Federal Prisons

In the early hours of Wednesday, December 4th, a masked gunman shot the CEO of United $tates insurance company UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, to death in the bustling streets of New York City. By midday, CCTV footage of the act had gone viral across the internet and traditional news media, spawning endless narratives and theories. Simultaneously, the high-profile nature of the shooting prompted a national manhunt to search for the suspect. The shooter evaded capture for five days, but ey was eventually arrested after a tip was called in by a McDonald’s employee in rural Pennsylvania.

As communists operating in the United $tates, how are we to understand this event? What does the event itself and its resulting fallout tell us about the political landscape we work within? If we wish to live up to the title of being Marxists, the only answer to these questions is that we must conduct a, as Lenin put it, “concrete analysis of concrete conditions.” Let us begin with the facts of the case.

The Facts

The name of the alleged shooter is Luigi Mangione. As laid out in eir so-called ‘manifesto’, Luigi’s motivation for the shooting is a disdain for U.$. healthcare insurance companies in general and UnitedHealthcare in particular. The origin of this disdain likely lies in a combination of Luigi’s persynal interactions with health insurance companies through eir struggles with back pain as well as the more widespread antagonism between the U.$. population and health insurance companies.

Luigi comes from a well-connected family which has its roots in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Eir grandfather ran several successful business ventures which guaranteed employment and prosperity for the next generations of the Mangione family as they have now taken the reins on the family businesses. Luigi emself attended a private high school before attending the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania where ey got eir degree in computer science in 2020. According to Luigi’s family and friends, ey ceased all communication with them in July 2024. Presumably, Luigi spent the time between then and December planning the shooting, which we will now focus on.

As mentioned, the shooting itself took place on the morning of 4 December 2024. Interestingly, Luigi employed a 3D-printed firearm to commit the shooting, which marks the first time such a weapon has been used in such a high-profile case. Immediately after, Luigi evaded the swarms of police by traveling via foot, cab, and e-bike before boarding a train towards Philadelphia. Not much else is known about Luigi’s whereabouts and travels during the 5 days between the shooting and eir arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The biggest takeaway here is how easily Luigi evaded both the NYPD and the FBI for an extended period of time. If Luigi had continued traveling, discarded the evidence ey carried on em, or put any effort into changing eir appearance, it’s likely that ey would have never been caught. But this is simply speculation on our parts. Let us now turn from the objective facts of the case to the realm of ideology.

Luigi’s Ideology

To understand why Luigi Mangione shot Brian Thompson, we must first understand eir ideology. The only clues we have towards this understanding are scattered social media posts as well as the aforementioned “manifesto” Luigi had on em when ey was arrested. While we’ll primarily focus on the “manifesto”, we will first highlight one of Luigi’s social media posts where ey reviews the writings of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. In this review, Luigi highlights how Kaczynski was “rightfully imprisoned” because ey “maimed innocent people” but that these were the actions of an “extreme political revolutionary.” Luigi’s review finishes by quoting multiple paragraphs from a Reddit comment expounding how violence is the only method we have at our disposal to fight back against “our overlords.”

Now, turning to the “manifesto”, we wish to give our readers the fullest picture possible, so we have included below a full copy of the writing that was recovered when Luigi was arrested:

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as [sic] our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”(1)

Let us take a closer look at this writing. Luigi begins with saying:

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country.”

To those who proclaim Luigi is spreading “class consciousness” or that ey is a revolutionary, this single sentence should shatter all illusions. If an ally of yours said ey respects federal agents (of the FBI, CIA, etc.) for what they “do for our country,” would you be on eir side? Our answer to this question is a resounding Fuck No.

What else does Luigi write about? Ey brings up some rudimentary statistics about life expectancy in the United $tates and market capitalization before asserting that U.$. corporations have “gotten too powerful” and “they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away with it.” This strikes us as similar to the proposition that the Amerikkkan public is “brainwashed” (how? by whom? why?) into merely passively accepting the capitalist-imperialist world-system. This stands in opposition to our political line which is that Euro-Amerikans actively embrace imperialism (consciously or not) as the primary source of their wealth via super-profits extracted from the Third World proletariat.

Luigi ends eir writing by admitting that ey is not “the most qualified person to lay out the full argument” for the issues of the U.$. health insurance system but assures us that ey is, “evidently […] the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

How high and mighty! Luigi is “evidently” the first to break through the veil of ignorance which plagues the rest of us. Though we would contend that there are perhaps a few people who have come before Mr. Mangione who have faced the “corruption and greed” of the healthcare industry (which is only a particular form of capitalist industry in general) with “such brutal honesty.” Off the top of our heads, we can think of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, or Huey Newton, just to name a few. These are of course only the most popular figureheads of past communist movements. In reality, there are millions who have stood their ground against the imperialist-bourgeoisie and lost their lives for it. But no matter their sacrifice, for we have been blessed with the gift of the wealthy Euro-Amerikan from Maryland showing us the path forward!

