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[National Oppression] [Theory]
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Review of RCP Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America

Aztlan

I was recently able to read a new publication which was published by the RCP-USA titled “Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America” (draft proposal) from the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.

I have been at many prisons in California where I came across RCP literature, including its newspaper ‘Revolution.’ While at first glance this RCP literature may seem “progressive,” and a novice revolutionary may even think the RCP is fighting in the best interest of the masses, a closer look into its political line may surprise many prisoners who are developing their political stance.

The society that U.$. prisoners dream of is one that turns the pyramid of power upside down where those on the bottom of today’s totem pole are the ones who have a say in running a society based on new democracy as was seen in Mao’s China where landless peasants were freed from the chains of oppressive feudalism and colonialism. The prisoner in today’s capitalist Amerika understands that such a society will not come easy and we learn this valuable lesson by attempting to change the oppressive environment behind prison walls. We learn ‘grass roots’ organizing and how hard it is to kick start even simple resistance to injustice on a micro-level.

As we learn these lessons we also begin to see what it will take to change a society, combat the capitalist and build the revolution. One of the key components of transforming society is a vanguard party; this is common sense as we know from the prison experience that issues that are not coordinated often prove disastrous. So on a large scale effort like transforming society we can see how a political party would be needed to lead the masses on the right path to liberation on all fronts. Understanding this we often meet others in prison who seek out political parties and begin the arduous work of studies in all the revolutionary groups’ theories, their political line, so that we can determine who is the vanguard party, who has the correct political theory on what it will take to reach liberation here in the belly of the beast.

I began to really study the RCP literature as it is a party that claims to be struggling on behalf of the people. Along my path of really analyzing the literature of the RCP is where I stumbled upon its stance on the oppressed nations’ right to self-determination.

The portion of this constitution that is of concern is “Article 11. Regions, localities, and basic institution, Section 3. minority and formerly oppressed nationalities.” This section starts off pointing out the crimes and injustices that were perpetrated against oppressed nationalities by the former government of the USA. It explains how in the future socialist state they believe elections and legislature would work, among other new rights, in the interest of the oppressed. Subsection “A. African-Americans” correctly states that under a new socialist state Black people would have the right to self-determination all the way up to the right to secede and form a separate country outside a new socialist republic if Black people so choose. This is correct. The ability for an oppressed nation to govern themselves is a right that all should have under a socialist society.

Under Subsection “B. Mexican-Americans” the guarantee to the right of self-determination up to the right to secede does not exist. Rather in subsection B2 it states:

“Relations with Mexico, and policy with regard to the former southwest region of the imperialist USA, shall, from the time of the founding and in the first few years of the new socialist republic in North America, take into account the nature of the society and government - and the level and character of revolutionary struggle - in Mexico, as well as the actual extent of territory which has been liberated through the revolution which led to the defeat and dismantling of the imperialist state of the USA and the founding of the new socialist republic in North America. At the same time, the necessary consideration shall be given to the situation in the world as a whole, in determining how to proceed with regard to this region. In this over all context and also taking into account the sentiments and aspirations of the people in the region, in particular those of Mexican origin and descent, the question of whether to return at least parts of this region to Mexico, and/or whether there should be established, within parts of this region, a country that is separate from both Mexico and the New Socialist Republic in North America, shall be taken up by the government of the New Socialist Republic in North America.”

The above portion of the RCP document is an incorrect line. The fact that RCP feels that once a “socialist republic” is established that the Mexican people would not be entitled to their right to full self-determination but rather their right to secession would be “taken up by the government of the New Socialist Republic in North America” as they put it is simply wrong. All communists should uphold the right to self-determination! The Leninist principle of self-determination is an essential aspect for a socialist party in general and would surely be a requirement for a vanguard party in particular.

The RCP has also stated the same line for the “Native Americans” - that if it took power the RCP itself would decide on the future for “Native Americans” but would allow “autonomous zones” for the “Native Americans” within an RCP socialist republic.

This line will prove to be a grave error for any party that sets its sights on attaining state power. National liberation struggles will not cease to exist until oppressed nations acquire full liberation - regardless of who is in power, denying their freedom. Lenin understood this and thus promoted self-determination as he understood that the basis for revolution is liberty at its core.

