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[SAMAEL] [Control Units] [United Front] [Nevada] [ULK Issue 32]
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Expanding the California SHU Struggle to Nevada

Recently a fellow prisoner told me he had heard that Nevada was the only state in which a CO had never been killed. Knowing that I have more than 3 decades in this system, he asked if this was true. I looked back and had to admit despite hundreds of assaults, attacks, hostage situations, takeovers, etc., I could not recall one CO being killed, ever.

Up until Nevada State Prison (NSP) closed (2011-12) it was the oldest prison still in use in the united states. The building in which the first experimental execution with gas occurred (on a cat) still stands as a testament to the gravity of the statements above.

In the early 1980s NSP received attention on "Good Morning America" as the most dangerous prison in the continental united states. This was true for prisoners only (apparently), who've died by the score.

I arrived in 1979 and the two dominating prison-formed organizations were well established, all other groups were extensions of existent street organizations. These two prison-formed orgs were based on racially charged genesis mythologies of defense from other prisoners.

The COs tended to "turn a blind eye" to, or participate in, prisoner-on-prisoner violence out of fear of retaliation or through "negotiation." Prisoners also turned a blind eye to, or participated in, guard-on-prisoner violence/oppression in return for concessions, creating an environment which thrived on the victimization of prisoners facilitated by guard/prisoner cadres. This relationship still exists in Nevada, though less visible.

Many prisoners have been killed, assaulted and raped at the hands and/or instigation of COs, myself included.

The point of this is that, historically, Nevada prisoners organize on one of two opposing platforms: 1) persynal defense/safety 2) profit. Some combine these two and others degenerate from the former to the latter. This approach inevitably results in a contradiction of defense vs. predation with the consequence of a self-perpetuating condition of disunity among prisoners, due to the self-replicating nature of these positions.

In Nevada this is an entrenched proxy of the prison political landscape which must be dismantled.

Alongside the two groups above, there have formed new organizations whose lines continue to define fellow prisoners as enemies or potential victims. In such a climate, racial polarization is inevitable in the defense camp and predatory capitalist expansion is inevitable in the profit camp.

These philosophies embrace, advocate and promote a prisoner vs. prisoner paradigm, a mirror image of the Amerikkkan/prison paradigm used to oppress the masses and to prevent organizing among prisoners. By making prisoners impotent, it facilitates their continued oppression and the violence and exploitation visited upon them, their families, and community by the state.

It was against this background that SAMAEL emerged in defense against the state and it is against this background that Nevada prisoners are oppressed today. It is time for Nevada prisoners to wake up to the reality of our mutual conditions. We reject the prisoner vs. prisoner paradigm out-of-hand and refuse to cooperate, facilitate, or participate in our abuse, oppression and genocide, or that of others. We are calling on all Nevada prisoners to join us in:

  1. Organizing for our mutual defense against our mutual enemy, the state, by opening dialogue and forming alliances with all fellow prisoners to address conditions of confinement as a single body.
  2. Ending all inter-tribal disputes by adopting the agreement to end hostilities as proposed by the PBSP-SHU short corridor collective. This should include all facilities in Nevada and all custody levels in these facilities striving to expand this initiative beyond prison walls and into our respective communities.
  3. Rejecting all racial, gender, sexual, religious and custody divisions as counter-revolutionary distractions. The enemy does not limit its capabilities based on these distinctions and we must stop allowing these distinctions to be an exploitable weapon against us. Our weakness is their strength.
  4. Ending prisoner-on-prisoner predation. While Nevada prisoners are victimizing and exploiting each other, the state is fomenting and capitalizing on this disunity to further abuse and oppress us. Do not assist this process through inaction or abuse and oppression of fellow prisoners.
  5. Breaking silence: when a CO mistreats you, grieve it. Put it on paper and into a public forum. When a CO mistreats a fellow prisoner, step up and back their play. Put it in writing and get it into a public forum. The COs back each others' play without question and we must do the same. We will only be oppressed further by enabling them with silence, and they are exploiting this reluctance to speak up. Every voice counts (see addresses below)
  6. Back up the California comrades. It is not just their struggle — many prisoners in Nevada have been segregated/tortured for decades and their voices are not being heard. We must speak for them because all prisoners are united by captivity, suffering and oppression.

