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.
In mid-February on H-pod here in the ECB [Expansion Cell Blocks]
prisoners got together and submitted 30 grievances about lack of dayroom
and outside rec which G-5, G-4 and G-2 are all experiencing here in the
ECB. The response from Warden Smith was that they are “understaffed”. I
may submit my own grievance just to see if I get the same response
though I have to be careful as the guards are using the gangs to police
the prisoners and some of these fucking “Homeboys” do the pigs’ work for
them violently. But I thought I would call your attention to an
interview of Bryan Collier in the Nov-Dec 2023 and Jan. 2024 Echo
Newspaper. In the January edition Collier admits to having
“staffing” problems. So both Collier and Smith are aware of this
understaffing but still it continues and they are not releasing anybody
or hiring enough to quell the problems.
Two weeks ago it is rumored that a prisoner was raped by his celly.
The word is this is the reason one of my classmates has been missing. I
don’t know if a FOIA can be filed and help his family to get these
motherfuckers? But being understaffed is dangerous and cruel for all of
us.
These 30 grievances from G-4’s in H-pod on ECB and the January 2024
interview of Collier show corroborated “Deliberate Indifference.” Maybe
I should also grieve this and send my copies to a supporter who can
coordinate with prisoners, legislators, and the D.O.J. I’m sure Genocide
Joe would love to get a piece of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton for the bad
press they have given him on the border?? We should take advantage of
these asshole politicians whenever we can!!! Anyway, if you have any
extra ULKs sitting around and can afford to send me another
bulk mailing, please do so, so that I can distribute them here.
Securus advertises package pricing for movies I think that are about
$12 a month but they are not offering these packages. Instead we have to
pay from 6-12 dollars per movie rental! And they blame Hollywood Studios
for this price gouging. I wonder if Hollywood knows about how they are
exploiting us and our families? We should get Netflix for $16/month or
something but 4.99-19.99 before tax is too much to charge “slaves” who
do not get paid for their mandatory work!
MIM(Prisons) responds: It’s ironic that Abbott is
fighting to militarize the border, but can’t find enough people to run
his prisons. Though it’s our understanding that many Texas prisons are
already being staffed by Nigerian immigrants working on visas. Meanwhile
they have gangs working for the state, implementing repression and
keeping the population sedated on drugs, while the staff sit around
doing nothing. Though Biden has no qualms about supporting genocide, he
does like scoring political points on Greg Abbot. This comrade might
have a good idea here.
Heru: So why aren’t you fighting the real criminals?
Pig: Who are the real criminals?
Heru: The plutocrat politicians who create and perpetuate the policies
that create and perpetuate the poverty that give rise to crime.
Pig: Are you saying that crime comes from poverty?
Heru: Most crimes are miseducated and reactionary responses to poverty.
Even yours included.
Pig: Are you calling me a criminal?
Heru: Yes and of the worst kind, your fear of poverty made you a
criminal for the plutocrats and their CIPWS bosses.
Pig: Am I in the streets selling drugs and robbing people?
Heru: Worst, you are protecting and serving, only, the interest and
agendas of the upper class CIPWS. You’ve sold your soul to the
plutocrats, doing whatever they say, in order to feed your family. You
call it, “following orders”.
Pig: I’m just doing my job.
Heru: Yes, your job consists of racial profiling, stuck with the view
that the laws apply only to and against Black and poor people. Your job
consists of being a criminal.
Pig: I am not a criminal.
Heru: Without so-called crime, you wouldn’t have a job, your family
could not be fed, you would still be in the lower class. Thus, it’s in
your best interest to never arrest the real criminals, like the ones who
just drove by in that Bentley doing 92 in a 65.
Pig: I am only trying to make society safe.
Heru: If you was trying to make society safe, you would attack the
problem at the primary cause of crime, the plutocrats, not at the
effect, the reactionary responders to plutocrat crimes.
Pig: Anything else? Because you’re only shifting blame here.
Heru: If you wanted to be tough on crime, you would begin by being tough
on poverty and CIPWS systematic miseducation, but doing such means being
tough on your plutocrat bosses, and ending plutocracy would lead to an
end of capitalism, which feeds your family.