What seems to be lost on the RCP is that the oppressed nations, whether Latino, First Nations or any other, are not going to put their lives on the line to transform this society only to allow themselves to be ruled by what the RCP feels is best. Once oppressed nations see a New Socialist government is truly in the interest of the people it is for them to decide to join this republic. The vast majority of the land today is First Nation/Mexican land and for RCP to state they’ll decide on who lives where is ludicrous. This position is as ridiculous as if the oppressed East Indians and other Asians living in South Africa were to create a party, gain power and then tell the native “Black” South Africans “we’ll decide if you can secede or where you’ll live”! This colonization is incorrect and does not represent a righteous revolutionary line.

The liberation of Aztlán (what is currently the southwestern U.$.) under an all Latino socialist government must be the primary objective of all Brown revolutionaries in North America. By showing its true colors, RCP demonstrates once more that many parties claim to fight for all, but in the end don’t truly seek liberation for the oppressed nations, as MIM has correctly taught. It is the oppressed nations ourselves who must seek self-determination, this can only be done by using Maoism as the primary vehicle.

We need political parties that guarantee the Leninist principal of self-determination! we need to build Maoist parties led by and for the oppressed nations! Long live the national liberation struggles worldwide.


MIM(Prisons) responds: We have not reviewed this rcp=u$a document but this criticism is consistent with our readings of other material by this organization which fakes left but actually opposes the liberation of oppressed nations, instead favoring the struggles of the Amerikan white oppressor nation for a bigger piece of unearned imperialist pie.

Based on this comrade’s review, we can condemn the chauvinism of the rcp=u$a that is writing the plans for some utopian white socialist state, while asserting that the future of Aztlán is uncertain. If anyone’s future is uncertain it is the hundreds of millions of Amerikans whose nation must be destroyed as part of the anti-imperialist struggle. It is hard for us to imagine how this will happen without the indigenous people of the southwestern U.$. already being well onto the socialist road. If we’re going to predict the future, we should be thinking about how the socialist republics of Aztlán, New Afrika and countless First Nation states will determine the form of transition for a large Amerikan population who is generally opposed to the socialist project.

The land question is no more settled for New Afrika than it is for Aztlán, and certainly not more so than for First Nations. We support all nationalism, including struggles for independent territory, that is opposed to imperialism.

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[National Oppression]
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Death Penalty = Modern Day Genocide

The U.$. Government is trying to find a new way to kill people of color. This is suppose to be a country of justice, equality and freedom, yet thirty five states still carry out the death penalty. Each state now seeks a new way to carry out an execution because the drug used in the lethal injection (Sodium Thiopental) is not being produced or exported to the U$ any longer.

The people who sit on death row are mainly Black and Latino. Death Row serves as a modern day lynching house for Blacks and Latinos. The state of Georgia just carried out an execution of Emanuel Hammond with Sodium Thiopental from an unlicensed company operating out of the back of a driving school in London, England [Similar controversy occurred recently in California - ULK editor].

We need to understand what’s going on around us and know our struggle is never over. And we need to start letting our voice be heard. Look at what’s going on in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia. These people are standing up to their government, letting their voices be heard.

Let’s stand up for our people in Death Row and stop this modern day genocide.


MIM(Prisons) responds: As MIM explained well many times already, the death penalty is good for nothing more than national oppression. It does not affect the crime rate, but it does get applied disproportionately against Blacks and Latinos. We call for an end to the imperialist death penalty, but not because we are pacifists. We know that the death penalty might be needed under socialism to deal with enemies of the people but we would not use this tool widely and we work towards a society where neither police nor prisons are needed.

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[National Oppression] [International Connections]
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Fighting Imperialist Repression in Egypt and at Home

Thank you for everything you are doing out there to re-educate the oppressed masses of incarcerated brethren through the U.S. of Amerika.

I’ve been following the events that are taking place in Egypt and their repercussions throughout the Middle East and how that can affect the control and monopoly currently exerted by the U.S. in that strategic part of the world.

I can only laugh at the blatant hypocrisy displayed by the U.S. government under Barack Obama whose cries of “support” for the Egyptian people under its banner of ‘Democracy’ and freedom of elections. One must not forget that Hosni Mubarak stayed in power for the last 30 years as a “puppeteer-government” subservient to the U.S. And that as a direct result the Egyptian people were repressed, suppressed and suffered greatly under Mubarak’s totalitarian regime.

But closer to home it pains me to see how my people: Mexicanos and Latinoamericanos (the Brown-skinned) are being persecuted and deported by the anglo-saxon-racist xenophobic bastards such as Arizona’s governor Brewer, and now New Mexico’s governor Martinez.

