 30 days straight. We received johnny sacks for 5 weeks
straight before getting our first trayed meal. We all lost weight!
I filled grievance after grievance. The Grievance Investigator never
even showed up for the first month. We had to buy our grievances and
I-60’s from other Inmates because the Staff told us they were out.
I am in G-5 Closed Custody which means I can’t leave my cell. These
people have and are denying us access to the Law Library. They’re only
sending what they want and when they want. You name it and its happening
here. We are still being denied recreation yard time. I am in a bad
faith based POD. We were being refused that until recently.
I am writing regarding an issue that affects my friend who is imprisoned
at the TDCJ Unit A.D. Hughes in Gatesville, Texas. Prison Administrators
at this unit are continually denying the inmates and convicts in
Administrative Segregation (AdSeg) any amount of time out of their cells
to exercise or shower as well as continually providing the inmates and
convicts with nutritionally inadequate meals thus violating State and
Federal Law. These issues are causing damage to their mental and
physical health in addition to indirectly creating a risk to public
safety.
My friend is in AdSeg where the inmates and convicts are already
confined for 23 hours each day in a cell the size of a small closet
which was designed to create maximum isolation from human contact. Their
only break from this type of confinement is one hour out-of-cell
exercise the State and Federal Courts ordered TDCJ to provide during
incarceration (Ruiz v. Estelle, 679 F.2d 1115 1151-52 (5th Cir., 1982)).
An hour of out-of-cell exercise or activity was ordered each and every
single day because of the risk to the mental and physical health of all
inmates and convicts who are subjected to uninterrupted confinement in a
tiny four-wall cell. This serious issue is well established and
recognized.
However, at the Hughes Unit prison, officials are habitually and
continually disregarding the established laws. For instance, in the four
and a half month period from April 2018 through August 2018, there was
no out-of-cell exercise provided to inmates and convicts in AdSeg on 156
of those days. This isn’t a new development or the result of an
emergency situation. Over the last several years, out-of-cell exercise
has been canceled at a similar rate on this unit. Administrators at the
A.D. Hughes Unit have not been consistently complying with State of
Federal Laws–at best they are complying half the time.
To make matters worse, on about half of that time, administrators are
providing inmates and convicts in AdSeg meals that are calorically and
nutritionally inadequate which is also a violation of State and Federal
Law. Approximately one fourth of all meals served consist of just two
sandwiches and nothing more. The first sandwich has only a single slice
of processed lunch-meat, soy patty or other similar meat-type product.
The second sandwich has about a spoonful of peanut butter. The two
sandwiches combined contain about 500 calories. There are never any
fruits of vegetables or any other food required for a balanced diet made
available to the inmates in AdSeg. It is impossible for these two
sandwiches that are provided every now and then to maintain a person’s
health. Sometimes the convicts at the Hughes Unit could be forced to eat
nothing but these sandwiches for months at a time, but only if there was
a disciplinary lock-down and we are to be on a 2,500 calories daily
dIet.
They got out-of-cell time only 95 times. There is no valid reason for
the issues to be happening on a regular basis. Inmates and convicts are
given the excuse that there is a lack of staff to provide out-of-cell
exercise or to serve proper meals when they question these issues. While
this may have been true in some instances, there are many days where
exercise was denied while there was adequate staffing on the unit. The
staff are choosing to cancel out-of-cell exercise because they don’t
feel like performing their daily work-time duties. When staff wants a
day off they just ask the ranking officer in charge to declare a staff
shortage and then they sit around on the unit during their shift doing
nothing but collecting payment for a job they aren’t performing–money
provided by taxpayers. No one is holding TDCJ-CID unit administrators,
or these staff members, accountable for their behavior mainly because it
takes place all the way down the line from the executive director down
to the CO II.
Even when there is a genuine staff shortage that fact doesn’t absolve
prison administrators of the responsibility of doing whatever is
necessary to fully and adequately staff the prisons. Indeed the very
essence of their duty is to create and maintain prisons that comply with
all relevant laws. The chronic staff shortage is due in part to
halfhearted measures taken to hire new employees: when new employees are
hired they are often fired on trivial pretexts in order to keep staffing
levels artificially low to save money on the prison budget.
It is always important to remember that these inmates and convicts will
eventually be paroled or serve their sentences and be released back into
society. There is a growing awareness that these types segregation units
are incubators of mental illness and further criminality; even when run
properly, which they never have been and never will be. Prison
administrators’ disregard for the inmates and convicts’ rights and well
being here at the Hughes Unit is only making the problems worse, but
only because they wear a different color uniform than us that puts them
as bias against us from jump street. After mistreating and antagonizing
the convicts for years, TDCJ-CID administrators will just release them
back into society, leaving an unsuspecting public to deal with the
resulting fallout. Prison administrators at the Hughes Unit are putting
us all at risk with this type of unlawful behavior.
