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.
“La misión de la División Institucional es proporcionar seguridad y
apropiada reclusión, supervisión, rehabilitación, y reintegración de
criminales adultos, y para efectivamente dirigir o administrar
instalaciones correccionales basados en estatuos estandares
constitucionales.” Gobierno de Texas, código 494.001.
Para los que estamos alojados dentro de las prisiones operadas por El
Departamento de In-Justicia Criminal de Texas (TDCJ), sabemos que esta
declaración no es más que mentiras bien-redactadas!
Recientemente La Clínica de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Texas
saco este reporte; “Mortal calor en prisiones de Texas.” Basicamente el
reporte prueba lo que muchos de los grupos ya saben: Que las condiciones
dentro de las prisiones de Texas en el verano violan la prohibición de
la octava enmienda contra el castigo cruel e inusual. TDCJ sigue
diciendo al público que ellos tienen tácticas en el área para combatir
el calor. Sin embargo, Brian McGiverin, un abogado del Proyecto de
Derechos Civiles de Texas, dijo durante una conferencia de noticias
sobre el tema; “catorce muertes de prisioneros son fuerte evidencia que
las medidas de la delegación de la prisión no hacen mucho para vencer
los riesgos de salud ante el calor. El continúo, “la respuesta de que
sus tácticas son adecuadas hoy, es ridícula.”
El senador John Whitmire, presidente del Comité de Justicia Criminal del
Senado de Texas, dijo esto sobre el tema; “Pero yo puedo decirte que la
gente de Texas no quiere prisiones con aire acondicionado, y hay muchas
otras cosas en mi lista muy por encima del calor.” Las “otras cosas”
eran educación, cuidado de salud, y programas de rehabilitación, pero
este racista pontificador jamás dijo que el estaba comprometido aponer
fin a las muertes sin sentido de prisioneros de Texas por empleados de
TDCJ! Whitmire, quien ha estado en el senado de Texas cerca de 30 años,
continúa poniendo ojos ciegos al abuso y discriminación sistemática de
prisioneros alojados en las instalaciones de TDCJ. Sufrimos de
discriminación racial, discriminación religiosa, asaltos sexuales,
azotes y abusos violentos, y Whitmire continúa jugando a la política de
los buenos viejos amigos.
Para demandas en asuntos específicos de la prisión, yo encontre una
estrategia que ha estado trabajando. He estado promoviendo que miembros
de familia de los lumpen presenten demandas al ombudsman por internet.
Ellos mismos pueden presentar demandas públicas formales sobre una
amplia variedad de asuntos y ahora estas demandas tienen que ser puestas
en la internet para que el público las vea. ¡Hemos estado teniendo mucho
éxito! Toda esa mierda de P.O. Box 99 a Huntsville es un desperdicio de
tiempo y papel. Háganlo en internet y pongan a esos culeros en la calle
frontal.
MIM(Prisons) agrega: Esto es solo un
ejemplo del incontrolado abuso de prisioneros en Texas y a través del
país, eso esta bien expuesto y documentado en ULK y en nuestro sitio web
prisoncensorship.org. Pero tenemos la intención de hacer más que solo
exponer la brutalidad del sistema de injusticia criminal Amerikana.
Nuestra meta es organizar y educar para hacer un cambio significativo. A
corto plazo peleamos batallas como la campaña para poner demandas de
prisioneros dirigidas a que puedan crear mejores condiciones para
nuestros camaradas detrás de las rejas. Pero a largo plazo sabemos que
ningún político Amerikano jamas estará fundamentalmente yendo a cambiar
el sistema de injusticia. Esto tomará a los oprimidos a unirse juntos
para demandar un cambio para poner un fin al imperialismo antes de que
podamos terminar el sistema de injusticia criminal.
On 9 September 2014 I was the sole participant in my facility in the day
of remembrance of the Attica uprising. I attempted to get another dude
to participate who I’ve been been chatting up lately on limited and
general political issues. He agreed at first, then pulled out at the
last minute. This did not offend me or make me look at him differently.
