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.
Just as the oppressed communities are racially profiled as the garbage
pits of society that breeds and houses criminals, we prisoners are
racially profiled in practically a similar, if not a more blatant
extreme. The powers that govern and operate the U.S. Prison Colonies,
have catapulted measures that are atypically designed to target
prisoners, and criminalize their behavior in relation to belonging to a
disruptive prison gang, in particular, those prisoners who are
descendants of Afrikan/Mexican origin. They target those prisoners who
have demonstrated the capacity of independent thought process
(non-conformity), or those who are believed to be some kind of shot
caller, with influence over a particular group of prisoners. The
independent thought process itself that will enable prisoners to become
conscious of the injustices that are perpetrated on a regular basis
behind these walls, and so they are considered a threat.
This criminalization is called “The Validation Process.” Prisoners in
the SHU (Security Housing Units) at Pelican Bay State Prison, in
Kalifornia, have been validated as criminals belonging to a prison gang,
for some of the most idiotic reasons. From saying good morning to a
fellow prisoner, to signing a fellow prisoner’s get well card for a sick
relative, or a loved one. But the most ridiculous reason of them all is
the administration paying three collaborating informants to say that you
belong to a prison gang! Usually you’ve never even met this paid rat, or
only may have by chance possibly shared the same breakfast table with
him one morning, or looked at him in a manner that he did not appreciate
one afternoon. But yet, the burden of reliability is given to the paid
rat automatically, prior to the actual examination of facts. The
courts/society are practically lulled to sleep in the midst of this
madness, as the U.S. Prison Colony officials have planted the seed in
them, that their means of action is just, and required, in the interest
of protecting the safety/security of the institution. That’s nonsense!
As per Pelican Bay State Prison’s own policies, a gang member is one who
is consciously, and knowingly promoting criminal activities for a
particular gang. Over 75% of the prisoners housed in the SHU at PBSP are
being housed on an indefinite basis as allegedly belonging to a prison
gang, but have not committed one rule infraction.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This writer exposes the use of
control
units for social control in Amerikan prisons. This system of
isolation for control has a
long
history in the Amerikan criminal injustice system. Demonstrated to
cause both severe mental and physical damage to humyns, this long-term
solitary confinement is nothing less than torture. The recent
prisoner
hunger strike in California was initiated by prisoners demanding
change to the rules behind SHU lockup and improvements to the conditions
in the SHU. Conditions are so bad that prisoners are literally wiling to
die to fight for change. The importance of control units, as this writer
describes, is control of leaders and politically conscious prisoners.
This is not about criminal activity, it is about stopping prisoners from
spreading consciousness. Many of those targeted for the SHU are actually
promoting peace among prisoners, organizing different sets to get
together to fight the injustice system. The prisoncrats know this is the
real threat to the system.
Administrative and medical retaliations continue by California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) staff as retribution
for any sort of participation in hunger strikes and/or show of
resistance. Recent validation reviews have shown futile since CDCR is
utilizing hunger strike and single cell write-ups as proof of [security
threat group] association. Doctors first question, before denying all
subsequent inmate request for pain management, is: “were you in the
hunger strike?” 602s [grievance forms] are disappearing from inside
locked metal boxes.
MIM(Prisons) adds:Control units were developed as a form of
political and social control within the prison system, and this blatant
political repression against prisoners who protested against them shows
that social control is still their purpose. The review process is a sham
to allow the state of California to continue to torture oppressed people
while pretending to make changes.
We must continue the fight against these isolation units, but we know
that real and lasting changes will only be made when we dismantle the
criminal injustice system. In the short term we fight for reforms to
improve the conditions of those locked in these torture cells, but the
imperialists will not reform away their tools of social control. This is
why we see the fight against the criminal injustice system as an
integral part of the anti-imperialist struggle.
I must commend you on your continued effort to keep the masses informed.