Pig: I’m not understanding anything you’re saying
Heru: Of course not, you’re too thoroughly CIPWS miseducated, myopic,
and stuck in your uniform privilege to see egalitarianism.
Pig: But how will I feed my family?
Heru: Being a slave patroller is not about feeding your family, it’s
about feeding your inculcated CIPWS narcissism and so-called
superiority.
Pig: What?
Heru: You get paid to harass, abuse, brutalize, lynch, oppress, and
occupy poor and Black people. If that’s how you feed your family, you
are no better than a street thug. You should begin by arresting
yourself.
Pig: For what…
Heru: For your crimes against the people in the name of capitalism. For
being a Plutocrat Imperialist Goon.
“[Our purpose is] to ensure that literature and art fit well into the
whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that they operate as
powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people and for attacking
and destroying the enemy, and that they help the people fight the enemy
with one heart and one mind.” (1)
This feature, “The Culture Corner,” is a space designated to
highlight and share cultural content that expresses revolutionary ideals
and principles. “The Culture Corner” appears in the newsletter Power
Moves, an internal newsletter distributed in certain Texas prisons,
and is being reprinted here.
In 2024, the hip-hop genre has evolved to be the most influential
genre of music in the world. As such, it is incumbent upon
revolutionaries to utilize this genre to express revolutionary ideals
and to advance revolutionary consciousness and solidarity.
One artist that has done this prolifically, while steadfastly
maintaining a revolutionary nationalist and anti-capitalist political
line, is Bay Area lyrical comrade The Revolutionary Eseibio The
Automatic.
Just as important as eir content, in my view, is the accessibility of
the music to the captive population. In the prison climate today,
dominated by tablet devices with their purposely indoctrinating content,
Eseibio’s content does its job by providing a revolutionary alternative.
Eir content can be accessed on J-pay/Securus tablets on the media store
app. Simply search music and type the artist’s name as spelled above.
Eseibio has an extensive catalog of music, spanning over a decade worth
of material with a wide number of albums and mixtapes.
While all of Eseibio’s material is revolutionary with an underground
flavor, there are certain albums and songs that stick out more than
others. These include the albums “Black Panther” and “African
Revolutionary”. The former’s tracklist reads like a history lesson on
the Black Panther Party. Standout tracks like “10 Point Program,” “Hands
Off Assata,” “Red Book,” “Letter to Afeni,” “Smile 4 Pac,” “Off the
Pigs,” and “George Jackson Day of the Gun” are bangers that also educate
the listener. Other standout tracks like “Juche,” “Che Guevara,” “Bust A
Cap,” “Kwame Nkrumah,” “Black Boots,” “In Defense of Self-Defense,”
“Free The Land,” “Free Em All,” and “C.R.E.A.M-Capitalism Rules
Everything Around Me” should be in steady rotation.
Most important of all is that Eseibio, and other artists that shall
be featured in “The Culture Corner” in the future, provide a platform
for political prisoners to bring brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers
who were left by the wayside into the revolutionary movement. It is not
good enough to complain of the maneuvers of the enemy. We have to be
good at improvising on the new realities. This is only one way of mixing
up the necessary improvisation.
A clenched fist salute to The Revolutionary Eseibio The Automatic and
all other revolutionary and conscious artists using their talents for
the advancement of the class and national struggles.
“The Culture Corner” will put the spotlight on other artists in
future issues, We recommend you to go check out the comrade Eseibio.
Notes: (1) Mao-Tse-Tung’s Selected Works III p.84, “Talks at
the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art.”
A guy walked into special housing on HCON [High Security Maximum
Control Unit] in 2022 with a head swollen to the size of a bowling ball,
with skin hanging off deep face wounds above his eyebrow. He could
barely walk. After the shield team beat him in the cell, then in the
hallway on camera, they took him to medical and chained him to a table
before beating him in front of the doctor and nurse.
