MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I am continuing the fight in the struggle. I am recently lied on by the oppressors’ corrupt gang unit here saying I was organizing an unauthorized group activity and that I’m a leader of the White Panther Movement. They also said that I was trying to organize a riot and take over the prison from the guards because I try to unite and educate. They don’t like it. So I am in solitary awaiting to be placed in SHU here in the corrupt Ohio Concentration Camps.
I am filing grievances against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections, because while in SHU we cannot order no books – not even legal books. Then last time I was placed in solitary they lost my legal book “self help litigation manual” and now they won’t allow me to re-order it at my own cost.
So the inspector has put fake tickets saying I threatened him, false. So know I am truly at war here.
Now in solitary they won’t allow no porter to my door to pass me a reading book or nothing. The library lady won’t bring me nothing either. So I’m in it.
Since Our last update regarding the J.F.I., and its three phase plan to magnify the genocidal practices, policies and procedures ever present within the Amerikan criminal justice system, there has been slight progress in our phase two, or the national phase of this campaign.
Namely, the U.$. DOJ has begun to respond to the hundreds of grievance petitions and testimonials sent to them last year. U.$. DOJ has shown interest in further investigating incidents of excessive use of force, and lack of staff. This is only what has been reported from Texas comrades, and We hope to hear more from others around the country as responses pour in.
Along these same lines, We have recently begun corresponding with a legal aid organization who has reached out to us, interested in representing prisoner’s litigation efforts which are socio-politically motivated in nature. They’ve expressed interest in assisting us in the J.F.I. campaign going forward, as this partnership develops We’ll keep you all informed.
An Update on Legislation Efforts in Texas
Through the last 180 days a lot of time and energy has been refocused in support efforts regarding legislation beneficial to the Texas prisoner class.
We have been focused on the following bills and resolutions:
HB 2834, relating to minimum wage for inmates in certain work programs.
HB 782, gives authority to trial court to modify a defendants sentence.
HB 812, regarding limitation on use of Administrative segregation.
HB 1362, relating to the use of the death penalty and life without parole in capital crimes for people younger than 21 years old.
HB 1736, relating to conspiracy and law of parties and criminal responsibility in capital cases.
House Joint Resolution 63, regarding the explicit outlawing of slavery and servitude.
In Our efforts to abolish Ad-Seg, there was a book released and passed around to current legislators at the beginning of the session in January. The book, Texas Letters Volume 1, is an anthology consisting of prisoners first hand accounts of their experiences in long term solitary confinement in Texas. Despite these and other efforts it seems as though HB 812 will not pass this session.
In Our efforts to magnify HB 1362 and HB 1736, there is a current publication in the works specifically dedicated to telling the stories of those affected by the Law of Parties and the death penalty and life w/o parole at the ages below 21. Surprisingly, this is a bi-partisan effort. Despite this it has not yet been passed. People on the ground are developing different ways to get the information about this issue disseminated more widely to the public.
On Other Efforts in Texas
Seeing that Our efforts in the legislation campaign have not been fruitful, We’ve channeled Our energy toward more cadre building through establishing Authentic In Manhood, Masculinity and Maturity (A.I.M) and its sub section Political Education 101, a series of seminars giving insight into the basic essentials of revolutionary political and social theory. We hope these efforts bear more fruit in the near future.
An Update on the Forever Protecting Our Community Organization
Since the introductory article presenting FPC to the ULK audience, i would like to inform you that the FPC organization has established a local community garden, promoting food sovereignty, and has begun to launch a program designed to combat open air sex and human trafficking in the local area. FPC has also taken part with other organizations in a memorial for people who’ve lost their lives to police terrorism and gang violence, members of the FPC have been active in mentoring youth in anti-drug and anti-gang counseling providing school supplies, and feeding the people. The organization’s political line continues to mature, and we continue to observe this movement closely.
Pursuant to South Carolina Constitution Article I, § 1, All political power is vested in and derived from the people only, therefore, they have the right at all times to modify their form of government.
Pursuant to S.C. Const. Art. I, § 2, The General Assembly shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government or any department thereof for a redress of grievances.
