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.
Click to Download PDF of the Country-Wide Petition
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with their grievance procedure. Send them extra
copies to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here. If
there is a state-wide petition developed, that one should be used
instead of the country-wide petition, because it is more detailed. For a
list of state-wide petitions that have already been developed, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses listed on the petition, and to the MIM(Prisons) address below.
Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special
Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB Washington,
D.C. 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE P.O. Box 9778 Arlington,
Virginia 22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
I filed a Step 1 grievance about the illegality of the restrictions on
indigent correspondence. I cited Guajardo v. Estelle in my
grievance. Below is the response I received from the Assistant Warden.
“The Unit Law Library operates in accordance with applicable policy. No
action is warranted.” - J. Alvarez, Asst. Warden
Linked document is a letter from the prisoner requesting assistance
with eir lawsuit.
The conditions continue to be much better here at Connally Unit in
Kenedy, Texas since I filed that lawsuit on the
recreation/lockdowns/food. But of course that could be reversed at any
moment so I continue to push it and continue to use it as a tool to
organize/mobilize the prisoners to take group action.
We are working on a mass grievance campaign at the moment, to follow up
on some of the issues that are in the lawsuit but the administration
hasn’t adequately addressed. It’s really pretty minor stuff, as the main
thing was them cancelling rec every day, and they have stopped doing
that. But I feel like you’re either moving forward or you’re going to
move backwards, you know? And the real value in a group action like a
mass grievance campaign is what it does to raise the consciousness of
the group.
There is definitely a lot more interest since people here have seen that
we CAN fight back. But the general consciousness level was so low here
and the prisoners were so beat down and demoralized that it will take a
LOT of work to develop any widespread activist mentality.
I’m going to enclose a copy of a form letter I typed up and sent out to
about ten civil rights organizations already. It’s pretty
self-explanatory. Just trying to get some more support on this lawsuit.
And I know your funding is very limited plus you aren’t lawyers there,
so you’re not going to be able to help directly. But I’m sending it on
the off chance that someone there might know a lawyer with sympathies
towards the cause who might be willing to do something.
Like I explain in the letter, we don’t necessarily need actual
representation. This is a pretty straightforward case and they are going
to want to settle at some point. Obviously they are – that’s why they
immediately started running rec again once I filed it. They know the
records are going to show they were just flat out lying about these
so-called staff shortages. But with a lawyer putting additional pressure
I think we will get better terms on any settlement and a settlement will
happen quicker.
I want to get these improvements locked in with a legally binding
written agreement asap so that I can move on to other projects. So if
you do happen to know a lawyer or have any other ideas for what you
might do with this letter, please keep our struggle here in mind, okay?
Thanks.
MIM(Prisons) adds: The pdf linked to this article is a copy of
the author’s letter ey sent to ten civil rights organizations. The
letter outlines the conditions in Connally Unit regarding an egregious
lack of recreation time and lack of adequate food. The author is asking
for a lawyer to intervene in order to push the lawsuit to a quick
settlement. If you are able to assist this struggle, please
write to
MIM(Prisons) and we will put you in touch with the leader of the
suit.
by a West Virginia prisoner November 2015 permalink
For my essay I chose Frederick Douglass. I admire his inner strength,
free spirit, and intelligence. I believe that he could see opportunity
in every situation. For example, when his oppressors became so irate of
his learning to read and write, he knew that things that are restricted
are usually worthy of pursuit.
He overcame so many obstacles with so few resources, and he gives me
motivation and inspiration to overcome and succeed, although my
difficulties are minor compared to his. He was a great man and an unsung
hero of freedom fighting. He must have thought to himself that it was
better to risk death and fight for his freedom, than to conform to the
wishes of tyrannical beings.