So where does all this leave us? Is Luigi really a Marxist revolutionary who has been sent down from the Heavens to end the oppression of the masses? Of course not. Luigi’s writings and musings are nothing more than regurgitations of the same social fascist populism that is reminiscent of the messaging around Bernie Sander’s presidential campaigns combined with an impetus towards political violence. Discontent with the healthcare insurance industry is normal everyday politics for people living in the United $tates. All Luigi did was elevate this discontent from the level of complaining on the internet or attending protests to killing a CEO. An escalation of force, to be sure, but not one that is qualitatively different in its nature.

The Public’s Reaction

However critical we may be of Luigi Mangione, ey is only an individual. It would be an error to narrowly focus on the individual agents of hystory rather than the political trends and their material causes which compel individuals to act the way they do. So what trend underlies the actions of Luigi? And how has this been reflected in the public’s reaction to the killing?

Broadly, reactions to the shooting can be grouped into one of two camps: condemnations of Luigi’s actions or celebrations of them.

Those who condemn Luigi tend to do so from a position of superficial pacifism wherein you must be totally against violence in all situations – unless it benefits yourself or your nation. A vast majority of U.$. politicians fall into this group as well as a sizable portion of the U.$. citizenry. Typically hailing from the upper strata of U.$. society, these individuals are largely hypocritical and uninteresting for our purposes here. After all, even a child can identify the contradiction that’s present when one mourns the death of a single CEO while simultaneously advocating for imperialist armies to indiscriminately murder the oppressed.

On the other side, there are large swaths of people who view Luigi as a “folk hero” or a “savior” and exist somewhere on the spectrum between sympathizing with or admiring Luigi. Typically viewed as part of the Amerikan “left” (though we have observed both Democrats and Republicans expressing these views), this group wishes for healthcare reform in order to ease up on the contradictions intrinsic to the capitalist system. More specifically, these individuals fall into the same category of social fascist labor aristocrats as Luigi. Their class status as labor aristocrats is being threatened by the “greedy” capitalists of the health insurance corporations who want to take away their hard-earned wealth (i.e. superprofits from the Third World) and Luigi’s actions are simply one response to this threat. So long as their aim is narrowly limited on what can be done to improve the lives of Amerikans rather than taking a revolutionary approach to understand what can be done to improve the lives of all humyns, they remain enemies of the international proletariat.

This graph helps illustrate the demographics of either group as well as the proportions of the U.$. population that fall into either side. We also must wonder if the 20% support for Luigi Mangione among Amerikans would translate to support for retribution for the killing of Robert Brooks by New York prison guards and the slow genocide of New Afrikan men in U.$. prisons? We probably all know the answer to this question.

Though there is a real ideological divide between the two aforementioned groups, it would be wrong to overstate the width of this divide. Both groups are merely two factions of the white supremacist Amerikkkan establishment which exploits the Third World in order to secure their own prosperity.

Our Thoughts

Where do we lie in this divide? You certainly won’t find us shedding tears over a dead CEO, disavowing violence, or proclaiming pacifism, but you also will not see us celebrating Luigi Mangione as some sort of hero of the oppressed. Instead, we view Luigi as merely the latest manifestation of labor aristocracy angst towards the imperialist leaders of the United $tates. If either of Luigi’s actions or political line were rooted in revolutionary politics, we’d be a bit more sympathetic to em. But as it stands, Luigi’s lone wolf killing is both tactically inept and ideologically confused.

More broadly, we understand the struggle of people in the United $tates for more comprehensive healthcare. But rather than trying to secure healthcare for Amerikans only, why don’t we set our sights on securing healthcare for all people? Why should we advocate for petty reforms like getting earlier colonoscopies for middle-aged Amerikans when millions die each year in the Third World from easily-preventable diseases because of imperialist wealth extraction? or when U.$. weapons are used to murder doctors and bomb hospitals in Gaza? This is a topic comrades have written on before in relation to the Affordable Care Act(3), and it clearly remains relevant today. Even if we limit our scope to be within U.$. borders, the lack of healthcare that’s available for prisoners is a much more pressing issue than the reforms which the social fascists are seeking. It’s well documented how healthcare, and lack thereof, is used as a tool to punish and torture prisoners(4) rather than being recognized as a constitutional right.

Circling back to the central topic of this article, the question still stands: will this shooting actually change anything about the healthcare industry? Almost certainly not. But it has provided an opportunity for the fascism of the labor aristocracy to rear its head in a particularly brazen fashion through the actions of Luigi Mangione. As the U.$. labor aristocracy is faced with political chaos both at-home and abroad, they will resist the ever-looming threat of proletarianization. Will they recover and maintain their position in the imperialist world system? Will the U.$. population come face-to-face with proletarianization as global inter-imperialist conflicts intensify? We cannot say which is the case. The only thing we are sure of is that the actions of Luigi Mangione have provided a unique insight into the political terrain we operate in within U.$. borders. As communists, we must harness this insight and use it to guide our political action so that we may empower the international proletariat in their struggle against capitalist-imperialism. The only path forward is revolution.