Please investigate this matter and see to it that prison officials at
the Hughes Unit provide the AdSeg inmates and convicts with a minimum of
an hour of out-of-cell recreation every single day as well as showers on
a daily basis and nutritious meals as ordered by State and Federal Law.
I was moved to another unit for a heat restriction that I have due to
medical problems, and have to be in air conditioning. TDCJ lost a
lawsuit and Fed court tells them to A/C the Pack One unit. So now they
are doing some system wide moving us inmates who have heat restrictions,
or what is called heat sensitive medical conditions. There is about 24
conditions that they have at this time. The number one is if inmates are
65 and older. I am 67, but I have a lot of the conditions they talk
about having.
Anyway, the Texas prison system is trying to get us old inmates into a
temperature control housing which is with A/C. But the bad thing they
are putting us in what is called 12 Building which is the Ad-Seg on
Stiles unit. Now they made 3 pods for general population heat
restriction but we are treated like we are Ad-Seg.
We do get day room from 7am to 10:30pm, phone, TV, we go to commissary
off the building, mail room. We don’t have a chow hall we only have a
room with 6 tables, they have to bring cooked food to 12 building from
the main kitchen. To the kitchen on 12 building which only has a steam
table that we get served off of it.
Here in California, the Agreement to End Hostilities has ushered in a
new era for all of us behind bars and on the streets. Prison yards in
California are a laboratory for society at large. If we can do it here
then so goes the rest of the country. It’s not easy to undo racial
antipathy, but we are doing it here in California. Every time we forge a
new friendship or business association with those of other races it is
one more bridge across what divides all of us.
“The pig system” has tactics to separate us so we are weak without
unity. But those of us with an open eye toward the future work to
minimize what can be used against us. I myself am nearly 50 years old
and have spent over 30 years as a serious hater as part of a well-known
street/prison gang. The 21st century will be one of great change for us
all. The best advice I can give my fellow humans is to let go of the
dogmatic ideology of the 20th century and evolve in a constructive
manner. Our fight is not between one another but between the “haves” and
“have nots.” We are the “have nots,” no one will give anything to us; we
will have to take what we need for our people.
Educate yourself in history, politics and economics. The United Front
for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) Statement of Principles is a good place to
start. Peace, Unity, Growth, Internationalism, Independence is a sound
formula for success. If you are reading this it is not by accident.
Mankind, in order to survive, will have to reach for the stars at some
point. But first we must refine ourselves in the furnace of evolution.
If we humans as a species can cooperate with each other, in time we will
cross the threshold. It starts with the man in the cell next to you or
across the way. Peace.
In Struggle, A reformed Nazi
MIM(Prisons) adds: We print this as a testament to the strength
of the AEH, the UFPP, and especially the anti-imperialist prison
movement that inspires those who’ve held all sorts of backwards lumpen
mentalities to become arbiters of revolutionary unity and change.
However, it is easier to win over those who have matured and learned the
errors of their ways over time. To be successful we need the
20-somethings, the youngsters, the up-and-comers to take the
revolutionary road. We must develop tactics to accelerate the education
and maturation of the young lumpen leaders and would-be leaders in our
midst.
On Feb 5, 2019 NC prison director Kenneth Lassiter sent out a memo that
now limits who can send prisoners money through Jpay. Under this new
restrictive policy, only the approved visitors on the prisoners
visitation list may send him/her any money. As a consequence, many
prisoners who are from out of state or who’s visitors are elderly or
impoverished or disabled who do not receive visits can now no longer
receive money from their loved ones, friends or supporters on the
outside. Just one example of unfairness is thousands of Latinos who are
incarcerated and either don’t speak English or who’s family member does
not reside in the United States are unable to receive money to purchase
food, hygiene cosmetics and health products. Additionally, many of us
have lost visitation privileges with our approved visitors for a myriad
of illogical reasons which in turn has caused us to be ineligible to
receive money from that prison. This is just another exaggerated
response from correction czars drunk on their own undeserved power over
others. Its bad enough that we are censored to death over who and what
we can write or what we can read without some pederast fascist trying to
control free societies sympathy and charity for others.
So in response to this oppressive rule, prisoners in North Carolina are
organizing what we are calling a “national grievance day” and calling on
all prisoners in NC as well as prisoners in other states with similar
Jpay rules to file grievances on their directors of prison on May 21,
2019 and regardless of any response received, appeal it as far as it can
be appealed. The only remedy we are seeking is to abolish this counter
productive rule.
Once everyone has filed grievances, inside POW organizers have
coordinated with outside public supporters and organizations from
itsgoingdown.org and www.atlblackcross.org who plan on caravaning to
Raliegh, NC on June 1, 2019 alongside the Blueridge ABC chapter armed
with drums, bullhorns, picket signs and camcorders to record and protest
our cause.
Additionally, we are asking supporters and family members to blow up the
NC DOC public affairs phone numbers on June 1, 2019 by calling them and
expressing their dissatisfaction with the Jpay rule. The DOC numbers at
the PAO is 919-716-3700 919-716-3727 919-716-3733 919-716-3713.
