MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I am a universal Builder Building universally for in the
universe Be Allah’s university Adversity’s not stopping
me Domestically or commercially for you see It works for me to
come to thee Righteously Poetically In this form Universally
strong Living right not wrong Against the norm For I’ve
weathered the storm all along Builders build Adding on To
life Three dimensional existence Hear me now Bare
witness I’ve witness’d the relentless Struggle against this life
sentence of persistence My insistence To teach the masses
resistance To oppression Suppression Mental
anguish Depression I stopped stressing Paid
attention Learned to see my struggles as a learned lesson If not a
blessing For builders which build without question…
From me to you Look man, y’all crackers need to lay low ‘Cause
y’all are fucking with a kid who got knowledge coming Through pipes
like drano MIM organizing revolution, ’cause that’s what we’re here
for I know y’all didn’t expect to see us blow like c-4 Uplifting
the Black folk always been my m.o. So I don’t ever want to see this
movement end That’s why I move from the middle Pen in my hand
pointed straight for the paper The white man is the devil, so it’s
only right that I target ’im Yea I’m revolutionary minded, but my
body built like a gorilla So it’s hard to maintain especially when
the system against you Man don’t nobody really understand what we
been through Or how it feel to be locked up in a world where the odds
are not with you A white man kill a black man then everything smooth
an’ cool But let a Black man kill a white man then his blood becomes
a pool Plus these sick muthafuckas might show it on the nine o’clock
news Oscar Grant was murdered in cold blood an’ what did the
Amerikkkan justice do? Beside lettin’ that soft ass officer
loose And they wonder why the new generation move around in a
group An’ never hesitate to shoot Black tee, black pants an’ some
all black boots We bring Black power to the people just like Huey P.
Newton An’ the Panthers would do Even Martin Luther King had a
dream for me an’ you He said that only brotherhood an’ unconditional
love Would get us through A lot of brothers say they are hungry
for knowledge, Then here is your food They label us a menace
because we show an’ prove The Black kids learn more from the streets
then they do the school The white man call us nigga because we don’t
follow his rules So they lock us up in cages just like the pets in
the zoo So it’s only right that we better ourselves And learn to
stand on our own two Because in order to build an organization You
have to know who is really you My brother
In making a determination of what organizing strategy and tactical
approach will be most effective in achieving the revolutionary goals of
a political vanguard, we must first conduct a dialectical analysis of
our strategic objectives. Thus, we begin our examination with an overall
look at our political line. What are our general positions and our main
objectives? Which of these should be given priority? What tactics will
best advance the struggle for liberation, justice, and equality?
In the United $tates, the most oppressed groups are prisoners, First
Nations, and sexual minorities/wimmin. Therefore, it is these specific
groups to which I give priority and focus here. [We have excluded the
author’s analysis of First Nations to focus this article. - Editor] How
can we better organize these groups? What tactics have worked in the
past?
The
Congress
Report 2010 by MIM(Prisons) makes no mention of wimmin or LGBTQ
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Transgender, Queer) prisoners, or
of issues and projects specifically affecting these groups.(1) As a
transgender revolutionary feminist prisoner, and a USW comrade, I feel
that the absence or exclusion of these oppressed groups from the
discussion is of significant concern. Whenever MIM(Prisons) is
confronted on the issue of gender, it merely refers to the old back
issue of
MIM
Theory 2/3: Gender and Revolutionary Feminism. But what is
being done now, today, in regards to gender oppression and the
advancement of revolutionary feminism within the ranks of MIM(Prisons)?
The concept of principal contradiction comes from dialectical
materialism, which says that everything can be divided into opposing
forces.(2) The revolutionary feminist struggle against patriarchy is by
no means secondary to the principal contradiction in the world today
between imperialist countries and the oppressed nations they exploit.