Then they took him to the dry-cell and put his head against a
concrete bench (like a chopping block) in a kneeling position and began
beating and kicking him in the head. One officer beat him on the ass
with a night-stick. Then they stomped him out of consciousness. When he
awoke they were still beating him. They left him there for about two
hours til shift-change.
Right before shift-change they walked him back down the hall, past
the nurse station where a second-shift nurse spotted the offender and
asked what happened to him because he didn’t look like that when he went
into the dry-cell. The Sergeant Wilson tried to make excuses but
nevertheless the nurse had another assessment report done.
The guy was put in a special-housing cell next to mine. At
shift-change the replacing sergeant who happened to be at competition
with Sergeant Wilson for a lieutenant position reported the prisoner’s
conditions to the Administration and Operating Lieutenant.
When the Lieutenant arrived the prisoner refused to take pictures –
until I told him to take the pictures and go to medical. The prisoner
was later taken to outside medical and diagnosed with a concussion and
broken temple bone in his skull.
I myself and many other captives coached this prisoner with legal
advice but he refused to appeal the grievance to step 3 in an attempt to
arrange a deal with administration to be released from HCON status. He
was not released.
In the process the Sergeant Wilson was transferred along with several
other officers and one was fired. Shortly after being placed to work in
the gate-house away from prisoners Sergeant Wilson quit. Only one of the
officers is still here which is one too many.
This prisoner basically saved the officers by refusing to speak with
the Warden about the incident or write statements. The prisoner later
stated that writing a grievance or statement is snitching, but as I
mentioned above he wrote both a grievance and statement, only to turn
around and sell himself short, copping pleas and leaving everyone else
hanging; while he turns his back and blind eye to fellow comrades who
will suffer the same fate from these officers, he sold us out and left
us to the wolves for false promises and that’s not what brothers do.
Real brothers wouldn’t let any abuser anywhere near their brothers or
sisters. Those were cynical decisions without revolutionary
consciousness for the betterment of the people, the same people who
helped him to medical treatment when he was lying on his deathbed.
Why settle to copping deals with the same foes who watched orders
being carried out to kick your head in? I’m not taking anything from
this prisoner’s will to self-sacrifice for others, but on an overall
standpoint collectively concerning the prison population, the message
here is,
“Don’t knock others for their foresight in advancing the people by
any means necessary, including pen and paper.” -The Ballot or the
Bullet, Malcolm X
Snitching:
As long as what you say does not include someone else it is not
snitching.
Giving a hint that someone did something is dry snitching.
Collaborating: 1. Siding with, taking up for, or
covering up for the police.
The generations before us put in decades of paperwork to get where we
are today. They wrote newspaper publishers and fought for things we take
for granted like bail, trials, showers and recreation etc. Nothing is
final until it’s on paper. Any legal case won becomes precedent
(law).
Last, police yourselves (nations, neighborhoods, etc). The reason
overall Brothers in Islam are more righteous is because we police
ourselves to keep each other in-line. If the brothers’ gambling and
breaking bread on our watch then we are just as guilty.
In Under Lock & Key 83, my article Ruchell
Magee was published with the line:
“He would later impregnate her before his demise, with a son his
mother would deny. A son that would grow into a polar opposite of George
Jackson.”
This was a mistake as i intended to write that Jonathan Jackson’s son
looks like a polarized version of George Jackson. This was merely a
reference to the son’s appearance.
I wanna add my voice to the ongoing conversation on Sex Offenders
(S.O.’s) and LGBTQ people from a revolutionary perspective.
One key hurdle I think has to be constantly attacked and can only be
attacked through criticism and self-criticism: so-called
revolutionaries, activists, and political prisoners self-identifying as
these things but still holding to the vestiges of their gangster,
reactionary world views that make them comfortable.
A political activist analyzes people, places, and things from a
political perspective. What is this person, place, or thing’s worth, or
lack thereof, to the political programs that political group/individual
is striving for? The military activist analyzes people, places, and
things from a military perspective, analyzing what will be most
advantageous to the military goals of their army, militia, unit,
etc.