I did receive the latest Under Lock & Key after all the
demonstrations reached their pinnacle. People are now in the recovery
stage, preparing their total being to reach a strengthening height. I
also received the chronology of events leading up to the suspension of
the protest. Mail was, and continues not to be a priority as far as
delivery is concerned, so it’s basically, we get it when we get it. So
much was in flux, so, patterns have not set in. I just moved back to
this address, we were scattered all over the place.
There are many occurrences that occupied ones time, so I am in the
process of hopefully catching up in extending my profoundest respect and
gratitude to all the support we received in this massive and historical
action. MIM(Prisons) definitely played a critical role in helping
propagating and educating the masses which helped us breach through the
enormous machinery of our adversarial relations. This large scale
struggle would not have been possible without the giant sacrifices of
people from civil society. Even as we pursue justice in recognition of
our plight, we must remain cognizant to the larger picture of oppressed
people. This struggle is basically an aspect of the struggle in civil
society against a surveillance state and the erosion of civil liberties.
MIM(Prisons) adds:We have received feedback from a number of
comrades since the latest phase of the struggle went on hold saying they
are putting the updates we sent to good use for further organizing and
building. We are currently working to continue those efforts to reflect
and build on what has been achieved.
The movement to end torture in California prisons has certainly reached
impressive levels. About time, we might add, after many comrades have
faced the torture of the Security Housing Units for decades. And many
different types of people and organizations have been pushing this
common cause in the ways that they can. Our focus is on facilitating
prisoner organizing, and this is a strategic decision in this movement
because we see prisoners as the motive force behind it. With all the
hard work and important contributions from various sectors, prisoners
must continue to come together and stand solidly for this cause for it
to succeed. We act in united front with all who oppose torture and
demand an end to long-term isolation across the imperialist United
$nakes of Amerika.
We had another support strike here on Calipatria’s A-Yard from Aug 26 to
the 28th. The July 8th support strike went on for 7 days and involved
all races. There was also broad refusal to go to work or school. This
time around, however, only Mexicans refused food and people still went
to work. On top of all that, the food strike was called off right after
a race riot broke out on the yard between us (Mexicans), and the whites.
We skipped 9 meals but I’m not even sure that the pigs reported this as
a hunger strike.
The pigs have clever ways of manipulating our numbers here. During
normal program we get a sack lunch as we exit the chow hall after
breakfast and I believe they lump this together as one meal because
during the July strike they didn’t come around to acknowledge that we
had skipped 9 meals and ask if we were participating in a hunger strike
until after we skipped breakfast on the fifth day. By then about half of
the strikers had started eating and going to work. They also followed
their question of whether we were on hunger strike by asking if we would
allow them to take the food we had in our cells. Many answered “no,”
others answered “yes.” The following day the pigs came around and only
bothered with the cells that answered “yes,” going right by the cells
that answered “no.” CDCR claims that confiscating food is done in order
to monitor our food intake. They can say that they couldn’t start
monitoring our food intake until they confiscated the food. If they
start counting how many meals you skipped after they took the food then
you’re not even counted as a hunger striker because we only lasted a day
and a half after that.
When they asked if they could remove food items they only accepted yes
or no answers. I told the pig over and over that there was no food for
them to take but that wasn’t even a question. If you answered no then
they could say that you acknowledged having food in your cell but
wouldn’t allow them to take it. They pretty much don’t have to count
anybody by using these tactics.
We need to go on an indefinite work strike that should last as long as
they insist on having indefinite SHU terms, but there’s not enough
people with jobs in level 4 yards making it easy for CDCR to target
those few inmates who refuse to work and replacing them with people from
lower levels or PC yards.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This discussion of the latest action
in Calipatria underscores the importance of our work to build unity and
a United Front before engaging in serious actions. We commend everyone
who stands up against the system and puts their lives and health at
risk, but without unity we end up with small numbers of protesters and
struggle to present a united position to the prison system. As we
discussed at length in our article
summing
up the strike suspension, we don’t anticipate the state will meet
the strikers demands, but the struggle against torture
continues.
