MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with the grievance procedure. Send them extra copies
to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) 2590 Venture Oaks
Way Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95833
Prison Law Office General Delivery San Quentin, CA 94964
Internal Affairs CDCR 10111 Old Placerville Rd, Ste
200 Sacramento, CA 95872
CDCR Office of Ombudsman 1515 S Street, Room 311 S Sacramento, CA
95811
U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special Litigation
Section 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, PHB Washington DC 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE PO Box 9778 Arlington, VA
22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
Petition updated September 2011, July 2012, and October 2013,
February 2016, November 2016
“The imperialists export fascism to many Third World countries via
puppet governments. And imperialist countries can turn to fascism
themselves. But it is important to note that there is no third choice
for independent fascism in the world: they are either imperialist or
imperialist-puppets. Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan had all reached the
banking stage of capitalism and had a real basis for thinking they could
take over colonies from the British and French. … The vast majority of
the world’s fascist-ruled countries have been U.$. puppets.” – MIM
Congress, “Osama Bin Laden and the Concept of ‘Theocratic Fascism’”,
2004
What MIM wrote about
Osama
Bin Laden in 2004 is just as true for the Islamic State today. Those
who call the Islamic State fascist use an unsophisticated definition of
fascism that may mean anything from “bad” to “undemocratic” to
anti-United $tates. But the idea that it is in the Third World where we
find fascism today is correct.
Much funding for the Islamic State has come from rich Saudis. For this,
and other reasons, many people have tried to put the fascist label on
the obscurantist monarchy of Saudi Arabia. Despite having almost the
same per capita GDP (PPP) as the United $tates, it is by geological luck
and not the development of imperialist finance capital that Saudis enjoy
such fortune.
A word often associated with fascism is genocide. More recently
Saudi Arabia is getting some “fascist” rhetoric thrown at it from the
Russian camp for its war on Yemen. What is currently happening in Yemen
is nothing less than genocide. A recent analysis by the Yemen Data
Project showed that more than a third of the “Saudi” bombings in that
country have targeted schools, hospitals, mosques and other civilian
infrastructure.(1) We put “Saudi” in quotes here because the war to
maintain the puppet government in Yemen is completely supplied by the
imperialists of the U.$., UK and Klanada, along with U.$. intelligence
and logistical support. The United $tates has been involved in
bombing
Yemen for over a decade, so it is a propaganda campaign by the U.$.
media to call it the “Saudi-led coalition.” In October 2016, the United
$tates bombed Yemen from U.$. warships that had long been stationed just
offshore, leaving little doubt of their role in this war. A war that has
left 370,000 children at risk of severe malnutrition, and 7 million
people “desperately in need of food,” according to UNICEF.(2)
This is another example where we see confusion around the definition of
fascism feeds anti-Islamic, rather than anti-Amerikan, lines of
thinking, despite the majority of victims in this war being proletarian
Muslims in a country where 40% of the people live on less than $2 a day.
In countries where the imperialists haven’t been able to install a
puppet government they use other regional allies to act as the bad guy,
the arm of imperialism. It is an extension of neo-colonialism that leads
to inter-proletarian conflict between countries. We see this with Uganda
and Rwanda in central Africa, where another genocide has been ongoing
for 2 decades. While Uganda and Rwanda have their own regional
interests, like Saudi Arabia, they are given the freedom to pursue them
by U.$. sponsorship. And we are not anti-Ugandan, because Uganda is a
proletarian country with an interest in throwing out imperialist
puppets. Even Saudi Arabia, which we might not be able to find much of
an indigenous proletariat in, could play a progressive role under
bourgeois nationalist leadership that allied with the rest of the Arab
world, and even with Iran.
Sometimes fascism is used as a synonym for police state. Many
in the United $tates have looked to the war on drugs, the occupation of
the ghettos, barrios and reservations, gang injunctions and the massive
criminal injustice system and talked about rising fascism. We agree that
these are some of the most fascistic elements of our society. But many
of those same people will never talk about U.$. imperialism, especially
internal imperialism. This leads to a focus on civil liberties and no
discussion of national liberation; a reformist, petty bourgeois politic.