Supporters and family members are also encouraged to send emails and
letters to the director asking him to abolish this rule at
info@doc.state.nc.us or by mail to: Director of Prisons, 831 W. Morgan
St., Raleigh, NC 27699.
We are hoping that with thousands of grievances from prisoners flooding
their administration alongside negative emails, letters and phone calls
followed by hundreds of public protesters on June 1, 2019 that we can
beat back repression by attacking on all sides. Family members and
friends of incarcerated persons are encouraged and invited to stand with
us on behalf of their incarcerated loved one during this public event.
All letters welcome.
We just got word that the Texas Department of Criminal inJustice (TDCJ)
has denied delivery of the TDCJ Offender Grievance Manual to one of our
subscribers in Texas. Not just at the unit level (we were not informed
of the censorship at the unit level by Polunsky Unit mailroom staff, in
direct
contradiction
to TDCJ’s own policies)(1), but the Director’s Review Committee even
upheld the censorship of the grievance manual. The Director.
Well, what could possibly be the reason given for censoring TDCJ’s own
manual which was written for “offenders”? Couldn’t tell you. All the
notice says is it was “received in contradiction with BP-03.91, Uniform
Offender Correspondence Rules.” Don’t forget, BP-03.91 doesn’t just say
that this item is denied delivery to this particular subscriber. It says
that this item is banned in the entire state for all time. Just like
Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán, our “Defend the Legacy
of the Black Panther Party” study pack, and multiple issues of Under
Lock & Key (at least including Nos. 63, 57, 54, 51, 45, 35, 32,
28, and 27).
You might be wondering why MIM Distributors is sending in the grievance
manual anyways. It’s a TDCJ document, after all. And according to the
Texas Board of Criminal Justice,
the
grievance manual ought to be available to prisoners.(2) Well, in
September 2014, a memo went out that
removed
the grievance manual from all TDCJ law libraries.(2) Why would they
do this? Don’t know, they didn’t say. TDCJ’s grievance system is
notoriously ineffective and deliberately obstructive. And Texas is
historically one of the worst states when it comes to brutal national
oppression. Seems to be part of those overall patterns.
We did have a “victory,” so minor that it’s even embarrassing to use
that word. The Director’s Review Committee Decision Form actually listed
the name of the item that they censored! Wow! We didn’t have to go
hunting around in the list of mail we sent to this subscriber, guessing
which item was censored based on the date we mailed it out. This is
often a very difficult detail to pin down, considering how much mail we
send in and the weeks- and months-long delays in the TDCJ censorship
procedures.
So, we’ve been protesting the ineffective grievance process in Texas for
almost ten years. The grievance manual was hidden almost 5 years ago.
And now we can’t even mail in the grievance manual. We do plan to appeal
this censorship to the Director’s Review Committee, but often our
letters to them go unanswered. In the short term, we need people (and
lawyers!) in Texas to put pressure on TDCJ to stop obstructing
prisoners’ access to the grievance system. Ultimately we need to
overthrow this totally bunk injustice system and the economic system it
protects.
The u.$. economy has succeeded in stabilizing itself, at least for the
near future. As reported previously (1,2), the majority of amerikans are
prospering; their pockets lined with the bribes of imperialism, the
labor aristocrats of the united $nakes are unlikely to support genuine
socialism any time soon.
In 2007, amerika faced an economic downturn. Excessive lending allowing
amerikans to buy overvalued houses, which led banks to the point of
collapse when debts could not be repaid. As the effects of the crisis
spread, stocks fell, jobs were lost and the economy began to contract.
The financial crisis has been rightly recognized as the worst to affect
the First World since the Great Depression. However, it has also been
rightly recognized as being of lesser severity, earning it the moniker
the Great Recession.
And since then? The state of the amerikan economy has been not that of
crisis but of recovery. Unemployment peaked in October 2009 at 10.0%.
After that, it steadily declined. In early 2019, almost a decade later,
unemployment now sits at 4.0%. In fact, by this measure the u.$. economy
is doing better than ever. Monthly unemployment figures in 2006, before
the crisis, were around 4.5%, 4.4% at the lowest. In 2018, they were
around 4.0%, with the highest being 4.1% in the beginning of the
year.(3) Labor force participation has decreased 2% since October 2009,
but is at an average value over the last 65 years.(4) Another indicator
of economic prosperity, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has grown over
the past five years, surpassing 25,000 points and setting 15 all-time
record highs in 2018.(5) The bull market does not just enrich a few
bourgeoisie: with 55% of amerikans owning stocks, the majority of the
u.$. population is petty-bourgeois and benefits from rising stock
market. (6)
In 2017, Amerikans spent, on average, more than five hours a day
pursuing leisure, a number essentially constant over the preceding
decade.(7) Between 2009 and 2018, average wages increased by 23%, faster
than the rate of inflation.(8,9) As 2018 drew to a close, the average
hourly wage in amerika was $27.53 (median hourly wages have seen similar
steady increases to just over $23).