He is 36 years old and even tho he’s older than me, I understand that
he’s not as strong. So it is what it is. Maybe next time.
As I dumped my tray in the morning and again at dinner (lunches are
passed out at breakfast), I informed the pigs that I was fasting “in
memory of my people.” I caught curious glances only, but no comments.
The morning meal was hash browns, fried eggs, sausage, and cold cereal,
which is one of the best breakfasts here at California State Prison -
Los Angeles County.
Wen I dumped it I knew someone somewhere around me didn’t appreciate
that I chose to do that instead of giving it to them. I didn’t receive
any questions or comments about it, and I didn’t make a scene about it.
But as the fast ended I ate some cookies first and I guess the sugar was
too much of a rush because I got all sick. But it was nothin’.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Even solo protests like this one can get the
attention of potential allies and put enemies on notice. No doubt some
people wanted the food this comrade dumped, and this means he got their
attention.
We have to make sure we take advantage of this attention and explain the
philosophy behind our actions. We can use the opportunity to make clear
to everyone, friends and enemies, the reasons behind our protests so
that we maximize the educational value. Anti-imperialism will not be
obvious without explanation. It is this explanation and discussion that
is the most time consuming, and also most important part of our work at
this stage of the struggle.
We hope this comrade’s actions help trigger conversations with others in
h facility, which will lead to organizing for peace within prisons. In a
broad sense, we recommend starting organizing in your facility now for
the September 9 Day of Peace and Solidarity 2015.
I have initiated a lawsuit alleging that Officer Mary Brockett at
California State Prison-Sacramento (CSP-Sac) subjected me to sexual
harassment. This occurred in the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) which
is part of the mental “health” services in the California Deparment of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). When I reported Brockett’s
predatory acts to other top ranking prison officials, they did not
believe me because I’m Black, and Brockett is a white amerikan. They
also did not understand why a prisoner would file a staff sexual
misconduct complaint against an officer. As a direct result of
Brockett’s sexual misconduct against me she was terminated, but CDCR top
ranking officials refused to have her arrested and identified as a
sexual offender.
I requested an Office of Internal Affairs (OIA) investigation against
Brockett for her predatory behavior towards me. In December 2003, I was
interviewed by Special Agent Jill Chapman of OIA, and I agreed to assist
her with an investigation against Brockett in order to prove my sexual
harassment allegations. During said investigation, the OIA dropped the
ball, and OIA agents allowed Brockett to sexually assault me four times
after the start of the investigation.
On 15 January 2014, Judge Hunley of the United States District Court,
ruled that officer Brockett’s conduct violated clearly established law
of which Brockett should have been aware. The court found that Brockett
is not entitled to qualified immunity on my Eighth Amendment sexual
misconduct claim.
My investigation has revealed that many other prisoners who reported
rape and other forms of sexual assaults by CDCR personnel are sent to
SHU as a form of retaliation and/or intimidation. My defense team and I
have been able to identify many other cases of corrections, medical and
mental health staff sexually abusing the mentally ill prisoners, plus
many coverups by supervisors, at several California state prisons.
I had to hire a private investigator to assist me in light of the fact
that going to ranking officials kept getting me put in lock-up units.
Instead of charging Brockett with sexual assaults, the CDCR prison
officials in Sacramento allowed me to be subjected to a series of
retaliatory transfers attempting to intimidate me. On 8 September 2009,
prison officials were informed about my lawsuit and that same day I was
placed in administrative segregation (ASU) on false allegations of
fighting. In December 2009 I was ordered placed in ASU pending a false
prison gang validation. Retaliatory transfers are a violation of CDCR
policy.
The evidence will show that correctional and medical and mental health
staff sexual harassment and sexual assaults were not isolated incidents
within CDCR’s EOP. I would ask you to help me and my defense team to
spread the word. Other victims are out there. My purpose of the lawsuit
is to shed light on sexual abuse against the mentally ill in California,
including torturing tactics through criminal activities and criminal
organized crime within CDCR.
