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.
Comrade Grim was spot on with what was said about the ideas and
ideals driving Christian Zionism generally and as it manifests itself in
the prison tablet space.
Regarding the group Grim mentioned by name, Real Vida TV, i
was able to work closely with Real Vida while organizing on behalf of
Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. At the time their line on solitary confinement was
that they saw it as torture and that it should be shut down in its
totality. This matched Our own line on solitary confinement and Real
Vida was willing and did assist us in spreading Our message, connecting
us with interested groups and opening their platform up to us and our
supporters. At the time it was only an audio radio show, not a podcast,
and there were no tablets. They also acted as communication assistants
helping us make important contacts with each other from plantation to
plantation as we organized a state wide hunger strike against solitary
confinement. All this is to say that at the time we had a working
relationship, regardless of their Christian Zionist beliefs.
However, this changed after Operation Al—Aqsa flood. Personally
speaking i couldn’t even listen to the garbage they were spewing let
alone look past it. Ties were severed. To me the question of the Third
World proletariat and the Palestinian nationalist struggle far
out-weighs the u.s. prisoner class-based struggles.
They’re the most reactionary manifestation of the christian prison
ministries and also one of the most popular. A lot of their videos are
widely discussed afterwards and i’ve had more than a few disputes and
even fisticuffs surrounding the B.S. they spew. The cold truth is that
as MIM(Prisons) says, not all prisoners are swayed by this garbage. But
the Palestinian struggle has unearthed the reactionary, patriotic
amerikkkan spirit among the lumpen here. What i observe is that only the
most politically and socially conscious inmates side with the
Palestinian struggle, and this is the minority.
The tablets play a role in that they have very limited selection of
voices and ideas, particularly on this sort of issue. Pando App
dominates the landscape and prior to March 2024, when podcasts were
uploaded onto all tablets, Pando was basically the only source of
entertainment. i have filed complaints concerning discrimination in
content that is available on the KA Lite app, which is an education app
that has a wide variety of scientific and hard historical factual
knowledge, but the prison admin has to allow permission to download
content. My complaint came after observing that there was no content
concerning Africa, the Black Liberation struggle, and anti-colonial
revolutions. Although these videos have been made by the app creator,
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has not allowed us
access to the content. i also filed a complaint on the podcast platform
for similar reasons but pertaining solely to Palestine.
The final comment is that outside comrades have to begin to get their
content on the music and/or podcast platforms. i sent a previous note to
MIM(Prisons) on how to do that with the Securus people.
Firewater of USW also responded: Grim, read your
article in ULK 86. I totally agree with you about the Christian
religion and these “evangelists” supporting mass murder and exploitation
around the world. The people at Real Vida are real nice folks, but they
are brainwashed and misguided like all Christians. We need to be able to
copy what they do only for our revolutionary work.
We need to be doing what Real Vida is doing but like you said the
Christian Zionists have a monopoly on these tablets and it needs to be
broken up! I was in medium and high security and all we could watch was
“Pando App”, which is nothing but Christian Evangelists and we have an
FYI App that is run by TDCJ and is all Jesus all the time!
TDCJ is run by these Christian Chapels and they oppress other
religions such as Muslim, Native American, Eastern religions, etc. The
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Unitarian Universalists’ Prison
Ministry said that the “PANDO” App would not allow the CLF to
participate. Probably because the PANDO folks are right-wing evangelical
kooks and the CLF and UUA are extremely liberal organizations.
Grim is right on when ey talks about the genocide of Turtle Island
and the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth’s treasures. They love to
tout capitalism as the greatest engine of wealth ever created. But it’s
like Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the farm animals are ruled by
their newly formed governance of PIGS!
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.
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 previous writings we’ve utilized the principle of self-criticism
to critique the communications operations that We, Team One, previously
had. Therefore, we’re enthused to announce not only new tactical methods
of communication, but a new address as well.
Tx Team One
PO Box 720597
Houston, TX 77272
Also, in conjunction with the JFI campaign and in partnership with
outside supporters, We’re presently soliciting contributors for a book
project. This project will be a collection of personal experiences of
prisoners who are working or have previously worked an industrial job in
Texas prisons (TDCJ).
This work contributes to the portion of the Juneteenth Freedom
Initiative that deals with prisoner workers’ lack of payment and the
practice of state coercion. Any and all prisoners who would like to
contribute their personal experience via written word should write tot
he above address. Those considered for publication will receive a
reply.
Those committees and individuals who’ve written us in the past, but
did not receive a reply, should write to our new address with your
contact info.
[UPDATE: In late December we got confirmation that the fees for the suit
were paid by a comrade in Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support. We no
longer need people to contact the judge, but are still collecting
postcard signatures and can use your help.]
[NOTE: At the end of this article the author asks you, the reader, to
contact the Judge about the TDCJ blocking court fees for a prisoner’s
lawsuit to fight censorship. This is part of an ongoing campaign. We are
also asking people to print and gather signatures on postcards
that you can download from the campaign page along with fliers to
use in outreach around this campaign to oppose political censorship in
Texas.]