Contrast this state of affairs with China, where the hourly wage in
2016, adjusted for purchasing power parity, was $6.39. Or India where it
is $3.10.(10) In China, hourly pay is less than a quarter of that in the
u.$. In India, it is less than an eighth. It is clear that this wage
disparity can only exist because amerikans benefit from the exploited
surplus value of Third World labor.(11) So-called socialist groups in
amerika “fight for 15,” ignoring both the low wages paid in other parts
of the world and the fact that many workers inside u.$. borders are, by
virtue of nationalist immigration policies designed to preserve
amerikkkan wealth, considered “illegal” and unable to benefit from a
higher minimum wage.
Despite the fact that the numbers above have been adjusted for inflation
and geographical differences in purchasing power let’s entertain the
supposition that some aspect of the cost of living has not been
accounted for and that amerikan workers are still being exploited. If
amerikans were truly being exploited, then they would have little to no
property or wealth of their own. However, 64% of amerikans own a home,
about the same as in the mid 1990s.(12) This number is fairly stable;
since the 1960s, homeownership rates have fluctuated in a fairly narrow
range, peaking close to 70% in 2004 and never falling below 62.9% since
1964.(13) In 2018, the average u.$. home had an asking price of over
$200,000.(14) Many amerikans own their homes outright, while others may
have a mortgage and look forward to outright ownership in the future. An
amerikan with a 30-year mortgage, for example, expects that they will
pay off their home in 30 years and enjoy a comfortable retirement in it.
Ignoring issues of credit, interest and down payment that would
automatically exclude Third World workers, a Chinese worker attempting
to buy the same house with a quarter of the income would need to spread
out payments over 120 years, while an Indian worker would need to labor
for literal centuries. The average amerikan dwelling, leaving out
furniture, cars and other luxuries, already represents a greater
accumulation of wealth than the typical Third World worker could make in
eir lifetime.
And it is not a question of a vast economic divide within the U.$. Even
among amerikans with an income below the national median, over half
owned a home in 2018.(15) The majority of amerikans are therefore in
possession of considerable wealth, which they invest in assets and spend
on plush accommodations. The typical amerikan acts more like a member of
the bourgeoisie than of the proletariat.
There remain significant economic differences between the wealth of
whites and the wealth of New Afrikans and Chican@s within U.$. borders.
But even with that disparity, the vast majority of U.$. citizens are
profiting from the exploitation of the Third World, giving them a solid
economic interest in imperialism. In a future article we will provide an
update on the economic status of oppressed nations within U.$.
borders.
A Boom in False Consciousness
In the bourgeois media we’ve seen a recent uptick in pieces examining
the growing generational divide. Older commentators bemoan the laziness
and entitlement of millennial (born in 1981-1996), while younger
commentators decry the indulgence and thoughtlessness of baby boomers
(born 1946-1964) who have depleted the Earth’s resources and left no
economic opportunities for future generations. The former is the typical
“kids these days” grousing. Disproving the latter: homeownership among
people aged 35 and under has gone from 64.0% in 1994 to 64.4% in
2018.(16) In other words, economic opportunity has actually increased
for younger amerikans. Millennial wealth has more than doubled since
2007, with the other generations seeing either a net increase in wealth
or a partial recovery in the value of their sizable assets since the
financial crisis.(17)
Any discussion of a generational gap in economic opportunity is false
consciousness. Nothing could underscore this point further than the fact
that any generational disparity in wealth will be rendered moot when the
millennial children of bourgeois boomers receive their inheritances. In
fact, it will not even take that long. Just as aristocratic scions of
yore could remain resident in the family manor, or plantation, and not
have to worry about actually working for a living, young “professionals”
(i.e. those tasked with administrating the parasitic U.$. economy) can
buy large homes in expensive metropolitan areas because they receive
financial assistance from their parents.(18)
Amerikans, as a whole, enjoy high wages and a comfortable lifestyle not
available in the Third World. The majority of amerikans possess
considerable wealth in the form of houses and are closer to the
petty-bourgeois than the proletariat in their economic position. Because
of this economic interest, the Amerikan populace is unlikely to support
a genuine communist revolution. Without a solid internationalist
perspective, any talk of socialism within amerika will be a phony
national “socialism,” at best redistributing from one tier of the labor
aristocracy to another and at worst heightening the violence inherent to
international superexploitation.
I am personally connected to this topic, being an active high-ranking
individual of an organization. I have struggled trying to make the
transition to become a better man. 22 years young, growing up I was
never exposed to positive black New Afrikan role models, or anyone older
I could look up to who defined what it meant to be a man. Everyone I
hung around was in a 5 years span older or younger and everyone who was
successful was either an athlete, entertainer or criminal.
