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.
Enclosed is the grievance I submitted regarding ULK 39. As you
may notice, the Chief of Corrections Operations A. David Robinson,
upheld the decision of the Publication Review Committee to censor the
publication. But if you read the third paragraph of Robinson’s response
you will notice he refers to the prison denying “the books.” Obviously,
Robinson failed to do his job.
His job is to review the publication to see if the censorship is
justified. Since ULK 39 is a newsletter and not “books,” he
could not have reviewed them. Robinson is paid at least $50,000 annually
(perhaps double that). Isn’t that too much to pay a rubber stamp yes
man?
People in combat zones get paid less than Robinson, yet he cannot be
bothered to actually perform his duty. Instead he simply acts as a robot
automatically approving the actions of his flunkies beneath him.
Also notice the date of the response is December 17, but I didn’t
receive it until January 20. I conjecture that the date is false - the
man missed the 20-day deadline but back-dated it. He had only until 21
December to respond but he probably responded January 17.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is an example of just a few of the
responses we get when attempting to fight censorship of MIM(Prisons)
literature. There is never any legitimate reason behind the censorship,
but it’s easy for prison administrators to run our comrades around in
circles with false claims and delays. These are very difficult to appeal
because the appearance of a response to a grievance is sufficient for
higher level rejections. Nonetheless, everyone who faces censorship
should be appealing it, and we can provide a guide to fighting
censorship for those who need some help. Please also report on the
outcome of your appeals and let us know what support we can send to help
with the fight. This is a critical part of the educational work we do
behind bars.
As of January 2015, my access to copies of MIM Theory magazine
in Goose Creek Correctional Center has been curtailed. Several days ago
I was given a notice from the prison’s mailroom that a “booklet” had
been sent (it was MIM Theory 2/3) from “a vendor who is not on
the approved list.” Though this vendor approval policy was instituted
DOC-wide in Alaska about two or three years ago, at every other facility
I’ve been in, including two pre-trial jails, magazines and periodicals
such as MIM Theory were exempt and I received every issue
previously sent. So, apparently, there is only a problem at Goose Creek.
I sent a request to the mailroom to consider the copy of MIM
Theory a zine, with a denial coming back. My next step was to send
a request to the security sergeant. The response from this officer was
different. Now, apparently, I’m being denied because the pages of the
magazine are “discolored” and therefore the conclusion is that the copy
is “second-hand” and “used.” Even though any “discoloration” would
likely be because the magazine is 20 years old and printed on newsprint,
it is still denied because used books are not allowed.
As of about a week ago I wrote a cop-out back saying that the copy is
not used nor second-hand, but rather a back-copy – an issue that was
kept in stock and never put into circulation. I made the analogy that it
is the same as if I had ordered from Time a back issue of their
magazine. I also pointed out that the sender is the same entity as the
original publisher/distributor and hence the copy is obviously not used.
I’m still, as of the time of this letter, awaiting a reply back, but
thus far it’s not looking encouraging. I also did ask that MIM
Distributors be placed on the Approved Vendors List.
I intend on pursuing the matter as far as is necessary. I have not
exhausted all avenues yet. I’m curious to know if anyone else has had
similar issues regarding the specific reason I’m thus far being given
for the withholding of the issue, and what remedies were taken.
MIM(Prisons) adds: In our experience with this particular reason
for censorship, it is a coin toss whether the administration will submit
to logical reasoning on whether to allow the magazine in. We don’t have
a specific recommendation on how to handle a claim that a magazine is
used when it simply isn’t. Often times we need to send in another copy
of the magazine that hopefully looks newer, or that arrives on a day
when a more rational mailroom staff persyn is working.