    Nevada prisoners must unite against our captors and stop enabling and assisting in our own destruction.

    Expose abuses to:

    NV-CURE, 540 E. St. Louis Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89104
    Jonathan Smith, Chief, Civil Rights Div U.S. Dept of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave N.W., Washington DC 20530


    MIM(Prisons) adds: Also send your reports on abuse to MIM(Prisons) for publication in Under Lock and Key!

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[Abuse] [Texas]
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Prison Fakes Violence Threats to Prosecute Activist Prisoner

On April 22 I was on the dorm in my cubicle doing my exercise, and the STG and safe prisons officer came in and ordered me to step out into the hallway. I stepped out, somewhat baffled, thinking that they were about to tear my house up because of a grievance I had written over the weekend. That's exactly what they did.

Forty-five minutes later I was called down to the warden and sent to the major's office. Once I went, the captain showed me my grievance and asked me if I had written it. I told him I did, then he pulled out about seven request forms that are called I-60s, and told me "you wrote these too, didn't you?" Then he started reading them, there were threats of harming officers, threats of blowing up the unit, and sexually explicit statement directed at a female sergeant. Now none of this was in my writing, but I was accused of it. We went back and forth over this stupid ass incident and then they let me go back to my dorm.

When I walked into my cubicle I saw that my bunk was flipped over and my personal property and legal papers were scattered everywhere. I went back to the major and told him to see what his subordinates had done. He came, saw, and went off on the safe prisons guy, who lied and said that the female sergeant had flipped my heavy ass bunk by herself. Twenty minutes later, another officer told me to pack up my stuff, and before I could finish, they told me to go to the infirmary. At that point I already knew they were about to lock me up.

Now remember, we are talking about bomb threats and killing officers. But instead of handcuffing me and escorting me to infirmary and then Ad-Seg, they let me roam free to do it myself. At that point, I already knew it was some type of conspiracy. A retaliation for writing grievances on two officers. The first officer had two grievances (sexual harassment and sexual misconduct). The second officer had one grievance (sexual discourteous conduct). Now for them to retaliate would be a violation of their own PD-13 and 22 rules of their agency's policy. Also, it is a violation of my First Amendment rights. This has led me to begin the process of a civil suit.

I was found guilty of disciplinary based upon a so-called handwriting specialist, employed by my accusers, and by false witness testimony. In other words: they painted the picture to suit their cause, I am being viewed as some type of monster, especially since we just had a major explosion here in the city of West, Texas.

And just five days ago on 5-3-13, another inmate back here in segregation with me was falsely accused of having made a statement about blowing the unit up. Found guilty, he is being shipped to maximum high security along with me. Now I may not be the smartest criminal on the face of the earth. But I'm damn sure not the dumbest. What kind of moron writes a grievance and puts his name on it, and then writes several threats, and sends them off, knowing that everything is going to go to the warden?

Anything to slow me down, they tried. The whole court system down here in Texas is on some "good 'ol boy" type mentality. They're all scratching each others' backs. From municipal, all the way up to Federal. It's crooked down here.

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[Political Repression] [Abuse] [Perry Correctional Institution] [South Carolina] [ULK Issue 33]
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South Carolina Stops Grievance Challenge Process

I have been here five months now and I have yet to leave my cage with the exception of being moved from different dorms. These pigs move me around to different segregated dorms once they get whiff that I am helping brothers litigate.

As of April 30, 2013, Ms. Ann Hallman of the Inmate Grievance Branch has changed Grievance Policy GA-01.12. She says that we cannot write an Inmate Grievance Coordinator (IGC) up because they unprocessed our grievances. We can no longer challenge the violation or status of our complaints. Basically she gave all the IGCs the authority to continue to violate our rights dealing with the grievance procedure.

Comrade Huey told us to always keep your eyes on the pigs, that is why I see ahead of time the nonsense that's about to explode like a nuclear bomb. I have repeatedly shown brothers that "pushing paperwork works." All it takes is a pen, paper, dedication, spirit, and effort, still yet all you hear is talk, talk, more talk and "snitching." We must come together in united action against the system.


