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.
On 14 May 2018, after seven days of being on lockdown and receiving one
shower, 6 prisoners at the Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) in the
Management Control Unit covered their windows in protest and demanded
they be given showers. The administration argued that they had been
taken off lockdown on May 12, and therefore were not due showers.
On May 12, the facility had been taken off lockdown for 10 minutes and
as soon as the doors opened multiple prisoners began fighting and the
facility immediately went back on lockdown not ten minutes later leaving
prisoners without a chance to take showers since May 10th. Colorado’s
policy is that prisoners get a chance to shower every 72 hours.
At CSP each tier has 8 cells housing one prisoner each, 2 tiers per pod
and 8 pods per unit. Six out of 8 prisoners all agreed to protest by
covering their windows. Rather than allow the prisoners the human
dignity of a shower, the cell extraction team was deployed, and a
chemical weapon known as FOXISPRA Jet Oleoresin Capiscum (O/C) spray was
applied. This caused several of the prisoners, including the author who
has respiratory issues and is “O/C restricted” yet was still sprayed, to
pass out. Apparently to Colorado DOC, being unconscious is considered
resting. As usual staff tailored the reports to fit their needs, each
prisoner was given disciplinary charges and monetary fines of $117, most
of which was for one time use items that should have been split six
different ways.
Sadly, the goal was not accomplished, however the 6 were allowed to
shower to remove the O/C spray. The bright side is that solidarity such
as this is on the rise in higher security prisons in Colorado, and this
story has been circulating around the facility with high regard.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Building unity around common oppression is
an important part of organizing behind bars. When people start to come
together to demand their basic rights, they also start to see the power
of this unity. Revolutionaries can build on this unity by helping folks
to see how these individual situations of oppression are tied to the
broader criminal injustice system. And making these connections we can
start talking about what we need to do to fight back on a broader scale.
Lots of people report their political awakening going back to persynal
experiences of oppression, coupled with revolutionaries helping them see
the ties to the broader system of oppression. United Struggle from
Within comrades can play this leadership role by starting from where
people are at and building with them.
Thank you for your literature list. I am interested in a lot of the
material more so on Aztlán/Mexico. As of right now they are censoring
and denying the book Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán.
Since a movement has started that has ended all brown-on-brown violence
between two tribal groups we were put on lockdown because all violence
stopped. Both groups were going to class, rec, sitting, eating together
and staff did not like it and slammed us down. I only have a couple more
weeks in this facility. As soon as I leave I’ll put in an order and send
money for the materials I need since for some reason this facility has
stopped everything about Aztlán or Chicano revolutionary subjects.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is very inspiring news coming out of
Colorado. The oppressors have always feared the unity of the oppressed.
We take it as a sign of success that the prison felt compelled to
respond to the unity of Chican@s with a lockdown. They expose themselves
with these actions: prisons are not trying to reduce violence, they are
just in place to implement systems of social control. Unity of the
oppressed threatens that control. Keep up the good work comrades!
On 15 March 2018, MIM(Prisons) received dozens of emails from
corrlinks.com, a website used by some U.$. prison systems to provide
email access to prisoners. All were from the Federal Bureau of Prisons,
and read in part:
“This message informs you that you have been blocked from communicating
with the above-named federal prisoner because the Bureau has determined
that such communication is detrimental to the security, good order, or
discipline of the facility, or might facilitate criminal activity.”
It has long been established that it is legal for staff to open and read
mail sent into prisons, and to not allow such mail that might pose a
threat to safety like communicating information on plans to hurt someone
or commit a crime. Quite frequently,
publications and even
letters from MIM(Prisons) are censored by prison staff for being a
threat to security. Legally, this must be based on the content of that
mail or publication containing information that poses a direct threat.
In practice it often is not, and sometimes we can fight those battles
and win.
What the Federal Bureau of Prisons is trying to say here is that members
of MIM(Prisons) are not allowed to communicate or associate with
prisoners they hold captive, regardless of the content of those
communications. This is of course a violation of U.$. law and founding
principles. (for more background on related laws and court rulings see
our censorship
guide)
Such blanket bans have been attempted in the past. Sometimes openly like
this one, or like
the
ban in California, which ended after an out-of-court settlement with
Prison Legal News because, well, the CDCR knew what they were
doing was illegal. MIM(Prisons) is submitting appeals to this and will
update our readers. In the meantime our comrades in federal prisons
should continue to contact us via postal mail and keep us updated on
censorship on their end.