According to the Collective’s statement, they have suspended their
strike in response to a pledge by state legislators Tom Ammiano, Loni
Hancock and Tom Hayden to hold a legislative hearing into conditions in
the Security Housing Units (SHU) and the debriefing process.
MIM(Prisons) is not optimistic of the outcome of such hearings. Ammiano
held a hearing in August 2011 in response to the first of three mass
hunger strikes around this struggle, and nothing changed, leading to the
second hunger strike that October. Back in 2003, our comrades as part of
the United Front to Abolish the SHU attended a legislative hearing on
the conditions in the California SHU and the validation process. They
published an article entitled,
“CA
senate hearings on the SHU: we can’t reform torture.” Ten years
later, little has changed. These hearings keep happening, but they are
little more than pacifying talks by those in power. The facts have been
out there, the state has known what is going on in these torture cells.
So what is the difference now? And how can we actually change things?
CDCR Done Addressing Problems
Before we look at how we can change things, let’s further dispel any
illusions that the CDCR or the state of California is going to be the
source of this change. In the latest iteration of the strike, an
additional 40 demands were drafted around smaller issues and widely
circulated to supplement the
5
core demands. On 26 August 2013, the CDCR released a
point-by-point
response to the demands of those who have been on hunger strike since
July 8. The announcement by the CDCR cites a 5 June 2013 memo that
allegedly addresses many of these supplemental demands. Others are
listed as being non-issues or non-negotiable.
This CDCR announcement implies that we should not have hopes for
negotiations or actions towards real change from CDCR. The Criminal
Injustice System will not reform itself; we must force this change.
The Struggle Against Torture Continues
At first glance, the fact that this struggle has been waging for decades
with little headway (especially in California) can be discouraging.
However, our assessment of conditions in the imperialist countries
teaches us that right now struggle against oppression must take the form
of long legal battles, despite claims by the censors that we promote
lawlessness. Sporadic rebellions with lots of energy, but little
planning or longevity, do not usually create change and the conditions
for armed struggle do not exist in the United $tates. We are therefore
in strategic unity with the leaders who have emerged to sue the state,
while unleashing wave after wave of peaceful demonstrations of ever
increasing intensity. All of us involved have focused on agitation to
shape public opinion and promote peace and unity among prisoners, and
then using those successes to apply pressure to the representatives of
the state. These are all examples of legal forms of struggle that can be
applied within a revolutionary framework. Lawyers and reformists who can
apply constant pressure in state-run forums play a helpful role. But
make no mistake, prisoners play the decisive role, as the strikes are
demonstrating.
Control units came to be and rose to prominence in the same period that
incarceration boomed in this country. As a result, in the last few
decades the imprisoned lumpen have been a rising force in the United
$tates. Within the class we call the First World lumpen, it is in
prisons where we see the most stark evidence of this emerging and
growing class, as well as the most brutal responses from Amerikans and
the state to oppose that class.
In California prisons in the last three years we’ve seen that with each
successive hunger strike, participation has more than doubled. Just
think what the next phase will look like when the CDCR fails to end
torture once again! And as a product of this rising force in prisons,
support on the outside has rallied bigger each time as well. As we said,
this outside support is important, but secondary to the rising
imprisoned lumpen.
Over 30,000 prisoners, one-fifth of the population in California,
participated in this latest demonstration against torture. Many who
didn’t strike the whole time wrote to us that they, and those with them,
were on stand-by to start up again. These grouplets standing by should
be the basis for developing cadre. The 30,000 plus prisoners should be
the mass base, and should expand with further struggle and education.
If you’re reading this and still wondering, “what is it that
MIM(Prisons) thinks we should do exactly?” – it’s the same things we’ve
been promoting for years. Focus on educating and organizing, while
taking on winnable battles against the injustice system. Fighting to
shut down the control units is important, but it is only one battle in a
much larger struggle that requires a strong and organized
anti-imperialist movement. We run our own study programs and support
prisoner-run study groups on the inside. We provide Under Lock &
Key as a forum for agitating and organizing among the imprisoned
lumpen country-wide. We have study materials on building cadre
organizations, concepts of line, strategy and tactics and the basics of
historical and dialectical materialism. Each of these topics are key for
leaders to understand.