MIM(Prisons) responds: South Carolina is a state where the USW grievance campaign has not yet reached. Initiated in California, this campaign has spread to many other states, with petitions now customized for Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas. This is a battle for grievance reforms within a fundamentally corrupt system. But the grievance system is the primary way that prisoners can legally fight for their limited rights, and often these rights are tied up with survival and freedom to organize and educate others. We agree with this comrade that "pushing paperwork works" to achieve these goals, at least some of the time. We must defend these rights as a key tactical battle in building the anti-imperialist movement within the criminal injustice system. Write to us to get a sample copy of this grievance petition to customize for your state.

This article referenced in:
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[Abuse] [Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility at Rock Mountain] [California]
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SNY Prisoner Finds Unity in CA Goals

Just so you know, I'm in support of any list of demands, regardless of who presents them. And I support the ones you have outlined in your February 8th letter, especially the one that calls for an end to our torturous conditions. In fact, this is one of the issues I am about to under take with regards to our outdated and disfunctional ventilation system.

Just to give you some insight, when I arrived here in June of 2012 with temperatures that were averaging 90 degrees, which made for cell temperatures that exceeded 95 degrees due to the disfunctional ventilation. After conducting my own investigation, I learned that Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD) does not have swamp coolers like most other prisons here in California have. No, they built this place with low grade air circulators, which are now 25 years old and are out of date especially in light of what is now called, "Global Warming." Last year we all experienced the highest temperatures ever recorded!

Now I must explain the second portion of this equation, how when RJD converted this yard to a level 4 Special Needs Yard, they covered the bottom of our cell doors, which normally had a 2" to 3" gap to allow for a natural flow of air; that gap is approximately l" now. Thirdly, RJD was one of the 1st of the "270" [the name of the design style] prisons built in California, and when they built it they did not put exhaust vents in our shower stalls, this has allowed steam and humidity to collect in our dayroom area, which in turn gets picked up and circulated into our cells. Additionally, all of the newer "270" designed prisons are equipped with three huge exhaust fans that are mounted on the dayroom ceiling. In any event, this old and out-dated system is creating a very dangerous living condition. I guarantee you, if everyone were to knock out their cell windows, front and back, at a cost of $90.00 each, they would get right and fix these air handlers! I'm going to assemble, and file a writ of mandate in hopes of getting the courts to make them replace these air circulators. In my exhausted 602, they admitted that they need to replace them but, that there was no money in the budget, and that statement alone might be the rope I need to hang'em in court! If not, the only other solution is kicking out windows.

Alright, I won't take up all of your time with the problems that we're experiencing here, but, I will tell you to take note of an article that was done by Paige St. John from the L.A. Times, Dated March 19, 2013 9:41 AM, which clearly illustrates what's going on here at RJD with regards to our medical and mental health care, check it out, its a good read. the article is entitled, "Experts say three prisons fail to provide adequate health care."

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[Gender] [ULK Issue 32]
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Trans Debate: Combat All Forms of Gender Oppression

I am writing in response to "Debating Trans Rights" in ULK 31. I am a bi-two spirit prisoner who's been active in the struggle since the 70s. I do not agree with everything that revolutionary comrades espouse, but these are not grounds for division, they are expressions of human diversity. The Pennsylvania comrade seems to have misunderstood MIM(Prisons)'s position and taken it somewhat persynally.

Having said as much, I see this comrade's struggle (and indeed the trans struggle generally) as an agitational process and as resistance to imposed norms of identity inseparable from the broader battle against sex-based discrimination and exploitation globally.

Whether a trans persyn can afford sex reassignment surgery (SRS) or hormone therapy speaks only to their economic condition and not to their location. This economic hurdle actually applies to most trans people in the u.s., many of whom seek SRS and treatments via the underground from sources in Mexico and Latin America due to the artificially inflated cost created by the medical establishment in the u.s. and exploitative pharmaceutical monopolies. It was done with Cipro during the anthrax scare and is still being done with HIV/AIDS treatment, which has had an enormously adverse impact in Africa where AIDS and AIDS-related deaths are epidemic.

It should also not go unnoticed that trans people in the u.s. are being raped and murdered as well (especially in prison) due to their identity, as are gays and bis. A 2012 Black & Pink newsletter published 43 photos of trans wimmin murdered by hate criminals. This number represented only a tiny fraction of the total number of murders of trans people as the result of hate in the u.s.