Sartre has observed that: “if the feminist struggle maintained its ties
with the class struggle, it could shake a society in a way that would
completely overturn it.”(3)
The struggle for gender equality also includes transgender wimmin and
other sexual minorities. The situation of transgender prisoners,
particularly, is so vexing to prison administrators that the National
Commission on Correctional Health Care has drafted a position statement
titled “Transgender Health Care in Correctional Settings,” which reads
in part: “when determined to be medically necessary for a particular
inmate, hormone therapy should be initiated and sex-reassignment surgery
considered on a case-by-case basis.”(4)
Transgender females, especially in prison, are often discriminated
against and sexually abused in much the same way as biological wimmin,
but far worse. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) has introduced a much
needed piece of legislation, the Prison Abuse Remedies Act (PARA), which
would end the widespread impunity enjoyed by prison officials when
inmates are raped on their watch. It would change the worst parts of the
PLRA, which makes it virtually impossible for prison rape survivors to
seek redress in court.(5) Attorney General Eric Holder and Justice
Department officials are dragging their feet on implementation of the
National Prison Rape Elimination Commission’s recommended “Standards for
the Prevention, Detection, Response, and Monitoring of Sexual Abuse in
Detention,” the deadline for which passed in June 2010.(6) In the
meantime, more than 100,000 adults and youth continue to be sexually
abused each year while imprisoned.(7)
In failing to discuss these issues, MIM(Prisons) has missed a great
opportunity to revolutionize these oppressed groups and link their
struggle to the overall anti-imperialist movement. This is a strategic
and tactical mistake on our part, in my humble opinion.
Wimmin and the LGBTQ community are oppressed groups and potential
revolutionary classes nearly on par with oppressed nations, particularly
within the criminal “justice” system, and MIM(Prisons) must raise their
level of importance on the list of priorities at least to the level of
national liberation struggles and prisoners’ struggle. This is in line
with the Maoist theory of United Front and the expansion of the
anti-imperialist struggle among lumpen organizations, as well as
internationalist solidarity. Wimmin and Queers of the world, Unite!
PTT of MIM(Prisons) responds: In a discussion of what the
principal contradiction is in the world today, and what role feminism
plays in that contradiction, let’s first clearly define what a
“principal contradiction” is:
“There are many contradictions in the process of development of a
complex thing, and one of them is necessarily the principal
contradiction whose existence and development determine or influence the
existence and development of the other contradictions.” -
Mao,
“On Contradiction”
Ending oppression is our goal. The struggle towards this goal in our
current society is our “complex thing.” It has many contradictions which
are interacting with each other throughout the course of its development
(we say gender, class and nation are the main three). Determining which
contradiction is principal in the world today gives us a guide for how
to organize and what issues to organize around. We determine which is
the principal contradiction using a materialist (based in material
reality) analysis of history. The principal contradiction is principal
(and not secondary) because of the way its development will impact the
development of other contradictions. We do not choose it, it is shown to
us in history.
Establishing a principal contradiction is not a matter of
deciding which struggles most affect us on a persynal or subjective
basis. The principal contradiction is not the most subjectively
important contradiction; it is the one we need to focus on because
history has shown that it will bring the best results. As sympathizers
with all oppressed peoples in the world, including wimmin and LGBTQ
people, we hope to reach communism as fast as possible to minimize humyn
suffering. But based on our study and analysis, we say that nation, and
not gender, is the principal contradiction at this time in history, and
we need to organize to push the national contradiction forward.
For example, and contrary to what Queen Boudicca claims, oppressed
nations are far more oppressed by the criminal injustice system than
biological wimmin. In 2009, men were 14 times more likely to go to state
or federal prison than wimmin, while Black men were 6.5%[this
incorrectly read percent] times more likely than white men.(1) The
gender gap is bigger than the national gap, but in favor of oppressing
biological men. To argue that bio-wimmin are more oppressed you’re gonna
have to base your argument somewhere else.
Our comrade does present here examples of the unique oppression faced by
wimmin and LGBTQ prisoners in the United $tates. Yet, the form of
solutions proposed are reformist at best and at worst the demands of the
gender privileged. We must not focus on these examples of oppression in
isolation, as a replacement for a scientific analysis of how development
of the gender contradiction will affect other contradictions (namely
nation) and our overall goals, as Queen Boudicca does.
Historically laws against rape have expanded, not combatted, gender
privilege. Similarly the development of
leisure
time related medicine has largely benefited the gender privileged at
the expense of the oppressed. The use of drugs related to
depression
and mood is a means of adapting to an oppressive system, or being forced
to submit as is more clear in the
prison
environment. That said, we would encourage comrades to utilize
antidepressants as a last resort if they are unable to put in work
without them. The initiation of hormone therapy and sex-reassignment
surgery could play similar roles as psychological aids to cope in an
oppressive world. But when we are considering strategic battles on
behalf of the oppressed, shutting down control units, for example, will
have a much bigger influence on mental health while also developing the
anti-imperialist struggle for prisoners as a group.