MIM(Prisons) responds: People usually conceptualize patriarchy as
those biologically categorized as male oppressing those biologically
categorized as female. But sexual assault of bio-male prisoners by
bio-female guards is an example of how gender oppression is not
necessarily linked to one’s biological sex category. In the first issue
of Under Lock & Key we wrote about prison rape, and using
the best statistics available, we suggested that Black bio-men might be
gendered female in the United $tates, largely due to imprisonment rates
and the sexual abuse that comes with imprisonment. The abusing
bio-female guards are certainly gendered male, and are part of what we
call the gender aristocracy.(1) Amerikan (and especially white)
bio-wimmin enjoy benefits in leisure time based on their national ties
to white bio-men, based on a long history of lynchings, suffrage, and
Third World oppression.(2)
Fighting sexual abuse through the courts can be difficult for anyone,
and especially for prisoners. As this correspondent writes, white
Brockett was not even charged for the sexual assault. When sexual
assault cases do go to court, the judge/jury, like much of U.$. society,
get hung up on the debate of whether the sex was “really rape,” a
subjective measure of whether the victim gave consent to the sexual
activity or not. Prisoners are assumed by the courts and society to have
a low moral standing, and this subjectivity bleeds into the judgement of
whether they were “really raped,” and whether they should be protected
even if they are considered to have been raped. People have debated for
decades about where to draw the line with consent, and this debate has
recently resurfaced in First World Maoist circles.(3)
When deciding whether a sexual encounter was a rape, a tendency is to
focus on whether the victim of sexual assault verbally said they did or
did not want to have the sexual encounter, what words they used, in what
tone, how many times they said it, if they were intoxicated, how
intoxicated, their sexual history, what they were wearing, etc. Others
even draw the line where “Most victims themselves intuitively recognize
the difference between consensual sex and rape.”(3) But all these
criteria are based on subjective social standards at the time. Many
people don’t start calling a sexual incident a rape until months or even
years afterward, because they have since learned more about sexuality
and social norms, or the social norms have changed. The courts change
their definition of rape depending on public opinion as well. When mini
skirts were racy, it was considered by many an invitation for sex. Now
that mini skirts are normalized as pants in our society, almost no one
would make this argument. Social norms and subjective feelings are
untrustworthy as measures of gender oppression. They focus too much on
individuals’ actions and feelings, ignoring the relationship between the
group and the individual.
Rather than falling into this subjectivist trap, MIM(Prisons) upholds
the line that all sex under patriarchy is rape. Among the general
public, living in a highly sexualized culture with a long history of
material consequences for granting and withholding access to one’s
sexuality, no “yes” can be granted independent of group relationships.
This is especially true for a captive population; saying “yes” to sex as
a trade for privileges, or to a guard who quite literally has your life
in their hands, cannot be consensual, even if everyone involved “liked”
it or “wanted” it. Power play is very tied up in leisure time to the
point that a coercive sex act can feel pleasurable to all involved.
Granting consent in a society with gender oppression is a moot point.
People always behave in a way that is determined by group relationships,
and this is no different for the gender oppressed under patriarchy.
While Liberals are concerned with how we define rapists so that we can
lock them up and ostracize them, we look at the systematic problem
rather than essentializing individuals. We don’t adhere to the bourgeois
standard of criminality for theft, so why would we follow their standard
for rape? Instead we want to build a socialist society that allows jobs
for everyone, separate from the sex industry. We would then ban all sex
for profit, all pornography for profit, and all sex trafficking. We
wouldn’t criminalize sex slaves or people choosing to have sex for their
own subjective pleasure, but we would criminalize anyone making a profit
off of sex work, especially the multi-billion dollar porn and abduction
rackets. Low-level pimps and “self-employed” sex workers would at least
need to go through self-criticism and reeducation and take a cold, hard
look at how their activities are impacting others. Anyone who wanted to
leave these anti-people industries would have other viable options,
something we can’t say for the vast majority of sex workers in the world
today who were either kidnapped, or subject to manifestations of
national oppression such as homelessness and drug addiction.