From an international perspective, the u.s. cannot be excluded from the global battlefield. The transitioning comrade in Pennsylvania should note that MIM(Prisons) never said they were against SRS/hormone therapy, nor did they derogate that particular struggle. They simply said it isn't part of their global perspective on anti-imperialist struggle. This is hardly a disparaging or anti-trans position.


MIM(Prisons) adds: We appreciate this comrade expanding on what we wrote in ULK 31. We stand by our point: "In the article this prisoner criticizes, we wrote that we do not fight for sex reassignment surgery in the same way we don't fight for gay marriage, because both amount to further privileges for people already benefiting from imperialism. We could equate these struggles with the fight to get more women in executive positions in companies, or the fight to get a Black man in the white house. They represent steps forward in equality for Blacks, wimmin, gays and trans people in reaping imperialist spoils of war and gender oppression on Third World peoples. These struggles do not help advance the fight against imperialism, to liberate the Third World peoples." And as we explained in ULK 12, the U.$. health care system is not in the best interests of Amerikans, but on the whole they still have access to far superior care than most people in the world. So to struggle to improve U.$. health care strengthens imperialism, while ending AIDS drug monopolies challenges imperialism.

We agree with this writer that we should not ignore those facing particularly brutal gender oppression in the First World. The murder of trans people, and violence against anyone for sexual orientation or gender identity, is objectively reactionary and is a product of patriarchal imperialism. This violence is just one of many reasons why those facing this gender oppression should be on the side of the anti-imperialist struggle, fighting for a world free of gender oppression.

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[Control Units] [Gang Validation] [Calipatria State Prison] [California] [ULK Issue 32]
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New STG Step Down Program is a Sham

I'm a prisoner at Calipatria State Prison in California. I've been housed in this prison's Administration Segregation Unit (ASU) for almost five years pending transfer to Pelican Bay's Security Housing Unit (SHU), due to my alleged association with a prison gang, now called Security Threat Groups (STGs). In recent days, Calipatria's ASU prisoners were given a 63-page instructional memorandum packet. This memorandum announces the implementation of an STG pilot policy which serves as a notice of program, behavioral and participation expectations in the new Step Down Program (SDP) for prisoners housed in segregation units.

Prison officials here have told us that in the coming weeks CDCR representatives from Sacramento will be reviewing the case file/validation package of all those who have been validated as associates of an STG here at Calipatria to determine their current and future housing needs in accordance with the new SDP placement option chart.

This new policy and SDP is a sham! It does not address the core issues and only gives the illusion that if a prisoner jumps through all their hoops he/she could escape these torture chambers. The fact of the matter is that even if the prisoner is able to gain his/her release back to the general population, s/he will be walking on very thin ice thereafter. Any infraction could bring him/her right back to these torture chambers for an additional six years minimum. If a prisoner has already been through the SDP they will have to serve two years in step one, instead of the one year for first termers in the program.

CDCR might as well place revolving doors at the entrance of every segregation unit, because this is exactly what the new policy offers. Maybe its going to take the sound of thousands of hungry rumbling bellies before CDCR listens to reason and begins to write policies that are humane and fair.


MIM(Prisons) adds: California has been housing prisons in long-term isolation for years under the guise of gang (aka security threat group) validation. The conditions in these units have provoked a number of protests from prisoners, and this prisoner refers to the upcoming July 8 strike against torture in California prisons.

In 2011, when 12,000 prisoners went on hunger strike to protest long-term isolation, the CDCR asserted that they were already working on the issue. This SDP was what they were working on. Previously they offered "gang validation" to prisoners deemed to be affiliated with one of a handful of "prison gangs" within the system. This new policy expands the gang validation, and therefore long-term isolation torture, to all sorts of organizations that are deemed "criminal" or even just "disruptive." Keep in mind that if prisoners stand up against staff abuses, this is considered "disruptive" behavior and such prisoners face regular retaliation. While none of this is new, it is now official policy. This is their idea of reforming the system.

While we know the whole system needs to be thrown in the trash, in the mean time we can at least do better than this. But it depends on prisoners organizing in unity to better the conditions of all prisoners. Work with MIM(Prisons) to support prisoner education and organizing.