Electronic Communications
There have been some recent discussions around the use of electronic
communications and devices within U.$. prisons and how comrades should
approach them. While CorrLinks has been around for some time, more
recently prisoners in many prisons can purchase tablet computers for
persynal use. Just as we warn people in general about
how they use these
technologies, those warnings apply even more to prisoners. While the
internet provides opportunities for anonymity and free flow of
information, this is not really true for the services provided by the
state to prisoners. So there is little benefit, and much risk in terms
of surveillance and control over a persyn’s communications from within
prison when using these tools. Thanks to profiteering, we are not even
aware of any email services for prisoners that don’t charge ridiculous
rates.
In general, technology does offer solutions, that are at times better
than what we can achieve in real life interactions in terms of both
security and thinking more scientifically. To look at some principles of
communication that we can apply both online and off, we will look at
Briar (briarproject.org). Briar is still in Alpha, and only currently
available for Android OS, but has received promising security reviews so
far. Briar is an interesting example, because it addresses
decentralization, cryptography and anonymity.
One of the biggest problems with the internet today is the
centralization that a handful of multinational corporations have made of
the traffic on the internet by locking people into certain services.
When it comes to email, prisoners have little choice but to use the
CorrLinks, centralized service, and face potential bans like this one.
On the internet, centralization of activity on certain platforms allows
the corporations on those platforms to decide what a majority of the
population is seeing, who they are communicating with and when they are
no longer allowed to communicate. With Briar, in contrast, one does not
even need an internet connection to set up a network of communication
with your associates. And even with the internet, each client serves as
a node on a decentralized network, so that there is no one powerful
persyn who can decide to shut it down. This same principle is applied in
real world organizing, where an organization is decentralized to avoid
being paralyzed if an individual is removed or repressed.
On the internet, we also have a problem of information being available
everywhere to almost anyone. It is only recently, with many hacks and
data breeches, that people are beginning to realize that encryption is
necessary to protect even peoples’ basic information. Such information
has been used to falsely imprison people, to steal identities, and to
just target and harass people. In the real world, people know to talk
quietly about certain things, or talk about plans for building peace
when that C.O. who is always instigating fights isn’t around, etc. On
the internet there is the potential for all information to be available
for an indefinite period of time, to potentially anyone. So suddenly
everything needs to be said in a whisper, or in encrypted form as Briar
and other software does.
Related to encryption is anonymity. Whenever one goes online, one must
have an IP Address that tells the other machines on the network where
you are so they can send you responses. This IP address (typically) is
linked to a real world location and often to a specific machine.
Previously we have talked about
The
Onion Router(Tor), which works to hide your IP Address. When on the
internet, Briar operates through Tor, when connecting to others on the
network. This provides for anonymity. Anonymity does not have as strong
parallels in the real world, but might be like putting up fliers in the
middle of the night or marching in a protest with a mask on. This is an
advantage of the internet. If done properly, we can spread information
anonymously, and without fear of reprisal. In addition, anonymity on the
internet allows us to share information without the biases that we come
across in real world interactions. The internet can be a tool for people
to think more scientifically and judge ideas for their merit and not for
who is saying them.
As the above example shows, we cannot trust the U.$. government to
just obey its own laws and not repress people for their political
beliefs. We must continue to stand up to such political repression,
while building independent institutions of the oppressed that allow us
to continue to organize for a better tomorrow.
It has been brought to my attention that the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation(CDCR) is trying to propose changes to
family visiting regulations. By using Proposition 57 as leverage to
divide the masses, this policy is discriminatory towards our comrades
who get family visits. This policy does not reduce violence, and/or
decrease contraband and/or promote positive behavior and/or prepare you
for a successful release or rehabilitation as claimed in the CDCR
proposal.