As with any form of oppression under imperialism, we encourage people to
use the courts when we think we can win material advantages, set a
useful precendent for other cases, or make a political point to mobilize
the masses. But kicking Brockett out of the facility will just replace
her with another gender oppressing officer. Ultimately we need to change
the economic conditions that underly the coercive gender relations in
our society and attack the system of patriarchy itself.
For the past 19 months I have been locked down in solitary confinement,
all because of a gang validation. In February 2013, I was taken from my
cell and locked down in the hole, for nothing. I haven’t broken any
rules of the prison or given them any reason to punish me. Without a
hearing or a proper investigation I was thrown in the hole and labeled
“Goodfellas” (G.F.). They put a label on me and several others, and we
are “guilty by association.” No matter if you are G.F. or not, Smith
State Prison will label you G.F. if you are from Atlanta. And the
Goodfellas are the only group of people in this prison on lockdown.
Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) started this new program called
the “tier program.” From my understanding it was designed to treat us as
individuals instead of as a group. It’s supposedly a 9-month program,
and when you complete the program you are supposed to get out of the
hole. But that only applies to those who are not validated Goodfellas.
If you are validated G.F. then you are stuck in the hole even after you
complete the 9 months.
I have the Standard Operating Procedures of the administrative
segregation Tier 2, and it states that Tier 2 program is not a
punishment measure. Why do I feel that I’m being punished for no reason?
All my privileges have been taken away. I can’t go to the store for the
same things as general population. I can’t order a CD player, radio,
books, magazines, etc. By being in the hole I have no access to a TV so
I’m lost on what’s going on in da outside world.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This system of labeling people as members of
an organization based on where they are from is well documented in
California as well, and we’re sure it’s going on in other states. While
this practice purports to address regional disputes that may turn
dangerous behind bars, this practice actually forces people who may not
have identified with a lumpen organization to become affiliated for
self-defense. It does help promote one goal of the prisons: to fuel
disputes between prisoners and expand gang validations to justify
locking up more people in long-term isolation, just like this writer
explains is happening in Georgia where people labeled Goodfellas aren’t
let out of the hole in violation of the prison’s own rules. We have
reports
that some G.F.s have been held in isolation for many years.
The
United
Front for Peace in Prison is taking this validation and turning it
against the prisons by calling on all organizations and individuals to
come together and fight together against the criminal injustice system.
Whether or not you are actually a part of a lumpen organization, if you
are put in a unit with others you can use this opportunity to promote
peace and unity. And together we can fight to shut down control units,
and build a movement that can defeat the imperialist system that needs
prisons and long-term isolation units for social control.
I am a POW in the state of Tennessee and in these narratives I am
providing exposure about this wicked prison system and Derrick Shofield,
who came from Georgia. This dude is constantly applying new rules, with
the latest being called
tier
management – something straight outta Georgia prison system. Of late
all of Tennessee prisons are run like Georgia. This is the same Shofield
who was instrumental in causing the
largest
sit down in the state of Georgia. On an I-team investigation on
channel 4, Nashville, TN, it was reported that Shofield ordered two
former wardens in West Tennessee to alter incident reports on assaults
on staff.
As I write they are building security threat group management units at
Riverbend Maximum security plantation in Nashville, Tennessee. This is
the big sister of tier management. Both are part of the larger policy
agenda regarding U.$. prisons. One of the standards that the federal
government sets in order for the state to receive construction subsidies
is to mandate the building of supermax units, security threat group
units, such as the ones at Riverbend: steel and stone sensory
deprivation cells.
In Georgia they have this tier 2 program of gang control for long-term
lockdown. This same situation is being played out in Tennessee. The
prisoners in Tennessee should take a page from Georgia, sit down and do
nothing in a silent protest. It’s some wicked shit going on in
Tennessee, it has to be said that for all the men and women trapped in
the wretched crime and punishment morass, especially in the Tennessee
system, we have to determine our fate. We got the power.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade gets at the truth of prison
control units, and in fact the broader prison system in general: it is a
system built for social control. Prisons in general house the oppressed
nation lumpen in disproportionate numbers, and for those who speak out,
organize or otherwise challenge the system from behind bars, there are
long-term isolation cells for even further control. These control units
are torture and we must demand they be shut down. Part of this battle is
documenting their existence, a project that we need help with from
anyone who can complete our control unit survey about prisons in their
state.