He fought and won. So much was against him and yet his spirit refused to
be broken. He knew how powerful words can be. He learned them and
mastered them. And once he’d won, he didn’t let the realm of success
lull him into complacency – a realm where many men venture and are
swallowed, ending their reign of greatness. No, Frederick Douglass was a
mossless stone; he never stagnated. Douglass continued pressing forward,
not only bettering himself, but also bettering those he came in contact
with and helping other oppressed individuals.
His written word will echo through the generations, inspiring thousands
and perhaps millions. The American education system gives him only a
cursory glance, then moves on to lies about founding fathers. Imagine if
they lingered longer or more often on Frederick Douglass, and the
valuable influence on those impressionable minds he would render.
Frequently, I wonder about a stronger, less passive and more spirited
generation. Like Frederick Douglass.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Frederick Douglass was born into slavery
around 1818 in Maryland. Ey escaped slavery and went on to become a
prolific writer, speaker, and newspaper publisher. Eir primary battles
were against slavery and for wimmin’s right to vote. Douglass had a
similar path to radicalization as many readers of ULK, even
though ey lived almost two centuries ago.
Douglass was taught the alphabet at around 12 years old from eir
slavemaster’s wife. Even though ey was discouraged from reading,
sometimes with violence, Douglass continued to study and taught many
others how to read as well. With the ability to read, Douglass became
politicized through reading newspapers, which helped em develop into an
internationally-acclaimed writer and speaker against slavery and
oppression.
Even in the face of censorship and lack of programming, many U.$.
prisoners build themselves and others up in the same way Douglass did.
Present-day prisoners are not allowed to come together in a group to
study, for “security threat concerns,” which parallels Douglass’s
experience of having eir weekly literacy classes disbanded by the clubs
and stones of slave owners. Nowdays, those who try to teach in spite of
restrictions are locked in isolation toture cells.
Without good literacy skills, one can’t file a lawsuit, or write
grievances, or understand the prison handbook, or read Under Lock
& Key; get the picture? Various sources state that 60-70% of
U.$. prisoners are functionally illiterate.(1) Illiteracy affects the
majority of prisoners, and thus hinders the organization of the majority
of our subscribers’ peers. Passing on an issue of ULK does
little good if the recipient can’t understand it.
Statistics from the prisoncrats themselves state that prisoners have a
70% chance of recidivism if they get no help with their literacy,
whereas prisoners who do receive literacy help have a 16% chance of
recidivism.(2) We wonder, why aren’t there more programs for teaching
reading comprehension and writing skills in prisons? It’s clearly a
continuation of the same exact national oppression faced by Frederick
Douglass’s generation.
That we are still having a conversation about building literacy
among New Afrikans should give us a clue of the ineffectiveness of
reformism and the necessity of complete communist revolution. After
gaining state power, one of the first steps of this revolution will be
to establish a joint dictatorship of the proletariat of the oppressed
nations (JDPON), so that the most oppressed people in the world can
dictate to those who have been oppressing others for centuries
how society will be run. As was done in communist China under Mao, one
of the primary functions of this dictatorship of the proletariat will be
to build literacy at every single level of society, and especially among
those who are furthest removed from the benefits of the economic system.
One can’t fully participate in society’s development without literacy,
and we need as many people as possible to participate.
We want to do as much as we can now to speed up the transition from
capitalism to communism, and reading and writing are essential to this
task. Building literacy also fits well into our immature Re-Lease on
Life program, so those who are released can have a better chance of
success and hopefully also a better chance of staying engaged in
political work when on the outside. Even though MIM(Prisons) and United
Struggle from Within are on a much smaller scale than a JDPON, or even a
single nation-state, we can still contribute to this goal while we build
for a society where advanced literacy is taught to everyone
systematically.