^{(1) Ken Klippenstein, 10 December 2024, Exclusive: Luigi’s Manifesto}

^{(2)YouGov Poll, December 2024}

^{(3)ULK 38, April 2014, Affordable Care Act Underscores Need for Global Health Coverage}

^{(4)ULK 12, September 2009, Basic Healthcare Threat to Security}

Some of the problems I have run into organizing are being targeted by administration for conducting a study group. Some times there’s too many people interested for the space available, then when you’ve got 15-20 people huddled up and no violence is occurring, it scared the C.O.’s They are not used to that type of unity and they don’t encourage anything that has to do with building a collective consciousness. I try to do study groups in smaller circles and more discreetly because some dudes are eyes and ears for the oppressor. Repression is not a good thing at all and I must say that before I continue. However, when they do crack down, that’s when I pay close attention because certain responses help me inventory the caliber of men I’m studying with. The ones who know and understand the full magnitude of what the consequences can be for orchestrating a study group but are still willing to carry on are my type of comrades. In other words, the targeting helps me see who’s who.

As far as the question of being surrounded by enemies, we can list the various forces inside prisons similar to classes/nations outside because there are different types of people and not everybody is on the same page. For example, if in the prison I am housed at I did a united front for Palestine solidarity, certain people would not even consider it because that’s not the level of struggle they are interested in. But if I did one for, let’s say, advocating for more quality programming inside the institution, you will see a different crowd. Even in this crowd, you will have some who fully identify with capitalist principles (even fascism) and their oppressor.

Different initiatives will attract different people. I feel like it’s important to dichotomize because not everybody is qualified for revolutionary work. You’ve got some people who are so broken and battered they will utilize this as an opportunity to gain favor with the oppressor. United fronts can be formed that resolve around us understanding our personal experiences within the criminal injustice system and putting it in a larger context of abolishing the prison system and all other oppressive, capitalist-imperial systems. By us connecting this link to the outside world, we will see how these systems overlap and the need for a united front for all the oppressed. The fight continues.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Last issue we asked for feedback on what it was like to build support for Palestine in prisons. As this comrade indicates, it can be a hard sell. Focusing on quality programming can be a better place to start, but it is not inherently going to build the movement. More programming can lead to more state control over what prisoners are doing with their time, more brainwashing. So such a campaign would need to have a component where you were also building programs, or just space for discussion, that serves the movement for it to be a progressive campaign. That is, a campaign that serves the international proletariat rather than something that just helps a small group of people get jobs when they’re released or whatever. Campaigning for Palestine is much more inherently internationalist in its content, and it does not present these challenges – it presents the challenge of being harder to mobilize people around instead as comrades in Texas and Florida have also reported.

Greetings,

I was given a couple copies of the Under Lock and Key by my homie. He had encouraged me to read them and then write into MIM(Prisons) with my own letter/article. I’m new to the topics that were discussed in ULK and the overall prison movement, however, since the bro was moved in the block he has been browbeating me with how important it is to be involved in bettering our own conditions and self-educating myself.

After giving it some thought I decided to write in about something that bothers me the most. I’ve been incarcerated now since 10 May 2022 and I’ve yet to receive a visit from any of my friends or loved ones due to this policy which the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NCDAC) have put in place. Those who want to visit must first be approved before they are eligible. There are a lot of stipulations to this process and if these stipulations aren’t met then the person will be disapproved, therefore ineligible to visit. This also determines if you will be able to receive money from the outside due to another one of NCDAC’s policies, said policy only allowing us to receive financial support from approved visitors.

We as Black People, I mean New Afrikans, know we come from communities where at least one if not two of our immediate family members have been convicted of a crime resulting in them having a criminal record. This is one of the stipulations that prevent someone from being approved for visitation.

My wife was convicted of a crime therefore she isn’t allowed to visit with me nor am I allowed to visit with my children due to her not being allowed to visit me. And as I mentioned she’s also unable to send me money. The latter causing me to be placed on long-term segregation because I had to get my necessities by any means. The prison officials who make up these policies do so without caring about how the policy will affect us, our family, and our rehabilitation process. I had a guard tell me he feels my pain, BS you can’t feel my pain unless you’ve felt my pain and none of them have because they are able to go home to their family every day, while an individual like me can’t even receive a visit from my loved ones.