When i initiated the Juneteenth Freedom Initiative (JFI), and the
fliers for that action began to find their way into every prison in
Texas, Allred Unit’s Warden Jimmy Smith commanded the unit mailroom
supervisor to place me on a ‘watchlist’ – purportedly to provide a
greater level of scrutiny to my outgoing mail.
This measure first began to disrupt communication between cadres and
myself throughout the state. The state has policies and courts have
upheld bans on such communications under the cloak of a fear of gang
organizing.
The watchlist measure intensified and all reading materials were made
to go through a months long process of scrutiny. Texas has a part of its
Mailroom Operations policy that they need not announce to a prisoner
when a publication has arrived at the unit, even when it is subject to
further review. This results in reading material being sent and one not
knowing of its existence until it is officially denied. At the point of
denial, We’re supposed to be allowed to appeal through the grievance
procedure. What i’ve experienced , however, is that the unit grievance
investigators don’t allow me to grieve a Director’s Review Committee
decision. My battle with the UGI subsequently slows up the exhaustion of
administrative remedies.
Eventually, the watchlist measure intensified to the point that ANY
material from MIM(Prisons) was purportedly denied at the command of the
DRC in Huntsville. This political police tactic is what led to the
state-wide censorship of the Revolutionary 12 Step Program. The
12 steps is an anti-drug abuse and anti-reactionary program that is
definitely needed in the Texas prison system. The state has upheld this
censorship with the vague statement, ‘may incite inmate disruption’.
In recent times Texas has made national headlines due to the
governor’s reactionary policies that repress social and political
narratives that counter dominant narratives and positions. This trend,
which tarnishes the First Amendment so-called rights, has made its way
into the Texas prison system.
To understand how this has occurred one must have knowledge of
connection, the family tree of repression if you will, that connects
Jimmy Smith(Allred Warden), Brenda Kelley(Allred mailroom supervisor),
Tammy Shelby(Mailroom system coordinator’s panel-chair), and the DRC, to
Texas’ highest levels of government.
When a governor is elected in Texas they appoint people to the Texas
Board of Criminal Justice. The TBCJ is charged with making Board
policies, revising them, and thus make the overreaching rules and
regulation that determine the day-to-day lives of over a hundred
thousand captives.
The Governor also appoints the Director’s Review Committee (DRC),
which is charged with, among other things, determining the content that
can/cannot enter or leave prisons. The DRC is the ultimate authority on
matters regarding denials of mail, publication, visitation.
We should be asking the questions: where is the transparency, and
democratic decision making in the selection of TBCJ and DRC officials?
These positions are handed down to careerist politicians who’ve made
their living on the backs and misery of the prisoner class and Our
families. In the future comrades must organize an outside force to force
Texas to remove the veil between these backdoor chambers of power and
the common public. We need readily accessible information on these so
called public officials and representatives of the people.
So We have a clearly reactionary governor who’s appointed a clearly
reactionary Board and review committee. In Texas the only way to
overturn a DRC decision is through litigation, and therefore most
censorship bans last indefinitely.
While Jimmy Smith and the other prison careerists play prison
politics, in an effort to quell dissenters and self-determination of the
prisoners, there is a fatal drug wave crushing Allred Unit. As i write
this in late October 2022, 7 prisoners have died this month due to
overdose.
The Revolutionary 12 Step Program is currently at the point
of training cadres to be able to facilitate the program at their locale.
The censorship of this program, in conjunction with the indefinite
solitary confinement of many cadres, act to circumvent what could
otherwise be a highly effective and influential peoples’ initiative. And
therein lays the problem, at least from the administrator’s perspective,
they seek to circumvent the rise of any influence among the prison
population. Instead of differentiating between types of influence, their
practices put a blanket on ALL influence and influential people or
initiatives among the prisoners, and seeks to disrupt them.
Of course this can’t be done totally, and what results (as what
resulted in previous generations of the Prison Movement) is that the
mass influence of the prisons and prisoners falls in the hands of the
most reactionary prisoner forces. The admin elects to deal with the
lesser of two ‘evils’. It has seen that the reactionary forces are
easier to contain, to appease, to divide and conquer, in contrast to an
awakened, drug free, unified and determined population.
Active political prisoners and prisoners of war are the exemplary
prisoners among the masses. They are leaders. Texas’ desire to conserve
ideological, and social hegemony over the population has and will
continue to cost people their lives.
In the civil case, Owolabi V. TDCJ Allred Unit, et al.,
7;22-cv-00094-0, one such political prisoner has challenged
political censorship of the Revolutionary 12 Step Program, and
other communist, revolutionary nationalist, anarchist, and abolitionist
materials.
The sitting Judge, a George W. Bush appointee, for the US District
Court of the Northern District of Texas is Reed O’Conner, who has a
reputation as a highly conservative Republican reactionary. O’Conner has
moved to dismiss the case, not on the basis of the case alone, but due
to prison officials withholding and delaying the processing of the check
for court fees. Unit prison officials have ignored the plaintiff’s
request to have the check processed. The Plaintiff has informed Judge
O’Conner of this problem, and filed a motion for extension. The court
has yet to respond to the plaintiff’s motion.