Under capitalism and imperialism, it is impossible for us to determine
whether hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery are objectively
medically necessary for all time or just useful as a crutch for people
who are justifiably maladjusted to an imperialistic world. Sex has long
been defined socially and not biologically for the humyn species. Under
communism, when gender oppression is eradicated, and gender ceases to
exist, will people still want to change their biology? These are
questions we cannot answer until we get there. For now we encourage
everyone who has a poor self-image and an unsatisfactory sex life to
recognize these as products of capitalism and join the struggle toward
world liberation.
There is a thorough analysis of how the gender struggle impacts our
struggle for communism, and it is contained in the 208 page magazine
titled
MIM
Theory 2/3: Gender and Revolutionary Feminism. While not new, it has
a more updated assessment than Sartre, specifically in regards to the
gender aristocracy. Queen Boudicca claims to have read and to uphold
MT 2/3, but misses a main point that the struggles of First
World wimmin generally lead to more national oppression here and
throughout the world. Examples include the lynching of Black men as a
trade for more gender privilege for white wimmin; the forced drug
testing on Third World wimmin directly leading to an increase in the
availability of birth control for First World wimmin; and the failed
pseudo-feminist movement which has had no positive impact on the gender
struggle for the majority of wimmin. It is true that we recommend
MIM Theory 2/3 as the best starting point for why nation trumps
gender as the principal contradiction.
Although nation is the principal contradiction in the world today, it
still may be possible to organize wimmin and LGBTQ prisoners under the
MIM umbrella against their own material interests as Amerikans. We
believe that prisoners hold the most revolutionary potential within the
United $tates, which is why we organize them. If Queen Boudicca is
subjectively inspired to organize wimmin and LGBTQ prisoners
specifically, then we would support h organizing these populations
around MIM line. There are many roles to play in our struggle toward
liberation and communism, and MIM(Prisons) can’t fill them all. As a
revolutionary feminist organization, MIM(Prisons) aims to end gender
oppression as part of our struggle for communism, and we would welcome
any group into the united front against imperialism that is willing to
accept the political leadership of MIM Thought.
Queen Boudicca accuses MIM(Prisons) of not publishing articles about the
issues she raises. Yet we have printed
letters
from this author in ULK, and dozens of other articles
addressing gender issues from a uniquely Maoist perspective. In
particular, our article from
ULK 1
discusses how imprisonment rates of Black men make them more gender
oppressed than white wimmin in the United $tates today. And
ULK 6 is
focused on gender and tackles everything from gay marriage to
pornography to the effect of prisons on the family structure.
I am writing to inform my comrades about a torture “suit” that the state
of New York has mimicked from California’s state penal system. The suit
was designed for sex offenders, NYS DOCS isn’t using it for sex
offenders. They’re using it as a form of oppression, degrading,
exploitation, and violation of prisoner’s 8th amendment.
The “suit” is a jumper with a zipper in the back, no pockets, no front
fly, and a master padlock on the back of the neck. If you don’t wear the
“suit” you’ll be what they call “four-pointed.” This is where they
shackle you to a start-up desk. They put handcuffs on your wrists and
shackles on your ankles for two hours.
It has been proven that New York State DOCS does not have a policy for
this “suit.” Everything about this “suit” says “you’re New York State
Slaves.”
I’ve been very violent due to seeing the pigs illegally place comrades
in this “slave-suit.” I’ve never had to wear the “suit,” but a close
comrade of mine had to wear it for 30 days. He refused to wear the
“suit” and be paraded around like a slave. The only comrades being
forced to wear this “suit” is the Blacks and Latinos.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is one more way the New York State
prison system perpetuates brutality against their incarcerated
population. Get involved in the struggle to fight this brutality!
Class hatred’s what i’m spewing, because class hatred’s what
they’re doing “The beginning of all wisdom,” that’s what Lenin
said The beginning of the end, that’s what i say.
Take a look around and realize your role Take a look around and put
the shit on hold Become the vehicle of expression and make your
weight felt Too much practical knowledge to practically ignore.