Let me give you a scenario. You are a prisoner, you get a letter from your mother telling you that she is sick and her health isn’t too good. She expresses how she would love to visit with you and asks why she can’t, you have to explain the aforementioned policy to her the best you can. A couple months pass and you are notified by family that your mother’s health worsens, she has to be hospitalized. There are no video visits despite us having tablets that are equipped to have them and your mother still hasn’t been approved for visitation. You are worried you may never get to see your mother again. The days pass, you are on seg because you need hygiene so you attempted to hustle, however you were caught. The guard comes to your door, tells you to get dressed as the chaplain needs to see you. We all know this isn’t good. You get dressed and go out to visit the chaplain, he tells you your mother has passed and gives you a brief 5-min call to speak to your family. You are taken back to your cell unable to attend the funeral and never being able to see your mother again.

This is such a cruel scenario right? Well it’s no scenario at all, this is what has happened to me.

Like I said at the beginning I’m new to the Prison Movement, this struggle, but I’m not new to pain and oppression. I will never get to see my mother again but I can help get things changed to where a scenario doesn’t become someone’s reality.

I see how my big bro struggles day in and day out trying to raise the consciousness of our peers and unite them and I understand why he does it now. And with me knowing this I promise to struggle as well.

In closing I’d like to say for those who are new to the movement write into MIM and request old issues of the ULK. They will help you get a better understanding of what it takes and what it is we’re struggling for.

MIM(Prisons) responds:Welcome to the movement comrade! Another comrade in South Carolina just wrote regarding similar punishments towards those labelled “Security Threat Group” or STG there. We also had a comrade in Indiana who was recently denied a contact visit with eir dying mother because ey was in segregation. People losing family members this way while in prison is something many of us have experienced. So we see these practices are common in the United $tates.

As the author points out these practices de facto target oppressed people, especially the New Afrikan nation that is disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. They are part of a low intensity genocide on the internal semi-colonies, and a system that fails to help society in the way it impacts all who find themselves locked inside it.

Just a few months ago we reported on the ongoing illegal funding of I$rael by the United $tates, with a recently announced $8.7 billion funding package. As Biden prepares to leave office later this month, it has been reported that another $8 billion is being sent to fund the imperialist outpost in the Middle East. Axios reports:

“The State Department has notified Congress ‘informally’ of an $8 billion proposed arms deal with Israel that will include munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) responded in part:

“Only racists who do not view people of color as equally human, and sociopaths who delight in funding mass slaughter, could send Netanyahu even more bombs while his government openly kidnaps doctors, destroys hospitals, and exterminates the last survivors in northern Gaza.”(1)

The Palestinian resistance has drawn the line in the sand, and are continuing to expose the racism of Amerikans and others in the imperialist countries who support this ongoing genocide. But it is especially the people in the United $tates who benefit from the funds feeding the military industrial complex, as most aid to I$rael is spent here.

In further support of militarism on his way out of office, Biden has once again begun direct bombing of Yemen by U.$. war ships despite a pledge to end the war on Yemen when campaigning for the presidency. As part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, U.$. aircraft carriers have been in the Red Sea for over a year to safeguard international trade in general and shipments to I$rael in particular. Recently, the Amerikans bombed both the only airport in Yemen, killing six and injuring 40, and the main port that serves as the lifeline for getting supplies to Yemen. This port was already largely damaged in the ongoing war with the U.$.-backed Saudi regime. The airport attack was timed by I$rael to happen while the World Health Organization General Secretary was there, though ey was not injured.(2)

Despite over 22 years of continuous U.$.-sponsored attacks, the people of Yemen stand strong, and Ansar Allah are clear they will not stop rerouting ships in the Red Sea and attacking I$rael until genocide in Gaza stops.

There is no hope of the U.$. imperialists cutting off I$rael on their own volition, and everything in our power must be done here in the heart of empire to stop the funding of genocide and the expansionist settler colonialism spreading across the region. Palestine, Yemen and others in the region are at the front lines fighting imperialism and oppression.

<sup>Note:1. CAIR, 4 January 2025, CAIR Calls Biden Admin’s New $8 Billion Arms Sale for Israeli Genocide ‘Racist, Sociopathic’.
2. Democracy Now! 3 January 2025.</sup>

I write this letter not only for myself but for the other inmates who are afraid to speak up about human rights violations at this location (Federal Correctional Institution - Milan in Michigan). Our warden has directed staff to only give us one roll of toilet paper a week. They said because of the budget they don’t have the money for toilet paper. Not only do they run out of food but toilet paper. I explained to them that toilet paper is a right. Not an prisoner right but a human right.

This is a low security institution. They mark up commissary 30%, and when we order craft items to make and send to our kids they mark that up 30%. We pay $0.15 a copy and they charge us $1.00 for every 20 minutes on the computer. This doesn’t include the money for movies and music on the tablet that we pay for. With all the money coming in from us they can’t even afford printing paper at FCI Milan. Where is the money? I worked in corrections for eight years and have never experienced this type of neglect when it comes to inmates’ funds.