Organizing means working and studying every day. In addition to the
topics above, you can study more practical skills that can be used to
serve the people such as legal skills, healthy living skills and how to
better communicate through writing and the spoken word. Prisoners are
surrounded by potential comrades who can’t even read! We need Serve the
People literacy programs. Combining these practical trainings with the
political study and trainings promoted above will allow leaders to both
attract new people with things they can relate to, while providing
guidance that illuminates the reality of our greater society.
Principled organizing builds trust and dedication, which are two thing
that comrades often report being in short supply in U.$. prisons.
Principled organizing is how we can overcome these shortcomings. It is
not an easy, nor a quick solution. The opponent we face is strong, so
only by studying it closely and battling strategically will we be able
to overcome it.
Whatever other tactics comrades on the inside decide to take to continue
this struggle against torture, the need for building, organizing, and
educating is constant and at the strategic level. Without that the
movement does not strengthen or advance. If you’re taking up this work,
we want to hear from you and we want to support you in your efforts.
22 August 2013 – I write to inform you that our hunger strike (in this
unit for death row) has officially been suspended. In good faith we’ll
allow the warden to fulfill his promises of productive and positive
change. It is these changes that will eventually improve death row for
the best. It is a start and the right steps towards changing this whole
system for the best.
Although we may have suspended ours, many more continue to struggle to
bring about change in their torture dungeons. And we shall not stop
exposing this place for what it is. We shall not stop sharing our
stories, our truths and helping others end their plight. The battle has
just begun and this exposure, this movement has united us even more. It
has unmasked our captors and brought many individuals to our aid who
have helped change things already. And with each passing day many more
join the movement.
I want to thank you for getting us this far. For making it possible to
put enough pressure on the warden and his administration to come to
terms with our demands. Without your help, we wouldn’t have made it to
this point. Thank you for all you’ve done and continue doing in helping
to end these injustice and torture dungeons. We are only half the
movement, while you’re the other half. Together we will change this
world for the best.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We commend our comrades at
San
Quentin for their perseverance in this hunger strike. We know,
however, that the prisoncrats have a long history of false promises.
This comrade is right that this battle has helped to build unity,
education and gained more activists for the movement. These are real
victories, regardless of the outcome of the warden’s promises.
While we don’t have the details on the promises made, another report
claims that the only written agreement at the time was that searches
would not be done outside if it is raining. This came from a report from
a striker who passed out from liver failure, who reported others in San
Quentin were also facing difficult health conditions due to lack of
food.(1) We posted the
full
list of demands developed at San Quentin back in June.
Here in the Ad-Seg unit at North Kern they’ve transferred a lot of us to
A4 which is on the main level III yard, and half of the building is
Ad-Seg, the other is orientation. All of us are on single cell status
and validated members and associates of STG (Security Threat Group
types) I & II but there’s unity in here.
The hunger strike/work stoppage is over, and most if not all received
128 G chronos for participating. This will be used as validation points,
but no one cares. We don’t get our 10 hour a week for yard, no laundry
exchange, or supplies being passed out, and our food is cold because
they serve it on paper trays.
Our mail has to get rerouted from the other Ad-Seg unit and the IGI/ISU
informed us that the SF Bayview, CA Prison Focus, The Rock, Revolution,
Militant, PHSS, MIM(Prisons) and any of the literature that makes
reference to our struggle behind these walls will be screened and
withheld. I’ve been receiving mail that’s 2.5 months old. We have a
group 602 going around collecting signatures so we can show the yard
captain we’re not happy with this program we have here in the A4
location. Just yesterday they cell extracted someone and all of us above
the incident on the top tier had pepper spray in our cells, because it
came up through our cells, and the ventilating shaft.