Censorship battles are particularly important for the prison-based
revolutionary struggle because of the educational focus of our work
right now. Our only option presently is to work with prisoners through
the mail, and the political literature that we send in is the main way
we spread information about political theory, history and current
events. When our mail is cut off we lose a critical tool in our
anti-imperialist organizing work. This comrade’s reporting of censorship
battles, and h work fighting the censorship, is a good example for
others. A lot of mail we send out is returned back to us, and frequently
mail is rejected without any notification as to why. We need people to
appeal all cases of censorship, and notify us each time censorship
happens. We can support these appeals with our own letters of protest,
but only when we know the censorship is happening. Many of you receive
Unconfirmed Mail Form letters from us asking you to tell us what mail
you received. We appreciate all the responses to these form letters, and
it would be even better if everyone kept us up to date on all mail
received so we don’t have to send out these forms. Remember, every time
you write you should tell us everything you’ve received since you last
wrote.
Censorship is often associated with editors of major news media sources
such as The National News or The New York Times, but
there is a face of censorship functioning with total immunity and
blessings from the Postmaster General in Amerika’s public institutions.
The antics of this menace are adversely affecting the lives of at least
2,000,000 citizens in California alone.
Recently it came to my attention that prisoncrats at High Desert State
Prison (HDSP) regularly trash-can, delay, and deface legal documents,
spiritual materials, submissions to media outlets, personal
correspondence, and other mail sent to various publications, media
sources, and individuals. Defacing includes stamping the body of these
manuscripts with big red blocks of ink, rendering them illegible, and
otherwise useless for their legal, spiritual, and personal intent.
Currently California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
warehouses over 160,000 captives representing an average of 11 other
friends, family and contacts that they correspond with; therefore,
nearly 2 million (1,760,000) are being subject to oppressive techniques
of prisoncrats who are boldly executing a campaign of censorship with an
arbitrary, malicious, and political agenda designed to undermine the
captives efforts to maintain family/community unity and liberate
themselves from the evils of ignorance. As a first termer captive
surviving my 42nd year, I have observed several patterns in the pigz who
squander long work-hours committing malicious acts of
censorship/oppression.
The first observation is the geographical location which acts as a
shield from public scrutiny. While the prison experience in the United
$nakes of Amerikkka today is such that one in every eleven men will be
imprisoned during his lifetime. (For Black men, the figure is
disproportionately higher - more than one of every four.) Yet most new
prisons (koncentration kamp$) are built not in Black communities, but in
white ones, usually rural white ones. A century ago, when most prisoners
were white and many had lived on farms, this might have made sense. But
not anymore. Today, most prisoners are Black (49%) or Latino (18%).
Typically, they come from the cities. Sticking them in the boondocks,
where family members have a hard time visiting, where pigz have likely
never encountered anyone like them, almost always leads to problems,
often violent ones. Yet this is where Amerika builds prisons.(1) Due to
location, captives are forced to rely primarily on written
correspondence to maintain and build strong family relationships.
The next observation is the general profile of those who commit such
malicious acts. On average the pigz working in these rural isolated
kamps are typically ultra-conservative, middle-aged, marginally
educated, white men who have little-to-no prospect for employment beyond
being prisoncrats/oppressors. An interesting paradox to note is that in
spite of their lack of higher academic learning, they earn an average
annual wage which rivals that of most teachers and health care
providers. While the state has an unemployment rate of over 7%, HDSP,
like many kamps, purposely does not hire a full workforce; therefore,
creating a scheme to reward certain fractions of pigz with overtime
hours and rates; resulting in them working excessively long hours. These
prisoncrats generally have a hostile attitude towards Blacks and Latinos
- particularly those Blacks and Latinos who are cultured, politically
conscious, and strive for strong family/community unit. These oppressors
actively seek out night shifts where they are designated to search
outgoing mail for contraband when given probable cause; however, to have
probable cause is the exception. Without probable cause, these pigz
openly express a passionate disdain for the relationships their captives
have with family/community. With malice, they seek to destroy these
relationships by defacing, delaying, and throwing away their personal,
legal, and spiritual mail.