I have so many concerns but this administration doesn’t want to or doesn’t care to get advice from people who are probably more experienced than them. There is no excuse why we don’t have toilet paper. They say they are about to sell it on commissary, so you got money to buy it so you can make money off of us but not to give us the rolls that we are entitled to? This institution’s jobs pay less than $20 a month not only do they do everything to take money away from your family when they send you money but they fine you for breaking little policy rules. Once again this is also illegal but it is being done so where is the money. I’m screaming out to the public for help. There is so much more going on here and if you are interested you can write me back, but let’s start off with the BOP providing us with a proper amount of toilet paper.

Robert Brooks, a 43 year old New Afrikan man, was beaten to death by Correctional Officers (C.O.s) in Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York on 9 December 2024, dying in the hospital the next day. On 27 December the New York Attorney General’s office released body camera footage from 6 C.O.s and 2 Sergeants involved in the beating. They show Brooks being pinned to a gurney, while handcuffed, and beaten on-and-off for many minutes by the pigs.(1) Thirteen staff members of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) are being investigated in the beating.(2)

Marcy C.F. is in an area of upstate New York known for its racist rednecks, a very white area abutting the Oneida Nation Reservation. Just down the road is the infamous Clinton Correctional Facility as well as the Mohawk Correctional Facility offensively named after the neighboring Mohawk nation of the Iroquois confederacy. A comrade struggling with addiction was moved from Mohawk last year to a Secure Housing Facility where ey reports:

“I still am recovering from the brutal assault, battery, torture and sexual assault by the gang of pigz here at Upstate C.F. I am physically healing slowly and taking some drug to help with the brain damage I suffered from all the fractures in my face and forehead. I’m doing physical therapy for my arm. My studies with you all have given me the focus and strength to recover. I am no longer on the Suboxone program, smoking cigarettes, marijuana or PCP. I still struggle with K2, but the more time I spend grounded in studies, writing and reading with you all, the less time I have to think about wanting to get high. I thank you all and hope my struggle is an example to those who are sick themselves and struggling.”

Brooks had recently been transferred from Mohawk as well, and sent to Marcy this month.(2) The state investigation indicates that Brooks did not attack the officers or do anything to warrant the use of force, which the videos show as well.(1,2) Brooks’s death is suspected to be a result of “asphyxia due to compression of the neck.” New York State Correctional Officers are required to wear body cameras and have them running whenever encountering a prisoner. While many involved covered their cameras, the beating continued despite the presence of the body cameras in the room. The Times Union reports that the C.O.s seemed to be unaware that their body cameras could be passively recording the incident.(2)

People posted pictures of Mario and Luigi cartoon characters online in response to pictures and videos of the beating posted online. The outrage at this state-sponsored lynching is somewhat encouraging, but posting images online obviously won’t solve the brutality waged against oppressed nations, and against prisoners in general, in this country. Organization is needed. Only together can we protect ourselves.

<sup>Notes:
1. https://ag.ny.gov/osi/footage/robert-brooks
2. Brendan J. Lyons, 27 December 2024, Court records confirm inmate was beaten while handcuffed, The Times Union.</sup>

I want to bring it to your attention that the “Restorative Housing” unit at Nottoway Correctional Center in Burkeville, Virginia is operating its solitary confinement unit in total conflict with state law, see Virginia Code Section 53.1-39.2.

I just spent 68 days in solitary confinement. I requested an accommodation for my healthcare, the pod they wanted to assign me to offered no accommodation, so they put me into solitary confinement under “protective” status. I was kept in a barren cell without anything to do – no books, games, or other activities. My orthotics were taken for “security reasons” preventing me from participating in out of cell activities. I had nothing to do but eat, sleep, and read my mail.

State law requires that persons in solitary confinement be allowed similar opportunities for activities, movement and social interaction as general population when housed under protective status. State law also allows persons under protective status to opt out of solitary confinement at any time. Also, state law requires that prison officials place persons housed under protective status in less restrictive housing within a week or provide damn good reason why they didn’t.

For 68 days, I was denied similar opportunities for activities, etc. I was never offered less restrictive housing. Upon realizing I was being kept under unlawful conditions, I demanded to opt out of solitary confinement only to be held for many more weeks. And I am not alone in this situation.

There were eight of us in the pod with me on protective status. All of us had been in there for many weeks. Two days before our release the prison underwent an audit by DOC HQ. I caught one of the auditors and explained all of this to him. Two days later prison officials released six of us, placing me into housing that somewhat accommodates my healthcare needs.

I don’t know what you can do to shed light on this, but please do what you can. It’s important that the truth of this torture chamber come to light. No one should be forced to endure what I was forced to endure.