We offer the example of prisons in China while it was still
Communist-led and Mao was alive, in stark contrast to the Amerikan
criminal injustice system. In China prisoners participated in education
classes with others where they studied politics and discussed the nature
of their crimes and why their actions were harmful to the people.
Prisoners were allowed to participate in productive activities of work
and learned cooperative practices. Many who went into prison for actions
like theft or even spying, came out dedicated to serving the people and
grateful for a second chance. The example of Adelle and Allyn Rickett,
two Amerikans who worked as spies for the United $tates until their
imprisonment, wrote an inspiring book Prisoners of Liberation
detailing these progressive practices and what they learned from years
in prison in China.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was signed into law in 2003.(1)
National prison and jail standards were enacted in 2012, nearly a decade
after passage of PREA, and inexplicably late for the U.S. prison system
which is long plagued by a sexual violence crisis.(2) PREA national
standards carve a benchmark for prison administrators to prevent, detect
and respond to prison sexual violence (PSV). Most significant are
sweeping changes affecting documentation, accountability,
confidentiality, post-sexual-assault medical care, testing for sexually
transmitted infections (STIs) and mental health counseling for PSV
survivors.(3)
The PREA audits began in August 2013, and are supposed to occur at every
youth and adult, state and private prison, jail, and holding facility
every three years, with punitive forfeiture of federal funding at stake
for lack of compliance. With 50% of documented PSV perpetrated by staff,
prison administrators face greater liability through the transparency
now mandated by PREA.(4)
One in ten prisoners are sexually abused, which is more than 200,000
youth and adults in prisons, jails and juvenile detention each year.(5,
6) Many are left to march the road to recovery, while coping with HIV,
other STIs, mental trauma – the morbid souvenirs of rape.(7)
With PREA, the New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS)
started promoting “zero tolerance” propaganda. I felt (foolishly) that
we were on the same side for once. I formed and launched a non-profit
project with the goal to support, educate and advocate for PSV
survivors, and those at risk. I especially focused on LGBTQI (Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/sexual, Queer, Intersex) prisoners who are at
10-13 times higher risk to be victim of PSV, according to Department of
Justice statistics. Not thinking I was doing anything “disallowed,” I
conducted this openly with no attempts to hide my activities.
However, DOCS took a radically different view, and launched an Inspector
General Office investigation, forcing me (under duress) to cease and
desist further activity with the project. But unable or unwilling to
issue writeups on this issue, they instead launched a salvo of
“unrelated” administrative charges, resulting in 18 months of keeplock
(isolation). They also transferred me multiple times. I’m now serving 5
months keeplock time, which I’d already served at the last jail.
All this has only served to strengthen my commitment and resolve. Our
efforts, in concert with NY ACLU, have yielded a settlement with DOCS to
reduce the use of SHU/long-term isolation, with caps on sentences and
exempting non-violent/safety-related offenses. It’s a start but I’d have
preferred a court ruling to this “voluntary” settlement, which the state
can renege on.
PREA mandates the first round of audits as of August 2014, with
statistics to be published online. This increased transparency is
progress. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are little more than an
ideal or paper unless we facilitate their power through litigation,
demanding compliance with these standards. PREA can be just a stack of
papers and “feel good” hot wind, signifying nothing. Or it can be a keen
sword to excise the cancers of prison sexual violence and prison staff
corruption and negligence. The burden falls to us to proactively
safeguard our interests, and our futures. Fight to Win!
MIM(Prisons) adds: We regularly receive reports of sexual assault
from prisoners across the country. In September 2013, one year after the
PREA standards were finalized, Prison Legal News published an
article detailing incidents of PSV all across the country. This article
underscores the futility of federal laws to actually protect people in
custody of an oppressive state.
The
2013-2014
PREA Resource Center (PRC) report was just released this week. It
contains no statistics on the efficacy of the project, but does contain
a lot of fluff about the trainings and webinars that the PRC has been
hosting.