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[Spanish] [ULK Issue 33]
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La Identificación del Lumpen Comienza con el Entender la Pequeña Burguesía del Mundo Desarrollado

MIM(Prisiones) está trabajando en un libro sobre el lumpen en las seudo colonias internas de los Estados Unidos. El primer capítulo, el cual se encuentra circulando en borrador para la revisión académica, se enfoca en la identificación del lumpen y en el cálculo del tamaño de este grupo dentro de las fronteras Estadounidenses. Parte de este proceso de identificación requiere que comprendamos la definición de lumpen y nos sea posible distinguirlo de las otras clases.

El proletariado es la clase explotada por la burguesía, reciben menos del valor de su trabajo y no tienen nada que perder excepto sus cadenas. Los Marxistas incluyen en el proletariado a muchas personas desempleadas que constituyen un ejército laboral de reserva, disponible para reemplazar otros trabajadores en caso de un lento desempeño, cuando estos se enferman, cuando organizan paros laborales o cuando de alguna otra manera desagradan a la burguesía. Estos desempleados contribuyen al mantenimiento de bajos sueldos y aún cuando están temporalmente desempleados, son todavía parte de la clase trabajadora permanente. El proletariado-lumpen es la clase de personas que se encuentran permanentemente desempleados.

En un articulo reciente, Nicolai Brown exploró el cálculo de como definimos el proletariado en los Estados Unidos. Brown calculó el total del valor de la labor al dividir el número de horas de trabajo por el total del valor producido:


"En el 2011, el Producto Domestico Bruto PDB global fue de $69,110,000,000,000. A mitad de año la población global fue estimada en unos 7,021,836,029. Asumamos que la mitad de las personas trabajan regularmente. En ese caso, cada trabajador produce unos $20,000 anuales. Más aún, si asumimos que cada trabajador trabaja 40 horas semanales por 50 semanas al año, el valor de la labor es de $10 dólares la hora."(1)

Esto es relevante en un momento en que el Presidente Obama está promoviendo un aumento del salario mínimo federal a $9.00 dólares la hora. Brown enfatizo la posición de la mayoría de trabajadores del mundo: "actualmente se estima que el ingreso medio global oscila entre $1,250 y 1,700 al año, unos $8,750 a 8,300 menos por año que el valor estimado de su labor."

En la respuesta a este artículo por parte de ServethePeople (Sirvan a la Gente), encontramos una importante adición a estas calculaciones:


"Mantengan en mente que no toda la producción puede ser distribuida como ingreso personal: mucho de esto va a los mecanismos de producción, infraestructura, obras publicas, desperdicios y otros fines. Si incluso la mitad de la producción, una sobreestimación considerable, esta disponible para distribución como ingreso personal, entonces el valor de la labor, de acuerdo al cálculo anterior, es solamente de $5 dólares por hora. Incluso el salario mínimo en los países imperialistas es mucho mas que lo calculado. Es así que cada 'trabajador' del Primer Mundo es un parasito."

Este punto acerca de la distribución del valor producido es valido sea que estamos hablando de capitalismo o de socialismo. La diferencia no es que el trabajador ponga en su bolsillo todo el valor de lo que produce, sino que todo el valor producido va a servir los intereses colectivos y no las ganancias privadas.

MIM(Prisiones) está de acuerdo con este cálculo, el cual informa nuestra determinación de quien califica como lumpen del Primer Mundo. Por medio de este cálculo podemos ver virtualmente que no hay proletariado en los Estados Unidos. Nuestra meta es la de separar el minúsculo proletariado y la pequeña burguesía de la clase del lumpen.

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[Spanish]
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Comentario Cinematográfico: Zero Dark Thirty

Esta película pretende hacer la crónica de la larga cacería contra Osama bin Laden después del ataque de septiembre 11 del 2001, hasta su muerte en mayo del 2011. Esta es una película hollywoodense y no podemos esperar que sea un documental preciso. Pero esto no importa en realidad puesto que la película representa lo que los americanos piensan cuando se imaginan el trabajo del CIA en el Medio Oriente. Lo que obtienen es una película de propaganda que glorifica la tortura a prisioneros por parte de los americanos y presenta a los pakistaníes como gente violenta y bien estúpida. Desde el principio hasta el final de la cinta no hay nada de valor, solamente hay propaganda dañina y mal intencionada. El mensaje principal que deben tomar los revolucionarios es acerca de la manera en que el gobierno recolecta información. Desde el monitoreo de teléfonos hasta redes de personas vigilando y siguiendo a individuos, el gobierno tiene técnicas sofisticadas y extensas a su disposición. Incluso los más cautos tendrán grandes dificultades evitando un mínimo de vigilancia estatal.