If we look at the new president in the Philippines, we see a more
extreme form of repression against drug dealers of that country. If the
U.$. injustice system is fascist, certainly the open call for
assassinating drug dealers in the street would be. But these are just
tactics, they do not define the system. And if we look at the system in
the Philippines, the second biggest headlines (after eir notorious
anti-drug-dealer rhetoric) that President Duterte is getting is for
pushing out U.$. military bases. This would be a huge win for the
Filipino people who have been risking their lives (under real fascist
dictatorships backed by the United $tates like Marcos) to protest U.$.
military on their land. This is objectively anti-imperialist. Even if
Duterte turns towards China, as long as U.$. imperialism remains the
number one threat to peace and well-being in the world, as it has been
for over half a century, this is good for the masses of the oppressed
nations.
The importance of the united front against fascism during World War II,
which was an alliance between proletariat and imperialist forces, was to
point out the number one enemy. While we don’t echo the Black Panther
Party’s rhetoric around “fascism,” they were strategically correct to
focus their attack on the United $tates in their own United Front
Against Fascism in 1969. And it was reasonable to expect that the United
$tates might turn fascist in face of what was a very popular
anti-imperialist movement at home and abroad. What dialectics teaches us
is the importance of finding the principal contradiction, which we
should focus our energy on in order to change things. Without a major
inter-imperialist rivalry, talking about fascism in a Marxist sense is
merely to expose the atrocities of the dominant imperialist power
committed against the oppressed nations.
Rather than looking for strategic shifts in the finance capitalist
class, most people just call the bad sides of imperialism “fascism.” In
doing so they deny that imperialism has killed more people than any
other economic system, even if we exclude fascist imperialism. These
people gloss over imperialism’s very existence. But MIM(Prisons) keeps
our eye on the prize of overthrowing imperialism, principally U.$.
imperialism, to serve the interests of the oppressed people of the
world.
In our last update letter to United Struggle from Within (USW) comrades
in California, we announced that the California USW Coordinator would be
working with the California USW Council to provide better, more regular
updates in ULK to coordinate our campaign efforts in the state.
This will also reduce the need to send out separate letters except in
time-sensitive instances. This issue of ULK is the first with
such a CA-focused section.
One issue that came up among CA USW recently is restrictions on mailing
stamp donations. This was happening at CSP-Sacramento, and more recently
reported from West Valley Detention Center. In ULK 36 (3 years
ago), we printed a
report
from San Quentin where they successfully campaigned against the same
issue through a combination of 602 appeals and letters to the press
exposing these restrictions on freedom of expression.
Appeal #CSQ-J-13-03205 was submitted October 27, explaining exactly how
operational procedure 608 article 7 was being illegally circumvented.
This appeal was rejected by appeals coordinator puppet M.L. Davis on
November 1. Davis offered to process the appeal if appellant directed a
CDCR 22 to the mailroom. Davis also demanded appellant remove copies of
Article 7 and OP0212 which are in fact the official rules/directives
regarding “items enclosed in incoming first-class mail.”
If readers have other examples of successful tactics around this issue,
or rules to cite, send them to MIM(Prisons) for the next issue.
Santa Clara County Strike a Success
In
“Broad
Participation in September 9 FAM Prison Strike” we refer to the
challenge of organizing in California with more comrades in county jails
not under CDCR control. Perhaps this will be a temporary setback though,
as prisoners organized a recent strike in Santa Clara County. On 17
October 2016, over 300 people went on hunger strike, according to the
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition. The demands were around
ending solitary confinement, inadequate clothing, a faulty
appeals/grievance process and the overcharging at commissary. The strike
was suspended after less than a week, when the sheriff’s department
agreed to the demands. Comrades will maintain the strike in suspension
until the changes are actually made. MIM(Prisons) commends the
organizing efforts of these comrades and the focus on key campaign
issues of solitary confinement and the grievance process.
Ashker Settlement Hearings Done, SHU Victims Decrease
The number of people being held in SHU has dropped sharply since the
Ashker settlement (see
“Torture
Continues: CDCR Settlement Screws Prisoners” in ULK 46 for
more background). The review process has been completed, and 1,512 of
the 1,557 people covered by the settlement have been released from SHU
according to CDCR, with the remaining given dates for release. The
number in SHU cells in California is about 1/6 of what it was before the
settlement, with less than 500 SHU prisoners as of August 2016
(according to CDCR statistics). But we know a number of our readers are
still in SHU, and many more are in other forms of long-term isolation in
California, which is not covered by the settlement.