So when basketball or rapping didn’t work out I turned to the street
where toughness was defined by aggression and fearlessness. Fighting and
shooting. I turned to my organization for the loyalty and love and the
brotherhood. Being a gangster to me was being heartless to anybody who
was not with you, and if they cross you, deal with them like an enemy.
Being incarcerated I learned that leaders and high ranking members need
to revolutionize our organizations and get back to the original
principles that we were founded on. Having influence is great power, we
need to use this influence for education and fighting oppression. It is
easy to talk about, it’s a learning process. I can’t define toughness or
what it means to be a man, but I can explain personally why I am the way
I am and what it takes to prevent another from falling victim. Unity is
key. Changing your values so you cannot be controlled by privileges and
understanding if you are not part of the solution, then you contribute
to the problem. Most people care what people think so they let that stop
them from acting on what they really feel. But you can’t be for the
revolution in mind but not in action.
Education and unity! Use the “negative” organizations as a vehicle for
positive influence and change. It starts from the top O.G.s teach the
Y.G.s. Teach them how and they will fall in line.
Part 2: What is a man? What defines a gangster?
A lot of New Afrikan brothas like myself have no idea because no example
was taught by any positive New Afrikan role models. All we know is what
the white-washed media portrays to us. We listen to rap music that
glorifies violence and objectifies our women. Our role models being dope
dealers and our definition of gangster is Scarface, Larry Hoover, Pistol
Pete…
Being fearless and cold, making money by any means makes you a man, not
tolerating disrespect, toting guns and how many women you had sex with
all define your manhood. I sit here explaining that mentality and see
the flaws in it.
Now let’s talk about the cycle. Every parents’ purpose should be to make
the world a better place for the generation coming next. Speaking from
my mind, the older generation kills me complaining about the younger
generation and in order to solve a problem, first things first, you must
start at the root. I will not deflect or place blame but this older
generation, our own fathers, uncles, brothers start the cycle by failing
to educate and expose their children to something different, something
positive. They allow their children to be influenced by white imagery of
what a Black man is: violent, or supernaturally talented, only good for
white man’s entertainment.
I won’t sit here and talk about it with no solution, so how do we fix
it? Everything starts with the children and what we teach them and what
they are exposed to. New Afrikan men must learn the most important part
of parenting is presence. Just being available is so important for a
child growing up. We need to expose our children to successful business
leaders and entrepreneurs that look like us, not only athletes and movie
stars or entertainers. Teach them to be financially literate. Teach them
about this racist society and how to be prosperous in it. Only way to
break the mentality is to replace it. A man is responsible, reliable,
self-sufficient, wise, a man does not make mistakes. A man takes care of
his children and family. Now that’s Gangsta!
MIM(Prisons) responds: Everyone makes mistakes, and they are our
source of empirical knowledge. So we should not fear them. What we think
this comrade means here is that we should not keep making mistakes and
not learn. We shouldn’t live a lifetime of mistakes. If we listen to
what society tells young New Afrikan men, not living a lifetime of
mistakes means going against the grain.
Each One, Teach One! Whether a child or an adult. We all have things to
teach. And only by learning from each other does our collective
knowledge grow. While we can learn from our mistakes, most knowledge is
history. So we don’t need to make all the same mistakes the people of
the past did to learn the lesson ourselves, empirically. We can leap
frog ahead by building on the lessons from the past. It is this
collective, historical knowledge that gives humynity the power to reach
much greater heights.
Growth is key. We all go through many different stages of the learning
process at different times. As long as we are moving in the same general
direction, of liberation, then we can unite in our growth.
The article we printed in Under Lock & Key No. 65 on the
forced
integration and its relation to the Agreement to End Hostilities
continues to elicit responses. However, reports are still sparse, so we
reiterate our request to readers in California to continue to send in
updates on the progress of the integration. One comrade was won over by
the article:
“I’ve never thought about the SNY situation, as written in your No. 65
issue, page 9, about the AEH agreement as I would pertain to a group of
konvicts that usually leave a bad taste in most dudes’ mouths. I have a
cousin in SNY that I’ve written off for like 5 years. After reading your
past few issues, I think I’ll get at him this week.”
There was concern coming from Valley State Prison, where a comrade wrote
on 18 December 2018:
“I am writing to let you know I did receive ULK Nov/Dec 2018,
No. 65, and I enjoyed reading about G.P.’s mixing with SNY, it’s
crazy. There will be people filing lawsuits. The G.P.s are expected here
at Valley State around 15 January 2019. I can imagine things will get
bad.”
Yet we received a positive report from another comrade at Valley State
Prison from 17 February 2019:
“I have a new ‘bunky’ who is a GP prisoner who came here to VSP as part
of the integration of SNY & GP. There have been no problems with him
and I am using this as an opportunity to learn more about how all of us
can build unity using the UFPP Statement of Principles as a guide. We
here appreciate all the material support of MIM(Prisons) and the
valuable organizational guidance. The ULK No. 66 article”Ongoing
Discussion of Recruiting Best Practices” was damn good and quite helpful
as well.”