La historia se enfoca casi exclusivamente en la agente Maya de la CIA, quien dedicó su carrera a encontrar pistas acerca de la ubicación de Osama bin Laden. El comienzo de la película tiene abundantes imágenes gráficas de prisioneros que han sido torturados con el fin de obtener información. Se muestran las técnicas del submarino (waterboarding), golpizas, entallamiento y privación de comida y sueño. Aunque al principio la tortura le molesta a Maya, ella pronto se adapta y se une a las interrogaciones. La cinta es en favor de la tortura, aseverando que de cada prisionero torturado se obtiene información critica, per ignora el hecho de que muchos prisioneros detenidos en instituciones americanas después del 9/11 nunca recibieron cargos, no cometieron crímenes y no poseían información.

A lo largo de la película se socava constantemente la prohibición emitida por Barack Obama en el 2009 contra el uso de la tortura como método para extraer información. Irónicamente, en la película se observa como la CIA encontró a Osama bin Laden sin usar la tortura, luego de la prohibición. Pero nos deja entendiendo que hubiese sido mucho más simple si la CIA tuviese el camino libre con los prisioneros.

Aunque Zero Dark Thirty muestra a Obama como una persona pusilánime contra el terror y como un obstáculo al trabajo de la CIA, no debemos ser engañados y creer que el gobierno americano ha acabado el uso de la tortura.

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[Spanish]
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El imperialismo cultural levanta protestas globales contra los Estados Unidos

Septiembre 15 del 2012 —- En días recientes, docenas de miles de personas en docenas de ciudades de África, Asia del Sur, el Medio Oriente y partes de Europa y Australia han protestado en respuesta a la película que fue hecha en los Estados Unidos, atacando al Profeta Muhammad. Los manifestantes atacaron las embajadas de EE.UU. y otros símbolos imperialistas tales como las escuelas americanas, un restaurante KFC y un campo de la ONU.(1) La ultima localidad fue una de muchas en las cuales las autoridades dispararon a mansalva contra los manifestantes. Muchos han perdido la vida. Quemar banderas americanas y el canto de ¡Muerte a América!" se ha convertido en símbolos unificadores comunes de estas acciones.

En Libia se dio la primera protesta que acaparó la atención del mundo. Allí, fuerzas respaldas por los EE.UU. derrocaron recientemente al gobierno que mantuvo el poder por varias décadas. Precisamente ocurrió en el aniversario de septiembre 11, 2001 cuando rebeldes de Al-Quaeda atacaron los Estados Unidos. Los manifestantes acapararon los titulares de las noticias cuando atacaron las embajadas estadounidenses, matando una docena de personas, incluyendo el embajador de los Estados Unidos. Desde entonces, los manifestantes han atacado embajadas imperialistas en Túnez, Yemen y Sudan, pero en estos casos sin el uso de armas de fuego.

Mientras el Presidente de los EE.UU., Barack Obama, menciona durante los discursos de su campaña presidencial su papel en el asesinato del líder de Al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden, cientos de manifestantes cantaban "Obama, todos somos Osama," en las afueras de la embajada de EE.UU. en Kuwait. La visión de Osama de una resistencia islámica global contra las invasiones e interferencias económicas americanas en el mundo islámico, ha alcanzado nuevas dimensiones esta semana.

Los medios americanos han presentado los hechos como si se tratara de protestas insignificantes, mientras que los americanos se sorprende de que se les culpe por una película contra el Islam que nunca han visto y que consideran un ignorantes, violentos e inservibles a los manifestantes. Tal como la cinta importante que la historia estadouidense en relación a las personas involucradas. Las reacciones más violentas han ocurrido en regiones que han sido bombardeadas recientemente por los militares americanos, dos de ellos por muchos años y el otro que ha sufrido el derrocamiento de su gobierno.

Los americanos arrogantes no reconocen que el embajador fue escogido como blanco por ser el representante de más alto nivel del titiritero americano en Libia.

