MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I always express how important it is to salute the comrades to the young
prisoners and the unconscious prisoners. For them to always assist in
some way in the struggle. Here in [the facility where I am] it’s a whole
different world. It’s like the twilight zone, you have to see it to
believe it. But it’s our duty to still push to get the fire burning and
to keep the fire burning.
These oppressors, the pigs, have domesticated and brainwashed so many of
these prisoners, to where they think that comradism is nutty. So I give
my all to try to enlighten the ones whose ears I can catch. Explain to
them that if it wasn’t for this comradism, some of these small
opportunities that we do have as rights (to see your lawyers, phone
calls, rec time, keeping your legal work, law library), some of these
battles have been won on the back of some hell of men. Even cost some of
them their lives, and they was willing to die for something. We must be
grateful and love these warriors.
I try to make an example about how much these oppressors fear and hate
these warriors. I try to tell them to look at yourself and some of the
other brothers that we say put work in. These prisoners can stab another
prisoner numerous times and get one year or six months hole time. But
the warriors don’t have to touch a soul and be in the hole, for ten,
twenty, thirty years, and never put a knife or nothing else in another
prisoner. I tell them that they’re more afraid of the knowledge they
possess, they know who the true enemy is. So these warriors is some of
the most feared prisoners and go through a lot of torture, for the cause
that all prisoners benefit from. So I salute the comrades - THANKS AND
KEEP THE FIRE BURNING.
This is a belated final report on the United Struggle from Within(USW)
campaign to
“Reject
the I$raeli Settler State, Support the People of Palestine.” The
initial push was only among a small group of USW leaders, but as word
spread others requested the petition and used it to build public opinion
in their prisons in support of national liberation for Palestine. While
our
initial
summary had only tallied 60 signatures, this was based on the
specificity of the petition to current events at that time. Of course,
the broader campaign is one that has been carried out for decades. One
year after the initialization of this USW petition, comrades in 16
prisons had gathered at least 189 signatures.
On the 50th anniversary of the launching of the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution (GPCR) by Mao Zedong, a commemorative concert was
held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It featured music, art and slogans
from the GPCR. A propaganda poster with the slogan, “People of the world
unite to defeat American invaders and their running dogs!” was displayed
on a giant screen. A large choir sang the Sailing the Seas Depends on
the Helmsman as a poster of Mao as the sun was projected on the
screen. Thousands clapped. The lyrics are:
“Sailing seas depends on the helmsman,
Life and growth depends on the sun.
Rain and dew nourish the crops,
Making revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought. Fish can’t leave
the water, Nor melons leave the vines. The revolutionary
masses can’t do without the Communist party. Mao Zedong Thought is
the sun that forever shines.”
We are under no illusions about the current state capitalist government
in China: they will only hold up Maoism when it serves their political
purposes, which are definitely not serving the people. But this
celebration serves to remind us that the GPCR plays a much more complex
and subtle role in modern Chinese society, compared to the West where it
is merely a symbol of communist extremism that is almost universally
condemned. In China there are also those who condemn “extreme leftist
ideology making waves again,” but there are many who still recognize the
rise of Deng Xiaoping as the end of a great time in China when the
interests of the people guided the government of the largest country on
Earth.
In the United $tates, reverence for the GPCR and support for the battle
against the revisionism that had taken over the Soviet Union after
Stalin’s death was not relegated to a tiny minority of people in the
late 1960s, as it is today. In January 1969, The Black Panther
newspaper reprinted an article from India condemning the revisionism of
the Soviet Union, and it’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. In March 1969,
The Black Panther featured a longer article on the collaboration
between “U.S. imperialism and Soviet revisionism, the two most ferocious
enemies of the revolutionary people of the world…” In April 1969 the
newspaper said, “China stands as a beacon to all revolutionaries around
the world: the guiding light showing the path to freedom to all of our
brothers in Africa and Asia.” Fifty years later, the GPCR still serves
as that beacon of what is possible when the masses of an oppressed
country are unleashed to guide their destiny and self-determination.
It is no coincidence that the Black Panther Party emerged the same year
as the beginning of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China.