We need to show the masses out there in the streets what is really going on. Teach them their rights. Teach them to speak-up and unite against these invaders and imperialist government. And to fight literally if necessary. It’s our land and our universal right as human beings to stand-up and defend our beliefs.

Preach it! Teach it! Paste it on the walls! Put it on the net, web, Facebook, everything. Especially in our barrios, ghettos, hoods. We must stop fighting one another, it is not about red and blue or black and white. It is about brown, yellow, black and other light-skinned raza to reunite, together against our common enemy the US.

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[National Oppression] [Campaigns] [Gang Validation] [California] [ULK Issue 20]
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False Validation Campaign in California

I am writing to you concerning a lawsuit which my defense team members are currently preparing on my behalf. It protests my false prison gang validation as an associate of the Black Guerrilla Family on December 31, 2009.

It is my position that this validation is solely motivated by retaliation and racial profiling due to my ongoing campaign to stamp out corruption involving some “Green Wall” correctional staff within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) who are currently engaged in organized crime, which is a clear threat to the safety and security of all CDCR institutions.

I was recently responsible for disciplinary and employee discharges against three corrupted CDCR prison staff at California State prison - Sacramento, Salinas Valley State Prison, and High Desert State Prison.

Since my false prison gang process, me and my defense have come across strong evidence. Some corrupted “Green Wall” staff are very prejudiced and racist, sanctioning use of the false validation process for some Black, Brown and white prisoners, to pursue false prison gang investigations. Many prisoners have strong evidence of being wrongfully validated for reading materials on their culture. Institutional Gang Investigators have taken a race-based shortcut and assume anything to do with African or Mexican culture can be banned under the guise of controlling gang activities.

Any California prisoners who have relevant information on the false prison gang process should write to MIM(Prisons), to get involved in this case.

My purpose of this lawsuit is to shed light on this abuse of power and human rights violations, including torture tactics through criminal activities and organized crime.

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[Political Repression] [National Oppression]
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Peltier Case Part of Long History of Amerikkkan Tricks and Oppression

Indians were here first in this illegitimate country occupied by all of us that aren’t Indians. I am an Afrikkan man in this land of thieves. The article that was given to me by a comrade was ULK number 11. The article Thangs Taken got my attention the most because these caucasians have taken everything since the Afrikkans were taken from the mother land, Africa.

First off, let me set the record straight for all who are the “otherwise, and not the wise.” Nah, Old KKKolombus isn’t the founder of anything except how to deceive, divide, and conquer. The long white con used tricknology to trick and treat the Black man, the red man, and the brown man. This is the true meaning behind halloween and thanksgiving. To those of you who are pre-conditioned with the “otherwise-syndrome,” I pose the question to you: “how is it possible to say you’re the first to discover anything, if someone else is already there, or have ownership of whatever it may be?” Now, let me answer the question for those of you who don’t quite get my drift. The only way possible is by using deception, division, and conquering the minds of those who were trick and treated with gifts and trade of commerce.

I take some time to address the issue of Leonard Peltier, whose been in prison since 1977. For those of you who aren’t familiar with who Mr. Leonard Peltier is, and what his family needs us to do, let me do my best to enlighten you. Leonard Peltier, denied parole again, must wait until 2024 for his next hearing. “Despite the years of protest against Leonard Peltier’s wrongful imprisonment, despite government officials admissions over the years that they have no idea who killed FBI agents [Ronald A.] Williams and [Jack R.] Coler; despite the overwhelming evidence of egregious FBI malfeasance including civil and human rights violations; and despite the literally millions of signatures calling for the release of Peltier, he remains in prison to this day.”

On August 21, 2009 the U.S. Parole Commission for the second time denied parole to Leonard Peltier, who had appeared on July 28, 2009 before the parole board at Lewisburg Penitentiary, in Pennsylvania. This was his second full parole hearing since his incarceration in 1977, the first was in 1993. U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley made the announcement that Mr. Peltier’s release on parole “would depreciate the seriousness of his offenses” and “would promote disrespect for the law.” And that the next scheduled hearing would be in 2024, when Mr. Peltier would be 79 years old. The popular First Nation advocate for human rights was sentenced in a Fargo, North Dakota court to two life sentences for the killing of two FBI agents during a standoff on the South Dakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Mr. Peltier has always declared his innocence, saying the FBI framed him. Mr. Peltier’s Honolulu-based attorney, Eric Seitz placed his reaction to the parole decision on his Facebook page: “This is an extreme action by the same law enforcement community that brought us the deliberate imprisonment of suspected teenage terrorists, tortures, and killings in CIA prisons around the world; and promoted widespread disrespect for the democratic concepts of justice upon which this nation supposedly was founded on.”