The above victories are small, and do not necessarily give us a picture
of what is happening across CDCr. But they do speak to the possibilities
of the positive leadership of USW and the efforts to build a United
Front for Peace in Prisons. However, negative reports are coming from
concerned family members. One womyn campaigning for support for her
loved one in Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility reports that he
has been repeatedly brutalized after refusing to give information to
guards. The guards are setting up scenarios reminiscent to the Corcoran
SHU gladiator fights, except this time with many-on-one, to punish those
that don’t cooperate with their manipulations.
One comrade had a more mixed report from Chuckwalla Valley State Prison,
22 February 2019:
Yesterday we received our first group of general population “active”
prisoners and the whole event quickly turned into a spectacle. Over a
hundred prisoners flooded the yard last night in anticipation of these
“active” prisoners. Their purpose was to physically assault these
general population prisoners if they attempted to assault any SNY
prisoner. While I myself did not go outside, I am guilty of looking out
my window in anticipation of seeing some violence. Once I saw how these
G.P. prisoners were virtually swarmed, however, and once I heard and saw
how some prisoners became giddy with excitement at the possibility of
seeing someone get hurt my mood changed from one of an expectant
spectator to one of repulsion, anger and empathy.
Most disturbing of all however was how officers literally abandoned
these incoming prisoners to their fate. Officers (some in riot gear)
simply waited on the sidelines for something to happen while packs of
SNY prisoners taunted, intimidated and pushed up on these prisoners
asking them if they were here to program or get stupid, waiting for the
wrong answer. All of the prisoners who came to this yard stayed.
However, about an hour prior to this other G.P. prisoners were taken to
another yard where we know something happened because we saw everyone
proned out on the ground. And a few days prior some other G.P. prisoners
were taken to A yard where one of them got jumped as soon as he set foot
on the yard. We know this cause plenty of people in another building
were able to see this from their windows and they all corroborated each
others’ stories.
On the one hand it’s understandable that these SNY prisoners are
chomping at the bit after some of them have been victims of gen. pop.
prison gang violence. Others are merely interested in defending
themselves against possible sneak attacks from G.P. prisoners that may
be lying in wait. While many others unfortunately just wanna f___
somebody up.
It also doesn’t help that we keep hearing stories of how other SNY
prisoners are viciously attacked upon setting foot on a G.P. turned NDPF
yard. Most SNY prisoners have never been victimized anywhere on G.P. or
snitched on anyone. They’re just not into the stupid prison politics and
so they opt to go SNY when given the chance. For example, most of the
prisoners here are just a bunch of youngsters who ain’t never been
nowhere. They just wanna do their time and go home. And if people want
to say that most people here are sex offenders, well that too is a myth.
And yeah, there are some sex offenders here, but there are many on the
mainline as well, they just don’t got that “R” suffix on their jackets.
At this point I firmly believe that the only way there can be peace on
these NDPFs is if the G.P. shot callers initiate a truce and prohibit
the G.P. from assaulting SNY prisoners arriving to their yards. Once
SNY’s hear that SNY prisoners are being left alone on their side of the
fence then they will begin to respond in kind, as SNY prisoners are only
reacting to what’s going on on G.P. As it is, one of these G.P.
prisoners here claims to still be G.P. but just wants to do his time and
go home. No one is bothering him, while other prisoners have actually
extended olive branches to some of these guys and given them some basic
necessities.
Anyone who represents prisoners on either side of the integration, who
needs help reaching out to the other side with messages of peace should
contact MIM(Prisons). We will help facilitate any efforts at developing
such a truce as suggested above.
If we accept MIM(Prisons)’s line and analysis that U.$. prisoners –
lumpen prisoners of oppressed nations – have the most objective
class-nation interest in anti-imperialism, then of course the validity
of this analysis can be tested in practice, whereby objective organizing
factors-forces would be evident. MIM(Prisons), to its credit of
remarkable theoretical leadership, has already outlined in its article
on prison organizing what the principal contradiction is driving the
Prison Movement.(1) MIMP also challenged its prison cadre (of prisoner
study groups) to do the same for their own specific state prison
conditions. While these theoretical tasks are undoubtedly necessary,
they don’t really instruct us on whether the Prison Movement is actually
moving, or better yet whether there is even a Prison Movement to move.
Thus, it is the aim of this article to look deeper into the question of
prison organizing, to determine what fundamental factors-forces need to
be in evidence for there to be a viable Prison Movement, and above all
to give an honest assessment of the U.$. lumpen prisoner’s potential to
be leaders of any progressive movement, least of all, one of
anti-imperialism or national liberation. However, it should be noted
that the conclusions reached in this article are specific to Washington
state prisons. It is the hope of the author that other cadre across U.$.
prisons will pick up the pen and conduct their own serious and sober
investigation.