Douglass is just one individual example of a larger social phenomenon:
when higher education meets a lack of opportunity, it produces
radicalization and objection to the status quo. We know there is much
more we can do to increase the reading and writing skills of oppressed
nation lumpen in U.$. prisons, and to foster this politicization. But
since MIM(Prisons) can only reach people with written material, we need
our comrades behind bars to do the work on the ground. Anyone who is
already teaching others basic literacy skills should get in touch with
MIM(Prisons) to help us develop this Serve the People program. If you
already have a study group, try to think how you can expand it to teach
literacy as well. Tell us what materials we can send you to help you
teach reading and writing to others. It is one of the ways we can
improve the material conditions of our fellow oppressed peoples, and one
way we can uphold the legacy of Frederick Douglass.
I have an active case in the Federal Courts suing the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for violation of BP-03.91 Uniform Offender
Correspondence Rules, and the corrupt grievance system denying prisoners
access to courts. I have filed a lawsuit under 42 USC Section 1983
against TDCJ.
If you would like to help me stop this corruption aimed at Texas
prisoners, send any grievances, unsworn declarations, and other process
documents you may have that can be used as evidence in the two above
mentioned U.$. Constitutional violations to MIM(Prisons). Be sure to
write “Dunham v. Wainwright, et al. Case No. 1:15-cv-1018-RP” on the top
of each document. Your evidence will help prove deliberate indifference
because it shows officials knew of the problems and failed to act.
MIM(Prisons) will then forward your documents to the Court Clerk at
Clerk Court, United States District Court, c/o Case no. 6:15 cv 869, 300
Willow Street, Suite 104, Beaumont, TX 77701-2217.
The Texas Attorney General handling this case for the defendants is
Gloria Chandler, PO Box 12548, Capital Station, Austin, TX 78711. Please
feel free to send her ALL of your complaints so that she may realize the
wide range and depth of behavior and activities. I doubt she is
receiving enough complaints at the present time. MIM(Prisons) will also
be forwarding your complaints to the Attorney General, and be sure to
again write “Dunham v. Livingston et al. Case No. 1:15-cv-1018-RP” on
the top of your complaint.
Since filing this case, state employees’ actions under color of law has
put me in fear for my life. I need your support so they know I am
not in this alone.
In war a campaign is a series of actions which lead to an ultimate aim.
Campaigns can be thought of as an organized strategy in which certain
steps or operations lead to the end goal of victory. Often when people
are taking on an adversary, victory will not be accomplished in one
shot. When the odds are stacked against you it is necessary to create a
plan which, through a series of small steps, one arrives close to the
intended goal. This piecemeal advancement is a campaign.
Currently ISIS has a campaign where it is taking ground in the area of
what is known as Iraq and Syria. In their campaign they are taking over
key areas like airports, oil refineries, major roads or sea ports. By
doing so they have obviously decided that each of these areas will lead
to lightening their opposition’s hold on power and of eventually seizing
power in that region of the world. Rather than focusing on overthrowing
the Iraqi government outright or flooding Baghdad with troops and
attacking the “Green Zone” (the U.S. base) outright, they have developed
a campaign to take smaller steps which may lead up to seizing that area.
U.S. imperialism has been waging a campaign for total global influence
in which they can act with impunity. They do this by setting up 1000+
bases around the world. And they coerce countries with economic
embargoes, assassinations, coups and the installation of puppet
governments. Blackmail is used from information that was illegally
stolen off the internet or through U.$. spy agencies. Every bit of
information they obtain buys them more influence, a step forward in
their campaign of destruction.
USW Campaigns
Prisoners and former prisoners within the United Struggle from Within
mass organization have also initiated a variety of campaigns which
address our daily struggles. Every struggling people anywhere in the
world needs campaigns to address their particular needs, and prisoners
are no different. For us struggling prisoners there are certain forms of
oppression which prevent us from developing politically or are outright
neutralizing us so we must find ways to resist and overcome them, and
campaigns ensure this.
Prisoners in California have the Agreement to End Hostilities which is
one of our main campaigns at this time. The End to Hostilities is an
essential step that needs to continue so that our goal of mobilizing the
entire prison system becomes easier. We cannot mobilize people against a
common enemy if they are wrapped up in fighting each other. Stopping the
violence between prisoners allows us to begin to move forward for our
real interests and combat our real threats. This campaign should also
spread to other states, and it will. The Agreement to End Hostilities
will spread state to state just like lumpen organizations themselves
have spread.