Attorney Seitz is known for calling for trying former president George W. Bush, his Vice President, Dick Cheney and the First Secretary of Defense in his administration, Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes for launching the war in Iraq: “We will continue to seek parole and clemency for Mr. Peltier, and to eventually bring this prolonged injustice to a prompt and fair resolution,” he said.

The organizations fighting for Mr. Peltier’s release say they will now push for executive clemency, which means the commuting of his sentence - not a pardon, according to the Leonard Peltier Defense/Offense Committee(LPDOC) and the Friends of Leonard Peltier. “The President can decrease the amount of time served or grant an immediate release for time served,” states the LPDOC on its website. The friends of LP said they would urge congress to hold full and open hearings on the long term effect of COINTELPRO on the American Indian Movement and other activist organizations. The organization also wants congress to investigate who they call “the Reign of Terror” against the Pine Ridge Reservation from 1973 to 1976.

The FBI has been exerting massive pressure to continue Mr. Peltier’s incarceration, claim his supporters. The No Parole Peltier Association, which is run by a former FBI agents has posted on their web site that they “are strongly opposed to parole,” and on March 19 the organization, in a letter to President Barack Obama, urged him not to “give consideration to his [Peltier’s] Petition for executive clemency.”

Organizations that support Mr. Peltier’s release such as Amnesty International(AI) said they “regret” the parole commission’s decision.” “The interest of justice would be best served by granting Leonard Peltier Parole” Angela Wright, a U.S. researcher for AI said in a press release. “We urge the U.S. parole commission to reconsider its decision.” For those of you that want to help support Mr. Peltier his family and friends ask you to write to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20530 and ask him to conduct an executive review in the case of Leonard Peltier.


MIM(Prisons) responds:
The case of Leonard Peltier starkly illustrates the history of the COINTELPRO war against oppressed nation activists in the 1960s and 1970s and the consequential dramatic rise in the prison population in Amerika. Peltier is just one of many such people, locked up for fabricated crimes because they were part of a movement opposing Amerikan imperialism. This imprisonment expanded to oppressed nation youth who might join such anti-imperialist and revolutionary movements, and led Amerika to have the highest per capita imprisonment rate in the world.

The release of Leonard Peltier would be objective progress because as a vocal activist this would put Peltier in a better position to educate the youth of today about the history and current news in the criminal injustice system. However, he is just one of many men and women who should not be in Amerikkkan prisons. And rather than focus on individual cases, even very public and sensational cases like Peltier’s, MIM(Prisons) puts our efforts towards building a movement against the criminal injustice system as a whole, as a part of the fight against imperialism. Along the way we certainly ally with those focusing on individual cases like Peltier’s.


Related Articles:
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[National Oppression] [International Connections] [Arizona] [ULK Issue 17]
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Private Prison Scandal in AZ Legislature

ALEC structure

By aligning Amerikans’ immediate interests with their long-term interests, the militarization of the U.$./Mexico border has become a machine that will not likely slow down on its own. This machine is propelled by the imperialist politicians, imperialist businessmen (often the same people), and the Amerikan labor aristocracy. This collusion of interests at a time when Amerikan hegemony is fragile spells danger for the oppressed nations, in particular for Aztlán.

National Public Radio (NPR) released a report this week exposing financial and political connections between the Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) and those behind Arizona’s oppressive SB1070 law.(1) The law, which is still under judicial review after being put on hold, legalizes racial profiling and empowers state police to enforce federal immigration laws in the process. The scandal, now being denied by the bill’s sponsor Senator Russell Pearce and others, is that they passed the law to increase their income and the profits of their corporate backers.

Without SB1070, CCA was getting an estimated $117 million a year from the federal government for imprisoning migrants. Meanwhile, Wackenhut/G4S, the next largest private prison company, has a $76 million a year contract to bus migrants around the border for the U.$. government. Of course, both of these sums are chump change compared to the $3.6 billion budget for Border Patrol in 2010.(2) All of this is federal money going to the oppressor nation to do its thing – oppress.

The essence of what is going on is Amerikans getting paid a lot of money to make sure Amerikans get paid a lot of money. That’s why the border exists and why it must be militarized. If it is not, the masses whose labor value has been stolen and exported to the United $tates would come here to benefit from the fruits of their labor. Without closed borders, we can’t keep the wealth inside.