In a recent announcement of proposed policy changes to the telephone
system and family visiting eligibility, the CDCR issued the statement:
“All inmates are encouraged to continue with positive programming and to
not participate in any mass strike/disturbance. These types of
disturbances impact the many programming opportunities for
rehabilitation and reduction in sentence afforded by Proposition 57.”
This new policy is trying to discourage the masses from using their
constitutional right to peaceful protest, by pitting those working for
sentence reductions under Prop. 57 against those organizing for justice
and change. CDCR is back with their reactionary divide and conquer
ideals. CDCR is a functional enemy of using the word rehabilitation.
CDCR will never produce justice or correctness toward their captives. So
I ask this question to the masses: Does Prop. 57 support us or does it
help CDCR maintain and expand a repressive system against captives?
CDCR is abusing Prop. 57 and using it as leverage and against all
organizing activity. This direct or indirect association of Prop. 57 to
family visiting and discipline of prisoners promotes confusion and
non-justice. The people who voted for Prop. 57 did so with the intent of
trying to do justice to correct a broken system. They intended to return
humyn beings to their families.
Without justice, there is no life in people. Without justice, people do
not “live”, they only exist and that’s good for CDCR. (Wake up
comrades!) I have one message for CDCR, “Where there is justice, there
is peace.”
[Proposition 57 was passed by California voters in November 2016. Its
main purpose is to make it easier for prisoners with non-violent
convictions to get a parole hearing, and allow prisoners who are not
lifers or on death row to earn good time and earlier release through
programming.]
In August of 2016, a comrade was written up for possession of Security
Threat Group (STG) contraband and given a 115 Rules Violation
Report(RVR). This was in direct violation of the
Ashker
v. Brown class-action settlement agreement terms around “Due
process” as described below. The new rules to reform isolation practices
in California didn’t even eliminate the outrageous practice of using
drawings and greeting cards as reasons to put people in isolation in
California. The “due process” clause was the only promising term of the
weak Ashker settlement, and it seems CDCR does not intend to uphold it.
Political repression is the clear motivation here, as the target is a
well-known anti-imperialist who works tirelessly for the improvement of
the New Afrikan nation.
Facts:
On August 4, 2016, CO J. Hunter reviewed [XYZ]’s outgoing mail and found
a drawing that included the image of a gorilla.
He based his conclusion that the drawing constituted “STG contraband”
on:
In past investigations, he received information from unnamed BGF
members and associates that the “Silverback Gorilla is symbolic for the
strongest force of the Guerrillas much like how the Silverback Gorilla
is considered to be the dominant leader amongst a family of
gorillas.”
The word “Gorilla” can be found in various documents used by the BGF.
He provides one example: The “I Stand Firm Oath” of the BGF includes a
verse stating “Long live the graceful guerrilla.”
The BGF recognizes the gorilla as a symbol of stability and
power.
The Office of Correctional Safety has established the credibility
regarding the meaning of these symbols.
[XYZ] was found guilty of this offense and given 30 days confinement to
cell, leaving only to shower. I have written him for these documents.
Challenge:
[XYZ] points out that item #1 above is based on unnamed confidential
informants who allegedly have connected the “gorilla” animal with the
BGF. However, CDCR has not complied with its own rules regarding
confidential information (no 1030s, etc.) Also, this sentence makes no
sense. Who are the “Guerrillas”? Does he mean BGF members or BGF
leadership?
The picture depicts several fierce animals (lions, tigers, elephant,
Pharaoh hound) and various male fighters who look more Aztec than
African (to me). The gorilla does not dominate, nor is there anything
else in the picture to suggest an STG.
The word “Gorilla” does not appear in the “I Stand Firm Oath” of the
BGF. I was unable to find such an oath on the internet, but did find a
BGF oath on a police-oriented website – see attached memo. It does not
contain this term or phrase. The officer cites no authority for this
claim, or is citing the confidential informants described above, without
providing proper documentation.
The BGF’s view of the gorilla as a symbol of stability and power is also
asserted without attribution, or it is attributed to confidential
informants.
The statement about the OCS establishing credibility is insufficient.
Credibility is a term referring to people – the statement does not say
who the people are. But broad reference to another CDCR office
establishing the credibility of an informant or the reliability of the
information seems like an end run around the responsibility of the
hearing officer.
