. ....(;I: ....I::. S (IS ....t:I '" o -...."'t ....t:I Celebrate ~ ....I::.... . Women's o t:I .Resistance .....I::.

, '" On International Women's Day, 1988 we dedicate this book:

to all the women political prisoners, prisoners of war 31ld disappeared, here and around the world.

to Susan Rosenberg, AJejandriml Torres and Silvia Baraldini - locked down in Lexington HSU

and to Nora Astorga, who on International Women's Day, 1978, lured a notorious Nicaraguan torturer to her house where he was subsequently killed, who was a Sandanista heroine and who was Ambassador to the United Nations for Nicaragua. Nora Astorga died of breast cancer in Managua, February 1988 Susan Rosenberg Susan Rosenberg is a revolutionary north-american anti-imperialist. She is a political prisoners who was convicted in 1985 on cbarges of possessing weapons and explosives. Susan was sentenced to 55 years and is now imprisoned in Lexing ton HSU.

On fWD, 1988, revolutionary love and solidarity to all the individuals and organiza­ tions who have worked and supported the fight against the isolation unit at Lexing­ ton. Our love and solidarity to all other political prisoners and prisoners of war inside the U. S.

On this day we acknowledge the particular contributions, sacrifices and leadership that women have made to the struggle for human rights around the world From Palestine to South Africa, from the Philippines to Puerto Rico, from NY to Nonhero Ireland women have fought against the barbarism of detaining children, against the vicious iron fist of occupation, for the recognition of political prisoners, and in seeking justice for the disappeared. In the past few years the demonstrations for IWI: have highlighted the conditions of women political prisoners and POW's. By doing so we are building in the U. S. a tradition of anti-imperialist resistance to political repression. Our daily resistance is part of this front. In preparing this statement we had many discussions to isolate what has allowed us to survive and resist the psy­ chological assaults of HSU. We want to share some of our conclusions.

Fighting for om identity as political prisoners

From the minute we were transferred here at every juncture and in every interaction with the BOP personnel, we have emphasized our political status, that being the reason for our special treatment and for the experiment. We assert it in team inter­ views, when we refuse to be evaluated monthly by their psychologist, and in our • , , Silvia Baraldini - Silvia Baraldini is an Italian national anti-imperialist. She was convicted in 1983 under the RICO act on charges which included aiding the liberation of Assata Shakur from prison. Sentenced to 40 years, Silvia is now imprisoned in Lexington HSU. conversation with Quinlan when he toured the unit. We also stress this with the tours who have been sympathetic with our view. This in conjunction with the work done on the outside has forced the BOP to publicly engage in doublespeak as to what they meant when they wrote about our political ideas and associations being the criteria for placement (letter from M. Quinlan to Rep. Kasteumeir, Jan. 6, 1988) and locally when we refused to work because of Alejandrina's health, it was termed by an administrator as a "mutiny" and a "protest."

Collectivity and solidarity amongst the 3 political prisoners

Central to our survival has been the building of a cohesive unit, and of a united front in the face of consistent divide and conquer tricks by the BOP. It is important since Alejandrina Tones is a member of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and has been a particular target of the U. S. government. The BOP refuses to recognize collective grievances and collective resistance, we refuse to be individualized and separated. An example is the original anti-uniform work stoppage. OUf goal has been solidarity amongst us even when political diHerences have arisen.

Building bonds with the movement outside

We have suffered from the isolation imposed by the government intensely Ithis is a condition that all political prisoners and POW's face- Lexington is an acute ex­ ample). Our only recourse has been to use our experience to advance the political • goals of the anti-iniperialist struggle and national liberation movements: Rather than opting for individual solutions, we have chosen a course of action that promotes and highlights the de­ mand of Puerto Rican Independ­ ence and the overall struggle against counter-insurgency.

Internationalism

Reading .bout Nelson Mandel. and Walter Sisulu being held in small group isolation at Pollsmoor prison, reading of the experiences of the five Puerto Rican National­ ist prisoners in U. S. prisons, reading Assata Shakur's autobiog­ raphy, finding out about the expe­ riences of the German and Italian political prisoners, and most im­ portant, the indomitable resistance of all of them, has given us solace and helped us to fight for our own dignity and to survive day by day. OUf commitment to self-determi­ nation and the liberation of the oppressed nations has been deep­ ened by this experience. Their advances have truly become our advances, and with that we know victories are certain. Any defeat of the U. S. government brings us joy and a smile .

"When you strike a woman you strike a rock" A],e;and'rinla Torres, The psychological program to Puerto Rican Prisoner of War create a forced dependency, and to submit to the intended criminalization of us is failing. We have acquired through the course of years of participation in our struggles strong identities as women. We spent years living a different reality. A reality de­ fined by the human need for justice and social transformation, and for the liberation of women and gay people. Our womanness is central to our very beings, and in some ways it is this that is most feared, and therefore attacked. The premeditated and vicious sexual assault against Alejandrina Torres and Susan Rosenberg at the Tucson prison is part of the special treatment against women political prisoners . Held by 5 female guards, supervised by Associate Warden Gibson, shackled and handcuffed, these sisters were forced to bend over while a male physician's assistant rammed his fist twice up their rectums. The women had demanded an x-ray examination and Gibson's response was "we can't get what we want hom an x-ray." A precedent has been set that can be repeated at any time. Every time we are strip searched, or patted down, we live with the reality that they could do it again. This attack carries the same goal as when the military rampages through the Ilopango women's prison raping women and children. Only our strength as women has helped us come back fighting. We carry within us decades of collective militant struggle for the liberation of women-it is our rock, they will never destroy it.

On the occasion of IWD we urge the nonhamerican anti-imperialist movement to examine its practice towards the political prisoners. Without a unitary non-sectarian position in support of our recognition as political prisoners, we are locked into a cycle of isolated defense committees and isolated struggles over conditions. The Jack of an overall political framework makes every prisoner more vulnerable to attack and reduces the resistance to a moral position instead of a political strategy. Being behind bars should not end our contribution to the growth of the movement. The isolation of Lexington has made us feel this acutely. Ultimately, it is our identity and unity as political prisoners that will allow us to overcome.

"Only justice can stop a curse" (Alice Walker, In Search of My Mother's Garden)

Long Live International Women's Day Nora Astorga jPresente! Venceremos

Susan Rosenberg, northamerican anti-imperialist political prisoner Silvia Baraldini, Italian national political prisoner HSU-FCI Lexington

• Walls Drip Energy

We looked across tbe space many bodies occupying many instances in between us Many women with all the vital energies tbat we contain. Moving, spinning, flying, like erratic bursts . that only women's energy can produce. Bouncing off tbe walls, the tables, tbe floor, eacb otber. Many bodies of women in motion, cleaning. sitting, walking, laughing, crying. All tms jammed energy waiting to explode. We are all in prison Waiting Waiting to stay, to leave, get time, lose time, waste time, resist time, stop timt Women time and energy. Tbe energy is deafening. Tbe bope, dream, need, desire, sacrifice, love, most deeply the love- of cbildren, husband, mother, fatber, lover, famjJy, friends, and for some another woman, only for some. And tbe walls drip, drip witb accumulated pain. Pain from fear, of losing your life, of who will take the kids, will they wait for me, will they love me, will god forgive me willI forgive me. And tbe anger, tbe anger, the deepest of anger, At the man, at the man wbo said back bome in Nigeria, in Bolivia, in Brooklyr -it's okay baby, it's easy, 1,2,3, " and you're bere. Anger at the man wbo said -not enough, give me more" more for rent, more for food more for scbool, more for dope-more, always more, never enough, Anger at yourself, at your life, at what you know is a FajJure to meet the dreams that the man sets tbat are impossible to meet, Anger at the pigs, at the pigs, wbo caught. you, brought you, keep you, harass you, who never stop making you feel like shit, And the energy is dripping it's collectivized and individualized and its unity is incomplete but you can feel its potential like a heaving, breatmng, catch your breatb, and get enough tooooooo scream and scream, and scream some more. -Susan RosenberS!/Tucson DyJcia Pagan

Dylcia Pagan is a Puerto Rican Prisoner of War. She is currently incarcerated in Pleasanton FCl where she is serving time for seditious conspiracy.