The NPR report exposes the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization of state legislators and powerful corporations that get together to draft and propose laws (see figure above). The companies pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend such meetings with those who make the law. And according to NPR, the number of legislators who sponsored SB1070 was almost unprecedented and 30 out of the 36 received contributions from prison companies or prison lobbyists in the 6 months following SB1070’s passage. Meanwhile, two of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s top advisers are former prison lobbyists.(1) All of this makes CCA’s and Sen. Pearce’s denials of corporate influence look silly.

None of this is new to CCA, which was founded in Nashville, Tennessee by former chairman of the state Republican Party, Tom Beasley and his former roomy from the U.$. Military Academy at West Point, Doc Crants. Initial investors included the governor’s wife, Honey Alexander, and the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Ned McWherter.(3) Ever since then, their business model has relied on close political ties just as most military, defense and security business does. Apparently, CCA agrees with MIM(Prisons)’s assessment that migrants are and will continue to be the fastest growing prison population in the United $tates. But while we are fighting this trend, CCA is doing all they can to foster it.

When imperialism reaches the point where the arms of oppression are major sources of profiteering, and the people are dependent on these operations for their paychecks and standards of living (i.e. where oppression and the oppressors’ financial interests become one in the same), we will see the national contradictions within imperialism heighten rapidly. This leads to increased repression both in laws and in actions but also the opportunity for raising consciousness and resistance among the oppressed nations. Even those Latinos who supported imperialist politics had to think twice about the Arizona law as it could impact their persynal safety if they visit that state. The imperialists expose their blatantly chauvinistic goals with these reactionary laws and the alliances that create the laws and it is our responsibility to point out the contradictions and organize against imperialist national oppression.

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[Control Units] [National Oppression] [Nebraska] [ULK Issue 18]
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Isolation for Symbolic Drawing

As of this writing I’ve been confined to a special management unit because, of all things, a drawing. The artwork however is not the problem, but what it supposedly represents. From a larger standpoint the censoring of such work is another form of passive cultural destruction. What they can’t control they restrict. What they don’t understand, they tend to fear. And of course the “they” I’m speaking of are those upholding Amerikan values of whitewashed virtues.

The drawing was one I chose to adopt because of its high symbolism and esoteric meanings. But because this symbol was first used by the Nation of Gods and Earths (Five Percenters), a branch of the Nation of Islam, which is deemed a “security threat group” within penal institutions in six states, I was also branded a threat. I have no affiliation with that organization or any gang. I don’t adhere to the NOGE’s or NOI’s religious dogmas. I do however share in their militant outlook and agree, for better, with what they’ve done to reeducate Black youth to the realities of this system. Because of this they, and anyone even duplicating a representative symbol of such organizations, are deemed a threat.

I must assume the motivation behind the government labeling a peaceful, cultural religious organization as a gang can be found in a real warranted fear of this group’s objectives. To name just a few: its obvious work in enlightening individuals about this police state, its very successful strategy in reducing the recidivism rate, and most importantly empowering youth to be leaders and conduits of true culture in their families and communities. These priorities, and numerous others, are something to fear, especially when privatized institutions can prospectively lose millions annually.

The programming of the masses through corporate-owned media propaganda has not been done haphazardly. Sensationalism, violence, stereotypes and desensitization through repetition of crime and cop shows has not only controlled opinion but has thoroughly turned people into mindless robots, keeping the rich in control, middle class happy and poor discontented but helpless. Any organization that exposes this government for what it is and directs its energies to providing and teaching what true responsibility is to a community, is one I’d gladly be a part of.


MIM(Prisons) responds:
We agree with this prisoner that the criminal injustice system has a real reason to fear any organization that is educating people about the prison system, working to reduce recidivism, and organizing oppressed nations. These organizations threaten their use of the prison system as a tool of social control. And it is true that the media plays a major role in promoting imperialist policies to the Amerikan people. However, this is not the only reason the masses are passive. Amerikan citizens are acting in their economic self-interest when they play the role of happy robot and accept imperialist policies. See our article Amerikkkans: Oppressing for a Living in ULK 2.

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[Political Repression] [National Oppression] [Tennessee]
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We Are Our Only Obstacle

Prison politics are one of the most corrupt manifestations brought into existence by Amerikkka. They are slavery and Jim Crow in one warehouse. These are warehouses for their legal (illegal) systems of “convicted” slaves. Every one of us who are conscious are political prisoners.

