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.
No average free citizen, nor incarcerated individual, has hardly ever
heard of the term “light pollution” (otherwise known as “constant
illumination”) which is very harmful to the lives of humans and
animals.
Jailers across the country continually adopt the malevolent practice
of installing fluorescent lighting within housing cells of jail and
prison facilities alike. Officials usually have complete power to turn
the light off at night, but choose not to do so. This scheme, to my
knowledge, is a sure form of corporal punishment.
To make matters worse, sheriffs and prison guards threaten convicts
and detainees with disciplinary infractions for covering the light up at
nighttime. When officials usually have a standard-issue flashlight that
can easily be used when conducting their security checks.
Scientific studies have rendered evidence, showing how light
pollution is a contributing factor to the causation of triggering
diseases. These diseases can range from hypertension, diabetes, cancer,
and a slew of other health problems.
Light pollution initially affects our circadian rhythms, leading to
the onslaught of ensuing problems that follow afterwards, which disrupt
the systems of the body. Our circadian rhythm is the body’s internal
sleep-wake-clock, which is governed by the way light enters into our
bodies through the retinas of the eyes. Light itself, is usually
measured in the fashionable method of lumens, luxes, and candle watts.
Whenever our exposure to constant illumination is 24/7 for weeks,
months, and years, could be why a bunch of us may be experiencing health
problems, while being totally unaware that light pollution is the hidden
catalyst behind our illnesses. Especially when there’s evidence of sleep
deprivation being the main culprit.
Keenan vs. Hall, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is one of
the leading cases amongst many others in the federal district courts,
where decisions have been made on this matter that have set precedence.
Despite this, jailers continue to practice this form of penology that
brings about the needless cruel and unusual double-whammy punishments
caused by light pollution. Over the past several decades across the
country, animal facilities housing monkeys and other creatures were
forced to shut down due to those particular animals’ exposure to the dangers of
constant illumination, that was ultimately deemed to be animal
cruelty.
The question to be answered here, should one might think to ask is
this: shouldn’t the life of a human be just as much valued as a precious
animal’s life, if not more, regardless of incarceration?
MIM(Prisons) responds:This is just one of many examples
of the disregard for prisoners’ health under imperialism. The negative
impacts on the health of oppressed peoples from U.$. prison conditions
is just one contributor to a system of low-intensity genocide in this
country.
We fight for a socialist world, where prisoners’ health is taken as
seriously as that of lab animals or of any other humyn beings for that
matter. The current system dehumynizes prisoners as part of a system of
national oppression, and control of surplus populations. Through
national liberation we will build a system of rehabilitation that
recognizes the value of restoring people who have committed crimes
against the people to citizens that contribute to society.
One of the foremost promises of the Trump/Vance campaign was a
crackdown on gender expression and transgender existence in the United
$tates; we are now watching this being carried out. On his first day in
office, Donald Trump signed Executive Order (E.O.) 14168 against “gender
ideology”, and, as with most changes under his administration, the
effects of this order strike most harshly at the oppressed masses – in
this case, prisoners
in particular. This executive order states that it “shall ensure
males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention
centers.” Though its ramifications are being fought in courts, people
behind bars have already seen changes play out for trans and
gender-non-conforming prisoners. The Trump regime has also instructed
amendments to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to remove special
protection for gender non-conforming people in prisons, as ineffective
as PREA has been.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there are about 2200
transgender people in the feds, which is about 1.5% of federal
prisoners. Of those, only 20 are trans wimmin in wimmin’s prisons. While
over 1500 trans wimmin are held in men’s prisons. A prisoner in
FCI-Waseca reports that the 2 trans wimmin at that facility were
immediately packed out to go to men’s facilities, but one was returned a
week later.(Ultra Violet Vol. XXXVI, No.4, Spring 2025) The
courts have issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the E.O.,
and multiple lawsuits have been filed. Anyone interested in contacting
the lawyers who have filed the class action lawsuit (which covers all
transgender people in the BOP) against the executive order can
write:
Shawn Meerkamper, Cal. Bar No. 296964
Transgender Law Center
PO Box 70976
Oakland, CA 94612
As the basis for gender oppression is located in leisure time, and as
prisons seek to control prisoners’ leisure time to a degree rarely seen
elsewhere in this country, MIM(Prisons) identifies the struggles of
trans prisoners as a particularly sharp form of gender oppression.
Furthermore, as prisons reinforce the segregation of already-oppressed
people along “sexed” lines, gender diversity – especially among trans
wimmin – is punished both legally and extralegally behind bars. These
punitive measures have only heightened under the new administration, and
MIM(Prisons) surveyed trans prisoners regarding the recent changes.
A trans womyn at FCI Seagoville responded:
“The staff under our previous warden told the transgender prisoners
that we were to turn in all our dresses, blouses, bras and panties to
laundry and send our commissary-bought undergarments home. That lasted a
day and then the same staff told us about the E.O. stated that there was
a judicial claim that rescinded the order, therefore, go to laundry and
get your clothes back. That lasted about a month, then the warden left
under the Trump ‘federal buy out.’ Our new interim warden took our items
away, stating unless we were part of the TRO, then she could take our
items. Then said if we return our clothes ‘without a fuss,’ we could
keep our hormones… for now.
“We had a laser hair treatment machine and then after the E.O. came
out, it just up and disappeared. All our transgender programs, including
our psychology lead support group, have been eliminated.
“A trans woman has been on suicide watch ever since she was told to
turn in her girl clothes. Staff let her out after 2 weeks, sent her to
laundry. The supervisor there said ‘you are a man, in a man’s prison,
therefore you will wear man clothes.’ She went to psychology, where they
basically told her that ‘we can’t help you.’ She went back on suicide
watch and is still there.
“The transgender women here decided to hold our own support group out
on the recreation yard. That lasted about 3 weeks, until the interim
warden shut it down supposedly because drugs were found on the
yard.”
The imposition of gender as a repressive system is clear here, with
the confiscation of clothes items, and the forceful insistence that one
of the girls discussed “is a man in a man’s prison.” These prison staff
taking glee in sexually, verbally, and physically attacking these trans
prisoners on the basis of gender are undoubtedly gender oppressors (see
MIM
Theory 2/3: Gender and Revolutionary Feminism).
With regards to the shutting down of the support group, we see these
repressive tactics wielded against any group of prisoners that poses a
threat to the system. More often, we see these slanderous lies
about drugs and crackdown on leisure time wielded against political
organizers, but clearly the prison administration sees trans wimmin
discussing their lives and struggles as something dangerous. We would
love to exchange ideas around gender with this group and others and
offer the pages of ULK as an organizing space as you struggle
to keep your local group functioning.