Dear Comrades: I send a revolutionary em­ brace to all you celebrating International Women's Day. My spirits are high knowing all of you on the outside continue to struggle against U.S. Imperialism. Conditions here change daily consistent with the inconsis­ tency of prison life. Sometime in the not too distant future we will be moved to our new locale Mariana, Florida. Usually after years in prison, eight for us, conditions improve, but not within the federal system. What awaits us is a new modell/control self contained unit," how very innovative of the BOP? Nevertheless, we remain strong and send a special salute to our dear comrades confined in the Lexington control unit. I would like to share this poem I wrote wi th you: I

I• Ljberatjon

Liberation comes from witllin One must fiIst realize oppression, class differences the conditioning of both men and women I am because I feel I feel because I am aware of the differences Yes we are equal. different but can grow to express th e same emotions and commitments All genders feel . Men and Women cry Men and Women can struggle together Men and Women can fight together and create a new way of seeing

Years of oppression have crea ted a separateness that solely benefits the elite (those with economic power) Liberation is about both of us together being able to envision a new society and taking the responsibility to promote change.

Come comrades, stand by each other side by side growing, sharing together Creating a human wall of Resistance, relentless, prepared to fight that leads to the beauty of Liberation.

Much love, Dy 1cia Pagan

Long Live Intentational Women's Day Pa lesline Lives jViva Puerto Rico Libre y Socialista! Carmen Valentin Carmen Valentin is a Puerto Rican }Jdsoner of War captured in 1980. She was sentenced for seditious conspiracy and is imprisoned in Fe] Pleasanton, CA.

"A rosy-cheeked woman, here I am fighting side by side with you men. Oil my shoulders weigJls tlle hatred thaL is CammOlJ to us. 'flu: prison is my school, its males my friends, 'FIll': sword is my child, the gun my husband."

- Minh Khai, executed by the French in 1941, Vietnam

My dear Friends, Comrades,

The bcst·kcpt secret in the Bay Area is bei ng exposed today by your presence here. Yc:" there are two anti-imperialist political prisoners and four Puerto Rican Prisoners of War being housed right here at Fel, Pleasanton. It is by design that the enemy has altl.:mplcd to keep our presence and our existence a secret. We are living proof of the confl icting situation of our country- Pueno Rico. They consistently attempt to cover up the Puerto Rican reality, but the work of the revolutionary masses makes lh is an impossibility_ Their calculated plan is to put us away in their deepcst tunnel, bury us alive. The most concrete example of the US govemmenes plan of secrecy and destruction is Lexington High Security Unit. We know that presently three women, who 3rc cornerStones of historical developments- Silvia Baraldini, Susan RII:-ocnbcrg, and Alcjandrina Torres- languish there. These women are the personifi­ CltlOn of people's liberation struggles. The government's response to daring to Slt ugglc is destruction. Our own in carceration in this prison system is no more than ;I 1!.lil y, clear threat of destruction. Lexington, however, is a promise of death fu l­ fd; ~' d . Some very meaningful and creative. act ions must be taken to bring our clear message across-Shut down Lexington and Mariana Control Units! You must coo­ tinue to work and reveal to the world all the imperialist's secrets of destructi on. The best way to salute .women is by demonstrating concrete support today, right here, outside the very gates that keep OUI revolutionary spirits caged away from you. Wc cannot express to you adequately the gratifying effect of these types of concrete actions. We are sure the enemy is well aware of its consequence and therefore will not allow you to come any closer to the institution. They want to make sure that we don't get that direct charge of energy from you. Ironically, the same enemy allows a yearly sing-along of hundreds of religious fanatics to come within close proximity of us, right to the first fence, to sing religious songs to the inmate population. They will never miss an opportunity to feed opium to the masses. Most people here would gladly welcome your presence instead, because they know you have their intercs[­ freedom- at heart.

Nevertheless, in spite of all the obstacles, raise all the &eedom banners high, "Lct the Puerto Rican Flag Stand Alone"! Let the revolutionary chants be heard, loud and clear. We will be with you no matter the physical difference. iPRESENTE!

Every year, March 8th is celebrated and women are paid special tribute for all the contributions in struggle. In all corners of the world, countless heroic women arc praised. I would like to mention some of the women that arc the source of my strength and inspiration: Nora Astorga from Nicaragua, Vilma Espin from Cuba, Comandante Melida Anaya from EI Salvador, Rigoberta Meochu from Guatemala, Winnie Mandela from South Africa, Assata Shakur from the Republic of New Afrika, -p-- ';.- . t. ,. "..' s" \:I\> -----. < '. . t secret "Best k1v Are'''' . ~f , ill the Sf~ISONEKS t '1rPolltlC«/ p.ow. s rRTO R"~N9 . • • f'U N,m680 ,...... , PLEASANTO IUNOl "'D. <.... - •.~ 'N" \. _....bi' ,.::: ;; .. tlSl J,ll --

F and my own Lolita Lebron from Puerto Rico. I salute them today!

I, as a Puerto Rican woman of struggle, am proud of being a woman: I am proud of my endurance as a mother, as I am of my military participation in struggle. My pride includes identifying with the victories of these women all over the world.

Most of these women, as most of us, joined in the revolutionary struggles of our respective countries because we saw that our own survival and liberation depended on reaching the two inter-related goals. We realized that in the grain of people's struggle everywhere is inter-woven the demand for women's liberation. We have also come to terms with the fact that when women are effectively working with those that arc struggling to defeat imperialism, then and only then will our demands be successfull y won.

J truly value the efforts of all women who are engaged in the women's liberation struggle: this is absolutely necessary! Yet I will reiterate that it must be inter-related to the struggle against imperialism; otherwise it is definitely counter-productive. Years of traditional oppression exerted by generations cannot be wiped out until the rOO t of oppression is uprooted. In order to promote women's liberation, you need a real revolution that upsets the old social order founded on male hegemony and eon- ., tempt for women.

That is why I take this opportunity to con­ gratul:ue the Movim­ iento de Liberacion Na cional on their recently-adopted resolu­ tion on the question of women. It has resolved "to advance the joint struggle of women and men against submission Puerto Rican POWs and 'macho' tendencies." Haydee Torres and Lucy Rodriguez . •

• ,

This is a very meaningful resolution and must now be put to work in the dai ly revolutionary practice. Another resolution IIreaffirms that the struggle for liberat ion for women is not separate from the struggle for emancipation and humanization of all people. We recognize that the revolutionary process is the only vehicle to anain the emancipation of women." I wholeheartedly support this resolution! As our movement advances, the fight for change within it will take on a richer meaning!

Daily and all over the world we see the active participation of women increasing. Just a few weeks ago the Israeli authorities were forced not to m~ke any ancsts of women in the current rebellion, partly because they didn't have the facilities to detain them, but also because of the known sensitivity among Palestinians to such a tactic. Palestinian women held marches, sit-ins, they also protected ch ildren with their bodies, held Palestinian flags during demonstrations, interfered with arrests and beatings, and suffered the mos t during curfews. Long Live the Struggle of the Pales­ tinian People!

Women are destroying the bourgeo is myth that we arc wea k and pass ive. We arc taking our destinies into our hands and helping to build nations. After eight yea rs of captivity, I re-affirm my commitment to , the liberation of my country and to the de- struction of US imperialism. I grow daily, and only regret not having had more time for military action in the name of my country's liberati on and our liberati on as humans. Life is not long enough to ever accomplish all our important goa ls, but it is satisfying enough for me to have done my utmost.