Consider an incident on 16 February 2015 when an elder captive in
A-section became the victim of a brutal attack via several reactionaries
acting as agents for certain pigz who were attempting to suppress the
litigation of the elderly captive pursuing his rights to seek access to
the courts for human rights violations. While packing the victim’s
property, a prisoncrat was observed throwing away large volumes of the
victim’s legal and spiritual documents. This man was sent to isolation
while none of the oppressors’ agents were subject to the same
procedures. On 9 February 2015 this writer became the repeat victim of
legal/business mail tampering when an envelope from friends beyond the
walls was delivered without a letter inside. Previously this writer’s
minister sent a tax letter and form in response to my donation, which
had been defaced with red blocks of ink lettering stamped on the body of
the enclosures.
The aforementioned policies and practices may appear to be mere acts of
personal mischief of pigz, but the series of reports on
www.prisoncensorship.info
demonstrate that this is a systematic pattern of abause. The latent
effect has far broader implications than the receipt of one piece of
mail. It’s interesting to note that while it’s the intent of these
prisoncrats to disrupt and break down the family nucleus and community
ties, the stated objectives of CDCR is exactly the opposite to the
degree it reports to encourage reform via affording prisoners to develop
strong family and community ties.
There are at least three ways the larger community should respond
effectively to this form of oppression. 1) Write the Post Master General
(cc to Warden) and serve notice how this practice is adversely affecting
you as a free-citizen emotionally/personally, spiritually, and legally.
2) File (save) any legal, personal, spiritual, business, and artistic
images you have received that have been defaced in this way that could
possibly be used as evidence of unnecessary defacement. 3) Be willing to
give your material, moral, and legal support to any who have dared to
file a meritorious claim. Be advised the prisoncrats will attempt to
justify their actions by citing safety and security, which is actually a
euphemism for oppressive and malicious actions with the intent of
suppressing communication between family and community.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We echo this comrade’s call for people both
behind bars and on the streets to fight the censorship going on in
California prisons. For year’s all mail from MIM Distributors was banned
in California prisons, and that ban was overturned by coordinated legal
efforts and appeals. But censorship has not ended, it is a constant
power struggle to maintain basic First Amendment rights for the
oppressed. Mail is particularly important not only for maintaining
family and community ties but also for political education and
organizing. This is why activist prisoners find their mail specifically
targetted. It’s not about security, it’s about social control. Grieve
every incident of censorship and join the California campaign to demand
our grievances be addressed. Write to us for a copy of the grievance
petition.
Mail the petition to your loved ones inside who are experiencing issues
with the 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 below, which are also on the petition itself. Supporters
should send letters of support on behalf of prisoners.
Warden (specific to your facility)
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE P.O. Box 9778 Arlington,
Virginia 22219
ADC Office of Inspector General Mail Code 930 801 South 16th
Street Phoenix, AZ 85034
United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special
Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB Washington,
D.C. 20530
Senator John McCain 4703 S. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1 Tempe, AZ
80282
Representative Raul Grijalva 810 E. 22nd Street, Suite 102 Tucson,
AZ 85713
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
Petition updated January 2012, July 2012, December 2014, October
2017, and April 2019
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.
Secretary of Corrections Landon State Office Building 900 Jackson,
4th Floor Topeka, KS 66612
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.
Officer of General Counsel PO Box 21787 Columbia SC 29221-1787
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’ve been doing follow up on your letter of 10 September 2014 to the
Publications Review Committee [regarding the inclusion of MIM
publications on the Master Disapproved list]. So far I’ve discovered
three different Disapproved Publications Lists. To clear up the
confusion I wrote to the law library requesting the most recent list.
Instead of receiving the list, I was instructed to obtain the list from
the pod librarian. I attempted to do so, but the pod librarian has only
the Disapproved Books List and not the Disapproved Periodicals List. Of
course, MIM Theory and ULK are on the latter, not the
former. I’ve submitted yet another request for the Disapproved
Periodicals List. If I am not given the list this time, I will initiate
the grievance.