A California campaign that is also country-wide is the
struggle to
abolish control units. Solitary confinement is another small step in
a larger process. Control units are designed to destroy our most
advanced cadre; it cannot be explained in any other way. So in my
opinion the control units are ground zero for the struggles of the
prison movement within U.$. borders today. If we cannot save our cadre
in U.S. prisons it is a huge defeat. In order to mobilize the prison
system for humyn rights struggles it would be a lot easier if most of
the politically advanced prisoners were not sealed off in control units.
The
grievance
campaign is another way that we enable imprisoned people to work
toward humyn rights so that they can continue to struggle on that
revolutionary path. Things like the struggle for indigent envelopes
which the comrades in Texas are raising is a part of our USW campaigns
because if we are able to write letters we can struggle and join
correspondence study groups and contribute to ULK so we cannot be
limited by the state. Just because we may not be in Texas we still
support those comrades because it is a USW campaign.
Our campaign
in solidarity with Palestine was an exercise in USW flexing its
internationalism. When a people are suffering from crimes against
humynity, even the most brutal dungeon will not prevent acts of
humynity. I think our solidarity with Palestine was also a sign of our
anti-imperialism. We have our own struggles in each prison against
brutality, solitary, medical care, etc. We have our distinct struggles
for national liberation of our respective nations. At the same time we
are anti-imperialists and we know that all of our oppression can be tied
to U.S. imperialism. Imperialism extends oppression around the world and
creates the circumstances where Third World people cannot survive in
their home countries. These people often migrate to the metropole in
search of sustenance, when not contained within militariazed walls.
Do Campaigns Teach the People?
Campaigns are absolutely educational. We learn from practice. When we
partake in a campaign we not only realize what we can accomplish, but we
also realize how to better coordinate our efforts.
The campaign does a couple of things, it allows us to battle our
oppression while it teaches us different forms of struggle. We often
learn new methods to struggle because of this. For example in a previous
ULK I read about some comrades who, after struggling on
different grievances, decided to create their own legal self-help
organization.
From our campaign to raise awareness on the inside and outside the
dungeons sprang the Strugglen Artists Association (SAA). The SAA is for
artists to create revolutionary cultural works and for
Propaganda
Workers to bring these cultural contributions to the masses.
From our campaign to close the SHU sprang the
statewide
California hunger strikes. These actions helped to catch the eye of
many within the white left who previously did not support the prison
movement like some are starting to do now. From this publicity came
various prisoner support groups and media struggles to assist our
actions.
From these examples that I have listed came independent institutions.
Our campaigns created these institutions of the people. They were
created without the assistance of our oppressor enemy. It is hard to see
these things develop without our campaigns, so as you can see the
campaign creates even more opportunity to struggle and gives us momentum
to continue on our road forward.
Take away the campaigns and we are left with nothing but isolated
impulsive acts which get us nowhere but unorganized disarray. Campaigns
direct our actions toward our greatest potential.
Our Goals in Campaigning
Our goal as anti-imperialists is a socialist revolution. But the more
immediate goal of USW within U.$. prisons is to revolutionize the
dungeons. This will take a series of actions, or to be specific it will
take campaigns.
Prisons are merely one component of the state. But they are one of the
most important components because it is within prisons where the most
vital social forces are found. Prisons will produce the fiercest
fighters in the future revolution.
The campaign is a military concept. In many ways it is a revolutionary
war which awaits us because the oppressor will never hand over its
power. According to Mao: “The revolutionary war is a war of the masses;
it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them.”(1)
Oppressed people will be victorious, and prisoners, once revolutionized,
will ignite and charge the people. We have seen in hystory the power and
raw force that ex-prisoners have infused into social justice movements
within U.$. borders. The most advanced parties’ political organizations
and movements of the internal semi-colonies were filled with
ex-prisoners and lumpen, so it is this element which must be mobilized.