Because of this, morals and standards in political and military
groups, among such people are constantly shifting. When one is on the
battlefield, even the most avowed racist, sexist, homo-transphobe, sex
offender bigot, will not allow their hate or disdain for the “other” to
cost them their lives. The primary concern for the soldier or military
commander would be can this person maintain discipline in battle, can
they perform under pressure, will they desert their comrades in battle
or go AWOL, are they reliable. If the S.O. or non-heterosexual was
saving your life on a battlefield, no one would say “let me die I don’t
like your kind” or “you’re irredeemable.” At that moment, the equality
of humankind will shine bright and true and all the self-gratifying lies
we tell each other will shrink in comparison with the truth.
I am not saying you should have no concern about the moral fabric of
comrades. Usually morality and politics overlap. What I am saying is
that a person/group’s political line and commitment should be of
deciding and primary concern if you yourself are indeed a political
activist or military activist.
How many times in prison have we seen the “rules” of organizations
bent for certain “stomp down” individuals. How many times have we seen
people look the other way when a member of their org partakes in sexual
gratification that the org prohibits or has a case that’s frowned upon
by the org? When this occurs it is usually because those in the org
recognize the person in question is a practitioner of violence and that
violent aggression is better with you than against you. So people make a
tactical or strategic decision to condone, accept what they would
otherwise attack or shun. For better or worse, this is political
maneuvering at its core and it’s done every day in every prison. I am
not promoting it, simply stating truths. The purpose of pointing these
truths is to say that if the apolitical populace can discern these
nuances then why can’t the politically do so when our causes are so much
more noble and worthy of forgiving of one another’s trespasses (real
& perceived).
Try a new way of relating to the people on the compound with you. If
we’re revolutionaries then we should be revolutionizing the
social relations and castes in prison. The prison culture fosters a
caste system based on criminal history, skin color, material wealth,
propensity for violence, and sexual orientation. As revolutionaries we
must check ourselves if we’re not actively establishing a new prison
culture and eliminating the hard-line caste structure. How? It starts
with building and maintaining relations based on ones level of
revolutionary ideology and practice.
Instead of greeting people with “Where you from, what you in for?” or
being concerned about who they’re attracted to or intimate with, your
greetings, concerns, and inquiries should be, “What are your politics?
What do you think about capitalism? How do you think we could organize
against the issues we face? Check out this political program, and tell
me what if anything you’d be willing to contribute to advancing it.” If
you aren’t doing that in some form or fashion you need to engage in
self-criticism, are you a revolutionary or a convict bound by the rules
and ideas of prison culture?
Lastly, the notion that any group, or person is exempt from recovery,
rehabilitation, or transformation is metaphysical, subjective, and thus
incorrect. Despite the subject matter, the universe and everything in
it, including one’s ideas and impulses, attractions, are in constant
movement and development. Nothing remains stagnant. This universal truth
is the only universal truth, that nothing remains the same. Therefore to
predetermine that anyone or anything is irredeemable is out of
compliance with reality and is therefore incorrect thinking, and merely
a reflection of one’s biased and narrow analysis. Another small point I
want to turn on from ULK #82, ‘Thugs
Are Sex Offenders Too’, where the writer says:
“The problem is that most transgender men-women in prison are sex
offenders, they are in for preying on children.”
This statement is obviously biased and subjective, and leads to
flawed analysis. It is possibly true that the trans people that writer
has encountered in prison are all S.O.’s, but it is the exact
opposite for my own lived experience. No transgender person I’ve
encountered has ever been locked up for a sexual offense, outside of
soliciting prostitution. Here’s what I mean by a purely subjective
analysis, one that is narrow and one sided relying on one’s own
experience only. The truth is that trans people are most often victims
of sexual predators in and out of prisons. Those who’ve become predators
themselves, whether trans or not, are most often victims of prior sexual
abuse. Though this may not align with the writers lived experience it is
the majority experience in society as told by polls and statistics. Yet
the metaphysical, subjective, nature of postmodernist philosophy has us
giving more credence to our own individual lived experience than that of
the society at large or a wide array of the population. If we’re in the
business of transforming society at large that sort of analysis will not
work well.