In your response to Lou Cei you indicate that he states MIM
Theory and ULK have been disapproved for reasons other
than the reasons on the Disapproved List I sent to you. Lou Cei also
states that 5 of the MIM Theories are on the list as approved for inmate
purchase.
I have located a Disapproved List that is dated March 2014. This is not
the most recent updated list. It does have 4 MIM Theories listed as
approved and 3 MIM Theories listed as disapproved. But here is the
problem: the rows and columns of the chart are not in agreement. For
example, the publication titled “Mermaids” shows an author “Elijah
Muhammad” but on the row directly below is the book “Message to the
Black Man in America” showing as author “C. Gatewood.” Obviously the
column listing the author’s names is out of sync with the column listing
titles. So it then becomes impossible to know if the column that lists
the approval status is correct. For instance, Mermaids is disapproved
but Message to the Black Man is approved.
Since I’m unable to have the list photocopied I copied pertinent
portions by hand:
MIM Dist. Level 1 Study Group Disapproved MIM Theory 2&3
Approved MIM Theory 4 Approved MIM Theory 11 Disapproved MIM
Theory 13 Disapproved MIM Theory 9 Previously Disapproved MIM
Theory 5 Diet for a Small Red Planet Approved MIM Theory M. Baalbaki
Approved Under Lock & Key #37 Disapproved Under Lock & Key
Feb. 2011 Disapproved Under Lock & Key #15 Disapproved Under
Lock & Key #27 Disapproved Under Lock & Key July/Aug 2013
Disapproved Under Lock & Key #25 Disapproved Under Lock &
Key #37 Disapproved Under Lock & Key #37 Disapproved Under
Lock & Key #20 Disapproved Under Lock & Key #26
Disapproved Under Lock & Key #23 Disapproved Under Lock &
Key #36 Disapproved Under Lock & Key #28 Disapproved
To further muddy the waters, this list shows certain publications that
are approved whereas the other lists show only those publications that
have been disapproved.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a good example of the difficulties we
encounter trying to appeal censorship in Amerikan prisons. We are often
given incomplete or incorrect information, when we can get the prisons
to respond to our protest letters at all. And prisoners trying to do the
work to gather policies and lists in order to file the appropriate
grievances are given the run around and denied necessary information. In
spite of this, we do win censorship battles through perseverance. This
comrade is doing the hard work of fighting on h end, and so we will
continue to support this battle with letters of protest of our own. We
encourage all prisoners whose mail is denied to follow up and file
grievances. And let us know what’s going on and what steps you are
taking so we can support your fight from our end.
Censorship is nothing more than an attempt by the prisons to keep us
from raising the level of education and political consciousness of
prisoners. Material that educates and organizes is disapproved, often as
a “threat to the security of the institution,” while material that
pacifies (the bible, pop culture magazines and fiction novels) is
allowed in. Politically we are opposed to the U.$. prison system; the
revolution we are fighting for to overthrow imperialism will put an end
to the criminal injustice system in the United $tates. But this is a
political question, which our bourgeois democracy deems illegal for
government agencies to repress discussion of. The practical question of
whether literature sent to prisoners by MIM Distributors is a threat to
the institutional safety and security is clearly answered in the
negative, as we know that prisoners who get involved with political
organizing are less likely to engage in violent conflicts with other
prisoners and with the prison staff.
It’s amazing how some of these institutions specifically discriminate
against Black publications from entering into their prisons, stating
their writings are offensive and inappropriate to prison standards. This
is how prejudice and bias their views are when it comes to Black
literature.
I received a notice from the Incoming Publication Review Committee at
SCI-Benner, stating that the Movement Newsletter is being
denied. They indicated that three of its pages advocated violence,
guerrilla warfare against the government, assist in criminal activity
related to prison misconduct, and its material is racially motivated
that could cause a threat to inmates, staff, and security in the prison.
This accusation is not only a derogatory attack on Black publications,
but also towards Blacks in general. They have the audacity to link a
race of people to a criminal behavior as though it’s inbred in them.