Long live the armed clandestine struggle! Long live the FALN! Long live a free and socialist Puerto Rico! Long live the many anonymous women co mbatants worldwide! Shut down Lexington and Mariana Control Units!

Forever in struggle, Cannen Valentin Puerto Rican POW Alicia Rodriguez.

, , Kathy Boudin Kathy Boudin is a North Amreru ­ can political prisoner. She is­ serving a 20-year prison sentence fOl charges stemming from the , III Brinks expropria tion. She is currently in Bedford Hills prison in NY.

Sometimes It's tbe Small Things

She needs toilet paper but it's after 10:00 lock-in The guard won't answer her call. She has to beg bim for a piece of toilet paper. It's sunny outside, How nice to share some broccoli and cheese witb a friend in the yard but it's not allowed. The guard stands with her binocular eyes peering at each piece of ioy in order to burn it. Five to a table in the dining room-that'S the rule. There's 6 left at the tail of the line so she says, "I'll sit witb ber . .. The guard says, "5 at a table!" and number 6 eats alone in the company of 5 empty chnirs. And then tbere's you, a guard witb a son the same age as mine, 6 springs. And you take a photo of my son and put it on the bottom of a brown paper bag and put it on the bottom of a brown paper bag and on top of his laughter and corduroy cap 1 you load tin cans, wet packages of cheese and raw vegetables still with earth crumbling off- 20 pounds of groceries on a child's face by you, who say, you're a mother, too.

Sometimes it's the small things that get to us.

• ••

Surviving the big things takes all the inner strength that you can possibly find and develop. Outside support makes all the difference because it can change the conditions. The support that International Women's Day can express will help change these conditions- for these sisters and for others who have experienced in other prisons similar repression. But, needless to say, we have learned through hard experience that there is a relentlessness in tbe changing but continually appearing difficulties facing political prisoners. SpeCifically, while focussing on the present, the future, Mariana, has begun to come into focus. Support will make a difference.

International Women's Day Kathy Boudin Bedford Hills Women's Prison f

, Laura Whitehorn Laura Whitehorn is a revolutionary Nortb / American anti-imperialist. Convicted of possession of falselD, she is now in Pleas­ anton FCI awaiting trial in Maryland on charges of weapons and explosives posses­ " sion.

Happy International Working Women's Day. This has been an important day to me, beca use it celebrates international sol idarity and the participation of women in the revo lutionary process. As a revolutionary anti-imperialist lesbian woman, those are two majO! elements of my own political beliefs.

All of the ","omen political prisoners and Prisoners of War are present with you today, because we appreciate your support and your cfforts, but morc because we are PMt of the same movements together. Every time we arc ab le to assert that fact in practicc, we're making a small inroad against repression- maybe not quite breaking down thc walls, but at least touching one another through the bars. Any time I'm ab le to participate in struggles or events in the progressive movements, I feel that we've overcome some of the isolation that the state tries to hold us in. Then I feel marc full y a poli tical prisoner; not only an object of anti-repression activities, but , also a fu nction ing member of the progressive and revolutionary movements. I think that's a ha rd thing to achieve, but well worth struggling for.

T can close my eyes and picture you out there today- because my thoughts are with you, and because for many years I worked on organizing demonstrations for Interna­ tional Working Women's Day_ I've long believed that structures and political pro­ grams that promote the politics of women's liberation and build the participation of women in the revol utionary anti-imperialist movement are necessary. Without them, the overall character and content of revolution would be inadequate. One of the most memorable IWD demonstrations, for me, was one in Boston in 1971 when Iwith a lot of planning!) 4()() women seized a Harvard University bu il ding and held it for II days. The take-over was dedicated to Mme. Binh and the Vi etnamese people, and it had three demands: stop war research and Harvard's activities in support of the u.s. war against Viet Nam; give Boston-area women a building for a woman's center; and negotiate with the residents of the community over their demand for low-income housing to be built on the site of the building that we took over. For many of the women involved, it was the fi rst time they'd ever taken a militant, T illegal political action. After 5 days, Harvard offered us a woman's center if we would drop the demand for them to nego tiate with the community's residents. The mass meeting at which we discussed and argued about what to do was a very concrete ~ experience of struggling for solidarity and against racism. (The outcome was that we held out and didn't sell out.)

The government and the media love to talk about northamerican political prisoners as if we were a " throwback to the 60's" or "the la st of the 60's radicals". But far from being the last of anything, we really represent something forward-looking-and forward-planning. It's true that we arc a product of the 60's, because that's when many of us came to political consciousness, organized to become activists and then revolutionaries by the Black liberation struggle, the Vietnamese, and Che's articula­ tion of the anti-imperialist strategy, Create 2, 3, Many Victnams!

Maybe more than any other single thing, it was the Civil Rights movement that convinced me that I had to participate in building for armed revolution: if the hero­ ism and moral righteousness of thousands of Black women, men and children facing the full force of white supremacy could not move the u.s. government and the white population to change fundamentally, then it meant that racism, white supremacy, oppression and imperialist domination were so deeply intrinsic to the system that nothing short of revolution and an entire change of the political, economic, and social system itself was necessary. Nearly 20 years and many efforts, errors and lessons later, I still believe that we need to begi n developing the structures, organiza­ tions and program to achieve that goa l. To me that means revolutionary as well as progressive, illegal as well as legal, anned as well as unarmed, clandestine as well a ~ open, cadre as well as mass. While many armed actions carri ed out by clandestine northamerican organizations over the past years have been geared towards anned propaganda, that doesn't mean that revolutionary arin ed clandestine organization is built only for the present contribution it can make. In Assata Shakur's wonderful autobiography, she points out that the increasi ng repressiveness and blatant racism of u.s. society should move people nOt to retreat and become conservative, but to plan ahead and take the steps necessary for fighting harder- and longer. In some ways, that's one of the lessons of the struggle to close the Lexington control un it, and of the current inspiring resistance by the Palestinians to the zionists. In the case of Lexington, I think many people expected it to be a little easier than it has been to get the BOP to shut the unit. The BOP's intransigence-and their plans for an expanded control unit in Mariana, Florida- has to remind us both how seriously the state views the threat of revolution and revolutionaries, and how deep a struggle it will take to defeat counterinsurgency and any and all other strategies of imperial. ism to maintain its power. If any of us thought that exposure of the true nature and goa l of the HSU alone would be sufficient to get it shut down, we should now be reminded that the exposure is only the fir st step in the process.

I also think that the firm resistance of our comrades Alejandrina Torres, Susan Ro senberg, and Silvia Baraldini (like that of Judy Clark during her 2-year stint in the hole at Bedford) has itself been based in revolutionary strategy: the ability to resist is fueled by all aspects of what it takes to be a revolutionary, beginning with the com· miuTIent to the future and the will to win. When I think about these three com· rades- which I do all the time- I'm stirred by great respect for them, because they've illlcrnalized revolutionary politiCS deeply enough to be ab le to maintain the calm stn.:ngth necessary to resist and refuse to be provoked, or to cave in, despite the horrendous conditions they're subjected to and the worsening health they're experi­ encing as a result.

Among many, many lessons to me the current struggle of the Palestinians holds a Jesson about the necess ity for revolutionary strategy and organization. While the Illajor message of the struggle right now seems to be the abiding and unshakeable commitment of the masses to winning self-determination, I also think it's important to notice that this uprising is not only led by the PLO, but that at least some of the left sectors of the PLO embarked, several years ago/ on a strategy to take the fore­ front of the struggle back into the occupicd territories, at a time when the struggle in Lebanon had run its course. When this strategy was undertaken, it was noted that it wou ld be an extremely difficult one Idue to the level of repression in the occupied tcrritories), but one that the revolutionary forces felt was necessary if the Palestinian struggle was to advance and survive. So when I hun!,'Tily read and listen to the news from Palestine, I think that the Palestinian people arc exhibiting the highest level of co urage in their resistance, and also that revolutionary strategy and leadership enable the masses to fi ght effectivcly for self·determination and human rights.