Fuck a cop in killa Cali! Is that all you saying? Fuck
that! Our histories got much more weight than that!
Power to the People! And all that good shit Fair distribution
& fuck the land sent! From each according to his abilities, to
each according to his needs For a world without oppression, this
is what we should strive for, this is what we need This is what we
should fight for, not against each other.
Putting it down on the underground, above ground United in a
Movement, a United Front.
Black & Brown, and white too, if you’re progressive, for that
matter, Black & Brown if you’re progressive.
Because we can never go nowhere if we don’t get together United in
a front; hence progressive.
There’s this confusing aspect I’ve never quite been able to understand
about christian morality. You see, I’ve sat alone for three years in the
solitary superman control unit sensory deprivation dungeon. Where every
emotion is sharpened a hundred fold but every avenue to share or express
this feeling is cruelly taken away. Except mail. And my pen.
So it irks me to receive these fancy gilded colorful christmas cards
from total strangers where they tell me they love me but damn me to the
depths of hell in the same breath. Because I’m a sinner my soul is in
limbo and its time for me to repent and prostrate myself to the all
might glorious one, or burn!
But I love you. Brother. Take care.
Is this what a motherfucker needs? Maybe if you all got together out
there and started chanting and holding hands these walls that hold
amerikka’s 2.4 million political prisoners would crumble and we could
join you with a psalm.
Well?
We’re waiting…
Of course, maybe because we are top notch “sinners” in your books the
last thing you want is for us to be released. Does that thought frighten
you! Is it a whole hell of a lot easier to pray for someone’s soul than
it is to minister to their torturous mindfucked life? Because, in
reality, christians and “criminals” are both mindwashed masses. I’d be
surprised if one could exist without the other. The former needs the
latter to lord over and condemn. And preach to from afar. (The further
the better - no?) and what would a “criminal” do without the piles upon
piles of guilt, shame, sense of inferiority and hurt his brother
christian bestows? In shiny christmas cards.
The time has come to turn the tables.
Your religion and those U$ concentration kamps; your steeples and the
judges pulpit; the church and the courthouse are one and the same. Tools
of oppression. Both are filled with bigotry, racism and egotism. The
priest and the judge. The gangster, the killer and the dope dealer. Who
are the real sinners here? Who’s the bad guy? The true gang?
I heard once that to interact with the true insanity in a person one has
to be aware of the fact that craziness likes to jump ship. Meaning a
crazy person has the ability to make you feel like you’re the one that’s
nuts. And I’d say the same applies to unjust systems in power. They have
a way of mindwashing you into a nazi or a
‘mexican-border-fascist-crazed-minuteman.’
So father-elder-sister-brother our struggle is a fight to survive. Day
to day. Minute to minute as human beings. Your creed and country are
killing us as you pass around the collection plate and mail form letters
to us to ease your consciences. Our struggle attempts to raise our
fellow captives self-esteem and heal; not guilt-trip and destroy as your
church does, the living, right here and now, interest us. Not some
idealist bourgeois bullshit afterlife.
It is your imperialist system that must lay down and prostrate and ask
for mercy. And not from the almighty or some winged man. But from your
fellow man you’ll kneel in supplication.
And I”m going to go there. I must.
Why are we the ones hated? The prisoners. We who sit and study and
starve to death. And why are they the ones supported? The soldiers. The
ones who drop bombs on innocent people for a paycheck. Maybe because all
we do is keep beds full and a handful of you employed we’re inferior? At
least compared to those that keep your gas tanks full and new amerikkan
colonies occupied we are. no?
But I digress.
Brother christian, I’ll wish you a merry christmas also. And I send my
love. But please note I’m not parting with some “beefed up scare tactic
ultimatum” that might leave you in tears tonight fingering your pistol.
I understand that your kind, who keep medical science in a moral
chokehold and evolution out of the elementary schools, are escapists and
weak. I know a person who’s a citizen of earth’s most
‘murderous-racist-atomic-imperialist-hypocritical’ nation feels a need
to bury the old head in the sand. I feel you. I used to hide beneath the
needle myself.
I just ask you keep your demons to yourself. Please. Never once did I
try to push my dope on you. So give me the same respect.