The Black community frowns on criminal activities, as well as violence,
much more so than anyone else because many are personally affected by it
one-way or the other. And for anyone to imply they abet it, is in a
state of illusion, because many of them are unfortunate victims of
crime, not participants.
Most of the Black publications are structured to educate readers on
past, and current events, give encouragement to those in despair, and to
let the community know that they are not forgotten. We’re fortunate to
have a newsletter of sure caliber as the Movement that’s
fearless, judicious, and full of profound data that’s reliable.
Newsletters such as the Movement, Graterfriends,
Fortune Society, Innocence Denied, and many others
that give a voice to those whose voices have been disregarded. They
advocate justice for those who have been denied it, and advocate humane
treatment to those men and women in captivity.
It is judged inappropriate for Black publications to denounce racial
discrimination, corruption, oppression, hypocrisy, injustice, and
whatever else infringe on the rights of others. Are they permitted to
execute their so-called Constitutional rights under the First Amendment
to freedom of speech, which includes the rights to criticize the
government or state officials? Is censorship in effect or is it just my
imagination?
MIM(Prisons) responds:The Movement is a newsletter
published by the Human Rights Coalition (HRC), which describes itself
as: “HRC’s quarterly news magazine, The Movement, is a powerful source
in public awareness that serves not only to tie prisoners to the outside
world, but also to tie the public into prison issues. It represents the
voices, faces, causes, and ideas of prisoner families and prisoners
themselves.” This is not even a New Afrikan publication, except in that
it covers prison issues and a disproportionate number of prisoners of
the United $tates are New Afrikan.
MIM(Prisons) is not surprised to see this censorship because we face
constant problems with censorship of Under Lock & Key in
prisons across the country. Prisons make up bogus reasons to deny
ULK as a threat to security because of our work educating and
organizing prisoners. Any publication that reports honestly on the
Amerikan criminal injustice system is going to include coverage of
national oppression and the struggles of New Afrikans and Chican@s in
particular. This reporting and organizing work is seen as a threat to
the prisons, but we must fight for our right to this legal form of
education.
Estoy peleando esta política del Departamento de Correcciones del Estado
de Washington; “c ) Publicaciones en lenguaje extranjero no serán
permitidas con la excepción de publicaciones religiosas.” Ellos dejan
entrar cartas en lenguaje extranjero hasta 10 paginas. Antes del 2010
ellos acostumbraban a dejarme pasar libros y magazines en español, pero
entonces ellos cambiaron esa norma.
Estoy familiarizado con el paquete de censura de MIM(prisons), pero no
hay nada que aplique a este asunto. Yo agote todas mis quejas. Su última
respuesta fue que ellos tenían intereses de seguridad y que esto era una
amenaza a la seguridad de la institución.
He escuchado que hay Estados que dejan entrar literatura en lenguaje
extranjero, ademas oí que el sistema Federal también lo hace. Estos
puercos me dijeron que no hay ley constitucional del Estado o Federal
que me apoye a recibir libros o revistas en un lenguaje extranjero.
Estoy pidiendo la ayuda de los lectores de ULK alrededor del país que me
aconsejen con una causa o ley que yo pueda usar en un argumento o
juicio. Yo no sé cómo presentar una demanda pero tengo que aprender de
algún modo. Ya escribí al ACLU y a otras organizaciones, pero ellos
nunca me dieron respuesta.
Si ustedes tienen algún consejo por favor mándenlo a MIM(Prisons). Yo
realmente se los agradeceré. Y finalmente a todos en el estado de
Washington, sería bueno si podemos unirnos en este y muchos otros
asuntos.
MIM(Prisons) agrega: Esta es una importante batalla porque esto es un
claro rechazo al acceso de materiales educacionales para toda raza, y es
especialmente importante para estos prisioneros quienes no dominan el
idioma ingles. Esta evidente opresión nacional tiene que ser peleada.
Esperamos con ansias oír de nuestros lectores con sus sugerencias de
como enfocamos mejor esta campaña.
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.