1966-1969 was a high tide of revolutionary fervor across the globe. It
may take that kind of tide to raise the revolutionary spirit in the
United $tates again. MIM(Prisons) believes that New Afrikans will once
again play an important role the next time it does, and that it is the
duty of communists today to prepare for that time by continuing the
fight against revisionism, and developming the most correct line among
communist cadre in the internal semi-colonies.
by PTT of MIM(Prisons) May 2016 permalink
Revolutionary internationalist art by BPP Minister of Culture Emory
Douglas, 1969. Originally in The Black Panther newspaper, later
reworked into this poster.
A criticism often made of the Black Panther Party (BPP) lies in errors
it made around addressing the patriarchy. Most of these criticisms are
attempts at subreformism, which is the approach of resolving conflict on
an individual or interpersynal level in an attempt to resolve social
problems. But the patriarchy is a system of oppression. It manifests in
interpersynal interactions, but can’t be stopped without addressing the
system of oppression itself. Just by the very fact that the BPP was
organizing for national liberation under a Maoist banner, it was making
more advances toward a world without gender oppression than all of their
pseudo-feminist critics combined.
George Jackson did have some bad gender line in Soledad Brother: The
Prison Letters of George Jackson, which covers the years 1964-1970.
To wimmin searching for their place in an anti-imperialist prison
struggle, the most alienating examples are where Jackson says wimmin
should just “sit, listen to us, and attempt to understand. It is for
them to obey and aid us, not to attempt to think.”(p. 101) Later in the
book after Jackson encounters some revolutionary Black wimmin, ey can’t
help but to sexualize their politics. Much like in our everyday society,
Soledad Brother tells wimmin their role in this struggle is to
shut up or be sexualized. These were not consciously worked out analyses
of gender but instead Jackson’s subjective responses to frustration and
excitement.
A challenge to all revolutionaries is to take an objective approach to
our scientific analysis. This is very difficult. To wimmin struggling
within the national liberation movements, looking at the social and
historical context of these remarks is imperative to overcoming this
alienation from sexist brothers in struggle. Jackson was reared in the
United $tates in the 1940s and 50s, with time spent in youth detention
facilities. Ey entered the hyper-masculine prison environment at the age
of 20. Jackson’s social context was our fucked up patriarchal society,
and is similar to many of our contributors whose scope of perspective is
limited by the conditions of their confinement. Where our sisters need
to not split over subreformism, our brothers also need to work to
overcome their empiricism and subjectivism in how they approach uniting
with wimmin against imperialism and patriarchy.
It was after the publishing of Soledad Brother that Jackson
advanced to be a general and field marshal of the People’s Revolutionary
Army of the Black Panther Party. While Soledad Brother gives more
of a look into the prison experience, in eir later work, Blood In My
Eye (which was published by the BPP posthumously), Jackson lays out
eir most advanced political analysis shortly before ey was murdered by
the state on 21 August 1971. More than an author, Jackson was a great
organizer. Panther and life-long revolutionary Kiilu Nyasha is a
testimony to Jackson’s abilities, indicating that subjectivity around
gender did not prevent him from organizing seriously with wimmin.(1) Of
course, Jackson’s biggest legacy was organizing men in prison. Eir
ability to organize strikes with 100% participation in eir unit serves
as an counterexample to those in California today who say we cannot
unite across “racial” lines. It’s impressive all that Jackson
accomplished in developing eir politics and internationalism, and
organizing prisoners, considering all the barriers Amerikkka put in the
way.
Jackson was a good representative of the BPP’s mass base, and the BPP
was correct in organizing with Jackson and others with backward gender
lines. If the Party hadn’t been dissolved by COINTELPRO we can only
guess at what advances it could have made toward resolving gender
oppression by now. One thing is certain, it would have done a lot more
to combat the patriarchy for the majority of the world’s
inhabitants than First World pseudo-feminism ever has or ever will.
As a California prisoner, constantly under attack by this oppressive
regime, I’m glad to have found a forum to voice our collective pain and
discuss attempts at real liberation. Over the years, discussing aspects
of this struggle with various people, I come to notice a consistent
pattern. Since I myself was victim to this philosophical perspective, I
find it necessary to enlighten the new, young, freedom-fighter in order
to equip them with the proper tools to effect real change.
As a young revolutionist, there was a time that when faced with
oppression, my initial reaction was to grab the closet weapon, rush my
oppressor, swing away and let the chips fall where they may. In
retrospect, however, I came to realize that this reaction was,
unusually, emotionally, charged and lacked any strategic depth. (Make no
mistake, the Young convict in me still, occasionally, smiles at those
actions, having delivered the oppressor a “fierce” blow). Usually, it
wasn’t until I was in Ad-Seg, afforded the benefit of hindsight, would I
realize that, while I did enjoy the temporary high from my actions, (a)
I hadn’t effected any real change; and (b) if anything, my actions had
caused the oppressors to double down on their tactics.