The South Carolina Department Of Corrections Current Mission Statement quoted as follows:
“Protect the Public, Protect the Employees, Protect the Inmates”
Current SCDC policies, procedures, and practices serve to create an environment in direct conflict and opposition with their “Mission Statement”. Furthermore, SCDC’s “Mission Statement” should be expanded to include educational and rehabilitative goals. The entire system needs to be restructured to meet all the needs and goals effectively and efficiently. “Protection” is just one of the many needs.
The current course that the SCDC leadership is following is constantly creating a “hostile and dangerous” prison population. Continuing in this direction can only lead to disaster. This system has experienced more violent conduct and behavior in the past 12 years (remember the 2018 Lee riot) than in all the years prior, and with the current administration in place, and no incentive to promote good behavior, we can only expect the cycle to continue. [editor: the author does not provide a source to support this claim]
Security Detention (S.D.)
Pursuant to SCDC policy Op-22.38, Restrictive Housing Unit § 9.4:
“The inmate is identified as a high-risk security threat group member and has committed a level one (i) disciplinary offense, or is believed to be in a leadership position within a security threat group and has coerced another inmate(s) to commit any acts or behaviors listed in Sections 9.1-9.3 of this policy…”
As of 12 August 2022, I myself as well as many others were taken out of the general prison population and placed in Segregation (“RHU”) and reclassified as a Security Detention (“S.D.”). No one committed a level (i) offense or any disciplinary offense nor were we given a 48-hour notice informing us that we have a classification review for “S.D.”, per SCDC policy Op-22.38, § 9.7 and 9.4. SCDC Deputy Director Dennis Paterson is targeting so-called gang members, religious leaders, anyone that confidential inmates (“C.I.’s”) inform them about.
Majority of the affected prisoners are being punished for the same offence(s) twice. I myself from 2010-2017 was held in RHU as a validated STG-SD. The DDO have me as well as others back in segregation for the same thing. We haven’t committed no level 1 offense or any disciplinary infractions. So where is the evidence to support this violation?
Pursuant to Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484, 1155. ct. 2293, 132 L. Ed. 2d 418 (1995):
“the Supreme Court declared that prisoners have a liberty interest in avoiding confinement conditions that impose”atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life“…”
Also see Burnette v. Fahey, 687 F.3d 171, 180 (4th Cir. 2012); Incumaa v. Stirling, 2015 U.S. App. Lexis 11321; Wilkerson v. Goodwin, 774 F.3d 845, 854 (5th Cir. 2014).
SCDC is constantly targeting gang members, religious leaders, and prisoners who have influence. SCDC either sends these prisoners out-of-state to private prisons, placed them in segregation as Security Detention, transfer them to other institutions, or SCDC also goes as far as to put propaganda on prisoners’ names so that violence can come upon them. SCDC administration has a habit of setting rules, and then applying them in ways that are in complete contradiction to each other.
Security Detention prisoners have no access to basic life necessities such as:
Proper hygiene products (only state issue hygiene)
Adequate bed lining (only a thin mattress, 1 blanket, 1 sheet)
Cells are never clean
No telephone use
Mail is limited and censored
No adequate food or nutrition
No proper medical treatment
No proper mental health treatment
No rehabilitation
Employee’s are verbally and physically assaultive
PREA Violations (Excessive strip searches, frisks, etc.)
Constant cell searches and things taken
No adequate ventilation (No heat or air)
The list can go on…
Is it not ironic that when the United States is victorious in war, the first thing they do is provide aid to our “enemies”? We do everything we can not to oppress them for fear of a future rebellion or attack. When it comes to people in prison in this country, there is no end to the oppression.