A year ago, as International Wom en's Day approached, I was at the MCC-NY to­ hdher with Marilyn Buck, Susan Rosenberg, Pat Gros, Barbara Curzi-Lamaan and e lfol Manning. Yvonne Melendez and Lucy ~crrios had recently (finally!) been bailed out. This year I am with Carmen Valentin, Lucy Rodriguez, DyJcia Pagan, Haydee Torres and Linda Evans. The only good thing I can say about the BOP is that it has given me the opportunity to kn ow all these amazing women. One thing that characterizes all the women po litica l prisoners and POW's is the fire that burns in their eyes-visible to all who meet them, whether friend or cncmy- a reflection of the futurc. The determination and vigo r that makes these women pol itical prisoners and POW's seem II dangerous" to the BOP, FBI, judges, etc., stems from an unquench­ , able desire for liberation and justice, and from the demonstrated willingness not JUSt to sacrifice for the struggle, but to fight for the future. When women exhibit that level of revolutionary ability, rejecting all the constraints we're expected to accept • and obey, we become a big threat, both individually and collectively. Not only don't we abide by the "rules", but I think the rulers themselves know that despite all the layers of sexist brain-washing and conditioning, and, for white women, despite the material forces of racism and white supremacy, women, as the most oppressed

,! V I C TORY TO •, • sector within the oppressed nations and the working class of the oppressor nation, ultimately have more reason to look at revolutionary women as their allies and po­

> tential comrades or examples, than as the " terrorists" the government wants to make us into.

And if other oppressed women become our comrades, it will be in the context of growing revolutionary anti· imperialist and anti-co lonial movements. Every day of experience I've had in jails and prison for the past almost-three years has convinced me more that women of the u.s. and its colonies need revolu tion.

;VENCEREMOS! Laura Whitehorn , Pleasanton FeI Irish Republican Socialist Committee, North America

The Irish Republican Socialist Committee, North America, extends its solidarity to ~ all women political prisoners in North America. We find it totally appropriate that Women Against Imperialism should focus on our sisters behind bars on International Women's Day. We know that these women are fighting two struggles, the onc against the capitalist imperialist system we live in and the one against the sexism that system creates.

Our sisters in the Irish National Liberation Army arc fi ghting equally alongside their male comrades for national liberation and socialism in Ireland, and that struggle continues in Magharberry Prison. In Magharbcrry, women prisoners being held without bail are subjected to weekly strip searches. These searches are supposed to be for security reasons; however, they are not conducted after visits hom fri ends and family, but occur before and after weekly court appearances, at a time when the women come into contact with no one othcr than jail personnel, lawyers and other officials in court, and none of the contact is physical. Needless to say, there has been very little found during these searches.

Our comrades in Magharberry know that strip searching is a form of harassment. Even so, the effects on women can be serious, as this is a violence against their bodies that falls just short of rape. Court appearances are on Mondays, and many women are unable to sleep Sunday nights. Some women have had their menstrual cycles stop while waiting for their trials. In spite of all the physical and psychologi­ cal effects strip searching has on its victims, and in spite the fact that nothing has been found, the strip searches continue. Even so, our sisters in the INLA continue the fight.

We know that one day strip searching will end, just as we know that one day the capitalist-imperialist system will come to an end. We know that the determination of our sisters behind bars wi ll not diminish, in spite of the most barbaric fonn s of harassment and we draw inspiration from that. As we say in Irish, "Tiocfaidh:ir I:i!" jpronounced: Chucky ar la). Our day wil l come! AMNLAE (Association of Nicaraguao Women Luisa Amaoda Espinosa)

On the part of AMNLAE we greet you in solidarity with all women in the world who arc fighting for peace and against all oppression. We call for solidarity with the women of Nicaragua who are being attacked by North American Imperialism, which attacks our human rights.

We want you as a feminist movement to denounce what is bappening in Nicaragua and to continue working to Stop all aid to the COntras.

Silvia Cavazco AMNLAE

'." ' ...... ,­ ,.. N. r,.,." -,k-",;~

• UMSL (Union of Salvadoran Women for Liberation)

In the name of the Union of Salvadoran Women for Liberation Melida Anaya Mon­ tes, I give fraternal greetings to all sisters around the world, to all women who love peace, progress, justice, social change and friendship between peoples. All those women who in onc form or another struggle for disannament and world peace. The Union of Salvadoran Women for Liberation represents the patriotic women in corpo­ rated in many ways in the struggle foc 'nationalliberation that our people have cac­ J ried on for the last eight years. OUf struggle for national liberation is the result of more than SO years of military dictatorships, of more than SO years of repression, misery, injustice and oppression. Of more than 50 years of intervention and aggression on the part of the u.s. govern ­ ment.

Eleccoral triumphs have been snatched away from our people, and so have all peace­ ful forms of struggle. The people were left with no other alternative than armed struggle to win their legitimate rights which are the sovereignty and self-determina­ tion of our people.

As a part of this people, we as Salvadoran women have the responsibility and the right to incorporate ourselves in the struggle for national liberation. For this reason, as we greet all our sisters, we call on you to redouble your so lidarity with our struggle.

We know that the North American woman loves peace, justice, progress and fri end­ ship between peoples. We know that it is the Reagan administration which has imposed this unbridled military build-up and aggression against the peoples of Latin America. \, We are sure that our people will very soon achieve total victory. Therefore we J reaffirm our commitment to fi gh t for national liberation and swear that we will win! GABRIELA, National Women's Coalition, Philippines

GABRlELA Philippines salutes the women of Puerto Rico and their fight for national liberation and equality! We extend the message of solidarity with the awareness that our countries share a history of colonialism and exploitation, and an ongoing struggle to free ourselves from these injustices. Today is the day that women of all countries come together to speak against all our oppressions; some that we have experienced at first hand, and others that we know through the experience of our sisters in other situations.

On International Women's Day, our voices are raised on behalf of our sisters who are suffering from a particularly vicious form of oppression, the loss of freedom through imprisonment, for the J/crime" of fi ghting for liberation. Our sisters who are impris­ oned for their political beliefs in Lexington and Pleasanton endure not only the hard­ ships of incarceration, but al so of victimiza tion within that detention. We emphati­ call y pro lest that they have to undergo this torture, not only for the harm it does them as individuals, but also as an extreme example of the intimidation directed at all women who dare to speak out against U.S. imperialism.

In the Philippines, women who are fighting for self-determination and liberation have experienced the same repression from the ousted dictator Marcos and now from the U.S. supported government of Corazon Aquino. Many women have been ar­ rested, detained and subjected to physical and psychological torture. Yet this has not weakened the support for GABRIELA; it has only strengthened our resolve and added to the number of our members as more women become aware of the extent of their vu ln erability to oppression. President Aquino has become subservient to the U.S.- supported policy of " total war" against legitimate dissent of the Filipino people. One of the most gruesome examples of the terrorizing of women occurred on the island of Leyte last year. Two peasant women, both active members of AMlli.AN (a national federation of peasant women affiliated with GABRIELA) were beheaded by a government endorsed vigilante group, Tadtad - which means lito chop". These groups are part of the u.s. sponsored Low Intensity Conflict, the most damaging form of U.S. intervention in our country. Therefore, our understanding of your position arises from a similar experience of imperialism, and we feel total solidarity with yo u in your struggle for freedom, independence and equality.

Release All The Political Prisoners in Lexington and Pleasanton! Release The Prisoners of U.S. Imperialism All Over The WQrld! Katya Komisariak

Katya Komisariak destroyed a NA VSTAR jirst strike computer. She is nowat Geiger Camp, WA, beginning a 5 year sentence.