We’re asking all those among the public who have an interest in
stopping political censorship in Texas, to contact the Court, inform
Judge O’Conner and the Clerk of the Court that the Allred Unit is
refusing to process the check for court fees.
Contact info for the court is here:
https://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/judge/district-judge-reed-oconnor
Texas prisoners face some of the harshest conditions in the kkkountry
mainly due to neglect from prison staff, and disregard for prisoners’
health, safety and rights. For example recently in Estelle High Security
we had received a report from one of our readers on dialysis, and a copy
of eir grievance,
On 15 August 22 at 5:45PM-7:10PM 11 Dialysis patients were put in a
van with NO Rear A/C. We got to the rear gate of high security at 6:10pm
our officer driving the van told Lt. Phillips:
“Hey there’s Dialysis in the van and it’s hot for them.”
Lt. Phillips said ,“I don’t give a fuck, I’m crossing my kitchen crew
to the main building. They can fucken wait.”
It was about 90 outside. Our officer driving the van told her again,
“They just got off dialysis.”
Lt Phillips said, “They’ll be fine.”
Their report describes a fellow prisoner who had passed out after
they were left in there for an hour. This is not the only heat related
incident, as heat waves were going on for weeks, many units went without
A/C or adequate ice or respite as reported on from the Luther Unit.
Meanwhile, Stiles
Unit spent much of September in lockdown during the heat with no showers
and limited food. Heat exhaustion and health issues are being
exacerbated by lack of respite, this all being against directive A.D.
1064 requiring access to ice during times of elevated heat. The
oppressors at this unit deny this happening of course, and show their
own unwillingness to follow their own laws, which gives light to the
real purpose of prisons of course being national and political
oppression. Unity and mass action is the only way to address this, such
as TX T.E.A.M. O.N.E.’s mass petition to mail to the U.$. Department of
Justice as mentioned in ULK 78Juneteenth
Freedom Initiative (J.F.I.) Phase 2.
This year has seen an increase in reports (at least 135 recorded by
Texas Dept. of Criminal Injustice (TDCJ)) of censorship of mail from
MIM(Prisons) across Texas, since the start of the J.F.I. As stated in
the last 2 issues of ULK, the J.F.I. is simply organizing for
prisoners’ legal rights as stated by the imperialist’s own laws
(peacefully advocating for legal rights is not inciting a disturbance).
Massive censorship continues in the Allred and Hughes Units, among many
others, where conditions are some of the worst in the state. The reason
behind this as stated before is to prevent organizing and political
education from prisoners, and to limit their knowledge of their legal
rights. The state’s interest are of population control, and torture
(Restricted housing for decades is unconstitutional torture) along with
the many cases of neglect beyond what’s referenced here.
“MIM Distributors and our subscribers within the TDCJ have exhausted
all administrative remedies with our appeals, letters and grievances.
The TDCJ is not interested in following the law on it’s own accord.
Therefore we have begun to step up outside pressure on two fronts.
the legal front by filing a lawsuit
the public opinion front via our postcard campaign”
“A prisoner’s administrative remedies are exhausted when prison
officials fail to timely respond to a properly filed grievance.”
(Haight v. Thompson 763 F. 3d 554 (6th Cir 2014)) According to
this, if they do not respond to our grievances we can go on to a §1983
Civil Action.
Anti-imperialist Prisoner support (AIPS) has been hitting the streets
with ULK, J.F.I. Flyers, and postcards to be mailed to TDCJ’s
Director’s Review Committee office and Jimmy Smith’s (Warden of Allred)
office, collecting donations and educating those on the outside. We can
always use more feet on the ground, and legal funds from those on the
outside, more support in general.
This short summary of some of the conditions recently faced by Texas
prisoners is a call to unite against all oppression, primarily against
the United Snakes of Amerikkka, and to unify under the common banner of
Anti-imperialism. Don’t let the divide and conquer tactics work as
intended, this political oppression cannot and will not go unanswered.
We need the people on the outside to support those on the inside in
their efforts to further organize, rehabilitate, and educate in the
United Struggle from Within in Texas. We need public opinion to shift,
so keep on the pressure from both sides. The more they censor and
oppress, bigger our fight gets!
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)
Revolutionary greetings to u all! We hope everyone is prepping for
the upcoming action(s) of Juneteenth, and otherwise doing well. Comrade
FireWater posed a question, “How can i help Tx TeamOne with a class
action suit to have Our grievances heard or to get independent oversight
of the grievance system?” i’ve decided to share Our answer with all of
you as it may be helpful to the Tx lumpen populace at large.
In the past few months, Tx TeamOne’s founding committee has been
forming working relations with a few liberal and petty bourgeois groups
for progressive improvements within the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ). These groups include some elected officials, christian
sympathizers, lawyers, radio personalities, and policy groups.