It is a step in the right direction that this comrade, with the help of
NY ACLU, was able to place some restriction on the use of isolation to
protect prisoners from rape. The use of isolation has been reported by
the American Friends Service Committee to have an even worse affect on
the victims of prison rape, causing negative psychological effects due
to isolation, and making the prisoner even more vulnerable to abuse by
prison staff.(8)
While we can and should make use of laws to stop prison staff sexual
violence when possible, we call on prisoners to step up and put an end
to sexual violence among themselves using their own inherent power as
humyn beings. The issue of prison rape is one that activists must tackle
head on, as it impacts our ability to build unity behind prison walls,
and is indicative of a wrongheaded line on gender oppression overall.
Take an example from
Men
Against Sexism (MAS), an organization in Washington State Prison in
the 1970s. MAS pushed men to treat each other with respect, opposed all
prison rape even of very unpopular prisoners, and defended weaker
prisoners against attacks by stronger ones.(9)
Gender oppression is a product of our patriarchal society, and neither
federal laws nor prison organizations will put an end to all gender
oppression in prison on their own. This gender oppression is another
tool used to control oppressed nationalities, and won’t be done away
with until we overthrow the systems that require the oppression of
entire groups of people – imperialism and capitalism. Only through
revolution can we start to build a society where gender oppression, like
class and national oppression, are torn down in our culture, economics,
and all levels of social relations. For a basic study of gender under
imperialism, we recommend the magazine
MIM
Theory 2/3, which we distribute for $5 or equivalent work trade. And
see the 1998 MIM Congress resolution
“Clarity
on what gender is” for a more theoretical discussion on the origins
of patriarchy and its structure today.
Warmongering propaganda is at high levels in the United $tates, as it
seems no positive lessons were taken from September 11, 2001. It took
about a decade for Amerikans to lose interest in the U.$. occupations in
Afghanistan and Iraq. This contributed to almost two-thirds of Amerikans
opposing Obama’s push to invade Syria less than a year ago. Yet already,
about two-thirds of the population now agrees with Obama that they would
rather control the government in Syria than keep Amerikan journalists’
heads attached to their bodies.
Militarism is driven by an economic system that is built around arms
production and requires war to keep up demand. Arms shipments have
increased recently to I$rael, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq where the U.$. has
resumed bombing campaigns that are destroying hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of American military equipment now in the hands of the
Islamic State. Every strike made by either side in that war is a boon to
Amerikan business.
Meanwhile, Russia has been clear that they will not let Ukraine join
NATO. The United $tates and Russia are the two biggest nuclear powers in
the world. Yet Obama is pushing to have Ukraine join NATO, and Amerikan
anti-Russian sentiment is on the rise in support of him. Open conflict
with Russia would greatly increase the already unacceptable
risk
of nuclear catostrophe due to militarism.
The last 15 years have proven that U.$. militarism cannot be stopped by
the Amerikan anti-war movement. Rather, revolutionaries in the United
$tates must focus on pushing the national liberation struggles of the
internal semi-colonies in solidarity with the Third World. Campaigns
like the one in support of Palestine by California prisoners are good
for building anti-militarism in the United $tates.
Currently the media and Western politicians are promoting the line that
the Islamic State is the biggest threat to peace globally. They are way
off the mark. That role has long remained in the hands of the United
$tates and its military industrial complex.
MIM(Prisons) gets a number of requests from male prisoners to hook them
up with female comrades. They are looking for romance or just “female
companionship.” Sometimes this request comes from an activist behind
bars, looking to build a romantic relationship with someone who is also
an activist.
MIM(Prisons) focuses all of our energy and funds on revolutionary
education and organizing, but we understand that people have social
needs and desires. Here we will address why we don’t offer dating or pen
pal services and why activists should think carefully about what they
are really looking for.
We believe that humyns are social beings who need interactions with
other humyns in order to be mentally healthy. That is why we say control
units are torture. And in our culture, gendered relations can make it
difficult for men to provide emotional support to each other, especially
in the hyper-masculine prison environment. So seeking out female
companionship is one way to deal with alienation of imprisonment and
especially isolation.