Finally, on what authority does the mere drawing of an animal among
other animals constitute gang contraband?
Additional information:
I have done a little internet research on the “Silverback gorilla.”
Apparently, this refers to a mature male gorilla whose back hair has
turned grey with age. He is the “alpha male” among the group of gorillas
that he lives with. The drawing does not purport to be a Silverback
gorilla. It doesn’t say it is a Silverback nor can you see his back. We
can guess that the gorilla in the picture is male, but even that is not
necessarily true. That the officer brings up the “Silverback gorilla” is
suspect to me. He is making himself sound like he knows more than he
really knows. He does not purport to be an expert himself, yet by
throwing out this term, he is making himself sound knowledgeable.
by MIM(Prisons) November 2016 permalink
Click to Download PDF Of California Petition
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
It’s been rough these past couple months at Gulf Correctional
Institution Annex, that is ever since prisoners attempted to have a
non-violent sit down. On 8 September 2016 Administration walked around
to every dorm stating “We going to treat a non-violent sit down just
like a violent one.” When it came to awaken A.M. food service workers to
report to work, all prisoners sat on their bunk in silence. At
approximately 2:05AM administration gave a final call in L-Dorm for food
service workers to report to their assigned post for work. Every
prisoner refused to leave the dorm and sat on their bunk.
Once the sun began to rise prisoners became aware of the large number of
heavily armed Rapid Response Team (RRT) officers in full body armor
marching towards L-Dorm. A sledgehammer came crashing through two open
bay windows. Once an opening was cleared, officers armed with 12 gauge
shot guns started aiming on those prisoners sitting on their bunks in
L-Dorm. Warden Blackwood ordered all prisoners to lay on their bellies
with their hands on head. The warden ordered officers to switch to live
rounds, safeties off, any prisoner gets off his bunk shoot to kill.
Once the prisoners in K-Dorm and Q-Dorm witnessed how Administration and
RRT members was mistreating prisoners in L-Dorm they started standing up
against our oppressors. RRT members smashed out a window in K-Dorm and
deployed Pepperball Launching System (PLS). RRT members began extracting
K-Dorm prisoners, zip tieing them, and emergency shipping those
prisoners. While in Q-Dorm prisoners were ordered to go into their cells
and close the doors, RRT entered Q-Dorm using Pepperball Launching
System (PLS), noise flash distraction devices, and stinger rubberball
grenades.
One prisoner was disabled and confined to a wheelchair due to having
only one leg. This Muslim disabled prisoner had a stinger rubberball
grenade explode under the wheelchair. Officers days later was heard
bragging how it launched the prisoner out of his wheelchair and into a
cell! While in L-Dorm hours went by laying on bellies, prisoners were
denied restroom privileges and forced to urinate into empty powerade
bottles or on the floor next to their bunk. Only times prisoners had
permission to sit up was when bag lunches arrived during breakfast,
lunch and dinner. No drink was provided at any meal to prevent
dehydration. Prisoners began to beg for water around evening. Captain
Shwarz followed by armed RRT members entered L-2. Captain Schwarz had a
9mm handgun in his hand, walked up to the prisoner who had been
requesting water out the window, leveled the handgun on the inmate and
threatened to blow his head off if he did not cease his actions.
Prisoner was then zip tied and escorted to confinement.
The following day inmates was rounded up and placed in Q-Dorm which
became Emergency Confinement. Administration rounded up the majority of
prisoners who had ties to one affiliation or another. This was
administration’s excuse for their excessive force used. The gangs didn’t
force prisoners to participate in the sitdown but as far as the warden
was concern that’s who the blame was going to fall on. Prisoners in
Emergency Confinement were placed under investigation, given falsified
disciplinary reports, unjustly use of force in the form of CS gas,
placed in scalding hot showers for decontamination, escorted back to the
same cell that had not been decontaminated, forced to sleep on steel +
concrete for 63.5 hours, and had suffered a beating from the hands of
officers.