One such group is Tx Prison Reform (TPR), with whom one of Our
founding committee members was able to conduct an extensive interview,
establishing the basis of Our and the prison masses possible working
relationship with this group. The interview will be published in their
monthly newsletter and We hope to share it with u all as well. TPR is
focused on the destruction of Restricted Housing Units (RHU), but is
also collecting grievances and other forms of documentation to showcase
the foul nature of TDCJ.
Many of u may be familiar with Tx CURE. If so you’ll know the Tx
branch has been M.I.A. for awhile, but now has been reorganized by a
recently released TDCJ ex-prisoner. This persyn was a leading figure
behind the RACK II air conditioning lawsuit. Ey hasn’t established an
actual mailing address but we have the help of a family law attorney
who’ll send mailings to the head of Tx CURE. Right now, We’re looking
for documented complaints regarding major issues in TDCJ. These
grievances will be read in front of and by the Tx legislator at the next
session. The persyn from Tx CURE will be persynally speaking on behalf
of Tx inmates.
The issue of the grievance process is not a new one to us nor the
state officials. The grievance system in Tx and in fact many prison
systems around the country were the direct result of the Ruiz Litigation
(Ruiz v. Johnson, 37 F. Supp. 2d 855 (S.D. Tex. 1999)), and
since it was instated the same issues have been present. Accompanied
with your grievances you should write an official statement which may
also be read for/by the legislators and others. This statement should
articulate the need for independent oversight of TDCJ grievance
system, and make specific reference to Representative Jarvis Johnson’s
2019 House Bill which called for said oversight but has never been heard
by the House. We want the 2019 House Bill 363 heard and approved by the
Texas House of Representatives.
Other key points of emphasis are the excessive censorship and mail
tampering and its socio-political nature. With the recent escape &
man hunt We’ve found that censorship due to supposed security threats
has picked up. MIM
materials have been the target of much excessive censorship.
For those who don’t know the demographics are slowly but surely
shifting. Due to national gentrification, the thriving industries in the
state, and no state income tax, among other things, Texas is becoming
younger, darker, richer, and slightly more progressive, particularly
among youthful citizens. An essential contradiction in Tx is that of the
rural vs. urban population and the culture wars, and fight for resources
this intensifies. Urban populations tend to be darker, more
liberal/progressive (not revolutionary though) and lean left of center
on prison issues among others. Bernie Sanders’ organization “Our
Revolution” has been pushing campaigns by petty bourgeois, Democratic
Socialist elements around the country for the last several years and now
this present election cycle they have several candidates who’re
challenging the districts of the old guard Democratic Party
establishment. These districts are in both rural and urban areas but
mostly rural, which if successful will shift state electoral bourgeois
politics for the next decade or so.
A key point of emphasis for these so-called New Left Democrats is
Prison Reform. This will open organizing doors for revolutionaries
within the walls and those who support us.
i share all this because elements from the New Left Democrats and
some from a more moderate approach have championed and made possible a
new committee to ‘Study Tx Criminal Justice Issues.’ They’re excepting
documentary information from now until October on a wide range of issues
covering initial interaction with police, to jail policies &
conditions, Grand Jury issues, sentencing, and finally prison
conditions. Below i will include their addresses along with those of the
lawyer, and the groups i mentioned have been establishing working
relationships with.
p.s. We’re also happy to announce the present development of a Tx
TEAMONE committee in Smith Unit.
Jerney Coe Law Office/423 S. Spring Ave/ Tyler,
TX 75702
Tx Prison Reform/ Box #671/ Kaukana, WI 54130
Fairchanges/2407 S. Congress Ave, Ste E-434/ Austin, TX 78704 (send
reports on current conditions, at least 3 recommendations for change,
deadline 7/4/2022)
RealLife Ministries/ Box #328/ Forney, TX 75126 (also does RealLife
Radio, write to find out where you can tune in)
Dist. 141 - Senfronia Thompson/ 10527 Homestead Rd/ Houston, TX 77016
(Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice reform ahead of
legislation)
i hope this information is useful.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with Triumphant that
a shift in demographics and elected officials could create more space
for prison organizing. In theory an independent review board
could create space for organizing as well. However, there is no
historical example of such in the United $tates. Police review boards
have never been effective nor independent. How could they be? The point
of the criminal injustice system is to leverage the force of the state
against those that pose a threat to the bourgeoisie’s and the state’s
interests. This is a bourgeois dictatorship afterall, just like the rest
of the world today.
Revolutionaries should campaign on the issues. If petty bourgeois
reformers are willing to do the work to set up review boards and
oversight and change rules, good for them. We should support them in
doing so by campaigning on the issues that matter to us. As Triumphant
mentioned, censorship and torture units (RHU) are among these issues. If
we can campaign on these issues in ways that align with and support the
bourgeois reformers that is a good thing. If revolutionaries take up the
mantle of electoral politics and bourgeois reform, that is a very bad
thing that leads to a never-ending cycle of oppression.