In FCI Seagoville, local USW comrades are helping organize the
transgender wimmin incarcerated there. The linking of the struggle for
transgender rights to the movement for broader solidarity in prisons is
excellent, and we hope that the comrades there continue to build broad
unity.
A trans man from FMC Carswell was not able to fully respond to
our survey:
“I was just released from suicide watch 3 days ago. Things are hard
and oppressive as well as slanderous but I’ll speak on these things when
I’m in the right headspace.”
Ey went on to forward us documents regarding a legal case ey’s filing
against the designated wimmin’s prison, telling us that the Trump
administration’s decree that trans prisoners cannot access transgender
medical or mental health services has led to eir self-injurious
tendencies worsening, and that ey is suing on the grounds that they are
not giving em proper treatment to keep em safe.
The willingness to take away services at the risk of peoples’ lives
exposes the inhumanity of this system. Gender oppression is a system and
until we destroy it people will be subject to such treatment.
A trans womyn from USP Tucson reported:
“[The prison guards are] glad that [the executive order] is being
done so that they can stop all this… We used to only be able to be pat
down by female guards, now that’s gone and male guards can touch us like
that!”
This E.O. further drives home how what we understand as “gender” –
that is, one’s relation to gender oppression – is neither defined solely
by chromosomes, nor biological sex, nor identity. Certainly, strip
searches and cavity searches are sexually violating, and are a form of
gendered violence that people face by the very fact of being a prisoner
of the United $tates. We wholeheartedly stand with this comrade in
agreement that the imposition of male guards on trans wimmin is
dangerous and shows how this executive order has nothing to do with
“safety.”
However, we’d like to solicit input both from this womyn and from any
other prisoners reading, regarding whether having strip searches by
female guards is less violating. We have printed many reports and statistics
exposing the role of female staff in gender the oppression of
prisoners.(see ULK No. 1) So we think there’s more to do to
stop sexual assault.
This comrade from Tucson also reported that there are 25 to 32 other
transgender wimmin in eir prison, and that ey has been taking charge in
helping to keep them all calm. Solidarity between prisoners is a
necessary first step for the struggle for a world free of all forms of
oppression. Sanity and solidarity are necessary in this time, but
ultimately are useless without a clear understanding of the ways to
fight back (both in the short term – grievances, petitions, legal suits
– and in the long term, fighting for a classless, and thus genderless,
world). Can you turn your support group into a study group, or a group
designated to supporting each others’ grievance campaigns, work/hunger
strikes, etc.? Make contact with USW members to organize with them, as
the wimmin in Seagoville have done, or join USW? We can think of no
better way to support each other than to stand up for each other.
If Trump’s recent executive orders have shown us anything, it’s that
concessions from the bourgeoisie towards oppressed people – trans
healthcare, media representation, things like that – can be taken away
just as quickly as they are granted. Oppression against trans people
represents the cutting edge of gender-based oppression in the United
$tates today, and trans prisoners are feeling it the most sharply.
Nobody is made safer by commissaries no longer carrying makeup and
bras, or by prisoners being denied even the right to choose the name
they use. The gender-oppressors in this country are by and large united
around a reactionary return to “biological gender.” Just as there’s no
such thing as “human nature” abstracted away from society, there’s no
such thing as “biological gender” in a vacuum. No humyn is born
biologically predisposed to desire makeup and small underwear, nor is a
humyn born biologically predisposed to cut their hair short. Gender is a
complex system almost entirely social in nature, and MIM(Prisons)
defends those attacked by reactionaries who have at the heart of their
attacks not “safety” or “logic” but a lashing out at the erosion of the
hetero-patriarchal nuclear family.
In a world free from oppression, what would gender look like? We
don’t know for sure. What we do know, though, is that deviations from
the rigid, Euro-Amerikan-centered, patriarchal gender system would see
space for gender oppressed individuals to flourish rather than being
punished as they are in the United $tates.
The current rollback on transgender rights is alarming and dangerous,
but we can’t get caught up in simply attacking one axis of oppression
without attacking the whole thing – the dominance of the oppressor
class, epitomized in the world today by imperialism and in the United
$tates by national oppression (of which incarceration is a significant
part). Joining the anti-imperialist movement is the fastest path to
ending oppression of all people.
by a North Carolina prisoner January 2025 permalink
Revolutionary Greetings,
Things here are intense!! There’s a struggle among the prisoners
beginning to form. With us being in solitary confinement it’s nearly
impossible for us to physically correct the enemy so it’s been decided
that guerrilla warfare tactics will be used (sour milk/feces are being
thrown on them). Two have been “gassed” within the past week. This may
sound like nothing, however komrade you must overstand prior to me
arriving here the overall group of prisoners on RHCP here were docile.
As soon as I got situated here a couple prisoners sent kites my way
expressing how we need to put down a demonstration to get things changed
back here. It’s been a slow process, I was recently able to get our list
of demands to someone out of all 8 blocks back here. We’re waiting to
see if everyone is in unity with the demands:
Have maintenance fix the hot water – we’ve had no hot water in
the shower or in our cells for over a month now
Have maintenance fix the heat – they have the AC blasting in the
middle of winter. Komrade it’s so cold that we have to wear three to
four layers of clothes when out from under the blankets
Give us inside rec – they are using the excuse that it’s too cold
to go outside, or they will offer us rec but it’s way too cold to be
outside. There are inside rec cages but the unit manager refuses to
allow us to use them even though I showed him the policy that supports
our grievance.
Provide us with adequate food – due to their laziness we are
given small styrofoam trays instead of the regular seg trays, so they
won’t have to come back and pick the trays up. The styrofoam trays only
have three slots for food to go in. Pursuant to policy we’re supposed to
get a certain amount of food. We’re only getting half of the required
calories.
Provide adequate mental and physical healthcare – this is by far
the worst medical staff I’ve seen. Sick calls go unanswered, self meds
are frequently lost or are given to the wrong prisoners. There are guys
back here that obviously need some mental healthcare, but yet they are
left to battle their disorders alone.
Allow the gay and transgender to be housed together on the same
tier and given their own shower – I’m catching flak behind this demand.
The hierarchical structure of the lumpen orgs preclude any form of
socialization or respect with or towards these groups of prisoners. The
L.O.’s forbid their homies from aiding any such person. But like I’ve
been telling them how can we say we’re fighting oppression when we’re
oppressing!