Desde hace algún tiempo MIM ha mantenido que las organizaciones musulmanas han hecho más para pelear contra el imperialismo en años recientes que lo que han hecho los comunistas.(2) Y mientras hay muchas maneras en que los comunistas podrían hacer un mejor trabajo, no lo están haciendo. Como materialistas que somos tenemos que aceptar y trabajar con personas bajo las condiciones que nos han dado. Nosotros no debemos dudar en reconocer que el Islam nos ha traído la más grande demostración de internacionalismo y contra imperialismo que hemos visto en mucho tiempo.

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[South Asia] [Economics] [Aztlan/Chicano]
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Big Fat Elephant in the May Day Dialogue

maoist workers in the field
1 May 2013 - The so-called labor movement in the imperialist countries has long been limited in support and influence due to the overwhelmingly privileged conditions that most First Worlders live in. So in an attempt to seem relevant, and to perhaps mask their white nationalism, they proclaim "solidarity" with worker struggles across the world. In the worst cases, this "solidarity" actively works to mislead the struggle of the proletariat towards economism and tailing of First World development models. But even when it is just "solidarity" in words, it is used to defend the privilege of the exploiter populations in the First World. On this May Day, the featured interview on Democracy Now! epitomized this tendency.(1)

Charlie Kernaghan of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights was interviewed for a segment on the recent tragedy in Bangladesh and the labor struggle in general. Kernaghan informed us that 421 people are confirmed dead and another 1000 are still missing, meaning they are probably dead under the rubble of the factory that collapsed. He explained that the workers were not only threatened with no pay for the month, which would equal going hungry, but they faced the immediate threat of thugs with batons. As the recent fertilizer explosion in Texas showed, the profit motive under capitalism puts everyone's lives at risk. Still, there is a quantitative difference between being forced back into a dangerous situation with batons, and being unaware that it exists. The relative risk faced in the Third World is higher.

As MIM and others have shown elsewhere, there is a qualitative difference between First World wage earners in that they earn more than the value of their labor and are therefore exploiters, in contrast to the exploited proletariat.(2) The conversation around the Bangladesh tragedy degenerated into white nationalism when interviewer Amy Goodman began asking about what is to be done. After cheerleading for more protection of Amerikan wages, the guest began calling for trade barriers to goods from countries like Bangladesh until they can follow certain labor standards enforced by U.$. law. Such opposition to free trade organizes the exploiters at the expense of the exploited.

The elephant in the room became harder to ignore as the guest talked of workers making 21 cents an hour in the same breath as the immiseration of Amerikan workers. Yet, when Goodman began dancing around the wage question the guest responded:

"Well, like I said with the legislation, it's not our job to set wages around the world. That's up to the people in their individual countries. But what we can do is we can demand that if you want to bring the products into the United States, that these workers must have their legal rights."

How is it that we can enforce child labor laws, but when it comes to wages the Third World is suddenly on their own? How can you talk about international "labor solidarity" without talking about an international minimum wage? The idea is ridiculous and the only reason it happens is that the Amerikan labor leaders know that the average wage in the world is well below what they are already making. They want to keep earning more than their fair share, while putting up trade barriers for products produced by exploited labor.

We presume that the people of South Asia will not mistake people making $20k a year, and much more, as being part of the proletariat. But as we come closer to the heart of empire, the proletariat's class view becomes more and more skewed. There is no better example of this than in Aztlán today, where migrant workers see the vast wealth around them and the possibility of getting a piece of it. After the oppressed nations took over May Day in the United $tates seven years ago, the left-wing of white nationalism worked overtime to infuse this new proletarian movement in the belly of the beast with the line of the labor aristocracy.

Today, as the federal government claims to be close to enacting "immigration reform" that will amount to more Amerikan exceptionalism and favoritism, we favor the focus on reunification of families that some in Los Angeles called for on this May Day. This is an issue that ties in well with the national question, rather than economist demands for more access to exploiter-level wages. Reunification challenges the repressive border that keeps families apart, and keeps whole nations of people alienated from the wealth that they produce. As integration in the United $tates has advanced, challenging the border and fighting white nationalism, or better yet First Worldism, needs to be at the center of a progressive proletarian movement in Aztlán. These are the issues that really sparked the massive May Day rallies in 2006 in response to pro-Minutemen Amerika.(3) This is the spirit that we celebrate this May Day.

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