Within the prison movement there is much talk about ‘political
education’ and ‘raising consciousness’. Truthfully, even when We reflect
on recent and distant episodes in Our collective struggles against the
bourgeoisie, many of us often lament upon the fact that a key ingredient
that has always been lacking from Our movements, parties, organizations,
and the unorganized masses, is the lack of a systemic and organized
framework to political education. Assata Shakur expressed her criticism
of the Black Panther Party for the same reason. Veterans of the Chican@
movement i’ve spoke with have expressed the same criticisms, stating
that had more deliberate, organized approaches been given back in the
days it may have progressively altered the cultural nationalist
tendencies of the movement towards a revolutionary nationalist praxis.
Yet and still, today We’re still stressing, and rightly so, the
paramount importance of political education. However, the question has
become, must become, what is political education, how do we apply it,
and why is it so important?
Political education takes many forms, and phases, and the correct
application of it, or what is paramount for a persyn to know is
dependent upon the conditions one finds themselves in. Thus i begin with
Fanon,
“It is commonly thought with criminal flippancy that to politicize
the masses means from time to time haranguing them with a major
political speech…But political education means opening up the mind,
awakening the mind, and introducing it to the world…To politicize the
masses is not and cannot be to make a political speech. It means driving
home to the masses that everything depends on them, that if we stagnate
the fault is theirs, and that if we progress, they too are responsible,
that there is no demiurge, no illustrious man taking responsibility for
everything, but that the demiurge is the people and the magic lies in
their hands and their hands alone.” (1)
Now as i was saying conditions will determine quite alot. So it is
the line of USW, and many others, that amerika is a settler-neo colonial
imperialist empire, and as such holds actual nations of people
subjugated, meaning their/our self-development is thwarted, within its
borders as well as in the Third World.
Hystory indicated that this line is right and exact. When We recall
the process of how amerika was established we understand that it (nation
of euro amerikan settlers) settled upon this land, removed, and
committed genocide against the native nations of people, some of which
are still among us today. So those (the indigenous) are just one group
of nations within the borders of amerika, which We call the First
Nations. Of course We all know about the forced migration of millions of
Africans, and We know they underwent slavery at the hands of those same
settlers, as did some Natives. What We often fail to analyze is that
slavery, is only an economic system, it is a mode of producing social
value, however, to describe the plight of the African people in amerika
by mere economic lingo alone is highly insufficient. What is the term
that would encapsulate the experience of the economic exploitation,
social and political repression that the African people in amerika
eventually triumphed over? Slavery? No, servitude? No. That one word
which encapsulates that struggle is COLONIALISM.
Well, what the heck is colonialism? Quoting from the Black Liberation
Army Political Dictionary;
Colonialism - foreign domination of a country or a people, where the
economic, political and military structure is controlled and run by the
occupying force. (2)
So African people residing in the United $tates are not merely the
offspring of enslaved people, but a colonized people, and because of
that diametrically opposed nature of a colonized people to its
colonizer, the African people residing in amerika developed organically
into a nation, that is a people distinct from the settler by its
culture, its language, its land, and thus We call this nation today New
Afrika, but others call it Black Amerika, or Black nation, or a host of
other titles. No matter the title New Afrikan people are deep down aware
that they’re distinct and separate, but the reality of a nation within
an empire doesn’t register to some, to most, after a substantial time
frame of this reality being obscured from the public consciousness.
Having roots in, but eventually developing distinct from the First
Nations, there is the Chican@, and Puerto Rican nations/colonies.
Overtime all these domestic colonies subjugated by the settler amerikan
empire have developed thru struggle, and have reached a new and
different phase of colonialism, called neo-colonialism, which can be
characterized by the power structure now formally allowing
representatives of these oppressed peoples to integrate into the
economic, political and military structures, and in many ways act as a
buffer between the ruling class and the masses of neo-colonized
people.
This brings me back to Our discussion on organizing, and political
education. See, depending on what We organizing for, one will require
different political understanding. Fanon says,
“A political informed [person in a colonial situation] is someone who
knows that a local dispute is not a crucial confrontation between [them]
and [the system]”
“It is the repeated demonstrations for their rights and the repeated
labor disputes that politicize the masses.” (3)
So basically what Frantz Fanon is saying here is that first one must
understand they are indeed colonized, and this understanding disallows
them from settling for any ol’ concession that can come from a ‘local
dispute’. And here when he says local, We can put it in Our immediate
context and understand it to mean, ‘prison struggles’.
What does this mean? It essentially means that We utilize, and in
fact manufacture these ‘repeated demonstrations for their/our rights’ as
a means to politicize the masses. However, if We are organizing the
masses utilizing such demonstration alone We run into a few pitfalls.