There is a duality in regards to the existence of the victimization
in the New Afrikan nation and generally among oppressed people. The
duality expresses itself when oppressed people avoid struggle, avoid
acknowledgment of their colonization and oppression, because of a
psychosocial tendency to align one’s self with strength, victory,
privilege, excess, and power. This tendency is deeply rooted in one of
the characteristics of the “colonial mentality,” which is a lack of
dignity, pride, and self-worth. In this case of identity crisis and
pathology, the oppressed chooses to derive its pride, dignity,
self-worth (and perceived social, political, and economic interests)
from the upper echelons of empire, from the imperialist power
structure.
There is another side of this duality which thrives, not on its own
victimhood per se, but more aptly on its ability to resist, thwart, and
overcome the complexities of the colonial-imperial oppression. These are
“the people,” so often refereed to in radical discourse, “the people’s”
collective will in movement fighting, struggling ceaselessly.
The basic truth is that in every contradiction there are winners and
losers. Losers, by default, die victims. Winners are victimizers. The
issue, from my humble point of view, only arises when We have a social
group, or a broad mass within a social group after long periods of
oppression, become content with their own status as victims. So content
in fact that they themselves have rendered all resistance and tactical
victories among themselves as illegitimate expressions of the oppressed
experience. This is indeed an issue because war has a sole purpose to
destroy the will and/or ability for the opposition to resist our
advancement.
“War is nothing but a duel on an extensive scale. If we would
conceive as a unit the countless number of duels which make up a war, we
shall do so best by supposing to ourselves two wrestlers. Each strives
by physical force to compel the other to submit to his will: his first
object is to throw his adversary, and thus to render him incapable of
further resistance… Violence arms itself with the inventions of Art and
Science [cognitive, neuro sciences, behavioral sciences] in order to
contend against violence.”(1)
The inherent danger and crippling effect of the pathology of New
Afrikan Victimization can be seen in many instances, but i will
highlight one in particular.
i am speaking here of the case of Brother Othal “Ozone” Wallace, a
New Afrikan man in Florida currently fighting against the State’s death
penalty. Ozone is a father and was an active participant in the efforts
of liberation for New Afrikan and other oppressed people. Prior to his
current captivity Ozone was active in search and rescue missions of
suspected human trafficking victims. As a craftsman by trade he helped
rebuild communities damaged by hurricane disasters. Ozone was also on
the front lines of armed demonstrations advocating armed self defense
and armed struggle against the oppression of New Afrikans.
In June 2021, Ozone was exiting his vehicle while in a residential
area, when he was approached by a Daytona Beach Police officer who asked
a question common to colonial and oppressed subjects globally, “Where
are you going? Do you live here?” Body cam footage shows the officer
repeat, “Do you live here? Yes or no?” While he grabbed Ozone by the
shoulders. At that point the footage becomes shaky and blurry, but it
should be understood that this entire incident, from the Police’s
observation as someone “unwelcome”, “suspect”, “threatening”, is a
textbook chain of events in the efforts of occupation and
counter-insurgent forces. This “regular” treatment of New Afrikans is
contrary to the U.$. constitution’s Fourth Amendment right to protection
from illegal search and seizure, but its regularity showcases that New
Afrikans are still a colonized population whose existence is situated
outside the general legalities of the empire.
Somehow during the physical struggle, initiated by the officer’s
arrogant choice to grab Ozone, the officer ended up shot in his face,
while Ozone escaped the scene. He was captured days later, in a wooded
area in Georgia, where state agents also allege to have found multiple
flash bangs, rifle plates, body armor, two rifles, two handguns, and
several boxes of ammunition.
In the ensuing “legal” drama, once the officer died in a hospital as
a result of his wounds in August of 2021, Prosecutors began seeking the
death penalty, the family of the officer filed a civil suit, suing Ozone
for $5 million, specifically the money accumulated by Ozone’s criminal
defense fundraiser page. Prosecutors have sought to have his GoFundMe
account shutdown. In short, Ozone was and remains under attack, and his
experience is synonymous with New Afrikan liberation in general.