All prisoners in Q-Dorm have been shipped after 60 days. Only 18
prisoners remain now, and have been escorted to P-Dorm regular
confinement. I am the prisoner who suffered beating from Sergeant Kirk
who was escorting me to rec. Captain Schwarz told Sergeant Kirk to “take
care that little bitch for me.” Once outside and out the view the camera
Sergeant Kirk struck me in the back of the head with a closed fist,
slammed me viciously to the ground, elbowed me to the back the head,
while trying to force my hands above my head in handcuffs. I don’t know
why out of the hundred some prisoners in Emergency Confinement that I
was left behind and not transferred. As of now I’ve been sentenced to
150 days disciplinary confinement, my DR’s consist of “Refuse to Work,”
“Participating in Minor Disturbance,” “Gang Related Activity,” and
“Disorderly Conduct.” My grievances are being trashed and I expect more
hands-on retaliation upon my release from confinement. This is all
results of September 9th at Gulf Correctional Institution Annex.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We’ve printed a lot of
reports about the protests on September 9, both as part of the
United Front for Peace in Prisons Day of Peace and Solidarity, and part
of the broader work strike. It is good to hear more details about the
unity and struggle put into action on that day. We also want to publicly
document that brutal, terroristic and illegal behavior of Florida DOC
staff towards the peaceful protesters at Gulf CI Annex. Humyn rights in
action in the United $tates of Amerikkka.
It is not surprising that the prison administrators blame lumpen
organizations (LOs) for the action. Although LOs in some prisons serve a
negative role by pitting prisoners against each other, in many places
they have taken a positive role and stepped up to push unity and
struggle against the criminal injustice system. The potential for these
organizations of oppressed nations, which already have a strong cadre
and the ability to quickly mobilize many, is correctly identified as a
threat by the administration. And it is our job as revolutionaries to
help members push these organizations towards progressive action.
I am writing to inform you of the most recent form of retaliation. As I
have written in the past, I have been fighting the Nevada Department of
Corrections (NDOC) over a number of issues. Two issues are now in the
courts, but one deals specifically with the racist, homophobic, sexist
and all around disrespectful actions of two pigs here at Ely State
Priosn (ESP). SCO Mullins, and CO Wheeler. In February these officers
searched my cell for four hours. They broke all my appliances, tore and
threw away almost all of my books and other materials relating to
communist thought. They have repeatedly gotten on my intercom and talked
down to me, have called me a “commie pig,” a “red”, and nicknamed me
“USSR.” I doubt they know what communist thought is, more their
ignorance allows them to utilize it as a tool of harassment.
ESP started allowing porters on 1 October 2016, the first since 2003 I
believe. (ESP is locked down). Well my cellie and I got the porter job.
We worked for 17 days. The first time we worked with SCO Mullins, we
were fired and written up for making threats towards officers. Which did
not happen.
My cellie and I were moved from our cell, but to another room in the
same unit! Despite our many claims of harassment. All the harassment has
been a direct result of our fighting the NDOC in relation to its use of
racial segregation in housing, its use of the paging system for the law
library, and the grievance process.
As a result of these false allegations, my cellie and I are now removed
from the transfer list. I am looking at up to two years in the hole. My
cellie will lose up to 3 years of good time (I have life without) so he
will have to do 10 more years, instead of 7 more, and neither of us may
ever be able to leave ESP.
This officer thinks he has won. However, all he has done is strengthened
my resolve to fight harder. I would appreciate any information regarding
case law dealing with retaliation that you or incarcerated comrades may
have.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We applaud this writer’s resolve to
continue the fight in the face of very real consequences to eir work.
Additional years in prison and long-term isolation are serious outcomes
that will cause many to give up the fight. Even more, this comrade is
doing the right thing by writing about eir experiences to expose the
injustice, and reaching out to others for support and help. This sort of
oppression can be an opportunity to organize and educate others. But the
resulting isolation of course means limited ability to organize people.
We invite our readers to share suggestions for this comrade.
“The educational and professional training systems are very elaborate
filters.”
This statement comes from Understanding Power: The Indispensable
Chomsky, by Noam Chomsky. In chapter four he discusses safeguards
and controls put in place by and to protect the capitalist system. His
analysis is apt. In the United States those who control information are
those who hold the power. Which is why the government is the largest
collector and disseminator of information. More importantly it is the
most effective filtration system.