I would just like to educate those who hope to be released from
SHU/Ad-Seg. STG kickouts are a sham! Rope to hang yourself is what it
should be called. I am validated and was excited to be given a “chance”
to go to mainline, but I lasted one week and am back in Ad-Seg. During
that 1 week staff and gang units harassed me, searched my cell 3 times,
and told me they would be back until they “catch me slipping” and could
lock me back in SHU again.
I was told socializing with gang members is a violation, yet I’m GP
(General Population) so of course I socialize with the fellas around me.
I received a letter from a friend on the street who is from the same
neighborhood as me, so he closed the letter with our street name. I was
told by gang units this was a violation and “promoting gangs”. Really?
So I must not speak to friends I grew up with because CDCR says so?
Anyway, myself and a few others did not last more than days and we are
now under investigation (for what? I’ve no clue). So for those of you
who are active as I am, I wish you luck if you can actually go to the
line without dropping out and not coming back. STG kickouts were not
designed for us actives.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We believe the program this prisoner
writes about is the same as the
new
STG Step Down program in California. We have reported from others
that this is a revolving door that will not really address the problem
of Security Threat Group validation, which locks prisoners up in
long-term isolation on flimsy “evidence” of membership in a lumpen
organization. The reality is, prisons target lumpen organizations out of
fear for what they represent. Organizations of the oppressed, many of
which get involved in some organizing against the criminal injustice
system, are a scary thing to the oppressors. And when these
organizations start coming together and building unity to fight broader
anti-imperialist battles, like has happened in California around the
July 8
hunger strike, this is even more dangerous for the system.
I’m writing to report on the hunger strike from Calipatria State Prison.
Everyone here on the facility showed their support. Not all of us agreed
on the tactics that some chose to pursue but nonetheless we all
participated. Some people refused to go to work while others chose only
not to accept food. Everyone who chose not to go to work received write
ups (CDCR 115) for refusing to work and participation in security threat
group (STG) activity. So now those people have STG points against them.
Some guys were trying to force everyone not to work but calmer heads
prevailed and they allowed people to make the choice themselves.
Out of the 850 prisoners on this yard, at least 700 participated. It
only lasted for a week. The staff passed out a flyer on what can happen
medically to a person who goes without food for long periods of time.
They sent the nurse from door to door asking if people were alright but
it didn’t get to the point where they had to start weighing people.
A lot of questions are now being asked like what did that accomplish?
Although we had a high level of participation we had no one to actually
explain what the strike was for or what are the goals we are trying to
accomplish. Most guys just get involved because they were told to. The
people who are socially conscious and politically conscious didn’t want
to speak up for fear of being labeled as inciting the strike which will
land you in the SHU. A lot of guys who have been down for 30 years have
been broken and refuse to stand up to the administration.
All in all we here at Calipatria showed our support until next time.
MIM(Prisons) responds:First let us recognize what this comrade
said about prisoners receiving STG points against them for a peaceful
refusal to eat or go to work. This is what the CDCR is using to label
people a Security Threat Group member and put them in torture units for
years or even decades - the main thing that the strike is protesting in
the first place! Such outrageous injustice should fuel the struggle for
basic humyn rights in Calipatria.
Second, let’s acknowledge the amazing accomplishment of having 700 out
850 prisoners participate in a united action that was part of a planned
strategic approach towards change in the interests of all prisoners.
This is historic, and it is happening all over California!
That said, the masses are correct to ask, “What did this accomplish?”
This report exposes the importance of building political
consciousness and educating our comrades behind bars both before and
during protest actions. We must build leadership to ensure that the
political message of these protests is effectively conveyed, both to
those participating and to the target of our protests.
Of course, the application of leadership in such closely monitored
conditions should be done cautiously as the comrades in Calipatria did.
Materials like Under Lock & Key can be tools for spreading
education and providing leadership. But even then we face censorship,
and prisoners get written up just for possessing literature, which
presumably was given to them by prison mail staff in the first place.