Dear Friends,

I speak to you from within Geiger Field, a prison camp in Washington where many of the women from Pleasanton have been sent. For most this move has meant a VCr) painful separation from loved ones both inside and outside the walls. But this ve ry fact strengthens the sense of community among the prisoners in different in stitu­ tions. It teaches us here to look beyond the walls and fences of Geiger to reach out i love and remembrance to the women of Pleasanton, Alderson and Lexington and to YOU, our friends gathered outside. A prison is a self-contained little world, supplying all needs, limiting all horizons. It is designed to make us feel cut off, but there's a flaw in their plans. We can never be cut off so long as we remain consciolls of our community, of the love and strength which flows here today. Look to the nonh :lnd feel our love, our strength and our solidarity. We cannot see you, but we know you arc there and we thank you. Marilyn Buck Marilyn Buck is a revolutionary North American anti-imperialist now on trial for RICO conspiracy in New York. She is charged with participating in the freeing of Assata Shal

Tawana, young Black woman your people kidnapped raped enslaved by men who proclaim manifest destiny to rape tbe world to reap millions from you children of Africa whose nightmare built tlns empire your dreams swallowed by ocean depths you arose from death beds of slave ships to cold chained captivity claimed by cotton kings and Klansmen.

Tawana, young Black woman born in Amerwa still you must flee Klansmen carrying badges hiding in backrooms of police station they rape they torture recalling deadly nightmares of centUIies to shatter dreams of iustice YaniIa, young Salvadoran woman yOUl nation raped tortUled ransomed by men who proclaim they are saving you from you workers campesinos who bear the scars of too much and too little whose dream lay dismembered crushed in riverbeds of bodies young and old some who breathed scarcely a moment some whose breath was tortUled by a lifetime of Death Squads and duenos

YaniIa, young Salvadoran woman fleeing nightmares of death to fight the deathly silence yOUl footsteps followed by Death Squads Cloaked in CIA silence to rape to tortwe to sha tter dreams of iustice

Rape tortUle cannot kill the seeds of iustice nurtured by our tears rage resistance.

2/88 To Women who work

In the winds of whirling dust whipping New York streets myriad women tossed by the tangible which determines OUI lives Old young young and old women sitting on stoops too young, babies in aIms Old Sing strident sonatas of dreams women sitting on stoops dreams burdened by blues stooped by lives of labor burning blues bearing children in tenuous tenements in eyes mirroring expectations bent over assembly lines lived by young women cleaning washing cooking dancing dreams of Vogue for old women miss amerika who whirl through Bloomingdale's too much for too fe w spending shopping searching for while old women chalices of youth and beauty and young women sit on stoops obsessive desperation needing over depreciation obsolescence slaving in sweatshops in oblivious to value Savannah San Juan Seoul spinning the desires of old women young women of class who need nothing and want everything

2(88 • Barbara Curzi-Lanwan Carol Saucier Manning Pat Gros Levasseur Pa t Gros Levasseur, Carol Saucier Manning and Barbara Curti-Laaman are the three women of the Ohio 7 now held at the Federal Detention Center in Hart/ord, eT. They are awaiting trial on seditious conspiracy in Springfield, MA. Their uia} is scheduled to begin in March 1988. w ~ send our love and solidarity to all of you here today on th is International Women's Day. We wish to take this oppo rtunity today to sa lute QUI beloved sisters and fellow poli tical prisoners who arc locked down behind the walls of america's prisons. We extend our hands to you all- for you arc us and we are you.

Of the three (3) of us women from the Ohio 7, Carol Saucier Manning is already dt.:signated to the Lex ington Control Unit for poli tical prisoners. As political prison­ ers we all recognize that at any time anyone of us can and will be re-designated to the control units of this country. The u.s. continues to refuse to recognize the politi. cal status of its POW's and its poli tica l priso ners, while pointing arrogantly to other co untries, particularl y the Sov iet Union. The fact is that human rights violations fl ourish in this country in the form of inhumanly long prison sentences for political pri soners and many social prisoners, strip searches, overcrowding and the develop­ ment of more and more repressive and isolating conuol units. Public pressure can have an effect on BOP decisions, as it appears to be through the "Shut down Lexing­ ton " campaign. Pressure cannot be cased up for a minute because the BOP's inten­ tio ns are to get around the public OUlcry and still meet their goals. If Lexington is eVl! r shut down they will replace it with so mething that has the same damaging effecls, but has a beltcr fa cade and is harder to cO !1 front. As we fa ce Mari ana, there is thl! reality of the men's prison at Marion, Il l., where the 23 -hour a day lock· down cominues. Where everyday human rights afe forgo tten. When the brutality that is Marion has been challenged in the courts of this land it has been upheld and sanc­ tioned again and aa;ain.

We continue to resist the insidious program of the BOP that has as its " mission" the isolation and destruction of our spirit, our unity and our commitment to Women's Liberation and Socialism. Resistance fo r us has meant refusing to relinquish: our will to fight criminalization our dignity, our health, our sisterhood our sense of humor and our humanity.

For political prisoners, doing a push·up can be an act of resistance, strengthening us as women as we push up against the inertia of oppression behind these walls.

Through our experience as mothers and conscious Revolutionaries in our time, we have a great love and respect for people of the world. We have hope that we can continue to contribute to the struggle towards a world of justice, where all people can develop to their human potential. As women who have given birth and nursed our children, we know in our souls that self-determination is as natural a drive as seeking nourishment, love and learning.

We want a world where a Black mother in South Africa can nurse her own child and know those tiny hands won't ever be chained, or denied their full rights as human bei ngs. We want a world where the people of Nicaragua can use their energy, their lives, building their country, their schools, hospi tals and homes instead of fighting u.s. backed contras, the CIA and american mercenaries. We want a world where Puerto Rico can be free of u. s. military and corporate exploitation · A Free and Inde· pendent Puerto Rico. We want real change in our country, for all oppressed peoples. We feel a responsibility to work for that change. Responsibility · to effect the world our children must inherit.

Now as we begin our trial in Springfield, Mass, where we are charged with Seditiou ~ Conspiracy and RICO, our digni ty and strength remain intact. We know we arc not criminals but political prisoners who have always stood for life affirming principles. Our spirits arc stronger because we also know that you are all here w ith us.

Dare to Struggle-Dare to Win STOP POUTICAL REPRESSION SHUT DOWN THE CONTROL UNITS! FREE ALL POUTICAL PRISONERS AND PRISONERS OF WAR! - Af lONer bloornt i" fh e wi"ter:' Co,.,.r4dts rt')dil. ~ut thry do ",+ 90 afO"e.. Helen Woodson fIIry holdhi1h Helen Woodson damaged a concrete fhc bltoMin~ Flowtr missle silo in a Plowshares action. She i~ serving 12 years in a Wisconsin federal of R(Sistanu. prison.

Dear Ones,

The federal system attempts psychological testing of prisoners, and friends who co­ uperated report onc of the questions as "Do you believe that you are being fol ­ lowed?" If you answer yes, you may be diagnosed as having a "borderline personali­ di sorder.1I Of course if yo u answer yes, you may simply be stating fact because lots fol ks arc, in fact, being surveilled, monitored, bugged, scrutinized, watched, eye­ ba lled and otherwise followed.

You needn't be a prisoner to merit such treatment, but if you're a woman you migt consider achieving this status, because the government has something very special in mind for you. Under construction in Mariana, Florida, is a lOO-bed high security women's prison, and its residents will be, according to Michael Quinlan, Director ( lhe Bureau of Prisons in Washington DC, those whose "past or present affiliations, associa tions, or membership in an organization has been documented as being in­ vu lved in acts of violence, attempts to disrupt or overthrow the government of the U.S., or whose published ideology includes advocating violations of law." That covers a lot of ground. The courts have decided that di sarmament actions arc "vio­ knee," the FBI is investigating Plowshares as a "terrorist organization," and civil lhsobedience, by definition, advocates the deliberate violation of law. A lot of ground, including perhaps- me.