We must remain vigilant now to continue the fight against solitary
confinement in California. As we’ve always pointed out, these reforms
with such narrow focus only make it harder for those who remain in these
torture cells to get out. SHU cells represented less than a quarter of
the prisoners in California in long-term isolation according to our last
count prior to the recent decrease in SHU (see
www.abolishcontrolunits.org/research).
But as the comrades in Santa Clara have demonstrated, this battle is
still alive in the hearts of prisoners.
September 9, 2016 marked the 5th annual United Front for Peace in
Prisons (UFPP) Day of Peace and Solidarity. We shared some initial
reports on events in prisons in the
last issue of
Under Lock & Key and here we include additional reports
we’ve received since that publication.
The road to building unity and united action against the criminal
injustice system is not easy. We regularly hear from new comrades about
the uphill battle involved in educating and organizing folks in states
across the country. Sometimes the best we can do initially is engage in
actions ourselves, while educating others about why we are doing these
actions. In Kentucky we heard from one comrade who is just starting to
build:
“During the Sept 9th demo I went on a food strike. I didn’t eat from
Sept 6th thru Sept 10th. I am trying to collect all accurate, fact-based
materials on Attica and other prison uprisings in Kentucky and the
world.”
As we start to build unity it’s important to keep educating ourselves,
and then sharing that education with others. A comrade in Arkansas wrote
about eir work in this regard: “I’m writing in hopes to receive material
to help myself and a fellow prisoner join the movement and fight back
against these pigs! My political level is low and I don’t want to keep
falling victim because of my lack of knowledge. Please send me
information to start on. I tried to get people to unite on Sept 9th but
most everyone is content to stay slaves. I know as I grow in knowledge
I’ll be able to use my skills to motivate people to see through this fog
they have us in.”
Even experienced organizers will face setbacks. We heard from a Nation
of Gods and Earths (NOGE) organizer in California about eir struggles to
build unity around the Agreement to End Hostilities (AEH) at Kern Valley
this September 9:
“Organizing and forming the rightly guided alliances on SNY [Special
Needs Yard] facilities is extremely difficult to do when lumpen
organizations as well as potential comrades are into putting individual
works in. Papers are submitted to be put on a grade scale. The fact that
Legion is a single-celled organism shows and proves that the LO and
proletariat are not studying the material given. Control, sanity and
awareness is a matter of vantage when looking at the goals. Some
comrades aren’t ready to move beyond milk from the breast.
“Prime example last year the Gods did AEH to build the builders strong
at Kern Valley State Penitentiary. The 2nd year with more bodies was
thwarted by personal ambitions of a group of parasites who don’t
understand UFPP or USW [United Struggle from Within] goals. Organizing
is painstaking and the devil is in the details. As God Body we have to
start from square one all the way right. Then and only then can one do
what’s left.”
Fortunately, with all the hard work put in we also hear some inspiring
stories of success like this one from Tehachapi in California:
“I’m writing you this brief report on what i’ve done during the month of
9 September 2016. To commemorate the 5th annual Day of Peace and
Solidarity here I put together a few articles on Weusi Agosti (Black
August), regarding significant events on how and why Weusi Agosti came
into being.
“So, this 5th annual Day of Peace and Solidarity, we work to build unity
in these prisons to ensure no more violence that has consumed so many
lives. And also, we commemorate those who stood up against those violent
forces and sacrificed their very lives.
“I am more than happy to report that there was no prisoner-on-prisoner
violence whatsoever the whole month. And continuing the prisoner unity
and peace here came out of organizing these articles and the
conversations I held with these youths. They overstand.”
Further successes were reported in
California
and
Michigan
in the last issue of ULK and in
South
Carolina and
Virginia
in the two articles on this page. It’s a long road to fight the
divisions set up by the criminal injustice system and build unity
between populations that Amerikan imperialism does its best to keep
divided. But all change takes place in small quantitative ways at first,
leading to big qualitative changes as conditions develop and all that
history of building really pays off. Our strategic confidence comes from
organizing around what we know is in the interests of the oppressed. At
some point the subjective forces against imperialism, including the vast
U.$. prison system, will rise to be the dominant force. It is our job to
study, build and get organized so that we are ready to seize the time.