I myself demand to be released from segregation due to no evidence to support Deputy Director of Operations’ (DDO) allegations to S.D. me. Per SCDC’s own policy:
“If an individual has been validated as an STG member, but has not committed or been implicated in any disciplinary infractions or STG activities, that individual would typically, although not always, receive a classification of Validated-GP… If an individual has been validated as an STG member, and has committed disciplinary infractions, that individual would typically receive a classification of Validated-SD…”
I remember a comrade that wrote an article a few years back, about
the way some prisoners were doing the pigs’ job and that he won’t be
surprised if in the near future the prisoner will be doing count. If the
comrade who wrote that argument was still receiving ULK, I want
to tell em that eir comrads back then were not wrong, because in my
institution of the Columbia Correctional Institution the “inmates” (I
will not call them prisoners) that work the outside hallways of the
butterfly dorm are doing the pigs’ job, even the “master count”. These
four inmates represent and run under a nation (gang). Because they stay
in the pigs’ face at all times kissing their asses, they receive special
privileges. They pass supplies, they call out the prisoners that come
from other dorms to violate for any given reason, they prey and benefit
from the contraband that the pigs take from the cell searches. The pigs
at that dorm have no reason to come out from the control bubble because
these inmates do the jobs all for them in exchange for just staying
outside.
When I wrote that article that was printed in ULK #79 Winter 2022
page 13 “The
Common Colonial History that Led Us Here” – I finished off in the
last paragraph saying: “in prison there is only 2 uniforms – the
prisoners and the guards – remember always which one you wear”.
That part right there I wrote it because of actions these inmates
performed. The night of the Super Bowl, after these inmates made the
count in the dorm, the Sgt. in charge authorized me to go to another
wing to watch the same; Sgt. opened the door and on the hallway I was
stopped by these inmates because they told me that I couldn’t go to
another wing because the count wasn’t clear. I told them that wasn’t
their problem, besides if they could see Sgt. opened the door for me (I
don’t have keys). I keep telling them that that wasn’t their problem,
then I told them that I had two life sentences and if the front gate
happened to be open that they would expect me to not walk out because if
I escape I could mess up the count.
Long story short when I turned around and kept walking one of them
swung a punch to my face from the back and all of them started to reach
to their waists making it seem like they were armed. Sgt. saw everything
and came out running and took me back to my wing – Sgt. didn’t say or do
anything to them. That is how much pull these inmates pig fuckers have
with security.
I didn’t say nothing to nobody in my wing, didn’t tell nothing, I
just packed all my property and stayed up the whole night. Breakfast was
called at 5:20 AM and I went out to the chow hall for a hunt. Out of the
four that were the previous night 3 of them were at the chow hall
sitting together at a table. Long story short on the way back to the
dorm all three of em were stabbed and the one that throw the punch at me
was air lifted in a helicopter to the hospital. I came out that morning
ready for war and when I pulled out all ey had on em was the apples for
the tray. Nobody will never threaten my life, my circle or my inner
peace, on top of that put their hands on me and think the next day that
everything is over.
When I got to the confinement unit all prisoners from every nation,
of every skin color were standing at their door clapping, “Oye we salute
what you did”. Because of this incident I was given 90 days in SHU plus
I’m under review for Control Management Level 1. Most definitely it will
get approved which means I will stay in SHU–CMI for at least 2 years and
if I keep myself out of trouble then I can start to work my way down so
I can finally be back on general population. I’ve been in prison for 26
years, everything has a limit and these inmates were far beyond that
line, and because they have a group of lapdogs behind them they think
that they can do anything. If I have problems listening to the pigs
orders, definitely an inmate ain’t going to dictate how I am going to do
my life sentences. I ain’t no snitch – I don’t work with the pigs or for
the pigs.
I don’t know if in other state prisons the comrades tolerate that
kind of behavior but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! You must definitely print my
name on it!! Is about time we take the bad apples from the bucket
because they are fucking up the whole basket. You have now all these
young comrades that come in the system for the first time and see this
shit from gang members and think that is cool. IT IS NOT!
History is not a prophet who looks back: because of what was, and
against what was, it announces what will be. I don’t just make war, this
comrade makes history.
MIM(Prisons) responds: One of the five principles of
the United Front for Peace in Prisons is Independence. This
issue of Under Lock & Key has a number stories highlighting
how the agents of the state sew death and destruction among the prison
population. Without independence from that system, we cannot build a
peace between prisoners that serves prisoners. The story above is an
extreme example of how working with the state creates violence between
prisoners.