In the early hours of Wednesday, December 4th, a masked gunman shot
the CEO of United $tates insurance company UnitedHealthcare, Brian
Thompson, to death in the bustling streets of New York City. By midday,
CCTV footage of the act had gone viral across the internet and
traditional news media, spawning endless narratives and theories.
Simultaneously, the high-profile nature of the shooting prompted a
national manhunt to search for the suspect. The shooter evaded capture
for five days, but ey was eventually arrested after a tip was called in
by a McDonald’s employee in rural Pennsylvania.
As communists operating in the United $tates, how are we to
understand this event? What does the event itself and its resulting
fallout tell us about the political landscape we work within? If we wish
to live up to the title of being Marxists, the only answer to these
questions is that we must conduct a, as Lenin put it, “concrete analysis
of concrete conditions.” Let us begin with the facts of the case.
The Facts
The name of the alleged shooter is Luigi Mangione. As laid out in eir
so-called ‘manifesto’, Luigi’s motivation for the shooting is a disdain
for U.$. healthcare insurance companies in general and UnitedHealthcare
in particular. The origin of this disdain likely lies in a combination
of Luigi’s persynal interactions with health insurance companies through
eir struggles with back pain as well as the more widespread antagonism
between the U.$. population and health insurance companies.
Luigi comes from a well-connected family which has its roots in the
suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Eir grandfather ran several successful
business ventures which guaranteed employment and prosperity for the
next generations of the Mangione family as they have now taken the reins
on the family businesses. Luigi emself attended a private high school
before attending the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania where ey got
eir degree in computer science in 2020. According to Luigi’s family and
friends, ey ceased all communication with them in July 2024. Presumably,
Luigi spent the time between then and December planning the shooting,
which we will now focus on.
As mentioned, the shooting itself took place on the morning of 4
December 2024. Interestingly, Luigi employed a 3D-printed firearm to
commit the shooting, which marks the first time such a weapon has been
used in such a high-profile case. Immediately after, Luigi evaded the
swarms of police by traveling via foot, cab, and e-bike before boarding
a train towards Philadelphia. Not much else is known about Luigi’s
whereabouts and travels during the 5 days between the shooting and eir
arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The biggest takeaway here is how easily Luigi evaded both the NYPD
and the FBI for an extended period of time. If Luigi had continued
traveling, discarded the evidence ey carried on em, or put any effort
into changing eir appearance, it’s likely that ey would have never been
caught. But this is simply speculation on our parts. Let us now turn
from the objective facts of the case to the realm of ideology.
Luigi’s Ideology
To understand why Luigi Mangione shot Brian Thompson, we must first
understand eir ideology. The only clues we have towards this
understanding are scattered social media posts as well as the
aforementioned “manifesto” Luigi had on em when ey was arrested. While
we’ll primarily focus on the “manifesto”, we will first highlight one of
Luigi’s social media posts where ey reviews the writings of Ted
Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. In this review, Luigi highlights
how Kaczynski was “rightfully imprisoned” because ey “maimed innocent
people” but that these were the actions of an “extreme political
revolutionary.” Luigi’s review finishes by quoting multiple paragraphs
from a Reddit comment expounding how violence is the only method we have
at our disposal to fight back against “our overlords.”
Now, turning to the “manifesto”, we wish to give our readers the
fullest picture possible, so we have included below a full copy of the
writing that was recovered when Luigi was arrested:
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do
for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly
that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some
elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral
notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that
illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work
in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any
strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply
had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare
system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United
is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind
only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as [sic] our
life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply
gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense
profit because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away
with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space,
and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out
the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed
(e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It
is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at
play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal
honesty.”(1)
Let us take a closer look at this writing. Luigi begins with
saying:
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do
for our country.”
To those who proclaim Luigi is spreading “class consciousness” or
that ey is a revolutionary, this single sentence should shatter all
illusions. If an ally of yours said ey respects federal agents (of the
FBI, CIA, etc.) for what they “do for our country,” would you be on eir
side? Our answer to this question is a resounding Fuck
No.
What else does Luigi write about? Ey brings up some rudimentary
statistics about life expectancy in the United $tates and market
capitalization before asserting that U.$. corporations have “gotten too
powerful” and “they continue to abuse our country for immense profit
because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away with it.”
This strikes us as similar to the proposition that the Amerikkkan public
is “brainwashed” (how? by whom? why?) into merely passively accepting
the capitalist-imperialist world-system. This stands in opposition to
our political line which is that Euro-Amerikans actively embrace
imperialism (consciously or not) as the primary source of their wealth
via super-profits extracted from the Third World proletariat.
Luigi ends eir writing by admitting that ey is not “the most
qualified person to lay out the full argument” for the issues of the
U.$. health insurance system but assures us that ey is, “evidently […]
the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”
How high and mighty! Luigi is “evidently” the first to break through
the veil of ignorance which plagues the rest of us. Though we would
contend that there are perhaps a few people who have come before
Mr. Mangione who have faced the “corruption and greed” of the healthcare
industry (which is only a particular form of capitalist industry in
general) with “such brutal honesty.” Off the top of our heads, we can
think of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, or
Huey Newton, just to name a few. These are of course only the most
popular figureheads of past communist movements. In reality, there are
millions who have stood their ground against the imperialist-bourgeoisie
and lost their lives for it. But no matter their sacrifice, for we have
been blessed with the gift of the wealthy Euro-Amerikan from Maryland
showing us the path forward!
So where does all this leave us? Is Luigi really a Marxist
revolutionary who has been sent down from the Heavens to end the
oppression of the masses? Of course not. Luigi’s writings and musings
are nothing more than regurgitations of the same social fascist populism
that is reminiscent of the messaging around Bernie
Sander’s presidential campaigns combined with an impetus towards
political violence. Discontent with the healthcare insurance industry is
normal everyday politics for people living in the United $tates. All
Luigi did was elevate this discontent from the level of complaining on
the internet or attending protests to killing a CEO. An escalation of
force, to be sure, but not one that is qualitatively different in its
nature.
The Public’s Reaction
However critical we may be of Luigi Mangione, ey is only an
individual. It would be an error to narrowly focus on the individual
agents of hystory rather than the political trends and their material
causes which compel individuals to act the way they do. So what trend
underlies the actions of Luigi? And how has this been reflected in the
public’s reaction to the killing?
Broadly, reactions to the shooting can be grouped into one of two
camps: condemnations of Luigi’s actions or celebrations of them.