And as you stand bent over with your head in a stale hole. Know the rest
of us have woken up and changed the CD. That bass beat you hear as you
lose consciousness isn’t the stars and stripes.
We’re rocking the anthem of international socialism round these parts.
The international! Let no one build walls to divide us, walls of
hatred nor walls of stone. come greet the dawn and stand beside
us, we’ll live together or we’ll die alone. in our world poisoned
by exploitation, those who have taken, now they must give! And end
the vanity of nations… we want no condescending saviors to rule us
from their judgment hall…
I received the Prisoners’ Legal Clinic (PLC) summary from October 2010.
First off, I have to say that this is a good format, with various people
sharing ideas and expertise. This format will definitely push the legal
struggle forward.
Concerning the grievance petition initiated in California, while i’d
initially thought the campaign was a good idea, i have to say that i had
my doubts concerning the effectiveness of it. Its entire success hinges
on mass participation and not just on 10 or 15 individuals getting
involved. Even then i think its effectiveness is a longshot unless of
course you’re already involved in a legal battle within the judicial
system, as presentation of responses entered into evidence as exhibits
would help to prove to the court that the handling of grievances by
prison officials has some serious faults, which we know they do.
Instead, I like the comrade from California’s idea of suing CDCR and
attacking its entire appeals process. We can ask that a truly
independent institution take over the entire appeals process, or be
created if need be. I think this is very much a winnable battle were it
to enter the judicial arena. Copies of the grievance petition from
prisoners who’ve already completed the campaign and have received
responses should be forwarded to the PLC for forwarding to whomever
should decide to initiate and fight the legal battle.
I also have here a copy of a §1983 “Findings and Recommendations
Recommending Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss be Denied” which was filed by
CDCR officials in California against a prisoner in which the pigs tried
to have the plaintiff’s §1983 dismissed due to supposed failure to
exhaust claims. The motion was dismissed and the court found in favor of
the prisoner plaintiff. While I do not know of the outcome of the case,
i believe this motion is worth a look. As soon as i’m able to obtain
copies i will forward them to the PLC for review and dispersal.
For now, however, here is relevant case law pertaining to the exhaustion
requirement:
Jones v. Bock, 127 S. Ct. 910, 918-19 (2007) McKinney v. Carey,
311 F.3d 1198, 1199-1201 (9th Circuit. 2002) Booth v. Churner, 532
U.S. 731, 741, 121 S. Ct 1819 (2001) Porter v. Nussle, 435 U.S. 516,
532, 122 S. Ct 983 (2002) Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119 (9th
Cir. 2003) Ritza v. Int’l Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union,
837 F.2d 365, 368 (9th Cir. 1998) (per currium) Woodford v. Ngo, 548
U.S. 81, 126 S. Ct. 2378, 2383 (2006)
The following case law was cited to the plaintiff’s favor:
Moore v. Bennette, 517 F.3d 717, 725 (4th Cir.
2008) Aquilar-Avellaveda v. Terrell, 478 F.3d 1223, 1225 (10th Cir.
2007) Kaba v. Stepp, 458 F.3d 678, 684 (7th Cir. 2006) Dole v.
Chandler, 438 F.3d 804, 809 (7th Cir. 2006) Boyd v. Corrections
Corp. of America, 380 F.3d 989, 986 (6th Cir. 2004) Abney v.
McGinnis, 380 F.3d 663, 667 (2d 2004) Jernigan v. Stuchell, 304 F.3
1030, 1032 (10th Cir. 2002) Foulk v. Charrier, 262 F.3d 687, 698 (8th
Cir. 2001) Powe v. Ennis, 177 F.3d 393, 394 (5th Cir.
1999) Underwood v. Wilson, 151 F.3d 292, 295 (5th Cir.
1998) Mitchell v. Horn, 318 F.3d 523, 529 (3d Cir. 2003) Brown v.
Croak, 312 F.3d 109, 113 (3d Cir. 2002) Miller v. Norris, 247 F.3d
736, 740 (8th Cir. 2001)
These next citations are concerning requirements for the
establishment of law libraries in prisons. I got these out of The
Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook 4th edition 2003:
Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977) Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343
(1996) Benjamin v. Fraser, 264 F.3d 175 (2d Cir. 2001) Tourscher
v. McCullough, 184 F.3d 236, 242 (3d Cir. 1999) Johnson v. Moore, 948
F.2d 517 (9th Cir. 1991) Corgain v. Miler, 708 F.2d 1241 (7th Cir.