Many people find their motivation in such relationships. All you have to
do is turn on the radio to know that, even if today’s culture has
essentialized it to down to body parts and sex acts. But it may be
helpful to separate those two things out. There is the patriarchal
culture that has trained us to desire certain things, and to be
validated by certain things. Then there is some genuine aspect of the
humyn brain that craves social interaction.
There is a contradiction with being both distracted and inspired when
you are in a relationship. Often when they are in it people can justify
it in all sorts of ways, because it becomes the most important thing.
Yet, we’ve also seen people who experience some difficulty that turns
them off to romance and as a result they put their nose to the
grindstone and pick up their work load. In fact, there are studies in
the pop science news claiming that being in a depressed state is better
for creativity and concentration. So consider how you can turn your
state of loneliness to your advantage and not end up wallowing in it.
We don’t hook up our subscribers with conscious sisters for political
and security reasons. But even if we wanted to, how would we? Dating is
hard. Finding people to date is hard. Doing so from prison has to be a
hundred times harder. As cadre, when we look at our political lives and
our bourgeois lives, we take a budgeting approach. Everything that isn’t
political is taking time away from the political. And so you need to
parse out what it is you NEED to do to sustain yourself so that you can
continue to do political work. Anything else is taking time away from
the struggle, away from the people. And that’s on you.
When people get into relationships they often disappear. Not just from
politics, but from life in general, friends, etc. For the petty
bourgeoisie it’s probably the top thing to take people away from
politics. For the lumpen it’s big as well. If we tell people to just
give it up and get over it, they’ll say we’re crazy and don’t understand
humyns. But for cadre level people this should be something we can
evaluate. We should be able to look at our own lives, look at the
society that shapes our lives, see what we’ve been taught and what we
know we need, and work towards a lifestyle that best supports our work.
I’m enclosing a pamphlet recently circulated here titled “Help for
Victims of Sexual Abuse in Prison.” The official policies in New York
are actually pretty good and some staff are supportive. Sing Sing has
openly gay and lesbian corrections officers (COs), a high percentage of
young and/or female officers, and at least one transgender officer. Far
from ideal, but good enough to suggest there’s hope for the rest of the
country and struggles in this area will be successful!
Please note the #77 speed dial feature described in the pamphlet [a
speed dial to the Rape Crisis Program that does not need to be on the
approved telephone list and calls are not monitored.] This is an
innovative idea that could well be advocated elsewhere. I’ve heard one
positive comment from a user, and the speed dial does work well on a
technical level. But why not a #66 to report beat downs, or #55 for
corruption, or #1 to report injustice or ask for legal help?
MIM(Prisons) responds: We echo this prisoner’s call for a hotline
to report other abuses within prisons. Any opportunity for prisoners to
report abuse outside of the prison structure is a welcome addition to
the criminal injustice system that denies prisoners a voice to speak out
against abuse. But we do not yet have any evidence that prisoners speed
dialing a rape crisis program will result in any help or attention to
the problem beyond supportive counseling after the attack happens. If
this is just offering the prisoner an anonymous opportunity to talk
after a rape, the problem will continue. In a system that has
demonstrated its ability to dismiss or sweep under the rug any
complaints or accusations by prisoners, we doubt this new hotline will
be any different.
As for the existence of gay, lesbian and transgender COs, we see this
the same as having New Afrikan COs. Those who have joined the criminal
injustice system will be forced to conform to the rules or they will be
out of a job. And so we can now expect to see these new COs abusing
prisoners just like their straight counterparts. There are many male COs
who do not identify as gay, but who are part of the rape of male
prisoners. In all situations, the COs are in a position of power in a
system that is set up to denigrate and abuse the men and women it holds.
Rather than fight for COs of a different sexual orientation, gender
identity, or nationality we need to fight for an end to a system of
brutality that condones rape.