This is accomplished through 1) popular control and 2) the media.
Effective popular control isolates citizens and dissidents. When someone
is isolated it is easy to control their reality and/or manipulate their
actions. On the other hand there’s the media. The media does much more
than provide an outlet for the dissemination of information. It is the
main tool, outside of formal schooling, for indoctrinating
non-proletariat citizenry. It also validates petty-bourgeois society by
marginalizing dissidents and the proletariat. This particular control (a
process of measures and procedures to prevent substantive changes and to
preserve a system), I’ve termed the subjection-manipulation cycle.
Information control, isolation, indoctrination and marginalization are
continued in perpetuity. The purpose of this control is to create a
sheepish or gullible populace.
It is effective because the un-indoctrinated are deprived of a voice, a
vote, an opinion. Even maybe shunned completely. They are isolated and
made seemingly impotent. The subjection-manipulation cycle has
been adapted by the U.$. prison system. At present, it provides a
reliable method for repressing “subversive”, “disruptive”, or
“threatening” activities, attitudes, or behaviors. Prison has a wide
array of people. Some who become indoctrinated, and others who refuse to
relinquish their freedom to determine their actions. The first I’ve
termed subjugated, the second self-determinants. Self-determinants find
themselves targets of the subjection-manipulation cycle.
Self-determinants are generally punished and repressed, while the
subjugated are rewarded. In public life, dissidents are parallel to
self-determinants in prisons. By isolating and repressing
self-determinants, prison authorities filter and provide examples of
“unacceptable” behavior. Self-determinants are segregated, privileges
stripped and their associates harassed. This ends with them being
socially stigmatized. The parallel in public life is almost identical.
Isolation, repression and harassment in the hopes of inducing impotency.
The subjection-manipulation cycle is not only a system of reprisals and
rewards. It contains the essential element of information dissemination.
Authorities screen, examine, and filter all information available to
captives. This way they can promote desired modes of thought and
behavior. Why else have banned/prohibited publication lists? Or overly
complicated grievance procedures? Or such general lack of access? A lack
of information is equivalent to a lack of education. This stymies only
pro-proletarian, revolucionario, anti-capitalist, or anti-imperialist
movement. Education leads to organization. As long as prisons can
reinforce this control, the results will mirror those found in history.
It presents a massive obstacle, but not insurmountable. The solution
begins with knowledge, followed by discipline, and unity.
First, to gain knowledge one must become educated. Not through the
system, but an actual education. Becoming well versed in the rules that
govern prison officials, procedures, operations and policies. Making an
intensive research into the history of capitalism, its motives, goals
and methods. In short, you must learn the enemy: imperialists and
exploitative capitalists. Just as important, you must learn and know
yourself: strengths, weaknesses, abilities and potential. This is called
“self-knowledge.” The enemy has full self-knowledge. To be anything more
than a minor annoyance to the authorities you must also attain full
self-knowledge. Education is the first step to supplanting capitalism
and its controls.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer does a good job explaining the
importance of education to developing appropriate strategies in our
struggle. This education must counter the indoctrination we have all
experienced from birth under capitalism. Write to MIM(Prisons) to get
involved in our introductory study group, or to get some educational
material and tips for your study groups locally.
“The educational and professional training systems are very elaborate
filters.”
This statement comes from the book titled, Understanding Power: The
indispensable Chomsky, by Noam Chomsky. In chapter four, he
discusses the safeguards and controls put in place by and to protect the
capitalist system. His analysis is apt: control and manipulation began
with the educational institutions.
In the United States those who control the information are those who
hold power. Which is why the U.S. government is the largest and most
efficient collector and disseminator of information. More importantly it
is the most effective filtration system of information. Why is that? It
is elementary, as Sherlock Holmes would say. If your opponent (read the
proletariat) lacks the knowledge (read information and education), then
your opponent is unable to employ it to your disadvantage. When I say
‘your opponent’ I mean the opponent of the u.s. government and
capitalism.