The one which i’ll deal with here can be understood by the old saying,
“Be careful what you ask for you just might get it.” So in Our context,
in the prison movement, what happens to the momentum of the masses, of
the people as a whole if We as organizers manufacture a or a few
demonstrations and the administration actually concedes? If the masses
don’t understand the complexity of Our situation, that We’re colonized,
dehumanized, an alienated sub-class, the dregs of the society, and that
not only must these realities change, We must change within Ourselves,
and We must take part in changing these realities, then the masses the
people will quit the struggle after what they’ve perceived to be
success, and they’ll resume their normal ways of existence. This pattern
is counter-productive to the cause of revolution. We must at all times
possible keep the masses active, and that activity pertaining to the
struggle. Fanon said, “The colonized subject is at constant risk of
being disarmed by any sort of concession.”(4)
So an understanding of what Our issues are, colonialism,
neo-colonialism or racism, or individual wrong decision making, will
determine the strategies and tactics We take moving forward. If We begin
Our study of literature proceeding from the perspective that We’re
colonized nations of people, We study how anti-colonial struggles have
developed, failed and triumphed around the world. Furthermore We realize
that unless an action fundamentally eradicates Our colonial existence
than it is only a reform and does not solve Our fundamental problem(s)
which stem from Our thwarted development under neo-colonialism. Thus We
don’t even seek certain reforms, or concessions, and the ones We do are
to advance Our strategic goal.
The question now becomes again HOW to maintain the masses attention
before, during, and after demonstrations? The answer leads us to
ORGANIZATION. Those who have a study level of political vision must take
the initiative in forming real organized organizations. Within these
organizations leaders should allow for activities to be carried out by
the rank & file and must be sure that activities assigned to a
comrade are in alignment with the talents, interests, and abilities of
said comrade. In this way one keeps the masses involved and engaged. If
able weekly or bi-weekly meetings should be established. Minutes should
be kept of the meetings, meaning, write down what you’re doing, what
you’re talking about, what are the plans going forward, etc. At said
meetings each comrade should have a progress report, which entails what
they’ve been doing since the previous meeting.
If a comrade can draw, they should be assigned something to draw. If
a comrade can write, they should be assigned something to write. If a
comrade has a typewrite they should be tasked with typing up the
documents of the group. In fact it is good to take up one project that
the entire collective can attribute to. Say a pamphlet, of course you
need writers, We need art work, and We’ll need a typist, We’ll need some
donations of stamps to circulate it to publishers, and in this way every
one not only feels involved, but more importantly feels that
immeasurable feeling of accomplishment. In understanding the
complexities of Our class (lumpen) We must understand a lot of us have
not accomplished much of anything in the way of real world
accomplishments. A lot of us have been caged, stagnated in a state of
arrested development, since Our pre-teen and teen years, and thus are
persynally under-developed in many ways. This feeling of accomplishment
motivates and inspires one to continue to chase that good feeling, and
particularly when the feeling is derived from doing something
productive, it overtime alters a persyn internally, and this is what We,
as revolutionaries especially within the lumpen class want most.
Organizations in their many varieties are the vehicles of the people
and their struggle. Vanguard elements must seek to organize all aspects
of the people’s struggle, all aspects of the people’s lives under their
leadership and influence. This doesn’t mean everyone has to or will be a
member of a particular leading organizational body. What it means is
that organization must make itself seen & heard & felt in each
aspect of the people’s lives. The musician they listen to should be
expressing some theme derived from the organization. The farmer should
have the organization’s line on collectivizing agriculture and land. The
prisoner and their family should know that the prisoner, if deemed
capable can/will have a place of refuge, work, and re-humanization with
the organization. The womyn must know she has a group trustworthy and
capable to care for her kids collectively, and ensure her access to safe
abortion if necessary. Those in the LGBTQ community must feel at one
with the organization, enabled and empowered.
In a nutshell the proper organization will galvanize the popular
masses of the people, educating and organizing the most capable from
every and all sectors, and from there synthesize the aspirations, and
ambitions of the people’s struggle with practical and concrete measures
to realize these objectives.
With the formation of Texas T.E.A.M.O.N.E., the Texas USW re-branded,
We have formed the vehicle for the Texas prisoner’s struggle. We have
thus far established multiple wings which can/will be used to activate
the stored away genius of the masses. We have the legal wing for those
writ-writing jailhouse lawyers, a space for like minded cats to put
their heads together to attack certain aspects of the system that can
help us better build the movement. We have established, in its early
stages, a wimmins & LGBTQ wing, which is again an avenue for certain
people to step up and utilize what they already know how to do, in
concert with the rest of the organized body to get what We want. We’ve
established the Worker’s wing a lane where people around the state can
collectively struggle for worker’s rights, and incorporate those
struggles with the others and in combination gain bigger gains…We’ve
established and/or influenced the establishment of numerous committees
with the members therein playing roles in the ‘wings’ mentioned above.
In all this We’ve done well in applying lessons learned from
MIM(Prisons), and some of Our own experiences, thus synthesizing theory
& practice.