My reason for highlighting Ozone’s experience is that i see it as an
example and a dividing line question among “the left” and New Afrikans
particularly and Black liberationists (of many stripes) generally. My
question to the movement(s), to Our People, why is Ozone not as known as
Michael Brown or George Floyd? Why is he not garnering support and
attention from the Black and radical press? Why is he virtually unknown
to the common persyn of the street? The simple answer is that New
Afrikans, generally speaking, even within so-called radical circles,
have become infected with that colonial pathology that i call New
Afrikan Victimization. Some of us are too content with Our imagery and
association with victimhood. Others delude themselves into behaving as
if this victimization doesn’t exist on an institutional and systemic
level. Instead opting for the “boot straps” mentality which is also a
socio-pathology.
Too many of us have failed to acknowledge that We are at war, that
we’re subjects, not free and liberated citizens of a free democratic
society. We’ve failed to realize the there are no “rights” only power
struggles, and those who dictate power subsequently dictate what
“rights” are respected or discarded. Most important, We’ve failed to
realize the implications of these failures. Thus We have Ozone, and
other Political Prisoners of War lost in captivity without support or
even acknowledgment from even elements of Movement(s) that are supposed
to be supporting Political Prisoners of War. Such groups, generally,
have forgotten the current epoch of struggle, that there are Political
Prisoners being captured almost daily. That yesteryears “Black
Nationalist hate group” designation that fueled COINTELPRO and PRISACTS
has been replaced by today’s “Black Identity Extremist” designation that
is fueling present day surveillance, sabotage, and imprisonment of
movement activists. While we should never forget or relinquish support
of BPP/BLA Political Prisoners or others from earlier eras of struggle,
We also should not exclude or ignore those currently active in the
streets (even if We do not agree with their political line).
Transformation is what revolution brings, no face, no place, no name,
all is suitable for guerilla tactics, so we study and we study so that
we become self made autodidactics.
Nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream, so we must put
Theory into practice in order to manifest that thing.
It’s impossible for a persyn to be true to anyone else, without first
being true to thyself!
If you should fail, go forth and try again. Mind, body, spirit must
be imposed with discipline, with undaunting vigor we shall win.
Keep your mind focused, we shall not fold, nor shall we bend!
“[A]ll over the world now the institution of the prison serves as a
place to warehouse people who represent major social problems.” - Angela
Y. Davis
Looking at the incarcerated world around us, it is no wonder the
numbers of New Afrikan and other darker hued people who are captive is
so high. It is no wonder why the level of illiteracy is most highly
concentrated among the incarcerated. It is no wonder the level of
schooling is low among the captive population. It is no wonder why there
is more money invested in mental health services behind bars than in
free world facilities.(1)
All this means that when we imagine our resistance against prison
systems we must see prison as being more than just the place where
people who commit crimes are sent. We have to begin to analyze the
interconnected and multi-layered oppression within prison.
A key feature in warfare is physical violence. In prison, “official”
physical violence is documented as use of force. The most use of force
and most excessive use of force in Texas takes place at Bill Clements,
specifically amongst its PAMIO program participants. PAMIO, for those
who do not know, is a psychiatric program designed for those in
Ad-Seg.
If you follow the logic, Texas residents with psychiatric illness are
more likely to be held captive by the state, while in captivity they
have a greater chance to be held in Administrative segregation (Ad-Seg).
While in Ad-Seg their psychiatric state is likely to deteriorate and
they are likely to face “official” physical violence at the hands of
their captors at greater numbers than those without documented
psychiatric history.
Conditions At Clements
Our situation at Bill Clements Unit Ad-Seg or ECB, Extended Cell
Block they call it, has not improved. Although less deaths we are seeing
a rise in starvation, torture, neglect, and unsupervised migrant workers
running the prison as they see fit with little to no training.
Regardless of what administration says. These Africans on this unit have
not been taught day rules, standard operating procedures, and have zero
regard for this so called rule book. And why shouldn’t they when there
is no enforcement and or reprimand on the side of TDCJ.