In the crooked fascist state of Tennessee’s prison system, or concentration camp system, racism is thriving. The brotherhoods and KKK members are allotted opportunities to study their facades of a culture, miseducated backgrounds. While unequally Afrikans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, etc. of the so-called “minority” groups are classified as STG members when we seek to become more informed about our cultural backgrounds and their legacies. It’s a constant battle in the heart of capitalism.

I, myself, have struggled with these oppressors for more than 5 calendar years about them attempting to classify me as an STG member. I’ve even gone so far as to clearly tell these savages that I’m a revolutionist not a senseless gang banger.

They verbally assault me and the comrades of like mind, hoping to provoke an attack from us because they can’t stomach seeing us unite as one mind, one body, one soul. But these fake Nazis do it and it’s cool because most prison officials are in one way or another believers in their theories. We must remember this so-called bible belt is the home of the Confederacy and it’s confederate concepts of racial superiority along the ideals of Hitler and his Nazism.

Since I’ve been at this prison, in the north eastern corner of Tennessee it has been no less than 4 white on Black stabbings where the white males who had the blades where treated better in apprehension than the Black/diasporic Afrikan victims. Whites use violence to solve their problems and simply get shipped, minus the acceptable few who are urban oriented. I don’t find this a coincidence. While if the Blacks or other “minorities” resort to violence to solve our issue/problems they resort to placing us on max for at least 18 months to 5 years, privileges taken, family communication taken, and then we’ll be shipped to another compound after our stretch behind the walls that are behind the walls.

This whole theory alone sounds insane if you ask any conscious human being. If you snitch behind these walls you get privileges unlike the ones who keep silent. And the cowards that do the snitch thang need their tongues cut out and tied around their throats by all revolutionary means. Our cultural celebrations are treated with mockery yet they’ll attempt placing you on meds and classifying you as insane/incompetent if you complain, but only because there is no unity amongst the oppressed.

They fear unity, for they know in it there is a power unstoppable. But we must, ourselves, believe it before we can achieve it. We are our only obstacle!


MIM(Prisons) responds: We hold that all prisoners are political prisoners, regardless of their consciousness, because they are in prison for political reasons. Barack Obama can bomb families in Central Asia and walk free, living a luxurious lifestyle while a Black man in an oppressed neighborhood with a little narcotics in his pocket can spend years in prison for possession. That’s political.

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[National Oppression] [ULK Issue 50]
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Black Panther or Aryan Soldier

With extreme I compose this essay in hopes to shed light on a prison-related issue of national oppression and prison organizations. The Black Panther Party (BPP), and similar organizations, are not entirely made up of Blacks. Far from it. This is because the BPP’s whole creed and politics center around non-racism and equality. Whereas you must be 100% white to become an aryan soldier (AS). And an AS’s whole creed revolves around that fact. Literally the 14/88 of the aryans stands for “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”(14 words) and the 88 precepts are set at that exact number because the eighth letter in the alphabet is “H.” and “HH” stands for Heil Hitler! And I’m sure readers are familiar with the Nazis.

Aryans believe in and support such myths as Valhalla (palace in which the souls of slain heroes feasted for eternity) and Valkyries (maidens who selected heroes destined to be slain in the battle and escorted them to Valhalla) geared from ancient Norse mythology. Whereas Panthers believe in and support science and a thing called “materialist dialectics” which basically states contradiction exists in everything [everything that’s not a fairy tale or myth] and in order to embrace reality, or change it if you wish, one must understand these contradictions inherent in things.

If we were to look at the reason why an aryan has time for nursery rhymes and fictional deities we’d see it’s because the white imperialist elite system these aryans live in already supports such idealist metaphysical ideals. And in truth, a person who doesn’t oppose a system thereby supports that system, as silence is taken as acceptance of that system.

And why not? The 14 million children who starve to death annually and the over 500,000 Iraqi children who’ve died because of U.$. sanctions aren’t white children. If one of our white baby Jessicas slips down a hole we aryan nation amerikans pull out all the stops. And I say aryan nation because history has shown the U.$. leaves these aryan gangs and organizations alone. At least compared to what the U.$. government did to the Black Panthers. Has anyone ever heard of a COINTELPRO (counter intelligence FBI program) roundup of aryans? Inside of Amerika? Just look at how long it took the U.$. to step in and oppose the nazis.

So why isn’t an aryan soldier deemed a threat but a Panther is?