1983) Cruz v. Hauck, 627 F.2d 710 (5th Cir. 1980) Shango v.
Jurich, 965 F.2d 289 (7th Cir. 1992) Lindquist v. Idaho State Bd. of
Corrections, 776 F.2d 851 (9th Cir. 1985) Cepulonis v. Fair, 732 F.2d
1 (1st Cir. 1984) Marange v. Fontenof, 879 F. Supp. 679 (E.D. Tex
1995)
MIM(Prisons) responds: In assessing the effectiveness of our
campaigns we have a twofold approach. One goal is to win small battles
that increase, or maintain space for, the free exchange of political
ideas and the freedom of affiliation. Our second goal is to train the
oppressed in mass action and power struggles.
The lawsuit idea suggested here might be more effective in meeting our
first goal in relation to establishing a legal process for prisoners to
have their complaints addressed under the current injustice system. But,
ultimately, a real prison movement needs to mobilize large numbers of
prisoners into participating in struggling for humane treatment and the
freedom to fight for a better world. Without struggle there are no
so-called “rights.”
While the petition campaign has still been limited in the numbers
reached, we are working to better streamline our support for USW
campaigns, including the grievance petitions in states where these
campaigns are active. We need more than a couple articles in
ULK to launch a successful campaign. We need more regular USW
cadre who are willing to take these agitational points to the masses on
a regular basis. Get in touch with MIM(Prisons) today to get copies of
the petition, or to contribute to building a legal case around this
battle.
Five months after an emergency relief envoy destined for Palestine was
attacked and diverted by I$raeli settler pigs, who killed international
relief volunteers aboard a Turkish tanker in international waters, the
Amerikan puppet zionist regime announced it had begun allowing
international aid to reach the Palestinian people yet again.
Desperately needed human aid such as food, clothing, medicine and
construction materials comprised of cement and steel were stopped by
zionist occupation forces due to supposed safety and security concerns
that armament and explosives were being smuggled among the aid into the
oppressed nation of Palestine. These allegations were of course proven
untrue, however, the settler state still imposed an illegal ban on
international aid entering Palestine as well as an import/export
economic blockade.
This “economic blockade” as the settlers and their imperialist masters
call it (really just another genocidal weapon, i.e., “excellent weapon
of extermination”) further destroyed the already pathetic economy which
the Palestinian people have been forced to accept by the imperialists
and their running dogs. Factories have been at a stand still since May
forcing people out of work and most businesses have been shut down. Even
agricultural plots which the Palestinians directly rely on to help feed
their families have been denied to them. Jewish settlers steal produce
from these plots and then destroy that which they cannot carry. The
setters then contaminate the land with raw sewage.
So while the Palestinian economy has been destroyed and the
international aid which the Palestinian people have been forced to turn
towards is turned away, many might wonder exactly how is it that the
Palestinians survive? A BBC reporter wondered too, so he took to the
streets and found Palestinian markets selling Hebrew products and Hebrew
products alone (Leave it to the invincible hand of free market
capitalism to recognize where capital has fled and then magically
re-organize). However, nowhere in sight was international aid or a
re-surging Palestinian economy to be found. This is in direct
contradiction to Zionist claims that the ban on aid and economic
blockade had been lifted.
When I$raeli Foreign Minister Palmor was asked by the liberal bourgeois
media why the supposed expired ban was still in effect despite claims
that it’s been lifted he resorted to typical oppressor nation rhetoric.
Palmor unabashedly stated that the Palestinian people only had
themselves to blame for the situation they now found themselves in.
Furthermore, this PIG had the nerve to go on and explain that it was the
Palestinians own terroristic behavior that caused all this to begin
with. As if the Palestinians were the ones to make war on the Jewish
people, evict them from their lands and subject them to 62 years of
oppression and genocide. Oh wait, those were all zionist acts against
the Palestinian people. Of course anytime the oppressed stand up and
fight for their rights the oppressors quickly label them “terrorists.”
The real terrorists here are the backwards looking imperialists and
their lackey supporters who refuse to acknowledge the rights of nations
to self determination, while they love to talk about “equality” and
“freedom.”