For MIM(Prisons), the principal contradiction determining the
development and direction of the Prison Movement is expressed in terms
of consciousness, not class or nation. With individualistic (petty
bourgeois) attitudes and behavior occupying one pole of the
contradiction, the other pole is occupied by more group-oriented
(progressive) conduct and concern. And at this time, as it has been for
some time, individualistic consciousness is the dominant pole of the
principal contradiction. In other words, within a given prison
environment, most prisoners view their interests (short-term,
medium-term, and even long-term) being realized through individualism
(and opportunism). Accordingly, group-oriented thinking and action are
rarely seen and therefore have little-to-no impact on the Prison
Movement.
Washington state is no different in this regard. In fact, it is
exceptional in a level of individualism, opportunism, and soft-shoe
parasitism that prevail among its prisoners. Sure, the anti-people
behavior of snitching, drug culture, extortion through manipulation,
etc. is not exclusive to Washington prisons. Such behavior can be seen
in just about any U.$. prison, in settings where violence and
viciousness are the only coins with purchasing power. And yet, in
Washington prisons, extremely adverse conditions are pretty much
nonexistent, and with it a large part of the basis for prison
organizing.
To explain further, Washington state has created a new, depoliticized
prison environment, one in which traditional prison politics are not
tolerated. While prison politics of old were reactionary and
self-destructive, depoliticization has anesthetized the Washington state
prisoner to the contradictions that come with imprisonment. With the
Washington prison of today being somewhat safe, devoid of the
ever-present threat of physical and sexual violence, and other forms of
overt predatory behavior, the prisoner is no longer forced to question
and think critically about the conditions of incarceration. Indeed,
today the prisoner is numb to the political dimensions of incarceration.
There are essentially three ways in which Washington has managed to
accomplish this. First, it has all but institutionalized snitching,
allowing for the systematic abuse/misuse of protective mechanisms (such
as PREA and other federally-mandated laws) by prisoners and staff.(2)
And because consequences for snitching went out with the old prison
politics, this encourages more prisoners to join the growing horde of
informants. This results in more and more prisoners seeing their
interests protected by the state, when unfortunately, it only reinforces
the status quo of their imprisonment.
Conversely, those prisoners who refuse to be pawns of the system isolate
themselves within their own close-knit groups and factions. They sit
back and lament about how so-and-so is telling or they talk fondly about
how things used to be. In reality, these prisoners are only engaging in
their own form of individualism by resurrecting old myths or fashioning
new ones from their false consciousness. Ultimately, these prisoners are
just as bad as the snitches, because they are paralyzed to act or think
critically (and scientifically) by the possibility of being told on. At
least the snitch snitches, that is to say, “acts.”
The second way WA State has sanitized its prisons of organizing
conditions is by institutionalizing privileges. WA State has done a
phenomenal job in this respect. Prisoners can join culture groups where
they have activities and functions. There are a bunch of special jobs as
well as the most coveted Correctional Industries job. Programs range
from education and vocational to religious and community support. Of
course, cable TV, J Pay, food fund raisers, and quarterly food packages
contribute to the sanitization of the prison environment. All of these
taken together allow the prisoner to carve out eir own specialized niche
of doing time, whereby ey becomes a better inmate instead of a better
person. More importantly in the eyes of WA State ey becomes reliable
because eir behavior is predictable. In other words, WA State doesn’t
have to worry about “model inmate” given that ey is lost in doing easy
time.
Finally, the third and most important way WA State created a
depoliticized climate within its prisons was to dismantle and discredit
the old guard. The old guard represented a collection of old-school
prisoners, who were versed in prison politics of both revolutionary and
reactionary iterations. (The term “prison politics” originated during
the late 60s and 70s, as a liberation ideology beyond the walls found a
home behind the walls. But just as the reactionaries beat back the tide
of social change, those revolutionary prisoners under lock and key
suffered similar fate. What was left in the walk was the same predations
and parasitism we saw in lumpen communities of oppressed nations at that
time. Today, most prisoners erroneously believe prison politics to mean
prison LO’s pushing the line behind telephones and tables or checking in
prisoners who’s paperwork didn’t check out.) Sadly, most of these
prisoners have given up on handing down “game” to the younger
generations, least of all organizing for better prison conditions. They
are either bought off with a special status within prison reserved only
for old timers, or become victims/hostages of their own vices. Those who
have maintained a militant posture, over time, have their characters
impinged in a pig-led campaign to discredit them and their organizing
efforts. It is this dearth of political leadership and guidance that is
most responsible for the depoliticization within WA State prisons.