Today I received ULK Fall 2024, No. 87. Am currently housed here at Bledsoe Correctional Complex in Pikeville, Tenn. I reflected to this publication on the “Tennessee Book Ban a Mystery” cos the same holds true here at BCCX too. We are only allowed 5 books in our possession/property which doesn’t make sense cos according to Tenn’s Dept. of Corrections Inmate Rules and Regulations (pg. 18) states that:

“The total amount of property you may have in your possession shall not exceed six cubic feet. Televisions, fans, prescribed medical equipment, legal materials (does not include personal law books and reference materials), state issued linens, and approved musical instruments (does not include radios) are excluded from the six cubic feet limitation. Inmates received after Aug. 1, 1998, are allowed to possess only those items in Policy #504.01, #507.02.”

That being mentioned, shouldn’t we be able to possess as many books on our property as long as we stay within the regulations aforementioned? Wouldn’t the 5 book limitation contradict this policy?

This book thing has been confusing and complicated. On our prison channel here the warden had stated too that we could order only from three vendors, but we won’t be able to get them. The books we order would go to the library and we would have to go to the library and check out the book(s) we order (WTF?).

A company has been here wiring the buildings to get the tablets. Supposedly in Feb. 2025 we should have’em (supposedly). Been here on this compound going on 3 years and nothing here has ever been consistent. It’s always been ran on how the staff here feels like doing it or not. They be on some b.s. – like the other day we had to lockdown at 10:00 AM all day. They didn’t give us an explanation why we were locked down till hours later. They said, “short of staff”. But coming to find out from an upset officer that the only reason they were short of staff was cos the C.O.’s and staff had a cook out. And that officer that told us this was mad cos he had to stay and do his “job”. We was locked down from 10:00 AM - 7:00 AM (SMH).

Anywho, thanks for the newspapers it helps a lot. It justifies my violent thoughts w/ facts to not be violent. And it makes me feel a lot better and not feel like a bxxxx for not doing something for how they treat me. Anyway, thanks again.

I recently read a writing titled: “Law, Prison and Double-Double Consciousness: A Phenomenological View of the Black-Prisoner’s Experience” by James Davis III. This led me to write the following:

“What I pondered was my own double-double consciousness! The development of the”New Afrikan” within the greater black populace of captives. From the taking of the Afrikan attribute(s)’s learning of Ki-Swahili, the mandated study of all things dealing with black culture, history and struggle, to the daily remaking of one’s world view through study and application…the identity of “New Afrikan” implores one to rise above the lowly station of inmate, of n-word.”

In reading this piece by Mr. Davis, I was reminded of the innate power of a man. The power to literally reinvent oneself within an environment designed to annihilate the soul of a man. Prison(s) are created with a purpose to force a human to willingly acquiesce to half-man existence.

To develop a double-double consciousness is to resist such inferior station(s), to be a man! One who stands on principle(s), personified purpose, and willingly accepts his responsibilities to both uplift and reeducate the masses, which is a revolutionary ideal!

To embrace a revolutionary ideological precept is to strive even harder at evolving this “double-double consciousness”. Aside from the aforementioned character improvement(s), the revolutionary-minded man immerses himself in all things dealing with progressive politics and the science of struggle.

As his prison cohorts grow comfortable living captive man half-lives (i.e. embracing typical prison activities: gambling, drug usage, etc.) the revolutionary-minded captive creates a compass of consciousness which guides him daily. He spends his time always pushing himself to excel, regardless of tasks or conditions.

This is the cat who aligns with other men who reject the half-lives and/or inferior designations expected of the captive class. Whenever he/they are seen, they’re reading something, writing something, attending college, engaging in some form of constructive dialogue, or physically training their bodies. Forging his new self: the unbroken, unbowed man that’s living and potentially dying, upon revolutionary standards and practices.

The identification of oneself as a militant, as a revolutionary theorist, anchors oneself. As those around him list to-and-fro, uncertain of their next move(s), the innate belief within the mind of the man moving by a revolutionary compass is that he represents something greater than himself. That he is a soldier that happens to be behind enemy lines if you will: captured! It is through this perception, that he re-imagines his reality, and in turn finds purpose in his every action. He discovers the reservoir of resistance within which moves him to set his personal bar of daily exemplary conduct higher than those around him. Understanding his calling, devoting himself to the people. To meeting their needs.

I find all of the above to be quite close to describing myself. Though admittedly, I fall short of the mark most days. Being human, with all of the subjectivisms that accompany it, at times, my objective conditions threaten to overwhelm me. Yet it is the will to win, to resist the “colonial mentality” which has historically impacted my ilk, propels me to stand firm. Existing within a perpetual mode of resistance!

In looking back, I can really see that I’ve been in a state of rebellion my entire life! That I have never been one of those “go along to get along” type of brothas. Unfortunately, this ingrained sense of recalcitrance has led to many years of imprisonment and designations by those of the oppressor class, as being anti social and/or suffering some mystery “personality disorder”. To not be a shoe shine boy, a buck dancing coon, a tom! The conventional roles assigned to the U.$. man/woman of color! Is to be castigated by those in power, and/or positions of authority.