Well, we in the USW say fuck your equalities and fuck your freedoms! The
only freedom and equality we recognize is that of the oppressed.
The basis for unity among lumpen is class. The lumpen are the
disenfranchised who derive from the economically depressed areas - the
Barrios and ghetto projects - and are for the most part oppressed
nations people. The lumpen are known to the oppressor nation as the
‘criminal element’ which is code word for persyn of color. The lumpen
usually come from a lumpen organization that the oppressors call a
‘gang,’ or survive as some type of parasitic hustler. Although we do
make choices, often times in imperialist society our choice to engage in
crime is a logical one due to the national oppression we endure.
As communists it is our job to fully understand the laws of social
development, and the lumpen are an essential part of these laws today,
especially here in the imperialist stronghold. In Marx’s theory of
‘social relations of production’ lies the question of ownership, that is
what ‘class’ owns the tools and what ‘class’ uses the tools. In this
imperialist society the lumpen neither own nor use the tools. We are
excluded from production and live under the heel of capitalist relations
of production. The propertied class has monopolized the productive
forces. The lumpen play a crucial role in Amerika in the creation of new
productive forces that will come into contradiction with the decaying
social relations of production. The current economic crisis is helping
to streamline this process.
The lumpen is a class, regardless of what nationality one comes from; we
all have similar relations to the tools of society and the distribution
of society’s wealth. It is a group that experiences the same oppression
and is fighting the same imperialist monster.
It is understood that as national oppression exists it is thus only
natural for there to also be national liberation struggles to combat the
unevenness in this society, and for revolutionary national struggles to
work to bring safety to the people who live in a constant police state
in areas of the oppressed nations. This is the correct stance in the
face of any oppression. But we can’t get caught playing the same
dog-eat-dog game that the imperialists play on us and our fellow lumpen.
We need an Aztlán Liberation Front that is in unity with the lumpen.
The lumpen in Amerika must begin to realize that we are a class and
lumpen fighting lumpen does nothing to liberate any oppressed nation. On
the contrary, lumpen-on-lumpen crime will only strengthen the
imperialist vice grip on our necks! This is why unity amongst the lumpen
is the first step to liberation of all oppressed nations in the United
$tates. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we must have unity and
work together with the full realization that we are up against not just
the same monster but one that happens to run the world militarily.
It is essential for the lumpen to come together in a united front in
order for liberation to ever be a reality on these shores. Without the
critical element of the united front, liberation struggles of any kind
are simply idle talk and will not produce. The function of the united
front for the oppressed nations and ULK should be 1) to
practice peoples’ power within the prison system and thoroughly
politicize the U.$. prison system, and 2) to practice peoples’ power
within the Barrios and ghetto projects out in society and thoroughly
politicize these oppressed nation areas. These functions should be done
with the idea of preparing these grounds for future insurrection.
Lumpen Unite with the International Proletariat!
The basis for unity between the lumpen and the international proletariat
is again class-based. The lumpen are connected to the international
proletariat by their common oppression by the imperialists and their
popular resistance to this oppression. What we must keep in mind is the
imperialists think and act on a global scale so we must do the same.
Just as many have used the saying “don’t show up at a gun battle with a
knife,” we don’t want to show up with a “not in my backyard” mentality
when the imperialists show up with an international colonization
mentality. We must think of the big picture and on a grand scale of
things. Of course we must first work in a particular area, as
MIM(Prisons) works primarily with the prison population, to start from
one area and eventually expand to include larger or multiple fronts of
struggle. All our efforts should be with the intention of chipping away
at imperialism.
Regardless of one’s oppressed nation, it really is the same struggle
against the same opponent. Currently this is seen unabashed by the
imperialists’ mega-prison system housing millions of Brown, Black, Red
and Yellow people. It is seen in people of color hunted down in urban
communities by the police and shot dead as if there were safaris in the
inner cities. It is seen in the unequal treatment that has been
festering in Amerika for over 500 years, the lynching of the body and
the lynching of the mind. Therefore, it is not just understandable or
justified but damn right necessary for these oppressed peoples to
struggle for national liberation. Until New Democracy is achieved, as
Mao
spoke of, and we finally achieve equality for all in all aspects,
the oppressed nations should continue to struggle for
self-determination.