The solutions to this are tactical questions that should be part of the
sum up of the experiences in California prisons this summer. As the
masses are struggling for answers, now is the time to step in and have
these discussions however you can in your locality. What is the opinion
of the actions? What do people think should have been done differently?
How did leadership fail, and how could you build differently in the
future? If you come up with universal conclusions send them to us to
share, however as conditions vary over time and place, most of these
conversations should be applied locally.
On the large scale we can make a few points. First, the strike was about
ending conditions of torture in California prisons, in particular in the
long-term isolation units (SHU, ASU, etc.). And the strike continues
with almost 300 people having not eaten for over 40 days according to
the CDCR, and an unknown number of others still participating who are
not being counted. So the struggle continues there.
If comrades in Calipatria are asking what their one-week actions
accomplished, we encourage them to look back at the agreement to end
hostilities and the United Front for Peace in Prisons statement on page
2 of Under Lock & Key that were used to form a basis for
the massive support seen this time around. The goals of these projects
are to unite prisoners around their mutual interests as prisoners and
prevent the state from pitting them against each other as a form of
social control. We hope that comrades in Calipatria were inspired by the
tremendous level of solidarity this author reports on. There are many
ways to build on this unity through things such as study groups, health
campaigns, literacy programs, and other forms of mutual support. In our
own work we model such programs after the Black Panthers and Chinese
Serve the People Programs, which had the purpose of providing for
survival needs pending revolution.
[In response to the article MIM(Prisons) printed about the
Martinez
hunger strike demands, calling on prisoners there not to isolate the
“mental health” prisoners from the “non-mental health” prisoners, we
received the following update and clarification.]
Maybe we were not clear on the housing of mental health prisoners here
in Ad-Seg. Our point is that there is an entire module for mental health
prisoners where they can get help for their issues with trained staff.
There is no mental health staff stationed in Ad-Seg, and no groups or
therapy for prisoners. Bottom line is, mental health prisoners should
not be housed in Ad-Seg on the whims of classification unit. Yes these
guys are a headache to have in Ad-Seg, but more importantly they receive
no help and deteriorate further by being warehoused in Ad-Seg. We are
not trying to cause division in the prison population.
There are 53 inmates housed in Ad-Seg here. 13 prisoners did a 24 hour
support strike while 5 of us continued for 6 to 12 days. We continue to
support all those still on strike. Our strike is suspended, not stopped.
If we do not continue to move forward in our demands or we come to a
place in time when it is warranted, then we will continue our strike.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This letter addresses our criticism of the
demand by MDF prisoners to “immediately cease and desist the
unconstitutional custom, practice and unofficial policy of improperly
housing inmates with mental health issues among the
non-mental-health-status Ad-Seg detainees” as unnecessarily divisive.
The original demand complained of the disruptive behaviors from the
mental health prisoners but did not mention the lack of treatment
options for these individuals. If conditions are better in the mental
health module, it would be an improvement for these individuals to
escape Ad-Seg and be placed there. However, the “treatment” for people
with mental health problems in the United $tates is, at best, a
targeting of the symptoms, and at worst leaves people either physically
or medically restrained in a drug-induced stupor.
Mental illness in prisoners can often be linked to the conditions in
which they are housed, especially long-term isolation. So we are
naturally skeptical of any treatment offered by those same captors who
insist on locking people up in conditions that induce the health
problems in the first place. But we appreciate the additional
explanation that the MDF prisoners did not intend the demand for mental
health prisoners to be divisive but rather targeted treatment for these
individuals. We hope they will consider carefully the wording of such
demands in the future.
In the short term, we know that capitalism will continue to produce new
cases of mental illness which can not be successfully treated until we
address the problems of a society that generates these illnesses. We
look to China under Mao for an example of successful treatment of mental
health conditions by addressing both the immediate problems and the
systemic roots of these conditions.
Meanwhile, the comrades in Martinez are not the only ones on suspended
hunger strike. A number of comrades have reported a willingness to
restart in support of the
five
core demands as the struggle heightens.