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An Abolitionist Journal VOL IN THE BELLY an abolitionist journal VOL. 2 JULY + BLACK AUGUST 2020 Contents Dear Comrades ������������������������������������� 4 Let’s Not Go Back To Normal ������������������������� 6 Prison in a Pandemic �������������������������������� 9 What Abolition Means to Me ������������������������� 15 Practicing Accountability ���������������������������� 16 So Describable �������������������������������������� 17 The Imprisoned Black Radical Intellectual Tradition �� 18 Cannibals ������������������������������������������� 21 8toAbolition to In The Belly Readers ���������������� 27 #8TOABOLITION ����������������������������������� 28 Abolition in Six Words ������������������������������ 34 Yes, I know you ������������������������������������� 36 Fear ������������������������������������������������ 38 For Malcolm U.S.A. ��������������������������������� 43 Are Prisons Obsolete? Discussion Questions ������������ 44 Dates in Radical History: July ����������������������� 46 Dates in Radical History: Black August �������������� 48 Brick by Brick, Word by Word ����������������������� 50 [Untitled] ������������������������������������������� 52 Interview with Abolitionist, Comrade, and IWOC Spokes- Published and Distributed by person Kevin Steele �������������������������������� 55 True Leap Press Pod-Seed / A note about mail ����������������������� 66 P.O. Box 408197 Any City USA (Dedicated to Oscar Grant) ������������ 68 Chicago, IL 60640 Resources ������������������������������������������ 69 Write for In The Belly! ������������������������������� 73 P.O. Box 67 Ithaca, NY 14851 And as you know, many jails and prisons have Dear Comrades continued to be hotbeds. Between the virus and the lockdowns used to slow the spread, COVID-19 has made prisons even more repres- A lot has happened since we sent you Volume 1. sive and dangerous. We hope that you’ve been Following the murder of George Floyd, Minne- able to stay as safe and as healthy as possible. apolis errupted in protest and set off an interna- We hope that Volume 2 will help pass the time. tional uprising against state violence. Millions of people have been in the streets, demanding In this volume, we present your many power- an end to policing and punishment, celebrat- ful submissions and we look especially towards ing Black life and mourning those lost to white Black August and abolition on the ground. supremacist violence. The ideas that ground abolition are spreading faster than ever, and We cannot thank you enough for your letters have inspired countless new people to envision of encouragement, gratitude and love. Please a world without prisons. We are on the move! keep writing us! Keep submitting your beautiful work. Keep sending your suggestions and feed- At the same time, reformism has slithered in, back. If someone on your block is interested in led by elected officials and non-profits. They the journal, send us their address and we’ll add tell protestors to be quiet, they tell Black peo- them. We hope you’ll be able to read these words ple to wait for justice. They tell everyone to be together, discuss them, and build connections patient, and to accept the small insignificant through study and dialogue. Yours in struggle. “gains” they’re lobbying for. Now, it is espe- cially vital for us to insist on our demands and make no concessions. We have to be able to tell the difference between abolition and re- form, and we have to believe in the power of In The Belly Journal the people to self-organize, to fight for their PO Box 67 own liberation, and to win the world we want. Ithaca, NY 14851 During all of this, COVID-19 continues to spread and kill people every day. Following “re-open- ing” in certain states, the virus is surging P.S.: Last issue, we published a drawing of Au- again. Businesses like restaurants open up, dre Lorde with her famous statement that putting workers and their communities at ex- “The master’s tools will never dismantle the treme risk while the bosses kick back in their master’s house,” but we did not know who the apartments and summer homes, happy to artist was. Since then, we learned that it was have profit streams rolling back in. The class created by the artist Katy Groves. Thanks to lines, too, are becoming clearer by the day. Mariame Kaba for reading and letting us know! 4 5 were released from custody. Jails freed people unable to Let’s Not Go Back To post money bail. Technical violaters were released. Early Normal parole was granted. Those awaiting board actions were by Stephen Wilson swiftly granted parole. Prisoners with compromised im- mune systems and underlying health conditions were As the world struggles with COVID-19, populations that released. Police stopped arresting folks. In Pennsylvania, are usually invisibilized and ignored find themselves part the governor used his reprieve powers to grant release of the conversation. From the working poor who sudden- to 1,500 state prisoners. Finally, decarceration