Lumpen organizations (L.O.s) are a wavering class in the war of the
oppressor nation against the oppressed nations. Prisoners playing the
boss role for the pigs is nothing new, but back in the day it was only
white prisoners who played boss over oppressed nation prisoners. Today
the neo-colonial state knows that it’s better to use the respected
organizations of the oppressed to oppress the oppressed nations. From
what we hear across the country, we are in a period when the above is
often tolerated and the L.O.s in prisons are not maintaining their
independence. This relates to the plague of drug deaths in prisons as
well.
The SHU/RHU/Control Units are tools of social control, and they are
used to target the politically conscious. They use these torture units
because they work to achieve the goals of the oppressor. We encourage
comrades to do their best to avoid getting sent there. We know this
comrade sacrificed a small study cell ey had by being sent to the SHU.
We must apply standards and we must make sacrifices. But we must also
always focus on what is most effective to serve the people.
The author above asked that we print eir name because of the
influence ey has. But we
don’t print names for security and political reasons. We hope our
readers can see the truths in the above without being told that this or
that big homie/shot caller says so. That type of thinking is what has
so-called gangsters playing as junior pigs. We all need to learn to
think objectively and strategically to have any hope of success in this
struggle.
On 10 January 2023, a new legislative session convenes.
Several state representatives have committed to utilizing proposals
from Texas prisoners to implement reforms. Rep. T. Meza has stood out
with her zeal to end solitary confinement throughout Texas’ prisons and
jails. She previously introduced a bill along those lines that didn’t
make the floor. However, this session with more support from her
colleagues, and with a litany of Texas citizens concerned about this,
things look to possibly end differently.
In conjunction with the efforts of state politicians on the 10th of
January, supporters of this campaign will be protesting on both sides of
the walls. Around the state prisoners are showing their support by
hunger striking. People on the outside will protest in Austin at the
state Capitol.
Lastly, there continues to be civil lawsuits filed against TDCJ and
its practice of indefinite solitary confinement. One of Our comrades has
filed suit and that’s been reported on in previous ULK’s.(1) There is
also Hanson v. Barnett, CA No. 1:21-cv-629-RP-DH, an
extensively detailed complaint filed in the Western District of Texas,
Austin Division.
We encourage all similarly situated people to file 1983 lawsuits, and
if you need advice or assistance the address to Tx Team One’s legal
representative is: 113 Stockholm #1A, Brooklyn, NY 1121
UPDATE As we go to press prisoners are wrapping up
week 2 of the hunger strike. The TDCJ has verified 72 participants,
while supporters say at least twice that number are on strike across the
state prison system. In their defense the state also says that the
number of prisoners in isolation has decreased from 9,186 in 2007 to
3,172 in 2022.(2) We say that is still too much torture!
Texas Prison Reform, the prisoner organization, gave the state 90
days notice before initiating this latest action in their campaign. In
that statement they mirror their demands off the infamous Ashker
v. Governor of California case, which settled for some minor
reforms in how people are put in the Security Housing Units rather than
abolishing the practice altogether. Abolishing torture is a winnable
battle, that continues to gain attention and support. Anything less than
a complete ban on solitary confinement across Texas prisons and jails is
a failure of basic humyn rights.
In early December of last year a hunger strike was called at Ely
State Prison, joined by at least 39 prisoners at the start and
fluctuating over the following weeks. A prison advocacy group, Return
Strong, represented the prisoners’ demands as follows:
End the continued and extended use of solitary confinement,
lockdowns, modified lockdowns, and de facto solitary confinement.
End correctional abuse.
End group punishment and administrative abuse.
Address due process interference and violation in the grievance
process.
Provide adequate and nutritious food.
Address health and safety concerns in all Nevada facilities and
provide resolution status to them.
In response, the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) ignored
several of the demands, calling them “false,” (2) but addressed some of
the concerns related to food and administrative handling of punishments.
Lower-level sanctions that result in loss of privileges will now run
concurrently instead of consecutively, and Aramark, the food vendor, is
being questioned about the portion sizes. Even the head of the local
prison guards union mentioned that they’d noticed the portions shrinking
recently.(1) Aramark has faced repeated legal challenges regarding its
poor food from prisons across the country (3), so the fact that it’s now
squeezing portion sizes in Nevada doesn’t come as too much of a
surprise.