It must be said however that We have made many mistakes. We began
organizing as Fanon said, around demonstrations. We learned in practice,
some of us without ever having read Fanon, that the masses, and
Ourselves could easily get complacent after concessions are made. The
mistake came by not initially focusing on ideo-theoretical questions. We
had to learn that the truth of the matter that prior to any organization
the people in question must sit down and individually intake
information, after a certain amount of information has been accumulated
they must come together and discuss their findings and thoughts,
establish their points of unity, modes of organization, and other such
matters. Of course this isn’t to say that all organizations come
together like this. Many take on a more spontaneous approach to
development and this approach is observed in their style of work.
The re-occurring theme will always be political education, the need
for it will never cease, and the need to bring all the people to an
active level of consciousness, that is a level where they can be/are
active in the struggle.
In Our campaign to end RHU, it was selectively chosen for a multitude
of reasons. One of which is to show & prove We can shut it down if
& when We organize Ourselves and the people correctly. Because of
conditions that prevail in long-term isolation, many of the most radical
and politically astute people are in or have been in long-term
isolation, if We could multiply those types of elements, and then get
them out on the pop city We can make conditions more conductive to
politicizing more and more prisoners sending more and more of these to
the outside. To illustrate the contradiction that despite the various
levels of illegality present within the solitary confinement apparatus,
it still continues, and yet We’re the so-called criminals. There is of
course the fact that if We can eliminate the punitive answer for dissent
then We leave the enemy with little recourse once Our collective
resistance picks up. In this way We take a tool out of their tool kit.
However, the underlying goal is simply to shut seg down, what if they
just capitulated and gave us what We wanted? What becomes of the
struggle then? IF that was Our actual GOAL and not a MEANS TO AN END,
then Our entire struggle would have been defeated, at least temporarily,
not by bullets, or bombs, but by sugar-coated bullets, by concessions,
by reforms, which weaken the intensity of contradictions rather than
increase them. Mastering this delicate balance will determine the
successes and failures of Our organizing methods.
“At first disconcerted, they then realize the need to explain and
ensure the colonized’s consciousness does not get bogged down. In the
meantime the war goes on, the enemy organizes itself, gathers strength
and preempts the strategy of the colonized. The struggle for national
liberation is not a question of bridging the gap in one giant stride.
The epic is played out on a difficult, day-to-day basis and the
suffering endured far exceeds that of the colonial period. Down in the
towns the colonists have apparently changed. Our people are happier.
They are respected. A daily routine sets in, and the colonized engaged
in struggle, the people who must continue to give it their support,
cannot afford to give in. They must not think the objective has already
been achieved. When the actual objectives of the struggle are described,
they must not think they are impossible. Once again, clarification is
needed and the people have to realize where they are going and how to
get there. The war is not one battle but a succession of local
struggles, none of which, in fact, is decisive.” (5)
We’ve articulated previously that one’s method to organization is
logically dependent upon one’s goals, and also one’s circumstances or
conditions. It is Our view that the conditions and circumstances being
what they currently are in North amerika, the lumpen-prisoner class is a
highly dynamic entity. This class, Our class is also a vacillating
class, meaning its members can be like see-saws, moving from one side
(revolutionary) to another (reactionary) as their emotions and whims
take them. However, We assert that the other classes of North amerika
have become so bourgeoisified that the social vehicles for social
revolution are so slim to none that the last objectively repressed class
in amerika, the class that still has little to no stake in the bourgeois
democracy, is the lumpen.
We’ve reached this conclusion by analyzing the social forces and
classes within North amerikan society. Observing their material benefits
of being cozied up to their bourgeoisie. We’ve observed how and why
social movements only advance so far, being largely unwilling, or
sometimes unable to carry the struggle to higher levels, due to a
certain level of comfort in the status quo. And We logically look to Our
own class and see that these factors, though still present are vastly
diminished. Therefore, arriving at this class analysis We say that it is
most conductive to Our goal of social revolution to invest time and
resources into the lumpen in order to politicize them, and that
investment should be in proportion to the classes potential to lean
towards a revolutionary line and practice.
Now We reach the basic question, how do we maximize the dynamic
potential of this vacillating lumpen class? How do We ensure that the
majority of lumpen are progressive, neutral, or all the way
revolutionary and not objective enemies of the people? The answer again
points to ORGANIZATION. The only way to maximize the people’s initiative
in general and the lumpen in particular is to formulate them into
tightly organized units/groups. The lumpen struggle is a class struggle,
and thus We must organize the First World Lumpen on a class basis.
What does this mean, what does this look like? What is a class? There
is often mention of the prisoner class, or a particular class of
prisoners. However, very rarely do comrades utilize class in a Communist
framework.
A ‘Class’ 1) shares a common position in their relation to the means
of production; common economic conditions, relative to their labor and
appropriation of the social surplus; 2) that they must share a separate
way of life and cultural existence; 3) that they must share a set of
interests which are antagonistic to other classes; 4) that they must
share a set of social relations,;i.e. a sense of unity which extends
beyond local boundaries, and constitutes a national bond; 5) that they
must share a corresponding collective consciousness of themselves as a
‘class’, and; 6) they must create their own political organizations, and
pursue their interests as a ‘class’ (6)
We must also clarify that Marx differentiated between a ‘class in
itself’ and a ‘class for itself’. The difference between the two can be
summarized by saying that a class in itself simply shares a common
economic position but lacks the other listed criteria. Whereas a class
for itself is an entity fully organized and meeting all listed
criteria.