T here are several ways to deal with such official evil, and one is to confront it di· • recuy, as befits nonviolent resistance, by litera ll y inviting ourselves in. Do I, inside and outside of prison, seek to disrupt the homicidal nuclear and interventionist fun ctions of the U.S. government? You bet! Do I advocate breaking those laws which protect and advance war preparations? Certainly! {Someone publish this quick!) Do I voluntarily associate with others of like mind ~ Of course. And how about you. If 99 of you (sorry, women only) and I write to Director Quinlan, we could reserve all 100 beds in advance and thus make Mariana Prison a symbol of resistance the world over.

Director Quinlan is representative of the official paranoia that prefers order over freedom and power over choice, as is Judge Bartlett, who, in reducing Carl Kabat's sentence to 10 years, sa id: "ll every citizen expressed his or her di sagreement with national policy by intentionally violating the law, thi s country would cease to exist as an organized entity." Well, he's right. II every citizen refu sed war taxes, if every citizen disarmed a missile silo, if every citizen shut down part of the military-indus­ trial complex, the country might well cease to exist as an organized entity in its present form.

As indeed it should. The U.S. as an organized entity ca me about as a result of the massacre of Native Americans and the theft of their land. It grew on the labor of slaves and the denial of rights to workers, minorities and women . It expanded upon the imperial plunder of Third World nations and exists today over the massive pollution of the environment and the suffering of the domestic and foreign poor, sustained by the threat of nuclear war. In the fa ce of such deliberate violence, one might well ask why the U.S. should be allowed to continue as an organized entity. Who has ordained that the nation-s tate is the bes t structure under which to live in justice and peace? The possibility of a different structure is threatening only to the powerful, those same people who diagnose a personality disorder when you notice they're following you.

Official repression is seldom CO incidental, and it points beyond itself, if we're smart enough to look, to the real issue. The real issue is never the existence of political prisons or prisoners, though the government is only too happy to have us beli eve that it is and to devote our energies to the closing of prisons and release of pri so n c r ~ . The real issue was exemplified in a Feb. 9, 1987 (not 1988 ), Ph il adelphia Inquirer article by Tim Weiner, "Planning for World War I¥." Described in detail is the secret "black budget" for strategies to continue war " long after the White House and Penla­ gon are reduced to rubble and much of civilization is destroyed." It calls for "com­ puters to run a war no human mind could control, orchestrating space satellites and nuclear weapons over a global battlefield. !ltl envisions generals huddled in under- grou nd bunkers, aloft in co nverted 747s and speeding down interstate highways in le:l d-lined tractor-trailers_These nuclear war command posts would harbor computer terminals that would help direct nuclear missiles from silos and submarines./I

This is what is seriously being planned for in the highest places of government. I do not find it at all surprising that the Attorney General and the Bureau of Prisons would contemplate a need for a high security prison to deal with female resisters but exceedingly surprising that they expect only 100 of us. Surely we can do better than lh:lt. We do not need to close the Marianas; we need to fill them. Let's get to work!

[11 peace and love, I-Iclen Woodson 0323 1-045

"

;~ o Judy Clark

Judy Clark is a revolutionary North American anti-imperialist. Convicwd in 1983 on numerous chaIges stemming from the Brinks expropriation attempt 0/ 1981, sbe was sentenced to 75 years to life. After recently completing two years in the hole at Bedford Hills Prison in NY, Judy was moved, far from her dalJghter, LO the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona .

Not Yet a New Year Poem The Sgt. said "You're going on a trip." No way to write a poem My knees threatened to buckle perched on a precipice, as they clamped the black-boxed suspended in a vacuum shackles round my waist and wris ts. sealed waystation on a JOUIney charted by No time to pack madmen and machines. I travelled light When I find my way yet heavy laden with to make it my own home then, -and the Box­ it will be a new year safely secured and I will write my poem. where I can't be pillaged. 1/2/88 1/22/88 Linda Evans

Linda Evans is a revolutionary North American anti.imperialist. She was arrested in May 1985 and convicted of illegal pwchase of weapons in New Orleans. Linda was sentenced to 40 years and is now in Pleasanton.

Dear Sisters and Comradcs-I salute you and send my warmest revolutionary greet­ ings and solidarity this International Women's Day.

Today, we are joining with women and men around the world celebrating women struggling for liberation, and it reminds me that we arc very much a part of an inter­ national movement of women and for women's liberation. There are many individ­ ua l women- heroines, martyrs, warriors, who are special examples to all of us, but we arc also an international movement made up of thousands of common women, struggling in our dai ly lives to resist oppression, and to build a better life for our­ selves and our famili es. International Women's Day is a time when we can remem­ ber the strength of all of us together and renew our commitment. ncin~ internationalist in our perspective means we have the benefit of actually seeinJ,\ victorics, seeing imperialism defeated by many national liberation struggles. This ca n give us hope, and teach us valuable lessons. An internationalist perspective mea ns realizing that we can never win by approaching our problems as a series of isolated iss ues, trying to reform eaeh one-but that we need to oppose the Imperial­ ist system as a whole. This is a time when few people in the progressive movement speak of "revolution", IIsocialism", "na tionalliberation", or IIseU-determination" as part of our goals. Instead, the analysis is limited to a piece-by-piece, single issue approach. And actions are limited to attending occasional demonstrations, endlessly writing letters and signing petitions or joining in countless symbolic protest actions. The challenge of International Women's Day is to join with people around the wor1d in renewing our willingness to fight militantly for our liberation and take the risks that will be necessary if we truly w3n:t to win.

The challenge is to develop a revolutionary strategy for growth and to accomplish our goals, and sustain a revolutionary vision of what the future could be like if US imperialism were wiped off the face of the earth. As we participate in the fight for socialist revolution, we plant the seeds of a new society where, with continuing struggle, women and lesbians can finally end our centuries-old oppression.

It's part of a revolutionary strategy to oppose all forms of oppression wherever wc encounter them, to actively ally with national liberation struggles and all struggles for human rights inside the US and around the world. To prove that OUI revolution­ ary visions can become realities, we can support the examples of new societies where women are free to equally participate in developing new values and putting them into action, and where lesbians and gay men are beginning to win the struggle against gay oppression. A lesson from successful revolutions is that in order to win, our strategy must include struggling on many levels-from community organizing and education, to militant protest, to armed struggle to destroy US imperialism. For mc, this is a lesson of International Women's Day, because we are celebrating women struggling on all these fronts-from mothers and sisters who valiantly op­ pose the dictatorships in Latin America by demanding the release of disappeared prisoners, to Palestinian women resisting house-to-house searches, to women fight­ ing as guerillas in clandestine people's annies in Africa, Central America, Palestine and Europe.

Women political prisoners and POW's are very much a part of this struggle, part of developing a revolutionary resistance. We all have a strong commitment to women's liberation. We have come from the same movements that you, our sisters are pan of. The decisions we made to dedicate our lives to the struggle for liberation is being made by thousands of women around the world. Every time one of us makes this decision-to fight for freedom with her whole life- we aU get stronger, and victory comes closer. Women political prisoners are in prison in every country where revolu· tionary struggle is occurring. yet prison has not stopped any of us from fighting. Instead our resistance is renewed daily, and our commitment grows stronger-and hopefully will also strengthen you.

They have put us in prison to isolate us from the struggle, and from comrades out­ side. They use prison to frighten people away from a struggle for revolutionary change instead of superficial reforms, to stop people from enacting a revolutionary strategy that includes armed struggle, and to destroy ou r own revolutionary commit- ment and spirit. They are trying to wipe out even the memories of us that comrades may share. At best they place us firmly as part of past history instead of playing a vital role in current struggles and political development. But their attempts to isolate us won't work.