Those who condemn Luigi tend to do so from a position of superficial
pacifism wherein you must be totally against violence in all situations
– unless it benefits yourself or your nation. A vast majority of U.$.
politicians fall into this group as well as a sizable portion of the
U.$. citizenry. Typically hailing from the upper strata of U.$. society,
these individuals are largely hypocritical and uninteresting for our
purposes here. After all, even a child can identify the contradiction
that’s present when one mourns the death of a single CEO while
simultaneously advocating for imperialist armies to indiscriminately
murder the oppressed.
On the other side, there are large swaths of people who view Luigi as
a “folk hero” or a “savior” and exist somewhere on the spectrum between
sympathizing with or admiring Luigi. Typically viewed as part of the
Amerikan “left” (though we have observed both Democrats and Republicans
expressing these views), this group wishes for healthcare reform in
order to ease up on the contradictions intrinsic to the capitalist
system. More specifically, these individuals fall into the same category
of social fascist labor aristocrats as Luigi. Their class status as
labor aristocrats is being threatened by the “greedy” capitalists of the
health insurance corporations who want to take away their hard-earned
wealth (i.e. superprofits from the Third World) and Luigi’s actions are
simply one response to this threat. So long as their aim is narrowly
limited on what can be done to improve the lives of Amerikans rather
than taking a revolutionary approach to understand what can be done to
improve the lives of all humyns, they remain enemies of the
international proletariat.
This graph helps illustrate the demographics of either group as well
as the proportions of the U.$. population that fall into either side. We
also must wonder if the 20% support for Luigi Mangione among Amerikans
would translate to support for retribution for the killing of Robert
Brooks by New York prison guards and the slow genocide of New
Afrikan men in U.$. prisons? We probably all know the answer to this
question.
Though there is a real ideological divide between the two
aforementioned groups, it would be wrong to overstate the width of this
divide. Both groups are merely two factions of the white supremacist
Amerikkkan establishment which exploits the Third World in order to
secure their own prosperity.
Our Thoughts
Where do we lie in this divide? You certainly won’t find us shedding
tears over a dead CEO, disavowing violence, or proclaiming pacifism, but
you also will not see us celebrating Luigi Mangione as some sort of hero
of the oppressed. Instead, we view Luigi as merely the latest
manifestation of labor aristocracy angst towards the imperialist leaders
of the United $tates. If either of Luigi’s actions or political line
were rooted in revolutionary politics, we’d be a bit more sympathetic to
em. But as it stands, Luigi’s lone wolf killing is both tactically inept
and ideologically confused.
More broadly, we understand the struggle of people in the United
$tates for more comprehensive healthcare. But rather than trying to
secure healthcare for Amerikans only, why don’t we set our sights on
securing healthcare for all people? Why should we advocate for petty
reforms like getting earlier colonoscopies for middle-aged Amerikans
when millions die each year in the Third World from easily-preventable
diseases because of imperialist wealth extraction? or when U.$. weapons
are used to murder doctors and bomb hospitals in Gaza? This is a topic
comrades have written
on before in relation to the Affordable Care Act(3), and it clearly
remains relevant today. Even if we limit our scope to be within U.$.
borders, the lack of healthcare that’s available for prisoners is a much
more pressing issue than the reforms which the social fascists are
seeking. It’s well documented how healthcare,
and lack thereof, is used as a tool to punish and torture
prisoners(4) rather than being recognized as a constitutional
right.
Circling back to the central topic of this article, the question
still stands: will this shooting actually change anything about the
healthcare industry? Almost certainly not. But it has provided an
opportunity for the fascism of the labor aristocracy to rear its head in
a particularly brazen fashion through the actions of Luigi Mangione. As
the U.$. labor aristocracy is faced with political chaos both at-home
and abroad, they will resist the ever-looming threat of
proletarianization. Will they recover and maintain their position in the
imperialist world system? Will the U.$. population come face-to-face
with proletarianization as global inter-imperialist conflicts intensify?
We cannot say which is the case. The only thing we are sure of is that
the actions of Luigi Mangione have provided a unique insight into the
political terrain we operate in within U.$. borders. As communists, we
must harness this insight and use it to guide our political action so
that we may empower the international proletariat in their struggle
against capitalist-imperialism. The only path forward is revolution.
I recently received my first Under Lock and
Key (Winter 2023, No. 80) newsletter. I really wish I’d been
receiving it years ago, cuz it’s a good read, and very informative.
Just read page 7. Drug addiction remains a primary barrier to unity,
and I would like more info on United Struggle from Within’s
Revolutionary 12 Step training program. And if, and how, I can
get involved, cause here in the Illinois prison system, drugs have
become a major issue, especially since Covid hit. Prisoners are having
their people dip/spray letters, cards, books, magazines, and even
obituaries with drugs and other chemicals in order to eat or smoke the
paper to get some type of high. Whatever these guys are smoking is
causing them to have episodes such as freaking out, seizures, and even
O.D.ing. It’s so bad at times you can see a smoke cloud in the air, and
C.O.’s, Sgt’s, Lt’s, and even Major’s have been on a wing during this
and have done nothing but tell the wing to put that shit out and spray
something in order to cover up the odor, and they’ve even said, smoke it
at your own risk and don’t call for help if you O.D. There ain’t a unit,
wing, or housing that don’t have an issue with this stuff. Seg and even
the infirmary are smoking it up. To a point the staff have given up
trying to get this under control and these substances have caused
multiple issues for all of us in here.
They’ve gotten real strict on the mail and what we receive and how we
receive mail such as letters, cards, photos, and books/magazines.
They’ve told us that our letters can’t be more than 3 pages, we can’t
receive 2-ply cards, and they can’t have any glitter on them. All photos
have to go through a company such as Freeprints or Pelipost, can’t come
from our family, friends, Walmart, or Walgreens any more. All books and
magazines must come from a vendor or company, and even then, a lot is
not allowed, no hard cover books, and can’t be over a certain size.
Also, it plays on us prisoners that have health issues and altered
immune systems such as myself. I have breathing issues and I’ve even had
a sinus surgery in order to open my nose so I could breathe better. And
I use a rescue inhaler and have been put in by my surgeon to have a
sleep study done due to my breathing and my surgeon has even said that I
need a CPAP machine which is what the sleep study is for.
I’ve even gotten into arguments/fights with cellies that I’ve had
over them wanting to smoke this stuff.
I have wrote the warden and the placement officer multiple times, the
warden has never responded. And it took me three times writing the
placement officer before I got a response. I had asked, “which wings
exactly are the non-smoking wings?” “This is a smoke-free institution.”,
word-for-word the response I was given.