Some of the more serious allegations NDOC ignored include food being
stolen from prisoners by staff, the existence of no-camera “beat-up
rooms,” collective punishment and indefinite 23-hour lockdowns excused
by laying the blame on “staffing issues,” and the de facto suspension of
programming for many prisoners.(4)
Prisoners at Ely State Prison voluntarily suspended the strike after
four weeks and the adjustment of some of the handling of administrative
sanctions were addressed.(5) We didn’t receive any info from inside or
outside coordinators about how/why the strike ended, just that it did.
If any of our readers can provide insight we’d appreciate it.
Dillard v. Davis, et al. Civil Action
No. 7:19-cv-00081-M-BP
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Texas T.E.A.M.O.N.E.-Legal Representative
113 Stockholm, #1A
Brooklyn, NY. 11221
#endrestrictivehousinginTDCJ
more about Plaintiff at
https://wireofhope.com/prison-penpal-daniel-dillard/
TDCJ Officials DENIED Summary Judgment in fight to END restrictive
housing in Texas
On 2 August 2022, Chief Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn rendered an Order
Accepting Findings, conclusions and recommendations of the United States
Magistrate Judge.
The Honorable Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray Jr. submitted the findings,
conclusions and recommendations on 17 June 2022, effectively denying
TDCJ’s officials qualified immunity defense and finding that continuous
confinement in TDCJ’s version of solitary confinement is INDEFINITE
under the unconstitutional Restrictive Housing Plan. A date for trial
has not been set though it was also recommended by Magistrate Judge Ray
Jr.
The time is now for pre-trial preparations and the Plaintiff and
Texas T.E.A.M.O.N.E. are requesting that individuals that are being held
in TDCJ’s Restrictive Housing please submit their testimony, artwork,
poems and writings to the contact info above. We want to hear your
stories about what you have suffered in TDCJ’s Restrictive Housing.
Anyone who wishes to participate in the trial must first submit their
testimony to Texas T.E.A.M.O.N.E. first. Serious
inquiries ONLY! Secondly you must be willing to have your background
checked thoroughly. So once again, Serious Inquiries ONLY!
*** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION ***
Texas T.E.A.M.O.N.E. is putting together a scrapbook about solitary.
Submissions would go to the above address also, along with permission to
publish your material. Submission should be turned in NO later than
November 30th 2022.
Texas Together Ending All Mass
Oppression aNd Exploitations
MIM(Prisons) adds: We have distributed copies of this
press release to a number of prisoners in Texas, but need help doing so.
If you know someone suffering in RHU, please share this information with
them ASAP.
The campaign against long-term solitary confinement is a campaign
against torture and a campaign against political repression. It is
perhaps the most important struggle in the U.$. prison movement. Texas
has an opportunity to do what California failed to do. In California, an
alliance
of lumpen leaders and reformist organizations settled the
Ashker suit against the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.(1) Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. will not be
following suit, and will be taking this battle to trial with the goal of
ending, not reforming, long-term solitary confinement in Texas.
As the Texas prison movement continues to grow, we must build broader
awareness and support for this battle, especially among the most
affected masses who are willing to dig in and fight for this. The
largest prison strikes in history precluded the battle against the
Security Housing Units in California, and yet the battle was lost. We
must put politics in command and rally the prisoners and people of Texas
to put an end to torture.
Notes: 1. Wiawimawo, September 2015, Torture Continues: CDCR
Settlement Screws Prisoners, Under Lock & Key No. 46.
UPDATE FOR AUGUST 2022: Now that Juneteenth 2022 has passed,
please use this updated
flyer and these updated
postcards now address the censorship across the state of Texas in
recent months. We need your support to keep increasing the pressure to
fight this censorship of political speech.
Download and print this flyer to hang or hand out.
We are also asking others to join our letter writing and postcard
campaign in support of the rights of MIM Distributors and activists in
Allred to freely communicate. There has been a rise in mail
censorship as organizing has progressed.
download PDF below
print 2-sided on cardstock
cut into 4
add $0.40 stamp (or more)
go to event or public space and ask people to sign their name, city
and state
explain the Junteenth Freedom Initiative to them
hand them a flyer (above) or Under Lock & Key
ask for a donation to pay for postage & printing
drop postcards in mail box (don’t mail them all at once we want a
consistent stream of cards coming in)
On 19 June 2022, prisoners across Texas abstained from celebrating
the federal Juneteenth holiday until real freedom is attained by the
oppressed in this country. Instead they organized, studied and made
their voices heard for the demands of the Juneteenth Freedom Initiative,
including:
End Solitary Confinement! End Restrictive Housing Units(RHU)!