As much as isolation is designed fOI its destructive effect on us, the political prison­ ers and POW's, isolation is primarily a political strategy, aimed at destroying the effect that locked-up revolutionaries can have on the movements we are pan of. It is extremely significant that the criteria for being imprisoned in the Lexington Control Unit were recently changed to a "prisoner's past or present affiliation, association, or membership in an organization that has been documented as being involved with acts of violence, attempts to disrupt or overthrow the government of the US, or whose published ideology includes advocating law violations in order to 'free' prison­ ers." This is not a threat. This is a direct attack on the political associations of prisoners, and on the support that has been built for political prisoners and POW's throughout the years_It is an attack on our ability to continue being politically active, and it's a further step toward criminalizing all political opposition to US imperialism.

Struggling to shut down the Lexington, Marion, and Mariana control units is impor­ tant not only to oppose the absolutely inhumane conditions under which our com­ rades and other prisoners arc forced to live. It's part of a long-term struggle to defeat the government's strategy of isolating us, cutting off our political life-line of contact with our movements outside. Your presence here today shows clearly that this repression is not working, and truly does represent a defeat for our enemy. By strug­ gling to shut down these particular control units, and by opposing the construction throughout the state and federal prison systems, you are re-affirming that political comrades inside are an integral part of the movements for political change outside. Together, we are insisting that the government's momentary success in locking up political comrades will not succeed in silencing us as revolutionaries, nor will it break the strong connection between you outside and us inside. In so many ways, we are inter-dependent. Support for revolutionaries who are locked up now as political prisoners and POW's shows that our movements for socialist revolution and national liberation are multi-faceted. Building support for us because of our politics as well as because of outrage at life-threatening prison conditions, will move us forward toward a revolutionary resistance movement.

So this International Women's Day is a mutual re-affirmation of our determination to keep fighting. We are not alone- we are women together, and part of an interna­ tional struggle against a common enemy. And together, we will win.

Shut down all the control units! Free all political prisooers and prisoners of war! Venceremos!

Your sister in struggle/for Revolution Linda Evans, Celebrate Women's Resistance Here and Around the World! Statement from the IWD Committee

We have come to Pleasanton Federal Prison on International Women's Day to cele­ brate our strength, our courage, OUI sisterhood and our resistance. All over the world women are celebrating this day by marching in the streets together, demand­ ing an end to injustice and women's oppression, proving that together women have the power to overturn and transform what is impossible to change alone.

We are celebrating our resistance and determination to put an end to the ever-in­ creasing violence against us-an end to rape, battering, and incest. This is not the era of posdeminism-we haven't finished fighting! Men are still beating us up on the streets and in our homes; our reproductive freedom is teetering on the edge of the conservative backlash, threatened by the'right to lifers" and the president. Women are making 70 cents to every man's dollar, and overwhelmingly we're still in the lowest paying jobs. We're seeing ourselves and our bodies objectified in every ad­ we're being told how to look, what to buy, what to wear and who to love.

It's 1988, and we are a far cry from having achieved women's liberation. The media tries to tell us we've "come a long way" towards reaching equality, but is equality really what we want or need? Equality within the context of this thoroughly oppres­ sive system- a system based on racism, exploitation and women's oppression doesn't get us anywhere. We reject the "equality" that would have us join the mili­ tary or police force, Forbes 500 or the CIA.

For those of us who are lesbians, we still have to fight for our sexual freedom . And that freedom isn't just about the right to be sexual with each other behind closed doors. We want to be able to walk down the street holding hands, without the risk of verbal or physical abuse. We don't want to risk losing our jobs when we refer to our lover as "she" during coffee breaks. We want to be respected as full human beings, and that includes the freedom to have and raise children.

The progressive movements to which we belong must acknowledge the important role that lesbians have always played in creating ~ocial change. No one can deny the force of over haH a million gays and lesbians marching in Washington last October. We must maintain that visibility! On International Women's Day we rejoice in the power of women loving women, and show our pride in shouting out loud our de­ mand for lesbian liberation.

Together-regardless of our sexual prefcrances-we must unite. Until every woman can freely choose who to love, until we are free from this woman-hating society wit its "norm" of compulsory heterosexuality, none of us will be free.

Wby We've come to Pleasanton Federal Prison

We have chosen to demonstrate at Pleasanton Prison this year because of the in­ creas-ingly nightmarish and repressive plans that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is currently mapping out for women political prisoners. Just over a year ago, at the cm of nearly $1 million, the Lexington control unit was constructed for women prison­ ers-an experiment in psychological torture designed to break the spirits and the souls of every woman placed there. The control unit is like a dungeon, sealed under· ground in a basement. These women are submitted to sensory and sleep deprivation and 24-hour electronic surveillance. Among the five women currently imprisoned there are Alejandrina Torres, a Puerto Rican prisoner of war, and anti-imperialist political prisoners Susan Rosenberg, a North American, and Silvia Baraldini, an Italian national. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, under the leadership of its new director Michael

What are conditions like in the Lexington Control Unit!

" Confinement in small, sta'rkly lit subterranean cells. " No contact with other prisoners. " Constant surveillance by eleven video cameras watched by male guards. " All actions and conversations, no matter how trivial, recorded in prison logs. " Random strip searches and daily pat searches after using the yard, " Visitation limited to immediate family. " All mail censored, political and gay literature denied for "security" reasons. " Denial of decent medical care, which could be a death sentence for Alejan- drina Torres, who suffers from a serious heart condition. " Sexual humiliation; for example, whenever the women require sanitary nap­ kins they must request them one at a time from male guards. - Quinlan, has recently announced its intent to open a much larger Conuol Unit Mariana, Florida. In its"Security Purity" plan, the Federal Bureau of Prisons wi1 leave only two federal women's prisons, a low-security prison for "good" wome) Alderson, West Virginia and a high security control unit for "bad" women (such political prisoners) at Mariana, Florida. Based on the Lexington Conuol Unit, tho Marianna Control Unit will have the capacity 01 holding up to 200 prisoners. Women political prisoners are among the first to be targetted to occupy this pris On International Women's Day we dedicate ourselves to stopping these plans fr( being implemented.

We demonsuate at Pleasanton Prison, which has often been described as one of t "best" prisons in the U. S. Yet, underneath its pleasant veneer-its fresh air, fres: fruit, and prisoners programs-it is still a prison. Until recently, Pleasanton was exclusively a women's prison. Now, as part of a massive reshuffling plan of the whole prison system, it is changing dramatically, and may soon hold only men. 1 the last month, with no warning, hundreds of women were moved out of Pleasan far away from their children and families. By moving women out of Pleasanton, t Bureau of Prisons is also ending the Prison Match program which allows women prisoners regular physical contact with their children. For those who remain, the conditions are worsening with increasingly repressive regulations, such as a semi' form dress code and the limitation of three books per prisoner, scheduled for enfo ment at the end 01 March.

Prisoners of Wat and Political Prisoners in the U. S.

U . S. prisons currently hold more than 100 self-defined political prisoners and priSI ers of war, of which more than 25 are women. Many of these women are part of tb Pueno Rican Independence Movement. Dylcia Pagan, Carmen Valentin, Haydee Torres and Lucy Rodriguez were arrested in 1980, and are currently incarcarated at Pleasanton Prison. Along with many others who have been arrested for their partie pation in the armed movement to free Puerto Rico, they are demanding to be ceCOl nized as POWs. They consider themselves at war with the United States, which claimed Puerto Rico as a colony in 1898. These women are part 01 a long legacy 01 independentistas who have fought on many levels to reestablish Pueno Rican sove cignty.