Staff C.O.’s and nurses crack jokes and talk about how bad the
smoking is on a unit or on a wing, and I’ve heard/been told by a few
C.O.’s and nurses that some staff have lawsuits in due to them coming in
contact with said substance and/or smoke.
There is nowhere in this prison that is smoke free, and with them not
having a place for those of us that don’t want to be around this stuff,
they are putting us in harm’s way and putting our health at risk.
A couple questions: is this a violation of my rights? What should/can
I do about it?
Please help me if you can, thank you!
Please send me the Grievance Campaign – petition for Illinois.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is the same story we’ve
been hearing across the country, and one of the reasons we launched our
Revolutionary 12 Step program when we did. It’s almost as if
this drug plague prisoners are facing was intentional. You should have
received a copy of our 12 Step program by now. Unfortunately we do not
have an active training program. But we are looking for experienced
comrades to restart our training program, and for comrades on the ground
to implement the program and send in reports on its successes and
failures and how to improve it. This is an important challenge that the
anti-imperialist prison movement must overcome to be successful.
Is the smoke a violation of the law? Yes, as the staff told you it is
a non-smoking facility and you have a legal right to not be exposed to
second hand smoke there. The Smoke-Free Illinois Act (SFIA) of 2008
forbids smoking in all buildings (with exceptions like homes and
designated hotel rooms), where smoking is defined as:
“Smoke” or “smoking” means the carrying, smoking, burning, inhaling,
or exhaling of any kind of lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette, hookah, weed,
herbs, or any other lighted smoking equipment. “Smoke” or “smoking”
includes the use of an electronic cigarette.
Is the smoke a violation of your rights? Well, we’d say there are no
rights, only power struggles. So you can use the SFIA to grieve this
issue, but if they don’t listen you’ll have to get organized, find
allies inside or outside and apply pressure. We’ve sent you the
grievance petition, this is one tool you can use to try to organize
people around this issue.
The oppression which prisoners face in this country is one result of
the global system of imperialism whose primary victims are the oppressed
nations globally, meaning that this system is our primary enemy. We must
spread the word that prisoners in this country are suffering because the
Amerikan empire’s wealth is based on class and national barriers; the
Amerikan nation does not want to share its privileged position with
Black and Brown people, so they restrict them from employment, from
education, from housing, and force them into a life in the
“underground.” The solution for the oppressed is not to fight to get
into the club, but to unite with the oppressed in the Third World to
destroy the club system as a whole and build a socialist world. A world
where peoples’ needs are put first, not the current world where people
are constantly struggling for petty basic rights like not to have your
life threatened by toxic smoke.
The term “Gospel” really just means “Good News”… so I bring to my
fellow comrades “The Gospel According to Firewater!” :D
’Behold fellow sufferers who are locked in hot, filthy cages and
begging for cold water… I bring you Good News as given to me through the
Power and Grace of Lexis Nexis! Last night while I was unable to sleep
due to heat, excessive gas and stomach troubles due to the unholy waters
of this evil unit, the Great and all knowing Lexis Nexis spoke to me
through the “Search All” button when I typed in “Extreme Heat TDCJ.” Low
and behold: Tiede v. Collier, 2024 U.S. dist LEXIS 105904, U.S.D.C.
Western Dist of Texas, Austin Division; Cause no. 1:23-CV-1004-RP;
2024 WL 3016562. Prior History: Tiede v. Collier, 2023 U.S. Dist LEXIS
173756; 2023 WL 6345966 (W.D. Tex Sept 28, 2023; 1:23-CV-1004-RP) It
appears that the great LEXIS has heard our cries for help and Just-ICE!
There are a whole bunch of Legal Eagles involved in this action and have
formed 5 groups to sue Bryan Collier on behalf of ALL TDCJ prisoners!
And the courts are not giving Collier any breaks so far! This is good
news that has been too long in coming but Firewater has a good feeling
about this one! Here on the Coffield Unit Firewater has been organizing
a grievance campaign to address the Emergency Needs of prisoners during
our first heat wave of the season. This Unit was not prepared and we had
no ice water at all for hours at a time during triple-digit temperatures
and triple-digit heat indices!
We filed emergency grievances (about 8-10) on T-wing, and of course,
Firewater’s was improperly screened out because he had already submitted
a grievance about being housed in a non-air-conditioned unit during the
hot summer months. So the Grievance Investigator (G.I.) claimed that I
am only allowed 1 grievance every 7 days and totally ignored not only
the big printed “Emergency Grievance” at the top of the step one but
also the content that stated that we were being denied access to ice
water during a Heat Wave/Heat Advisory. That’s okay though, all I had to
do is add some more recent facts and names and dates to the step one and
wait for the appropriate time to re-file. Our inmate handbook clearly
states on pages 74-75(G. #2):
“Only one grievance shall be processed every seven days [with the
exception of a disciplinary and emergency grievances.]”
SEE ALSO: Valentin v. Collier. Civil Action 4:20-CV-1115,
U.S.D.C. (S.D.TX, Houston Div. 2020). Valentine v. Collier, 2020 U.S.
Dist LEXIS 112807 (Medical Emergency)!!! NO ICE WATER I think would
qualify as a “Medical Emergency” during a Texas heat wave! But we still
have to play by their rules even though Firewater knows the G.I. is
wrong! Because the grievance system which does not recognize no ice
water to be a “Medical Emergency” means that the grievance system
“operates as a simple dead end!”
Anyway – Firewater is in Cage #209 and the recording equipment for
temperatures etc. is locked in Cage 222, just 13 cages down the run/row.
So at 3:00pm every day a Warden, Major, or other high ranking guard will
pass by Firewater’s cage on their way to download the last 24 hour
weather info from Cage 222, onto a Smartphone and email it in or
whatever they have to do with it. So Firewater has opportunities to ask
them questions. We are typically locked in our cells at 2:00pm daily for
count, therefore cutting off access to the Igloo which has our cold
water and ice in it and of course we are locked in our cages @ night
from 10:30 pm to 4:00 am when sometimes the daily heat does not go away
until 6:00 am.
So, there are problems with AD-10.64’s claims that we have unlimited
access to ice & cold water and 24/7 access to respite. Especially
when we are locked in cages and the zookeepers never come to check on us
like AD-10.64 tells them to do “wellness checks”. Anyway, I hope the
litigation in Austin is the final nail in Bryan Collier, Ken Paxton and
Greg Abbott’s coffins with regards to air conditioning these human
ovens.