But such a situation isn’t as discouraging when we look at the WA State
penitentiary. The state penitentiary or West Complex is a closed
(maximum) facility, housing lots of young lumpen org members looking to
wild out. So at the West Complex it is common to have race riots or
prison LO rivalries. Fights are an everyday thing creating an atmosphere
electric with tension. And at just about any moment staff can be
victimized too. Yet, in a seemingly chaotic environment, where WA State
has not eradicated “prison politics,” that is the West Complex
group-oriented action based on principled unity among all the prisoners
resulted in concessions from the state. In early 2018, West Complex
prisoners got fed up with the poor food (pun intended) they were being
served, and as a collective group decided to go on a hunger strike. It
became such a big ordeal in the state that the governor, Jay Inslee,
visited the facility to speak with a few prisoners who registered the
grievances of the population. Of course, the visit by the governor was
more show than a show of concern. The point is, such group-oriented
action actually resulted in some of the grievances of the prisoners
being addressed. Most notably was the addition of a hot breakfast to the
menu where previously it was a cold sack.
The point that this example serves isn’t that reactionary prison
politics work or that violent prisoners are more suited for
group-oriented action. No, the point here is that a repressive
institution such as a maximum facility creates and nurtures violence; it
promotes the continuation of reactionary prison politics. And as
violence occurs and politics are pushed, the repressive nature of the
institution tightens evermore. Eventually, prisoners are forced to deal
with the meager, spartan existence the institution provides them. Some
choose the path of more self-destructive behavior, but it is ALL who
opts for the path of collective-oriented action when the conditions are
ripe.
This isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement of the maximum prison. Too much
reactionary stuff occurs behind its walls by too many prisoners with
reactionary consciousness. Leadership must be in place, the issue to
organize around must be important to most if not everyone. And more
importantly, there can be no hesitation once the wheels move forward and
gains momentum. The organizing effort is too delicate of a process
within the WA State prison environment, which is why more often than not
conditions are left to rot.
The one definite conclusion reached about organizing in WA State prisons
is that the max prison fosters a rebellion among its prisoners that has
the greatest potential to serve the Prison Movement. There is a level of
seriousness and critical awareness seen in the West Complex that is just
nonexistent in other WA State prisons, due to the depoliticization
program. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some enlightened comrades
on WA State medium and minimum mainlines sprinkled here and there. It is
precisely this “sprinkling here and there” of righteous comrades that
the cacophony of “doing easy time” drowns out their leadership, however.
MIMP has already reached the theoretical conclusion that the lumpen
prisoners (of oppressed nations) will make up the vanguard of the Prison
Movement. But here in WA State, unlike most other states, it is the
labor aristocratic and petty-bourgeois oppressor nation prisoners who
are in the majority on most mainlines. And given this group’s
inclination toward fascism, it poses an obstacle to organizing in many
respects. Those oppressor nation prisoners who do not flirt with fascist
politics are generally sex offenders and thus seen as even more taboo to
unite with. This is an interesting dynamic for lumpen prisoners’ (of
oppressed nations) role within the WA State Prison Movement. It must not
only overcome oppressor nation fascism but also violate prison norms set
by politics.
Granted, prison politics have been eliminated on most WA State
mainlines, but they have yet to be eliminated from the hearts and minds
of both lumpen prisoners (of oppressed nations) and oppressor nation
prisoners (fascists). Consequently, the stage of struggle with respect
to the WA State Prison Movement is at the level of disunity and
distrust. Coupled with the very real fact that the lumpen prisoners (of
oppressed nations) are fractured into their own constituent prison and
street LO’s, their leadership in the movement is without a doubt
questionable at this point. For lumpen prisoners (of oppressed nations),
caught in the depoliticized zones of Washington State prisons, the only
objective interest for organizing is for their freedom. Everything else
for this group is about drug culture, checking for wimmin, and
establishing and maintaining a credible prison reputation to take with
them to the street. To this point, the potential for the relatively few
lumpen prisoners (of oppressed nations) to lead or even support a Prison
Movement exists within the WA State closed custody institution, West
Complex.
While such a conclusion is discouraging for WA State revolutionary
prisoners, the hope lies in defining–maybe redefining–what the aims of
the Prison Movement are relative to the specific conditions of the WA
State. If, in general, the Prison Movement is about improving prison
conditions, agitating and educating the larger population on the
systemic injustices of mass incarcerations, or challenging the
legitimacy of the prison, then the WA State Prison Movement must focus
most of its effort on agitating and educating, challenging the growth of
the prisons, etc. The basis for improving prison conditions has become
an exclusive endeavor for the typical “legal beagle” in search of a big
payday. The average prisoner has it too good to want to organize for
better.
In conclusion, it is the overall contention of this article that the WA
State Prison Movement exists, but solely in the individual practices of
the few righteous comrades throughout the system.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer demonstrates how to study
local prison conditions to determine the contradictions and where to
best focus our organizing energy. This is something that has to be done
from within each state by people who live there and know the conditions.
It can’t be done from the outside. With this analysis we can compare
conditions, learn from best practices in other similar prisons, and
build our organizing work in a scientific way. We welcome comrades in
other states to follow this example and send in your own analysis of
your state or prison conditions. We also hope other WA prisoners will
respond to this analysis with your thoughts and observations.