This 2016 election season we heard many people likening Trump and eir
proposed policies to fascism. Here we look at statements and actions
that ey made, identifying fascist elements, while also going over what
else they could be. First, let’s review what fascism is - from MIM’s
“Definition
of fascism” (which draws information from Dimitrov’s report to the
7th world congress of the COMINTERN and Dutt’s Fascism and Social
Revolution), fascism is “the open terroristic dictatorship of the
most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most imperialist elements of
finance capital.” Further, fascism is “an extreme measure taken by the
bourgeoisie to forestall proletarian revolution… the conditions [which
give rise to fascism] are: instability of capitalist relationships; the
existence of considerable declassed social elements; the pauperization
of broad strata of the urban petit-bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia;
discontent among the rural petit-bourgeoisie; and finally, the constant
menace of mass proletarian action.” So basically, if the capitalists
feel like they are going to lose their money deals, if mass amounts of
the petit-bourgeoisie suddenly find themselves impoverished, and there
is significant fear of actual proletarian revolutionary action, these
are conditions that give rise to fascism.
With this in mind, let’s look at one of Trump’s more popular proposals –
to build a wall on the U.$./Mexico border to physically keep people from
crossing over into so-called United $tates territory. Trump believes
immigrants from Mexico impose a threat to the job economy of the
amerikkkan labor aristocracy, and also that they are not amerikkkans and
don’t belong here. Following the guidelines laid out above, the building
of a wall could fall into a reactionary action taken to counteract the
threat to the labor aristocracy; keeping the amerikkkan “working class”
safe and happy to prevent discontent and ensure that there is no
declassing or pauperization. However, it’s more accurate to consider the
idea of a border wall to fall under extreme racism and isolationism than
fascism. Trump claims that amerikkkan people are better at making money
and working than those who might come over from Mexico, and ey wishes to
keep things contained within eir own walls than to bring in people from
the outside. A similar example of Trump’s isolationism can be found in
eir ideas to keep production and trade local rather than global. Ey
believes that trade with other countries is stealing jobs from people
here, and that people here can do it better anyway. A more fascist way
of handling this would be to allow trade with other countries as long as
it proved opportunistic and beneficial (which it does for the U.$.
financially).
Next, we can look at Trump’s ideas about “destroying radical Islamic
terrorist groups.” To make such a statement is highly chauvinist and
reactionary, though it is not in response to something ey believes could
topple the government. It is more of a show of force both internally and
externally. Again, here we see extreme racism – Trump is further
bolstering the “us vs. them” mentality that is already prevalent in much
of amerikkkan society, identifying a group of people as the other or
bad, and rallying people around that idea. A more fascist example of a
similar act is the raids, arrests and murders committed by the pigs
towards the Black Panther Party (BPP) and other revolutionary
nationalist groups in the 1960s and 70s. The BPP was a highly organized
group with significant popular support among the New Afrikan nation and
it was enough of a threat of revolutionary action to warrant direct
reaction. The imperialists felt enough pressure from the BPP to publicly
act outside of their established laws to counteract that pressure,
though much public opinion was on the BPP’s side. The attacks against
nations that are primarily Islamic is imperialist aggression that has
been the war cry of Amerikan imperialists for years now.
The biggest thing to take away from this is the understanding that
Trump’s actions are often not fascist because they do not need to be. Ey
is not facing any of the triggers mentioned in MIM’s “Definition of
fascism” at the moment. There is no internal revolution rising, nor is
there fear of pauperization of the bourgeoisie. Trump for the most part
is what we would call an imperialist, as ey seeks to systematically and
internationally oppress some groups whilst bolstering others. That being
said, based on Trump’s statements and actions, if Amerikan capitalism
was truly threatened by the oppressed internal nations, Trump’s open
chauvinism would easily transition to far heavier fascist tendencies.
Organizing in
other
states around September 9th seems to have triggered censorship of
ULK in California. Chuckwalla Valley State Prison censored issue
51, which was the last issue before September 9th calling on people to
organize something for that day to promote peace and solidarity. The
original reasoning was that it “contained Disturbing and Offensive
content in the entire publication.” Upon our appeal, the warden upheld
the decision and specified that it was the article on page 1 that ey
felt was inspiring a work stoppage. California Health Care Facility was
the other facility that notified us of censorship of issue 51 for posing
a threat to the facility, but we have not received a response to that
appeal yet. We also received word from some comrades at Kern Valley
State Prison that they did not receive ULK 51, but no
notification of censorship has been issued.