On 6 September 2023 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison system mandated a statewide Lockdown due to the number of deaths related to drugs: a total of 16. They think that will stop the flow of drugs, but you and I know that it will not. You and I know that as long as you have officers that are willing, it will continue.
…Most here are having to do all of their sentence, and some have said fuck it, I will continue to get high. They don’t have to worry about going to jail, cause they are already in jail. But it seems to be that the only ones making parole are the ones that consistently stay high. Do you think that if more were making parole that would cut down on some of the drugs being used?
Choper reports from Bill Clements on the same day: The Bill Clements Unit has been continually operating at 20% to 30% short of staff for three straight years now. In Ad-Seg I have had my 1 hour out of cell 4 times in 2 years. We have had spaghetti sauce and beans 2x per day every day for 90+ days. Commissary always has an excuse why they don’t run and library runs roughly 6x per year instead of weekly.
The wardens and majors and rank walk through and focus on taking down pictures and string lines. Micromanaging the small shit instead of handling real issues like starvation and excessive suicide. There is no medical provider on staff here so don’t run medical. No mental health. Prescriptions run out long ago and nobody to refill.
Today we are on lockdown because they can’t control contraband: this itself is an admission of failure by staff. I mean you can’t manage 20-30% staff? WTF would they do with 100% staff? Their incompetence is killing, literally killing us. As in deaths. A lot of them.
A Connally Unit prisoner wrote on 25 September 2023: I am currently G5 custody level being held at Connally Unit in Kennedy, Texas at a Texas State Prison (TDCJ). We are currently on lockdown. I believe all TDCJ is under lockdown. Apparently they are cracking down on narcotics and any other form of contraband. We have been on lockdown since Wednesday, 6 September 2023. Correction, that was an annual lockdown. We had a restriction lockdown on 24 August 2023, and we have been on lockdown ever since.
Our last commissary day, the last time we actually hit, was on August 21st. I believe we are supposed to go every 30 days or so, at least a hygiene store and we haven’t had any of that! The first restriction lockdown was placed (not formally but rumor goes) because someone snitched gave TDCJ staff heads up about some contraband and people involved. Who and what I am not sure. I am not allowed out of the cell except for showers! Up until recently they was not running showers regularly.
We received tablets (all G5 custody) on Tuesday, 19 September 2023. Since then things have gotten way better! Showers run more regularly, food comes at reasonable times. We get cold water runs! The food portions are better than before. The fires have stopped! You know, I am not sure if visitation is now open. The terrors have since stopped though! What a relief. Ok, so the terrors began on the 1st day of restriction lockdown (8/24) I couldn’t see much and didn’t know what was going on but they raided (shookdown) a couple people’s cells in 8 Building L pod 3 section. We was never informed that we was placed on restriction lockdown or why. I found out gossip from another inmate.
Since day one, no showers, no cold water runs, no heat respite, (I don’t believe G5’s get any respite) small food portions and they would run late. It is extremely hot in Connally. It is even hotter back here. Connally Unit is a down south Texas max security unit. There have been multiple times I have passed out due to the heat, woken up with major headaches, bloodshot eyes, and chapped lips!
…They shook us down on September 9th, Saturday. They didn’t finish the whole building til 15th or 16th, which is about when we got our dearly beloved SSI’s back!!! The suffering ends, partially… When they shook us down – cell search – they took the whole section out cell by cell in cuffs, and placed half the section in one side multi-purpose room and the other half in another multi-purpose room.
We came back to a Great Mess! Haha, I don’t mind the mess, I had to re-organize my belongings anyways. I wonder why they would ask us to place our things, all of our property, neatly on our own bunks, mattress like this and that, come back to our things mixed up?! Comical! One dude went hysterical, yelling at the laws and complaining about coffee spilled on all his property! Clothes, sheets, family pictures, etc. Then, here come the fires! Multiple inmates was angry, each with their own complaints. By this time the guards had given up on putting out the fires. Which is unpleasant, adding heat literally to the already hot building and smoke. Many times I had to cover up not to breath the toxic carbon monoxide! The section gets so full of smoke it’s completely black. I figured the best thing to do was place one fan by the door blowing outwards and a fan by the window blowing hot air in. I would have to place a wet towel on the door to keep smoke from coming in. Every day was something new, every day an issue appeared! Every day a fire was made, some two, some three at a time, two or three times a day… The last fire was put out by an officer, a sergeant.
16 March 2023 – Here at Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI), we have implemented the below program. We turned in over 200 copies to the Governor of Maryland, state delegates and senators. We also sent copies to the Commissioner of Corrections and the Warden. We are still sending copies out on the compound to have brothers do their part.
We have been met with a few obstacles but we still are struggling against intel (they’re like Prison FBI, Gang Task Force, etc.), they started going in to cells searching for these papers. They even complemented the organization for our resistance (even though they’re trying to lock us up). After the people heard about intel and their continued and increased oppression some brothers got discouraged and actually returned some of the copies. It broke my heart to see such cowardice in men. But the sacrifices of those that came before us motivates me to keep pushing.
I want to thank MIM and all the comrades involved with MIM that helped me learn from the materialist method. This form of resistance I took was a page out of MIM’s book and I appreciate it. But what we need here at ECI for there to be change is outside support. So if you comrades are reading this or are listening. Please contact these numbers and write these addresses in order to bring about change more quickly.
Delegate Charles Otto 309 Lowe House Office Building 6 Bladen Street Annapolis, MD 21401
Governor Wesmoore 100 State Central Annapolis, MD 21401-1925
Senator Mary Beth Carozza 316 Jame Senate Office Building 11 Bladen Street Annapolis, MD 21401
Commissioner of Corrections 6776 Reistertown Road Baltimore, MD 21215
We the incarcerated citizens of ECI feel we are not being treated as we should and we want change. Incarcerated yes, but we are still human beings. The conditions we are forced to live in are inadequate to say the least. The opportunity for rehabilitation is insufficient and because this is the case recidivism seems inevitable. As such, a place built on the pretense of rehabilitation becomes a concentration camp. It becomes a place where people are waiting to die. Our recreation has been reduced, our visits have been reduced and our meals have gotten worse. Along with these there are many more things we want changed, but here below we highlight the ones we deem most important.
Request #1. Educational Opportunities
We request access to college education along with training in trades that will serve us when we return to society. We also ask that proper tutoring be provided to those that struggle in certain subjects. It must be understood that lack of education played a major role in our bad decision making that lead us to prison, so it only make sense that education play a role in our rehabilitation.