Is it because the Panthers actually voice dissent at a system that allows millions of children to starve to death? At a system that wars for profit and imprisons for the simple fact you are not white, or rich enough to dodge the bullet? Because the Panthers use statistics and percentages:


U.$. Black incarceration rate per 100,000: 1,947
U.$. white incarceration rate per 100,000: 306(1)
Iraqi children killed because of U.$. sanctions (1996): 500,000 (2)

Not folklore and myth to attempt to grasp reality, they’re “dangerous” and deemed a threat to the white elitists who run the amerikan military, and prison industries.

A Panther seeks an end to all wars. What is the aryan soldier’s take on the issue of war? They don’t have one. Unless it’s the willingness to join the U.$. military and fight for “their” country. A Panther will not join the military out of moral and ethical beliefs.

And then we come to “choice of words” or “manners” that these two groups have adopted over time because their environments have forced such polarities. A person in the aryan soldier brotherhood has time to write about and justify his tattoos. He could be seen as a man who isn’t in no hurry at all. No danger for this man or his people is imminent. He thinks of tattoos. And justifying himself and his gang.

But a panther worried about the deaths of his friends, loved ones and comrades, at the hands of an aryan system, will speak with an entirely different tone of voice. Because he must hurry, it’s life or death for him, his family and 15 million children annually. His people. The ones oppressed and dying because of this white elitist aryan system of government.

It’s like this. You and a friend are walking toward the Grand Canyon. 1,000 yards away your buddy turns around and walks backwards smiling at you. You say, “funny, but we’re far away from the cliff. nice tattoos.” At about 500 yards you say “well dude, better face forward or you’ll walk over the cliff.” At 5 yards you’re not going to smile and say “please”; you’ll grab him; or if he’s too far away, you’ll scream “stop! now!” even if it hurts his feelings or upsets him.

Unless you’d rather talk about his hair style or tattoos. Unless you don’t care if he (15 million children) die. Would it make a difference to an aryan soldier what color this man’s, 5 yards from a cliff’s edge walking towards it backwards, skin was? Most certainly it would. Read the 14 words.

Even though I’m a white “redneck,” I am very put off by aryan soldiers. I personally am ashamed and embarrassed when anyone tries to support or stick up for “14/88” or “skinhead($)”. And, i guess, this makes me a race traitor to these people, and a captive that sticks up for “undesirables.” But I don’t care. I’m already deemed a “threat to the community” and a “terrorist” in most people’s eyes. What’s a group of Nazis ‘hating on me’ going to add to the state of Utah’s and government’s already dislike for my anti-imperialist person? Nothing.

To justify a Black Panther and their beliefs is progressive and correct. To (attempt to) justify a white supremacist is backwards and frightening to the world’s majority.

Notes:

1. MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial, p. 59.
2. Arundhati Roy, “Power Politics”, p. 111.

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[National Oppression] [High Desert State Prison] [California]
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Lockdown of "northern hispanics" at HDSP [Z-Unit Background Story]

I’m writing you today regarding High Desert State Prison’s (HDSP) violation of my constitutionally protected rights (as well as the rights of many other inmates). Those violations include 14th amendment (due process), 1st amendment (freedom of religion) and 8th amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) just to name a few! Now I would like to give you a little of the background and then a brief rundown on conditions here at HDSP in the Z Unit Administrative segregation Unit as well as how these violations are taking place.

On August 4, 2009 HDSP targeted “northern hispanic” prisoners on C-yard general population, due to supposed racial tension between white prisoners and “northern hispanic” prisoners (there was no tension until HDSP staff started spreading false rumors). Note: because of these rumors both white and “northern hispanic” prisoners were placed on lockdown the first week of June 2009. On August 4, 2009 staff turned all water off on C-yard prior to 8am. Then IGI/ISU started a building by building sweep of all (only) “northern hispanic” prisoners. All were systematically strip searched, cuffed and removed from their cells, wearing only boxers and shower thongs. Our boxers were then taped to our stomachs and around our legs (the taping was done on bare skin). All these prisoners were taken outside and wanded with hand held metal detectors and we were then sent to one of three destinations: 1) if your names was on the list for validation you went to the gym where you were medically cleared and then forced, by investigators, to be photographed, then sent to ad-seg. 2) if the list did not say validated by your name, and the metal detector did not beep you went to the dining hall. 3) if the wand beeped you went to potty watch. Note: some inmates went to potty watch even without the wand beeping. All “northern hispanic” prisoners’ property was confiscated and thrown in the gym where it was searched and personal items were lost, destroyed and damaged by careless correctional officers.