The people must “go deeper,” as Lenin taught, to obtain the most
revolutionary element which is less influenced by imperialism. Campaigns
up! Conflicts down!
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with their grievance procedure. Send them extra
copies to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses listed on the petition, and below. Supporters should send
letters on behalf of prisoners.
Director April Wilkerson Alaska Department of Corrections PO Box
112000 Juneau, AK 99811-2000
United States Department of
Justice - Civil Rights Division Special Litigation Section 950
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB Washington, D.C. 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE P.O. Box 9778 Arlington,
Virginia 22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with their grievance procedure. Send them extra
copies to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses listed on the petition, and below. Supporters should send
letters on behalf of prisoners.
Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections 300 Patrol Road
Forsyth, GA 31029
Southern Center for Human Rights Law Offices 83 Poplar
St. NW Atlanta, GA 30303-2122
GDC Office of Internal Affairs, Investigation and Compliance PO Box
1529 Forsyth, GA 31029
United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special
Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB Washington,
D.C. 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE P.O. Box 9778 Arlington,
Virginia 22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
this petition was first put up in November 2014, updated October
2017
I want to inform you about a new torture tactic being used here in the
Security Housing Units (SHU). Since August 3 [2 weeks ago] the staff
have been doing what has been termed “security/welfare checks” which
entails staff walking by every prisoner’s cell every 30 minutes 24/7 and
pressing a button that has been installed next to our cells. Due to the
design of the SHU the sound everyone and everything makes is louder than
it should be and at night we are woken up every thirty minutes due to
staff opening/closing the pod door, which is extremely loud, stomping up
the stairs to the top tier and back down, and making a loud bang sound
when hitting the button next to our cells as they are hitting metal on
metal.
During the day it’s the same thing except the wand makes a high-pitch
beeping sound when hitting the button. So 24/7 it’s non-stop excessive
noise that doesn’t allow us to sleep longer than 30 minutes without
being woken up. I feel like I’m living in a dream 24/7 as I’m always
stirred and feeling the effects of being denied sleep and not being able
to go through my normal sleep cycles. Anyone with common sense can see
this is cruel and unusual punishment. The ironic thing is staff say it’s
to prevent suicides. Yeah let’s make a bunch of excessive noise all day
and night and not let anyone sleep longer than 30 minutes at any given
time, that should prevent suicides. If it’s driving relatively stable
prisoners crazy I’m sure it’s pushing those with mental health issues
over the edge.
Also by doing this, even though it’s misguided and unnecessary, the CDCR
is admitting that the SHU makes people more likely to commit suicide if
they need to check on everyone every 30 minutes. I have filed an
administrative appeal on this to have it stopped or modified and plan to
file a lawsuit if we are not allowed to sleep normally again. In the
mean time I’m writing friends/family to call the prison/CDCR head
quarters and complain about this, and I’m writing all prison
organizations and public servants to make them aware of this new form of
torture being conducted.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This sleep deprivation torture tactic has been
reported on from San Quentin for some time, and we recently received
word from a comrade on pending litigation on this issue:
“I am challenging a blatantly obvious psychological torture program put
in play by Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of the gulag system in California,
as a payback to the SHU guys for the hunger strikes. The CDCR had to
throw us, death row, under the bus too, to make it less obvious who the
target really is.
“There is a program whereby they come and shine lights in eyes, bang and
yell, using a ‘beeper’ stick to hit the cell tray slots, every 20 to 30
minutes, all day and night.
“In my moving papers I proved it is utterly pointless as stated, as a
suicide prevention program. Anyone knows you can commit suicide during
the half hour between walks, and also in our unit it takes them over 20
added minutes to get the keys, get shields, and race in and pounce on a
guy hanging by the neck. It is specious.