Request #2. Employment
We want jobs for all able-bodied incarcerated citizens. We also ask that we be paid minimum wage for these jobs. Please understand that many of us were the sole provider for our family, so to not grant us this request may result in our family turning to criminal activity to pay bills out of desperation.
Request #3. Programs
We want programs that address our individual needs. For we understand that every incarcerated citizen isn’t locked up for the same crime. Therefore we believe each individual should be programmed off his individual crime and sentence. This is the only way to properly rehabilitate us.
Request #4. Medical
We ask for faster response to our sick calls. Every time we are told to put a sick call in by the time we get called for it, the issue is worse off or it has spread. We are asking for a switch in medical protocol. By this we mean to proper test to be ran based off the patient’s feeling. The issue may need an X-ray or MRI. These things should not wait until the problem worsens in order to carry out these minor procedures. We demand that our health issues to be paid close attention to because the lack of attention may result in an unnecessary death of an incarcerated citizen.
Request #5. Psych/Therapy
We want proper psycho analysis to be done on each incarcerated citizen in order to understand his actual mental problems. For we understand that our actions are a result of our mental workings so if we act in a manner that is unfitting it is the result of our brain work. We do not wish to be doped up on psych meds that will only have us ‘Zombified’. We want actual treatment that will identify our problems so we can work on them. We understand that therapy is important to health and to deny us this tool is to deny us our right to be healthy.
Request #6. Sanitation
Our sanitation time is not enough to thoroughly clean the tiers the way that is needed. Our showers contain black mold and no matter the day our tier is not fully clean. This is not the workers fault it is because the shortage of time. What we want is an extended time period for sanitation workers, an increase in sanitation workers. And to do so by hiring workers from that tier. This we understand is a matter of health and not to address this matter is to disregard the health of the incarcerated citizens of ECI.
Request #7. Hygiene
We demand more than one wash day out of the week. We shower everyday but do not possess the amount of clothes we need to sustain good hygiene throughout the week without washing our clothes more than one time. We want C-shift laundry men to be hired to do the workers clothes so that they won’t be in the way of general population’s clothes. Also we want weekend wash days to be added. We are asking for soap and soap powder to be distributed weekly to those who need it. We understand that there is a such thing as welfare commissary that will provide these things but to meet the qualifications one must show proof of no income for months in order to receive these benefits when the effects of not showering or washing are immediate.
Request #8. Recreation
We request mixed recreation; top and bottom together. The separation limits our yard and gym access to only 3 times a week. Along with this limitation is an extended period of time where we have to sit in the cell dirty. By this I mean if we choose to participate in all 3 days of gym/yard there will be a day where we are either last or first and the top will have second rec. So that will mean that we will have to wait a minimum of 6 hours and 30 minutes before we shower depending on what yard we have. This in turn will limit our gym/yard to 2 days if we don’t want to sit in the cell dirty. Not to mention the negative health effects from sitting in the cell for that long without a shower. (Example: people breaking out into rashes).
Request #9. Visits
We demand that in person visits be once a week. This will increase our opportunities to see our families. The majority of us cannot get our families to make the trip without scheduling a day around it because of the 4 hour journey it takes to get to ECI. Increasing the visit to once a week will increase our family’s availability. We also ask that for those families that are 4 hours away be given an extended visit of 2 hours. Lastly we ask that the process to acquire visitation be less difficult for us and our families. Being able to see our loved ones is vital to our mental health and it plays a major role in the way we act.
Request #10. Food
We request that our menu be changed to food we deem desirable. We want food that free people would eat. Fresh food that’s nutritious. We are also asking for portions fit for grown men, because the time in which we eat and the quantity of food we eat leaves us hungry waiting for the next meal. So we request a change.
Request #11. Dietary Sanitation
The kitchen is infested with roaches and mice that leave urine and feces all over the place. And because of this we demand that pest control come once a week until we have a pest free kitchen. There should be no reason this kitchen pass inspection with this infestation. As such we demand change.
Request #12. Grievance
We request that our grievances be dealt with separate from the state prison administration. We believe that our grievances are being swept under the rug and disregarded at times. As a result of this we don’t trust the administration. So we ask that our grievances be handled by an outside non-profit civil rights organization.
Request #13. Maintenance
We request that the maintenance of our housing units be maintained. There are times our sink or toilet may leak, or it may not work at all in the cell. And with these incidents there are too many times we have requested for things like that to be fixed and it would take weeks. Understanding these small things can tum into large things through the accumulation of bacteria and mold etc. we request that four men in each housing unit get trained in the field of plumbing and maintenance in order to maintain livable conditions for the incarcerated citizens.
We the incarcerated citizens conclude this request list asking one more question, “would you want to be housed under these conditions?” We want change because we want to change. Help us change. Thank you for your consideration.
Revolutionary greetings and Happy New Years to everyone listening to
this recording at the Virginia Prison Justice Rally on the 14th day of
January, 2023. I am a 46-year-old New Afrikan that has been in prison
here in the belly of the beast in Virginia for 27 consecutive years. I
am a core organizer along with my comrade to organize Virginia’s
Nottoway, Buckingham and Augusta Correctional Facilities due to extreme
heat conditions being worsened by climate change. Last checked the petition
was at 516 signatures. We need more.
If you are listening to this speech it is now January so the
temperatures in non air conditioned facilities is now bearable because
we can always add layers of clothes to cope with the chilly weather.
During the hot summer months however it is a very different story. A
different reality. Because each of these non-air conditioned prisons
become so unbearable, it is torturous and is expected to get worse due
to global warming. I am currently incarcerated at Dillwyn Correctional
Center which has A/C. Or better known as temperature control, but when I
was held at Buckingham Correctional Center during the past summer, I
experienced firsthand how the record heat waves that have swept the
country, have caused the heat and humidity inside the facilities to
become so intense that it felt like we were literally being baked in
there. Because the heat exacerbates medical conditions and can cause a
heat stroke in medically vulnerable prisoners I witness how this crisis
had more of a detrimental impact on elderly and medically vulnerable
prisoners.
Many are diabetic, have high blood pressure, have heart disease, and
are still suffering from the side effects of long Covid, like so many of
you out in the free world. The so called free world. Many of us
experience labored breathing, we are sweating profusely. Some of us are
experiencing blurred vision, increased heart rate, and are having
difficulties falling asleep at night we means many are sleep deprived.
Many of the administrative mitigation of these effects of extreme heat
didn’t work. The bags of extra ice when we did receive it did not work.
The small fans sold in the commissary did not work because many people
can’t afford them. The extra fans placed in the pod did not work, but
did succeed in blowing the hot air around from one place to the other.