During the last shakedown, a state-wide
attempt to catch contraband, they had me in a cage outdoors for 2
hours while they tossed my cell. Guards and inmates watched me in
handcuffs while Major Pacheo instructed Field Boss Shrader to steal all
my electronics and commissary food items – over 200 dollars worth. All
this I believe is because my toilet hasn’t worked for months and I keep
requesting maintenance but it never comes. Same with the broken shower
and the water leak resulting in a wet floor. I have receipts for all the
electronics and commissary items they stole, and I listed all this and
the witnesses on grievance – they put the witnesses on chain! Nobody
goes on chain unless it’s to Montford Psych or hospital.
The second week of December we were allowed to shop commissary, the
second time in 4 months. Breakfast chow consisted of two tablespoons of
scrambled eggs with a quarter inch of grits and applesauce. In total it
was 4 spoons of food. For lunch and dinner we had a cheese sandwich.
They back-doored commissary with a shakedown and stole what we
purchased.
I was allowed 1 hour out of my cell twice this year. The “weekly”
library ran 9 times. Average time to see a mental health professional is
9-12 months. Delivered mail can sit in the mail room for over 6 months.
They are understaffed and don’t have enough people to properly run the
facility. Once they tried to put some beef on dough and call it pizza,
it was not cooked and the meat was bad. Raw dough and spoiled meat. No
shit. No exaggeration.
Not feeding us is not only to starve us but to keep us from relaxing.
We are constantly fasting involuntarily. The hunger keeps us anxious and
irritable, to put it mildly. In my pod of 60 I have seen 12 people
lifted out on stretchers this year, nobody checking for a pulse or
performing CPR. That’s 1 per month on average. This cell is worse than
the third world POW camps I visited during my time in the USMC. The
corruption is so bad with so many hands in the cookie jar that one
cannot even get a judge to hear them out about violations. TDCJ just
ignores our requests and cites their lack of staff as to why they have
nobody to process the documents.
War in Ferguson
On November 16th all the interconnected elements of prison war worked
together on the Ferguson unit as five officers, unprovoked and without
cause, entered the cell of two men demanding they submit to a complete
strip search and handcuffs. When one of the captives asked why, he was
immediately hit in his face with closed fist by CIT Gates while SGT
Vasquez grabbed the captive’s head and slammed it against the concrete
wall, causing injury. The captive fell to the ground and was kicked, his
head was banged against the floor repeatedly. Afterwards he was dragged
to the run, outside of the cell, where he was continuously kicked in his
face and was even stood on. The entire time other captives were yelling
in protest for the guards to stop, but they refused. While on another
row, but hearing what was happening, I began launching projectiles from
my cell. Eventually this caused the guards to cease their beating. They
escorted the beaten man away, then returned minutes later to handcuff
and escort me.
I was housed in solitary two cells down from the victim. I had the
opportunity to speak with him for the first time, find out first hand
what took place. He also shared with me his history of intellectual
disabilities, and mild history of psychiatric illness. He had been
adopted at a young age and raised in the foster care system. Our time
near each other came to a close after the pressures of solitary
confinement pushed this brother to attempt suicide. Days later as a
result of this incident I was notified by the Ferguson Unit Warden Wheat
that I would be reassigned to Administrative Segregation, under trumped
up charges of assault on staff with a weapon.
Attempts to appeal the reassignment to Ad-Seg have been hampered by
Unit Grievance Officer D. Turner not allowing my appeal of
classification to go through.
I have personally reported the unprovoked excessive assaults these
same clique of guards have taken part in in the five months I’ve been on
Ferguson. There is a culture of unmitigated brutality here and the
slightest show of counter-force is excessively punished. Warden Wheat
has been made aware of this clique of pigs constantly assaulting people
without cause, he has ignored or punished reporters.
Prison is War. Prison is Violence. Administrative Segregation is the
highest form of it, where prisoncrats are allowed to hide you and abuse
you away from any and all scrutiny. A tool that is used to throw away
resisters in the prison battlefield. End RHU!
Sources: (1) Angela Y. Davis, Freedom is a Constant
Struggle, pp. 23-24.