Outside the realm of the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR), we also had problems in Orange County last month.
Orange County Jail and Theo Lacy both returned ULKs saying
prisoners were not there, when some of them are still in custody. While
the same laws apply to county jails, we must come up with tactics to
address them in addition to CDCR.
Chuckwalla seems to be going hard on mail interference. One comrade
reports that not only were ULK and SF Bayview newspapers
censored, but so are books sent from eir family. Another comrade, who
has also had letters from MIM Distributors censored, sent us a copy of a
form 22 ey submitted with a response from mailroom staff A. Salas, dated
29 September 2016:
“Bayview is currently under Division of Adult Institutions review for
all issues, to be placed on the list of Dissapproved Centralized
list.[sic] If a publication was received with your name on it then you
would have been issued an 1819, so if you haven’t received an 1819 then
you haven’t received a newspaper. MIM Distributors is also under review
by DAI to be put on the Centralized Disapproved publications list.”
MIM Distributors mail was banned by CDCR in 2006, until a
Prison Legal
News lawsuit was settled in 2007. The ban contined to be utilized
until 2011, and effectively cut us off from most California prisoners
for 3 or more years. Since then censorship in California has been
relatively low (though certainly not non-existent). We cannot afford to
lose access to our comrades in CA again. So please be vigilant in
appealing censorship and sending us updates. They do not have any basis
for a systemwide ban according to their own rules, but as we know there
are no rights, only power struggles. So keep up the fight to freely
associate with MIM(Prisons) and others on the outside!
by MIM(Prisons) October 2016 permalink
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 Wendy Kelley<br>
Arkansas Department of Corrections<br>
PO Box 8707<br>
Pine Bluff, AR 71611-8707<br><br>
United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division<br>
Special Litigation Section<br>
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB<br>
Washington, D.C. 20530<br><br>
Office of Inspector General<br>
HOTLINE<br>
P.O. Box 9778<br>
Arlington, Virginia 22219<br><br>
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you
receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW<br>
PO Box 40799<br>
San Francisco, CA 94140<br>
by MIM(Prisons) October 2016 permalink
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.
Louisiana Department of Corrections PO Box 94304 Baton Rouge,
LA 70804-9304
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
In recent weeks we have seen the offensive videos of settlers attacking
indigenous people who are trying to protect their land from invasion and
destruction in the homeland of the Lakotah Nation. The resistance has
brought together many First Nation people as well as many supporters
around the Sacred Stone Camp in the northern tip of the Standing Rock
reservation. This is the point where the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),
currently under construction, comes closest to current reservation
borders. This week 200 people moved onto the land claimed by Energy
Transfer Partners, setting up their winter camp in the path of the
planned pipeline.
In response, Energy Transfer Partners said the people were trespassing,
saying “lawless behavior will not be tolerated.”(1) There is no better
example of how the “law” can be an institution utilized by the oppressor
to legitimize their power. When the settlers first came to kill
Indigenous people and steal their land, they declared this land to be
“lawless.”
The Lakotah Sioux are using eminent domain to claim the land in question
as rightfully theirs based on their 1851 treaty with the United $tates
government. Cheyenne River Sioux Chair Harold Frazier met with President
Obama, as well as the U.$. Attorney’s Office to discuss their campaign
and the police repression being unleashed on peaceful protestors.
Frazier retold one conversation ey had:
Frazier: “How can a non-Indian physically assault an Indian and get away
with it?” U.S. Attorney’s office: “Well, that’s on state land.”
Frazier: “So does that mean if a non-Indian comes to an Indian on Indian
land that the Indian could do it back?” U.S. Attorney’s office: “Oh
no, you’d go to jail.”(1)
Again, the farce that is Amerikan settler law is laid bare before us.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe hosted the First International Treaty
Council of the Western Hemisphere from 8-16 June 1974. This meeting was
honored in 2007 at another meeting where the Republic of Lakotah
declared sovereignty, claiming much of the land through which DAPL
construction is occurring today.(2)
Indigenous people in North America have always been at the front lines
of the anti-imperialist movement. They were the first victims of
colonialism and emerging capitalist/imperialism on this land. Their
continued struggle to reclaim this land is central to a re-civilization
of the brutal settler nation of Amerikkka.