This was simply a racially motivated attack by HDSP! Close to if not more than half of all “northern hispanics” on C-yard were removed from general population and sent to ad-seg and then validated.

Now the aforementioned is just the background and beginning to the violations of our constitutionally protected rights. Since my arrival in Z unit, staff has refused to follow the policies set forth in California Code of Regulations Title 15 section 3343 - conditions of segregation - with their willful and blatant disregard for following state created rules and regulations, they (HDSP) are in violation of the 14th amendment of the US constitution, specifically the Due Process Clause. Now let me briefly explain the conditions they are violating.

  1. Clothing/laundry exchange - this has recently improved, however prisoners for the most part must still wash their clothing by hand, because the exchange offered is either old and worn out or there is only one or two different items available. Prisoners also do not receive proper winter attire. It is extremely cold and it snows much of the late fall, winter and early spring. The jackets given to us do not button up nor do they zip up, and prisoners are not allowed gloves or beanies. The only clothing we are allowed to wear outside at yard are a pair of socks, boxers, t-shirt, thin cloth jumpsuit, jacket and a lightweight pair of state issued slip-on shoes, and if a prisoner has already purchased their own, prior to ad-seg placement, a set of thermals. This is all in sub-zero temps.

  1. Meals are served in unsanitary conditions. Food is served cold, mixed together some items are stale and fruit is rotten, and meat and other food is undercooked.

  1. Mail is late, lost and destroyed, outgoing mail is lost, delayed or not mailed at all.

  1. Personal cleanliness - prisoners are supposed to be allowed to shave 3 times a week, however in the year plus that I have been in Z unit I have never shaved more than once in any given week and then it’s not with a razor, it’s with haircutting clippers. Also indigent supplies such as the tooth floss and bodywash/soap is not always passed out. Supplies for cleaning our cells are not adequate to last the week nor are they always provided.

  1. Exercise yard - yard is often canceled. For example in February of 2010 our section only had yard four times the entire month. Prisoners are supposed to get a minimum of 10 hours per week of yard. While at yard in the winter, prisoners are strip searched outside in snow, ice and 10 degree temps. While we are standing there naked correctional officers laugh and say “it’s not that cold out here!” Not only do these actions listed above violate 14th amendment rights, they are also violating the 8th amendment and are (most if not all of them) a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

All of the previously mentioned issues I have tried to address via the institutional appeal system (CDCR 602) but I have been stopped at every turn. Staff either toss it in the trash, disregard it, or screen it out every time I attempt to bring these issues to the table. Therefore they are not allowing issues to be resolved administratively nor are they allowing us to be able to seek judicial review.

Other major issues include these validations from August 4, 2009 - most if not all of them are bogus as well as prejudicial. For example, not one point used to validate me meets CDCR criteria, state or federal laws. Now my initial paperwork said I was only under investigation. Less than 2 months later I received a second 114-D which said the first one was a lie, the investigation was concluded in July 2009 (which was prior to my ad-seg placement). These lies did not allow me to prepare a proper defense to combat these allegations. This is the standard operating procedure of staff and administrators here at HDSP which is to tell one story after another, lie after lie, and this is designed to keep prisoners confused and off balance.

Validated inmates are not being transferred to the SHU unit due to supposed over crowding at the SHUs, so here at HDSP it takes 2-3 years to be transferred. SHU inmates are supposed to be allowed an appliance, i.e. a TV or a radio, but not here in Z unit, here we don’t even receive all of our allowable property. Also the lighting is poor, causing eye strain. There are no fire extinguishers in the cells. Toilets are on flush meters meaning if you flush more than 2 times in 5 minutes the toilets will shut down for an hour. Also power outages disable the toilets and those are frequent. Also there are ants, spiders, mice and birds on the tier. Which leads to animal (mouse) and bird feces on the walls, the doors, the floors as well as all over the yard cages. Each and every one of these issues are a violation of the 8th amendment and they create cruel and unusual conditions of punishment.


MIM(Prisons) responds: This testimonial highlights the difficulties with the grievance system that many prisoners face when fighting the atrocious conditions in the criminal injustice system. We point this prisoner and others to the grievance campaign that was initiated by a California prisoner working with United Struggle from Within and has now spread to states across the country. [Since receiving this report, a full blown campaign to end the abuses at the “Z-Unit Zoo” has developed.]

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