As communists we should always maintain focus on our goal of
international communism rather than degenerating to simply Brown
capitalism or Black capitalism, etc. This is why our unity must be with
the international proletariat in mind as this will be our moral compass.
Some may say or think “If I can liberate my people in this or
that country why would I care about countries in another part of the
world?” Well, as I’ve said before, we are all up against the same
monster that cannot be defeated by one group of people, and even if one
could somehow liberate one group of people, the imperialists worldwide
would smash this isolated nation. We saw it happen in Grenada.
When Marx and Engels put together the theory of communism, it was with
internationalism in mind as they saw even back then that the bourgeoisie
would not sit back and allow the people to begin liberating themselves.
We must always work in unity with the international proletariat in order
to rise from lumpen to true revolutionary. Only then will we liberate
our people.
La Lucha Continua!
MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade did a good job of stressing
the importance of internationalism in the united front, and in
particular pointing out that the international proletariat must be our
moral compass. The question we need to ask though is to what degree the
imperialist country lumpen’s interests are united with the international
proletariat, and therefore how they fit into the united front as a
class. What this comrade wrote about the need to support everyone’s
national liberation is true for any oppressed nation in the world, but
we face particular challenges due to our material conditions.
MIM(Prisons) sees the lumpen in the United $tates as a bourgeoisified
lumpen, in that the whole country benefits from imperialism in the form
of basic needs like food, clean water, electricity, etc. as well as in
the form of cheap consumer goods. The latter allows the lumpen to own
small amounts of capital, creating a spectrum of wealth where a minority
in the lumpen organizations are at the level of national bourgeoisie due
to their relations to production, distribution and ownership. Even for
the relatively poor majority of the lumpen class, a combination of state
welfare and the drug game have allowed for access to the material
benefits of imperialism the proletariat do not have.
We are watching closely the efforts of the white nation to take away
welfare and
local
drug markets from the lumpen, as well as
jobs
from the undocumented. Even if these trends are successful, we see
compradors among the lumpen and a popular desire for and belief in the
Amerikan dream. While the lumpen are a class forced into criminality,
there is a class consciousness and culture that derives from this
criminality that is individualistic and parasitic. As this comrade
alludes to, there is a transformation that must occur to replace the
lumpen mentality (in particular its capitalistic elements) with a
proletarian one. No national liberation struggles can succeed in this
country without tackling this great challenge.
In addition, a growing lumpen class due to imperialist crisis will also
touch the white nation. As we wrote about in
ULK
14, a declassed white population is the makings of fascist foot
soldiers. History has shown this to be the case for oppressor nations.
So we agree with the author’s alternating use of lumpen and oppressed
nations in most cases, but disagree when s/he says the lumpen have the
same interests regardless of nationality. Only if the oppressor nation
lets go of its white privilege would this be true. This is an even
stronger reason why a thesis that the lumpen in general in the U.$. are
a progressive force does not hold true.
Give us rest, give us time To sort out why our country doesn’t
realize Torture laws and racism exist And there’s more to life
than Those Seinfield reruns you missed As long as you have a Mazda
Miata With a full tank and a pack of smokes You couldn’t care less
about 500,000 dead Iraqi children Less names to intrude on your
child’s Santa Claus naughty or nice list!?! folks? A dead man
hangs from an air vent As a bunch of cowards laugh at him But this
man’s dying breath Pleaded for me to seek justice for him And the
justice will multiply a thousand fold Because my strength is
endless I’ve chosen to pick up a revolutionary cause And the
world’s vendettas Against my supposed country I’ll carry the
progressive red flag And your overweight greedy amerikkkans Will
finally understand the meaning of sad It’s a true emotion that
bubbles from within Totally opposite than your sugar come down And
more human than your bullshit “sin” Ring around the rosey and pop
goes the weasel Is that spittle on your lip Mr
Vegetate? Dialectics is jet fuel to your racist diesel Give us
rest, give us time To sort out this mess we’ve made of our
lives Give us a chance to pay for our crimes You have our bodies,
some of our minds What more do you want? More pain and some
fines! Take his rigid body and cut it down Call him worthless,
call him clown I called him friend, his mother’s son Look at his
face, look what you’ve done