I now fully comprehend this whole “double-double consciousness” as it pertains to myself individually and my New Afrikan/black kinfolk! Collectively! All colored folk whom live in capitalist society, which is governed by those who use race and class as measurements of worth! Not only adjust to the double consciousness of faux citizenry…they also develop their own “double-double consciousness” to cope!

However, the one brutal fact which distinguishes the U.$. Black man/woman from any other ethnic groups is the historical miscarriage of chattel slavery! Our socio-cultural creation of a double-double consciousness is our collective survival mechanism if you will. A way to figuratively stay rooted in our Afrikan beginnings! Whilst literally standing on the shoulders of the many, many activists, struggle-ists, revolutionaries, and average citizens whom were wounded, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered! For daring to dream of having freedom, justice and equality! We repay the debt to our martyrs by clinging fiercely to their memories, living within our “cocoon’s” of double-double consciousness! Forging bonds with other forward thinking folk of Afrikan ancestry. And then, united in purpose, teach others how to “escape” our half life existences! Moving towards a revolutionary ideology and corresponding actions as the conditions reveal the time to manifest them! I stand firm within the confines of a satanic creation! Striving to be the catalyst for progress and change. As I survive, only through my own “double-double consciousness” cocoon.

MIM(Prisons) adds: Davis’s double-double consciousness is a product of alienation through oppressive structures. These oppressive structures isolate people from “the world”, putting them in a new reality, with new rules and norms, that are generally worse than “the world” they know in every way. This is in contrast to prisons in socialist China – where people were encouraged (you might say coerced) to study the outside world, to better understand their own actions and find a new way to be in that world that is in line with the interests of the people. In a socialist prison, criminals can focus on struggling with themselves because they aren’t forced to struggle against the oppression of the prison environment first.

We offer comrades support in developing the consciousness that is in rebellion against the oppressive system. We offer Under Lock & Key as a forum to connect with and share ideas with other like-minded individuals. We have our Revolutionary 12 Steps that is one tool for those trying to transform themselves into new people. And we have books on revolutionary societies like China, and their prison system, and how they were able to radically transform a whole society. So if this comrade’s essay resonates with you, get involved and get plugged in with these resources today!

Spoilers

A Thousand and One is a drama film set during the years of 1994-2005 in New York City. The movie follows a hairdresser and recently released prisoner Inez de la Paz (played by New Afrikan rapper/actress Teyana Taylor) who has spent the past years imprisoned in Rikers Island. A persyn who has been part of the foster home system growing up, Inez returns to her former care in Brooklyn where she sees her son, Terry (who is also in a home), out on the streets. Trying to escape from the home, Terry is hospitalized and Inez secretly visits him and takes Terry to illegally raise him as her child under a false birth certificate/social security card in Harlem.

Inez reunites with her former romantic partner/lumpen associate during her times as a petty thief named Lucky. At first, Lucky is hesitant to join in on this plan to build a new family with his former street partner, but eventually marries Inez and promises to take care of Terry. At the time, Pig Rudy Giuliani has begun his campaigns to start an improved New York City which they place much hopes for as life-long residents of NYC.

By 2001, Pig Giuliani’s attacks on the New Afrikan masses of NYC through the stop-and-frisk policies are coming down hard and we see Terry, now a teenager, being affected by this. Despite being a soft-spoken kid excelling at school, the street pigs frisk him and his friend with no other reason than being New Afrikan. Alongside Terry’s entrance into young adulthood, Inez’s marriage begins to meet difficulties as Lucky has become involved in affairs with other wimmin.

By 2005, Lucky succumbs to cancer as Terry prepares for college. The effects of gentrification are beginning to take the offensive against the masses as Euro-Amerikans begin to move in and Inez’s new landlord attempts to drive them out of the apartment using loophole methods to evict them early. In school, Terry’s guidance counselor asks for his birth certificate and social security card for a job program for underprivileged students. Without telling his mother, Terry submits his forged papers which comes back as invalid. After Terry confesses that the government documents were fake, the counselor calls social services who enter Inez’s home. Terry warns his mother about this and she begins to flee as under the imperialist law, despite caring for and stepping up to be the mother for Terry, Inez has committed a kidnapping of a ward of the state. The social services agents reveal to Terry that Inez is not his biological mother and that the two have no real blood relations. The pigs exposes Inez’s lumpen past to Terry leaving him distraught and in tears.

In the end, Inez confesses to Terry the truth. Inez was not the womyn who abandoned Terry on the street corner in his memory. She had found Terry for the first time lost in the streets when she was recently released as a prisoner from Riker’s island. Inez explains to Terry that she saw her younger self in him and that she could not stand to see another child go through the system that she was put through: the foster homes, the juvenile centers, the prisons, etc. Terry, crying, expresses the fear that he feels in becoming independent as he enters adulthood and affirms to Inez that he still loves her as a mother. The two separate on their own paths and before leaving, Inez promises Terry that “this isn’t goodbye.”