With the passage of time, the acquiring of more experience and a
diligent study of various successful social movements, I’ve realized
that a cool head, and a strategic plan is the most effective
prerequisite to a successful revolution. Vanguards like Martin Luther
King, Jr. and the SCLC, Thurgood Marshal and the legal wing of the NAACP
or Gandhi and those leaders all preceded every move with a thorough
round table discussion, during which effective formulas were instituted
to meet a specific end result; and while subsequent generations have
criticized Dr. King for what they considered his pacifist ways, they
could only wish to accomplish a fraction of what he did. From the
Montgomery bus-boycott, the Voting Rights Act, to the abolishment of Jim
Crow laws, each success was preceded with a cool, calm and collective
strategic aim.
So, in conclusion, what I’m saying is that while an emotional reaction
is natural and shouldn’t be suppressed, perhaps between the offense and
the reaction we should insert some time during which we harness that
energy and direct it in the most effective way towards the real aim
we’re after. Thank you brothers, keep fighting!
MIM(Prisons) responds: For a deeper look at line, strategy and
tactics, check out our
Organizational
Structure study pack. This comrade gets at the first step towards a
strategic approach, but we must go further to assess our conditions to
determine a strategic orientation for our time and place. While there is
no doubt that Dr. King’s success reflected his ability to do just that,
there is also a question of line that precludes determining our
strategy. Towards the end of his life King commented that he feared they
were attempting to integrate into a burning house. In contrast,
MIM(Prisons) promotes the goal of self-determination and national
liberation, which leads us to strategize differently than King did.
I received a letter from you with a petition addressing complaints with
these police retaliating and conspiring to violate prisoner First
Amendment rights when exhausting administrative remedies. Well, as soon
as I got it I filled it out and sent it in to get copies so I can send
it to the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC), Director, Department
of Justice, and Inspector General. But today I received a confiscation
form for the petition and a write up for unauthorized organization for
attempting to file a petition without ODOC function unit manager
approval. I had no idea that if I file a petition addressing a complaint
that I could be written up for it without warning but I ain’t sweating
it.
In fact, in order to prevent other comrades from being a victim to this
corrupt process I have a couple suggestions. First, the back page of the
petition at the bottom the last word says “petition.” I believe that not
only should that word be replaced with “complaint” but that within this
petition it should have a section which states that it is a complaint.
Even though a complaint/petition are similar and requests the same
conclusions, ODOC and maybe other DOC facilities are playing the word
game. Until this is addressed in Federal court, Oregon prisoners, if not
prisoners in other states, will be subjected to unnecessary obstacles in
addressing their concerns through the current petition format you have.
So please re-word it to be a “complaint” and disassociate it as a
petition and then resend it to me.
The misconduct report this comrade received reads:
“4.46 Unauthorized Organization II: An inmate commits Unauthorized
Organization II if, except as specified by Department of Corrections
rule on Group Activities (inmate) (OAR 291 145) (B) 4.46.02 Engages in a
petition drive without specific authorization from the Functional Unit
Manager
Form was generated from https://www.prisoncensorship.info/, on 4/5/16 I
was working in SHU Library, received a kyte from above AIC requesting
copies of the petition, I approved one copy due to not being able to
identify this form and it was addressed to the Director of the Oregon
Dept. of Corrections, due to the question at hand I elected to error on
AIC’s behalf and allowed one copy. On 4/15/16 AIC is again requesting
copies of the petition. This petition or authorization for envelopes has
not been approved for circulation or approved envelopes through out SRCI
and other Institutions in accordance with:
291-107-0015 Procedures
Those inmates and/or community persons who have not been able to
resolve problems through other available channels (i.e., the Ombudsman,
Department of Corrections staff, or grievance procedure), may request
approval to circulate a petition. Petitions may be circulated with the
approval of the functional unit manager as directed in this rule.
Circulation of a petition is a process through which inmates can show
support for community endeavors. Any inmate or other person desiring to
circulate a petition will present the petition to the functional unit
manager adding any supporting information that would justify its
approval. Permission to circulate petitions within a Department of
Corrections facility will be approved if…“
MIM(Prisons) adds: The Oregon Department of Corrections has a
policy denying prisoners the right to peacefully appeal denial of their
rights. It is ridiculous to expect that the prison administrators would
approve prisoners circulating a petition that is criticizing the DOC.