Therefore, what We are saying here is that We must organize in a
manner that will bring the lumpen from the level of class in itself, to
the elevated level of a class for itself. Our organization should be
modeled in a way to obtain the collective mobility, ingenuity, and
potential of the lumpen as a whole. We must ‘nationalize’ these
structures, meaning expand them state-to-state, with each one developing
its own relative strength locally.
The next question is how do We get there? How do we reach this point
of mass participation and organization? We’ll quote Fanon here:
“The duty of a leadership is to have the masses on their side. Any
commitment, however, presupposes awareness and understanding of the
mission to be accomplished, in short a rational analysis, no matter how
embryonic.” (7)
Here he stresses the basic conscious political education of the
people. We continue:
“The people should not be mesmerized, swayed by emotion or
confusion. Only [under-developed people] led by a revolutionary elite
emanating from the people can today empower the masses to step out
onto the stage of history.” (8)
I’ve put the above in bold to illuminate certain mistakes We often
make. We often capitulate to the weaknesses of the masses in Our good
intended desire to win them over. One of the weaknesses of this sort is
the masses never-ending desire to be entertained. This desire almost
always precedes from a desire to escape reality, and when done too much
establishes a state of complacency with oppression and exploitation and
undermines revolutionary or productive/progressive activity. When We
reach out to the masses We often make the mistake of trying to move them
into immediate action with a fiery speech, with the showing of the video
of the latest police killing, or whatever We believe may move them.
Although We have good intentions this method has hystorically proven
inadequate for carrying out revolution. Instead, because it relies on
emotions, which fluctuate, the activity it renders, if it renders
activity at all, is necessarily fluctuating, and vacillating.
We can see this in real time if We observe the ebbs and flows of
social movements in North amerika. George Floyd’s taped murder shook
people emotionally. It awakened pent up anger and frustration from many
sectors. People took that, and nothing else, no political education, no
political organization, no political vision, only anger and frustration
into their protests, and rebellions, and uprisings. Soon, the only
people left in the streets were politicized people. Anarchists,
Socialists, Abolitionists, and this sort. The masses however, had long
since retreated back into the comforts of their amerikan life of escape,
and leisure, isolating what was then allowed to be percieved as
extremist/terrorist elements.
This what Fanon calls the ‘weakness of spontaneity’ showed its face.
We must learn from this. In the quote above the ‘under-developed people’
are those masses of North amerikans. They reside in the land of excess,
material excess, but the land of political sleep-walkers. These are the
people Fanon says must be led by a REVOLUTIONARY elite. Now what does he
mean by this? Because of the under-developed state of the people’s
sociopolitical consciousness, those cadre elements who’ve struggled to
grasp the complex concepts of political-economy, and revolutionary
theory, although not desiring to be perceived as an elite, meaning above
the rest, they actually do represent a higher stage of development, and
in that context ONLY are they ‘elite’. The key phrase of the quote is
the necessity that these ‘elite’ emanate from the people, meaning they
must be one of their own, or perceived as such. The cadre-organizer must
take care to balance its level of understanding with the level of the
masses. There will be a contradiction between these masses and the
politicized persyn, there should be, but this should not be an
antagonistic contradiction. The people should be able to look to you for
example, not look at you in disdain. As one might do to someone who
thinks their shit don’t stink. Now we move to exactly HOW does these
cadres, EMPOWER THE MASSES,
“…On the condition that We vigorously and decisively reject the
formation of a national bourgeoisie, a caste of privileged individuals.
To politicize the masses is to make the nation (or class) in its
totality a reality for every citizen. To make the experience of the
nation (or class) the experience of every citizen.” (9)
“Only the massive commitment by men and wimmin to judicious and
productive tasks gives form and substance to this consciousness.”
(10)
“No leader, whatever their worth, can replace the will of the people,
and the national government, before concerning itself with international
prestige, must first restore dignity to all citizens, furnish
their minds, fill their eyes with human things and develop a human
landscape for the sake of its enlightened and sovereign
inhabitants.” (11)
It is Our intention as USW leaders in Texas, as Tx T.E.A.M.O.N.E.
cadre, to have Our organization act as a vehicle to organize and
mobilize and educate the masses of lumpen in North amerika. We hope you
will be inspired to join us.
Sources:
1) Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, pg.138,
chapt.3
2) Black Liberation Army Political Dictionary,
pg.4
3) Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, pg.63
chapt.2
4) ibid, pg.90, chapt.2
5) ibid, pg.90, chapt.2
6) see; Karl Marx, The 18th Brumaire; also Karl Marx, The
Holy Family;also, Meditations On Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth,
James Yaki Sayles, pg. 286
7) Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, pg.140,
chapt.3