End Mass Incarceration!
Stop Mail Censorship!
Transform the prisons to cadre schools! Transform ourselves into NEW
PEOPLE!
Updates Since Juneteenth
The response from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice(TDCJ) was
swift and coordinated. MIM(Prisons) sent hundreds of update letters to
comrades in Texas during the month of June, and almost all of them
appear to have been censored.
Prisons where our letters were censored for “inciting a disturbance”
or “riot” include:
Allred Unit
Beto I Unit
Boyd Unit
Christina Melton Crain Unit
Estelle High Security Unit
Estelle 2
Ferguson Unit
Gist
Hughes Unit
McConnell Unit
Mountain View Unit
Stevenson Unit
Telford Unit
Terrell Unit
Wallace Unit
Wynne Unit
We are still receiving and compiling censorship notices from June.
Needless to say, there was a coordinated effort to block our letters
across the state, and they were really worried about the Juneteenth
boycott. Of course, there was nothing about organizing a riot in our
letters. But the imperialists will consider a boycott a “disturbance”
worthy of violating Constitutional rights. Biden said we must celebrate
Juneteenth, so now we face the consequences of his goons in the
TDCJ.
The censorship at Allred Unit had been going on for months prior.
This is the worst RHU in the state, where a lot of the JFI organizing
began. Therefore we began a postcard
campaign to protest the political targeting of mail and of certain
prisoners at Allred. One comrade there received 22 mail denial notices
in one day in May! Another comrade in Allred wrote:
“I been denied 2 newsletters & 1 letter that ya’ll sent my way.
[everything we’ve sent this comrade] I highly appreciate ya’ll. I’ve
sent them home. This only confirms that Texas don’t want us to know.
Your news letters were denied for tha reason of ‘inciting a
disturbance’.”
“I asked the mail room lady if anything sent from this address will
be denied and she said, ‘Yes.’ Just like that, freedom of speech
denied.”
This campaign is ongoing, as the censorship continues, and we ask
outside supporters to get involved. Mail from prisoners in Allred is
often delayed a month or more, so updates on the launch of the JFI have
not yet come in from some of the organizers.
Outreach during June included flyering and postcards on the streets,
hundreds of update letters sent to TX prisoners and radio interviews in
Texas and on Free Aztlán on 96.1 KEXU in Oakland.
One Texas comrade reported:
“The Juneteenth Freedom Initiative flyer was displayed for several
weeks here. On Juneteenth, no movement due to low staff and no special
holiday meal. The officers dining room had ribs, BBQ chicken and
brisquet with all the fixins, and these were supposed to be delivered to
each officer on duty. However, most were stolen en route. The warden and
kitchen captain were pissed.”
The JFI was initiated by TX T.E.A.M. O.N.E who has continued to lead
organizing efforts inside. Others, including Prison Lives Matter,
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Local 613 #1, the Texas
Liberation Collective, and United Struggle from Within cells, have
joined the call. On the outside, MIM(Prisons), Anti-Imperialist Prisoner
Support, and the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement have been providing
support.
Phase 2
Per the plan below, laid out by TX T.E.A.M. O.N.E. the next phase of
the Juneteenth Freedom Initiative for prisoners is to file petitions
with the Department of Justice. If you need a sample petition, write us
to get a copy. This petition is not specific to Texas.
Prisoners in long-term solitary confinement in Texas can also join
the Dillard lawsuit against the TDCJ. If you need a copy of the
motion to join, write us.
Outside supporters can best assist organizers inside by joining our
campaign against censorship. We want to continue to let the TDCJ know
that people outside are paying attention and not willing to accept this
political repression. We will be following up with a lawsuit on behalf
of an affected party in Allred and MIM Distributors. You can help in the
following ways:
calling or writing letters to the TDCJ, and to Allred Unit in
particular
getting others to sign postcards protesting the censorship
As you may know, Juneteenth has now been made a federal holiday in
amerika. On this day many will sing the praises of Our oppressors or
otherwise negate the reality of the lumpen (economically alienated
class), that according to amerika’s 13th amendment We are STILL SLAVES.