What is interesting is that this comrade didn’t even try to circulate
the petition, ey merely tried to get copies made for eir peryonal use.
Yet another example of the injustice system at work and why we can’t
expect any serious progress on questions of humyn rights within the
criminal injustice system that serves imperialism.
Let us know if you need a copy of this petition rewritten as a
complaint.
While we are organizing for revolutionary change under imperialism it is
important that we build independent institutions of the oppressed. These
are institutions that do not have ties to the power structure that we
are fighting to dismantle. For instance, Under Lock & Key is
an independent institution serving prisoners. It gives us the freedom to
write the truth about the criminal injustice system and imperialism more
broadly without worrying about the interests of our owners and
advertisers, which is a problem for those writing for mainstream
newspapers. Another good example was the Black Panther Party’s free
breakfast programs for schoolchildren program, which provided much
needed food and political education, nourishing both body and mind.
These independent programs often fall in the category of what we call
Serve the People programs. The breakfast for schoolchildren is a good
example of providing something that the people need, thus serving the
people.
A group called Better Angels is working on an independent project that
uniquely serves the peoples’ need for security and safety from the
police. This project, Buoy, is a tool to help people “call a friend, not
the cops,” when in need of help. This free software, which Better Angels
is calling a “community-driven emergency dispatch system” will allow
people to connect a network of people, within a smartphone app, who will
be alerted when anyone in the network is in danger. The app includes a
map so that the person in danger can be quickly located.
We see some very good applications for this tool: activists who are
engaging in protest and who are threatened by the police may want to
quickly locate all of their comrades and ensure no one is arrested or
hurt. This tool includes the ability to set a timed alert, which will
only notify a persyn’s network if they do not cancel the alert. For
instance, if you are entering a dangerous situation in the next 10
minutes you could set this alert and then if nothing bad happens and you
cancel it within 10 minutes there is no notification sent out. But if
you can not access your phone before the ten minutes are up the alert
will be sent to your network.
This sort of network alert system gives people a good alternative to
calling the cops, who are often a source of danger themselves. But we do
have some security concerns about the project. Better Angels is
encouraging organizations to set up Buoy networks and this means
providing intelligence agents with easy access to information about
these networks. This is not a concern for those groups that are using
Buoy for persynal safety such as domestic violence organizations, campus
safety groups, etc. But for activists, migrants, former prisoners and
others, networking with larger organizations through Buoy could
significantly increase the risk to the entire group as police catch on
and monitor the whereabouts of everyone in a network, using alerts to
notify themselves of potential situations of interest.
We’d recommend Buoy for people to use instead of the cops within their
persynal networks. For instance, Buoy is a good tool if you are
regularly harassed by the cops and want to set up an alert for support
and witnesses when this happens. Or if you are crossing a border and
risk being targeted by agents. Or if you are in a situation of persynal
danger unrelated to the cops or government. But in all of these cases we
think people will need to set up networks that are not directly linked
to a political organization that is the target of government interest.
And everyone should keep in mind that if they are doing political work
against the government, their smart phones are likely monitored. And so
any alerts sent to friends are also going to the cops.
It is difficult to set up independent institutions serving the oppressed
and we commend Better Angels for its work. The Buoy project raises the
very real need for an alternative to police intervention when people are
in danger. Unfortunately the security problems with announcing this risk
to the government via smartphone technology will limit the usefulness of
this tool for activists.
We hope this project inspires others to think creatively about how
revolutionaries can set up independent institutions of the oppressed,
serving needs and also providing political education about these needs.
Building these institutions is a key part of building the revolutionary
movement.
The Soldiers of Bondage have a determination, To gather the masses
to hear our proclamation. It is time to end the discrimination,
That terrorizes the people of the oppressed nations. Why is it the
factions continue the hatin’, That’s propagated by the oppressor
that all of us are facin’? Too busy gang-bangin’ and listenin’ to
radio stations; And believin’ the tyrants when they say we’re
mistaken. Caught up in the deception we don’t see what they’re
fakin’, So we continue to struggle like something forsaken. And
as the years go by we forget what was taken, So we abandon the war
that we had been wagin’. Lost throughout history the terror of
Caucasians, As they enslaved the Negro and persecuted the
Asians. Don’t forget the Indians on a war-path ragin’, At the
injustice of the Wyte man’s invasion. The capture of men and the
practice of encagin’, Those men and womyn that they weren’t
enslavin’. In horror our ancenstors watched as the fiends were
rapin’, Every man, womyn, and child that they had taken.