I have been a loyal supporter of the oppressed Palestinian people for
over 20 years now, when I was at liberty and since I’ve been an
unwilling guest of the Amerikan gulag system. I had a Palestinian
instructor in college and she really opened my eyes to the high-handed
imperialist tactics of the United States government.
Being a homosexual in Amerika during the 1980s and forced to confront
the atypical everyday injustices co-opted from oppressive world
religions and given the wink and nod by various White House
administrations and Congress, I thus opposed the despotic and
dictatorial government whose flag I am unfortunate to be forced to live
under. Unfortunately these revelations robbed me of my adolescence at 12
and 13 years of age.
My people have suffered and died under this regime since its inception
over 200 years ago. But even more tragic, we have suffered, as have the
Palestinian people, the consequences of the Hebrew/Jewish religious and
cultural influence that have poisoned the earth now for thousands of
years with its Zionist agenda.
Make no mistake, I have no quarrel with the common Israeli citizen nor
the adherents of Judaism. I am not anti-semitic in any way. But I do
however dream of a day when the food and destructive influences of
radical religions are all eliminated.
I wish these religious zealots no evil end or personal ill will. Only
that they could learn to live in peace and harmony with those of us who
simply want to live our lives as we choose as equals along with the rest
of the world. Not as half-men, half-women, freaks or outcasts. We only
ask equal rights and to benefit from equal justice.
Our people too suffered in places such as Bergen-Beese and the like. Our
extermination has been sought by all cultures and ethnicities since the
dawn of time. Mostly in the name of one God or another. And Yahweh - the
god of the Jews - seems to be the most bloodthirsty of all.
Our children have the basic human right and reasonable expectation to
grow up as homosexuals or heterosexuals without their fears and
insecurities being created as a result of the hatred and intolerance of
a sheep-like population that has been brainwashed by government stooges
through the world. Religion truly is the opiate of the masses. Sadly
though, these puppeteers sit, primarily in London, Washington and, yes,
Jerusalem.
We homosexuals in the United States and throughout the world have the
human right, as do the Palestinian people, to self-determination
notwithstanding the dictatorial influence of world religions propped up
by hypocritical governments seeking only to control the masses.
Sadly, we do not live in a true democracy. We live under an
authoritarian government. A democracy is a nation governed by the will
of the people that seeks social equality. No, friends, we live in a
theocracy that masquerades as a democracy.
It is also sad that Palestine - primarily a Muslim, heterosexual nation
- do not enjoy even the limited human rights the vilified homosexual
minorities of the western world do.
It is my sincere hope that my homosexual brothers and sisters throughout
the world, those not brainwashed by the Israeli propaganda machines,
would stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people in
opposition to the jackbooted Israeli thugs in Jerusalem.
The Amerikan government stands behind and actively supports the genocide
of the Palestinian people by Israel through her leaders by financing
this obvious extermination attempt of an ancient people and culture with
Amerikan tax dollars and military aid, thus forcing all tax paying
Amerikan citizens to be unintended co-conspirators in these crimes
against humanity.
This purportedly is to defend a peace-loving nation claiming only to
want to exist. Yet that same nation actively seeks the utter
annihilation and complete extermination of a legitimate ethnic group of
human beings, with ancient ties to the disputed land in question, from
the face of the earth.
Amerika has demonstrated they are a nation of liars and hypocrites. We
have known since 1967 that Israel always has been. Never again, indeed!
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade correctly ties the struggles
of one oppressed group (gays) to the struggles of another oppressed
group (Palestinians) by noting one common source of oppression in
bourgeois culture in the form of religion. And further s/he correctly
points out that Palestinians enjoy even fewer rights than most gays in
imperialist countries, a point that is crucial for us to understand
because it underscores the relative wealth and power of those living in
oppressor nations compared to the oppressed nations like Palestine. In
fact, tax-paying Amerikans mostly support the U.$. government and the
I$raeli regime it supports, and so they don’t mind being party to these
crimes funded by U.$. military aid. In the arena of international
politics it is important that we are able to distinguish our friends
from our enemies. We do not want to create false unity with our enemies,
nor do we want to divide unnecessarily from those on the
anti-imperialist side of the struggle.