Linda Evans and Laura Whitehorn are North American pol.itical prisoners, currentl incarcerated at Pleasanton. In 1985 they were arrested for their connection to a rev( lutionary clandestine movement in support of the Black liberation movement. The are both lesbians, and were active in the anti-imperialist women's movement and • anti·racist movement. The term "political prisoner" is used to identify people who arc part of many different movements organizing active opposition to the U. S. it government and its oppressive institutions, and are incarcerated for their actions. s These prisoners are fighters for Black and Puerto Rican liberation and Native Am eri· can sovereignty. They're North American anti· imperialists; they' re sanctuary work· ers, Plowshares and anti-nuclear activists. 1. 1 The U. S. obscures the political nature of these prisoners by characterizing them as "criminals" and "terrorists," thereby attempting to discredit them. The government's goal is to isolate them from their communities and bases of support. e By demonstrating at Pleasanton this year, we are breaking the isolation that the U. S government is attempting to enforce on our sisters in prison. These women are pan of our movement. We not only support these women as political prisoners, but we support the goals that they are fighting for. ln, U. S. Pn'sons-Institutions of White Supremacy and Population Canuol

The United States government asserts itself as a model of freedom and democracy, 1i­ yet it has the second largest rate of imprisonment in the world. The majority of :e- prisoners in the U. S. have committed "crimes of su rvival" stemming from lives of poverty and racism. Police harrassment and selective enforcement of laws in poor and third war ld communities make the vast majority of prisoners in the U. S. vic­ tims of injustice.

1- Black people are incarcerated at six times the rate for white people. While federal funds for basic social services such as housing, child care, health care and education are slashed, billions are budgetted to build larger prisons.

U. S. prisons have grown to become a major institution of population control, ware­ houses for people of color. A conservative estimate predicts tha t U. S. prisons, not including jails, will hold over one million people by the year 2000, and that the vast majority will be people of color. Why? Because this society offers Black and Third World youth few options-it leaves 75% of them unemployed, and traps them in deteriorating public housing projects. That's why Black children drop out of schools at alarming rates, and many lose their lives to drugs, crime and prison. This set of conditions is nothing less than genocidal. In its definition of genocide, the United Nations includes "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part." The black liberation move­ ment and other oppressed nations within"these borders have been fighting against - these conditions for years, calling for their basie human rights including the right t self·determination. Many strong leaders from these movements have been impris­ oned for thcir struggle to gain ba sic human rights in the U . S.

Women in Prison

These genocidal policies arc mirrored by the overwhelming percentage of women 0 color among the women prison population. The profile of the"average" woman prisoner today is a young Black mother, most often the head ~ of-household living in poverty, with a lack of education and job skills. A staggering 93% of women bchin< bars are serving terms Dot for violent crimes, but for common crimes that reflect tt . vicious link between- poverty and prison- writing bad checks, theft, prostitution, a drugs The majority of women imprisoned £o"r "violent crimes," arc being punished for striking back against an abusive husband or lover.

Behind the bars of women's prisons exists a world that magnifies the social contra­ dictions of the outside world. Racism, sexism, and homophobia arc the order of the d.1Y. Once inside, virtually all control over decisions affecting a woman's life, her body, her interactions, is stripped away. Ladylike behaviour of docility and subserv: ence is enforced and rewarded by the prison authorities- whether by regulated feminine attire, or passivity-inducing drugs. Random sexual violence by male guarc is rampant. Racist violence is encouraged and often fomented by prison guards.

AIDS in Prison In the eighties, AIDS has emerged as a significant issue within prisons. In rc­ gions like the northeast, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among prison­ ers, who die in half the time of their counterparts on the street. This fact points to the inadequacy of prison conditions in general and the prison health care system in particular. Prison administrators are unwilling to acknowledge the reality of sexual contact and LV. drug use occurring among prisoners. Little information about how AIDS is spread or how it can be prevented is made available. This denial only increases the spread of AIDS in prisons. For women prisoners with AIDS who arc pregnant, beyond the torment of dying while locked up is the added concern of passing the di sease onto their children. We must wage our fight against AIDS in the prisons, too.

' W - "Out" on the Inside :0 Using lesbianism as a red flag, all physical contact between women is banned. By regulating and prohibiting physical contact among women, prisons attempt to deny the reality of lesbianism as well as every woman's need for human support.

Some women are in prison as a direct result of being lesbians, but many more lesbi- f ans are sent to psychiatric institutions for their "deviation." Women prisoners believed to be lesbians are subject to a variety of punishments, from "daddy tanks" lsegregated units for lesbiansl to denial of parole. Still, many women form lesbian relationships, some for the first timc, in defiance of the prison administration. Espe c cially in prisoo, the assertion of women's love for one another is both an act of lc.l resistance and strength.

Linking Our Demands Across the World

On International Women's Day 1988, we link our demands for the release of politic ~ prisoners in the U. S. with women all over the world who are confronting their regimes in countries like Palestine, EI Salvador, Northern Ireland, and South Africa.

By protesting at Pleasanton Prison, we expose the brutality of the United States bot! in this country and internationally. We know who trains the torturers. We know that the contras in Nicaragua and Angola are only kept alive by the bloody dollars handed to them by the U. S. We know who is responsible for vicious attempts to crush liberation movements in this country and around the world. We know that th U. S. military trains young men to rape women in Third World countries. We will target the U. S. for funding repressive regimes all over the world, and for training 1 military troups to torture those who resist.

Women all over the world who are fighting for their liberation name their enemy as U. S. imperialism. They are strugglifig for self-determination for their people, at the same time as they are in struggle for their liberation as women. For these goals, the} risk imprisonment, torture, and disappearance. We are inspired by their courage.

On International Women's Day, we are sending a message of love and strength to ou sisters allover the world who refuse to let their lives be controlled by U. S. greed. W can communicate this message best when we take up the challenge to organize an active movement in solidarity with our sisters across all borders, that is willing to confront U. S. imperialism as our enemy, too. - -

WOMEN POUTICAL PRISONERS AND PRISONERS OF W\R

Alejil1\drina Torres 92152-024 Judy Clark 83-0-313 HSU wington MCC Box 2000 8901 S. Wilmot Lexington KY 405 121 Tucson. AZ 85706

Alicia Rodriguez N07157 Laurl Whitehorn 1f22432-037 POBoxe Linda Evans I#F-1I337/5-1l-47 Dwight lL 60420 5701 8th St. Camp Pub Haydee Torres 88462-024 Dublin. CA 94568 Lucy Rodriguez 88913-024 Dylcia Pagan 88971-024 Susan Rosenberg 03684-016 Carmen Valentin 88974-024 Silvia BaraJdini 05125-054 5701 8th Street HSU Lexington Camp Parks Box 2000 Dublin CA 945668 !..ellington KY 40511

Debbie Sims Africa 16307 Barbara Curzi-Laaman 18213-053 Consuella Dotson Africa Patricia Oros Levasseur 18212-053 Ramona Johnson Africa 117564 Carol Manning 10375-016 • Alberta Wicker Africa FIX Hartford Janine Phillips Africa ro Box 11 78 Merle Austin Africa 1i6306 Hartford, cr 06101 Janet Holloway Africa PO Box 180 Helen Woodson 03231 -045 Muncy PA 17756 c/oC. Dixon 622 Waler SL Rita Silk Nauni Ashland, WI 54806 Box 11 492 Mable Basset Corr. lnsL Jcan Gump N03789·045 Ok.lahoma City OK 73136 Boll. A Alderson VA 24910 Marilyn Buck 150 Park Row Katya Kamisaruk New York NY 10007 PO Box 19121 Spokane. WA 99219 Kathy Boudin 84-G~171 247 Harris Road Ann Hansen Bedford Hills NY 10507 Prison for Women Box 515 Kinpton, ONT. CANADA K7UW7