Imperialist pigs want us dragging our feet; To succumb to their
tyranny and acknowledge defeat. But a Revolution has started, led by
S.O.B.; Whose goal is to crush the oppressor and set the people
free. United we stand before the masses and speak; In defiance
we roar and reject defeat. Attacking the oppressors until all of
them bleed; Not satisfied until they’re six-feet deep. The
Revolution is strong while tyrants are weak, In supplication they
bow begging for peace. No longer do we wish to hear the barbaric
swine shriek, Nor the sound of our loved ones as they wail in
grief. We gave them a chance to pack their bags and leave, But
in arrogance they stayed thinking we wouldn’t succeed. For how could
they know the power of a seed, That was planted long ago and is now
a tree? Nourished by the blood of our comrades who died;
Sacrificing their lives so that we might survive. We’ve had enough
of the Capitalist lies, They’ve fed us for years throughout our
lives. Now is the time for the people to rise, And let them know
it is them we despise. In anger our voices soar and in passion we
cry, At the outrage of all the people we had to see die. How
dare they have the audacity to hope, That they’ll be given a chance
to escape their rope. It wasn’t in weakness we started this
revolt; We’ve gotten this far and we won’t start to choke. As
the funeral pyres burn the sky fills with smoke, We annihilate our
oppressors with a merciless stroke. They had heard of our struggle
but thought it was a joke; Confronted with reality none of them
spoke. The time of slavery has come to an end, And the era of
freedom is about to begin. Gone will be the inequality of men;
While society embraces its enemies as kin. On a brand new axis the
world will spin, When the Revolution we’re waging finally wins.
This is a question which all communists must ask themselves at one point
or another of their revolutionary careers. Furthermore, it is a question
which has essentially dominated the International Communist Movement
(ICM) ever since that movement became a real contender on the world
stage. Suffice to say that there has never in essence been a more
important question to ask and correctly answer within the ICM itself
other than patriotism or internationalism? That said, the concepts of
patriotism and internationalism are not mutually exclusive phenomena
forever separated by the same great impassable divide of ideological
difference, rather, patriotism and internationalism as properly
understood by communists are dialectically interconnected concepts that
we must struggle to unite.
Sometimes general, sometimes particular, but always of universal
importance, the concepts of patriotism and internationalism represent
different aspects of the subjective forces whose task it is to carry out
revolution both at home and abroad. Focus too much on one and you run
the danger of making an ultra-left mistake. Focus too much on the other
and you will not only be committing a tactical mistake, but will be
guilty of committing a right opportunist error. What comrades must
understand however is that pushing the revolutionary vehicle towards a
bright communist future isn’t necessarily about making the decision of
patriotism or internationalism. It’s about both. This is the topic which
the following essay will attempt to explain. Thus in wars of national
liberation patriotism is applied internationalism – but are there other
ways for us to apply internationalism within nation-specific projects?
Contrary to how this quote has been narrowed down by some comrades,
applied internationalism isn’t only about each nation fighting their own
battles and hoping that anti-imperialists from other nations will be
astute enough to recognize the tactical opportunities of our fight and
hence get in where they fit in. Internationalism is about extending our
hands and providing assistance to our comrades whenever we can and
offering lesser but equally important means of support when other
avenues of help have been closed off to us.
Point in fact, MIM(Prisons) can’t physically and persynally reach out to
every prisoner on a one-on-one level. But it has a bi-monthly newsletter
that goes out to the prison masses as well as a Free Books to Prisoner
Program, a website created in part to help facilitate the needs of
prisoners across the United $tates and document abuse. It runs study
groups and most recently help put out Chican@ Power and the Struggle
for Aztlán, a book that will help to build public opinion for
revolution in North America by agitating in favor of the Chican@ masses.
Not to mention the other nation-specific and internationalist projects
which it has been responsible for spawning.
Another excellent but largely forgotten and ignored example of applied
internationalism being practiced outside of a nation’s own borders is
how the Cuban masses under the leadership of Fidel Castro volunteered to
cross the Atlantic to fight alongside the Angolan people in their
struggle of national liberation against Portuguese and Amerikan
imperialism. This act took place for a variety of reasons, but perhaps
none more important than the sheer anger, disgust and solidarity which
Cubans felt at the sight of imperialist bombs falling on Angolan heads.