Down With Gentrification, Wimmin Hold Up Half the Sky

At the beginning of the movie, we see Inez de la Paz work as a street hawker offering hair/beauty services on the streets. We would say that this is a good portrayal of who we mean when we talk about the First World Lumpen or semi-proletariat who might not participate in overtly anti-people or parasitic ways of self-subsistence (such as sex work or drug peddling) and lives similarly to the semi-proletariat we see in the Third World. In our modern times of the 2020s, we see many folks using social media pages for these grey area side hustles while also maintaining a lower labor aristocrat level minimum wage job (oftentimes in the service industry). In the 1990s when this movie was being set, holding a cardboard box and approaching passer-bys was the common move. Readers might imagine Inez de la Paz to be in an extremely vulnerable political-economic situation as this semi-proletariat/First World Lumpen who had just been released from prison and not much support. However, the movie makes clear that Inez is a tough womyn and avoids both the traps of a damsel in distress needing a male figure out in the dangerous streets nor the over-masculinized New Afrikan womyn whose humynity is stripped away. In an artistic and political sense, we would say the movie did a great job in this regard and is an example we can look up to for creating socialist art/realistic portrayal of the masses under oppression.

Another trap that the movie avoids well is the habit of ruminating on the sensationalist/traumatic pain of New Afrikan life under U.$. imperialism. Mich art which depicts stories of the oppressed nations will fall victim to depicting a suffering masses who suffer like how the sky is blue. A Thousand and One refuses to show Inez, Terry, and Lucky as part of a faceless hoard of suffering while also refusing colorblind individualism: it intertwines the national oppression Black people face (the gentrification, the foster system, the prison system, the education system, etc.) while showing the deeply impersynal effects imperialist institutions have on these very humyn characters and how they take control over their lives without letting the system win. Because of this strong humynization of unapologetically New Afrikan characters, what might seem like a sensationalist plot twist at the end where Inez is revealed to not be Terry’s biological mother is welded to the material reality of the masses’ conditions.

The humnynization of these characters (the foster orphan, the former prisoner, the cheating husband, etc.) that this film undertakes fights against the dehumynization that already exists on these archetypes within the Amerikan imperialist-patriarchal superstructure (especially the oppressed nations and, in this case, principally New Afrika). We as Maoists believe that despite the great storytelling and care that A.V. Rockwell has put in for this story, this film is still part of the U.$. imperialist-patriarchal machine. One persyn and their creation (in this case a film director and her film) will be swept into the wave of the bourgeois superstructure. There will be many Euro-Amerikan viewers of the film who might watch this during February while it is being recommended to them by Netflix in their petty-bourgeois suburbia homes. Would they appreciate/recognize the persynal revolution that Inez has underwent throughout this story? Would they understand the self-determination that Inez has taken over her life against these social forces for the new generation to find happiness? Or would Inez’s motivations and reasons become watered down to a story of the strong independent Black womyn whose intentions were good but her methods of trying to find happiness for Terry was just wrong and too radical? Or worse, they might just paint her as a criminal con artist whose vicarious happiness to a boy she never met gave her a chance to play the act of a mother and a stable family the system eventually took away from her as well. Ms. Rockwell has put great effort into the humynization of these characters, we are afraid that a film alone is not enough to change the consciousness of most people in the level necessity for a society without oppression. That would be a job for a cultural revolution under a proletarian dictatorship.

One thing that interested me as a Maoist revolutionary is the role of motherhood that Inez was able to master over Terry despite her having the knowledge that Terry was not her biological son: a fact that is so overemphasized and shoved down the masses throats when it comes to their legitimate claim over a child. Biological determinism (like in “race”) is a core principle of the imperialist-patriarchial superstructure: gender, motherhood, etc. is determined by one’s bloodline or something they are “born with.” The reality however, is that conditioning of individual by an entire society’s relations of production and class struggle is the true driving force for these roles. For Inez de la Paz, an individual New Afrikan womyn who has recently been released from Rikers Island, to use what she has learned as her life as a lumpen to fight against this broad society’s conditioning and condition herself using individual determination is a great depiction of the social potential of the lumpen class. Historically, abandoning the bourgeois quest of giving orphaned children a nuclear family for them to go into and instead giving them a new environment to live on as orphans has been the successful practice of solving the problem of orphan street kids in the Soviet Union. While a Maoist telling of this story would perhaps depict independent institution building for people like Terry and Inez, the story that is told instead serves good medium for studying and appropriating bourgeois individualism of the Amerikans for the interests of the oppressed nations.

I would like to conclude the review of this movie with two quotes:

“The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you. The world belongs to you. China’s future belongs to you.” - Mao Zedong

“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children” - Bobby Sands