This is accomplished through 1) popular control and, 2) the media
effective popular control isolates citizens and dissidents. When a
person is isolated, it is a simple matter to control their reality and
manipulate their actions to conform to your specific aims and
objectives. On the other hand is the media. The media does much more
than simply providing an outlet for the dissemination of information. It
helps to, and actually is a main tool for, indoctrination and
marginalization. Or the subjection-manipulation cycle as I have termed
it, is continued in perpetuity. The formation of this specific control
(‘control’, meaning measures and policies used to prevent substantive
changes to and for the preservation of a system) is meant to create a
sheepish or gullible populace. One easily manipulated and maneuvered.
In public life, the effectiveness of this control lies in the fact that,
those who aren’t indoctrinated, or, at least, able to behave as if they
are, soon learn that they have no voice, no vote and lack the
consideration of others. Even find that they may be shunned (socially
ostracized) as if they had a contagious, fatal disease. The
un-indoctrinated are thus isolated and made ‘seemingly’ impotent. This
system has been adopted by the u.s. prison system and is strictly
adhered to.
The subjection-manipulation cycle has been adapted to and by prisons
because it provides a reliable and justifiable method of repressing
subversive, disruptive, or ‘negative’ attitudes, behaviors and/or
activities. Prisons present a sampling of society’s range of
individuals. Some prisoners become well-indoctrinated and follow
prisons’ policies and regulations. Other less indoctrinated follow some
or most. And finally those who are self-determinants (prisoners who
refuse to relinquish their freedom to determine their actions and
conduct). It is these last that suffer the reprisals of the
subjection-manipulation cycle.
Self-determinants are generally punished. While their counterparts, what
I termed subjugated, they are rewarded. The reward/reprisal
structure is even clearer in the prison adaptation of the
subjection-manipulation cycle. As in public life, where dissidence earns
social stigmatization. In prison, self-determinants are shunned and
given a wide berth. In this way the system filters the population, in
order to isolate self-determinants. Holding them up as examples of
unacceptable behavior to the subjugated. Punishment in public is
normally being unemployable, negative to one’s status in society, or
being labeled a liability. This ends with a dissident’s social
ostracization and impotency. The parallel found in prisons is
self-determinants are housed in segregation, isolation units, their
privileges curbed or stripped completely. Their associates treated
harshly or harassed for continuing any association with the
self-determinant. The picture is clear as in public, in prison the
self-determinant is isolated, repressed in the hopes that they will
become impotent.
The subjection - manipulation cycle is not only a system of rewards and
reprisals. It also contains the essential element: information control.
Prison authorities screen, examine and filter the information made
available to prisoners. This is paralleled in the U.S. schooling system
and structure. The only information allowed is that which concurs with
the system agenda. By promoting, or discouraging (if not prohibiting),
certain information the prisons, as schools in public life, can
encourage and manipulate modes of thought and revolutionary,
anti-imperialist, or anti-capitalist movement. Why else have overly
complicated grievance procedures create obstacles and have
banned/prohibited literature lists? Education leads to organization.
The goal is to create an unbearable reality for self-determinants. With
the intention of creating a subjugated instead of self-determinant,
through the psychological effects of isolation and ostracization As long
as prisons can reinforce this cycle, the results will mirror those found
in public life. Stigmatized, isolated and labeled an outcast among
outcasts, society’s outcasts. This is a particularly dire forecast for
self-determinants. It presents a massive obstacle, but not
insurmountable. The solution begins with knowledge, followed by
discipline and unity.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer offers some astute commentary
on the role of information, education and media in social control under
imperialism. And this underscores the importance of independent media of
the oppressed as well as independent institutions for organizing and
educating revolutionaries. The “self-determinants” as this author calls
them, are people willing to think for themselves and perhaps take up
organizing in the interests of the world’s oppressed. These
anti-imperialists need an organization to support them in the face of
the challenges outlined by this author. This is why, behind bars, it is
important to build United Struggle from Within, as a structure that can
unify and support our prison comrades. Ultimately the independent media
of the oppressed, along with our independent organizations, will unite
those willing to think for themselves into a revolutionary force that
can challenge the imperialist structures and fight for a future where
self-determination is not repressed.