It could then be said that this sacrifice on behalf of the Cuban people
marked a development as well as a leap in the revolutionary
consciousness of the Cuban nation, both because they were willing to
give up their lives in the service of another oppressed nation and
because with their sacrifice they helped land such a strong and decisive
blow against colonialism, while simultaneously helping to detach Angola
from the imperialist framework. It could therefore be said that this
action on behalf of the Cuban masses was equally, if not more
significant than the Cuban revolution itself. This is just another
reason why Cuba holds such a special place in the revolutionary hearts
of oppressed people everywhere.
This now brings us to a recent debate initiated within the California
Council concerning USW’s potential contribution to a certain nationalist
project, and a certain comrade’s apprehensions/objections about the role
of USW vis-a-vis the national liberation struggles of the oppressed
internal nations, as well as the exertion of influence on USW by
revolutionary nationalists operating within that organization. In eir
argument the comrade in question took the position that no one nation
should be forced to take part in another nation’s struggles, citing that
this would be tantamount to one nation co-opting others to do its job
for them. That said, no nation should be allowed to control another
nation’s destiny or make decisions for other nations that are integral
to the liberation of the latter as this would in effect mark the
beginnings of a neo-colonial relation on a certain level. Furthermore,
the comrade also made the statement that “USW is not one nation united,
it’s multi-national.” Now this may be true, but the correct definition
for USW is the following:
“USW is explicitly anti-imperialist in leading campaigns on behalf of
prisoners in alliance with national liberation struggles in the United
$tates and around the world. USW won’t champion struggles which are not
in the interests of the international proletariat. USW will also not
choose one nation’s struggles over other oppressed nations struggles.”
And from the pamphlet The Fundamental Political Line of the Maoist
Internationalist Ministry of Prisons:
“Rebuilding the anti-imperialist prison movement means uniting all who
can be united around the common interests of the U.$. prison population
in solidarity with the oppressed people of the Third World…”
So while we should definitely be in agreement that no nation should be
forced to participate in another nation’s struggles and that no one
nation should be allowed to come up at the expense of another, this does
not in any way mean that USW, or the California Council in particular,
should be disallowed from initiating proposals and passing resolutions
that will support and lend assistance to nations or nation-specific
organizations represented within or outside of USW. The nation in
question can either accept the assistance or not. This method of action
and participation will ensure that USW retains its United Front mass
organization character by preserving the unity and independence of all
USW comrades and affiliated organizations. Indeed, USW, like all other
organizations, has a dual character. Unlike most other organizations
however USW’s duality is complementary and it is not an antagonistic
contradiction. While it is true that USW is a mass organization created
to represent and fight for the common interests of all prisoners as a
distinct social group, it is also a launch pad for the national
liberation struggles of the oppressed internal nations in which comrades
can cut their teeth thru revolutionary organizing, and from where they
can then go on to initiate and lead national liberation struggles on
behalf of their own respective nations.
This is what USW, as an anti-imperialist prisoner organization, should
be about: the internationalism of prisoners breeding revolutionary
nationalism, and revolutionary nationalist projects breeding
internationalism amongst the prison masses. This requires more than each
nation blindly going its own separate way. It requires unity of action
and unity of discipline. As such, it would seem then that what we have
here with the comrade in question may be a problem of perspective. What
some might see as internationalism others might perceive as a
contradiction. What some regard as mutual assistance others will call
co-optation. For those of us having this problem of “perception”
however, we would be wise to be cautious not to let our own love for our
nations blind us to the plight of others, as sometimes what this fear of
“co-optation” really translates to is our own fear or refusal to
participate in another nation’s struggles. Thus, we should be aware of
how our own nation’s struggles, as well as our failure to act on behalf
of other nations, can affect the ICM, lest we degenerate to the level of
narrow nationalism.
Since this question of whether or not USW should participate in a
variety of nation-specific struggles seems to be one rooted in
perception, let us take a closer look at the supposed pimping of nations
that would take place if USW were to decide to work in the interests of
a distinct national project. As has been the current practice thus far,
nowhere at all has this resulted in one nation’s struggle being taken up
to the detriment of another. But let’s just suppose that this is the
case, then maybe ULK should just stop featuring articles that
promote the struggle of one nation or another so that we may ensure that
no comrades from any nation feel as if they’re being pushed into the
background, or that their nation-specific article is forced to share
space on the pages of an internationalist forum that also represents one
nation or another, lest these comrades begin to feel “co-opted.”