In April the U.$. Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman will replace
former President Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill. But not to
leave Jackson out entirely, they said ey will be moved to the back side
of the bill, along with the image of the White House. The treasury also
announced that the back of the $10 bill will be redesigned to feature
leaders of the movement to gain wimmin the right to vote, while
Alexander Hamilton will remain on the front of that bill. And the back
of the $5 bill will change to incorporate historic moments that took
place at the Lincoln Memorial. These design changes will be announced by
2020, so we can’t expect to see any new currency for a few years.
There was much debate about making changes to the U.$. currency, with
many people calling for incorporation of at least one womyn after a
history of only men featured on the bills. Yet the bills are actually a
good representation of Amerikan capitalism and we see the incorporation
of wimmin on this currency similar to the incorporation of wimmin in the
military. It is not a feminist victory to gain greater representation in
the most destructive imperialist power in the world. This will not
eliminate the patriarchy or gender oppression. Nonetheless, the
selection of a former slave for the $20 bill and suffragettes for the
$10 bill is interesting because many in the suffragette movement
opportunistically played to white nationalism, arguing to white men that
they needed to give white wimmin the right to vote to balance out the
potential political power of Black voters.(1)
Harriet Tubman was born a slave in 1820 and escaped to Philadelphia in
1849, subsequently devoting eir life to fighting slavery and guiding
other slaves to freedom. Tubman died in poverty in 1913. Ey was a fierce
New Afrikan guerilla who played an important historical role in defense
of the evolving New Afrikan nation.(2) Tubman was such an important
figure that eir existence has to be acknowledged by the dominant
Amerikan nation. Yet, as in the decision to put Tubman’s image on U.$.
currency, Amerikkka tries to whitewash the details of Tubman’s life and
claim em as a hero of this imperialist country.
Ironically, the flip side of the $20 bill will continue to celebrate
former President Andrew Jackson, a slave holder who died just a few
years before Tubman escaped to freedom. President Jackson, along with
the U.$. Congress at that time, was a strong supporter of slavery,
basically refusing to take up any proposals that would abolish slavery.
Further, Jackson supported mobs and postal workers intercepting
abolitionist anti-slavery organizing, referring to these actions as
“wicked attempts” to incite slave rebellion.(2) In eir home life, Andrew
Jackson built up the Hermitage Plantation, primarily growing cotton,
with the labor of slaves. It is estimated that Jackson grew this
plantation from a 9-slave operation to over 150 slaves by 1820.
Jackson’s legacy of support for national oppression went beyond
supporting slavery. Ey was a military leader in the fight against First
Nations in the early 1800s. Later, as President, Jackson signed the
Indian Removal Act in 1830, forcibly removing several indigenous nations
from their lands. The forced relocations, known as the Trail of Tears,
led to 46,000 indigenous people relocated during Jackson’s term, many of
whom died from disease and starvation on the way to the destination.
While sprinkled with anarchist tendencies typical to the author, we
recommend Butch Lee’s biography of Tubman to people interested in the
true history of this revolutionary activist.(3) If the growing New
Afrikan defense movement accepts Tubman on the $20 as a positive step,
then the ideological war for Tubman is being lost and more integration
is the order of the day. More integration with Amerikkka is in direct
opposition to the well-being of the majority of the world’s people who
suffer under imperialism, including New Afrikans.
Changing the faces on Amerikan currency won’t change the reality of
Amerikan imperialism. But the willingness of the Amerikan government to
do this does reflect the extent to which integrationism is being used to
keep the oppressed internal nations loyal to the empire. Yet cultural
integration does nothing to address the fundamental national oppression
that keeps imperialism extracting wealth from oppressed nations in the
Third World. These people who generate wealth for Amerikan imperialism
can never expect to see their faces on the money that is coming from
their labor. This just reinforces the divide between First World and
Third World, which will likely result in a very difficult transition
from capitalism to socialism for First World peoples. Giving up the
wealth of hundreds of years of plunder, and re-integrating into global
society as productive human beings will be a long and difficult task for
First World bourgeois and petty bourgeois people. We fully anticipate a
long period of dictatorship over the First World by the Third World,
enforcing a hard fought cultural revolution of re-education for the
First World peoples.