While We do not wish to nullify the intensity of the exploitation and
oppression that New Afrikan people held in chattel slavery faced, We
must pinpoint to the general public, those upcoming generations of
youngsters looking to follow Our footsteps, that to be held in captivity
by the state or feds is not only to be frowned upon but is part and
parcel with the intentions of this amerikan government, and its
capitalist-imperialist rulers. We say NO CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH until
the relation of people holding others in captivity is fully
abolished!!
Comrades have been organizing around the Juneteenth Freedom
Initiative(JFI) for almost a year now, and we just completed phase 1.
Prisoners in Texas and North Carolina took up the campaign. Instead of
celebrating Juneteenth, boycotters worked to get out the voice of the
incarcerated in TX and NC.
Previous campaign materials include more demands and more details.
Add your own demands that speak to your local conditions and make the
JFI demands heard by the masses and the oppressors. Don’t just boycott,
organize.
The Boycott is just the first phase and launch of this campaign by
and for all Texas prisoners.
Juneteenth boycott and voice demands starting 19 June 2022
present petition to the Department of Justice Special Litigation
division (write in to get a copy if you still need one) – everyone
should mail copies of their own signed petition to the DOJ following
Juneteenth 2022
if (2) fails to bring proper response, we will petition the United
Nations – date To Be Determined – watch for announcement in Under Lock
& Key, we will be requesting testimonials and collecting statistics
to back up our arguments on each campaign position and submit them as
evidence to bolster the recent guilty verdict of the We Still Charge
Genocide, International Tribunal 2021 where mass incarceration and
solitary confinement were ruled to be vital tools in the U.S. campaign
of genocide for centuries against Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples of
this continent.
As comrades in Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere took action to
protest long-term solitary confinement and mass incarceration this
Juneteenth, we lost a leader in the struggle against solitary
confinement and oppression in all forms in California. Paul Redd passed
away on 19 June 2022. His funeral was July 9th in Oakland,
Calfornia.
Redd was a New Afrikan Revolutionary, an author, and a principal
thinker behind the development of the 2012
Agreement to End Hostilities(AEH) across California prisons. The AEH
preceded an historical campaign against Security Housing Units(SHU) that
included the largest prison hunger strikes in history.
Statement from Paul Redd’s family
“Paul Redd left us on Juneteenth. A hero to so many, he was loved by
so many communities: from his childhood friends in Oakland, to his
family who has always been with him, to decades-long friendships from
the inside, to the many friends he made in his two years home after 44
years of wrongful incarceration, including 30 in solitary. He will be
remembered for his infinite love, his courage, strength, generosity,
hope, his poetry, and passion for justice. We love you Paul!”
Words from Redd’s comrades:
“Paul Redd’s passing is heartfelt for many as he was a staunch
advocate of Black Love and Solidarity. His dedication and commitment to
freedom of himself and other prisoners made him a target of the State
and thereby a political prisoner. I spent prison time with Paul in Tracy
and San Quentin, and know of his years of selfless service in the Black
Guerrilla Family. As a soldier for the liberation of his people, he will
be sorely missed in the field of battle opposing white supremacy and the
tyranny of capitalism-imperialism. Paul, I salute you!!!” – Jalil
Muntaqim
“He taught honor and respect to so-called thugs and ‘hood niggas’ and
showed them how to respect and give concern for each other in such a
way, thereby the world would come to respect and honor them. He also
taught them to be young Lions and soldiers for all seasons. I was one of
those young soldiers that he taught. And I was one of those young
warriors that had grown with the example that he gave me. I stand now as
an eternal witness to the teachings that this Brotha imparted to me, the
political education. He taught me to refuse. He showed and taught me how
to stand and not bend, buck or bow before the murderers who held us
captive in Amerikkka’s concentration camps.
“…This Brotha, his spirit lives forever. I’m Brotha Balagoon Kambone,
a Brotha and a friend.”