Just because Mao Zedong said that in wars of national liberation the
nationalism of the oppressed nations is applied internationalism, it
does not justify our lack of adherence to other internationalist
principles. This is a guiding line of real communism and should likewise
be seen as a line of demarcation for all revolutionary nationalists
claiming the mantles of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao. Applied
internationalism is about more than just fighting your own nation’s
struggles and we should never forget that. To give an additional
hystorical example, when Amerikan imperialism attacked Vietnam the
People’s Republic of China aided the Vietnamese by providing all types
of supplies including food, money and intelligence. Most activists of
the time believed this was not enough and that the Chinese should’ve
provided troops as well. We wonder what the previously mentioned comrade
would think about this? Perhaps ey would say it was too much and that
the Chinese were already guilty of co-opting Vietnam’s national
liberation struggle and how dare anyone suggest that the Chinese become
more involved? Of course, in a possible revolutionary future we can even
envision a myriad of situations in which the internal semi-colonies will
be forced to coordinate and work shoulder-to-shoulder to oust Amerikan
imperialism from their territories. Or would this too be a case of one
semi-colony co-opting the struggle of another?
The
Palestinian
campaign initiated by USW last year is yet another internationalist
project that is now shadowed by question marks, at least according to
that one comrade’s perspective. Perhaps this was simply incorrect
practice and “a waste of USW’s time”? As previously stated, while we
agree that no nation should be forced to contribute to another nation’s
struggles, we also believe that no comrade should feel as if they’re
being “forced” to participate in another nation’s struggles. As such,
maybe these type of people aren’t so much for internationalism as they
sometimes claim to be? Because Mao accomplished and wrote so much on the
national liberation struggle of China many have erroneously come to
believe that ey was a nationalist first and a Marxist-Leninist second;
but this view is wrong. Mao loved eir nation but ey was a
Marxist-Leninist first and foremost who recognized the liberation of
China as only a small component in the global struggle for communism.
Choosing and deciding what internationalist struggles one can
participate in besides those that are explicitly national liberationist
exclusive to one’s own is both a tactical and strategical question that
is dictated by the struggles and conditions of the time. Lacking a clear
and coherent reason why not to participate is indicative of a national
chauvinist political line in command. The USW Palestine campaign was a
fairly easy campaign to initiate due to the current stage of the
struggle and most USW comrades’ material conditions. Other struggles
will take more time and consideration to implement, while some might be
outright out of the question. Excluding the labor aristocracy, there is
a reason why revolutionaries from Marx to Mao championed the slogan:
“workers of all countries unite!”
We struggle for the liberation of all oppressed people or we don’t
struggle at all.
I’ve accomplished one of my short-term goals with the help of
MIM(Prisons). I received your censorship pack on the situation that
these pigs was holding my mail, from y’all and some of my family. Once I
read the censorship pack I immediately put it in effect with grievances
stating S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedures) and case laws. Once the
administration received my paperwork with the “example of proof and
service,” that next day I received a bulk of mail from October and also
Under Lock & Key issues.
Once that was successful, I gave my fellow comrades the game. Now I’m
willing to see what else we can accomplish on this Tier II in order to
make our time a little better. As I tell my fellow comrades, we need to
educate ourselves to overcome our situation. With the structure of the
United Front; principles of peace, UNITY, growth, internationalism, and
independence. I’m still trying to learn so I will be able to lead
correctly.
With this letter is a donation of 10 stamps. If I had more I’d give
more, because I salute what MIM(Prisons) stands for. With that said our
strive will continue. And the oppressor will not be able to mentally
destroy any more.
P.S. Salute to the Black Panther Party 50 year commemoration. They paved
the way!!
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade is providing an excellent
example and leadership organizing against abuse and censorship in the
Georgia Tier program. The state is trying to alienate people from each
other, cause extreme psychological damage, and use it as a tool to
repress any upliftment and organizing. But we do not have to lie down
and just take it. As this comrade demonstrates, we can still come
together to fight specific injustices, and use that work to build with
others. We look forward to seeing this comrade’s work grow and
contribute to the United Front for Peace in Prisons.