“So I filed saying this is far too onerous to be a mere act of
stupidity, it is a malicious torture of the SHU units only (including
PSU, psych wards, all lock-up units). If this does not cause suicide,
what would? Ha!”
This latest tactic of inhumane sleep deprivation reinforces our point
that the
settlement
of the Ashker v. Brown lawsuit will do nothing to end
torture in California prisons. As the comrade above points out, this is
not rogue COs, this is facility policy. We received reports over a year
prior about the new
Guard
One torture program. As one comrade pointed out at the time, most
deaths in cells are due to medical neglect.
Calling this a “new tactic” is a bit of a misnomer. This same exact
system of
“security
checks” every 30 minutes has been used in recent history in Texas
and
North
Carolina. Though in these cases they seemed more targeted, and the
comrade
in North Carolina grieved the abuse and won. In fact, this type of
sleep deprivation dates back more than 50 years when prisoners suffered
similar conditions in Walpole, Massachusetts. All these examples go to
show that the system is inherently oppressive, and only by overthrowing
imperialism will we ever begin to see humane treatment of prisoners.
We view the latest behavior by guards at Pelican Bay as a form of
retaliation against the prisoners held in SHU, to show them who is in
charge and that torture is alive and well in spite of the “successful”
settlement. Exposing this consistent mistreatment of prisoners in
California is a must to counter the narrative that the modern prison
movement has succeeded in transforming the CDCR, or the conditions they
submit their prisoners to, in any way.
The acute threat of this form of torture requires an immediate response.
A concerted effort has been taken up by a number of groups supporting
the California prison movement to contact the warden to demand an end to
this torture.
Write to: Warden Clark E. Ducart Pelican Bay State Prison
P.O. Box 7000 Crescent City, CA 95531-7000 email:
CDucart@cdcr.ca.gov call: (707) 465–1000 ext. 9040
We, under the union of the United KAGE Brothers, joined with the
Prisoners Political Action Committee (PAC), welcome you to our
communion. We aim to unite and unionize internationally the peace
movement – under the Agreement to End Hostilities – as an ad campaign
from prison to the street.
As people of all colors, races, creeds, genders and sexualities, we
stand in solidarity with the following pledge:
Contribution to Peace
I contribute to peace when I strive to express the best of myself in my
contacts with others.
I contribute to peace when I use my intelligence and my abilities to
serve the good.
I contribute to peace when I feel compassion toward all those who
suffer.
I contribute to peace when I look upon all as my brothers and sisters
regardless of race, culture or religion.
I contribute to peace when I rejoice over the happiness of others and
pray for their well-being.
I contribute to peace when I listen with tolerance to opinions that
differ from mine or even oppose them.
I contribute to peace when I resort to dialogue rather than force to
settle any conflict.
I contribute to peace when I respect nature and preserve it for
generations to come.
I contribute to peace when I do not seek to impose my conception of God
upon others.
I contribute to peace when I make peace the foundation of my ideas and
philosophy.
The Cesar Chavez Peace Plan
The National Coalition of Barrios Unidos Summit in San Antonio, Texas,
produced the Cesar Chavez Plan in April 1996. It has become the central
organizing vehicle for the Barrios Unidos Movement.
Development of community peace agreements and truces.
Implementation of a viable violence-prevention model.
Creation of “barrio enterprise zones” for youth-centered economic
development.
Public policies to create alternatives to incarceration and the root
causes of youth violence and police brutality.
Organization mobilization of youth-centered network to access resources
for violence prevention.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We are glad to see two groups coming together
to develop plans for building peace in prisons. They sent us the above
in response to the United Front for Peace in Prisons and the 3-year old
Agreement to End Hostilities in California prisons. The agreement was
formed by and for the major lumpen organizations (LOs) in the California
prison system. It has been historic in bridging the divide between the
LOs and the various political organizations, who are all echoing the
call and working to build the prison movement in the interests of the
oppressed.