These ineffective mitigation practices didn’t work because these places
by design are virtual death traps. They are overcrowded, have poor
sanitation, poor ventilation and poor medical care. Poor meals we are
fed and the tap water we are forced to drink are making us sick.
The dominant culture in these prisons is marked by complacency,
passivity and fear. Fear of retaliating and fear of being labeled a
snitch by prison guards and fellow prisoners for filing grievances and
speaking out. So it is not unusual for the bulk prison populations to
not sign these petitions no matter how extreme or how deeply inhumane
the conditions are. The U.$. supreme court ruled all the way back in
1987 in the case of Turner v Safley that “prison walls do not
separate prisoners from the protections of the Constitution.” So despite
this dominant culture, the VDOC is prohibited by the Supreme Court from
subjecting incarcerated people to conditions that amount to cruel and
unusual punishment.
The Virginia DOC has a history of minimizing the issue of extreme
heat inside these prisons, and has led me to believe it is necessary to
organize an online petition to raise awareness about this statewide
issue among the people, and to build a statewide abolitionist movement
to shut these prisons down.
A comrade of mine will be handing out fliers with the QR code that
will take you directly to the online petition which you can share and
leave a comment. You will also have a QR code that will take you to a
second draft of a proposal for a statewide campaign to shutdown non air
conditioned prisons. Because the history of the criminal, torturous and
exploitative nature of the prisons and the jails, it is going to take a
statewide movement of the people and the communities most affected by
mass incarceration to force the DOC to shut these modern day slave camps
down. We can pressure them to start releasing elderly and medically
vulnerable and other incarcerated people for 30 or 40 years for crimes
committed in our youth. There will be mass casualties behind these walls
and that is because in these last summers deadly heat waves caused by
climate change have been becoming more frequent, intense, and as the
climate is changing, these non-air conditioned prisons will keep getting
hotter and hotter until the inevitable happens.
Thank you for taking the time to listen and if you want to keep up
with my reading, prison conditions or political commentary in general,
please visit my website at consciousprisoner.wordpress.com. My Twitter
page is @justiceforuhuru. My instagram is
@justiceforuhururowe
As a first time writer for MIM(Prisons) I must confess that, it’s
absolutely a blessing to have found such a space/medium to expose what’s
currently taking place within the Georgia Department of Corrections
(G.D.C), hereinafter “Georgia industrial slave complex”. Because
honestly, with every issue of Under Lock & Key, I thirst to
develop a political cadre, in order to establish a vanguard party among
the (lumpen) prisoner class.
Here at Telfair State plantation, there’s no real sense of political
consciousness among the masses nor is there any form of unity among the
street tribes, whom all proclaim to have been birthed out of Black
struggle to combat against oppression from a political perspective to
protect their community. To which I ask, isn’t the slave plantation
environment currently their community? Then why is it that their claims,
tends to seem as though nothing more than “persuasive rhetoric” produced
from the tenets of a force with every form of materialistic/imperialist
reason to divide the common? and yet, it gets worse.
There’s a massive staff shortage at the root of many Georgia
industrial slave sanitation failures and the problems don’t stop there.
It’s beyond the crisis point and something needs to change. Because
there’s a real humanitarian crisis. In which homicide and suicide rates
has already reached “unprecedented levels.” At Least 25 slave prisoners
deaths on plantation compounds in 2020 were suspected homicides, 7 at
Macon State plantation, according to “G.D.C.” and 19 slave prisoners
supposedly killed themselves in 2020, twice the national average.
The “G.D.C.” annual report for fiscal year 2019 (there was a lack of
access for 2020 FY report) reveals constant churn. According to the OF,
78% of the department’s new hires are (overseers) “Corrections
Officers,” and 71% quit before the year ended. Gov. Brian Kemp, just
proposed a 9.1% pay increase for plantation(overseers) guards that would
raise their entry level salary from $27,936 to $30,730. The experienced
staff are leaving as fast as they can to get out of here. What we’re
left with is kids trying to supervise slave prisoners they’re afraid of
and that has a domino effect. Without adequate staffing, the maintenance
begins to suffer, food service suffers. Because they don’t feel safe,
it’s created a circular problem.
Access to healthcare is more limited than ever and mental health
counselors are afraid to come in the dorms. Under-staffing has led to
more slave prisoners being stationed in temporary holding cages, going
extended periods without food, water or even bathroom visits. Often
we’re left in those cages to urinate and defecate on ourselves. If the
situation persists, lives will continue to be at stake. It’s just a
matter of time before we see causalities among the staff and slave
prisoners.
Urban street tribes have filled the power vacuum. The G.D.C.
estimated it housed 15,000 tribe members; nearly a third of it’s total
population. In the five previous years, authorities said tribe members
were responsible for 1,700 assaults in Georgia industrial slave
plantations. The pandemic has only made the situation worse, as COVID-19
continues to spread throughout the slave plantations. Recently 24 slave
prisoners tested positive for the virus; 3,100 have been infected so
far, 88 have died. Another 1,482 staff members have test positive and
two died from the virus, according the the G.D.C Those figures are
likely 10 times below the actual number of infections, according to a
recent study by the Center of Disease Control & Prevention.
I believe (the G.D.C.) is tolerating levels of chaos we have not seen
in the last 20 years. The scale of the problem is so great that federal
interventions is necessary and warranted. (Side note, the Department of
Justice continues investigation into Georgia prisons.)
Please family, friends and those on the inside report on what is
happening inside the walls of Georgia Department of Corrections prisons.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in September a state-wide
civil investigation into conditions at facilities across the state. The
DOJ investigation is focused on determining whether state prisoners are
reasonably safe from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners. DOJ
is also investigating whether the state offers reasonable protections
for LGBTQIA prisoners from sexual abuse by corrections officers and
other prisoners. If you or someone you know has information that could
raise awareness to this cause, submit tips to:
DOJ email community.georgiaDOC@usdoj.gov.
Dept. of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20530
MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade’s report echoes what is
being reported
from Alabama from prisoners organizing there. Georgia is one of the
five states with a higher incarceration rate than Alabama, and of course
both are in the Black Belt south. Prison systems across the country are
crumbling and failing. It is our purpose to support those who are trying
to organize for change amongst this chaos. These contradictions create
opportunity for change.
If you did not receive a copy of the JFI petition to the Department
of Justice that we mailed out with Under Lock & Key 78,
write us to get copies and use them to organize a collective voice in
your prison. It is only by independent, collective organizing that we
can stop these unnecessary deaths and abuses.