is in effect. ly find themselves deemed “essential” to the residents of It is sad that it took this pandemic to move our nursing homes, people who mainstream media rarely fo- elected officials to do what we have been saying for cuses on have become news. Prisoners, too, have found years could and should be done. The two main driv- themselves being mentioned in the news. The plight of ers of mass incarceration have been more arrests (hy- prisoners and detainees, through the advocacy of family, per-criminalization) and longer sentences. The only friends and supporters, is finally mainstream newsworthy. way to significantly reduce incarceration is to reverse Over two million people are locked away be- these drivers. We have to decriminalize and decarcerate. hind walls and fences in environments wholly unpre- For decades, abolitionists have argued that we pared to protect them form COVID-19 or treat them can safely release people from prison. We know about if they fall ill. In Pennsylvania, the DOC has only four the graying of the prison population. We also know that ventilators. The state prison population is over 47,000. this subpopulation has the lowest recidivism rates of any The families, friends and supporters of prison- offender group. Why are we keeping the elderly locked ers and detainees have pressed local, state and federal up? Especially when we know that the costs of caging officials to release people from prisons and jails, citing an elderly person is two to three times more than cag- the heightened risk prisoners and detainees face. Pris- ing younger people. For years, groups like R.A.P.P. have oners cannot practice social distancing. Many of us live been advocating for the release of elderly prisoners. double-celled, and we often find ourselves herded from It took a pandemic for elected officials to finally listen. place to place. Moreover, the privately-owned medi- All across the country, there are groups fighting cal providers that run most prison and jail medical de- against money bail. People are forced to sit in jail, not partments are notorious for subquality healthcare. They because they have been convicted of a crime, but be- are out to make a buck, not save lives or prevent illness. cause they are poor. Poor folk, especially poor people There are many people locked in cages across of color, are entered into ridiculous bails. Amounts they this country who suffer from illnesses that make them could never afford to pay. The result is crowded coun- high-risk should COVID-19 get inside a prison or jail. ty jails. Many people are coerced into taking plea deals Moreover, the elderly population, a group most sus- just to escape jail. This pandemic forced counties to re- ceptible to COVID-19, is the fastest growing sub- lease people without money bails or through signifi- population behind the walls. These facts created a cantly reduced bails. The county jails know full well they sense of urgency among the supporters of prisoners. are unprepared to deal with COVID-19. Their hands were The efforts of families, friends and supporters of forced. And equity finally entered into the equation. prisoners have paid off. All across the country, people Thousands of people have been released from 6 7 custody. They are with their families, friends and sup- porters, working to adjust to society again. But this isn’t Prison in a Pandemic the time for us to rest on our laurels. We need to be by Max even more vigilant now. Why? First, the prisons and jails are still crowded. Mass incarceration hasn’t ended. The As the world goes through a painful process of shel- cages are still full. So the fight must continue. Second, tering in place, I thought it might be useful to offer what is given can be taken back. In Pennsylvania, Gov. an inside view of what the novel coronavirus experi- Wolf used his reprieve power to release folks. He could at ence is like in U.S. prisons and jails. You might guess any moment rescind that order. We need to make sure that it’s “the same, but worse” than on the outside that those who were released are not brought back in- — but in a lot of ways, it’s more complex than that. side. We need to fight to enshrine the changes that have First, I want to say that even as an incarcerated occurred. Elderly prisoners need to be released. Money person, I’m writing from a position of relative privilege. bail should be eliminated. Parole should be presumptive. I’m a U.S. federal prisoner, whereas the vast majority of Early parole should be reinstituted. We cannot be fooled prisoners in the United States are in state prisons and into thinking we have won permanent changes. This is county jails, where conditions have deteriorated much a time of emergency. And when things start to return more rapidly. Nor are most U.S. prisoners in the situation to normal, there will be forces that will want to return to of some incarcerated folks in other parts of the world, caging others to deal with harm.
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